Help me find my Forever Scrapper Contest (part 1a of 4, Scrapper Primaries)!

[Yomo Kimyata]

Greetings!

 

I've been all scrappers all the time for a bit now, but I have yet to find *THE ONE* that makes me want to play it as my main forever.  Maybe it doesn't exist.  Or maybe I will find it with your help!

 

Over the next few months, I will test out eight new scrappers.  Eight different primaries.  Eight different secondaries.  There will be a bracket but only one will win.  And that one may or may not become *THE ONE* for me.  But some of you will earn yourselves some inf along the way if you so choose.

 

I foresee a many-step process:  choose eight primaries; choose eight secondaries; create a balanced set of eight characters; create a balanced bracket; level each one to 50; eliminate four; T4 each to alpha; eliminate 2; T4 each to all incarnates; choose a winner.

 

In this thread (part 1A), I ask you for your input on scrapper primaries.  Vote for (up to) eight of (in your opinion) your best scrapper primaries.  In return for your input, if you list your global name in the thread, I will send you an email with 50mm inf, no strings attached.  Here's your chance to lobby for your favorites!  Please note that there are only 20 choices available in a poll, so I did us all a favor by eliminating Kinetic Melee.

 

What am *I* looking for? 

 

I would like a scrapper that can run +3/x8 content solo at level 49 and +4/x8 at 50, not necessarily at zerg speeds, but not one that has to skip certain enemy groups or downgrade difficulty ratings.  I think that's probably a reasonable assumption with just about any scrapper.

 

I like having a good set of attacks, both single target and AoE.

 

I am not a fan of elemental weapon animations, but I can work past that.  

 

I am not a fan of attacks that have a flip in the animation, but I can work past that.

 

I would like to be able to reasonably take out any AVs I see by level 50 at the latest.

 

I am not concerned with *top* DPS chains or fastest pylon speeds.  Good enough is good enough.  

 

I'm a sucker for "non-traditional" things.  I like using mitigation techniques.  I like putting in untraditional procs that aren't all about damage all the time.

 

Most importantly, I want to have animations (and sounds, although I usually play muted) that I can stand to play to 50 and beyond.

 

Thank you for your input and thank you for voting.  If you want to vote and don't want inf, great!  If you want inf and don't want to vote, terrible!  But remember, this is not a cheerocracy.  I'm not necessarily going to pick the eight popular winners.  I will close this poll in a month, and I will post a poll for the secondaries soon(tm).

 

Happy hunting!

 

EDIT:  Here is where I'm keeping the global list for payouts.  If you are not on it and you want to be, let me know!

@TungstenShark, @Lady Grams, @Errants, @obsinious, @veloice, @valnara1, @nemu, (PAID)

 

Edited July 14, 2022 by Yomo Kimyata
I like editing.

[Lyrium]

I'm going to give a vote for DarkMelee/Shield here. I have breezed through different enemy types and the only one that made me stop and analyze what to do was DE (and only because the Guardian LT drops Quartz that makes them laugh at my defenses). It has everything. Good damage (soul drain rocks), aoe (shield charge!), some sustain, decent ST, a little self-heal incorporated in your attack chain, and your biggest ST attack makes them stop running

 

This is the build I'm playing right now:

Spoiler

 

This Hero build was built using Mids Reborn 3.2.17
https://github.com/LoadedCamel/MidsReborn

 

