Builds are useless (to me)

[jubakumbi]

THIS is the kind of information I find most useful.  Even with XP bonuses, 50 is a long haul. I want to know how the powers play leveling and what the strengths and weaknesses are of a powerset combo.

 

Builds are great, the gods know I need help slotting enhancements. But I have to get to 50 before I can worry about final slots.

 

I understand.

IME, I simply cannot trust that this same player is not ignoring/bemoaning a better/more fun for you power that you might never give a try, because they did not know how to use it right, did not like the animation, etc.

 

Right now, look at most any X/Y combo thread on any AT, you will find powers and powersets that one person calls bad/good when nothing supports the argument other than "I don't like it/I like it", no data, nothing.

[JusticeBowler]

Right now, look at most any X/Y combo thread on any AT, you will find powers and powersets that one person calls bad/good when nothing supports the argument other than "I don't like it/I like it", no data, nothing.

 

Now THAT is even more annoying than the Hero Planner Purple People Eaters.

 

I'm done explaining to people that Ice Blast isn't underpowered. They refuse to be convinced by maths or real play examples. They don't want to be. Time to move on.

[WanderingAries]

Most people are really only concerned with post-50 IO-ed builds, when they're posting those.

 

Sure, what you do while leveling is often different. But we get a million respecs, so easy to change after you hit 50.

 

Then I've always been in the minority here as I loosely create builds for the sole purpose of trying to remember the order in which I meant to take a power. Now granted I'm no where Near understanding how the various types of Enh will help me or which ones I should get when (I generally start with gen and move to gen IOs), but the basic template helps enormously. I've actually ended up wasting Freespects because I forgot to check my build and messed up things.

 

Now slotting is a totally different beast from choosing powers, but that's what respecs are for.

[Redlynne]

Hmmm ... I heard my name being taken in vain.

Now who would have the temerity to do such a thin-

 

You know who does as good a job as I've seen? Redlynne. But Redlynne can also take weeks to get a build perfected. Very few people are willing to put in the time and understand the underlying mechanics as well as the tactical interplays between sets.

 

Let's be honest with ourselves about this kind of topic/subject.

Not only do you need to Know Things™ about the build that you're describing ... you also need to take the effort to explain them in an accessible way such that people who aren't totally immersed in everything that you're doing (and thus who need NO explanation whatsoever) will be able to grok where you're coming from with what you're doing in your build posts.  You basically have to go out of your way to INSTRUCT your audience/peers while at the same time SHARING your insights and wisdom earned/gleaned/stolen/theorized so as to persuade people that "y'know, there might be some There There" enough to pique their interest into trying your ideas themselves to see if they have merit.

 

That's basically what I try to do with my build posts.  It's not just about the individual pieces (take this power, slot it with these enhancements, etc.) but also about the holistic Bringing It All Together into a unified whole of performance ... while at the same time trying to make obvious/accessible WHY you make the choices that you do, and how those choices inter(re)act with all the other choices that you made in the build to yield something where The Sum Is Greater Than The Parts ... but in order to do that, you need to explain WHY and not just WHAT.  All too often, that explanation is lacking, because it takes a lot of time, effort (and, let's be honest, pontificating) to lay out all of those extra bits of trickery involved in a particular build that give it not only an "edge" (if you will) but also a unifying sense of "character" for how it both can and "ought to" be played ... and why those schemes ought to be successful.

 

I get it that there's a sense of "well if I give ALL my secrets away, then anyone else could be as awesome as I am!" when posting a build, resulting in a (perceived) loss of "specialness" in having and playing that build (exclusively).

I can honestly say that I've NEVER had that problem, in any of the MMORPGs that I've played.  That's mainly because I'm more inclined towards a Share The Wealth ethic with regards to the tribal knowledge of how to play the game, and what to build for in order to enjoy it, rather than taking the more selfish approach of

where hoarding knowledge so no one else can have it (but me) is the whole point.  That's why most of my posts read as a sort of How To for nifty things that I've found, which other people can benefit from.

