What is your current odd toon that shouldn't work, but does?

[KaizenSoze]

I try out a lot of odd combos for various reasons. Most of them fail to keep my attention.

 

Once in a while though, one actually works. Currently, that one is my Martial Arts/Ice stalker.

 

Literally, no aoe. But solos pretty much anything in PI and DA at 4x8.

 

What is your. This actually works build right now?

[Scarlet Shocker]

I guess this is hugely subjective - I've made some toons that are kind of clunky and there are some that simply do not work solo but every combo will work to a greater or lesser degree in a team - of course the caveat is the team make up.

 

But with that preamble out the way, I've never gone after a combo thinking "this is borked" and been pleasantly surprised to the contrary. I always try and have something in mind conceptually at least.

 

I don't play many melee toons but for what it's worth one of my fave toons is my kin melee tank, which to my mind significantly outperforms all (both) the dark tanks I've ever tried. I have little experience so.. go figure?

[Mjolnerd]

15 minutes ago, Scarlet Shocker said:

I guess this is hugely subjective - I've made some toons that are kind of clunky and there are some that simply do not work solo but every combo will work to a greater or lesser degree in a team - of course the caveat is the team make up.

 

There's a reason it's become kind of a cliche around these parts to point out that every powerset or combination of powersets can be good depending on... well, a lot of factors. Less so nowadays with the player balance shifted more to the hardcore/performance-focused end of the scale as a result of the game dying and coming back. Recently I've seen a lot more "Kinetic Melee only does 95% as much damage as most other sets, it's broken and unplayable" or "Storm Blast takes twenty entire seconds to completely clear a 54/x8 spawn, what were the devs thinking releasing something so worthless?" kinds of sentiments than I ever did on live. But... eh. They're both fine. Perfectly cromulent sets that are fun to play even if they aren't "I win" buttons.

 

Anyway.

 

I have a Street Justice/Regeneration brute that's also fine. Regen may not be as totally unstoppable as some would like, and it could definitely use a going-over next time someone wants to look at improving existing sets, but it's absolutely workable as is. Even the "worst set in the game" is still a solid 7 out of 10. In fact, building for recharge so I can always have the clicky powers in Regen up when I need them means I can also activate Spinning Strike more often, and that's maybe my favorite individual power to use in the whole game -- the clicks-to-joy ratio on that one is through the roof for me. She won't be tanking Lord Recluse solo or anything, but she stays upright and does awesome spinning kicks that knock whole groups of bad guys on their butts, so I'm happy.

[Arc-Mage]

I have a Kinetic Tank that sucks. 
 

It makes me sad because the power looks so cool.

[Grasshopper]

I've a blaster.  Water Blast/Mental Manipulation - seemingly odd combo that I picked strictly because of theming since he's called Aquaphobia.  It's surprisingly fun.  I'm sure someone with some build skill can make it work better than I can, but I enjoy it.

[Player2]

I have a Symphony/Savage Dominator faerie.  I took savage for its ranged attacks, so when she isn't singing cones of destruction she's sending the birds and the bees at her foes.

[kito]

5 hours ago, Mjolnerd said:

 

There's a reason it's become kind of a cliche around these parts to point out that every powerset or combination of powersets can be good depending on... well, a lot of factors. Less so nowadays with the player balance shifted more to the hardcore/performance-focused end of the scale as a result of the game dying and coming back. Recently I've seen a lot more "Kinetic Melee only does 95% as much damage as most other sets, it's broken and unplayable" or "Storm Blast takes twenty entire seconds to completely clear a 54/x8 spawn, what were the devs thinking releasing something so worthless?" kinds of sentiments than I ever did on live. But... eh. They're both fine. Perfectly cromulent sets that are fun to play even if they aren't "I win" buttons.

 

Anyway.

 

I have a Street Justice/Regeneration brute that's also fine. Regen may not be as totally unstoppable as some would like, and it could definitely use a going-over next time someone wants to look at improving existing sets, but it's absolutely workable as is. Even the "worst set in the game" is still a solid 7 out of 10. In fact, building for recharge so I can always have the clicky powers in Regen up when I need them means I can also activate Spinning Strike more often, and that's maybe my favorite individual power to use in the whole game -- the clicks-to-joy ratio on that one is through the roof for me. She won't be tanking Lord Recluse solo or anything, but she stays upright and does awesome spinning kicks that knock whole groups of bad guys on their butts, so I'm happy.

The devs really should make a god/god power 1 shots everything and maxes d/r with just Sos that should make them happy. They can solo 4* content and be as strong as they want then no matter how "bad" new powers are they can always go back to there god/god builds 😉

[VashNKnives]

I really have been enjoying storm/nin blaster, but I wouldn't consider that an odd build. For an odd pair I really enjoyed thug/empathy mastermind with a heavy melee focus including the attacks from the fighting pool and full stacks of temp powers like baseball bats. 

[Nyghtmaire]

I have two:

 

1. Earth/Sonic controller. It’s a challenging combo to build for. If you proc, there is very little to build with for global recharge and defenses. And if you focus on either or both defenses and/or recharge, damage potential is limited. The pet is single target-focused so it’s slow going regardless taking mobs down 1 by 1. But damn, Earth controls everything! And thematically, the pairing is enticing. Takes a delicate build approach. And for a controller, it has surprising depths and synergies if one is prepared to take a left-field approach. 
 

2. dark/dark blaster - apparently, consensus is that this comb works (if at all) in opposition to one another. Never understood it in practice: *feels* so good to play. 

