Best AT for Savage Melee? Best Secondaries?

[The Tsaurian]

Hi, thanks for stopping to read this!

 

I'm a quasi-returning player, in that I played when I was way younger and had absolutely zero idea what I was doing, but had a blast all the same.  I've been creeping on the forums prior to signing up and really want to give Savage Melee a go, but would like to gather some information before I dive in. 

 

My biggest questions are which AT(s?) is seeing the best performance from Savage Melee at the moment and what secondaries pair well with it?  I've read that Brutes seem to like DoTs because they build Fury very efficiently, and the general consensus seems to be that skipping Hemorrhage because it lost value as a spender, but are there any other nuances worth noting? 

 

Again, thanks for just taking the time to read this!  Looking forward to any responses!

 

[Frosticus]

Savage stalkers are really good.

Next update lets savage leap critical properly and it is already a proc bomb (for all AT's).

It is true that dots aren't part of the critical formula for stalkers/scrappers, but a stalker uses controlled crits into their aoe's, or to crit on an epic snipe. It works very well.

 

Hemo is just underwhelming, you definitely won't miss it on a stalker.

 

The dot nature does play well with brute fury. Might also be worth looking at how rending flurry interacts with the tanker radius/target boosts. iirc full blood flurry is outright massive on tanks.

[Grimm2]

A blood fury buffed Rending is indeed a enormous 20 or 25 foot aoe. Shred is usually an auto-pass, but the Tanker aoe and target buffs make it an actual choice to skip or grab, considering it can slot a -res proc. I think the aoe/ target cap buffs Savage Leap, too. 

 

My perspective is a Rad/ Savage tank. What a carpetbombing goober.

[The Tsaurian]

On 2/3/2024 at 1:58 PM, Frosticus said:

Savage stalkers are really good.

Next update lets savage leap critical properly and it is already a proc bomb (for all AT's).

It is true that dots aren't part of the critical formula for stalkers/scrappers, but a stalker uses controlled crits into their aoe's, or to crit on an epic snipe. It works very well.

This sold me pretty quickly!  Made a Sav/SR Stalker the other night and have been enjoying it so far.

[The Tsaurian]

17 hours ago, Grimm2 said:

My perspective is a Rad/ Savage tank. What a carpetbombing goober.

I'll have to give this a try!

[Clave Dark 5]

Sav is just a fun set, I've enjoyed it on a Dom as well.

Edited February 5 by Clave Dark 5

[The Tsaurian]

...and I've done a complete 180 in spectacular fashion.

 

Savage wasn't scratching the itch quite like I was expecting, a byproduct of forcing a character concept that I had yet to fully realize.  I've moved on to a Stone/Stone Tanker, concept being a reptilian alien that can harden their scales to the point of neigh impenetrability, whom I am enjoying without forcing it.

 

Again, thanks for everyone's suggestions!  I will look to revisit Savage Melee another day. 

Edited February 15 by The Tsaurian

[StarseedWarrior]

3 hours ago, The Tsaurian said:

...and I've done a complete 180 in spectacular fashion.

 

Savage wasn't scratching the itch quite like I was expecting, a byproduct of forcing a character concept that I had yet to fully realize.  I've moved on to a Stone/Stone tanker, concept being a reptilian alien that can harden their scales to the point of neigh impenetrability, whom I am enjoying without forcing it.

 

Again, thanks for everyone's suggestions!  I will look to revisit Savage Melee another day. 

What origin you looking for? If it where me just some basics a druid who learned the ancient primal ways of fighting especially when combined with nature or something, you can also say your a shaman channeling the primal energy of animals to fight. Then of course for more natural like the typical boy raised in the forest or rain forest, I am sure thats been done to death, you can always go for genetics to.

Edited February 14 by StarseedWarrior

[The Tsaurian]

19 hours ago, StarseedWarrior said:

What origin you looking for? If it where me just some basics a druid who learned the ancient primal ways of fighting especially when combined with nature or something, you can also say your a shaman channeling the primal energy of animals to fight. Then of course for more natural like the typical boy raised in the forest or rain forest, I am sure thats been done to death, you can always go for genetics to.

My concept for the Sav/SR Stalker was pretty much Curt Connors, scientist turned supervillain, but without the tragic angle.  I found myself trying to convince myself that the concept was working in the way I envision, but couldn't fully buy into it.  Still something I want to explore, just after some more development!

Edited February 15 by The Tsaurian

[StarseedWarrior]

2 minutes ago, The Tsaurian said:

My concept for the Sav/SR stalker was pretty much Curt Connors, scientist turned supervillain, but without the tragic angle.  I found myself trying to convince myself that the concept was working in the way I envision, but couldn't fully buy into it.  Still something I want to explore, just after some more development!

Sounds like he needs more history to be a villain.

[The Tsaurian]

Just now, StarseedWarrior said:

Sounds like he needs more history to be a villain.

I very much agree.

[e5cherbach]

I really like Savage Melee on brutes. Like you said, there's some nice synergy between the fury mechanic and all the DOTs in Savage Melee. A few years back, there was a lot of discussion about the damage in Savage Melee being a little lackluster on a paper, but I remember wondering whether, in practice, it might not be a lot better on brute because of a feedback loop between fury and savage melee's DOTs, with the DOTs steadily pumping up fury and fury magnifying subsequent DOTs. Savage Melee just seemed to hit hard on my brute. Mobs melt. 

 

For brutes, I like pairing Savage Melee with Bio armor. I love Bio in general. But I found that the damage aura in Bio and Savage Melee's steady, consistent damage output work really well together in terms of maintaining fury.

 

I haven't played it enough to wholeheartedly recommend it, but I also like pairing SM up with dark armor on tanks. I like dark armor a lot, but I find that I get frustrated when I'm leveling up with how endurance-demanding it is. SM is pretty endurance-light, and blood frenzy reduces endurance consumption.

[biostem]

I have a 50 bio/savage and rad/savage tank.  They both have their pluses and minuses, but I love savage melee on both.

[Duckbutler]

On 2/14/2024 at 1:48 PM, The Tsaurian said:

I very much agree.

 

Sometimes you have to let that sort of thing come out in play. It's true in tabletop RPGs where a complicated past might be cumbersome and it's true here. My main hero became a timecop because she spent so much time in the Hollows and then Ouroboros. My main villain had a team oriented build and a standing "villain night" group. She became an out of control party girl gone off the rails because... I wanted to put her in a pretty dress.

[The Tsaurian]

23 hours ago, Duckbutler said:

 

Sometimes you have to let that sort of thing come out in play. It's true in tabletop RPGs where a complicated past might be cumbersome and it's true here. My main hero became a timecop because she spent so much time in the Hollows and then Ouroboros. My main villain had a team oriented build and a standing "villain night" group. She became an out of control party girl gone off the rails because... I wanted to put her in a pretty dress.

Absolutely!  Just felt like the character concept fell flat after launch and I wasn't interested in forcing it further than that.  It just wasn't feeling organic, if that makes sense.