What's your favorite scrapper, and why?

[Yomo Kimyata]

Scrappers.  I've had a few.  But then again, 

 

Spoiler

enough that I made a spreadsheet.

 

 

[Shadowstorm06]

54 minutes ago, Yomo Kimyata said:

Scrappers.  I've had a few.  But then again, 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

enough that I made a spreadsheet.

 

 

This begs the question Yomo: which is your favorite? Or top 3? Haha

[Sovera]

I can't seem to get into Scrappers though I try lured as I am after spending 20 minutes killing an AV. But I always feel squishy, and when I build for survival the damage stops being impressive. I thrive surrounded by an ocean of enemies and for most of the game being a Tanker suits me but then I get those 20 minutes fight and my eye strays.

 

Edit: It also doesn't help half the armor sets don't have agro auras and I'm long past any interest in chasing runners at every single spawn I come across.

 

Edited March 3, 2024 by Sovera

[Duckbutler]

The AoE on axe is fantastic, I haven't seen it that strong on any of the other sets I've played. I particularly like the draw in effect on cyclone for keeping everything bunched together when it's otherwise getting bashed around.

 

I'm not making too many scrappers. I keep trying to make brutes happen and they all fizzle around 30. The few scrappers I do make tend to be more successful because I have a clearer idea what I want from the character.

[Yomo Kimyata]

On 3/3/2024 at 6:08 PM, Shadowstorm06 said:

This begs the question Yomo: which is your favorite? Or top 3? Haha

 

I'd say from my chart, it's hard to go wrong with Bio, Radiation, or Ice as an armor.  After that, it's mainly up to what do you like looking at attack-wise.

 

Staff/Bio; Ice/Radiation; Battle Axe/Ice are solid top 3s, but I'll throw in Dark Melee/Regen and Broadsword/Invulnerability as outliers that I have a special spot in my heart for.

[Spaghetti Betty]

My main, Spaghetti Betty, is an StJ/Rad scrapper! I've also recently trained up an MA/Rad that has turned into an AV stomper. Other than trying out a few oddball combos, I don't really play a whole lot of them!

[InvaderStych]

3 hours ago, Yomo Kimyata said:

 

I'd say from my chart, it's hard to go wrong with Bio, Radiation, or Ice as an armor.

 

Next time you're rolling up something, fill in that empty space where Katana meets Rad Armor.

 

Thank me later.

[BuiltDifferent5]

1 hour ago, InvaderStych said:

 

Next time you're rolling up something, fill in that empty space where Katana meets Rad Armor.

 

Thank me later.

I’ve seen both your Kat/Rad and Psi/Shield. Which one would you pick between those two? 😛

[Frosticus]

Stone/nin is doing something wonderful for me.

Seismic has 91% chance to crit from shinobi hide. That ups it to mag 6 hold and it has a high chance of triggering crit strikes.

 

Tons of aoe control and ffb procs galore. Aoe damage is a tad low, but at least tremor is 15ft and all the ffb spam brings procd fireball around quickly. 

 

Stone burns crazy end , nin fills it up. 

Nin has (very) low ddr, Stone has oodles of control. 

 

Eventually it will be a t9 build, but it is playing very well even in its "immature" state.

[InvaderStych]

2 hours ago, BuiltDifferent5 said:

I’ve seen both your Kat/Rad and Psi/Shield. Which one would you pick between those two? 😛

 

Tough call.

 

Stylistically the Psi/SD pulls ahead. Flying around with the Energy Shield skin colored to match the Psi melee blade attacks makes for an epic look and feel.

 

I've done some crazy stuff with her too, including a solo 1* ASF run ... albeit with a lot of deaths and multiple sessions.

 

Mechanically though, the Kat/Rad is more reliable, particularly with Shadow Meld in the build. Radiation Therapy does a lot of heavy lifting, and inside Meltdown one can get a lot of +dmg stacking up quickly.

 

That said, DDR and comprehensive mez protection in /SD does wonders as well. Ask me about the time I dropped a Meltdown+Build-Up+Hybrid boosted Ground Zero while confused within range of the whole team. Or, you know, don't, as the result is probably obvious. 🤣

 

I should give both of them a solid Page 7 build. Psi/SD might drop Body for the new Psi pool - Harmonic Mind and the snipe are very appealing. If I were looking for max numbers on her I'd drop the "blades only" rule and work TKB into the rotation.

 

Been meaning to toy with cycling Meltdown/RoP/Meld with the Kat/Rad to see if that works as well as it does for some of the builds I've seen posted.

 

From a raw, max numbers, totally meta approach though, neither are going to be a match for some other combinations, but they are both very, very solid. I've never gotten particularly impressive Pylon or Trapdoor times from them, for example, but they're both quite durable. Most importantly, they're both very fun to play.

 

Edited March 6, 2024 by InvaderStych

[Due Regard]

This is my current list of rolled/projects... Aiming to get one of each Primary to 50. Only Spines and TW are complete. Elm, Rad, Stone, and WM are locked in/rolled. The rest need names/concepts/outfits... and could be juggled on secondaries/epics.

[StriderIV]

3 hours ago, InvaderStych said:

 

Tough call.

