Frustration....

[Magellen2019]

At the moment I am writing this I have taken a few weeks to level a Martial Arts/Dark Armor Stalker.... up to 29 at this moment.
The first 20+ levels it seemed like I was chewing thru mobs and missions like a hot knife thru butter.

The last couple? For some odd reason I keep getting smacked around. tossed around.... and overall? It feels like it is "struggling" at best 🤔
I've leveled a scrapper to 50 back in the "live" days that had Martial Arts... but if memory serves it was a Secondary of Ninjitsu....
and another one that had Dark Armor as a secondary  with a primary of Katana.
Neither were as frustrating as this one it seems back in the mid to late 20s.

Any tweaking anyone can think of concerning this?
I know it (and knew it would) suck stamina like a fool for quite a while...
but I was hoping the damage dealt would help in that matter by taking foes out rather quickly.
The last few levels even the Assassin's Blow doesn't do all that much 🙄

When even The Warriors on a simple Radio Mission seem to ragdoll me?
All I felt like my BP was getting higher with each tap of Dark Regeneration I was using 🥵
Here is a screenshot of what I have enhanced thus far.
I hate using so many Endurance Reductions.... but it seems as though the toon is "sucking wind" after THREE simple attacks 😞

[biostem]

Do you have any 50 alts on Homecoming?  If so, maybe run a couple TFs or raids to earn 100 merits and buy yourself a Panancea: Chance for +HP & +End.  It really helps!  Later, consider a Miracle +recovery and even later, a Numina's +rec/+regen.

 

Heck, a Yin TF gives about 25 merits by itself.  If you can hold out to 35, you can join Vanguard and get in on a mothership raid as well...

Edited July 15, 2022 by biostem

[biostem]

Looked again - you don't have any acc's slotted in your attacks?

[biostem]

33 minutes ago, Magellen2022 said:

At the moment I am writing this

Also, I get taking fighting for tough and weave, but why take both boxing AND kick?  Air superiority is a nice attack, but you don't seem to have foregone any of your MA attacks to fit it in.  It seems superfluous...

[Magellen2019]

2 minutes ago, biostem said:

Looked again - you don't have any acc's slotted in your attacks?

Yeah.... I did have one Acc on each attack until an hour or so ago. I placed two End Reductions and then took the screenshots.
Didn't seem to do much at all concerning endurance which shocked me.
But yeah.... I thought about doing a Respec and getting rid of Air Superiority and the fighting pool.
I thought about grabbing Tactics in the Leadership Power Pool also.
But yeah.... at some point I want to get/keep Tough Weave.... and I would have to keep Boxing (eye roll) 🙄 LOL

[Spaghetti Betty]

What you're dealing with are the 2 major drawbacks of Dark Armor: endurance usage and no knockback protection.

 

There are a couple of ways to deal with that. If you aren't familiar with the Invention System, you could look into that. It has ways to solve your problems that SOs won't.

 

If you happen to acquire a Theft of Essence: Chance for +Endurance, you can pop it in Dark Regeneration. This will allow it to recover your Endurance as well as your HP.

 

If you need knockback protection, a Blessing of the Zephyr: Knockback Reduction can be slotted in any movement power that isn't Sprint or Swift. It won't give you much protection, but it'll stop you from constantly being knocked around.

 

If this isn't an option for you at the moment, that's fine too. There are other options the game offers to mitigate your problems. You could add more slots to Stamina. The P2W Vendor sells Recovery Serums that will give you a decent sized recovery boost for a short time. For knockback, you could make some room for Acrobatics, which is a low end cost toggle that gives you knockback protection.

[biostem]

1 minute ago, Magellen2022 said:

eah.... I did have one Acc on each attack until an hour or so ago. I placed two End Reductions and then took the screenshots.
Didn't seem to do much at all concerning endurance which shocked me.
But yeah.... I thought about doing a Respec and getting rid of Air Superiority and the fighting pool.
I thought about grabbing Tactics in the Leadership Power Pool also.
But yeah.... at some point I want to get/keep Tough Weave.... and I would have to keep Boxing (eye roll) 🙄 LOL

Also try this approach - Only keep the minimum number of armor toggles on that you actually need.  You have to weigh landing a hard hitting attack vs having to use multiple lower-end cost ones as well...

