Fire/SS, or: How to solo a +4/x8 ITF without softcapped def

[Miss Magical]

I love softcapped defense! Who doesn't? But when my brain decides that it wants to play Fiery Aura and Super Strength, and only those specific sets, suddenly I'm looking at one set with no native defense, and another that gives itself -20% def for ten seconds every minute. My research was not promising, either: all the builds I could find were old ones that crippled themselves to get lackluster amounts of S/L def that would evaporate the first time Rage wore off. And the one reasonably modern Fiery Aura guide I found had no advice to offer beyond a description of Fire/SS as "did not make the cut".

 

Oh. I see.

 

But this was a blessing in disguise, because it made me rethink conventional wisdom. Without defense debuff resistance, +def is very fragile, as -def attacks are everywhere. This isn't very problematic for "squishies" like Controllers and Corruptors, since they debuff/mez all the critters into the ground after the initial salvo; but it might be for a melee character who sits there and takes hits. Incarnate trials have a higher softcap and lots of unavoidable damage, which make over-investment on +def unwise for a character that intends to play most of the game instead of live behind the bars of a comic-con farm.

 

Conversely, the popularity of +def in the metagame means that sets with +def shields and toggles are popular: it's common for me to count 2-4 leadership toggles alone in most high-level parties. +def inspirations also give more mitigation than res ones of equal size.

 

So maybe it doesn't make sense to spend precious IO set bonuses on S/L def which quickly vanishes under heavy fire. Maybe it makes more sense to get +def from more efficient sources like inspirations and team buffs, spend set bonuses on resistance instead, and bolster that with other protections such as knockdowns, mezzes, heals and debuffs. The more I thought about it, the more viable a resistance build seemed.

 

With that in mind, I whipped up this:

 

 

Spoiler

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Incarnate powers (all toggled off in mids):

• Alpha: Musculature core paragon
• Destiny: Ageless radial epiphany
• Hybrid: Assault radial graft
• Interface/judgment/lore: any

 

This build has:

• 90% S/L/E/N resists with 1 Might of the Tanker proc
• Permahasten (of course) with Ageless and 1 Force Feedback proc
• 100% slow resistance

 

In practice, Toxic resistance is also capped because Healing Flames gives stacking toxic res. This leaves me with ~23% psi and 30% cold deficit. Appropriate, given the brevity of my costume. I'll just use some inspirations in such a situation.

 

Also, you read that right: it's a slow immune tanker! The weakest level of Ageless grants 21.25% debuff resistance, which makes me immune when added to the 80% in the build. This not only negates Fiery Aura's weakness to slows, which stop its self-heals and ability to quickly kill enemies, but the constant endurance refills from Consume and Ageless offer more defense against -recovery.

 

This build takes Soul Mastery, which I personally believe is the strongest APP a Tanker can take and was absolutely worth selling my soul to Ghost Widow for 5 minutes. It gives Gloom, one of the highest-DPA tanker attacks (and one that's very proccable, if you have slots to spare - I don't); Dark Obliteration, which has low damage but a huge area that combos well with Foot Stomp; and Darkest Night, which on a tank has Defender values of -30% dmg. And all 3 of these powers debuff tohit! Note also the Tanker IO absorb proc and Winter IO hold proc in KO blow. KO blow is not only the highest-DPA attack on the character, but also a good vehicle for procs with a recharge just outside the ideal 20s range. This gives a high chance to not only get an absorb shield but instantly hold a boss with 1 attack. Since a regular spawn has 2 bosses, that's a huge chunk of firepower mitigated right off the bat.

 

You'll notice that this build still has 16.77% def to all (almost 20% with Hover on). That's because despite being a resistance build, def is too powerful to completely ignore. 16-20% def helps mitigate the Rage debuff. It means I can almost softcap with 2 small purple inspirations, and helps others softcap me when I am on a team. I also do not want to go into negative def unless absolutely necessary. Incoming attacks landing 95% instead of 50% of the time is a large increase in damage that must still be avoided where possible.

 

The heavily layered defenses of -Dmg, -tohit, knockup, multiple wide area knockdowns, Holds, absorb and resistance defeat incoming damage, while Ageless mitigates debuffs, the Achilles heel of tankers. Under heavy fire, fast-recharging heals and +def that's instantly raised to softcap levels in an emergency shut down any danger. Then there's the firepower of 2x Rage and fiery embrace which quickly wipe out minions and Lt's. The attack chain is something like Burn > Haymaker > KO Blow > Gloom > Haymaker. Against crowds, I'll do Burn > Foot Stomp > Dark Oblit > KO blow. Jab is not used.

 

But this build also shows some of the weaknesses of my strategy. The reliance on APP attacks forces awkward slotting decisions, since APP attacks cannot accept the critical Tanker AT sets. Coupled with the fact that many resistance bonuses are 6-piece bonuses, this severely limits opportunities for procs. There's no easy way to get a -res in there, and there's no procced out burn.