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Mutation Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Dark Melee
Secondary Power Set: Shield Defense
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Concealment
Power Pool: Speed
Ancillary Pool: Body Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Smite -- Hct-Dam%(A), Hct-Dmg/Rchg(3), Hct-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(43), Hct-Acc/Rchg(46), Hct-Dmg/EndRdx(46), TchofDth-Dam%(46)
Level 1: Deflection -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), Rct-Def(3), Rct-Def/EndRdx(5)
Level 2: Shadow Punch -- Mk'Bit-Acc/Dmg(A), Mk'Bit-Dmg/EndRdx(5), Mk'Bit-Dmg/Rchg(7), Mk'Bit-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(7), Mk'Bit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(9), Mk'Bit-Dam%(9)
Level 4: Battle Agility -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), Rct-ResDam%(13), Rct-Def(13), Rct-Def/EndRdx(15)
Level 6: Touch of Fear -- OvrFrc-Dam/KB(A), ScrDrv-Dam%(15), Obl-%Dam(17), GlmoftheA-Dam%(17), CldSns-%Dam(19), Obl-Acc/Rchg(19)
Level 8: True Grit -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(21), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(21), UnbGrd-Max HP%(23)
Level 10: Siphon Life -- SprCrtStr-Acc/Dmg(A), SprCrtStr-Dmg/Rchg(47), SprCrtStr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(48), SprCrtStr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(48), SprCrtStr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(48), SprCrtStr-Rchg/+50% Crit(49)
Level 12: Active Defense -- HO:Membr(A)
Level 14: Combat Jumping -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), Rct-Def(23), Rct-Def/EndRdx(25), Ksm-ToHit+(37)
Level 16: Against All Odds -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 18: Dark Consumption -- PwrTrns-EndMod(A), PwrTrns-Dam/Rech(25), PwrTrns-Dam/EndMod(27), PwrTrns-Dam/Acc/End(27), PwrTrns-Dam/Acc/Rech/End(29), PwrTrns-+Heal(29)
Level 20: Phalanx Fighting -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A)
Level 22: Boxing -- Mk'Bit-Acc/Dmg(A), Mk'Bit-Dmg/EndRdx(36), Mk'Bit-Dam%(36), Mk'Bit-Dmg/Rchg(37), Mk'Bit-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(39), Mk'Bit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(39)
Level 24: Tough -- Ags-ResDam(A), Ags-ResDam/EndRdx(31), Ags-ResDam/Rchg(31), Ags-EndRdx/Rchg(31), Ags-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(33), GldArm-3defTpProc(33)
Level 26: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(33), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(34)
Level 28: Soul Drain -- Erd-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), Erd-Dmg(34), Erd-Acc/Rchg(34), GssSynFr--Build%(37)
Level 30: Grant Cover -- ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(A)
Level 32: Infiltration -- Clr-Stlth(A), Clr-RunSpd(36)
Level 35: Conserve Power -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 38: Midnight Grasp -- SprScrStr-Acc/Dmg(A), SprScrStr-Dmg/Rchg(39), SprScrStr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(40), SprScrStr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(40), SprScrStr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(40), SprScrStr-Rchg/+Crit(42)
Level 41: Shield Charge -- SprAvl-Acc/Dmg(A), SprAvl-Dmg/EndRdx(42), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(42), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(43), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(43)
Level 44: Physical Perfection -- Prv-Absorb%(A), Prv-Heal(45), PrfShf-End%(45), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(45)
Level 47: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(47)
Level 49: One with the Shield -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A)
Level 1: Critical Hit 
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Swift -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Health -- Mrc-Rcvry+(A), Pnc-Heal/+End(11)
Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A), PrfShf-EndMod(11)
Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run 
Level 50: Musculature Core Paragon 
------------

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Once incarnated, with Ageless you may want to drop Body Mastery and pick either Fireball or Moonbeam (depending if you want more ST or more AoE). While levelling I used shadow maul since ToF was missing a lot due to no accuracy bonuses.

