Worst builds?

[Knightward]

If you don't count deliberate bad builds like 6-slotted Brawl, the worst would probably be two end-guzzling powersets. Like, say, Titan Weapons is super awesome but it would be terrible paired with Dark Armor.

Last night I did a LGTF with a titan/dark armor brute....

 

.... on my broadsword/dark armor scrapper.

[Zumberge]

If you don't count deliberate bad builds like 6-slotted Brawl, the worst would probably be two end-guzzling powersets. Like, say, Titan Weapons is super awesome but it would be terrible paired with Dark Armor.

Last night I did a LGTF with a titan/dark armor brute....

 

.... on my broadsword/dark armor scrapper.

 

If it matches the concept, it's not impossible to play Titan/Dark.  It's impossible to make the character anything else.

[Knightward]

Yeah, the tricky thing with finding the "worst" powerset combo is that depending on how you build it, and especially how you slot it and the IO sets you use, you can get around the major issues with those powersets.

 

Again with end-guzzling powersets and my broadsword/dark armor scrapper, thanks to set bonuses and accolades I have 123 endurance on him and a ton of recovery. Blue insps have gone from being mandatory to worthless.

[Razor Cure]

I made a petless MM on Virtue, after the Shutdown came out, and lots of people had left. Just for the hell of it. Demons/Time. All whip attacks, all Time, leadership, spring attack, a few epic Attacks. I wont claim I had amazing damage, but I DID have a heap of team support powers (obviously due to the time, not Pet set..).

I recall doing a Morty Kal TF with a pug. We get to teh last mission, and a guy is like..'aren't you gonna summon pets before we go in??'

Then when I explained I had none...he couldn't believe it. Couldn't believe the fact that I was still super useful, without pets (and perhaps a bit that I didn't take them at all).

 

Also agree with the Necro Posion MM as just..bad and painful. Got mine to 50s, decent IOs, and it still felt like a victory (and NOT in a good way) to just manage to kill 1LB Null and 3 Minions, without all my pets dying. Just utterly useless. Granted, that was before the Poison changes, but I still would never make necro or poison on an MM again.

 

In a similar theme to that Kin with no SB/FS..played with a rad fender last night. +4 team..so they were +5 to me and him! He was rad/rad..and I notice he isnt using his toggle debuffs, at all. Just the choking cloud (cause that's gonna hold +5s a long time).

So I ask him why he didnt just make a blaster.

the reply...Cause they I couldn't be as awesome as this! (while doing about 50 damage per attack, at most).

I say..as awesome a a rad fender who doesn't use debuffs..?

Him..yeah dude, we are steamrolling so fast, we dont need em! (it was literally take over FIVE minutes per mob. The speed of a steamroller indeed..)

 

I think that is even worse. Having a good build and NOT using the powers. Not because you didnt take them or ignorance. But because you think you are too awesome to actually need to use them.

[mikeywyatt91]

On 6/5/2019 at 7:43 PM, jubakumbi said:

Energy Blast/Kinetics or Kin/EB...

 

I mean, I love me some chaos and KB, but I tried this one and even I have my masochistic limits...

My favourite thing in the game is when I'm about to fire off Transfusion/Transference and someone knocks my target to the other end of the map.

[jubakumbi]

48 minutes ago, mikeywyatt91 said:

My favourite thing in the game is when I'm about to fire off Transfusion/Transference and someone knocks my target to the other end of the map.

That happens.

But when you do that, to yourself, all the time...yeah, that's just...yeah.

With the KB -> KD I might try it again though, I liked the character concept....

[Ironblade]

I came across this back when the game was still active.  I don't recall where I found it or who created it.

 

 

TOGGLE MAN!

 

I would like to tell you about a friend of mine. His name is Toggle Man, and he has come to town to show you how things are done.

 

Toggle Man is a Spines/Dark Armor Scrapper. But not a wuss about it, like all those other Spines/Dark Armor Scrappers. He took Lunge, because he had to. And he took Quills, because it's a Toggle, and he's Toggle Man. But as far as he's concerned, you can take the rest of those powers to the DUMP where they BELONG.

 

Oh, that's right. Toggle Man went there.  He went there, came back, and brought you a T-Shirt.  It says "I'm with Toggle Man, so you'd better Toggle On some RESPECT!"