 

As I looked at it, I was skeptical myself, as the build did not seem impressive on paper. A lot of softcapped defense builds can also achieve 90% S/L/E/N resists too on top of softcapped def; they just need more than 1 Tanker AT IO proc to do it. A lot of the features aren't mutually exclusive with a def softcap either, so it's hard to say if I'm gaining anything by pursuing this path (except maybe a better Fire/SS build that doesn't cripple itself chasing the softcap). Can this even perform at a level comparable to softcapped builds? Let's find out.

Edited July 21, 2021 by Miss Magical

[Miss Magical]

After reaching 50 I played on some teams at +4/x8 for a week, getting Master badges for Underground and Keyes. In all that time I was only in serious danger twice: once in the Tina McIntyre hospital mission filled entirely with IDF Seers when I jumped into a roomful of them; and another time on a enemies buffed, inspirations disabled +4/x8 ITF with just 4 players, when I got swarmed by ambushes on the 2nd mission.

 

But everyone on a team likes to think they are the most badass and deserves all the credit - it's human nature. So maybe I'm just biased. I read that all the cool kids were soloing +4/x8 ITF's to show how amazing they were, so I thought I'd give it a try too. When I went in, my Incarnate powers were incomplete. I only had T3 Alpha/Destiny/Lore, T2 Interface/Judgment, and no Hybrid. Note: this is the first TF I've attempted to solo, so I didn't know what to expect.

 

I did, however, decide not to just munch on purple inspirations the whole TF. Inspirations are a fundamental part of the game, and I don't see any point in builds designed not to use them; but since I wanted to find out how a resistance build performs in the absence of softcap, it didn't make sense to rely too heavily on them. So decided I would start with whatever I had left from the morning's MoKeyes, use only what dropped for me, and reserve purple insps for emergencies only.

 

The 1st mission did not go well, and quickly exposed a weakness in my build: endurance. I died no less than 3 times... not because of damage, but because the -End from Rage and Hasten detoggled me! Rage gives -25 when it wears off, hasten -15, and every 2 minutes they would combine and give -40 in rapid succession. I never noticed this before: on teams, we killed more quickly and I spent more time travelling between spawns. Alone, I killed more slowly and spent more time in combat, so endurance was a problem. The last death was right at the mountaintop as I was trying to get Sister Solaris (please, can I have her amazing flowy dress? I'll sacrifice the softcap for it too) to the altar without triggering the ambush. So the ambush spawned and ran all the way back to the boat to try and get me, and I had to kill all of it.

 

But after that, I learned to manage my end, use Consume every time a Rage ended, keep Destiny active as much as possible, and top up with the occasional blue. Now that I had learned how to play it more properly, the power of the build started to shine. Even when I aggroed 2-3 spawns close together, the layered mitigation kept incoming damage to a manageable level. I would engage, and my HP would start to drop below 50%; then I would heal back up and keep spamming burns and knockdowns and -tohit attacks, and only the bosses would be left and they were easily killed. I dragged the minotaurs and cyclops from the ambushes to the next spawn to wait for their defenses to wear off, instead of attempting to power through. My def was constantly in the red but I never died for the rest of the TF.

 

There were only 2 spots where I was in serious danger: the Minotaur/cyclops general and the Praefactus general on mission 3. These groups consisted entirely of critters that could not be quickly killed to reduce incoming damage. For the first I popped defense inspirations, for the 2nd I flew off once to heal before coming back and killing them all.

 

I reached Romulus, where I found my Lore pets completely ineffective. I had Roman pets, and Romulus 2-shot them with his spinning slash. However, I was able to very slowly whittle his HP down. Requiem wasn't a challenge worth mentioning.

 

"Too hot for you to handle, Rommie?"

 

Finally, the last mission! I flew directly to Nictus Romulus and pulled to the NE corner so that the ambushes would spawn right on me to die. However, here I found that Romulus was too tough for me. I could only make a very small dent in his HP, which he promptly healed up once the Rage forced downtime began. To make things worse, he had KB attacks of more than magnitude 4, so I was constantly flopping around like a fish.

 

I had resisted using Envenomed daggers so far, but now I relented. I replaced Haymaker, the weakest attack in the chain, with Envenomed dagger. But even then, between the knockbacks and the Rage downtime, I couldn't make a dent in him. After a few minutes of getting royally spanked I retreated.

 

Looking up Romulus' powers on the HC wiki revealed a flaw in my resist-over-defense strategy. Both Romulus and his nictus pets have attacks that heal himself. A +def build would avoid these attacks and deny Romulus the heals. It was time for a change in strategy and also to get serious: I made a T4 Assault Hybrid and T4 Degenerative interface. This time I also decided to kill the Nictus first instead of Romulus. Not only do they have less HP, they also don't have the smashing resists that Romulus has. If I could kill the one that was healing him, maybe I could finish him off. I went back and started clearing the towers for insps and to pre-spawn the ambushes; suddenly I realized I made the wrong Interface - radial instead of core. But it was too late now.

