Any surprises you've come across with Alpha slotting?

[biostem]

So I generally go with an Incarnate Alpha that compliments a build, (like even MORE def or res for a tank), or one that compensates for areas that the character may be lacking, (end redux on a character that doesn't have a good end recovery power, or extra damage on a low-damage character).  Were there any Alphas that you've utilized, which at first didn't seem like a likely pairing, but actually worked out quite well in practice?  Thanks for reading!

[Vanden]

The biggest surprise I had was that most Alpha effects will also buff Judgement, Lore, and Destiny powers. Recharge being the obvious exception.

[KaizenSoze]

Elec/Ice Blaster. Musc Alpha for the end mod enhancement plus Clarion radial for the end mod buffing equal draining monster.

[ZorkNemesis]

I keep finding that Intuition is my usual pick for most everything ranged.  Intuition Radial is so good for range ATs, Damage and Range bonuses, Hold duration is ok, Slow and ToHit Debuff are common secondary effects.  Honestly I'm usually taking it for the Damage and Range buffs, especially since I frequently skip slotting power range.  Intuition also paira extremely well with Cryonic Judgement, giving it more power, a longer cone range and a longer hold on the radial tree.

 

Edited August 30, 2022 by ZorkNemesis

[Yomo Kimyata]

3 hours ago, ZorkNemesis said:

I keep finding that Intuition is my usual pick for most everything ranged.  Intuition Radial is so good for range ATs, Damage and Range bonuses, Hold duration is ok, Slow and ToHit Debuff are common secondary effects.  Honestly I'm usually taking it for the Damage and Range buffs, especially since I frequently skip slotting power range.  Intuition also paira extremely well with Cryonic Judgement, giving it more power, a longer cone range and a longer hold on the radial tree.

 

 

Intuition is, well I can't call it sneaky good because it's listed there in the description exactly what it does, but just plain good.  And not just for ranged.  Broadsword/katana, dark melee, ice melee, radiation melee, spines, and that's just the attacks.

[Uun]

13 hours ago, Vanden said:

The biggest surprise I had was that most Alpha effects will also buff Judgement, Lore, and Destiny powers. Recharge being the obvious exception.

Please explain. Judgement, Lore and Destiny are flagged to ignore enhancements and external boosts, Alpha only adds enhancement strength to slotted powers that take those enhancements.

[Vanden]

4 hours ago, Uun said:

Please explain. Judgement, Lore and Destiny are flagged to ignore enhancements and external boosts, Alpha only adds enhancement strength to slotted powers that take those enhancements.

 

Only external boosts. They accept enhancements, for the most part. Musculature will increase the damage that Lores and Judgements deal, Resilient and Agility will buff Barrier Destiny, Nerve will make your Lore and Judgement more accurate, etc. There's some scattered exceptions (and some of those are probably bugs), but aside from Recharge (which Incarnate powers always ignore), you can expect your Alpha ability to affect your Lore, Judgement, and Destiny where appropriate.

[Luminara]

I am an unrepentant Agility Radial Paragon junkie.  I'll fight anyone who tries to come between me and my zoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooom.  I'll shiv a mofo.  SHIV A MOFO.

 

So I was really struggling with my Dark/Martial dominator.  I had the build "perfect", but it just wasn't perfect.  The more I played it, the less I enjoyed it.  I just wanted to defeat +0 critters without having to use one more attack to finish off that 0.001 HP they always had left, and nothing I was doing seemed to make that happen.  I respeced into Cross Punch.  I respeced out of Cross Punch.  I respeced into Spring Attack, and out of Spring Attack.  Nothing was cutting the mustard and I was close to abandoning the character and trying a /Martial blaster or MA/* scrapper (really didn't want to do that, because none of the other variations have as much AoE).

 

Until I tried Musculature.

 

Night and freaking day difference.  All of those kicks and shuriken throws finally felt right.  An absolute joy to play.  I love it.  It's my second favorite character now.

 

AND I STILL HAVE ZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!  Thank you, Musculature gods!

[Riverdusk]

One of the nice pairings on some of my characters is Alpha Vigor Core with Destiny Radial Rebirth.  Vigor definitely helps radial rebirth.  Gives you a minimum of 290% extra regen at all times.  Half the time you are at a minimum of 580% extra regen.   Vigor also of course helps with accuracy and endurance reduction, so not a bad way to go.

 

I agree though with what was mentioned here already, I tend to usually end up with Intuition.  Especially since I make a lot of controllers and it definitely tends to be my go to for controllers.  

[Guffnat]

What would be a good pairing if you are running a lot of toggles and have serious END problems?

[Uun]

5 hours ago, Guffnat said:

What would be a good pairing if you are running a lot of toggles and have serious END problems?

Depends what the toggles are. If they're resist toggles, go with Cardiac Core. If they're defense toggles, go with Agility Core.