 

Stylistically the Psi/SD pulls ahead. Flying around with the Energy Shield skin colored to match the Psi melee blade attacks makes for an epic look and feel.

 

I've done some crazy stuff with her too, including a solo 1* ASF run ... albeit with a lot of deaths and multiple sessions.

 

Mechanically though, the Kat/Rad is more reliable, particularly with Shadow Meld in the build. Radiation Therapy does a lot of heavy lifting, and inside Meltdown one can get a lot of +dmg stacking up quickly.

 

That said, DDR and comprehensive mez protection in /SD does wonders as well. Ask me about the time I dropped a Meltdown+Build-Up+Hybrid boosted Ground Zero while confused within range of the whole team. Or, you know, don't, as the result is probably obvious. 🤣

 

I should give both of them a solid Page 7 build. Psi/SD might drop Body for the new Psi pool - Harmonic Mind and the snipe are very appealing. If I were looking for max numbers on her I'd drop the "blades only" rule and work TKB into the rotation.

 

Been meaning to toy with cycling Meltdown/RoP/Meld with the Kat/Rad to see if that works as well as it does for some of the builds I've seen posted.

 

From a raw, max numbers, totally meta approach though, neither are going to be a match for some other combinations, but they are both very, very solid. I've never gotten particularly impressive Pylon or Trapdoor times from them, for example, but they're both quite durable. Most importantly, they're both very fun to play.

 

THE RULE OF COOL. I need to look at updated mine as well. I took ball lightning and Zapp on mine, but the new psi pool looks interesting.

[dzyp]

On 3/3/2024 at 5:12 PM, Sovera said:

I can't seem to get into Scrappers though I try lured as I am after spending 20 minutes killing an AV. But I always feel squishy, and when I build for survival the damage stops being impressive. I thrive surrounded by an ocean of enemies and for most of the game being a Tanker suits me but then I get those 20 minutes fight and my eye strays.

 

Edit: It also doesn't help half the armor sets don't have agro auras and I'm long past any interest in chasing runners at every single spawn I come across.

 

 

I consider myself to have one truly elite character and it's a scrapper. By elite, I mean it can solo the first mission of a +4/x8 km itf with no insps and no deaths in under 30 minutes... including the ambush at the end. I've got tanks that can survive it but not really under 30 minutes. I've got other characters that do great until the ambush. Only one that can do it all: dm/shield. With harmonic mind I can easily run with ageless radial which means I spend a lot of time immune to -rech and capped DDR. Dark won't set the pylon world on fire (~2:30) but in actual gameplay where I can saturate soul drain it's a beast.

 

[Metatheory]

My fave scrapper, and I've played a few, is my Ice/Dark. You don't see many around, and I don't care that 'you shouldn't play resist sets on a scrapper' or 'it doesn't have a taunt aura'. /DA is a super capable set on a scrapper - you have the big heal, exotic resists, stealth that means you can fight in close proximity to other groups without aggro-ing them, auras... and Ice is just fun fun fun, with a super reliable knockdown, some heavy hitting ST attacks, a literally cool cone attack... I just zoom-hover about looking like a flying smudge freezing stuff. 

 

[BigKahuna337]

BA/Elec is really good. Kinda expensive build but built him to 75% S/L/F/C/E/N and 50+ S/L/F 45+ Melee Def. Higher with Agility Alpha equipped but I usually run Muscular for the damage.

[Due Regard]

On 3/6/2024 at 12:47 AM, Due Regard said:

This is my current list of rolled/projects... Aiming to get one of each Primary to 50. Only Spines and TW are complete. Elm, Rad, Stone, and WM are locked in/rolled. The rest need names/concepts/outfits... and could be juggled on secondaries/epics.

 

Been a year, here's an update:

Been too busy playing other games... But I did get Vovok'din to 50 and kitted out - WM/EnA is bonkers, pun intended.
Criticality, Tw17cH, and Wreiki are all parked at 27, waiting for commons to get freed from other alts.
Caementum, Criticality, Glacissa, Muddled, and Mythed are all working their way up.
Errants is a reroll of a StJ/Shield Stalker... Loved the StJ, but just could not get behind the concept/character holding a shield. Also working their way up the ladder.

Rest of the powersets have been shuffled a bit. Some combinations have been stolen/reserved for other AT's (Psi/Regen), others keep getting secondaries shuffled until I actually roll them/think of a solid concept for them.

Been a fun ride trying new sets - Looking forward to my final opinions.
 

[hejtmane]

Right now Ice/EA I can do some crazy end game stuff plus I love ice patch + caltrop fun

 

 

[mistagoat]

I have 9 lvl 50 set out Scraps. My favorite to play by far is the Electric/Shield followed by the Axe/Ice. Both of these combos can struggle in early levels before your defense is filled out and Stamina can also be a beast to conquer but once they start getting set out and begin to bloom, oh boy do I feel like an invincible whirling dervish of destruction. Elec/Shield probably isn't topping the DPS charts but it sure does top the fun chart for me (unfortunately, the combo is even better on stalkers)! Axe/Ice does some stupid damage and the crit proc goes off fairly reliably. I also played an Axe/Ninja, that had a smoother ride to 50 but I feel like the Ice has more benefits at 50.