 

My final loadout was:

 

This time I positioned myself with my back to the wall so that the knockbacks turned into knockdowns. It was very close: once I made a mistake and used Fiery Embrace immediately as Rage downtime began. That let the Nictus heal up about 10%. It took over 3 full cycles of Assault Hybrid for the first nictus to die. Luckily, it was the healing one! From there on, victory was assured. The remaining 2 Nictus died slowly but surely. At first it seemed Romulus would defy me still when he landed a heal for over 3000. But I started eating small and medium purple inspirations I got from beating up his men, and he never got a 2nd one off.

 

"Perhaps even gods can die... Sorry, I'm an atheist."

Interestingly, throughout both fights I was constantly with my defense in the red, but I never came close to dying. In fact, the damage the AV's did was pitiful compared to the legions of Romans.

 

That's all! I hope I entertained you. I usually find solo play incredibly boring, but this was surprisingly engaging. I had to use my brain (don't whine, brain; you asked for this, so work for it), think about strategy and weaknesses, learn a little about how to play my character, and play an unconventional build.

 

The TF took about 2.5 hours to clear. I'm sure I could shave the time down with a more optimized build, full T4's and the experience I now have.

 

If you're interested in giving Fire/SS or the above build a try, please note:

1. This build is extremely endurance heavy. Even with Ageless, active end management is needed not to run out and be detoggled.
2. This build does not exemplar well due to a reliance on APP attacks. If you exemplar below 33-30 (no Gloom nor Foot stomp) you may need a separate build that takes and slots Punch/Boxing. However, Fire is still probably one of the better SS leveling experiences; I found the early Burn nice for aggro control and aoe. It's so fun burning all the little clockworks in Synapse.
3. The build in the above post has a Gaussian's proc in Rage. I later learned this was pointless because with 2x Rage, Musculature and Assault hybrid, tankers are already almost at the damage cap. You should replace it (I haven't decided what to spend the slot on); I include it only to show the build I played as-is.

 

Edited July 21, 2021 by Miss Magical

[Sovera]

As the (self-proclaimed) Fire Armor guru I whole heartedly approve of this thread.

 

We will follow your career with much interest.

 

 

On a more serious note I see nothing that warrants corrections, build's top notch. I would personally change the slotting to have two damage procs in Burn since it makes the skill bursty, or scrounge slots to finish beefing Gloom, or lower resistances a tad for the second ATO stack to finish capping them since it is so easy and quick to obtain, but it's almost cosmetic and as you've proved by testing it the build's standing firm. Now it is just you playing it and refining. SS is singularly well suited for the kill-them-first-before-they-kill-us with the massive burst that is double stacked Rage and KD Blow.

 

Squishy fire armor indeed!

Edited July 22, 2021 by Sovera

[Warboss]

Congrats Miss Magical, well done (pun maybe intended...).

[Linea]

Congrats and job well done. 

 

• I solo a +4x8 ITF on all my characters, all ATs and builds.  I consider it a rite of passage.
• I recommend sealing resists first on a resist build.  A fully resist based build will work, and work nicely as you have discovered.  (It's complicated, but bottom line is a Full T4 IO T4 Incarnate resist armor build can (resist, heal, regen) through -35 to -40 defense, and it doesn't take much in the way of a small purple to keep you off the -defense floor, and in turn the actual floor.  Prior to the full monty, defense is a nice easy crutch.  Defense is also a nice 'Free T4 Armor' equivalent until it's stripped.  So don't ignore it entirely, just seal those resists first.)
• I recommend Degen or Reactive T4 Radial, due to the stacking limits. You'll most likely saturate stacks anyway, and if you use a ranged lore you'll definitely saturate stacks.  Exactly which lore gets a little trickier, varies at least a little by build, and I'd recommend testing on the test server.

[Miss Magical]

On 7/22/2021 at 5:34 PM, Sovera said:

As the (self-proclaimed) Fire Armor guru I whole heartedly approve of this thread.

 

We will follow your career with much interest.

 

 

On a more serious note I see nothing that warrants corrections, build's top notch. I would personally change the slotting to have two damage procs in Burn since it makes the skill bursty, or scrounge slots to finish beefing Gloom, or lower resistances a tad for the second ATO stack to finish capping them since it is so easy and quick to obtain, but it's almost cosmetic and as you've proved by testing it the build's standing firm. Now it is just you playing it and refining. SS is singularly well suited for the kill-them-first-before-they-kill-us with the massive burst that is double stacked Rage and KD Blow.

 

Squishy fire armor indeed!

Oh wow! That is very kind of you to say. Thank you very much!

