What would be the best soloer from 1-50 blue-red-gold side? Using SOs only.

[KaizenSoze]

I know this question has been asked before, but since there have been a lot of good changes over the past year I thought I would ask again.

 

Money is not an issue, but you only get to use SOs. Best soloer from 1-50, not necessary the best soloer post 50, or the best build overall.

 

Do any of the new sets stand out for soloing? Or is it still the tried and true?

[SeraphimKensai]

Using SO's only, and SR Tank. You'd have your defenses softcapped on SO's ++ for sure, and something like Rad Melee would work well.

 

/Stone armor on a stalker is pretty awesome as well. I don't have experience using SO's only, but my IO'd version was tanking Bobcat and the Goliath War Walkers last night while the team fought Neuron. Yeah I know it was a really weird team composition a lot of them were underslotted and the invuln tank would only use hurl and then run away and use rest so I think he was high or something, so the fire tank tried to keep agro on the main target while I kept everything else reasonably busy (until the mastermind pets engaged the war walkers and got the team curb stomped).

Edited January 10, 2022 by SeraphimKensai

[Bill Z Bubba]

Agreed on an SR tank.

 

I'm gonna argue for Dark on the secondary. You won't need the tohit debuffs, but they'll help on the way to softcap. Siphon Life is the 2nd best attack in the set and will keep your HP topped off. Dark Consumption will be very helpful since you won't have any of the other available tools for end recovery.

[Bionic_Flea]

I recently leveled a rad/dark melee tank on SOs only and it was pretty smooth.   Once you get Beta Decay, that helps tremendously with your accuracy and recharge as well as stacking -tohit buffs with your dark attacks.  Two self heals, bonus regen and recovery, absorb, and decent resists.

[Vulpoid]

I agree with Dark Melee or Rad Melee and SR, but I think Tank solo would be a slow trip.
I would go scrapper to make the run at a pace that won't bore you.
Entirely solo, you might like a stalker even better. You can stealth if you choose.

How fast do you like to go?

[Apparition]

Yeah I would definitely advise against Tanker.  Just way too slow, IMO.  You would spend the first 30 levels or so whittling bad guys to death.

 

 I have started the same project, on a Staff/Stone Stalker.  Stealth, +def from Guarded Spin, decent AoE, AS helps with the poor single target damage from Staff, Staff is endurance friendly, Stone has a lot of utility baked in, and the Brimstone damage proc.

Edited January 10, 2022 by Apparition

[Ironblade]

I think we could give more informative answers if you told us at least a little about how you like to play.

Do you want to complete missions as fast as possible?

Do you like running solo at a larger team size so you can mow down groups of enemies?

Do you want to solo AV's and elite bosses or avoid them?

Are you okay with 'clicky' powersets or do you hate them?

 

Tanks have the best survivability but are slow when soloing.  Although I do find them fun to solo.  I've taken every tank armor set to level 50 at least once.  I've also taken every archetype to 50 except Sentinel (my first Sentinel is currently 37).

 

If I was going to make a new character to solo to 50, I'd probably go with a scrapper or brute.  My main/badger is a scrapper and I have a 50 brute also.  If you're not turning up the difficulty, any defense set is good enough.  If you don't want too much clicking or to worry about END issues, I like ice, SR and willpower.  Ice is a little clicky, with a heal and a defense and END boost.

 

My main is /regen but it's very clicky and a lot of people feel it underperforms.  Dark armor is strong, but END is an issue, especially if you won't have IO's.  Bio armor is good all around and lets you customize it on the fly with Adaptation.  Stone is strong, even before Granite, but a lot of people don't like the visual effects.  Shield gives you a fun attack in the armor set.  It also has good ally buffs but I guess that isn't applicable for a soloer.

 

Having said all that, once upon a time controllers were the main farmers.  Dominators give you control and a damage secondary.  Do you like control powers?

 

I've taken multiple blasters to 50, but wouldn't recommend one for solo-only, especially without IO's.  I also wouldn't recommend any of the HEATs/VEATs unless you enjoy playing them.

[Ignatz the Insane]

If speed was a factor I'd probably go with a */Bio Scrapper or Brute.  If speed wasn't a factor, I'd agree that an SR Tank would be the safest and easiest.  I think a /Bio or /Regen Sentinel would be just fine as well.

[KaizenSoze]

37 minutes ago, Ironblade said:

Having said all that, once upon a time controllers were the main farmers.  Dominators give you control and a damage secondary.  Do you like control powers?

 

 

Honest I would try a few of the suggested builds on the beta server to see which suited me best.

 

Quote

I've taken multiple blasters to 50, but wouldn't recommend one for solo-only, especially without IO's.  I also wouldn't recommend any of the HEATs/VEATs unless you enjoy playing them.

