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Minmax Melee Archetype Comparison & Tier List


Ston

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37 minutes ago, Sovera said:

 

I may be missing something but the column under -res procs is blank which would suggest none were used.

 

My suggestion would be to have these tests done without the -res procs. They unrealistically boost damage by as much as 25% on a pylon if using both procs which gives a really false idea of a set's 'power'.

 

I would not be surprised if most of what made Fire Melee climb the rankings was as much the animation trimming as the Achilles' -res being slotted. Just seeing your comment on fishing for -res procs with Cross Punch shows how much the pylon tests influence use those IOs.

 

Hitting a +3 AV reduces the damage boost to (not by, but to) 4-5%, and on regular gameplay (Trapdoor for example) the -res procs have shown to not make a difference if replaced by damage procs. But for the pylons it propels any and every set that can slot these against any other set that cannot. This wouldn't be so much of a pet peeve if the power of the -res procs was uniform but outside of pylons it's either small or gone to place so much import into them.

 

 

Regardless, your testing, your data, and re-testing everything would be colossal considering the time you've already poured into this project.

 

 

 

So and so. It is bad, but in this context the fact it cannot slot any -res procs automatically gives it a damage loss. Ston is also using Concentrated Strike which has been mathed out as bad when opposed to just using the first three attacks. But it won't do miracles since the set needs a good pass.

 

So I re-ran Battle Axe and Fiery Melee for Brutes:

 

Fiery Melee:

  • 1:40 w/ Achilles + FoTG
  • 1:44 w/ Achilles (-4 seconds)
  • 1:58 w/ no -res procs (-18 seconds)

Titan Weapons:

  • 1:38 w/ Achilles + FoTG
  • 1:47 w/ Achilles (-9 seconds)
  • 1:59 w/ no -res procs (-21 seconds)

Axe:

  • 1:42 w/ Achilles 
  • 1:52 w/ no -res procs (-10 seconds)

So there is definitely a DPS loss for each -res procs that gets replaced with a standard damage proc. How much of this is fair to ignore? I guess that depends on what you're fighting in game. But it does look like there's about an average of 9 seconds loss for each -res proc replaced (at least from these 3 tests I re-ran). 

 

They would still remain among the top DPS for their class. I would predict that if I repeated this for every set, they would all end up losing a similar percentage of their DPS, with those that have both -res procs losing a bit more. Probably not enough to really shake up the whole list, though. I think average DPA of the attacks in the chain is far more important. Radiation Melee was getting both -res procs consistently on all my tests and had very mediocre results.

 

(And not sure why that column is showing up blank for you, but each row under that column has the number of times the -res procs fired for each set. On Brutes it was 19 for Fiery Melee, 19 for Titan Weapons, 13 for Battle Axe...)

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1 hour ago, Sovera said:

So and so. It is bad, but in this context the fact it cannot slot any -res procs automatically gives it a damage loss. Ston is also using Concentrated Strike which has been mathed out as bad when opposed to just using the first three attacks. But it won't do miracles since the set needs a good pass.

 

I only used Concentrated Strike on Scrappers & Stalkers because of its interaction with Crit Strikes & Assassin's Focus. It also has the benefit on these ATs to instantly recharge power siphon (or BU). I ran tests just using the t1/t2/t3 and got worse results. I'll keep trying new chains but that was what got me the best results. 

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All the testing looks really fair and even. There are only some things that I feel can be hard to test for. Like how Dual Blades needs a TON of recharge to run its optimal attack chain, which you probably aren’t getting with Willpower. But you can’t break the whole parameters of the test for one set haha.

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8 hours ago, Ston said:

 

So I re-ran Battle Axe and Fiery Melee for Brutes:

 

Fiery Melee:

  • 1:40 w/ Achilles + FoTG
  • 1:44 w/ Achilles (-4 seconds)
  • 1:58 w/ no -res procs (-18 seconds)

Titan Weapons:

  • 1:38 w/ Achilles + FoTG
  • 1:47 w/ Achilles (-9 seconds)
  • 1:59 w/ no -res procs (-21 seconds)

Axe:

  • 1:42 w/ Achilles 
  • 1:52 w/ no -res procs (-10 seconds)

So there is definitely a DPS loss for each -res procs that gets replaced with a standard damage proc. How much of this is fair to ignore? I guess that depends on what you're fighting in game. But it does look like there's about an average of 9 seconds loss for each -res proc replaced (at least from these 3 tests I re-ran). 