 

I really want some delicious procs in Burn too! It, and the lack of procs in Gloom, are my big regrets. However, I recently read somewhere that Burn supposedly checks for procs more often than it should, and I have a suspicion it's true - even against a single target, I have never seen my resistance not turn blue 90% the instant I press Burn. So if true, and I expect this will be changed eventually if it is, I'm also rather hesitant to enjoy procs in burn too much. I suppose I can be an optimist and describe my build as "future-proofed" instead.

[Miss Magical]

On 7/22/2021 at 10:15 PM, Warboss said:

Congrats Miss Magical, well done (pun maybe intended...).

 

Thank you!

 

On 7/23/2021 at 12:05 AM, Linea said:

Congrats and job well done. 

 

• I solo a +4x8 ITF on all my characters, all ATs and builds.  I consider it a rite of passage.
• I recommend sealing resists first on a resist build.  A fully resist based build will work, and work nicely as you have discovered.  (It's complicated, but bottom line is a Full T4 IO T4 Incarnate resist armor build can (resist, heal, regen) through -35 to -40 defense, and it doesn't take much in the way of a small purple to keep you off the -defense floor, and in turn the actual floor.  Prior to the full monty, defense is a nice easy crutch.  Defense is also a nice 'Free T4 Armor' equivalent until it's stripped.  So don't ignore it entirely, just seal those resists first.)
• I recommend Degen or Reactive T4 Radial, due to the stacking limits. You'll most likely saturate stacks anyway, and if you use a ranged lore you'll definitely saturate stacks.  Exactly which lore gets a little trickier, varies at least a little by build, and I'd recommend testing on the test server.

 

+4/x8 on every character is very impressive! I can't do that; although, now that I've done it once, the idea of a similar rite of passage for future characters sounds a little appealing.

 

Thanks a lot for the advice! I would certainly not ignore +def on any build, it's too powerful. It's nice to know the T4 degenerative radial isn't a waste.

 

I am looking forward to getting new, ranged lore pets now. I must say I'm extremely disappointed with the melee pets, which ended up not being useful at all. My plan was to tank for them and let them kill things, but I didn't consider how prevalent aoe attacks were in practice. (My estimation of the invulnerable radial pets also went up a little...)

[Obus Form]

Hey @Miss Magical

 

Totally love your build and after studying it for a while, it completely inspired me to try one similar.  What do you think of this?

 

Similarities between our builds:

- 100% slow resist because healing = Fire Armor

- Incarnate powers same

- Reaching resist caps after 1 stack of sMotT proc

 

The difference between our builds:

- Aimed for Psy resist to make the Fire Armor tanker = Dark Armor tanker + Burn damage

- Traded away some ForceFeedback + Consume slotting in exchange for psy resist.  I figure that any incarnate team will give +recharge or cast Ageless.  For Consume, i slotted it to ensure it's recharged every 1 minute to align with Rage + Hasten crash.   If Rage + Hasten crash at the same time, thats 25% (29.25 endurance when accoladed) + 15 endurance = Almost 45 endurance.  I will fire off Consume to hit 2 mobs to return 40 endurance.

- Traded away any defence proc enhancements for resist because double stacking rage means every minute i'll hit the defence floor for 10 seconds.

- 0.28% off S/L resist cap

- Slotted Gloom to hit as hard as Knockout blow

 

 

This Hero build was built using Mids Reborn 3.0.5.6
https://github.com/Reborn-Team/MidsReborn

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Natural Tanker
Primary Power Set: Fiery Aura
Secondary Power Set: Super Strength
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Concealment
Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Blazing Aura

• (A) Superior Might of the Tanker - Recharge/Chance for +Res(All)
• (3) Superior Might of the Tanker - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
• (9) Superior Might of the Tanker - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (11) Superior Might of the Tanker - Damage/Recharge
• (11) Superior Might of the Tanker - Accuracy/Damage
• (37) Superior Might of the Tanker - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge

Level 1: Jab

• (A) Perfect Zinger - Accuracy/Recharge
• (47) Perfect Zinger - Taunt/Recharge

Level 2: Fire Shield

• (A) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance
• (13) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance
• (13) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance/RechargeTime
• (17) Impervium Armor - Psionic Resistance
• (46) Aegis - Psionic/Status Resistance

Level 4: Haymaker

• (A) Hecatomb - Chance of Damage(Negative)
• (5) Hecatomb - Damage/Endurance
• (5) Hecatomb - Accuracy/Recharge
• (7) Hecatomb - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (7) Hecatomb - Damage/Recharge
• (15) Hecatomb - Damage

Level 6: Super Speed

• (A) Winter's Gift - Slow Resistance (20%)
• (37) Blessing of the Zephyr - Knockback Reduction (4 points)

Level 8: Healing Flames

• (A) Impervium Armor - Psionic Resistance
• (9) Panacea - Heal
• (34) Panacea - Heal/Endurance/Recharge
• (36) Panacea - Heal/Recharge
• (36) Panacea - Endurance/Recharge
• (36) Panacea - Heal/Endurance

