How to Drive an Angel Hornet – EnM/EnA Hardmode Scrapper

[Linea]

How to Drive an Angel Hornet – EnM/EnA Hardmode Scrapper

• I should note that you do not need to be nearly as durable as any of my builds for standard teams in standard content.  I play almost exclusively in Hard Mode Content and 801.  The average player on the average team will most likely benefit more from an offensive proc build, than a Heavy Armor build.
• I get asked about my builds somewhat frequently.  Usually asking how I’m so durable, or sometimes asking why a mirror or similar build doesn’t perform as well.  So I thought I would finally sit down and make a few notes on my builds and playstyle.
  • The primary answer is that I’m not that durable, it’s just an illusion.  I don’t have to outrun the bear, I only have to outrun you, and I only have to outrun you until the bear catches you.  
  • The better answer is my builds perform in waves, with peaks and valleys.  I try to synchronize the peaks to when I need them most, while attempting to minimize exposure during the valleys.

 

Rune/Hybrid/Rune/Demonic/Wedding Band/Kitchen Sink

• Once upon a time this was effectively perma.  Now the gaps are a bit more prevalent, but can still be patched up fairly well with Demonic, Wedding Band, Phase Shift, Inspirations, and/or other temps.  Note: Demonic is an accolade and is therefore available in Hard-Mode.
• Tier 9 Armor Synchronization.  I try to synchronize Ageless Radial +DDR with Overload and Rune.  Then follow with Hybrid.  If you pre-sync Ageless, then you can align and mitigate the crashes as well.  Then follow with Rune, Demonic, etc., during the crashes.

 

Additional Armor

• This will mostly be a small orange for extra resist and rdr here and there to counter debuffs, or a Kinetic Dampener for E resists and SL defense to help counter defense debuffs or enemy buffs.  But you also have Wedding_Band, Base Buffs, Amplifiers, Combat Shield, and many other Temps and Accolades to help with extreme situations.
• You can also Triple Stack Energy Drain and Shadow Meld as noted below, and put them on top of Full Tier 9 Synchronized Armors for pushing extremely high defense vs some of the more severe Hard Mode situations.

 

Tier 9 Armor Crashes

• The best way to deal with crashes is to back off, use Energize, Recovery Serum, Ageless.  Then ease back into the edges of the fight with Energy Drain and Shadow_Meld.  If you’re facing a tad more pressure spin up Rune, Hybrid, Wedding Band, or Oranges.  If it’s extreme, then maybe Dual Def/Res Inpsirations. If it’s completely bonkers, you add in more tools from below.
• Demonic – Demonic is an accolade, so it works even on master and hardmode 4 settings.  This lets you bridge 2 x 3m full armor syncs together for 6.5 to 7.0m of pure offense.   The duration varies due to crash timing.  However, you can greatly stack crash timing in your favor by using Energize and Recovery Serum right before the crash.  This doubles your odds of not having to toggle everything back up.
• Triple Stacked Energy_Drain and Shadow_Meld – If you’re heading into a crash and Demonic is down, you can (triple stack Energy_Drain for about 17 defense), and (Shadowmeld for another 30 defense with 50/50 uptime).  If you’ve synced your Ageless DDR you can also use that for maximizing DDR. Now all you have to do is deal with resistance Either with Wedding_Band or Inspirations.
• Phase Shift – If you’re facing a severe crash and excessive pressure then you can Energize, Recovery Serum, Phase, Ageless, Toggle Back up and then pull up Demonic, Inspirations, Temps, or all of the above, to come back into the fight at full power.  30 to 60s later all your T9s should be up and ready to resync.

Active Combat Numbers

(Simulated to save time, in some cases the other various powers are recharged, but there are combat states where this isn't the case.)

 

Standard Loadout, Getting Ready to Sync and Dive in.   -   If you presync ageless it refreshes with Hybrid and syncs with your crash.   If you start with Rune, then Rune becomes your crash timer and you'll KNOW when the crash is coming +/- 1 second.   Also, if you start with Rune, you have Rune/Hybrid/(Rune and Crash) so Rune is covering your crash if Demonic and/or Wedding band isn't.  If you are using Rune as a timer, then you can also time Triple ED, and then right before the crash (Energize, Recovery Serum, ShadowMeld), such that the crash happens while ShadowMeld is animating, giving you maximum defense layered with tail end Rune resists to cover while you toggle back up, if toggling is needed.  You can also Phase Shift instead for a simpler approach, but that also locks out offense that might be critical in some situations.

 

Synced Rune Armor - This is my bread and butter, and the primary concept behind the build.

 

*** Synced Hybrid Triple ED SM *** - This is (almost) the top of the Performance Peak.  The only time you'd need this is Hard Mode or Other Enemies with Extreme Buffs.  I've had to use this level of Armor, but it's very rare, and the extra animation time will dip into your offense.  .... If you want to get really insane, you can stack in Demonic, Inspirations, Wedding Band, etc for even more craziness, and just hardcap everything. 🙄

 

Demonic Triple ED SM Transition

 

Synced Rune Armor with some Leftover ED from the Transition.  The latter will expire soon.

 

Tail End Rune Triple ED SM Transition

 

Triple ED SM Transition.  - (Simulated to save time, yes in this actual case the T9s are recharged, but there's a transition when they are not.)