 

They would still remain among the top DPS for their class. I would predict that if I repeated this for every set, they would all end up losing a similar percentage of their DPS, with those that have both -res procs losing a bit more. Probably not enough to really shake up the whole list, though. I think average DPA of the attacks in the chain is far more important. Radiation Melee was getting both -res procs consistently on all my tests and had very mediocre results.

 

(And not sure why that column is showing up blank for you, but each row under that column has the number of times the -res procs fired for each set. On Brutes it was 19 for Fiery Melee, 19 for Titan Weapons, 13 for Battle Axe...)

 

 

It's about what I mentioned accounting for AT difference. Fiery Melee times are a 16%-ish difference with and without -res. Again, if the 16% showed up in all content it would be easier to accept the -res procs as uniform, but when building a tier list this matters.

 

I had not tested with different ATs other than Tankers but my replicable 25% damage difference shrunk to about 16% VS pylon. That makes me think that if the shrinkage happens against +4 AVs (+3 with level shift) then my observed 4-5% damage boost using -res procs instead of damage procs may shrink to 2-3%. This with then the caveats of: if someone else is using the -res procs then no gains, and for general clearing of a map -res showed no impact (at least on my tests, but small data spread), and that on pylon tests some sets will loom ahead.

 

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13 hours ago, Ston said:

Fiery Melee:

  • 1:40 w/ Achilles + FoTG
  • 1:44 w/ Achilles (-4 seconds)
  • 1:58 w/ no -res procs (-18 seconds

Did you slot multiple Achilles' Heel procs if more than one power accepted them? Trying to understand how many -res procs were in #1 vs. #2.

Uunderdog - Rad/Rad Scrapper | Uundertaker - Rad/Dark Corruptor | Uun - MA/Inv Scrapper | Uunison - Grav/Storm Controller | Uuncola - Ice/Temp Blaster | Uundergrowth - Plant/Martial Dominator | Uunstable - SR/Staff Tank

Uunreal - Fire/Time Corruptor | Uunrest - Dark/TA Blaster | Uunseen - Ill/Poison Controller | Uuncool - Cold/Beam Defender | Uunderground - Earth/Earth Dominator | Uunknown - Mind/Psi Dominator | Uunplugged - Stone/Elec Brute

Uunfair - Archery/TA Corruptor | Uunsung - DP/Ninja Blaster | Uunflammable - Fire/Nature Controller | Uunflappable - WM/WP Brute | Uundead - Dark/Dark Tank | Uunfit - Water/Martial Blaster  | Uunwrapped - Dark/Dark Dominator

Uunchill - Ice/Kinetics Corruptor | Uunpleasant - En/En Stalker | Uunbrella - Rad/Rad Sentinel | Uunsafari - Beasts/Traps MM | Uungnome - Nature/Seismic Defender | Uunsavory - Poson/Sonic Defender | Uunicycle - BS/Shield Scrapper

Uuntouchable - Ill/Time Controller | Uunferno - Fire/Fire Tank | Uunthinkable - Psi/SR Scrapper | Uuncivil - Thugs/Elec MM | Uunnatural - Ice/Savage Dominator | Uunshockable - Elec/Bio Sentinel | Uunfathomable - Elec/Dark Controller

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17 minutes ago, Uun said:

Did you slot multiple Achilles' Heel procs if more than one power accepted them? Trying to understand how many -res procs were in #1 vs. #2.

 

Each of those only had 1 Achilles and 1 FotG. I only put multiple -res procs in Rad Melee since i threw an Achilles in Irradiated Ground. But the rest of the tests only had 1 of each -res proc if available.

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Did you double stack Rage?

 

Why did you add Cross punch in to some of the sets when they did not need it? for example Fire melee you don't seem to use incinerate or cremate for a brute or Cobra Strike/Crane kick over Cross punch.

