Inv / Sav Tanker - Has anyone done this?

[KauaiJim]

So I have two 'new' toons that I am loving based on animals.  The 'Cyborg Gorilla' thread in General inspired me to make a Inv/Sav Tanker and I'm having so much fun with it I'm just now starting to even look into builds.  (the other is a sav/inv brute werewolf)

 

I've looked around a bit and have come to the realization that savage doesn't seem to be popular, so I didn't find much to look at.  I know how to make builds from scratch but I like to look at a few others sometimes to get the general idea of what works well (when I'm trying something relatively new).

 

I'm pairing savage with invulnerability because of thematic reasons (a radioactive cyborg gorilla seems a bit much lol) and because I know it's a great set.  Plus between Hyperstrike and Infinitum I know what I can pull off with inv.

 

I don't need to make an 'ultimate' wipe the map by myself type here.  Just something decent or if anyone knows of any specific 'should takes' or 'should not takes' and why.

 

So, has anyone done this?  Just thought I'd ask.  If not, never fear, I'll figure it out from scratch.  Thanks in advance!

 

(I even looked through Infinitum's builds but didn't find one.)

 

 

Edited April 23, 2021 by KauaiJim

[KauaiJim]

Okay.  So that's a 'no' lol.  I kind of figured.  What I'm finding strange is that when I read up on Savage Melee most folks seem as puzzled as I am - they are enjoying their toon immensely.  So what gives?  It seems like for whatever reason Savage is not popular EVEN THOUGH most folks think it's a blast to play.  Weird.  I'm fairly new to it so whatever the *bad* thing is about Savage I have yet to notice it.

 

I really like my new robo monkey so I am not going to be deterred.  Will link my build once I actually come up with one.  Thanks again!  🙂  

[TygerDarkstorm]

From what I've seen/heard, a lot of people think Savage is indeed fun, but it's primarily lethal damage that is executed over DoT's, which can lead to it not feeling/seeming as powerful.

[KauaiJim]

Yeah, I picked up on that too but I don't really notice the DoT's making me feel weak.  Perhaps I just enjoy the way the build comes together and plays (fierce, visceral, wild) so that makes me pay less attention to it taking slightly longer (or just feeling like it).

 

I'm already working up a build.  One thing I am running into is having to play a bit of shuffle with enhancement slots to try to utilize invuln fully and get the most bang from savage.   It's looking good though - will just probably need to sacrifice a couple of the sav powers to keep inv well built.  I have no illusions that these animal toons can be built as crazy as my INV/SS which is basically an unstoppable machine (borrowed the build concept from Hyperstrike's SS/INV brute build - thanks!).  But I still think I can pull off something decent with inv and still keep the best parts of sav.  

 

I'm just a bit surprised there are so few example of sav builds out there.  I get it - there are better choices, but this is actually really a fun set, and so far it doesn't feel weak or slow at all to me.  That feeling is one I'm familiar with because I love energy sets and before the recent changes I rerolled at least two toons out of energy because it was so underwhelming at the time.  Not really getting that same caution flag feeling with savage (at least yet).

 

I guess I never really looked closely at the savage set before so I was a bit perplexed as to the lack of build examples (comparatively speaking).  There's probably a boatload of them out there somewhere, I just haven't found them.  And if not, well, as I said before, I am not deterred!  😁

 

EDITED TO ADD: 

I finished a build and I can say this toon is going to be as nuts as any other tank I have.  Inv/Sav work just fine.  I am beginning to think the reason for the little info on Savage builds is because SOME OF YOU KNOW how awesome they are and are trying to keep it a secret!  😘

Edited April 24, 2021 by KauaiJim

[Xandyr]

I'm in the process of leveling a stone/savage tank, and am having a hard time finding info on savage as well. Unsure of which powers to take/how many slots to dedicate to each power in Savage.

 Good luck with your build!

[KauaiJim]

I skipped shred, taunt and hemorrhage.  Not sure if that helps you for what you might be aiming for.  Shred seems like a good ability but it's a consumer and some day I plan on paying attention to blood frenzy.  lol 

[ninja surprise]

I discovered Savage a few weeks ago and have been having a blast pairing it with different things.  From what I've seen on the boards, the consensus is to skip Hemorrhage and Blood Thirst but everything else is useful.

