Input for scrapper for undecided player-- Dark Melee/Ninjutsu viable?

[punahou]

Ive read that DM is terrbile for AE, and I really like the ninjutsu def set feel.

 

1. is AE super important-- especially for solo play? 

   a.  yes-- I want an OP build that can handle all content that doenst have to rely on grouping all the time.

 

2.  i wouldnt mind psionic, but, again im reading that too many mobs are ultra resistant to it.

3.  Other sets I like the look of are 

--- Street Justice, Savage, and martial arts, Kinetic-- of which...... bad ae im reading, ad in re to savage, im reading its best on brute and not good on savage

Too bad brute cant take ninjutsu =(

---I dont like SS, Rad. Electric either, and while fire is a good concept-- Im not a fan of the  Fire Sword thing.

 

 

4.  Id consider shield  IF I could hide the shield lol like you can with Bio armor graphics.

 

any help is much appreciated, as ive been logging in make all kinda toons, then reading that build with good AE are too essential.

 

thank you

 

 

[SomeGuy]

Energy Aura and Rad Armor (I read what you wrote, just here as a comparison) are two of the best armor sets in the game.

 

Bio Armor is the best offensive armor set in the game and meshes with DM's weak offense (ST and AOE) very VERY well.

 

Fire Armor is VERY squishy but is adds an extremely strong layer of AOE damage output while also helping with ST damage quite a lot.

 

Shield looks cool to some and not to others. It is NOT the AOE powerhouse some say it is. One attack is not that good (unless it is Burn).

 

DM is viable with everything and you can absolutely make DM AOE viable with smart slotting. I'll put 1B(illion) inf on the line I can out-AOE most melee characters (that aren't fire armor) with my DB/BIO/Soul scrapper.

 

I personally don't think AOE is important to build for, I never do build for it actually. Everything dies so fast anyways. Some do though. You will get mixed opinions on that one. I don't consider it effective. Some just want to delete entire mobs in less then a second.

[nihilii]

DM/nin is fine.

 

Some of the opinions you read may be based on old Dark Melee, but it got a buff somewhat recently which improved its capabilities slightly.

 

Your bread-and-butter AOE (at least "conventionally") is Shadow Maul, it is a cone that requires good positioning for optimal use. Many other powersets have AOEs where you simply click and everything within radius is hit. So this influences opinions, some people love cones and some people hate them (although most players tend to agree a PBAOE is easier to use than a cone).

I echo SomeGuy's sentiment on the (lesser) importance of AOE. Bosses have significantly more HP than lieutenants and minions. There's generally 2 bosses per group in a maximum difficulty mission. So let's consider 2 scenarios:

 

- as a solo player, you will want to attack the bosses. If you use a standard AOE everytime it recharges while you work on the bosses, this tends to be enough to clear minions. For some powersets with strong AOE abilities or weaker ST output, you might even clear lieutenants too before you're done working through the 2 bosses.

- in a team, there will almost always be so many AOEs flying around the bosses are the ones left standing. So AOE helps when your team is slacking or if you are separated for whatever reason. But otherwise, you'll likely have a better effect focusing ST damage on boss-level targets and above.

[punahou]

ok ty folks much for the input

[SomeGuy]

Shadow Maul is cold dishwater garbage. Just remember that. It's beyond skippable when you have a chain.

[UltraAlt]

10 hours ago, punahou said:

1. is AE super important-- especially for solo play? 

   a.  yes-- I want an OP build that can handle all content that doenst have to rely on grouping all the time.

 

Okay.

So obviously you are new. We were all new to the game at one point or another.

 

The AE is not Farming. Farming is something that farmers do in the AE.

The AE wasn't designed for farming. Originally, the DEVs said that they were going to ban accounts that created AE missions for Farming and/or used AE mission to farm.

The DEVs relented almost as soon as the AE hit live because of all the accounts that were banned for farming with the AE.

So there is that.

 

You don't have to Farm.

I don't farm.

I have made AE non-farm AE missions. I sometimes play non-farm AE missions.

 

Okay, now onto the "OP".

If the entire reason you are playing is that you want to play on easy mode with some cookie-cutter character, that's on you.

The easiest way to do this is to turn the notoriety down to -1. https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Notoriety

Enjoy playing.

 

As a character conception player, I think you are throwing the whole reason to play City of Heroes out the window.

But again, enjoy playing the game in a way that is enjoyable to you.

 

10 hours ago, punahou said:

2.  i wouldnt mind psionic, but, again im reading that too many mobs are ultra resistant to it.

 

As you approach level 50 and beyond, groups become more resistant to psionic.

More groups in general are resistant to lethal and smashing damage.

Various groups have more defense against one type of damage or another, so it really depends on what enemy group you are fighting against.

 

If you are going to narrow down the game to make it as easy as possible, you have to pick enemies that are least resistant to you ALL THE TIME.

Which is one reason that people farm.

But gain, enjoy playing the game the way that it is fun for you.