 

There are better options than using Cross punch at times.

 

 

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I'm still wouldn't think Cross Punch would be a good use in Kinetic Melee.  Cross Punch doesn't build stacks of Power Siphon.  But then it does seem to be better DPA (if you grab Kick and Boxing) than Quick Strike and can slot a -Resist proc and the Purple Proc in it, so maybe it is worth while.  That is taking an extra power (Kick or Boxing) to get there tho.

 

I use CS> SB > BB > QS > Gloom > SB > Repeat

 

Wonder what replacing QS with it would do.

 

 

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52 minutes ago, Gobbledigook said:

Did you double stack Rage?

 

Why did you add Cross punch in to some of the sets when they did not need it? for example Fire melee you don't seem to use incinerate or cremate for a brute or Cobra Strike/Crane kick over Cross punch.

 

There are better options than using Cross punch at times.

 

 

 

47 minutes ago, BrandX said:

I'm still wouldn't think Cross Punch would be a good use in Kinetic Melee.  Cross Punch doesn't build stacks of Power Siphon.  But then it does seem to be better DPA (if you grab Kick and Boxing) than Quick Strike and can slot a -Resist proc and the Purple Proc in it, so maybe it is worth while.  That is taking an extra power (Kick or Boxing) to get there tho.

 

I use CS> SB > BB > QS > Gloom > SB > Repeat

 

Wonder what replacing QS with it would do.

 

 

 

For both of these sets, Cross Punch was used for the -res proc. But I’m thinking I’ll go through the tests and replace CP with the next best DPA attack and see how results change.

 

On FM, using Incinerate was getting me less average DPS than CP with -res. Same with MA. The DPA and value of -res in CP was better than Cobra or Crane. But again, I’d have to test these without any -res usage.

 

And for KM, Brutes benefit way more from the -res from CP than they do from the +dmg stacks. This is probably also true for Tankers but I will re-run the test and see how results change.

 

Of course this is all dependent on the value of -res, which seems to be debatable. But against a +0 Pylon, the -res was for more valuable. I’ll try to update tests with -res replacements to see how things would look against a +3/+4 AV where -res is less valuable.

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15 minutes ago, Ston said:

 

 

For both of these sets, Cross Punch was used for the -res proc. But I’m thinking I’ll go through the tests and replace CP with the next best DPA attack and see how results change.

 

On FM, using Incinerate was getting me less average DPS than CP with -res. Same with MA. The DPA and value of -res in CP was better than Cobra or Crane. But again, I’d have to test these without any -res usage.

 

And for KM, Brutes benefit way more from the -res from CP than they do from the +dmg stacks. This is probably also true for Tankers but I will re-run the test and see how results change.

 

Of course this is all dependent on the value of -res, which seems to be debatable. But against a +0 Pylon, the -res was for more valuable. I’ll try to update tests with -res replacements to see how things would look against a +3/+4 AV where -res is less valuable.


That's true too, Brutes vs Scrappers would feel differently with Power Siphon.  

Going to have to look at my build too, maybe replacing QS with CP would be the better choice, as it throws in another Purple Proc in the ST DPS and the 6th slot could take the -Resist Proc

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Firstly and mostly, thank you for the time and effort it took to execute and (more importantly) document this!

 

Some questions I have:  did you run multiple samples for each run, and if so what was your sample size?  This is going to be much more relevant for the Trapdoor trials, since you could get runners or Trapdoor himself gets a few regen clones off.  Were there any defeats and if so did you count the rez time or did you just scrap the trial?  I think in one of your earlier data analyses you mentioned using some inspirations.

 

One of the things I'm watchful for in these set rankings is that, frankly, they are all more than adequate, so personal style is of utmost priority.  Sets like Kinetic Melee (-damage), Dark Melee (-to hit), Psionic Melee (-recharge), etc., all help your survivability.  But in today's game, survivability really isn't an issue anymore, even at +4/x8 difficulty, so it's really just a ranking of straight dps.  Which is useful to know!

 

 

Who run Bartertown?

 

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1 hour ago, Yomo Kimyata said:

Firstly and mostly, thank you for the time and effort it took to execute and (more importantly) document this!