[TygerDarkstorm]

I feel like my Storm/Fire blaster is a bit of a weird combo that shouldn't work but does. Like many blasters, it's definitely a bit of a squishy glass cannon since I'm still in the process of leveling her and getting things figured out. But the level of achievable AoE output and soft control is just stupid - I ended up soloing a spawn in a Moonfire last night (we were at +1 I think and I was only maybe level 25ish, so not an overpowered exemp toon). Granted, I took advantage of them running from my effects to give me some breathing space lol.

 

I have a Psy/Fire sent that was created with the thought that /Fire would provide an alternate source of damage for when up against mobs that are more psy resistant. She's sort of stalled out at 50 though as I find other toons more fun to play, but this combo works and is decent for things like ITF.

 

Rolled a Psy/Atomic blaster--these two sound like they would be an odd pairing, but I'm finding a lot of nice synergies so far. And similar to the sent, /Atomic provides an alternate damage source for foes that are psy resistant.

 

Earth/Poison controller - Sitting and languishing a bit at level 30, but I know once I get around to building up her defenses better, this will play better. Started as a concept character that has developed actual synergy. Just painfully slow to level, though entirely doable with Rocky.

[cranebump]

Not sure how we define “work.” All of them do what they’re supposed to do (which includes face planting).

[Chronicler J]

On 5/27/2023 at 9:17 PM, Arc-Mage said:

I have a Kinetic Tank that sucks. 

 

They buffed Battle Axe but left KM to rot. Tragic.

[Chronicler J]

20 hours ago, cranebump said:

Not sure how we define “work.” All of them do what they’re supposed to do (which includes face planting).

 

The bar is set low enough that Little Timmy can feel Super.

[cranebump]

1 hour ago, Chronicler J said:

 

The bar is set low enough that Little Timmy can feel Super.

Little Tommy cannot answer the phone. Half his body is wedged beneath the floor plating.

[Mjolnerd]

On 5/27/2023 at 6:04 PM, Mjolnerd said:

 

Recently I've seen a lot more "Kinetic Melee only does 95% as much damage as most other sets, it's broken and unplayable" or "Storm Blast takes twenty entire seconds to completely clear a 54/x8 spawn, what were the devs thinking releasing something so worthless?" kinds of sentiments than I ever did on live. But... eh. They're both fine. Perfectly cromulent sets that are fun to play even if they aren't "I win" buttons.

 

 

3 hours ago, Chronicler J said:

 

They buffed Battle Axe but left KM to rot. Tragic.

 

Yes, just like that! Good example.

[Clave Dark 5]

I have a Dark Armor / Spines stalker.  Both sets are supposedly trash: Dark is too End hungry and Spines is... not good for some reason (I haven't bothered learning the reason).  But they fit the concept so it was off to the races for me, concept overrules. 

 

By the time she was near 50 I discovered that with a little bit of luck such as one power or another recharging in time, she can tank, well.  I routinely use her as a tank to draw Rikti down into the bowl during MSRs.  Not being a min/maxer (see the rule of concept), this is even more surprising.

[TygerDarkstorm]

2 hours ago, Clave Dark 5 said:

I have a Dark Armor / Spines stalker.  Both sets are supposedly trash: Dark is too End hungry and Spines is... not good for some reason (I haven't bothered learning the reason).  But they fit the concept so it was off to the races for me, concept overrules. 

 

By the time she was near 50 I discovered that with a little bit of luck such as one power or another recharging in time, she can tank, well.  I routinely use her as a tank to draw Rikti down into the bowl during MSRs.  Not being a min/maxer (see the rule of concept), this is even more surprising.

I have one of these, but as a tank because I saw one in one of my pugs and it just looked so damn cool, lol. But she's still a baby so I've no idea how well they work together. Interesting to see it as a stalker!

[Heatstroke]

I had an Ice/Thorn Dominator on live that was quite impressive. Currently my Dark/Bio Sentinel. I was told it would be a bad combo.. Its one of my better characters. 

[crimson72]

It seems to me like if your gear is good enough you can turn pretty much anything into a destroyer of worlds.  

[InvaderStych]

5 hours ago, Clave Dark 5 said:

I have a Dark Armor / Spines stalker.  Both sets are supposedly trash: Dark is too End hungry and Spines is... not good for some reason (I haven't bothered learning the reason).  But they fit the concept so it was off to the races for me, concept overrules. 

 

3 hours ago, TygerDarkstorm said:

I have one of these, but as a tank because I saw one in one of my pugs and it just looked so damn cool, lol. But she's still a baby so I've no idea how well they work together. Interesting to see it as a stalker!

 

One of my favorite toons during Retail was this combo on a Scrapper.  It was an outright lawnmower; even after Interface was brought into line, no longer triggered on every damage tic, and went on the 10s timer in toggles. Single target wasn't anything to shout from the hilltops about, but it was definitely a fun toon to play.

 

Should be solid on a Tank though with the buffs to AoE radius/arc they received a while back.

[Scarlet Shocker]

On 5/28/2023 at 2:17 AM, Arc-Mage said:

I have a Kinetic Tank that sucks. 
 

It makes me sad because the power looks so cool.

 

I have an elec/kin tank that I love - was my 2nd tank to 50 and the only one I farm with. Works very well

Perhaps that's a contender for this thread

[biostem]

On 5/26/2023 at 7:37 AM, KaizenSoze said:

What is your. This actually works build right now?

I've had great success with my earth control/pain domination controller.  Not so great solo, but excellent on teams.

[Neiska]

For me that would be Dullahana, a Duel Blade/Dark Armor/Fire Tanker.

 

All over the place, I know. But it was a theme build I did just for fun. And she turned out.... ...rather good. And bonus points for Style I guess?