 

10 hours ago, punahou said:

3.  Other sets I like the look of are 

--- Street Justice, Savage, and martial arts, Kinetic-- of which...... bad ae im reading, ad in re to savage, im reading its best on brute and not good on savage

Too bad brute cant take ninjutsu =(

---I dont like SS, Rad. Electric either, and while fire is a good concept-- Im not a fan of the  Fire Sword thing.

 

You can change the fire sword to a punch in the FX settings.

 

10 hours ago, punahou said:

4.  Id consider shield  IF I could hide the shield lol like you can with Bio armor graphics.

 

Well, that would kind of defeat the whole purpose of it being a shield set.

 

10 hours ago, punahou said:

any help is much appreciated, as ive been logging in make all kinda toons, then reading that build with good AE are too essential.

 

Okay.

 

I think you started off correctly "ive been logging in make all kinda toons".

 

I believe that is the best way to play the game. 

Create characters that you will enjoy playing. Forget about "beating the game" or only end-gaming. Actually play the game.

 

I create a character conception and then figure out how to implement it most of the time.

When I need to play a character is more solo focused, I switch to one of those characters.

When I'm grouping, I play any of my characters dependant on how I feel at that time.

 

I don't farm. I am against farming.

You don't have to farm.

I think it is a good bet that I have more influence than most AE farmers. Not as much as @Yomo Kimyata, but a good bit.

I market on the AE.

 

I play the game.

I don't like the end-game.

I have a couple of 50's, but I don't intend to take many more to 50. I'll just turn off the XP at 49.

I have other characters that I turn off the XP at a far lower level. I do this to cap them to content or I don't really see their character conception allowing them to be more powerful than a certain point in leveling.

 

I think you have to play the game for a while with different characters in order to find what you enjoy about it.

I wouldn't dismiss the fun in simply creating characters. Level them up a little bit, and you always have a character to switch up to in order to keep the game interesting.

 

Again, you should play the game the way that you enjoy it.

[C U R S E]

3 hours ago, SomeGuy said:

Shadow Maul is cold dishwater garbage. Just remember that. It's beyond skippable when you have a chain.

Cold Dishwater garbage is really a big opinion of garbage indeed. Shadow Maul loaded with procs is totally devastating and will wipe your dishes clean Someguy 😆 🤣 😂 

[SomeGuy]

1 hour ago, C U R S E said:

Cold Dishwater garbage is really a big opinion of garbage indeed. Shadow Maul loaded with procs is totally devastating and will wipe your dishes clean Someguy 😆 🤣 😂 

 

And then some how set them on fire, rendering them useless. Magically bad.

[Yomo Kimyata]

19 hours ago, punahou said:

Ive read that DM is terrbile for AE, and I really like the ninjutsu def set feel.

 

1. is AE super important-- especially for solo play? 

   a.  yes-- I want an OP build that can handle all content that doenst have to rely on grouping all the time.

 

2.  i wouldnt mind psionic, but, again im reading that too many mobs are ultra resistant to it.

3.  Other sets I like the look of are 

--- Street Justice, Savage, and martial arts, Kinetic-- of which...... bad ae im reading, ad in re to savage, im reading its best on brute and not good on savage

Too bad brute cant take ninjutsu =(

---I dont like SS, Rad. Electric either, and while fire is a good concept-- Im not a fan of the  Fire Sword thing.

 

 

4.  Id consider shield  IF I could hide the shield lol like you can with Bio armor graphics.

 

any help is much appreciated, as ive been logging in make all kinda toons, then reading that build with good AE are too essential.

 

thank you

 

 

 

This is kind of a trope at this point, but literally everything is viable.  Knowledge of combat mechanics (like line of sight, how defense or debuffs work) is the most important thing; then knowledge of IO sets and how to make strong builds; then specific power sets is last, in my opinion.  Some sets will synergize better than others, but absolutely everything works.  So that said, 100% go for the look and feel that you enjoy.  AoE damage is kind of the meta right now, but even if you were purely single damage you'd mow pretty quickly through most challenges and do really well in some.

 

There are a lot more graphics options than there were in Live, so keep that in mind as well.  I hear you on the elemental swords and generally I just skip powers that I don't like the looks of.  That said, HC has offered up a lot of graphics options that make things more palatable.

 

For me, I dislike DM mostly out of spite, since I think they effed up with the changes to Shadow Maul and they power creeped the hell out of the set.  I don't love Nijitsu because I think defense is too easy in this game, I don't like powers that hide my costume, and I don't like click powers for my mez protection.  That said, they are both great sets, I've played them to 50 to great success, and I had a helluva good time doing so.

 

[punahou]

10 hours ago, UltraAlt said:

You can change the fire sword to a punch in the FX settings.

Ok-- so where and how do I do that?

 

i know how to change the colors of powers, but when looking at firesword, I onlt see the types of sowrd i can select, i dont not see change to punch option

10 hours ago, UltraAlt said:

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 24 by punahou

[InvaderStych]

9 minutes ago, punahou said:

Ok-- so where and how do I do that?