Level 10: Combat Jumping

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed

Level 12: Plasma Shield

• (A) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance
• (15) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance
• (17) Unbreakable Guard - RechargeTime/Resistance
• (23) Unbreakable Guard - Endurance/RechargeTime
• (33) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance/RechargeTime
• (48) Impervium Armor - Psionic Resistance

Level 14: Temperature Protection

• (A) Impervium Armor - Psionic Resistance

Level 16: Boxing

• (A) Superior Blistering Cold - Recharge/Chance for Hold
• (46) Superior Blistering Cold - Accuracy/Damage

Level 18: Burn

• (A) Superior Gauntleted Fist - Damage/RechargeTime
• (19) Superior Gauntleted Fist - Accuracy/Damage/RechargeTime
• (19) Superior Gauntleted Fist - RechargeTime/+Absorb
• (21) Superior Avalanche - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
• (21) Superior Avalanche - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge

Level 20: Knockout Blow

• (A) Superior Gauntleted Fist - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime
• (27) Superior Gauntleted Fist - Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime
• (33) Superior Gauntleted Fist - Accuracy/Damage
• (34) Superior Blistering Cold - Damage/Endurance/Accuracy/RechargeTime
• (34) Superior Blistering Cold - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance

Level 22: Consume

• (A) Perfect Zinger - Taunt/Recharge
• (23) Perfect Zinger - Accuracy/Recharge

Level 24: Tough

• (A) Unbreakable Guard - +Max HP
• (31) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance
• (31) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance
• (31) Impervium Armor - Psionic Resistance

Level 26: Hasten

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO
• (40) Recharge Reduction IO

Level 28: Rage

• (A) Adjusted Targeting - Recharge
• (29) Adjusted Targeting - To Hit Buff/Recharge
• (29) Adjusted Targeting - Endurance/Recharge

Level 30: Weave

• (A) Shield Wall - +Res (Teleportation), +5% Res (All)
• (33) Shield Wall - Endurance/Recharge
• (37) Shield Wall - Defense/Recharge
• (48) Shield Wall - Defense
• (48) Shield Wall - Defense/Endurance/Recharge
• (49) Shield Wall - Defense/Endurance

Level 32: Stealth

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed

Level 35: Gloom

• (A) Superior Winter's Bite - Damage/Endurance/Accuracy/RechargeTime
• (42) Superior Winter's Bite - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (42) Superior Winter's Bite - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• (42) Cloud Senses - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge
• (43) Cloud Senses - Accuracy/Recharge
• (43) Apocalypse - Chance of Damage(Negative)

Level 38: Foot Stomp

• (A) Armageddon - Chance for Fire Damage
• (39) Armageddon - Damage/Endurance
• (39) Armageddon - Accuracy/Recharge
• (39) Armageddon - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (40) Armageddon - Damage/Recharge
• (40) Armageddon - Damage

Level 41: Dark Obliteration

• (A) Ragnarok - Chance for Knockdown
• (43) Ragnarok - Damage/Endurance
• (45) Ragnarok - Accuracy/Recharge
• (45) Ragnarok - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (45) Ragnarok - Damage/Recharge
• (46) Ragnarok - Damage

Level 44: Taunt

• (A) Perfect Zinger - Taunt/Recharge/Range

Level 47: Grant Invisibility

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed

Level 49: Infiltration

• (A) Reactive Defenses - Scaling Resist Damage

Level 1: Gauntlet

Level 1: Brawl

 

 

Edited July 27, 2021 by Obus Form

[Gobbledigook]

It could do with a bit more Knockback resist in that build @Obus Form. I couldn't skip fiery Embrace either. A force Feedback in Footstomp will probably offer far more than a small amount of psi resist.

 

Otherwise looks sturdy.

[Miss Magical]

Okay! I am not really an expert at builds, so don't take my comments too seriously, but since you asked:

 

That is a very impressive amount of psi resistance (85%) without any significant loss of recharge. In my attempts, I was never able to go past 75% without making major sacrifices I was not comfortable with. With the base empowerment buff that gives 5% psi res, you will be capped; you really need to join a master LGTF or something with a lot of psi damage and surprise the team by taking none at all. It's also interesting that despite the much more weakly slotted consume, I cannot say for sure that you will have endurance issues, because your main endurance spenders (KO Blow and Gloom) have far more endrdx slotting than mine - your KO blow costs 9.16 end, mine is 13.16 end. And despite losing both +def uniques, your defense to all is actually only about 3% less due to the use of stealth.

 

I am personally a big fan of Darkest Night because as an autohit, ranged aoe toggle it has some unique uses e.g mitigation against vengeanced Nemesis. I would also not drop a force feedback proc because it adds aoe firepower when Foot stomp procs it and helps Burn and Dark oblit recharge. But that's just my personal playstyle.

