All-Arcs Run...

[Lhanis]

Semi-long bit of rambling here, apologies, tl;dr below:

 

A while back I poked my nose into the Tanker forum for some advice on the AT, as it's not my usual fare. Convinced my brothers to come check out the game, and they wanted to give it a crack with an MM and a Corr, so I was looking to try something new and build a tank to run with them.

 

Through the various bits of help and advice, I discovered a love of Savage Melee, and more than a few folks recommended Rad Armor as a great place to start, though I wasn't generally fond of the aesthetic - but in chatting with my brothers as I was putting together builds and mucking around on Test, said MM-minded brother discovered his own adoration of the set and ended up rolling a TW/Rad brute that he's been having an absolute blast with. Being that we had our 'tank', I ended up shelving my melee aspirations and dusting off my semi-retired main (good ol' dark dark dom), and we've had a ton of fun romping through the Rogue Isles.

 

It reminded me of something I've been wanting to do for ages though, and it might be a good excuse to keep working on that melee build. I quit live well before sunset, somewhere around... i17? I remember AE being the new hotness at the time. As such, I wasn't around for Going Rogue or the incarnate stuff as it happened, and I know I'm -way- behind on story related things. I've been here on Homecoming for a few years now, but it's largely been just falling into the old rhythm og grinding up, grabbing accolades, IOing out, and moving to the next. Maybe some sporadic badge hunting when it strikes me.

 

So, my plan is this: I want to take a character from the beginning of Goldside, all the way through to Night Ward and hitting every arc I can. Potentially following it up with a jaunt through Red, and maybe even Blue in the distant future. I've seen a few guides posted here and there on how to achieve it via level locks and such, but I'm not above hitting them through Ouro as well. I'm more interested in just seeing all that story content I've missed than any real challenge attempt like some folks have done.

 

It's something I've poked at in the past, but a vast majority of the ATs I usually lean on really don't like extended amounts of solo/exemp'd play (I have a lot of 'troller, Dom, proc based 'fenders, HEATs, MMs), and that's something that has me worried with Tanker as well. It takes what feels like an age for them to put together a decent attack chain, and I won't immediately have a full attuned IO kit ready for them from the start. Essentially, I'm looking for advice on what folks think are good ATs or powersets to help with this.

 

The tl;dr is essentially:

 

1) Planning to do a majority of story arcs starting with Goldside, either at level or through Ouro if I miss some things. 

 

2) Looking for suggestions on ATs/Powersets that don't mind large amounts of solo/exemp'd play. My usual fare for ATs don't play nice with this, as I tend to fall into support roles or late bloomers, which means-

 

3) I've been mostly looking at Melee or Sents for more comfortable play, though I'm concerned a bit about Tanker taking to long to get a decent attack chain... padding using temp powers isn't exactly ideal. Stalker having early access to great ST and the ability to stealth missions seems great, but I vaguely remember seeing someone mention Goldside having a love of constant ambushes and escorts. Also-

 

4) A few sets have caught my eye already - namely Savage Melee, Axe, Warmace, and maybe Shield as an armor... But Savage looks awful with shield specifically, and Axe and Warmace aren't even options for Stalker to begin with. I've also been toying with an Elec^3 Sent build I've put together, but every time I try and play it theres this... weight, in the back of my mind telling me Sents are bad and I should feel bad. I know a lot of folks will argue against that, I don't really have any specific issue with the AT, but the community has done it's absolute best to drive that thought process home....

 

Anyway, enough of my rambling. Have any of y'all tried something similar? What ATs do you think have the easiest time with this sort of drawn out play? Maybe more importantly, what do you think would be fun to take through on a run like this?

[jprewitt73]

A Savage Melee Brute seems like it would best fit your needs. As for secondary, honestly it's up to you. If you plan on soloing most content then I would go with something that increases recharge and end management. The best way to solo with a Brute (in my opinion) is putting down your opponents quickly. Energy Aura is great at both and with very solid defenses as well. Radiation Armor fits the bell too with great resists. Fire Armor for additional damage and end (no +recharge) would a great solo friendly build. Willpower is the set and forget type of secondary, which I have found it great for soloing sometimes if I get into the "keep Fury at the highest level at all times" mindset. 

