Seeking solo AT advice (for most challenges)

[wRECk69]

Hello, everyone!

 

I have been running my traditional toons on Homecoming--Defender, Tank, and Controller.  This last TF run today made me stop and sigh, as we blew through the TF so fast that I didn't have time to stop and smell the flowers.  As an Elec/Elec defender, I almost felt unneeded when the blasters/corrupters jumped into mob after mob and just nuked them away.  Even the tank seemed more useless than helpful, though he did a good job gathering where possible.  I know that changes, depending on the circumstances, but it left me deflated.  And, on Homecoming--especially lately, every TF and arc that I've been on a team with has been a steamrolling ride.

I'm looking for something that I can solo up through the game at a leisurely pace.  However, I'd like it to stand up to whatever challenges await--AVs in arcs and TFs, mobs (though I don't care about soloing +4/x8 at level 2), and perhaps even GMs once I am able build-wise.  I have a few 50's on Homecoming (a farming tank, a regular tank, a 'troller (Illusion), a few defenders), since I gravitate toward them, but I'm willing to try anything.  Money isn't an object, given my farmer.  I'll team when I am able, but I'd like to solo a lot to reread some of the great arcs in CoH.  I'll likely start blue-side, as I have a few gold-side toons and I really don't care for red-side.

 

TL;DR

Something that can solo CoH content, harder challenges (AV/GM), and can still take time to smell the flowers!  Any AT suggestions are welcome, especially if you think it will be a nice change from the tank/'fender/'troller playstyle that I am inclined to play.

Thank you in advance for your pontifications!

Edited July 18, 2023 by wRECk69

[carroto]

I think there are quite a few combos that would work with the right build.  Illusion on Controllers can do it with enough recharge, especially with the proper debuffs, so something like Ill/Traps or Ill/Rad.  I soloed a number of GMs on an Ill/Traps.

 

A Tanker build with a strong damage-focused attack set would do great too.  I'm partial to Stalkers and my Energy Melee/Bio Stalker has soloed a number of AVs and GMs.  Really any melee AT can be built to do it with the right power choices and build.

 

I'm sure it could be done with a Blaster but I've never liked the build compromises that were required.  It's fine if you only play at 50 but if you want to be able to exemplar and keep that ability it's tough.

[wRECk69]

22 minutes ago, carroto said:

It's fine if you only play at 50 but if you want to be able to exemplar and keep that ability it's tough.

Thanks for your thoughts, carroto!  I appreciate your comment (quoted above), as that's on my mind.  Yes, I can take almost any toon to 50, slot out all the incarnates, and then solo almost anything in the game (maybe using two builds, depending on the content).  I'm trying to think of something that opens up earlier.  My tanks, while very survivable, couldn't out damage an AV when exempted down to the lower levels.  My solo attempts at them always ended in a stalemate...and I didn't bring P2W powers to bear.

 

I've read some about Stalkers, but I've never played one very far (even on live).  I assume that they overcome the mighty obstacles by damage, vice debuffing.  How do they fare against challenging content as they work their way up into the 20's and 30's?

Edited July 17, 2023 by wRECk69

[Bionic_Flea]

I nominate the Crabber-mind!

 

This is a crab based Soldier of Arachnos (VEAT) that takes all of the Spider pets and then gets himself and the pets soft-capped defense and some damage and -res procs.  Oh! And enough recharge to make the pets permanent.

 

It has elements of an MM, a defender, and a blaster.  I took out a pylon in a little over a minute and I don't know how to get max Pylon times.  Someone that knew what they were doing could do it faster.  I also soloed Maria Jenkins arc with AVs at +4/*8.  As long as the AVs don't run its easy.

 

Even without the pets he can sole with a number or ranged ST and AoE attacks.  And I took [shatter armor] from Mace Mastery.  Damn that hits hard!

[wRECk69]

39 minutes ago, Bionic_Flea said:

I nominate the Crabber-mind!

That's an interesting idea!  Thank you, Bionic_Flea!  I haven't played an epic AT since live!  Would you happen to have a build handy that I could look over?  I will gladly admit that my VEAT building experience is...um...very lacking!  Thank you for the idea!

[Bionic_Flea]

Here's a post that has my build and a few other folks.  Lots more in different threads in that sub-forum.  Look for crabbermind or crabstermind.

 

 

[wRECk69]

7 minutes ago, Bionic_Flea said:

Here's a post that has my build and a few other folks.  Lots more in different threads in that sub-forum.  Look for crabbermind or crabstermind.

 

 

Thank you!

[twozerofoxtrot]

3 hours ago, wRECk69 said:

I'm looking for something that I can solo up through the game at a leisurely pace. 

 

Claws/Bio Scrapper.

 

You'll open the furnace on enemies but never feel heat. Just remember to stance dance as needed until your armor and endurance are at the point you can sit comfortably in Offensive Adaptation all the time.

[evetsleep]

When it comes to soloing "at a leisurely pace" I am hard pressed to not recommend (bots/thug/mercs)/traps mastermind.  Bots and Thugs are a classic well tested SOLO set and mercs, with the recent changes, are very much improved.