 

Shred is good on Tanks because the cone and target cap are at the max.  I usually Leap in, then Rending Fury, and Shred, then a ST attack or two until a PBAoE is recharged.

I don't mind wasting AoEs on single targets because the sound FX and visual FX of the slashes is so cool 😎

[Heraclea]

I have a dark/savage tanker that I quite enjoy.  Savage pairs well with end-hog armor sets, so Inv/Savage will at least have that going for it.

[Onlyasandwich]

21 hours ago, ninja surprise said:

From what I've seen

Ninja has the right idea here!

 

I do think blood thirst is useful though, even with it's longish animation. It's not only a good place for gaussian proc, but also wipes exhausted state and puts you at max stacks. This is very helpful for maintaining stacks after a spend, or doing back to back buffed flurries.

[InvaderStych]

1 hour ago, Onlyasandwich said:

It's not only a good place for gaussian proc, but also wipes exhausted state and puts you at max stacks.

 

This.

 

That it clears Exhausted status is it's most useful feature.  I don't recall the exact numbers, but it's dmg buff is significantly lower than a classic Build Up power.  That first sentence is definitely an opinion, lol, but I don't think BT's damage buff alone is remotely worth the activation time.  Savage/WP (brute) was my first 50 on Homecoming.  Once I dug into building it up I realized how BT worked and got kinda mildly miffed at being stuck using it at the wrong times for the set's mechanics.

 

If one is inclined to completely ignore Frenzy stacks and Exhausted, then yeah, definitely skip BT.  I wouldn't go this route on a tank though, but because Rending's radius at 5 stacks with Tanker AoE radius buffs has to be downright ludicrous.  As in approaching Judgement radius ludicrous. 

 

Assuming the effects stack.

 

At high recharge Shred is sort of extraneous - the set is fast enough to just not need the 3rd AoE - so that makes RF the only spender.  The goal is to get Leap down to the 15 second range without slotting it with any recharge enhancement. This is Savage's secret sauce.  At it's native recharge it is in a proc-bomb sweet spot.  I want to say I've seen it down to 12s when Force Feedback fires off and Hasten is up, but I haven't played my Savage toons in a while.

 

Since the OP is running Invul/ the option to drop Gaussian's in Invincibility (er, might have the name wrong, the scaling to-hit/def aura) and re-train to use BT re-actively for the Savage mechanic, rather than pro-actively as with a classic BU power but with a much, much lower dmg buff and potentially wasting/ignoring it's use to re-fill stacks immediately after they're spent.

 

Numerically, it could be the case that having the proc in the "on-demand" slot and ignoring the whole BT/Exhausted inter-play is actually a better "damage buff over time," but knowing in the back of my mind that I am really only hitting BT because of Gaussian's sort of started to bother some of my more finicky and retentive traits. 🤣

 

FWIW @KauaiJim I've been meaning to spin up this combo on a scrapper, but I recently started something else that turned out to be a massive surprise so my time in game has been on that toon for some time now. 🤣

Edited May 4, 2021 by InvaderStych

[Onlyasandwich]

1 hour ago, InvaderStych said:

That first sentence is definitely an opinion

 

I hadn't considered the context of invuln/ here. You're right - the proc would be much better in invincibility.

 

For other primaries, I still think it's worth dropping the proc in Blood thirst, even if it is not as ideal as a regular build-up power.

[ninja surprise]

An occasionally frustrating thing about Savage is that Savage Leap can't target everything. 

Yesterday on a Miss Liberty, I couldn't Leap onto the web parts (those long pipe-looking things) in the first mission. One of the other attacks kept saying they were out of range too, even though the rest of the Savage attacks could hit it.

Then on a Lady Gray TF Savage Leap couldn't hit the Gateway Portal Generators  in the last mission with the Honoree.

So that's annoying.

[InvaderStych]

1 hour ago, ninja surprise said:

An occasionally frustrating thing about Savage is that Savage Leap can't target everything. 

 

Yes, I've noticed this as well.  I think a few of those objects also befuddle Combat Teleport.  It might be that they are objects with what is effectively teleportation immunity - which shouldn't affect targeting them, only moving them with things like the older Teleport Target and such. But that's just a not very well supported theory.

 

Another spot where Leap didn't work was in the outer ring of the Storm Palace/Chantry - but iirc that bug was fixed during the last round of travel updates.

[BZRKR]

Maybe powexec Cursor would solve the savage leap targeting issues for moving around?