 

My only real criticisms are

 

1) You skipped fiery embrace! Fiery embrace + burn is amazing and the damage it adds to non-fire attacks is significant too. I will sooner lose procs in Gloom than Fiery embrace which helps every attack.

 

2) the location of the Tanker's Might proc. From the limited testing I did, in a damage aura it will not fire reliably against a single target, hence why I chose to put it in Burn. I believe the way they work in toggle auras is that the aura is treated as having a recharge of 10s for PPM calculations, and the game only checks whether to fire the proc once every 10s; for a proc with 10s duration this means there will likely be periods of uncapped resistance in prolonged combat against a single target. This may or may not bother you.

 

Finally, you can get 90% S/L resistance without losing anything if you move the +maxhp unique from tough to plasma shield, replacing the Unbreakable Guard endrdx/rech; and in its place, slot an Unbreakable Guard res/endrdx/rech in Tough. That missing 0.28% probably makes no real difference but I derive a lasting satisfaction from seeing nice 90's in the stats window.

Edited July 28, 2021 by Miss Magical

[Gobbledigook]

A second stack of the Tankers might proc would cap those differences though. So personally i wouldn't chase more resists there, let the proc do it.

Edited July 28, 2021 by Gobbledegook

[Sovera]

Correct. Two stacks are easy to both obtain and maintain. And if taking Barrier then that accounts for another 5% as well. I personally aim my resistances to 77% ish with one stack (which is how Mids shows). Another 6.7% from a second stack and 5% from Barrier finish covering it up. 76% isn't bad either since the Scaling Resist IO gives 1% more at 90% HP.

[Nemu]

I like handclap for such a build where defense can get stripped easily. Chain Knockdown is underrated and it's also another FF proc mule.

 

This Hero build was built using Mids Reborn 3.0.4.7
https://github.com/Reborn-Team/MidsReborn

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Nadine Superadine: Level 50 Technology Tanker
Primary Power Set: Fiery Aura
Secondary Power Set: Super Strength
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Energy Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Fire Shield -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(9), UnbGrd-Max HP%(9), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(11)
Level 1: Jab -- KntCmb-Acc/Dmg(A), KntCmb-Dmg/EndRdx(3), KntCmb-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(3), KntCmb-Knock%(5)
Level 2: Healing Flames -- Pnc-Heal/EndRedux(A), Pnc-EndRdx/Rchg(34), Pnc-Heal/Rchg(34), Pnc-Heal/EndRedux/Rchg(36), Pnc-Heal(37)
Level 4: Haymaker -- KntCmb-Acc/Dmg(A), KntCmb-Dmg/EndRdx(5), KntCmb-Dmg/Rchg(7), KntCmb-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(7), HO:Nucle(25)
Level 6: Combat Jumping -- BlsoftheZ-ResKB(A), WntGif-ResSlow(11), Ksm-ToHit+(48), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(50)
Level 8: Kick -- Empty(A)
Level 10: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(36)
Level 12: Plasma Shield -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(13), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(13), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(15)
Level 14: Consume -- SprGntFis-Acc/Dmg(A), SprGntFis-Rchg/+Absorb(15), SprGntFis-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(17), SprGntFis-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(19), SprGntFis-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(19)
Level 16: Hand Clap -- FrcFdb-Rechg%(A), SuddAcc--KB/+KD(17), AbsAmz-Acc/Rchg(42), AbsAmz-Acc/Stun/Rchg(42)
Level 18: Burn -- Arm-Dmg(A), Arm-Dmg/Rchg(37), Arm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(37), Arm-Dmg/EndRdx(40), Arm-Dam%(42)
Level 20: Knockout Blow -- FrcFdb-Rechg%(A), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg(21), SprBlsCol-Dmg/EndRdx(21), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(23), SprBlsCol-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(23), SprBlsCol-Rchg/HoldProc(25)
Level 22: Blazing Aura -- SprMghoft-Acc/Dmg(A), SprMghoft-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(33), SprMghoft-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(33), SprMghoft-Rchg/Res%(34)
Level 24: Tough -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), GldArm-3defTpProc(33)
Level 26: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx(27), ShlWal-Def(27), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(29)
Level 28: Rage -- HO:Membr(A)
Level 30: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), Rct-Def(31), Rct-Def/EndRdx(31), Rct-ResDam%(31)
Level 32: Taunt -- MckBrt-Taunt/Rchg(A), MckBrt-Taunt(43), MckBrt-Taunt/Rng(43), MckBrt-Taunt/Rchg/Rng(43)
Level 35: Focused Accuracy -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 38: Foot Stomp -- FrcFdb-Rechg%(A), FuroftheG-ResDeb%(39), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg(39), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(39), FuroftheG-Acc/Dmg/End/Rech(40), FuroftheG-Dam/End/Rech(40)
Level 41: Physical Perfection -- PrfShf-End%(A)
Level 44: Energy Torrent -- FrcFdb-Rechg%(A), Ann-ResDeb%(45), SprFrzBls-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(45), SprFrzBls-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(45), Ann-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(46), Ann-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(46)
Level 47: Hurl -- SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(48), SprWntBit-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(48), OvrFrc-Dam/KB(50)
Level 49: Fiery Embrace -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 1: Gauntlet 
Level 1: Brawl -- KntCmb-Acc/Dmg(A), KntCmb-Dmg/EndRdx(29), KntCmb-Dmg/Rchg(36), KntCmb-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(46)
Level 1: Sprint -- UnbLea-Stlth(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A), Mrc-Rcvry+(50)
Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run 
Level 50: Cardiac Core Paragon 
Level 50: Freedom Phalanx Reserve 
Level 50: Portal Jockey 
Level 50: Task Force Commander 
Level 50: The Atlas Medallion 
------------