 

Something to consider.

[wRECk69]

11 hours ago, twozerofoxtrot said:

 

Claws/Bio Scrapper.

 

Truth be told, I've never had a scrapper hit 50.  That's a possibility, given I have no issues with melee (hence my tanks).  Can a claws/bio scrapper handle the harder content even when at the lower levels (20's and 30's)?  I know that claws matures quickly, but I have no experience with bio.  Thanks, twozerofoxtrot!

[wRECk69]

2 hours ago, evetsleep said:

When it comes to soloing "at a leisurely pace" I am hard pressed to not recommend (bots/thug/mercs)/traps mastermind.  Bots and Thugs are a classic well tested SOLO set and mercs, with the recent changes, are very much improved.

I have a Bots/FF mastermind, and he is fun.  However, and it might just be me, he really struggles with the tougher content (AVs, very large mobs, etc.).  Thankfully, when a cascading fail is coming, I have plenty of time to brace for and react to it.  Pairing it with Traps might be an interesting alternative, though!  Thanks for the suggestion, evetsleep!

Edited July 18, 2023 by wRECk69

[evetsleep]

8 minutes ago, wRECk69 said:

I have a Bots/FF mastermind, and he is fun.  However, and it might just be me, he really struggles with the tougher content (AVs, very large mobs, etc.).  Thankfully, when a cascading fail is coming, I have plenty of time to brace for and react to it.  Pairing it with Traps might be an interesting alternative, though!  Thanks for the suggestion, evetsleep!

 

Traps is nice because bots, generally speaking, stay together and thus in the forcefield generator and triage beacon.  On top of that traps brings a lot of debuffs and with the recent addition of the bots maintenance drone, the combination got even more durable (from my end).  Or course the only challenge is that if you're doing AV's and GM's you'll want -regen and traps brings that, but for bots you now have to find a way to fit in some of the primary ranged attacks to get the -regen that bots brings.  It's not the end of the world, but it's quite a well balanced combo as things sit.

 

Really you don't want something that is boring and you just sit there and watch them.  You have your fire farmer for that 🙂.  In terms of durability and reasonable arrest speed, I think it's worth a try.   If traps is too laid back for you (not as much as your bots\ff, but still a little laid back) you could opt for /time.  It's not as heavy a debuff as /traps, but it does bring AoE heals and a lot of -ToHit for those baddies that get in melee range.  I have both and I like both.  Traps is more for solo though (mid-late game teams just move too fast), and that's when I bring out my bots\time MM (or bots\trick arrow, but that's another combo that gets sick arrest speeds fast with the AoE debuffs, but not as durable as the others).

 

Good luck! 

[tidge]

15 hours ago, wRECk69 said:

I'm looking for something that I can solo up through the game at a leisurely pace.  However, I'd like it to stand up to whatever challenges await--AVs in arcs and TFs, mobs (though I don't care about soloing +4/x8 at level 2), and perhaps even GMs once I am able build-wise.

 

2 hours ago, evetsleep said:

When it comes to soloing "at a leisurely pace" I am hard pressed to not recommend (bots/thug/mercs)/traps mastermind.  Bots and Thugs are a classic well tested SOLO set and mercs, with the recent changes, are very much improved.

 

There are a LOT of AT that can tackle almost all the content in the game; if you want leisurely, I think Robotics/Traps is probably the path you want to take. My reasoning:

• Robot henchmen attacks are almost entirely ranged, which makes them a lot less frenetic than other henchmen
• The Robotics primary's recent rework is quite good (especially with Maintenance Drone, a no-think henchman heal), Triage Beacon is not required.
• The Traps secondary is a solid debuff set, and FFG is a great no-think buff power
• The Traps secondary's last three powers are entirely skippable, which allows for team buffs (Leadership pool) or travel options (Group Fly for rocket boots!)

Mastermind henchmen do suffer level shifts, and AoE can be a shock... but no one is obligated to run +3 content if they don't want to. The most "active" that a Robotics/Traps MM has to be in my experience is:

• Against most Giant Monsters and AVs, the MM will have to make attacks to apply -Regen
• Against large spawns, especially those that apply -Resistance, you may have to be respawning the henchmen.

[twozerofoxtrot]

1 hour ago, wRECk69 said:

Can a claws/bio scrapper handle the harder content even when at the lower levels (20's and 30's)?

 

Yup. 

 

Even better when your budget is unconstrained and you can slot key IOs ASAP. 

[Hjarki]

57 minutes ago, tidge said:

I think Robotics/Traps is probably the path you want to take.

I agree with your analysis with regards to solo play. However, it should be noted that such a build isn't very team-friendly. Almost any pet-dependent build is going to operate at a different speed than the rest of the team and Traps compounds this by making many of its buffs/debuffs pseudo-pet based.

[tidge]

Traps has some of the best debuffs in the game, and the -Regen from Mastermind Robotic attacks is golden. The FFG is a team Defense (all) with a base of +10%.