 

Some questions I have:  did you run multiple samples for each run, and if so what was your sample size?  This is going to be much more relevant for the Trapdoor trials, since you could get runners or Trapdoor himself gets a few regen clones off.  Were there any defeats and if so did you count the rez time or did you just scrap the trial?  I think in one of your earlier data analyses you mentioned using some inspirations.

 

One of the things I'm watchful for in these set rankings is that, frankly, they are all more than adequate, so personal style is of utmost priority.  Sets like Kinetic Melee (-damage), Dark Melee (-to hit), Psionic Melee (-recharge), etc., all help your survivability.  But in today's game, survivability really isn't an issue anymore, even at +4/x8 difficulty, so it's really just a ranking of straight dps.  Which is useful to know!

 

 

 

Thanks for reading! 

 

So for the Trapdoor tests, I did a minimum of 3 runs for each set. I didn’t have a standard sample size because I needed more practice with some sets than others. I would also scrap any runs that had obvious outliers in terms of runners. 

 

There weren’t any deaths because I used orange and green inspirations. The goal was to record DPS and clear speed, so I wasn’t concerned about durability. Sets like Dark Melee should still reflect their secondary effect since the -tohit should mean less incoming debuffs (which is why I didn’t use purple inspirations).

 

And yeah, this was a straight DPS test that ignored any secondary effects that improve your own survival. But I’d still put sets like Psi Melee, Kinetic Melee, & Staff Fighting at the bottom because even with their survival benefits, their value is still pretty awful because of their low DPA. 

 

Sets like Ice Melee and Battle Axe arguably increase your survival more because they have secondary effects that can both mitigate damage (holds, knockdowns) and increase damage output. This along with their faster animations makes them better sets overall IMO.

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47 minutes ago, Bellicose said:

 

Out of curiosity, why omit Stalkers from the Trapdoor test?

 

Stalkers have a lower base Threat value than other Melee ATs, no Taunt/Confront ability, and generally less available options for AoE.  They're at a significant disadvantage in an x8 Trapdoor run compared to other ATs.  Lots of lost time chasing targets.  Tried it with the Fire/Stone/Blaze, it's sort of a hassle. 🤣

 

Might be interesting to see them compared internally to themselves, but not really sure its worth the effort and annoyance of using Trapdoor as the metric.

 

Isn't there an AE map someone made full of AVs?  That might make an interesting Stalker test if I am not making up the memory of it. 🤣

You see a mousetrap? I see free cheese and a f$%^ing challenge.

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@Sovera 

 

Re-ran some Brute tests with a "no -res procs" rule and changed up some attack chains to try to make up some damage. Interesting to see how some sets moved up or down the list (and dark melee was actually faster without CP, didn't expect that).

You can definitely see which sets were getting a big DPS boost (MA, Katana, Stj, BS, Rad.. all sets that could keep up 2 -res procs consistently). 

 

image.thumb.png.33ddd2c0fd3490a16c56ea0068192ceb.png

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5 minutes ago, Ston said:

@Sovera 

 

Re-ran some Brute tests with a "no -res procs" rule and changed up some attack chains to try to make up some damage. Interesting to see how some sets moved up or down the list (and dark melee was actually faster without CP, didn't expect that).

You can definitely see which sets were getting a big DPS boost (MA, Katana, Stj, BS, Rad.. all sets that could keep up 2 -res procs consistently). 

 

image.thumb.png.33ddd2c0fd3490a16c56ea0068192ceb.png

 

Damn s(t)on, you really went an extra mile with this. Well it's more data you can add to the list now. From what I remember the -res procs had no effect on Trapdoor (with the exception of Rad Melee who (used to) get a big boost from them thanks to IG) but I only ran it with Tankers.

 

In my opinion that will be the last data point on whether there is a point in using the -res procs or not. Either there is a significant difference (30 seconds at least?) or -res procs end being solely for pylons.

 

At some point the community ought to move on to the instanced pylons who spawn as level 54 objects and it would fix all of this.