[biostem]

3 minutes ago, Spaghetti Betty said:

If you need knockback protection

Steadfast Protection: Knockback Protection is also a good option, since DA is already a resist-based set...

[Magellen2019]

3 minutes ago, biostem said:

Steadfast Protection: Knockback Protection is also a good option, since DA is already a resist-based set...

I honestly thought about that too..... just a lot of swirling ideas in my head at the moment.
I know I could make this toon rock.... but it seemed as though I've hit a rough patch in the levels at the moment it seems 🙄

[Six-Six]

I hope this helps, though the closest I play to melee are blappers, doms and PBs.

On almost all of my toons:
I would pick up 3-4 attacks as early as I can. This includes Box/Kick to open up Tough and Weave later. I'll just slot an accuracy SO in each and make do with those until the 20s. Remember, you have beginners luck until 20, and accuracy & to hit reality sets in after that. Sometimes, end reduction is needed, but usually acc is enough. 

After the attacks, I'd work on building some defense, and this depends on the AT and power combos. This usually takes until mid-20s. tertiary pool def and res tend to leave me gasping, so I put an end reductiion SO in them just to keep them in check. Then later I slot 2 end mod SOs in stamina. In general, I tend to postpone end-hungry powers until I get my recovery sorted out. That strong attack or awesome toggle isn't much use if it sucks the life out of me in the middle of a battle.

I would stick to SOs until 35-40 when SO benefits start to equal IOs. Also most of the IOs I often use open up at 27 and I barely have any slots to make things run smoothly anyway. I find level 20-40 the most fun since it's a balancing act between slots, end, the right power choices and the enemies you'll face. I also tend to go +1 at 20 and +2 at 30. This seems to be the best difficulty to XP gain/time ratio for me.

So at 20+ and 30+ my attack pattern and strategy usually changes to reflect the powers I have available to me.

[biostem]

3 hours ago, Six-Six said:

I would stick to SOs until 35-40 when SO benefits start to equal IOs.

Frankly, I think buying SOs is a waste.  I either use whatever drops, or I craft level 25 IOs ASAP and just leave them in, as I view the sub-50 game as a "leveling build" and typically respec or switch to a different build at that point.  If you're low on Inf, run a couple tunnel farms, then buy  and sell a couple pieces of orange salvage, load up on common white salvage, then craft those 25 IOs.  While I do try to balance my offense and defense on my stalkers, I tend to make putting 2 accs in all my attacks a priority, (a missed attack is wasted damage, time, and end), then 1 or more damages if there are enough slots left over.  I would rather leave the base slot in my defensive abilities at first, (as a stalker), until I have enough slots to get a good foundation down.

Edited July 16, 2022 by biostem

[Six-Six]

Ya, you're absolutely right, it is a waste. Especially if you stop to think how much inf you're throwing down the drain every level or so.

However, what you call a levelling build is a big part of the fun for me. I rarely play end game and the challenge is making the most of what I got. Surprisingly, I've never found myself to be low on inf. The market gods have probably blessed me =)... if only that would translate IRL haha.

But yeah, an end redux in base slots usually work for my armoured toons. Doms and blasters, however have almost no armour to speak of, so I tend to chase set bonuses. We do agree on the priority of slotting (acc, end, dmg). though I tend to build damage after I've sorted out recovery and feel that I have enough def/res to handle a tangle.

[Erratic1]

7 minutes ago, Six-Six said:

However, what you call a levelling build is a big part of the fun for me. I rarely play end game and the challenge is making the most of what I got. Surprisingly, I've never found myself to be low on inf. The market gods have probably blessed me =)... if only that would translate IRL haha.

