A Frightful Concept

[Scarlet Shocker]

I have this concept of a Tank/Brute (undetermined which at this point) that is based around a fearsome monstrous character that appears out of nowhere, terrorizes mobs and then batters seven bells out of them.

 

Yes, there is a big nod to Swamp/Man-Thing here (I was a big fan of Man-Thing when he had his own book and ran with Howard the Duck) but this is more "urban" and much less esoteric than Moore's iteration of ST.

 

I'm thinking of Bio Armour and Elec Melee as core power sets but with Force of Will & Presence as significant pool powers - plus a touch of Stealth and  perhaps Pyre Mastery or Earth Mastery to give me a pool (I love both Melt Armour and Quicksand as powers - and they both give me a good -Def component)

 

I do not know BA at all. so not sure if there are any Must have or avoid powers in it - I've been told anecdotally there's nothing you can drop from Bio - and it does give me that kind of Science-wrought mutation thing that then allows me to shock my enemies and his visage is so terrifying that they are rooted in fear or run screaming from his presence.

 

His origin is probably science - I have it loosely as a scientist working for Crey - a lightweight power suit much more flexible and adaptable than existing the bulky Crey power suits we're all familiar with - but in field tests was thrown into a pool of toxic goop/DE shit when caught and battered by Jurrasik

 

causing the experimental new micro-batteries to embed themselves in his skin, thus fusing his polarizing armour to his skin (but controllable for limited periods of time so he can appear human) and allowing him to project electric bolts when fighting.

 

Because I'm taking two pools I know very little of, I find myself skipping a lot of electric powers - I also want Stealth to ensure I can creep up on foes unexpectedly - conceptually this is more about being able to merge with the environment and suddenly appear rather than being sneaky.

 

I'd welcome your input into making this kind of concept real and advise on what I should (not) do. I also have an immediate question re Stealth. Given its recent modification to Invis is there any benefit to a Stealth Proc in Sprint to combine with the Stealth Power. (from the description it seems infiltration isn't such a good choice for combat but might fit the concept well  - but Stealth does give me a proc slot which I'm short of otherwise.

 

The purpose here is to build a fun concept toon with a twist, and not necessarily to min/max but if I can make it extremely strong I would be very happy with that.

 

I should stress before I go because I don't think I was explicit enough that Fear is the thing. This PC's USP is the terror he creates in his victims.

 

TIA for all incoming advice

 

Edited February 3, 2023 by Scarlet Shocker
Fear

[biostem]

7 hours ago, Scarlet Shocker said:

I have this concept of a Tank/Brute

Honestly, there's no powers in Bio Armor that I'd want to do without.  You can probably skip charged brawl and lightning clap without issue, from electric melee, and possibly even build up, (if you build is tight, and you're willing to forego the extra damage and tohit).  That being said, I don't know if I'd want to dip too heavily into both presence AND force of will.  Maybe just stick with one, or use the patron/Ancillary power pools to flesh them out.  Soul mastery has some great options, and I'm a bit partial to earth mastery, (I really like their version of quicksand).

[Scarlet Shocker]

4 hours ago, biostem said:

Honestly, there's no powers in Bio Armor that I'd want to do without.  You can probably skip charged brawl and lightning clap without issue, from electric melee, and possibly even build up, (if you build is tight, and you're willing to forego the extra damage and tohit).  That being said, I don't know if I'd want to dip too heavily into both presence AND force of will.  Maybe just stick with one, or use the patron/Ancillary power pools to flesh them out.  Soul mastery has some great options, and I'm a bit partial to earth mastery, (I really like their version of quicksand).

 

Salt Crystals is "paralyzed with fear" - and I'm also a big fan of quicksand. But Melt Armour is also very good, though perhaps less easy to explain conceptually.

 

How effective is bio armour's taunt effect?

[biostem]

3 minutes ago, Scarlet Shocker said:

How effective is bio armour's taunt effect?

I'd say they're on par or better than other armor sets' taunt auras.  The key is that evolving armor and genetic contamination interact with the various adaptations, (efficient, offensive, defensive), to provide different or greater/lesser effects, so you'll have ot play them by ear.

 

7 minutes ago, Scarlet Shocker said:

Salt Crystals is "paralyzed with fear" - and I'm also a big fan of quicksand. But Melt Armour is also very good, though perhaps less easy to explain conceptually.