 

Dark Melee sounds/looks more like a melee wizard than a fighter. Very satisfying for me

Edited June 26, 2022 by Erhnam

[PainX]

as for general melee sets i picked claws/sav because i like them that being said they have next to no mitigation stone meets your criteria's better imo except for being muted problem is we are talking only primary Erhnam's build is a good example i dont like dark but i do like dark/shield

 

also about that build that you can pick MU if you want both gets a snipe and aoe AoE with 2 power picks oh and MU used to be bugged for scrapper the snipe did not work with the ATO 50% crit proc it does now was fixed it is only 2 powers to get an aoe and a snipe granted moobeam is slightly better and fireball is also but for me it is 2 powers vs 3 that sells MU

Edited June 26, 2022 by PainX

[TungstenShark]

Claws is going to get a ton of love (and rightfully so) as a fast blender. Katana is a wonderful set as well, with fast, smooth, hard-hitting attacks. Dark Melee provides the great -to hit debuff utility and a heal. I love War Mace for the simple attack chains you can manage (with enough recharge) with heavy, crunchy attacks. And Energy Melee is the premier single-target monster with passable AoE. Those would be my top 5 in some order.

 

I know you aren't there yet, but defensively as a Scrapper, you will get much more mileage out of a Defense set when he time comes due to lower hitpoints and lower resist caps. Super Reflexes, Shield and Energy Aura are all amazing choices in that regard, but not the only options - just the ones I enjoy most.

 

@TungstenShark

Edited June 26, 2022 by TungstenShark

[smnolimits42]

My Top 3 Scrappers:

 

1)  Tuffy Prophecy Gal: MA/Inv

 

2) Cave Slayer: War Mace/Inv

 

3)  Master Kryz Joma:  Katana/SR

 

 

My Global is :  @Lady Grams

[smnolimits42]

Also i didnt see the secondary choices, but if i choose one, it would be Invulnerability

[BZRKR]

My picks:

Claws/Bio: A never ending whirlwind of attacks. I skipped Eviscerate, so no flips. I put Knock Down procs in DNA siphon and Spin for added safety/ "impact"

 

Dark Melee/ Radiation: A swiss army knife with an answer for almost every problem. Soul Drain, Dark Consumption, Ground Zero, and Mighty Judgement lets this character own any circular patch of ground she walks into.

 

Energy Melee/ Energy Aura: This one just runs around punching things in the face or face equivalent. Almost never gets hit. When she does, Energize. If she's low on END, Energy Drain.

[Due Regard]

@Errants - because I love getting free stuff.

Caveat: I've not played all of these on Scrappers to 50, but I scrap with every toon I play, so I'm drawing some parallels.

Claws - Ginsu blender of doom, doesn't even need the flippy attack to be useful. Fair warning, I've not yet actually played this to 50, but I have played DB on legacy, very similar with BF/FU and stabbing things - Claws just does it better than DB.
Dark Melee - Punch all the things. Ran a DM/EnA Brute on Legacy (Nick Fitt), absolute blender/brute, even without a damage aura or AoE attacks (Buzzsaw build). HC DM changes look like gravy.
Electrical Melee - Only mid-level with an Elec/SR Scrapper, but been a fun ride, just too many alts. Jacob's Ladder is much less painful than Shadow Maul, and you get the best modifier on the tele-nuke. Single target can lack a bit, though.
Energy Melee - 100% reviewing this just from forum information, have yet to roll one, let alone play it. But when 257* scrapper-fu poster are all saying it's the new hotness... it's the new hotness.
Katana - Far too many hours on Legacy with a Kat/Regen, my main and badger there - Katana is jack of all, master of style. Looks cool, sounds good, great power names. Decent AoE/ST, and the Lethal damage can be offset with liberal sprinklings of -Res procs from every power doing -Def.
Radiation Melee - Just have a baby Rad/Shield... But, damage aura primary? Not anemic ST damage? It's Spines, but better.
Street Justice - StJ/Shield Stalker for reference - Visceral, mean, quick, AoE and ST. This set just FEELS good. So many giggle moments. Also, the power names? And from what I've read, there's minimal change with Rib Cracker vs Assassin's Strike, if anything, the Scrapper chains are easier.
Titan Weapons - TW/Nin, 47ish... Schoolgirl with a jet-propelled hammer. One of the few unique AT power combos left, and it is absured. Yes, TW was nerfed; yes, it devours your end bar; yes, it is still VERY effective. I've been soloing AV's with her since the low 40's, to include Mako's Patron arc.