Some depends on what you are qualifying as "end game". One need not incarnate to play level 50 missions.

 

[Six-Six]

Again, you are correct. 😃

Sorry for the OP for our brief digression.

[Uun]

You've got way too many attacks. Drop Air Superiority, Kick and Thunder Kick. You don't need more than Storm, CAK, AB, Cobra and Crane, and once you have more recharge you could get by with only four of those. 

 

Also, drop Cloak of Fear. It has a huge accuracy penalty, high endurance cost and only works on minions.

[Without_Pause]

On 7/16/2022 at 5:14 AM, biostem said:

Frankly, I think buying SOs is a waste.  I either use whatever drops, or I craft level 25 IOs ASAP and just leave them in, as I view the sub-50 game as a "leveling build" and typically respec or switch to a different build at that point.  If you're low on Inf, run a couple tunnel farms, then buy  and sell a couple pieces of orange salvage, load up on common white salvage, then craft those 25 IOs.  While I do try to balance my offense and defense on my stalkers, I tend to make putting 2 accs in all my attacks a priority, (a missed attack is wasted damage, time, and end), then 1 or more damages if there are enough slots left over.  I would rather leave the base slot in my defensive abilities at first, (as a stalker), until I have enough slots to get a good foundation down.

This is the way. Level 25 Commons either crafted or bought via the market as the market for them is bad and thus they can be had for cheap. You can also work on the IO crafting memorization badges so you can skip on needing the recipe and the crafting cost is lower. My default until recently was just slotting level 25 commons until level 50. I've use those common builds for level 50 content and felt fine. Now, I certainly would add in some one off IOs and such as needed since it allows me to do things like 2-slot Stamina, give great bang for buck return with Def/Resist, or add in a proc to an attack. D/R is less desired in a slot as you pimp out a build so yay damage procs.

[Sovera]

On 7/15/2022 at 9:39 PM, biostem said:

Do you have any 50 alts on Homecoming?  If so, maybe run a couple TFs or raids to earn 100 merits and buy yourself a Panancea: Chance for +HP & +End.  It really helps!  Later, consider a Miracle +recovery and even later, a Numina's +rec/+regen.

 

Heck, a Yin TF gives about 25 merits by itself.  If you can hold out to 35, you can join Vanguard and get in on a mothership raid as well...

 

To the OP don't do this. Run the math first. One merit is worth three Converters. Each Converter is worth 75k. 100 merits will sell for around 22.5 million where a Panaceia +endurance proc is worth around 10 million.

 

And this is lowballing it if not actually using the Converters to make even more money (I personally don't bother doing it but it's being lazy instead of smart).

 

@Magellen2022, plenty of good info already in the thread. The important ones are the Theft of Essence proc in Dark Regen and the Blessing of the Zephy -KB in Fly.

 

If you don't know how many merits you have or how to earn them check my signature.

[aethereal]

I suggest getting attuned sets for low-level characters, not either SOs or common IOs.  It doesn't really cost much money (or rather, it does, but you can resell them once you no longer need them and the total difference after you've resold them is a pretty small amount of money), and it makes a drastic difference in how your character plays in the 20s and 30s.  People have really convinced themselves otherwise to their detriment.  Even just getting uncommon yellow sets really helps your enhancement values and the set bonuses add up to a lot of QoL even if they don't bring you to unkillable god.

 

If you're playing through the levelling process at a relatively sedate pace, it's absolutely worth it.

Edited July 20, 2022 by aethereal

[Without_Pause]

On 7/20/2022 at 11:57 AM, aethereal said:

I suggest getting attuned sets for low-level characters, not either SOs or common IOs.  It doesn't really cost much money (or rather, it does, but you can resell them once you no longer need them and the total difference after you've resold them is a pretty small amount of money), and it makes a drastic difference in how your character plays in the 20s and 30s.  People have really convinced themselves otherwise to their detriment.  Even just getting uncommon yellow sets really helps your enhancement values and the set bonuses add up to a lot of QoL even if they don't bring you to unkillable god.