I tend to take stone prison as the prereq for its greater range, because it brings down flyers,  and because I dislike sleeps, but if you can make salt crystals work for you, go for it!

[Scarlet Shocker]

4 hours ago, biostem said:

I'd say they're on par or better than other armor sets' taunt auras.  The key is that evolving armor and genetic contamination interact with the various adaptations, (efficient, offensive, defensive), to provide different or greater/lesser effects, so you'll have ot play them by ear.

 

I tend to take stone prison as the prereq for its greater range, because it brings down flyers,  and because I dislike sleeps, but if you can make salt crystals work for you, go for it!

 

I think I read that AVs are immune to sleep - so this seems a good option

[Luminara]

5 minutes ago, Scarlet Shocker said:

 

I think I read that AVs are immune to sleep - so this seems a good option

 

No they aren't.  Sleep and Immob are the two controls AVs have no special resistance to or protection from.

[Scarlet Shocker]

41 minutes ago, Luminara said:

 

No they aren't.  Sleep and Immob are the two controls AVs have no special resistance to or protection from.

 

I worded that completely wrong. I thought they were more susceptible to sleep (didn't know about Immobs) - and couldn't resist it so easily but I got it arse about face so to speak. Thanks for your correction

[ninja surprise]

On 2/3/2023 at 1:52 PM, Scarlet Shocker said:

I have this concept of a Tank/Brute (undetermined which at this point) that is based around a fearsome monstrous character that appears out of nowhere, terrorizes mobs and then batters seven bells out of them.

...

I'm thinking of Bio Armour and Elec Melee as core power sets but with Force of Will & Presence as significant pool powers - plus a touch of Stealth and  perhaps Pyre Mastery or Earth Mastery to give me a pool (I love both Melt Armour and Quicksand as powers - and they both give me a good -Def component)

 

 

I think you want Dark Armor. It gives the fear, stealth to appear out of nowhere, a Stun aura, and then add the APP of choice. You can color Electricity to match.

 

Then go Tank or Brute depending on whether you'd rather choose armors or attacks first.

Edited February 6, 2023 by ninja surprise

[Scarlet Shocker]

Interesting choice.

 

I was drawn to Bio because of the added bulk it gives a character - it makes an already impressive huge character even more imposing. I haven't ever tried DA but I might experiment with it a little, but my previous experiences of Dark anything seem to be lacklustre

 

[ninja surprise]

On 2/6/2023 at 5:00 AM, Scarlet Shocker said:

Interesting choice.

 

I was drawn to Bio because of the added bulk it gives a character - it makes an already impressive huge character even more imposing. I haven't ever tried DA but I might experiment with it a little, but my previous experiences of Dark anything seem to be lacklustre

 

 

You're right that Bio adds a lot of lumps onto your character. It's difficult to replicate in the costume creator but I think the Omega pieces can get you close. If you're stealthy you can't see your costume anyway though. 

 

Dark can be super tough. @Hyperstrike's Omega Infinitum - Tanker (Dark Armor - Dark Melee) caps resist to everything except Toxic (76%) and Energy (80%). He's got good Bio builds too. 

Have you used the Test server? You can create the characters, boost 'em to any level up to 50, give them all the IOs for free, and test drive them in some missions to see how you like them.

In the end your theme and how much fun you're having matters more than which set you chose. They both work great. Dark will have better Psi resist; Bio might have better healing.

[Scarlet Shocker]

I have two dark melee tanks already which is how I know I dislike that particular set. I do have an outstanding tank that I rolled on my recent return here, an Elec/Kin who is pretty damned tough in most situations (but does occasionally experience a sudden crash of stats that I'm still working on.) She caps in a similar way to the Dark Armour you mention here.

 

So far Bio is working well for me and I'm enjoying how this guy plays - but I do find the taunt from Presence quite lacklustre, and it's hard to justify taking two taunts.

 

It's worth thinking about. Logically you're making a good case but as you say at the end of your post, it's the enjoyment that is what really matters and this guy seems to be fun for me. I might roll a DA/Something at a later stage to compare and contrast but I've got a lot of irons in the CoH fire right now so I'm trying to focus on just a few of those projects currently.