[Erratic1]

5 minutes ago, Errants said:

Dark Melee - Punch all the things. Ran a DM/EnA Brute on Legacy (Nick Fitt), absolute blender/brute, even without a damage aura or AoE attacks (Buzzsaw build). HC DM changes look like gravy.

 

Just got my DM/EA to 48 yesterday but he's been tearing things up for a while...and that on just basic IOs. I look forward to introducing him to set bonuses in the near future.

[StriderIV]

3 hours ago, Erratic1 said:

 

Just got my DM/EA to 48 yesterday but he's been tearing things up for a while...and that on just basic IOs. I look forward to introducing him to set bonuses in the near future.

I believe @Onlyasandwich has an outstanding DM/EnA build he shared on the forums. Seems like an AWESOME combo. DM/Rad Armor seems like it'd be very synergistic as well.

[Obsinious]

Claws, it's got to be claws.  It checks like all your boxes.

 

Great at single target and aoe, not many sets you can say that about (Maybe mace and TW?).  No yucky elemental weapons.  It's best if you skip the flip, are spins ok?  The schnick-schnick sound of slash animating is very satisfying... to me at least.  You can even slot some Force-Feedback procs to make your attack chain more reactionary. 

 

Bonus: the crit ATO and Follow-Up is a match made in Heaven.

 

The drawbacks: 

1. Lethal damage - this is the biggest one.  Most resisted damage type in the game, but like half of the powersets are smashing or lethal.
2. Most of it's good performance is based on double and triple stacking Follow-Up for a constant damage/to-hit buff.  This leads to two things.
   • It's heavily recharge dependent, you ideally want to run a Follow-up > Focus > Slash chain.
   • It's "Great" performance drops to average if you would be damage capped anyway, like under a Fulcrum Shift.

Now I imagine which AV's you can handle has a lot more to do with your armor choice.  From your thread title it sounds like you want to save that question for the next round, but my top picks are Energy or Radiation.  SR will perform very well but no taunt aura is a deal breaker for me on a Scrap.  Bio will have great output but be more squishy in most content.  I haven't played stone since the rework but it should do well, again no taunt aura.  Invincibility is quite tanky in general content, but it doesn't bring a recharge or damage increase.

 

In game handle = @obsinious

 

I forgot to mention, claws exemps very well too.  You will have strike, slash, spin, and follow-up all by level 8.

Edited June 28, 2022 by Obsinious

[Veloice]

My vote will always be for Martial Arts.

 

KAPOW! FssssPOW! KCHOOW!

 

You want comic book-ass sounds? It has that. You want customisatable animations to mix and match kicks and punches? It has that, too. (Which helps with your dislike of flipping animations!) Mitigation? How's knockback with a snappy kick, disorientation in a kick and a palm strike, immoblisation and -fly in an axe kick sound? Seriously, Crane Kick something into a wall and watch it crumple at least once before slotting a kb->kd.

 

Oh, what's that? It only has one AoE? That's true. But y'know what? Firing it off every couple seconds, watching entire crowds of enemies flop over like deflating whacky waving balloon men as you gracefully swirl on the ground? That feels pretty good to me.

 

Oh, you say the DPS is middling? Well, we don't have any of that fancy schmancy combo system our cousin Street Justice has, or that hoighty toighty stacking like those Savage brothers over there. But we hit fast, we hit stylish, and we hit with class.

 

Did I mention KAPOW?

 

(Other votes go to: katana for its swift flowing feel, titan weapons for becoming a razor blade aoe dervish of death, and war mace for hitting things really hard with a baseball bat.)

 

My global is @Veloice

[Bill Z Bubba]

Poor broadsword. Nice seeing claws getting as much love as nrg.

[TungstenShark]

46 minutes ago, Bill Z Bubba said:

Poor broadsword.

And Battle Axe.