 

If you're playing through the levelling process at a relatively sedate pace, it's absolutely worth it.

You can slot out a build of common IOs for the cost of a single attuned IO, but attuned IOs is what I use these days. I swap them out as I go along as needed. At one point I didn't care what bonus I got from some crappy attuned IO as any bonus was better than none. Even non-full sets worked as I would just frankenslot anyway. Eventually I learned enough to more properly slot out a character. Granted, I still like rework a build in Mid's around 4+ times before I consider it "finished."

[tidge]

On 7/15/2022 at 4:29 PM, Magellen2022 said:

At the moment I am writing this I have taken a few weeks to level a Martial Arts/Dark Armor Stalker.... up to 29 at this moment.
The first 20+ levels it seemed like I was chewing thru mobs and missions like a hot knife thru butter.

The last couple? For some odd reason I keep getting smacked around. tossed around.... and overall? It feels like it is "struggling" at best 🤔

 

I'm ignoring the advice offered (the OP should not, I am just disclosing I won't specifically discuss it)...

 

Low-level characters have inherent bonuses that fade (with level), not even accounting for potential bonuses from something like Death From Below. IIRC, level 22 is when these are all gone.

 

From approximately levels 16+ (can be earlier, can be later, depends on content being played) is when you start to run into enemies with more "tricks". The most noticeable IMO are the Circle of Thorns which can both debuff ToHit/Accuracy and mez (including knockdown). Until a character has enough slots (could be for direct enhancement, could be for some global set bonus... even a 1-piece global), it is necessary to make some focused decisions on how to slot which powers.

 

Obviously: different ATs and different primary/secondary sets offer different kinds and levels of mitigation... this is less obvious on exemplared characters with lots of slots, but it is still an element (a fun one!) of leveling up.

[Shred Monkey]

I'm going to walk you through how to use the build below so you can get the most out of it and expand on it in the future.

 

First, the attack chain.  You have more attack powers then needed.  Let's strip the extra ones out (where possible).  In the build below I've put enough recharge in each power to run this chain: 

 

Air Superiority > Shadow Maul > Air Superiority > Assassins Eclipse > Siphon Life > ---Repeat---

 

Use Touch of fear and Placate as you enter a fight to put 2 enemies "on hold" then target to the most dangerous target and begin the knockdown/beatdown of that target until it's dead.  Air Superiority will be recharged fast enough to perm-knockdown a target.  You swap targets as needed to always have 1 feared (and another placated when it's up) while you beat down your most dangerous enemy.  This method should work very well on missions sized for 1 or 2 players since you'll normally be able to apply soft controls on everything you're fighting.  Use Dark Regen to heal as needed.  

 

I've taken Dark Embrace and Murky Cloud in the build below.  But I honestly wouldn't even bother turning them on for most fights. Your main source of survivability is going to be your control powers and your heals.  Once you get into the 30s and can slot the resistance powers better and it'll be worth using them.  Make sure obsidian shield is always running, however, as that's your status protection.

 

Here's the build:

 

Spoiler

https://www.midsreborn.com/builds/download.php?uc=948&c=417&a=834&f=HEX&dc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

 

Spoiler

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

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 49 Magic Stalker
Primary Power Set: Dark Melee
Secondary Power Set: Dark Armor
Power Pool: Flight

