What to make now to take advantage of new changes?

[Bionic_Flea]

I've been trying to think ahead of what to make when the patch goes live.  Now that it's here, it's time to make decisions.

 

So far I was thinking of a Grav/Time/Sorcery, AR/TA Corrupter or TA/AR defender, and Bots/Rad MM with group fly.

 

What are you thinking of making to take advantage of the new changes?

[Apparition]

I have builds for a Katana/Electric Armor Brute, Thugs/Time Manipulation Mastermind with Group Fly, and a Dual Pistols/Sonic Manipulation Blaster ready to be made.  Probably a Gravity/Dark Controller at some point as well.

[Rejolt]

The fact that infiltration is old Shinobi for sents and scraps and that it wont stack (Note:  it detoggles if you try to turn both on at the same time) with other Stealth powers like Hide and Shinobi. 

 

So Martial Doms and Blasters that use Agility alpha.

Edited April 20, 2021 by Rejolt

[Nightmare Shaman]

What specifically is there to take advantage of?  Just seems like positive changes across the board, not something that would drastically improve a specific set.  Maybe I skimmed over the notes too fast?  lol  

[Lunchmoney]

A blaster. But that's because most of my toons are blasters; nothing to do with the update.

 

[tidge]

This round of changes isn't inspiring any new builds, but it reminds me I have several characters to revisit and check on to see if my current power/slotting choices are where I want them to be. For example, I have a few characters that leverage pool attacks (arcane bolt, patron snipes) that may benefit from revisit, at least one character that could take advantage of stacking Power Transfer: Chance to Heal Self, and several characters where I will revisit the slotting of travel powers. I have one character that appreciates the change to Spirit Ward, and I now have to make some hard decisions about slotting it as a toggle.

[Bionic_Flea]

18 minutes ago, tidge said:

at least one character that could take advantage of stacking Power Transfer: Chance to Heal Self,

Ooh!  That reminds me that I made an elec/elec blaster with several of those.  I need to run him again and see if I notice the difference.

[VertigoIguana]

I'd say now is the perfect time to try out some new MM combos.  The reduced end cost, and quick resummons means keeping the pets healed up/alive is a lot less of a concern.  Bots/Rad sounds fun. I'm considering a Bots/TA myself.

[Sovera]

An ice patch animating in 1.57 instead of 3.7 will make a big difference. It may be worth revisiting my Fire/Ice tanker.

[Luminara]

2 hours ago, Bionic_Flea said:

What are you thinking of making to take advantage of the new changes?

 

I'm thinking of making:

• Critters my bitches.
• Enough noise to bring the roof down on said bitches.
• Love... but I don't have anyone for that.  😞
• A not insignificant amount of tears, thinking about all of the characters I'm going to have to respec into Infiltration now.  The era of bouncing around with no travel powers has come to an end.
• A mess in my pants after experiencing Infiltration stacked with Combat Jumping.
• Another cup of coffee, so I can stay awake this afternoon.  Respecs to plan and all that.

[MTeague]

Definitely interested to fire up my AR/MC blaster and check out faster cast Ignite / Full Auto.

Also, curious to see how Enflame works on characters without a Taunt aura.  If they all ignore it can cook, I'll have  a couple characters I'll want to use it on just for concept, whether or not it's the most effective attack. 

[Marshal_General]

I need to try out the new arcane bolt on my controllers that have it.

[Glacier Peak]

57 minutes ago, Luminara said:

• A mess in my pants after experiencing Infiltration stacked with Combat Jumping.

This was the best part 😭

[Luminara]

1 minute ago, Glacier Peak said:

This was the best part 😭

 

You didn't have to clean it up.  🤪

[Carnifax]

I've an Ice/Traps with fold space, arcane bolt and nu-stealth ready to go. I debated on Enflame too but on beta the damage still didn't seem to be worth it. That was pre the NoFlee change though.