 

i know how to change the colors of powers, but when looking at firesword, I onlt see the types of sowrd i can select, i dont not see change to punch option

 

Sorry to say that when it comes to the swords in Fire Melee that various swords are the only option. IDK where the other poster got the idea they could be changed into punch based attacks. Ice Melee maybe? Haven't looked. The swords in Fire/ were altered a patch or three ago to apply a -def debuff to your target in line with both Broadsword and Katana. This also means they're likely to stay swords.

 

As to your other questions:

 

21 hours ago, punahou said:

1. is AE super important-- especially for solo play? 

   a.  yes-- I want an OP build that can handle all content that doenst have to rely on grouping all the time.

 

Not particularly, it helps if you are going to run solo missions at x8 (difficulty settings can be changed in this game, x8 represents mob size and is the size that would be normally faced by a full team), but any Scrapper with a solid build and a couple AoE attacks will do fine at this setting. I run my Psi/SD at x8 all the time and she only has two good AoE options to speak of. Recharge is key around here in a case like that; getting a couple good AoEs on fast cool-downs can be just as viable as having several AoE powers on slower cool-downs.

 

21 hours ago, punahou said:

2.  i wouldnt mind psionic, but, again im reading that too many mobs are ultra resistant to it.

 

Don't believe the hype. The resistance issue is over stated. Trash mobs like Council Robots and Pantheon Zombies have a high resistance to it. Praetorian Robots have zero resistance to it - all of them: IDF bots, Neuron's Clockwork, Generic Clockwork, Anti-Matter's Clockwork ... doesn't matter, if it is Praetorian and a Robot it has zero resistance to Psi. Some types of opponents are weak against it. Psi really shines when something like a Minotaur/Cyclops pops a defensive power called Unstoppable since Psi cuts right through it. Same for certain Paragon Protectors when they pop their heavy defense power. I am pretty sure that Circle of Thorn Spectrals are weak against it, for example.

 

Psi isn't a top-tier set for other reasons, but it looks cool as all get-out paired with the energy skin of Shield. Also, there are not that many powers available that are as good of a Delete Target button as Greater Psi Blade, doubly so when Insight is up and you roll a critical hit.

 

As a player who has used Psi Melee extensively I'm here to say that the "resistance" issue is overblown. The only time it is a real problem is when dealing with Praetorian Seers and their variants. Those are very dangerous mobs with decent resistance to Psi damage. Certain IDF can drop a drone that gives resistance to everything, but that's everything, not just Psi. Even Malta's robots are not really much of a threat for a well built Scrapper, Psi or otherwise. Also, Psi Melee is a mix of either Psi/Smashing (the fists) or Psi/Lethal (the swords). Smashing crushes bots, and lethal slices zombies.

 

Far from a comprehensive list, but the point is that in terms of practical game play it just isn't the issue it is made out to be on the forums. Where it is resisted the high-damage capability compensates just fine.

 

Psi/Nin would give you two sources of Confuse, which could make for an interesting play-style. I'm not the biggest fan of Boggle; I ended up re-rolling my Psi/Nin as a Psi/SD for example, but there are players who've definitely found ways to leverage it to good effect.

 

Oh, and before I forget ...

 

Welcome Home ^TM

 

[UltraAlt]

36 minutes ago, punahou said:

Ok-- so where and how do I do that?

 

i know how to change the colors of powers, but when looking at firesword, I onlt see the types of sowrd i can select, i dont not see change to punch option

 

Yeah, I'm not seeing.

It could have sworn it was in there for the swords.

 

Then I thought it was the ice ones, but you can't change that either.

I must have had a dream or been remembering something incorrectly.

 

Sorry about that.

[punahou]

thanks for all the help and replies

[Sovera]

My problem with Dark Melee is the awkwardness of the Soul Drain. 2.5 seconds to cast is bad, but the long cooldown and awkward duration usually means we are fighting unenhanced because we don't want to use it unless surrounded by enemies. Ranged characters are the ones having t oworry about long recharge and awkward feast-and-famine moments. Melee characters are about consistent damage.

 

Honestly, if you're new, I'd say pick Claws and use auras from the tailor to wreathe your fists in darkness and you'd have a better time while still have the dark look if it's something in your theme.

[SomeGuy]

9 hours ago, Sovera said:

My problem with Dark Melee is the awkwardness of the Soul Drain. 2.5 seconds to cast is bad, but the long cooldown and awkward duration usually means we are fighting unenhanced because we don't want to use it unless surrounded by enemies. Ranged characters are the ones having t oworry about long recharge and awkward feast-and-famine moments. Melee characters are about consistent damage.

 

Honestly, if you're new, I'd say pick Claws and use auras from the tailor to wreathe your fists in darkness and you'd have a better time while still have the dark look if it's something in your theme.

 

DM needs a really big re-work and how slow Soul Drain casts, and an ACC rework needed (this needs to be removed for 1x mob. Even with a maxed saturation Soul Drain it only gets to middle of the pack in terms of ST DPS.

 

I like DM a lot, play it a lot, but I know where it stands. And it is barely standing.

Edited January 25 by SomeGuy