Inv/Claws

[Scarlet Shocker]

This looks like a fun combo (on paper - I have no experience of either set in any meaningful sense) but there's something in the back of my mind saying it should be avoided. I have a half-whispered hint of a memory saying don't go there. Am I mistaken? Is it viable? More importantly will it be fun to play. What are the advantages and pitfalls?

 

I've tried to work something out in Mids, but it's giving me grief - I've no clue where to start so any input is welcome. Thanks

[nihilii]

It's viable for sure, and great fun.

Advantages:

- extremely potent in the early game. You get many good attacks fast, they're light on end.

- Spin is a monster on a Tanker. Tankers/Brutes got a beefed up version of Claws to start with, and the Tanker buffs pushed that further by increasing radius and target cap.

- having your best singletarget attack as a ranged power (Focus) is quite convenient for aggro control.

- a KB-to-KD IO in Shockwave will turn it into great AoE control + damage + aggro at range.

Pitfalls:

- offensive output will scale down in the later stages of the game relative to some other secondaries who deal more exotic damage or get access to their cornerstone powers later

- Claws' optimal performance relies on constant machine gun attacks, keeping Follow Up +DAM stacked as much as possible. This may not play well with some playstyles, should you want to be more focused on repositioning for aggro purposes

The advantages are ++++ and the pitfalls are -. I think it's a great combo. Not a high-end one, but not a stinker either.

[twozerofoxtrot]

Between Follow Up and Invincibility stacks you won't need Tactics to land hits.

[Scarlet Shocker]

interesting, thanks for the input

 

At the risk of repeating myself I'm new to tanks but I'm enjoying where I've been with them so far - I've also been advised that a Fire/Dark is great fun to play so I'm going to roll  a few combos and see how they pan out

[Erratic1]

On 1/2/2023 at 6:09 AM, twozerofoxtrot said:

Between Follow Up and Invincibility stacks you won't need Tactics to land hits.

 

23 minutes ago, Scarlet Shocker said:

interesting, thanks for the input

 

At the risk of repeating myself I'm new to tanks but I'm enjoying where I've been with them so far - I've also been advised that a Fire/Dark is great fun to play so I'm going to roll  a few combos and see how they pan out

 

May be worth keeping in mind some enemies debuff To-Hit and when you're down to just the final, big foe (Elite Boss, Arch-Villain) you will not have much in the way of Invicincibility stacks. FWIW, my StJ/Inv Brute has Focused Accuracy (admittedly does not have Claws...but Claws has to hit in the first place for you to get its To-Hit buff) and has to toggle it on from time to time. 

 

You might want to be prepared to grab Tactics or Follow-Up if you find yourself whiffing against harder targets.

 

[aethereal]

Something that I'm always tempted to try on Claws/DB is to heavily slot Follow Up for accuracy (to land that initial hit) and then tank accuracy slotting for the rest of the powers.

 

It never ends up feeling quite worth it, since it's generally so easy to build global accuracy and get accuracy slotting into even abbreviated sets.  But it's an interesting idea, and someone more devoted to procs than I am might make it work.