 

Strangely, I love Battle Axe and War Mace but kinda hated Broadsword, felt super "meh" to me.

[Uun]

My namesake and first CoH character was a Martial Arts/Invulnerability scrapper created in 2004 and recreated on HC in 2019. Not meta by any stretch, but still fun. The other scrapper I enjoy a lot is Broadsword/Shield. Also not meta, but there's a rhythm to playing it and it's super sturdy (tanked Lord Recluse with it the other day).

[lemming]

Let's check in on the 50s.  My DB/WP & Kat/Nin are the most played.

 

Dual Blades	Willpower	My Badger, good at handling most anything
Claws	Energy Aura	Claws is a favorite primary, EA is a very good defensive set
Energy Melee	Energy Aura	Very strong hitting ST
Broadsword	Shield	A cliche that works incredibly well, BS is a little slower than katana and doesn't hit quite hard enough to make up for it, but still good
Psi Melee	Regen	Psi is great against everything but robots, regen is fast to recover, but it's in need of help
Claws	Willpower	A decent combo, the EA version is a bit better
Martial	Ninjitsu	I only started trying out Ninjitsu last year and it's been a good combo
Battle Ax	Super Reflex	A very strong combo
Street Justice	Bio	Honestly not my favorite, but does alright
Katana	Ninjitsu	Another cliche that works very well.
Titan Weapons	Ninjitsu	Honestly my first time getting a TW to 50 without regrets.  It's a silly combo that does well, but I'm still not fond of TW

 

[jprewitt73]

I created my first Scrapper ever a couple weeks ago. Staff/SR. I am enjoying it a lot so far. Been a ton of fun and I enjoy every moment. I tend to build one character, then stick with it for months until I get burned out. Then it'll sit and collect dust until I scrap it for parts and move on to something new and shiny. My Staff/SR (Laughing Shaman) seems to be this months character so far. 

 

I know Staff is "subpar" but it is really fun spinning a stick around and smacking bad guys with it. 

 

[FFTMime]

I confess, I like the idea of scrappers most, but I'm having trouble finding something I feel truly happy with offensively. Particularly when it comes to teams, it's easy to feel like an accessory. The meta there seems to be unloading AOE alpha strikes and moving on. This in balance with the fact it's easy to be alphastruck to death as a scrapper on big teams. Or setting your missions too high. Maybe I really should just give up trying to play regen for good. Just as a start. 

That said, I always enjoyed MA's style. On live I never really caught on with other stuff. Though I haven't actually tried everything either. Maybe be time to get something like DM a try. Or some of the new sets despite what I hear about some. 

Edited April 14 by FFTMime

[hejtmane]

On 3/5/2024 at 6:48 PM, InvaderStych said:

 

Next time you're rolling up something, fill in that empty space where Katana meets Rad Armor.

 

Thank me later.

I have one it is real strong but my Ice/EA can do a  few more things that one can not but the set is still fantastic together

[evetsleep]

On 4/14/2025 at 5:32 PM, jprewitt73 said:

 

I know Staff is "subpar" but it is really fun spinning a stick around and smacking bad guys with it. 

 

 

So here's the thing.  Having fun is objectively the most important part (why are you here otherwise?).  If it's not fun to you, then it's a waste of time.  Who really wants to spend hours playing a toon that they don't find fun just because it hits some kind of performance objective?

Concept is king and have fun!  Always rule #1 and avoid chasing the meta/FoTM.

 

So take that stick and swing it with a smile.  Nothing to be ashamed of there 🙂

[FFTMime]

7 hours ago, evetsleep said:

Concept is king and have fun!  Always rule #1 and avoid chasing the meta/FoTM.

As a more sober take, I think the vast majority of people will be happy if their hero can perform than they are just based on concept. The real trick in COH is finding where concept and performance meet. Most people will likely take a slight hit to performance for the sake of something they like the idea or presentation of more. But I will throw in a counterbalance to this often-trumpeted line that... don't feel ashamed to throw in the towel for a while and play something really strong. I know how bad playing your misbegotten creatura can get. 

And frankly even just a little time as a cleanse of your tase buds can help a lot. Or maybe setting your expectations. Fear of missing out on "something" can secretly be your entire problem. Seeing how the other side lives may actually be helpful. Play one of the stupidly powerful blasters and wipe maps, maybe. Something really extreme. Then go back and have a better idea of what you are actually getting in your package. 

Or end up realizing you just really like the feel of power and ride that wave. Which is fine. Lmfao. I think it's fine? If it turns out people just didn't want to feel guilty for abandoning concept, that's fine. Though I'll say after playing a AR/Devices blaster for a few days, I'm back to trying weirder builds and ATs. 

 

As a brief end note, knowing what powers to focus on for early leveling may help people too. The art of leveling is something not often brushed on in advice. I wonder how often trying to dilute your slots across too many powers is common. You don't get many early. Build one or two super strong bread and butter attacks even if you respec out of them later. May help feel a lot. 

Edited April 16 by FFTMime