[Guffnat]

Arctic Air and Venomous Gas + mostly Def Toggles

[Uun]

3 hours ago, Guffnat said:

Arctic Air and Venomous Gas + mostly Def Toggles

For that combo, Musculature Radial is also an option. 

[dtjunkie]

No matter what I try the answer always seems to be the same. Musculature Core Paragon, because the best defense is more offense.

[Generator]

On 8/29/2022 at 8:08 PM, KaizenSoze said:

Elec/Ice Blaster. Musc Alpha for the end mod enhancement plus Clarion radial for the end mod buffing equal draining monster.

Don't forget Pre-Emptive Interface for that additional layer of thumb in the foes' eye!

[KaizenSoze]

16 minutes ago, Generator said:

Don't forget Pre-Emptive Interface for that additional layer of thumb in the foes' eye!

Pre-emptive is good. I use Gravitic for the recovery/recharge/movement debuff. Mobs have no end and move very slowly. 🙂

[Generator]

4 hours ago, KaizenSoze said:

Pre-emptive is good. I use Gravitic for the recovery/recharge/movement debuff. Mobs have no end and move very slowly. 🙂

Y'know, Gravitic is one I keep meaning to try.  Gonna have to make that happen sooner than later.  Thanks for the encouragement!

[Cutter]

I like Vigor Radial on my Dark Armour guys. End redux for the toggles and Dark Regen, heal buff to free up slotting on Dark Regen, accuracy and fear for Cloak of Fear. Fixes a lot of weird set-specific problems. And I'll second Intuition for Ice Melee.

[Linea]

I mostly use Agility.  Nerve is nice on a handful of builds.  Intuition on all my snipers, and a few others.  and probably at least one build with each of the rest here and there.

 

Intuition, Clarion Radial, Boost Range, .... there is something hilariously fun about a sniper that has more range than max draw distance.

 

[Sovera]

On 9/1/2022 at 6:30 PM, dtjunkie said:

No matter what I try the answer always seems to be the same. Musculature Core Paragon, because the best defense is more offense.

 

I always use Musculature as well, but it's only about 15% damage boost despite the tooltip saying 45% (hit something with Alpha 45% slotted, remove it, hit the same something again. Calculate difference).

 

While 15% is good it's not exactly an overwhelming loss to try a different alpha. But none of them come off as interesting (there's a reason our choices always hover over Musculature or Cardiac) so big muscles it is.

 

Edited October 8, 2022 by Sovera

[Sneakers]

I like the Agility Radial one because it gives recharge, defense, endurance reduction and run speed boost.

It just seems like way more bang for my buck.

 

However, I usually build for a high endurance recovery rate to keep up with all the recharge and have some decent defense powers that could use a boost.

 

If your build can't handle the endurance use that comes with more recharge or you don't have any defense powers, you might be better off boosting the damage with Musculature or using some other unique alpha.

[Lazarillo]

I typically ignore Nerve because I have sufficient accuracy built into my own powers in my builds; when I'm doubt (say on a MM), Vigor works better, and if I want defense, Agility is kind of the solid go-to choice.  I have a Stone/Will Brute that made really good use of it, though.  Without overdoing too much Accuracy, it fills that gap, boosts the stacked defenses, and makes Seismic Smash easy to keep permanent even on bosses, meaning no Paragon Protectors snapping Moment of Glory or Fake Nemesis with Personal Force Field.

[ScarySai]

Intuition radial is sorely underrated.

[Uun]

On 10/8/2022 at 10:09 AM, Sovera said:

I always use Musculature as well, but it's only about 15% damage boost despite the tooltip saying 45% (hit something with Alpha 45% slotted, remove it, hit the same something again. Calculate difference).

Here's why:

1. If the power is already slotted to ED max, you're at 195% of base damage (1.00 base + 0.95 enhancements).
2. Alpha only bypasses 2/3 of ED, so the 45% is reduced to 30%.
3. The 30% is added to the enhancements already slotted in the power (1.95 + 0.30 = 2.25)
4. 225% is 15% greater than 195% (2.25 / 1.95 = 1.154).

You would get the full 45% from Alpha if the power wasn't already slotted for damage. 

[Sovera]

30 minutes ago, Uun said:

Here's why:

1. If the power is already slotted to ED max, you're at 195% of base damage (1.00 base + 0.95 enhancements).
2. Alpha only bypasses 2/3 of ED, so the 45% is reduced to 30%.
3. The 30% is added to the enhancements already slotted in the power (1.95 + 0.30 = 2.25)
4. 225% is 15% greater than 195% (2.25 / 1.95 = 1.154).

You would get the full 45% from Alpha if the power wasn't already slotted for damage. 

 

Yes, when ever I bring this up someone will either show me the math or show how using an unslotted attack gives the the full %.

 

But this unrelated to what I am saying. In practice using Musculature gives 15%. Which was my point that someone less aware of the math or not having tested might say 'no, 45% is huge and I do not want to lose it by slotting something else'.