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This is how I built mine. I went all in on the KD and took body for energy torrent. I'd need to do some rework on it to do an +4/8 ITF run, mostly tuning it for the AV fights.

 

I did take it for a spin for a solo +4/8 cim mission, there were dicey moments when I aggrod multiple groups but I lived. Stacking more recharge to get longer 2x rage uptime so I can kill faster will probably serve me well. If I play smart I don't see any issues going through the fodder that makes up the bulk of that TF.

[Obus Form]

5 hours ago, Gobbledegook said:

It could do with a bit more Knockback resist in that build @Obus Form. I couldn't skip fiery Embrace either. A force Feedback in Footstomp will probably offer far more than a small amount of psi resist.

 

Otherwise looks sturdy.

I've updated it to remove the Ragnarok proc in Gloom and put Knocback resist in Combat Jumping, as well as ForceFeedback into Stomp instead of Damage.  Appreciate the changes.

 

Seems to work wonders the FF proc in keeping Burn in a manageable chain of attacks in groups

[Obus Form]

5 hours ago, Miss Magical said:

Okay! I am not really an expert at builds, so don't take my comments too seriously, but since you asked:

 

That is a very impressive amount of psi resistance (85%) without any significant loss of recharge. In my attempts, I was never able to go past 75% without making major sacrifices I was not comfortable with. With the base empowerment buff that gives 5% psi res, you will be capped; you really need to join a master LGTF or something with a lot of psi damage and surprise the team by taking none at all. It's also interesting that despite the much more weakly slotted consume, I cannot say for sure that you will have endurance issues, because your main endurance spenders (KO Blow and Gloom) have far more endrdx slotting than mine - your KO blow costs 9.16 end, mine is 13.16 end. And despite losing both +def uniques, your defense to all is actually only about 3% less due to the use of stealth.

 

I am personally a big fan of Darkest Night because as an autohit, ranged aoe toggle it has some unique uses e.g mitigation against vengeanced Nemesis. I would also not drop a force feedback proc because it adds aoe firepower when Foot stomp procs it and helps Burn and Dark oblit recharge. But that's just my personal playstyle.

 

My only real criticisms are

 

1) You skipped fiery embrace! Fiery embrace + burn is amazing and the damage it adds to non-fire attacks is significant too. I will sooner lose procs in Gloom than Fiery embrace which helps every attack.

 

2) the location of the Tanker's Might proc. From the limited testing I did, in a damage aura it will not fire reliably against a single target, hence why I chose to put it in Burn. I believe the way they work in toggle auras is that the aura is treated as having a recharge of 10s for PPM calculations, and the game only checks whether to fire the proc once every 10s; for a proc with 10s duration this means there will likely be periods of uncapped resistance in prolonged combat against a single target. This may or may not bother you.

 

Finally, you can get 90% S/L resistance without losing anything if you move the +maxhp unique from tough to plasma shield, replacing the Unbreakable Guard endrdx/rech; and in its place, slot an Unbreakable Guard res/endrdx/rech in Tough. That missing 0.28% probably makes no real difference but I derive a lasting satisfaction from seeing nice 90's in the stats window.

 

Somehow I can't get around taking Fiery Embrace.  Although I can do bursts of damage, I find it's only good for soloing +4x8, whereas any other scenario (farming, 8man groups, iTrial) damage will be outclassed by any damage dealing type. 

 

Omg thank you for finding that Unbreakable Guard move lol.  Was itching at me for the longest time. 

 

So far, Tanker's Might proc hasn't fallen off when I'm standing beside an AV 1v1, although there might be instances where it does if I miss or proc doesn't happen... it just hasn't happened so far.  I would imagine the times where I'm most vulnerable (a lot of incoming damage from aggro of 15 mobs) my Tanker's Might would proc.  Times where I'm least vulnerable, fighting an AV 1v1, even if Tanker's might doesn't proc I would probably night die (even to Mother of Mayhem damage hah!) therefore, I'm looking to keep it playing the lazy way and keep Tanker's might in the aura =p. 