 

Toggle Man took seven of the nine powers in Dark Armor. Can you guess which ones? Toggle Man does not need to rez.  Toggle man thinks self-heals are for little girls and communists. Toggle Man does not hurt. Toggle Man does not die.  Toggle Man runs Toggles. Eight of them, so far.

 

Nine. Sprint. Toggle Man is not such a connoisseur of toggles that he'd forget the granddaddy of 'em all.  Toggle Man runs Sprint all the time. Because Toggle Man knows what's up. Toggle Man wishes he could run all four Veteran sprints too, at the same time. But we try not to remind him of it... Toggle Man dies a little inside every time he thinks about a Toggle he can't run...

 

Don't cry for Toggle Man. He needs you to be strong. He needs you to Toggle On your Brave Face for him, ok? Ok.

 

Toggle Man likes the Leadership Pool. But not Vengeance. Even though Toggle Man's weak and puny allies are constantly kissing the floorboards around him, Toggle Man will not lower himself to use a Click power on their greasy carcasses. Because he's Toggle Man, and his job is to run Toggles, in case you hadn't heard.

 

Toggle Man likes the Leaping Pool. He likes it so much, he compromised and took Jump Kick! Mostly because Combat Jumping and Super Jumping wouldn't work together, and Toggle Man is unhappy when he has to choose between two toggles. Toggle Man took Acrobatics, because NOBODY pushes Toggle Man around.  Are you looking at Toggle Man funny? I didn't think so. Punk. You'd best run home to your Mommy and Toggle On a pair of dry underpants. Oh, Snap!

 

Toggle Man also likes the Speed pool. But not Hasten. Toggle Man's Toggles are always on, and that ain't changing. So who cares when they recover? Not Toggle Man, that's for sure! Toggle Man loves Super Speed and Whirlwind, and he runs them all the time. Sometimes Toggle Man's friends get frustrated, and say, "Toggle Man, could you stop super speeding around, knocking all the guys all over the place?" and Toggle Man, he says "Sure, as soon as you stop BREATHING!" Toggle Man is not gonna keep quiet while suckas be dissin' on his Toggles.

 

Toggle Man likes Tough and Weave! Enough to take Boxing, even! Oh my gosh, Toggle Man has an "Attack Chain" now! But he doesn't use it, because he's not a wuss. He's Toggle Man, and his Toggles are good enough, thank you very much.

 

Toggle Man likes Focused Accuracy. Take that, Stalkers! Toggle Man is watching! Toggle Man isn't going to take any crap from you! Toggle Man also took Conserve Power, which isn't a Toggle, but he sets it on auto and pretends that it is. Awwww yeeeaah. Toggle Man is all about conservation. Toggle Man wishes he could Toggle the Ozone Layer back on, but he can't. Because of the restraining order.

 

Toggle Man loves Toggles so much, he didn't even take a power at 49, because he couldn't find any more Toggles. He is thinking about Confront, though, because he's sick of all these pansies seeing him coming and saying "Oh, crap! It's Toggle Man! We'd best run!" Well not any more, punk! Toggle Man is comin' to get'cha!

 

Toggle Man goes through endurance 8 times faster than he recovers it. Toggle Man can only actually finish turning all his Toggles on before his blue bar empties out, if he turns on Rest first, and that makes Toggle Man uncomfortable even if Rest is a Toggle too. Toggle Man wants to know if he can mooch a couple blues?

 

No? That's cool. Toggle Man doesn't trust inspirations anyway. Since they're not, you know, Toggles. What's up with that? Why all the inspirations got to be Clicks, yo? That is whack.

 

Toggle Man. Coming soon to a Test Server near you.

Edited July 26, 2019 by Ironblade

[Yoru-hime]

I remember back around Issue 5 my Emp/Elec defender wasn't completely unplayable, but he felt pretty darned close. He could contribute to teams with his Emp skills, but even firing off his feeble attacks I felt like my only value was as a heal-bot. And solo was a nightmare. His damage was trivial and his endurance sapping was too weak to empty the bar and do any meaningful good. Don't think I got him much past 20. Maybe if I'd gone farther, his sapping might have started to shine, but I just wasn't having fun with him.