 

And on second thought, I would seriously consider Energy Aura. You get a +Stealth power in your secondary that will help with getting through missions with ease if you aren't feeling up to wading through mobs the whole time. /EA is a seriously underrated set on Brutes. 

Edited July 7, 2023 by jprewitt73

[lemming]

Been doing a slow work with a brute thru arcs as well.   Energy/Bio currently, but have done a few other combos as well.

 

If you do want to stealth, make sure to pickup the "Only Affects Self" power from P2W so when you stealth past mobs, your aura doesn't alert them.

[Without_Pause]

I will point out that if you are soloing at level, then there is a whole lot of any/any for what works.

 

The two things I recall(years ago mind you) that annoyed me about Gold side was end drain and Psy damage. You might want to lean on things which protect against those, but it might be a lower issue based on your level of play, and honestly not much handles Psy.

 

For Savage, I think its best on a Brute due to DoT and Fury.

 

I would lean on sets which bloom earlier although to be fair with recent changes that issue isn't nearly as big as it used to be. I do think Savage plays well enough early on. Claws is fantastic in this regard as well. Claws is absolutely best on a Scrapper though. My only complaint about things like Axe and Warmace is slower powers, and the fact that you essentially need the T9 to really fill out the build. Ice isn't a great looking set, and it is noisy, but that thing is amazing on a Stalker. I love StJ, but its AoE's are on the smaller side. If you are dealing with smaller mobs, that might not matter. 

 

For Defense, Shield is great, but blooms slower. Things get much better if you pair it with something like Dark. EA is a favorite. I can build a character to where Psy isn't that bad considering it is a weakness. Its tools come later, but I don't find it that bad leading up to it. More so if you are doing even level missions. I IO out as I go along mind you. Oh, Radiation Therapy for Rad can slot a +end proc in it. That can be a super end friendly build even at low levels since it unlocks as a secondary at 16. I really need to redo my Savage/rad Brute knowing what I know now. Savage itself is end friendly, and offers recharge which just fuels the clicks for Rad. Honestly, for simple even level playing, Willpower is pretty nice. It has end recovery and some Psy mitigation. It's not top tier, but that's not the requirement. Its only real issue is when debuffs start to land.

 

Stalker, Scrappers, and Brutes are great for soloing even level content. My only complaint with Tanks is their damage when you are facing normal sized mobs and depending on the damage type. I think the Stalker issue with ambushes are over stated. 1. Other ATs still get ambushed. 2. The Stalker ATO procs turn the AT into much more of a Scrapper so putting up numbers isn't really an issue if they start out not hidden. I don't even think I wait to go back into Stealth on my Stalkers. 

[Lhanis]

I... don't think I've ever looked at Energy Aura before. Having a damage aura would be nice to grind down early targets when I have fewer attacks on a brute, but even without one EnA looks a lot more my speed than Rad or Bio would be. Having access to a stealth is a nice bonus too, and having so much global recharge from Savage on top of it would let me load more procs down the line if I decide to kit out out... I just wish it had a Min FX option, it's so visually busy The "Energy Glow" settings really aren't all that bad now that I look at them, definitely workable.

 

I'm also admittedly quite fond of Elec Armor too, as it's what spawned my E^3 Sent to begin with (don't like Elec Melee outside stalker, Sent gets the damage aura back from Epic pool). I know it's also a great choice for Brutes too, with the regen/res combo and damage aura for Fury.

 

I do have an Ice/Stone stalker, and it is definitely one of my favorites. Both of those sets are wonderful on stalker, even if the sword's whistling sfx is enough to give you a migraine. It definitely fits the criteria for this, and the only reason I didn't drag it out is because I was looking to do try something new and maybe move out of my comfort zone a bit.

 

Having played a bit of Fort/NightWidow, Claws seems an interesting pick too. Follow Up was always easier for me to remember to wrap into my chains than Build Up, and Spin is a wonderful spammable early AoE option with some recharge behind it. A Claws scrapper might be something to consider as well, along with the Savage brute....