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14 hours ago, InvaderStych said:

 

Stalkers have a lower base Threat value than other Melee ATs, no Taunt/Confront ability, and generally less available options for AoE.  They're at a significant disadvantage in an x8 Trapdoor run compared to other ATs.  Lots of lost time chasing targets.  Tried it with the Fire/Stone/Blaze, it's sort of a hassle. 🤣

 

Might be interesting to see them compared internally to themselves, but not really sure its worth the effort and annoyance of using Trapdoor as the metric.

 

Isn't there an AE map someone made full of AVs?  That might make an interesting Stalker test if I am not making up the memory of it. 🤣


Yeah. After sleeping on it, it also dawned on me that running a WP Stalker at +4/x8 might present a whole new set of problems into the math with the Resists and Regens working off of their lower base HP.

It also might queer the results for sets like Dark or Claws running with -ToHit and Knockdown providing 'baked in' mitigation lowering clear times - not because of DPS, but because of that mitigation.

On the other hand, the overall results would be more consistent with the other ATs if the tests were run with the same parameters (avg. time of of Pylon and Trapdoor).

I'm super curious about the builds and the attack chains between the two testing sites. I think my fascination with these kind of data-driven analyses may flow from the potential in-game applications of the data (i.e. is there a AT/Power Set combination that with mathematically yield better results for my playstyle). But, I think that sort of information is outside the scope of this experiment.

RE: 'Runners' - I would imagine that a test would probably include access to Soul Mastery/Moonbeam to help ameliorate that factor. At one point that power was SOP on Stalkers. I don't know if it still is.

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On the other hand, the only place any of these differences (certainly single target) make any significant difference is while solo'ing. 

 

So in that regard, -res procs do make a difference in actual game play in the same way that damage procs in single target powers make a difference. They both get washed out in most teams, but that doesn't make them worthless of consideration.

 

At the end of the day, -res procs lose effectiveness vs +cons, so does rend armor in TW. Most -res procs aren't being applied across the whole spawn with any consistency so in most situations it is getting value and not overlapping with other users. Or at least as much value as any small thing does in isolation. 

 

IMO you'd be silly not to put fury of the glad in something like Golden Dragonfly unless all you do is team with players that are significantly better at applying it than you. But in that case you probably wouldn't be bringing a katana build anyway.

 

I wouldn't tell radiation players to skip lingering rad because traps exists. Although sometimes casting the power may be of little value.

 

I dunno, they exist, they do something for some builds. I'd be more interested in testing showing even cons vs +3's and see how things change. My experience says not much, but it might shift things around a bit.

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48 minutes ago, Bellicose said:

RE: 'Runners' - I would imagine that a test would probably include access to Soul Mastery/Moonbeam to help ameliorate that factor. At one point that power was SOP on Stalkers. I don't know if it still is.

 

Well, on Scrappers an Epic Snipe tends to be SOP for the DPS bump they provide.  Top Scrapper chains have included them for as long as I can recall.  I'm less sure about that on Stalkers.

 

I tend to build at least one ranged option into my Scrappers, if not a snipe for the DPS, something just for the utility of tagging low-health runners in the back. Carrying this pattern along to my new interest in Stalkers.

 

These days though, I put Combat Teleport on everything because it is fun.  On Scrappers/Stalkers that means nothing escapes my targeted macros.  I know this is a personal mini-game for me though, and not everyone is on board with the Church of the Almighty BAMF!

You see a mousetrap? I see free cheese and a f$%^ing challenge.

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1 hour ago, Bellicose said:


Yeah. After sleeping on it, it also dawned on me that running a WP Stalker at +4/x8 might present a whole new set of problems into the math with the Resists and Regens working off of their lower base HP.

It also might queer the results for sets like Dark or Claws running with -ToHit and Knockdown providing 'baked in' mitigation lowering clear times - not because of DPS, but because of that mitigation.

On the other hand, the overall results would be more consistent with the other ATs if the tests were run with the same parameters (avg. time of of Pylon and Trapdoor).

I'm super curious about the builds and the attack chains between the two testing sites. I think my fascination with these kind of data-driven analyses may flow from the potential in-game applications of the data (i.e. is there a AT/Power Set combination that with mathematically yield better results for my playstyle). But, I think that sort of information is outside the scope of this experiment.