[Obsinious]

1 hour ago, TungstenShark said:

And Battle My Axe!

 

[TygerDarkstorm]

@Valnara1

 

Scrappers are an AT I don't play a lot of, so I only chose 3: Claws, Katana, and Stone Melee. Claws and Kat because I've read a lot around here that they play best on scrappers, and Stone because it seems like it might be nice and crunchy on a scrapper while also providing some mitigation; it's certainly a fun set on my brute.

[ScarySai]

Claws/bio

 

Energy/rad

 

War mace/En

 

Dark/shield

 

ice/fire or Ice/Invuln

 

Great combos that will smash the game and look good while doing it. 

[StriderIV]

On 6/28/2022 at 3:55 PM, ScarySai said:

Claws/bio

 

Energy/rad

 

War mace/En

 

Dark/shield

 

ice/fire or Ice/Invuln

 

Great combos that will smash the game and look good while doing it. 

+1 to Dark/Shield. Just such a synergistic combo. Your Energy/Rad has always caught my eye. Even a mix of the two, DM/Rad seems like it could be pretty sweet.

[Nemu]

Since this part is only about primaries, I’ll lobby for battle axe. Reasons:

 

- I know that you know that I know that you like unicorns. That is Battle Axe

- It’s ripe with FF proc potential and mitigation (the fun and visceral kind)

- It feels crunchy

- Vikings!

 

 

Too bad about Kinetic melee, you could make a truly unique hover blasting scrapper with it.

 

@Nemu

[Stormwalker]

My favorite primaries:

 

Claws - not just because it's a fast blender, though it certainly is that.  It also has an excellent bag of tricks.  Ranged attack?  Got that, with knockdown to boot!  AoE?  You get three (though I personally skip Eviscerate, and you probably will also because it has a flip in it), one of which (Shockwave) is an enormous cone that can basically serve as a second ranged attack.  Runners?  Not a problem for Claws.  Between the ranged knockdown, and the huge cone with knockback (you'll want to slot Knockback -> Knockdown here), they won't get far.  Plus, there is nothing like going bowling for villains and KD'ing the entire spawn with your first attack with Shockwave.  Also, between Focus and Shockwave you can dribble enemies like a basketball!  Who doesn't love that?  Also, with enough recharge you can keep Follow-Up perpetually double-stacked (and sometimes triple-stacked), which is a very nice damage buff.

 

Energy Melee - possibly my new favorite set.  Nice animations and sounds, lots of WHAM, feels very superheroic.  Deals massive damage, and the Disorient on multiple attacks is good for mitigation.  I've completely fallen in love with my Energy Melee/Energy Aura.

 

Katana - all around balanced set.  Not the best damage, but solidly above average, -def on every attack, pretty animations, feels reasonably quick, and Divine Avalanche is a very nice mitigation tool, especially if you're not playing a defense set since it makes soft-capping melee/lethal easy.

 

Staff Fighting - I have just discovered this set and can't speak to its power from experience yet (I'm told it's below average single-target but above average AoE), but I love the animations.  Very lively, lots of fun to play, feel like Estelle Bright on a rampage (and if you don't know the Trails games, that is definitely a good thing because Estelle is a badass!) all the time.

 

Dual Blades - combo system is neat, though the very best attack chain doesn't actually use it (second best does, though).  Nice animations.  If you want it to sound awesome, use the lightsaber SFX mod.

Edited June 30, 2022 by Stormwalker
left out a word

[Stormwalker]

4 hours ago, Nemu said:

Since this part is only about primaries, I’ll lobby for battle axe. Reasons:

 

- I know that you know that I know that you like unicorns. That is Battle Axe

- It’s ripe with FF proc potential and mitigation (the fun and visceral kind)

- It feels crunchy

- Vikings!

 

 

Too bad about Kinetic melee, you could make a truly unique hover blasting scrapper with it.