Had to chuckle at this a bit, I am one of the resident VEAT nuts. 🙂

 

I recently leveled a Night Widow on SOs only. It was painful. But instructive.

[Bionic_Flea]

45 minutes ago, Apparition said:

Yeah I would definitely advise against Tanker.  Just way too slow, IMO.  You would spend the first 30 levels or so whittling bad guys to death.

 

That used to be true, but I think the recent upgrades to damage and AoE targets makes it a much better ride.  The tank may not be able to take out single targets as quickly, but I'll venture to say that it can handle and dispatch larger groups earlier and faster than other melees -- ON SO's ONLY.  Once you figure in scrapper and stalker ATOs it's game over in terms of clear speeds and damage.

[Troo]

best soloer from 1-50 blue-red-gold side? Using SOs only

Melee -> Super Reflexes

Ranged -> Dark Miasma

[PeregrineFalcon]

An SR tank? SO's only? You all gotta be kidding me.   🤣

 

I remember the painful leveling experience my MA/SR Scrapper was, back on the retail servers. I loved the character, but her absolutely sucking wind by the end of every fight was the reason I started reading the forums in the first place. An SR tank would be worse. Slower and with even worse end problems because of the lower damage.

 

Remember that SOs only means no End Procs, no Miracle and/or Numina's +End, nothing. Try it. You'll love how your end bar disappears before the fight's even over. And yes, I do have an MA/SR Scrapper on Homecoming. And it's just as bad now as it was then.

 

SOs only your best bet is a something/Willpower Brute or Scrapper. Willpower is tough, on Scrappers, and you won't have to worry about endurance problems until you fight Super Stunners, Sappers and Carnies.

[PeregrineFalcon]

10 minutes ago, Bionic_Flea said:

The tank may not be able to take out single targets as quickly, but I'll venture to say that it can handle and dispatch larger groups earlier and faster than other melees -- ON SO's ONLY.

Wait, what? Do you guys even play the same game that I do?

 

My main is a tank. I also have other tanks, and brutes and scrappers. Most of my characters have either SOs or level 25 IOs (which are slightly weaker than +3 SOs). Tanks do not clear entire groups faster than Scrappers or Brutes. Faster than some Stalkers maybe, but my friend's Elec Sentinel clears spawns faster than my EM tank does.

 

Look, I know that a lot of ado had been made over the tank buffs and how it's unbalanced the game and etc, etc, etc. But the people who don't read the forums probably don't even know that tanks have been buffed. The "legendary tank buff" just really isn't that noticeable, and my tanks are not clearing entire spawns faster than Brutes or Scrappers.

[Bionic_Flea]

If most of your characters are either SO or level 25 IOs, then yes, we are playing a different game.  I stand by my statement.  Your experience may be different than mine.

[Without_Pause]

This actually depends on your intent. Are you soloing +0/x1 so you can do all the content in a single go with stopping? You want something with decent damage to get through each pack and move on. If you don't mind skipping mobs to further blow through content and keep XP low, that's where a Stalker shines. If you are just doing content to do content, Tanks can be better partly because they can take on larger mobs and since more inspirs drop, they can convert more of them to reds. In large enough mobs, Tanks target cap takes over. Damage type is also important. Soloing on my Rad/kat wasn't that great, but I switched to Rad/ice, and I'm happier. I think Dark/sr Scrapper would be the ideal unless you wanted to go Stalker partly because you get an end management power sooner versus a Tank. A Dark/sr Scrapper was the first build to 50 in a hardcore SG on live which I was in.

Edited January 10, 2022 by Without_Pause

[Greycat]

Well, there were several of  us doing this "plus some" on the "classic" path - as in, limiting our travel powers, picking some throwaways to simulate having to pick up fitness powers, etc.

 

"Best" is a really ... kind of vague request. What are you defining "best" as?

[KaizenSoze]

Thank you for the replies.

 

I like to ask open ended question on topics like the because the player base is endless creative comes up with suggestions I would have never thought of.

 

But I'll add a few constraints.

• I hate being mezzed. So, either mezz protection or so much defense that it rarely lands.
• I hate serious end hogs. If the build is sucking wind after fighting more than one mob at a time, then it's not for me.
  • Example, Night Widows on SOs. I won't bore you with the details, if you look up "Night Widow" in the Suggestions forum the painful story is there.
    • Short answer for the those interested. Widow claw attacks are crazy expensive, especially the AOEs.

Edited January 10, 2022 by KaizenSoze

[PeregrineFalcon]

51 minutes ago, Bionic_Flea said:

If most of your characters are either SO or level 25 IOs, then yes, we are playing a different game.  I stand by my statement.  Your experience may be different than mine.

That's exactly the entire point. The OP is specifically asking about SO ONLY BUILDS.

 

I play, as I said, mostly with SO only builds. And with SO only builds tanks do not clear spawns faster than brutes or scrappers.