RE: 'Runners' - I would imagine that a test would probably include access to Soul Mastery/Moonbeam to help ameliorate that factor. At one point that power was SOP on Stalkers. I don't know if it still is.

 

 

My other concern with this is that stalkers have sets like Martial Arts with zero AoE. I can’t imagine how awful it would be to try to clear groups of 16-20 enemies without any AoE in your primary set 😅

 

Survival isn’t an issue since my test parameters allowed orange/green inspirations to be used. I don’t use purples so that incoming debuffs would be a factor. Like you mentioned, some sets would be better at mitigating incoming debuffs, but I wasn’t too concerned with mitigation of incoming damage. 

 

One snipe power alone wouldn’t be enough to deal with runners in an efficient way. They will run in opposite directions, so you can probably spend up to 10-15 seconds chasing two minions who ran opposite directions at 5% HP.

 

I can look back at the builds, but most of them used the same ST chains in Trapdoor as they did in the Pylon test. And then AoE chains would open with Ball Lightning (Scrappers) or Dark Obliteration (Tankers/Brutes) and would be followed with as many PBAoEs/Cones the set had. And in between those I would use the ST chain on priority targets.

 

Examples:

SS: Dark Oblit > Foot Stomp > CP

Claws: Dark Oblit > Spin > Shockwave

Rad: Dark Oblit > Atom Smasher > CP

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On 5/24/2023 at 1:41 PM, Ston said:

 

 

My other concern with this is that stalkers have sets like Martial Arts with zero AoE. I can’t imagine how awful it would be to try to clear groups of 16-20 enemies without any AoE in your primary set 😅

 

Survival isn’t an issue since my test parameters allowed orange/green inspirations to be used. I don’t use purples so that incoming debuffs would be a factor. Like you mentioned, some sets would be better at mitigating incoming debuffs, but I wasn’t too concerned with mitigation of incoming damage. 

 

One snipe power alone wouldn’t be enough to deal with runners in an efficient way. They will run in opposite directions, so you can probably spend up to 10-15 seconds chasing two minions who ran opposite directions at 5% HP.

 

I can look back at the builds, but most of them used the same ST chains in Trapdoor as they did in the Pylon test. And then AoE chains would open with Ball Lightning (Scrappers) or Dark Obliteration (Tankers/Brutes) and would be followed with as many PBAoEs/Cones the set had. And in between those I would use the ST chain on priority targets.

 

Examples:

SS: Dark Oblit > Foot Stomp > CP

Claws: Dark Oblit > Spin > Shockwave

Rad: Dark Oblit > Atom Smasher > CP

 

That's why the caveat of these charts is that it only speaks about raw number performance and not the over all potential. MA may be up there in terms of raw performance but MA lacks in proper AoE, which means that it may work for a scrapper, but not necessarily for a brute or tanker (why even tanker if AT doesn't take advantage of target cap) in 100% of any situation.

 

Same with Savage melee, it may seem high in performance like a scrapper or Tanker but will likely shine far more often on a brute due to it's dot mechanic which scales with fury. The only real downside to SM on a brute is that ramp up time.

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1 hour ago, Ashford said:

 

That's why the caveat of these charts is that it only speaks about raw number performance and not the over all potential. MA may be up there in terms of raw performance but MA lacks in proper AoE, which means that it may work for a scrapper, but not necessarily for a brute or tanker (why even tanker if AT doesn't take advantage of target cap) in 100% of any situation.

 

Same with Savage melee, it may seem high in performance like a scrapper or Tanker but will likely shine far more often on a brute due to it's dot mechanic which scales with fury. The only real downside to SM on a brute is that ramp up time.

I might be wrong, but I thought Dragon’s Tail could slot FF and pretty much proc it all the time, giving MA pretty good AOE overall.

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11 hours ago, BuiltDifferent5 said:

I might be wrong, but I thought Dragon’s Tail could slot FF and pretty much proc it all the time, giving MA pretty good AOE overall.