 

@Nemu

 

Interestingly, I have a kinetic melee hoverscrapper. She's a lot of fun to play, but the performance is... not so good, so I'm hesitant to recommend it to others without knowing how much patience they have for slowly arresting the badguys.

[Yomo Kimyata]

On 6/29/2022 at 9:58 PM, Nemu said:

 

 

- I know that you know that I know that you like unicorns. 

 

 

Yes, but *I* know that you know that I know that you know that I like unicorns.  So you drink from your glass, and I'll drink from mine.

 

I *am* however, rather fond of BA.  Pendulum is one of my favorite powers in the game!

 

No real surprises on the survey so far.

[Yomo Kimyata]

Ok, I paid out people, made my own vote, and have made my decisions for the next phase.  They largely match the popular vote (although not completely).  

 

Claws -- I'm not sure I've ever played a claws scrapper to 50, but I do have a fun 50 claws/fire stalker that would have been a unicorn once upon a time.  I'm gonna have to either skip the flip animation power, or reconcile myself to it.

 

Dark Melee -- I really didn't like what they did to Shadow Maul but this set is too good to pass over.  I've got a lvl 50 DM/regen that I enjoyed a lot.

 

Energy Melee -- Another very popular play.  I haven't spent much time on it on a scrapper but have a 50 Bio/Energy tanker that might be my strongest alt.

 

Katana/Broadsword -- I'm going to lump these two together and make my final choice based on what secondary I end up with.  I know, I know, there is a DPA/DPS/DPwhatever difference between the two sets, but I just plain like broadsword.  My namesake has been a BS/Invuln scrapper that I've been tinkering with since Live, and I've got brutes at 50 with regen and bio.

 

War Mace -- This is just too good to pass on.  I have an early 50 scrapper WM/Dark Armor that I found very effective although endurance heavy, and my 50 brute WM/Willpower has always been boringly good.

 

Martial Arts -- Completely new to this, and I don't think I have a MA alt higher than 30.  I'm excited!

 

Staff Fighting -- Almost all of my early 50s on Homecoming were staff, and I liked it least on the scrapper.  But times change, and I've got a much better grip on builds and mechanics so let's look at this with fresh eyes, shall we?  50s in Staff/Bio in all 4 melee flavors, staff/regen and staff/fire brutes.

 

Dual Blades -- Also new to this one.  Messed around with a few but never committed to it.  Also excited!

 

 

 

Now, I'm also going to have a "also-ran" bracket of four flavors, because that's how I roll.  I'm not looking for the "worst" combos, but the best of the unpopular ones.

 

Stone Melee -- So very much mitigation.  So very slow.  So very endurance heavy.  So fun!  My 50 stone/rad scrapper levelled to fast I hardly remember how I played him.

 

Savage Melee -- New to me as well.  I passed on it since I don't really love the telenuke, but I'm starting to come around on this on some of the scrappers I've been trying out with it.

 

Street Justice -- Also new.  Gotta try it at some point, so why not now?

 

Radiation Melee -- Slow slow slow, slow but it's a killer.  My 50 rad/dark scrapper and rad/bio brutes are immensely powerful.

 

 

Honorable mention:  Ice, which even without ice swords makes a really fun experience. Also Battle Axe!  But War Mace is just plain better, except for weapon skins!

 

Next, I'll work on the secondaries, and then come back to you all for advice on matchings and seedings.  Excelsior!

 

 

Edited July 14, 2022 by Yomo Kimyata
Why not?

[Bill Z Bubba]

5 minutes ago, Yomo Kimyata said:

I'm gonna have to either skip the flip animation power, or reconcile myself to it.

 

Skip it. Eviscerate is a garbage power and completely unnecessary when you get enough recharge to run followup, spin, shockwave, repeat.

[Stormwalker]

1 minute ago, Bill Z Bubba said:

 

Skip it. Eviscerate is a garbage power and completely unnecessary when you get enough recharge to run followup, spin, shockwave, repeat.

 

Seconded.  Skip it.  Spin and Shockwave are all the AoE you need.