 

Appreciate your feedback and finding that Unbreakeable Guard.  So far loving Fire/SS, although the only thing I'm not used to is being vulnerable to sappers/end drain.  It's almost like I have to pre-emptively cast Consume before I hit with end drain.

[Sovera]

22 minutes ago, Obus Form said:

 

Somehow I can't get around taking Fiery Embrace.  Although I can do bursts of damage, I find it's only good for soloing +4x8, whereas any other scenario (farming, 8man groups, iTrial) damage will be outclassed by any damage dealing type. 

 

Omg thank you for finding that Unbreakable Guard move lol.  Was itching at me for the longest time. 

 

So far, Tanker's Might proc hasn't fallen off when I'm standing beside an AV 1v1, although there might be instances where it does if I miss or proc doesn't happen... it just hasn't happened so far.  I would imagine the times where I'm most vulnerable (a lot of incoming damage from aggro of 15 mobs) my Tanker's Might would proc.  Times where I'm least vulnerable, fighting an AV 1v1, even if Tanker's might doesn't proc I would probably night die (even to Mother of Mayhem damage hah!) therefore, I'm looking to keep it playing the lazy way and keep Tanker's might in the aura =p. 

 

Appreciate your feedback and finding that Unbreakeable Guard.  So far loving Fire/SS, although the only thing I'm not used to is being vulnerable to sappers/end drain.  It's almost like I have to pre-emptively cast Consume before I hit with end drain.

 

 

FE is pretty strong, but if you don't subscribe to Tankers doing damage then don't take it. But it and Burn are the reason to go Fire Armor and I'll be honest that if you're not taking either then you might as well go Rad Armor instead and become much sturdier. Fire Armor is one of the squishiest sets because it is the offense oriented armor and it should be embraced.

 

As for the Tanker's Might it stacks three times. If you guys just want to rely on one of the stacks it's certainly acceptable, but, you're wasting the other 6.7%. Two stacks can be kept up for nearly forever, though three are more iffy which is why I just make my math accounting for two stacks. It's a lot of min maxing that won't really change things much though, so just wanting to rely on a single stack is fine.

 

And if you keep it on a toggle then one stack is all you're going to get at best, and at worst it might drop off. The number of enemies around you won't change this. On a single target attack you will use (for example in Haymaker) it can stack up to three times. But, again, if the resistances are tailored to reach 90% with a single stack then there is zero point to moving it to a single target attack.

 

Regarding the last bit, yes, you definitely ought to cast Consume pre-emptively, and then you have a 2 minute long endurance drain protection (endurance drain protection, not recovery debuff protection. The first protects against sappers and Carnies dying, the second protects against Freaks' Superstunners ressurecting).

[Obus Form]

3 hours ago, Sovera said:

 

 

FE is pretty strong, but if you don't subscribe to Tankers doing damage then don't take it. But it and Burn are the reason to go Fire Armor and I'll be honest that if you're not taking either then you might as well go Rad Armor instead and become much sturdier. Fire Armor is one of the squishiest sets because it is the offense oriented armor and it should be embraced.

 

As for the Tanker's Might it stacks three times. If you guys just want to rely on one of the stacks it's certainly acceptable, but, you're wasting the other 6.7%. Two stacks can be kept up for nearly forever, though three are more iffy which is why I just make my math accounting for two stacks. It's a lot of min maxing that won't really change things much though, so just wanting to rely on a single stack is fine.

 

And if you keep it on a toggle then one stack is all you're going to get at best, and at worst it might drop off. The number of enemies around you won't change this. On a single target attack you will use (for example in Haymaker) it can stack up to three times. But, again, if the resistances are tailored to reach 90% with a single stack then there is zero point to moving it to a single target attack.

 

Regarding the last bit, yes, you definitely ought to cast Consume pre-emptively, and then you have a 2 minute long endurance drain protection (endurance drain protection, not recovery debuff protection. The first protects against sappers and Carnies dying, the second protects against Freaks' Superstunners ressurecting).

 

Yeah as I finally 50'd and played him at 50, he's definitely much squishier than my dark armor.  It takes getting used to pre-emptively firing Consume just to counter endurance drain.  And like you've mentioned, recovery debuff from Freak stunner resurrection is certainly noticeable...something I took for granted and never noticed the difference since all my brutes/tankers are Dark Armor or Electric Armor.

 

As for tanking, aside from using the tools available to min/max, I always went with the philosophy of "easy/lazy" as possible so that I can focus on the fight.  I realize it's not wow, but just a habit of tanking is to notice surroundings by paying less attention to my actual tank's requirements, hence 1 stack on an AOE power is the maximum amount of work I'm willing to put lol.  But I see your value, in putting it in a single target attack you could stack it twice, thus spend less slots on resistance and more slots on damage = true min/max, but my laziness > min/max =p.

 

Appreciate the advice and insight.  Fire Armor feels like a blast and Burn really speeds up clear time.