[Heraclea]

Energy Melee/Regen brute would be pretty bad.  Take the worst attack set in the game, whose only semi-worthwhile powers lock you into five second animations, and pair it with a defense set that basically starts at zero and relies entirely on click powers for survivability. 

 

I had a Fire/Energy Melee tanker back in the day, rolled during i2 if I recall rightly.  Definitely before power customization, because a chief motivation of the power choices was that they looked good together out of the box.  She was stripped of enhancements and exiled to a seldom visited server. 

[Zepp]

On 6/5/2019 at 7:13 AM, doc_miller said:

Petless MM.

When there is a whip set that does not require you to be a MM, I may consider endorsing this...

Also, proof to the contrary...

On 6/19/2019 at 2:27 PM, Razor Cure said:

I made a petless MM on Virtue, after the Shutdown came out, and lots of people had left. Just for the hell of it. Demons/Time. All whip attacks, all Time, leadership, spring attack, a few epic Attacks. I wont claim I had amazing damage, but I DID have a heap of team support powers (obviously due to the time, not Pet set..).

I recall doing a Morty Kal TF with a pug. We get to the last mission, and a guy is like..'aren't you gonna summon pets before we go in??'

Then when I explained I had none...he couldn't believe it. Couldn't believe the fact that I was still super useful, without pets (and perhaps a bit that I didn't take them at all).

Edited July 27, 2019 by Zepp

[Zepp]

Any build with Storm played by someone that doesn't know how to use Storm... (it is one of the best power sets out there, but it does require actual skill and reasoned application).

Edited July 27, 2019 by Zepp

[Oubliette_Red]

Healer - Emp/minimal secondary attacks. This game does not need or require healbotz to play.

[Nericus]

To me term worst build is relative as one person's trash is another's treasure. Someone may not like a power set combo, others may think it's the best.

 

The worst build on any character is a build where the person is faceplanting every few minutes

[HelenCarnate]

16 minutes ago, Nericus said:

To me term worst build is relative as one person's trash is another's treasure. Someone may not like a power set combo, others may think it's the best.

 

The worst build on any character is a build where the person is faceplanting every few minutes

So most blasters that I play before Epic/Patron and IOsets.

[Primantis]

4 hours ago, Ironblade said:

I came across this back when the game was still active.  I don't recall where I found it or who created it.

 

 

TOGGLE MAN!

 

*Snippet*

A freaking blast from the past, holy cow!

Thanks for that xD

 

I do wonder, with IOs etc. If it would be possible to make a modernized Toggle Man that didn't go "OOM" in 5 seconds. xD

Edited July 27, 2019 by Primantis

[Vanden]

5 minutes ago, Primantis said:

A freaking blast from the past, holy cow!

Thanks for that xD

 

I do wonder, with IOs etc. If it would be possible to make a modernized Toggle Man that didn't go "OOM" in 5 seconds. xD

I think Toggle Man predates inherent Stamina, so it would probably be possible.

[pattycake]

An awesome bad build to play, just fighting. Boxing/crosspunch/kick.

 

Most fun to play on Tanker.

 

Personal rules: Can only take taunt + defensive pp.

 

You’ll still be able to perform viably in your role while performing mediocre damage (since ST needs to be considerably higher than AoE, but damage is still damage)

 

I tested this out, turns out youL deal just enough damage to keep aggro on mobs +2 and struggle at +4 due to your semi high activation speed.

 

recommend this.

 

Oh and mind control in my opinion is the Best worst set in the game. Don’t hate on me :P

[Omega-202]

I nominate my first 50 (i2) back on live: Energy/Fire blaster.  Energy blast is all about the knockback and /Fire is all about the melee AoE damage.  There's literally anti-synergy in the two sets.  Not to mention the fact that Energy is generally an underperforming set to start with.  In the end, the best version of him i could come up with was a /Fire blapper who took all of the secondary powers and almost none of the primary.  Had to run Phoenix in my APP because I died so much.  

[Moka]

Petless Merc/Sonic MM go.

[Li_Sensei]

32 minutes ago, Krimson said:

Back in the day I played an Illusion/FF controller. I could only play on a team. Sure, I could take down entire mobs... eventually. 