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Smite -- Acc-I(A)
Level 1: Hide -- DefBuff-I(A)
Level 2: Shadow Maul -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(3), Acc-I(7), EndRdx-I(9), Dmg-I(17), Dmg-I(17)
Level 4: Air Superiority -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(5), Acc-I(5), EndRdx-I(7), Dmg-I(27), Dmg-I(29)
Level 6: Assassin's Eclipse -- Acc-I(A), EndRdx-I(9), RechRdx-I(11), RechRdx-I(11), RechRdx-I(13), Dmg-I(23)
Level 8: Build Up -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 10: Shadow Dweller -- DefBuff-I(A)
Level 12: Dark Embrace -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 14: Murky Cloud -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 16: Obsidian Shield -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 18: Siphon Life -- Acc-I(A), EndRdx-I(19), RechRdx-I(19), RechRdx-I(21), Dmg-I(21), Dmg-I(29)
Level 20: Dark Regeneration -- Acc-I(A), EndRdx-I(23), RechRdx-I(25), RechRdx-I(25)
Level 22: Fly -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 24: Placate -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 26: Touch of Fear -- Acc-I(A), EndRdx-I(27)
Level 28: Evasive Maneuvers -- BlsoftheZ-ResKB(A)
Level 30: [Empty] 
Level 32: [Empty] 
Level 35: [Empty] 
Level 38: [Empty] 
Level 41: [Empty] 
Level 44: [Empty] 
Level 47: [Empty] 
Level 49: [Empty] 
Level 1: Assassination 
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 1: Health -- Mrc-Rcvry+(A), Pnc-Heal/+End(15), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(15)
Level 1: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 1: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A), EndMod-I(3), EndMod-I(13)
Level 22: Afterburner 
------------

 

I recommend using level 25 IOs as they're equivalent to SOs and don't lose their effectiveness as you go.  I put in some IOs in health and stamina.  These will help with endurance, and they're worth the trouble of earning the merits/influence to buy.   Also the -knockback IO I have in evasive Maneuvers will prevent those knocks you were complaining about.  

 

Edited July 28, 2022 by Shred Monkey

[Doomguide2005]

And my additional suggestions is get a hold of a Kismet +6% place it in Hide (or defensive power of choice, ideally an auto or toggle). The extra To Hit very helpful as beginner's luck wears off.  Missing burns end and it is usually far more than toggles in the same time span.

 

Air Sup 6.5 end every 4 sec if used when ready or 1.625 end/sec

Your toggles run about 0.208 end/sec

Your Assassin's Blow is better but still just under 1.0 end/sec.   So even with good endred in your attacks they're burning more end than your toggles without endred.

 

And somehow I didn't hit submit before heading off to bed.  Oops.

[Without_Pause]

The problem with the original build is two-fold. 1. The slotting is terrible in terms of number of slots and what is being slotted. 2. The power picks are equally bad. There's so many attacks. Just reworking those would get the build up and running on a decent level even without going into IO uncommons and rares.

 

On a generic level: ST attacks are 1 acc, 1 end, 3 damage, with an optional recharge. AoE get 2 acc, 1 end, 3 damage. Toggles get 1 end and likely 3 slotting for what they are primarily used for, see Resist. Stamina is a 2-slotter and more so with IOs. Health can be 1-3 depending on the situation.

 

Kick and Boxing both aren't really needed. Pick one and go with it. Air Sup is decent, but Stalker MA has no AoE so I would grab Cross Punch instead. I would still skip on a MA primary attack to fit it in though. You don't really need 6 powers from your primary at that point. I'm guessing MA would likely need all of four attacks for an end game attack chain. Thunder Kick can easily be skipped.

[Doomguide2005]

     As to the accuracy issue.  Other than mentioning getting banged around and sucking wind against Warriors in 'simple' Radio missions i see no specific mention of what difficulty you're running against.  If you've no source of To Hit anything at +2/-- or greater is liable to miss more than most folks want to tolerate, i.e. ~25% or more miss rate vs +2.  Warrior's also hit hard and the Sword wielders will debuff your defense so you'll end up healing more assuming you don't end up admiring the flooring (and one subset does kd).  So you may find 2 Acc a desirable choice as at least then you're getting damage for your end usage.  For example, 2 Acc will let you hit +3's at 90% if you can slot that Kismet (and +2's pass the magical 95% final hit).

 

     Bottom line you need exponentially more Acc as you fight higher and higher lvl foes.  To Hit buffs tend to get increasingly and relatively more valuable than Accuracy as lvl of foe increases.

Edited September 27, 2022 by Doomguide2005
Afterthought