[cohRock]

3 hours ago, Nightmare Shaman said:

What specifically is there to take advantage of?  Just seems like positive changes across the board, not something that would drastically improve a specific set.  Maybe I skimmed over the notes too fast?  lol  

The Sorcery Pool is much improved, and over time I'm betting it will be a source of many respecs.  Consider:

1. Mystic Flight -- buffs to both its flight speed and teleportation range
2. Spirit Ward -- now a toggle that lets you frequently buff an ally or pet with HP via absorb (42 HP every 3 seconds at level 50)
3. Enflame -- now a 60-second toggle which recharges in seconds.  Give friends or foes a damage aura.
4. Arcane Bolt -- has an enhanced mode allowing it to do more damage and sometimes insta-recharge
5. Rune of Protection -- still offers resistance and mez protection, but with a much shortened recharge time

My Mercenary/ForceField MM happened to have the full set already.  Spirit Ward proves especially useful to apply to the Medic pet, who can heal others but not himself.  Since he teams frequently, Enflame can be used to give a tank, brute, or scrapper a damage aura (or add another one).  None of his pets really benefit from it, but it can be applied to a foe as well, such as a troublesome boss.  The only direct damage attack he had was the M30 Grenate until he took Arcane Bolt at level 44.  The cast time is still fairly long, but with the occasional insta-recharges and extra damage, it proves even more useful.  While Rune of Protection is not necessary from level 45 up due to his Destiny:Clarion power, it does offer damage resistance to all and can be used as survival tool in tough battles.

[Lost Deep]

Stalkermind. Mastermind with the Stealth power, the stealth power gives you -100% threat which means that most of the time the enemy will prioritize your minions over you. Throw in that your minions are now more spammable than ever, and you have a lot of staying power that just wasn't an option before. It's not perfect, but it's very nice!

[arcane]

Grav/Sonic Sorcery junkie and Graniteless Stone tanker have already been leveled to 50 in anticipation of this set of changes. But they still need so many purples :/.

[Clave Dark 5]

On 4/20/2021 at 1:28 PM, Marshal_General said:

I need to try out the new arcane bolt on my controllers that have it.

My stalker has it, and I ran him to try it out.  It didn't make too much of a difference for him as it's not too highly slotted yet, so most of his "real" attacks, the sorts of things you take a stalker for the first place, generally work out better (except on runners obviously).  On a controller though, it'll probably be an upgrade, at least until you get into the upper levels and don't have to ever feel squishy again (or certainly much less so).

[Myrmidon]

With a respec, I now have a WIllpower/Kinetic Melee/Sorcery/Church of the holy Fold Space master of the mystic arts.

[Hew]

On 4/20/2021 at 1:23 PM, Sovera said:

An ice patch animating in 1.57 instead of 3.7 will make a big difference. It may be worth revisiting my Fire/Ice tanker.

I have an ice/stone brute. Hahah 😄 two birds, one stone!

[Hew]

On 4/20/2021 at 2:32 PM, Luminara said:

A mess in my pants after experiencing Infiltration stacked with Combat Jumping.

 

Try with superspeed instead of cj! amaaaaazing!

 

21 minutes ago, Myrmidon said:

With a respec, I now have a WIllpower/Kinetic Melee/Sorcery/Church of the holy Fold Space master of the mystic arts.

I have this. grav/thorn/foldspace/sorc dom and grav/dark affin/foldspace/sorc troller. Both target singy with enflame and ward and whatever else I can dump on them, with aerial bombardments from wormhole and fold space. Since mobs drop straight down, it allows me to hover-dostuff while singy abuses the hell out of whatever is there. With the dark affin troller, I get TWO pets. 😄

[Bionic_Flea]

I hit 50 on a group fly Bots/Rad yesterday.  It's cool to look at a flying armada of Bots, but it messes with the movement AI -- they get stuck all over the place.  Sometimes they even stay behind when taking an elevator until I turn off group fly, which is odd.  They also sometimes do that same shuffle that Paragon Protectors do -- slide back and forth -- until I power down the GF.

 

What I really need most of all is a Mids patch so that I can theory-craft.

 

-*-Oh Mids gods, please accept this @Hew-man sacrifice and update your blessed gift!-*-

[tidge]

5 hours ago, Clave Dark 5 said:

My stalker has it, and I ran him to try it out.  It didn't make too much of a difference for him as it's not too highly slotted yet, so most of his "real" attacks, the sorts of things you take a stalker for the first place, generally work out better (except on runners obviously).  On a controller though, it'll probably be an upgrade, at least until you get into the upper levels and don't have to ever feel squishy again (or certainly much less so).

 

I have a (theme) Blaster with Arcane Bolt at a relatively low level (it is available for all TF/SF content); with my slotting for that character it was previously approximately as effective as my level 1 primary pick, but with the extra damage boost it is something I find myself selecting more often. I can't really tell that it is faster animating... if it is, I don't notice it as much since I would previously only occasionally use it as an attack for 'flair'.

[Yomo Kimyata]

A blaster.  Everyone to the blaster forum and sign up for my contest!