 

MA and SS both only have the one AoE and both are doing very well in these Trapdoor tests.  Partly because they are adding a Patron Pool AoE to that.  I would guess it's a case of "good" AoE and more about "enough" AoE for the test since it's the bosses that need to be focused with ST attacks mostly.  If you can keep enemies bunched around you, even a couple AoEs mixed into the ST rotation on bosses probably does the job of taking out the trash.

 

There is generally more AoE love in this game's community than is really warranted.  Partly that comes from running overpowered Incarnate 54 teams against content that can't compare and does get obliterated by AoEs.  But up against an actual challenge, you need good ST damage.  So while Stalkers don't get a seat at this table for soloing Trapdoor, they do belong on teams where you've got teammates to AoE while they nail bosses.

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1 hour ago, ZemX said:

 

MA and SS both only have the one AoE and both are doing very well in these Trapdoor tests.  Partly because they are adding a Patron Pool AoE to that.  I would guess it's a case of "good" AoE and more about "enough" AoE for the test since it's the bosses that need to be focused with ST attacks mostly.  If you can keep enemies bunched around you, even a couple AoEs mixed into the ST rotation on bosses probably does the job of taking out the trash.

 

There is generally more AoE love in this game's community than is really warranted.  Partly that comes from running overpowered Incarnate 54 teams against content that can't compare and does get obliterated by AoEs.  But up against an actual challenge, you need good ST damage.  So while Stalkers don't get a seat at this table for soloing Trapdoor, they do belong on teams where you've got teammates to AoE while they nail bosses.

Great points and well said! I do love the Stalker’s as the boss killer specialist 😂

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On 5/24/2023 at 1:41 PM, Ston said:

My other concern with this is that stalkers have sets like Martial Arts with zero AoE.

 

See, I think Martial Arts is a bit of an outlier with its zero AoE.

Per Mids:

Broad Sword: Slice (130°, 5), Headsplitter (19°, 5 [1])
Claws: Shockwave (90°, 10 [4])
Dark Melee: Shadow Maul (120°, 5), Touch of Fear (7', 10)
Dual Blades: Sweeping Strike (90°, 5 [4]), One Thousand Cuts (90°, 10 [4]), Sweep Combo (7', 10)
Electrical Melee: Jacobs Ladder (90°, 5 [4]), Thunderstrike (7', 10), Lightning Rod (20', 16)
Energy Melee: Power Crash (120°, 5)
Fiery Melee: Breath of Fire (30°, 10 [1 or 2], Fire Sword Circle (7', 10)
Ice Melee: Frost (90°, 10 [4]), Frozen Aura (10', 10)
Kinetic Melee: Burst (8', 10)
Martial Arts: None
Ninja Blade: Flashing Steel (130°, 5), Golden Dragonfly (19°, 10 [1])
Psionic Melee: Mass Levitate (10', 10)
Radiation Melee: Proton Sweep (75°, 5 [3 or 4]), Atom Smasher (10', 10)
Savage Melee: Shred (80°, 5 [3 or 4]), Rending Flurry (15', 10), Savage Leap (20', 10)
Spines: Spine Burst (15', 10), Ripper (90°, 5 [4]), Throw Spines (90° 10 [4])
Staff Fighting: Guarded Spin (90°, 5 [4]), Eye of the Storm (10', 10)
Stone Melee: Tremor (15', 10)
Street Justice: Sweeping Cross (50°, 5 [2 or 3]) Spinning Strike (6', 10)

Now, some of these cones are comically narrow. Anyone who's played Katana/Ninja Blade knows that hitting even two people with Golden Dragonfly is a treat, and not the norm (much less 10!). But, as a thought experiment, I can imagine some sets, like Savage which is already listed as S Tier, being elevated to the top of it's class.

Now a couple of things I'm unsure of: Are these attacks even worth taking and slotting (ex. does Touch of Fear's 52.79 base damage even warrant a spot in a reasonable build). Also, do ALL Stalker AoEs crit from HIde? Even more of weird outlier question would be does the Dual Blades combo crit from hide (ex. Build Up -> Assassin's Blades (procing the Chance to Hide) -> Ablating Strike (triggering the Sweep Combo)?

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