Shield Defense or Bio Armor for maximizing damage potential?

[Cheddacheese]

Hi all!

 

I just came back from a long CoH break and I'm very excited to create a fresh character again! I want to make a scapper that's all about dealing damage, so the playstyle will be centered around "if it's dead it can't kill you". That's why I'm  probably going for Fire melee for the primary power set. However, when it comes to the secondary set I am still on the fence. Both Bio and SD can improve damage with offensive adaptation and AAO and both sets have their pros and cons. 

 

When it comes to SD I really like the added AoE of Shield charge and the ability to softcap defense without much problems. However, the main drawback is the end use which basically makes ageless mandatory.

 

Bio is a cool set with tons of possibilities and great end/health management, with the only drawback being that it is a bit more squishy and more ' clicky' Plus Im still not sure how offensive adaptation exactly works (what are the numbers?)

 

I was wondering if you guys could help me with my decision? Im very curious what you think!

[SomeGuy]

Bio. By an amount that is noticed when not even measured.

 

I personally like SD more overall, but that all comes down to personal value. But you can't argue Bio does has a bigger bang damage wise.

 

Something to account for is that SD doesn't really have an edge over Bio in the AOE department either. Shield Charge only gets down to *roughly* 30s with builds. Whereas when in Offensive Aura you ALWAYS have a big +DMG damage going on. Oh, and a really nice -RES auras going on. Oh, and a damage PBAOE aura.

 

Bio is definitely squishier than SD. And shields add some really cool aesthetics IMO. So that one is definitely a personal preference.

 

I've got EM/BIO, EM/SD, WM/BIO, and WM/SD scrappers. Bio out DPSes the SD versions, easily. But the SD versions still do AMAZING DPS and are noticeably less squish. And I'm sorry, but a WM/SD SPEHS MAREEN has a freaking wonderful look you can't get on WM/BIO.

[Parabola]

Yup bio for moar damage and busy clickie playstyle, shield for less damage but more survivability, reliability and style (although there are some interesting looks you can create with bio).

 

Just wanted to add a note on your choice of primary. Fire melee should be the best set for all out offence, it's fire right? But sadly it isn't. It lacks aoe and even the single target isn't absolutely top tier. Added to the fact it adds no mitigation and has limited slotting options fire melee falls behind other sets. It's not terrible but it should be better.

 

Titan weapons is probably still the 'I only care about damage' set of choice? I don't get on with it myself so I'd probably go war mace though!

Edited November 18, 2021 by Parabola

[Bill Z Bubba]

1 hour ago, Parabola said:

I don't get on with it myself so I'd probably go war mace though!

 

My mace/bio scrapper dishes out some very healthy pylon times and AoE output ain't nowhere near shabby, either. Makes her even more fun that she's just a girl with a magic wrench.

[Parabola]

25 minutes ago, Bill Z Bubba said:

 

My mace/bio scrapper dishes out some very healthy pylon times and AoE output ain't nowhere near shabby, either. Makes her even more fun that she's just a girl with a magic wrench.

War mace is a great set. For all around performance between single target and aoe it's hard to beat. Shatter is a hugely efficient power as it sits in both attack chains. Clobber is devastating and crowd control has a massive arc that doesn't really require much in the way of lining up. And you get some mitigation and decent proc options including the all important ff+rech. The only downsides are a bit of a wait for the aoe and the end use which would be much less of an issue for a bio. I have quite a few mace wielders but not a mace/bio scrapper, might have to add it to the list.

[SomeGuy]

If OP wants to talk about primaries I can definitely go on about that...

 

But yeah, Fiery Melee is definitely not the best DPS set for ST or AOE.

[Atama]

My TW/Bio Scrapper is amazing.  It dishes out a lot of damage, TONS of it, and I pretty much never run out of Endurance.  I don't even pay attention to it.

 

Squishy, yes a bit, but there are a few emergency self-heals to help with that.  Health is maybe the one thing I have to watch somewhat, but it's not too bad.  It's far from the squishiest character I have; my Blasters are made of tissue paper after all.

 

The biggest problem for me, and it was more a problem earlier on, is how slow and clunky it can be.  The attacks have a long wind-up and long cooldown.  When you get more attacks and tools to maintain "momentum" (which reduces the wind-up for attacks) and are able to put Enhancements that reduce the CD for your attacks, it smooths out a lot.  I'm at the stage now where combat involves rotating through some nicely-animated strong hits.  And it's a good mix of ST/AoE;  pretty much 50/50.  This is by far my most favorite character to play.

[Bill Z Bubba]

1 minute ago, Atama said:

The biggest problem for me, and it was more a problem earlier on, is how slow and clunky it can be. 

 

Momentum is what keeps me away from TW. Bad enough I have to deal with two different animations for Energy Transfer, not about to deal with an entire set of that nonsense. And since Mace is close enough to TW on damage output... mace it was. Still might have to just get past it someday as I have a concept itch that demands a huge two-handed weapon.

[BrandX]

56 minutes ago, Bill Z Bubba said:

 

Momentum is what keeps me away from TW. Bad enough I have to deal with two different animations for Energy Transfer, not about to deal with an entire set of that nonsense. And since Mace is close enough to TW on damage output... mace it was. Still might have to just get past it someday as I have a concept itch that demands a huge two-handed weapon.

 

Have you played it since it was sped up?

[Bill Z Bubba]

4 minutes ago, BrandX said:

Have you played it since it was sped up?

 

Negative. I'll give it another try at some point. Realized last night that I never even got my dp/sr sent to 50 so I think I'll be working on her for a while first.

[Thrax]

On 11/18/2021 at 2:33 PM, Bill Z Bubba said:

 

Negative. I'll give it another try at some point. Realized last night that I never even got my dp/sr sent to 50 so I think I'll be working on her for a while first.

I have a dp/sr sent. It is a ton of fun. Sr is probably my favorite defense set and was my main on live. It is even better on a sentinel. And you can spam dp’s tier 9 in melee and never worry about dying. Also gives you a ton of slots for procs in attacks.