Whitecap why? (aint nuthin but a heart break...)

[luxlorica]

So Marine Affinity is a support powerset available to Defenders, Corrupters, Controllers, and Masterminds. Who there is looking to get into melee? Not just get there, plonk down smack in the middle with an AOE to get everyone's attention. Does not Range = Life for these ATs? Is Whitecap just an autoskip for hover blasters and back-line lobbers? Are there versions of those ATs that benefit from being in the grinder?

It just seems like an odd design choice. Sure you are built around range and everything else you have has range and range is how you stay alive, buuuuuut... have you considered brawl?

When would whitecap ever be a good idea?

[Snarky]

3 minutes ago, luxlorica said:

So Marine Affinity is a support powerset available to Defenders, Corrupters, Controllers, and Masterminds. Who there is looking to get into melee? Not just get there, plonk down smack in the middle with an AOE to get everyone's attention. Does not Range = Life for these ATs? Is Whitecap just an autoskip for hover blasters and back-line lobbers? Are there versions of those ATs that benefit from being in the grinder?

It just seems like an odd design choice. Sure you are built around range and everything else you have has range and range is how you stay alive, buuuuuut... have you considered brawl?

When would whitecap ever be a good idea?

i once worshipped at the altar of Ranged Squishies.  'tis a false Gawd.  

 

Debuffs, Volume Damage, and various mitigation strategies means being in the center of the hurt locker is the most effective spot.  

 

if you are buffing / debuffing join my Blasters there.  

Edited July 24 by Snarky

[biostem]

8 minutes ago, luxlorica said:

Who there is looking to get into melee?

There are many PBAoE powers in the blast sets that these ATs also get access to, yet there doesn't seem to have been a peep made...

[luxlorica]

9 minutes ago, biostem said:

There are many PBAoE powers in the blast sets that these ATs also get access to, yet there doesn't seem to have been a peep made...

Its true, I am peepless.

I guess the final set power to some of the sets is indeed a PBAoE that you get around level 26 while you get Whitecap at level 10. You don't HAVE to take it at 10, but that seems to imply that you have to build with much more intention or else end up face to mace for 16 levels or so.

Edited July 25 by luxlorica

[JasperStone]

1 minute ago, luxlorica said:

Its true, I am peepless.

 

Not ANymore

[luxlorica]

12 minutes ago, Snarky said:

i once worshipped at the altar of Ranged Squishies.  'tis a false Gawd.  

 

Debuffs, Volume Damage, and various mitigation strategies means being in the center of the hurt locker is the most effective spot.  

 

if you are buffing / debuffing join my Blasters there.  

Its just the cones and lines that hit one person when, if you had been back where you were supposed to be, you could have hit 12 (not 12, like 5 or 7, I dont know what the cap is but you see what I am saying)

[biostem]

9 minutes ago, luxlorica said:

Its true, I am peepless.

I guess the final set power to some of the sets is indeed a PBAoE that you get around level 26 while you get Whitecap at level 10. You don't HAVE to take it at 10, but that seem to imply that you have to build with much more intention or else end up face to mace for 16 levels or so.

Rad blast gets irradiate at 2, elec blast gets short circuit at 10, and, yes, several others get a PBAoE T9...

Edited July 25 by biostem

[Glacier Peak]

High risk, high reward. 

[Snarky]

1 hour ago, luxlorica said:

Its just the cones and lines that hit one person when, if you had been back where you were supposed to be, you could have hit 12 (not 12, like 5 or 7, I dont know what the cap is but you see what I am saying)

yeah, i REALLY went ranged on some   have a AR/Dev blaster with +35% global range then more f=global range from alpha

 

he just looks in a room and hoses it down

[arcane]

Whitecap is awesome. I put 6 procs in mine, it makes a lot of numbers very fast 🙂 

Edited July 25 by arcane

[Ravenplume]

5 hours ago, luxlorica said:

Its just the cones and lines that hit one person when, if you had been back where you were supposed to be, you could have hit 12 (not 12, like 5 or 7, I dont know what the cap is but you see what I am saying)

 

Sounds good in theory, but the greater majority of the time, your AoE / Cone target ends up being the one to randomly run off past you away from the rest of the group, turning your AoE or Cone into a single target attack.

[NotsoevilDM]

7 hours ago, Snarky said:

yeah, i REALLY went ranged on some   have a AR/Dev blaster with +35% global range then more f=global range from alpha

 

he just looks in a room and hoses it down

Lead Hose approves of this post. Full Auto FTW! 

[Digirium]

Marine Affinity is a ridiculously hyper-powered set when played to the fullest including Whitecap.

 

While there is something positive to be said about building for ranged defense, it is only a small part of the whole picture in the journey of learning how to create effective builds. This is true for any AT with any combination of powers. MA itself includes many tools to protect against what might happen on execution of Whitecap.

 

It is probably a better idea to take Whitecap in the mid-20s over when it is available at level 6.

[Marshal_General]

13 hours ago, JasperStone said:

 

Not ANymore

I like to give props to my peeps.