 

One of my personal catch phrases, in real life(!), is ... Clues are not for everyone ... and some of us have more than our fair share.

I just prefer to have a policy of Pass It On rather than "hoarding" the clues that I have found, simply because you never know when that sharing will inspire someone else to greatness (too) ... and sometimes that can rebound to your own benefit in ways you'd never imagined.

 

 

 

I LOVED LOVED LOVED that recent post about a Master of Confusion build. That and Redlynne's NO GET HITSU revisit are in a completely different league than all the other builds I've read since Homecoming began. They are just on another level.

 

/end_sympathetic_rant

 

We make every pretense of competency around here ...  ^_~

 

 

 

And just in case anyone is desperate/bored/curious enough to want to peruse the builds I've posted, here's a list of them.

Yes, I am playing all of these builds on Everlasting.

Yes, it took me nearly all of the month of May to get them worked out into the form(s) posted in these forums.  I'd put them into my signature, but the 300 character limit kind of prevents me from exercising that option.

 

You're welcome ...

 

Soldier of Arachnos

• Huntsman (pre- and post- 24 branch leveling builds)

 

Kheldian

• Leveling Tri-Form Peacebringer
  
• Leveling Tri-Form Warshade

 

Mastermind

• Ninja/Time/Mace ... the Tankermindroller

 

Tanker

• Ice/Ice ... Inhales Aggro Like A Wind Tunnel
  
• SR/MA ... NO GET HITSU!!

 

Controller

• Mind/Time ... Never Saw You, Coming Or Going ...
  
• Gravity/Time ... Propelling The Future, NOW™

 

Defender

• Time/Dual Pistols/Dark "No Escape" Build

[Llewellyn Blackwell]

In the early days I  would always run the respec trials as soon as I was the right level and use the respec to fine tune a build, drop powers I hadnt liked try new things. usually Id have what I wanted pretty dialed in by the 3rd. And personally I never posted nor used others builds. And by the end times could completely plan out a build in my head right down to IO sets and slots per power the moment I made a character.

 

Its all about putting in the time. Once youve capped a few of every AT it just becomes a reflex in my experience.

[MunkiLord]

I think people are missing a huge point in posting builds and asking for advice, or even asking for a build, is to learn things about a set or powers that may not be obvious or easy to understand by playing it or just looking at raw numbers. It's rarely about someone asking others to make a decision for them, it's about gaining new insights or perspectives on a powerset combo so one has more information to make decisions that will benefit them the most.

 

I may not use a person's suggestion if it doesn't work for me, and they may not use my suggestion if it doesn't work for them. But by sharing our own views and discussing such topics we are enhancing our own knowledge on the subject. Other's opinions on builds are a tool to help me maximize my own fun, much like Pine's, or the forums, or Paragon Wiki.

[DSorrow]

Can't speak for anyone else, but for me at least planning the builds is part of the fun. I actually like tinkering with Mid's to see what a powerset combination can be stretched to and to me the cap potential of a build is one the main selling points along with the character concept. If I like the character concept and see something in the min/maxed build, it's actually very likely that it will see the light of day especially now that on Homecoming everything is relatively inexpensive.

 

That said, while leveling up I usually follow the 50 build loosely. I'll likely need an extra attack or two while leveling because I don't have the +Rech to run the attack chain I planned or I don't have enough endurance to run the additional toggle I picked from Fighting/Leadership. The leveling up part is basically experimenting so that I can adjust the min/maxed build to my preference: for example, if there's an attack whose animation I particularly dislike, I'll replace it with something else if possible.

 

As far as builds go, I never copy someone else's build directly because I like making my own, but every now and then I'll post my build to ask for feedback or check builds with the same powersets to get new ideas. Doing your own research and adapting the build to what you want it to do is usually the best pick: it increases the significance of the character because it's made by you, plus by making the build you actually learn things so you don't have to be begging for a build export every time you roll a new character.