While not necessarily in even the same ballpark as Illusion/FF, my first controller to 50 back on live (and is going to be the same on HC) is a Fire/FF.

 

She's currently at 43-44 and on a team is absurdly powerful.  But that's mainly down to how utterly broken Bonfire is with a KB-KD IO in it.

 

My most 'useless' build was my Bots/Traps MM.

 

"But that's one of the best pairings!" you say.

 

Not when you make it non-Fitness.   From Issue 6 until Issue 19.  And try to run Leadership Toggles.  And Scorpion Shield.  And actually take part in missions using webnades and Web Envelope constantly.

 

Sooo many End Cost SO's...

 

Even once Inherent Fitness rolled round and I HAD to have Stamina, blue was a limited resource.

 

I mean it's not like I missed having recharge in Triage, Poison Gas Trap and Acid Mortar, because on a team, by the time you've placed the three of them down, the fight (and the rest of the team) is three spawns down the corridor and accelerating... <sigh>

[Lusiphur Malache]

I read interviews of the early cryptic testing where there weren't powersets and testers gimped themselves picking  and slotting.  That is something I would like to see.

 

I think not taking a travel power could severely handicap a toon

 

 

[Marine X]

On 7/26/2019 at 5:37 PM, Ironblade said:

TOGGLE MAN!

That is fantastic, thanks for sharing it.

[Zumberge]

5 minutes ago, Darkesyde said:

I read interviews of the early cryptic testing where there weren't powersets and testers gimped themselves picking  and slotting.  That is something I would like to see.

 

I think not taking a travel power could severely handicap a toon

 

 

My memory is kind of hazy on the matter but I think that's what Champions Online did, if not something like it, in the early days.  They shifted to an Archetype system with a premium Free Form option, which says a bit about how it turned out.  Sometimes you need to do things to protect players from themselves, which sounds kind of demeaning to players but there's a lot of us and we're at least partly unpredictable so the odds that we do something that at least one developer thinks we wouldn't do because it's stupid, either by accident or deliberately trying, are very real.

 

There's a bunch of safety nets when it comes to not having a travel power (Posi 1, early Mayhem/Safeguard missions, P2W) to the point where you probably could do without one.  Or just have things like Bio Armor on Sentinels, which when combined with Sprint can give you a base movement speed higher than Superjump or Fly.

[Justisaur]

My bane almost feels like toggle man - I at one time had all 6 TT/leadership powers, tough, weave, the stealth, ninja run and sprint going.  If you throw in the shield pet I'd have a full bar of toggles going.  I dropped the second tactics and cardiac lets me have no end problems.

 

I'd agree with calling for 'bad powerset combos' anyone can gimp themselves. 

 

The worst thing I ever played was an ff/energy defender on live, I only made it to level 6.  I had to solo because every time I joined a team they'd kick me.   I remade this guy a few days ago as a self challenge, he's not quite so bad now, I just soloed him up to 16 or so vs. low level bosses in AE as I was playing at an odd hour when there weren't any DFBs going on (insane right?) I imagine with some Kb-Kd in the right powers he'd even be fairly group friendly.  

 

Necro/pain MM on live was another, I actually found it enjoyable though, I probably didn't make it past about 15 and even that took a long time.  Really necro goes much better with dark, and I've read some pretty good things about thugs/pain, but necro/pain just doesn't work well even if it looks fun. 

 

Fire/Dev blaster on live again.  Just the constant faceplanting, it was quite fun again, but faceplanting.  I actually enjoyed this character too, but I found it too frustrating to have all this damage, but can't use it, so you might as well be something else that did less damage but could use it.

 

Healing focused sets, I've tried pain, and empathy more than once - I just felt useless if there wasn't anyone to heal, then also useless when I failed to be able to heal fast enough to prevent people dying. 

[Alty]

I played a petless Mastermind on live, it's really not that bad. I was a Necro/Poison.  There really aren't any 'worst builds' in the game. Just players who haven't mastered a specific combo yet.  Wasn't there a whole thread on the public/live forums about playing with just Training Origin IOs or, no enhancements at all? 

It is entirely possible to play the game to 50 with empty slots and without travel powers on a petless mastermind.  The game is great that it doesn't require heavy min/maxing at all to have fun and complete things. 

Edited August 2, 2019 by Alty