Build Choice Dilemma (New to Homecoming)

[SoporificRain]

Happy to be back. 

 

For my first character I'll be leveling organically through story, sometimes teaming up to do TFs and such when I'm supposed to. I've basically spent the past week scouring the Tank/Brute/Dom forums to get a better idea of the current state of my favorite archtypes and I have my Dom pick down, but she won't be my starter (Earth/Psi Dom, my favorite from back when I locked down Incarnate bosses).

 

But for my Brute/Tanker it's a much harder choice as I am planning on trying something new. I'm looking at Tanker over Brute right now to lean more towards survival, but I'd like to ride the line a bit more closely than doing something faceroll like Rad/MA or Invul/_____.

 

To that end I'm looking at Shield/EM, Fire/MA or Fire/EM. These are all builds I've taken from and researched in the forums, so I'll by no means be flying by the seat of my pants to a degree, but I don't know how their power ramp feels and if there's a bit of advice for early leveling power choices before maybe a respec later on to a more high level version of the build. From what I read about the Fire/MA guide I would follow, they've designed the build to have all their AoE setup by 20 which is huge for early missions and the feel of most builds. Not so sure how Shield/EM and Fire/EM feel early>mid. I know both will be pretty silly once I get them slotted at high level though from my experience with an EM Brute I used to use for farming back before the official servers went under.

 

I also read up on the market/merit/converter stuff so I'm not stressed about eventually getting the higher end sets Ill need to push the crazy content at end game.

[ZemX]

Shield will ultimately be tougher and Fire more damaging.  You have reviewed the changes to EM since Live, right?   Fire Melee also got updated.  Just checking.

[SoporificRain]

20 minutes ago, ZemX said:

Shield will ultimately be tougher and Fire more damaging.  You have reviewed the changes to EM since Live, right?   Fire Melee also got updated.  Just checking.

 

Yeah, I also just realized that I forgot to specify Energy Melee vs Electric Melee. It would be shield/Elec or Fire/Energy. I'd entertained a Fire/Rad until I kept reading and the animations being so slow for rad really put me off it. Though with how slow everything feels starting out new, it seems a bit of a moot point until higher levels. I leveled a fire/ma to about 12ish yesterday and to me MA just doesn't have the the super part of the super power so far. That being said, the whole build will kick off at 20 with Burn and Dragon's Tail coming online, so it'll feel completely different at that time...I've forgotten how end heavy running fire auras is though. Don't miss that.

[ZemX]

3 minutes ago, SoporificRain said:

That being said, the whole build will kick off at 20 with Burn and Dragon's Tail coming online, so it'll feel completely different at that time...I've forgotten how end heavy running fire auras is though. Don't miss that.

 

Yeah, I've never gotten far with MA.  It definitely has synergy with defense sets on Tankers thanks to the +def in Storm Kick, but other than that, I am not a superfan of sets that have only one AoE, even when it's as fast as Dragon Tail or as smashy as Foot Stomp.   Energy Melee got some love there.  

 

Of course Shield/Elec's claim to fame is the whole twin teleport AoE attacks you have access to.  It's a lot of zoom-and-boom.  I've not tried Fire Armor yet myself.  Not seriously anyway.  If I want more offense, I tend to go with another AT.  I stick with Tankers for the whole unkillable (just about) aspect.

[SoporificRain]

11 minutes ago, ZemX said:

  If I want more offense, I tend to go with another AT.  I stick with Tankers for the whole unkillable (just about) aspect.

 

 

I'll probably end up with my Earth/Psi dom being my primary. I just want a first 50 that was fun during the journey there.

[Xandyr]

On 1/10/2024 at 8:33 AM, ZemX said:

 

I stick with Tankers for the whole unkillable (just about) aspect.

Fixed.