[Techwright]

I had the same question as the OP, but gave it a try anyway.  I am running a dark/marine corruption, and so far have only teamed, no solo work.  Teams have been 80% marine characters, and I noticed I seemed to be the only one using white cpa which I thought odd.  What I can suggest is that white cap feels situational.  In a team that means many opportunities, though I could foresee fewer with solo, except perhaps MMs.  I have found it most effective in dealing with stubborn bosses and EBs when only a handful of opponents are within his melee range.  My tactic is to strike then immediately back out of range as they recover, leaving my teammates to hit them repeatedly. 

[JasperStone]

1 hour ago, Marshal_General said:

I like to give props to my peeps.

Props you say?

...

How about some swords?

[Bionic_Flea]

Quote

Whitecap why? (aint nuthin but a heart break...)

 

Whitecap why?  I never want to hear you say, I jump in that way.

[tidge]

I haven't leveled up a character with Whitecap, but I imagine myself slotting similarly as I do Burst of Speed: Accuracy, along with Endurance and/or Recharge (depending on baseline stats) for set bonuses, and 3x %damage procs.

 

As a Knockdown and -Resistance power (with DoT), it looks to be a pretty useful power to use against enemies that are about to try to pull off some trick of their own. As a self-Teleport, it looks great for getting to where the character is needed to be.

 

 

[catsi563]

16 hours ago, Snarky said:

i once worshipped at the altar of Ranged Squishies.  'tis a false Gawd.  

 

Debuffs, Volume Damage, and various mitigation strategies means being in the center of the hurt locker is the most effective spot.  

 

if you are buffing / debuffing join my Blasters there.  

Me as well

 

then i realized the basic principle that ranged ats melee attacks still do damage at the level of a ranged at. simply put i was denying myself half my damage output by not going into melee range

 

this came to a head when i chose to make a DP Martial blaster. And she demanded that i go into melee and she ROCKED hard because it didnt matter that i was in close she was taking badguys down by the truck load

 

heck some controller powers require you to be in melee range to really stack on the debuffs 

[srmalloy]

17 hours ago, JasperStone said:

 

Not ANymore

No... Peepshi:

[JasperStone]

2 minutes ago, srmalloy said:

No... Peepshi:

Sooooo wrong

...

Yet ...

Sooooooo right

 

Noms!

[Snarky]

5 hours ago, Marshal_General said:

I like to give props to my peeps.

i will give the "prop" to your peeps...

[Jacke]

18 hours ago, JasperStone said:

 

 

I'm imagining this to The Imperial March.

[WumpusRat]

18 hours ago, luxlorica said:

So Marine Affinity is a support powerset available to Defenders, Corrupters, Controllers, and Masterminds. Who there is looking to get into melee? Not just get there, plonk down smack in the middle with an AOE to get everyone's attention. Does not Range = Life for these ATs? Is Whitecap just an autoskip for hover blasters and back-line lobbers? Are there versions of those ATs that benefit from being in the grinder?

 

For several Controller and Mastermind setups, you absolutely want to be in the thick of things. 

 

For Fire, Ice, and Electric control, they all have toggle auras that damage or debilitate things near you, so you want to get into the mix to capitalize on that, and Whitecap allows you to do that AND reduce the resistance of everything you land near. Double win. Additionally, several of the control sets' aoe holds and other powers are pbaoe, meaning you have to be surrounded by enemies to make full use of them. So again, you want to be in melee. Also, if you're standing within the Tide Pool, you gain bonus damage during the fight. And the more attacks that go off, the bigger the damage bonus. Controller damage is already low, so the more damage you can get means the faster things die. 

 

For Masterminds, Marine tends to work best with melee pets, and for that you want to be in the mix as well, to keep your pets within the relatively short range of Supremacy, the pet set IO auras, Leadership, etc. And again, Tide Pool + attacks = more damage for you and your pets. You also want to make sure you drag Barrier Reef into the mix so that it provides your pets with the pulsing absorption shield. Also, given that Toroidal Bubble and Power of the Depths only have a 60s duration, popping them off mid-fight is sometimes necessary, so you'll want to be right in the thick of things so you can drop them on all  your pets. Not to mention that with bodyguard mode, using Whitecap to start the fight is a great way to absorb alpha strikes when you're at your strongest. 

Edited July 25 by WumpusRat

[UltraAlt]

20 hours ago, luxlorica said:

Who there is looking to get into melee? Not just get there, plonk down smack in the middle with an AOE to get everyone's attention

 

20 hours ago, luxlorica said:

Is Whitecap just an autoskip for hover blasters and back-line lobbers? Are there versions of those ATs that benefit from being in the grinder?

 

I like it.

I use it to jump in and then immediately jump back out. With all the debuffs you can lay down, the white cap landing you in the middle of a mob isn't really as bad as it seems to be.

With a mastermind in turtle mode, you go in, get jumped, and your pets start dog piling the enemy. Seems to work fine.

I've used it with all 4 archetypes.

 

The thing is with power sets is you can't apply your tactics to them, you have to figure out what tactic augments the powers in a set and then use those tactics.

That being said, almost all power sets have powers that have similar functions. 

 

I have found that an alternate use for White Cap is to quickly get to an ally or targeted pet/henchmen. They have to have an enemy targeted for it to work.

So say a team mate is getting jumped. You White Cap to them, AoE those around them, and then start your healing of the team mate and what not.