 

Henchmen (not Pet) Builds are incredibly tanky, and can also be used to chase down runners, soak alpha strikes, or draw more enemies to a kill zone.

[Yomo Kimyata]

Sounds like you have a good attitude about what you want and your expectations, so your future looks bright!

 

I tend to focus on scrappers as the right combination for my goals.  I tend to work towards +4/x8 on all content at lvl 50.  However, I've found that +4 AVs are just too much of a pain for what it is worth, so in general if I know that a mission is going to have an AV or three, I'll dial it down a few plusses (or EB them if it is outside a TF).  That makes the minions/lts/bosses rather easy, but allows me to have a battle that is not overly tedious.

[Hjarki]

6 hours ago, tidge said:

Traps has some of the best debuffs in the game, and the -Regen from Mastermind Robotic attacks is golden. The FFG is a team Defense (all) with a base of +10%.

I'm not talking about what the sets can do, but how they do it. Pet-based builds tend to get left in the dust by non-pet builds in highly mobile fights - which is the bulk of what happens in CoH. So a lot of the time in team play, you'll be left behind following in the wake of the team.

[Without_Pause]

3 hours ago, Hjarki said:

I'm not talking about what the sets can do, but how they do it. Pet-based builds tend to get left in the dust by non-pet builds in highly mobile fights - which is the bulk of what happens in CoH. So a lot of the time in team play, you'll be left behind following in the wake of the team.

Good thing the OP is looking at soloing.

[Mr. Vee]

Fortunata is a lot of fun. Pile enough recharge and you can be a claws scrap with both follow-up and build-up, a nuke, an aoe hold and a procced out dominate that's a single target hold and huge damage every few seconds. You can build to well over softcap but heavy defense debuffing mobs can still be an issue since resistance is lacking

[Arbegla]

17 hours ago, Hjarki said:

I'm not talking about what the sets can do, but how they do it. Pet-based builds tend to get left in the dust by non-pet builds in highly mobile fights - which is the bulk of what happens in CoH. So a lot of the time in team play, you'll be left behind following in the wake of the team.

 

I main a bot/traps and I intentionally built it to take point and lead teams. With the right play style, and Super Speed, you can get bot/traps built in such a way that you can solo anything, and get to the end of missions faster then most people. Its all about the right play style.

[Hjarki]

On 7/18/2023 at 10:26 PM, Without_Pause said:

Good thing the OP is looking at soloing.

From the original post:

On 7/17/2023 at 6:02 PM, wRECk69 said:

I'll team when I am able

 

As such, it seems prudent to caution them about the nature of */Traps on teams.

[Without_Pause]

12 minutes ago, Hjarki said:

From the original post:

 

As such, it seems prudent to caution them about the nature of */Traps on teams.

See Arbegla's response above. I ran /traps MM on live. So you put down less stuff down on each mob. It really isn't that big of a deal. In the current meta, there pretty much isn't a build which on the right team you can't go half-speed and feel like it is fine or even hell just standing around and soaking up the rewards. I've played various builds with TA in them and had whole missions if I shot two arrows I was done with the powerset for that mob.

 

In terms of moving between mobs, I am to a default the first one there to the next mob, so I see little reason why even as a MM I or anyone else would be lagging behind if they play it right.

[MoonSheep]

i’ve always enjoyed soloing with my mind/fire dom, or soloing with a blaster back on live. playing with an AT without defense makes it much more strategic and fun from my experience 

[tidge]

20 hours ago, Without_Pause said:

See Arbegla's response above. I ran /traps MM on live. So you put down less stuff down on each mob. It really isn't that big of a deal. In the current meta, there pretty much isn't a build which on the right team you can't go half-speed and feel like it is fine or even hell just standing around and soaking up the rewards.

 

I agree 100%. with no Hasten in the build my Robotics/Traps can toss Caltrops on every spawn, have two Acid Mortars out at a time. Posion Trap is under 30 seconds recharge IIRC. I've skipped Seeker Drones, Trip Mine and Detonator. I wonder if it an old-school thinking about setting up Trip Mines has confused players that think MM /Traps is "slow"?

 

The only thing that actually slows down my deployment of traps are those maps where the map construction itself defeats my ability to use targeting macros to deploy traps. (Folks in the know will know what I am referring to.) Off the top of my head the ONLY enemies that provide an inherent aggravation for /Traps are Caleb (gotta get it close to the ground) and Diabolique (because she will fly far away, often while intangible)... and to a much lesser extent the Arachnos Flier (not a big deal, but the short period when it has its shields down and isn't close to the ground mitigates the usefulness of some Traps). I find that /Traps is a great secondary against groups like Knives of Artemis, Carnies, as well as any group that is inclined to make a mad scramble away from the action. If this bothered me enough, I wouldn't have skipped the immobilize!

 

Of those last three powers: the only one I'd consider adding back into the build are the Seeker Drones, but Robotics/Traps doesn't need a -ToHit (and the other effects aren't worth it IMO) and my MM has plenty to do with its primary/secondary. As I wrote above, an immobilize would serve me better... but even with AoE options in the Patron pools I won't make the change.