MA vs EM

[Thrax]

Is EM just better?  I thought about remaking my main from live, ma/sr, but seems like EM is just better.  Am I wrong here?

[SomeGuy]

51 minutes ago, Thrax said:

Am I wrong here?

 

Yup. You can't go around giving a BOOT TO THE HEAD with EM.

 

The two sets feel pretty different. One punches things with the power cosmic. The other deletes mobs with it's foot.

 

Numerically? EM cranks out better numbers ST wise. AOE? Pretty even. You aren't going to tell unless it's measured for ST or AOE.

 

MA is a fun set (to me). It has fun and fast animations and a chonky attack in there you want to use. EM is full of chonk (this can be a good thing). It's got two fast-ish attacks , a big chonk attack, and another fast OR chonky attack.

Edited June 19, 2022 by SomeGuy

[Stormwalker]

Numerically, EM is better.  But MA is not at all a bad set.

 

In terms of feel, they're so completely different that it's hard to compare them. 

 

MA is graceful and pretty and feels faster than it actually is, and hits like a truck. 

 

EM starts out quick and punchy (its starter attacks are pretty quick) but by the time you really build it out it's kind of slow (TF is really slow, and ET is REALLY slow except when it isn't) but hits like a freight train loaded with trucks..

 

Both are full of great superhero feel, but it's a very different feel.  Both sets are lacking in AoE but deal very strong single-target damage.  If you want to kick people in the face and look fancy, go MA.  If you want to smite things with the glowing pom-poms of mighty power, go EM.

 

I have two EM (a Scrapper and a Brute) and an MA  (Scrapper) and love all three of them.

[Haijinx]

MA exemplars better for ST. 

 

So if you are planning to do Ouro missions, etc, MA is better. 

 

The KD on Dragon's Tail is probably superior to Whirlings hands Disorient, and it animates faster.  

 

For Brutes and Tankers there are some Def advantages.  

 

Rule of cool animate stuff. 

 

Other than that EM is much better. 

[Thrax]

I should have specified numerically. Obviously they have different animations.  

[Stormwalker]

7 hours ago, Thrax said:

I should have specified numerically. Obviously they have different animations.  

 

EM is superior in terms of raw single-target DPS (EM is very probably the #1 scrapper primary in terms of raw single-target DPS, after all), but the difference is not that large.

 

The animations are not without gameplay effect, depending on what secondary you choose.  If you are going with the typical Long ET -> TF -> Short ET -> BS -> <gap filler of choice> Scrapper EM rotation, there is a long stretch at the start of that attack chain when you are stuck in long animations which leave you pretty vulnerable; if you are using a clicky secondary, this is not an insignificant factor as you run the risk of needing to click a heal and not being able to because you are stuck in a long animation.  EM actually takes this risk a step further because Energy Transfer costs you HP every time you use it, and yes, it can kill you if you are at low enough HP when you use it.

 

MA only has one really long animation you need to be concerned with, so this is less of a risk there.

 

But if you absolutely want the biggest numbers, you want EM.

[SomeGuy]

9 hours ago, Thrax said:

I should have specified numerically. Obviously they have different animations.  

 

Raw numbers with DPS performance? EM. ST is EM. AOE? Not sure. Could be even.

 

Edited June 20, 2022 by SomeGuy

[ScarySai]

Em trashes martial in pretty much any situation. Shame the eagles claw change never made it past beta.

[Thrax]

Yeah st is better and aoe is a draw or better if you bother with ea second aoe which does suck. Basically they only reason to take ma is for the animations.  Which sucks. But it was always the red headed step child on live. Just not doing it again after a ma/sr main for whole time I played on live. The stuns came in handy in pvp but that was before this.