Edited July 8, 2023 by farsinger

[Without_Pause]

I'll just point out the moment Brutes clicked for me was when I soloed an EB with no inspirs on a Dark/elec Brute, and I had likely at best common IOs. I would have to search for it, but I know someone posted a Claws/elec Brute which has some really impressive numbers on it. I meant to copy it and maybe build it myself at some point. Claws is still best on a Scrapper due to Spin having a shorter recharge. Claws is forever exempt friendly since it's ST chain is done with Focus so it is there for all TFs and down to level 12 for any Flashbacks.  

 

In terms of a damage aura, this also partly depends on diff setting. If you are going against smaller mobs, you are less likely to benefit from a damage aura. Armors with a damage aura tend to be sacrificing overall defensive mitigation for it.

 

The build is older but should be fine. I am using it as a template for the Brute version as well which is performing as expected nearing level 30. I figure if I got Bill Z's approval it was at least solid. Like, I don't think I ever even switched to the official end game build for the Scrapper. If a boss can't deal with KB, then they really won't like how fast Focus and Shockwave recharge. I remember being on a team with at least one Kin. My attack chain was FU + Spin. Seriously.

 

 

 

[Lhanis]

On 7/8/2023 at 12:05 PM, Without_Pause said:

I'll just point out the moment Brutes clicked for me was when I soloed an EB with no inspirs on a Dark/elec Brute, and I had likely at best common IOs. I would have to search for it, but I know someone posted a Claws/elec Brute which has some really impressive numbers on it. I meant to copy it and maybe build it myself at some point. Claws is still best on a Scrapper due to Spin having a shorter recharge. Claws is forever exempt friendly since it's ST chain is done with Focus so it is there for all TFs and down to level 12 for any Flashbacks.  

 

In terms of a damage aura, this also partly depends on diff setting. If you are going against smaller mobs, you are less likely to benefit from a damage aura. Armors with a damage aura tend to be sacrificing overall defensive mitigation for it.

 

The build is older but should be fine. I am using it as a template for the Brute version as well which is performing as expected nearing level 30. I figure if I got Bill Z's approval it was at least solid. Like, I don't think I ever even switched to the official end game build for the Scrapper. If a boss can't deal with KB, then they really won't like how fast Focus and Shockwave recharge. I remember being on a team with at least one Kin. My attack chain was FU + Spin. Seriously.

 

 

 

After taking a few days to mess with things and try out some combinations, I am absolutely a believer in the power of Claws. I've never played a set that cares so little about being exemp'd, and it's such a satisfying thing to constantly throw FU - Spin - Shockwave to mow through mobs. The animations are a little stiff feeling, and I do wish you could pair it with Shield... but I definitely think Claws has taken Savage's spot as my favorite melee. FU is a small change to the usual Aim/BU that makes so much difference for me.

EA I'm a little less enthused with. It's an amazing set, but something about it just doesn't click with me. I should love it for the built in cloak, and the aura is probably my favorite non-damaging one short of AAO, but it's so... thirsty, before energize is available. I also had trouble remembering to use it, with how quick paced Claws constantly is, but that's definitely user error rather than anything against the set. 

 

What it DID remind me of, though, was Stone. Such a solid, flexible kit - and now available on Scrapper to boot. To bad Claws is incompatible with Stone on Brute (probably due to an issue with Granite, considering that's the only difference between the two versions now). I ended up making both a Claw/Stone Scrapper and a Claw/EA Brute on test to mess around with and get a feel for as a side project, and will likely end up with one of those two setups. Y'all have been amazing help working through these sets, and I appreciate it!

[Without_Pause]

I can't get Stone to really work for me in terms of look when using Claws. I got a Claws/ice up to 27 now though, and I'm still testing it out. It isn't quite there yet. Energy Drain handles end issues for me when using EA, but I honestly slot IOs as I go along to I don't feel end issues like I used to. Honestly, I can hardly touch ED on my Claws/ea Scrapper, but that build is close to being done even with Incarnates.

 

Stone is incredibly good though. I have a Ice/stone Brute at 50 and the Stalker version at 28. My only complaint is the look. I don't use Granite on my Brute.