 

Triple ED Transition after SM and everything else has failed.  Unless I fumble a crash, this is typically the bottom of the performance valley.  - (Simulated to save time, yes in this actual case the T9s are recharged, but there's a transition when they are not.)

 

 

 

Edited June 20, 2022 by Linea

[SomeGuy]

Wait, you are saying if someone copies your build down to the letter they might not get the performance out of it you do? You can't just slap anyone in a LeMan's level vehicle and get LeMan's quality driver performance out of it? /s

 

Also, does the F in 801.F stand for "lol your F'ed"?

[InvaderStych]

Wait.

 

Are you actually getting that Carnie Lore pet to cast Forge and whatever her heal is called?

 

Because mine just stands around watching TikTok on her phone and checking her nails.

 

Joking aside, surprised to see you're using Carnies.  Unless it's just for the DRM pet, because she shreds hard targets nicely.

 

I'm completely serious about mine (the support pet) being nearly completely inactive (Kad/Rad scrapper).  I've had teammates comment on her inactivity.

 

 

Edited June 8, 2022 by InvaderStych

[Linea]

1 hour ago, InvaderStych said:

surprised to see you're using Carnies

This is what happens when you mix roleplaying, character stories, and powergaming.

 

"We might not approve of everything Sissy does, nor approve of all of her friends, but she is OUR Sissy damnit and they ARE her Fiends, uh Friends." - Angel Hornet

 

One of Angel's sisters is a Carnie, so I use a lot of Carnie pets, just because.  The other half of my characters frequently have IDF, just because.  Just as I have more Katana and Dual Pistols than all other attack sets combined, I also have more Carnies and IDF than all others combined.  Bots are probably third on that list, simply because they are 'well behaved'.  'Well Behaved' goes a long way when pets are frequently otherwise insta-squished.

 

Yes, the Dark Ring Mistress is nice vs those T9 Armors and certain other hard targets.  There probably are better choices, but I just really like the carnies. 

Yes, the Support does work, but you have to keep her close, and let her pre-cast the buffs before combat works best.  Her recharges are terribly long, so it's probably just that.  A Player with the same powers would have them recharged 3x or 4x more often.  I also toggle her modes sometimes to make her twitch and be more useful.  Toggle Attack Aggressive then toggle back to Defense Follow. 

 

 

  

10 hours ago, SomeGuy said:

Also, does the F in 801.F stand for "lol your F'ed"?

We ran a spontaneous semi-random successful 801.F just a week or two ago.  Half the team was from channel, the other half random LFG, but the team came together exceptionally well, so we got crazy and tried F, and pulled it off.  F is hex for 15, Difficulty 15 of 15.

Edited June 8, 2022 by Linea

[InvaderStych]

2 hours ago, Linea said:

This is what happens when you mix roleplaying, character stories, and powergaming.

 

I can dig it.  If I am honest I didn't really think about Lore when reading your builds.  Don't see Carnies very often though.

 

2 hours ago, Linea said:

Bots are probably third on that list, simply because they are 'well behaved'.  'Well Behaved' goes a long way when pets are frequently otherwise insta-squished.

 

Which Bots?  I took the Drones on a Psi/SD scrapper and they're quite nicely behaved.  Spawning them behind a target keeps the Assault drone out of its LoS and Shield Drone keeps the shields up nicely.  They seem to follow close due to the whole "orbiting drone" shtick.

 

2 hours ago, Linea said:

I also toggle her modes sometimes to make her twitch and be more useful.  Toggle Attack Aggressive then toggle back to Defense Follow. 

 

Hmm.  I should probably try that with the Carnies.  Little reminders, like flicking a pebble at her head from time to time.  😄

[Lanark1027]

Hey Linea!

 

I've been playing around with this build, trying to see how high I can climb up the 801 ladder solo. I can sometimes handle 801.2 +4/8, but I have to play it almost perfectly. If I agro a second group things go south quick!

 

I'm curious, what incarnate powers are you using on the 801 missions? Ageless Radial for the DDR I assume, but what about for Alpha/Interface/Hybrid?

[Linea]

It varies.  Usually Carnies.  Ageless +ddr, but sometimes barrier radial Resurrect x 2, if the team has +recovery to cover my crashes.  Probably Agility, but I have a few more crafted that I use as needed.  Degen usually, but I probably have reactive too.  Almost always Void -damage, but sometimes I'll have pyronic or ionic.   Almost always Hybrid Melee Core, but I so sometimes use Incandescent or others.

[Lanark1027]

Yeah I'm definitely beginning to realize how useful the Radial Barrier is for hard mode content. The rest is pretty much in line with what I assumed, thanks for the info!

[Linea]

This subject comes up from time to time.  "I'm a tank and I have better stats than you, how do you not die?"

The short answer is that Angel plays 4 dimensional chess.  So long as she doesn't blink AND doesn't make even one tiny mistake, she lives.

 

I thought maybe graphing stats over time would help, but, ... The analysis didn't turn out well.  It's such a complex question.  You'd really need a couple dozen of these, and I don't have that many dozen free hours, so you get one.

 

[Linea]

To continue further down this path ...

 

Edited April 4 by Linea