 

1 minute ago, KaizenSoze said:

But I'll add a few constraints.

• I hate being mezzed. So, either mezz protection or so much defense that it really lands.
• I hate serious end hogs. If the build is sucking wind after fighting more than one mob at a time, then it's not for me.

I'll stick with my original suggestion. A Willpower Scrapper or Brute. You won't have problems with either mezz or endurance. In fact, unless you're fighting Super Stunners, Malta or Carnies, you pretty much won't have any problems at all under +2 x4.

 

As for your primary, I'd say that depends on what you want to play. Dark, Broadsword and Katana will make you tougher by handing out -ToHit (Dark) or +Defense (Broadsword and Katana)

 

Super Strength is great fun, but you're stuck with playing a brute then.

 

Martial Arts, Street Justice and Energy Melee are fun, but lack AoE, so you'll solo slower. Although EM is really a boss killer now that it's been fixed.

 

I don't know enough about the rest of the primaries to have a viable opinion.

.

Edited January 10, 2022 by PeregrineFalcon
added a response

[A Cat]

WP aside, Rad and Bio both get + recovery auto powers pretty early too. Bio's offensive adaptation may help further save end by killing faster or efficient adaption by just plain saving end. 

[Erratic1]

18 minutes ago, KaizenSoze said:

Example, Night Widows on SOs. I won't bore you with the details, if you look up "Night Widow" in the Suggestions forum the painful story is there.

 

That's odd...I do not recall my widow, Arachno Lad, being an endurance hog and he's all SO (well, basic IOs...Why keep paying for replacements?).

[Parabola]

I'd probably go with some kind of brute. Maybe staff/bio for the flexibility and they should work well together.

[Bionic_Flea]

Here's a link to my thread where I leveled a Rad/DM tank to 50 on SOs.  That's what I am basing my comments on.  I still have the SO only build, although I made a premium build for the second one.  If Peregrine or anyone wants to test my tank against any other SO Only brute, scrapper, or stalker at whatever level (via ouro), jest let me know and we can give it a try.  I'd be interested in the results.

 

 

[DreadShinobi]

22 minutes ago, PeregrineFalcon said:

That's exactly the entire point. The OP is specifically asking about SO ONLY BUILDS.

 

6 hours ago, KaizenSoze said:

Money is not an issue, but you only get to use SOs.

 

OP said SOs only, but also mentioned limitless funds, which means at a minimum p2w buff recovery serum will help immensely with any sets like tanker super reflexes with their blue bar. You can also invest relatively minimal funds by placing bids on the AH for larger sized inspirations to make use of.

 

Amplifiers can also put in a ton of work for SO-only, solo-only character performance. Let's take a look at what those amplifiers provide 

Offense - +15% dmg, +10% tohit, +15% rchg

Defense - +5% def-all, +7% resist-all, mag4 mez protection

Survival - +15% maxhp, +20% recovery, +40% regen

Which is to say not a minor stat bump at all, and quite significant when those bonuses are not being saturated in an IO build that may not need all of the above. 

 

SG base buffs would be available, highlighting at a minimum going for the recovery and recharge buffs, but also the mag 10 knockback protection that can be provided to any set without knockback protection to avoid the acrobatics power pick and endurance consumption of acrobatics. 

[Ignatz the Insane]

10 minutes ago, A Cat said:

WP aside, Rad and Bio both get + recovery auto powers pretty early too. Bio's offensive adaptation may help further save end by killing faster or efficient adaption by just plain saving end. 

Bio also gets Resist Slow and Resist End Drain early, and additional +End/+Recovery late.  My choice would be a Claws/Bio Scrapper.  

[Erratic1]

I noticed while playing my newish Elec/Stone brute (who is basic IOs only--same as SO only except I do not have to replace enhancements periodically) that she is flat on endurance consumption. She ends fights pretty much at full endurance. The endurance recovery from the primary along with 3 slots dedicated to Stamina and slotting each damaging power with 2 Endurance Reduction means she will sooner run out of health than endurance. I am not certain that would be the case with another primary powerset given Elec Melee does periodically leech endurance from foes you hit. 

 

Yeah, Lightning Rod on a brute is about as inferior a choice as you are going to get short of grabbing Shield Charge but Mud Pots and Brimstone provide a very nice shower of orange numbers and it is not like Lightning Rod doesn't knock things down.

 

 

26 minutes ago, A Cat said:

WP aside, Rad and Bio both get + recovery auto powers pretty early too. Bio's offensive adaptation may help further save end by killing faster or efficient adaption by just plain saving end. 

 

The real perk of Bio is it does everything--heal, recover endurance, boost damage, up health regeneration. There may be no wrong primary to pair with Bio, just lesser shades of, "CORRECT!"

 

 

Edited January 10, 2022 by Erratic1
typo