Questions about a Rad/SS Tanker...

[Warshades]

On 2/21/2025 at 2:59 PM, Story Archer said:

Well, as long as we're talking about this particular build, I've hit 50 and got her all enhanced up, but I wouldn't mind some critiques to help me get her optimized.

 

In my opinion, you're chasing the fire/cold resist to much. Cold is barely existent in the game as a damage type and fire is also on the rarer side compared to s/l/e/n. You could fully proc out Dominate and drop another damage proc and decimation chance for BU proc instead of the 2 winter bite. I personally like to 2 slot rage with 2x membrane exposure HOs and combine them to 53, it saves a few slots and works well to boost both rech and tohit. You could add another slot to Psionic Tornado and replace one of the damage procs to put in 2x frozen blast, that will up your recharge debuff resist a bit more. Personally, I almost never use Punch, so I would definitely consider removing the FF proc from it. It won't have a high chance of activating anyway and it's not a power you need to spam for most content. I also don't think that Weave is worth the 6 slotted reactive defense. Consider 5 slotting (4x shield wall including the unique there instead of CJ and 1 LotG +rech), replace the shield wall unique in CJ with reactive defense unique and add the slot removed from Weave to give another LotG +rech. You're getting 15% rech this way compared to only 8.75% from reactive defense, you're also replacing the lost eng/neg resist from adjusted targeting in rage by having the 4 set shield wall.

 

You could also consider changing your alpha incarnate to musculature as well. It will further boost your damage since most powers are fully proc'd out and the entire point of building rad/ss in this way is to maximize damage. You also don't lose that much resist, and for tough fights you can spam Punch to upkeep 2x SMoT procs and still reach hard cap to most resists.

[Story Archer]

On 2/22/2025 at 8:22 PM, Uncle Shags said:

Holy smokes! So much going on there!  Crazy build! Looks awesome!  I'm sure lots of folks have lots to say, but I think I can speak to the combat teleport question. 

 

I've got a test server Rad/SS I've been tinkering with.  I'm going to have to take at peek at your version.  Looks very interesting. 

 

Honestly, this is the most fun I've had with a character - she's absolute mayhem. Once I figured out a way to deal with Rad's kinda unappealing visuals, she's been a blast to play.

 

I really haven't learned anything about macros, maybe I'll have to look into it. Honestly, I'm finding that I just don't use Fold Space that much for some reason.

 

Edited 14 hours ago by Story Archer

[Story Archer]

8 hours ago, Warshades said:

 

In my opinion, you're chasing the fire/cold resist to much. Cold is barely existent in the game as a damage type and fire is also on the rarer side compared to s/l/e/n. You could fully proc out Dominate and drop another damage proc and decimation chance for BU proc instead of the 2 winter bite. I personally like to 2 slot rage with 2x membrane exposure HOs and combine them to 53, it saves a few slots and works well to boost both rech and tohit. You could add another slot to Psionic Tornado and replace one of the damage procs to put in 2x frozen blast, that will up your recharge debuff resist a bit more. Personally, I almost never use Punch, so I would definitely consider removing the FF proc from it. It won't have a high chance of activating anyway and it's not a power you need to spam for most content. I also don't think that Weave is worth the 6 slotted reactive defense. Consider 5 slotting (4x shield wall including the unique there instead of CJ and 1 LotG +rech), replace the shield wall unique in CJ with reactive defense unique and add the slot removed from Weave to give another LotG +rech. You're getting 15% rech this way compared to only 8.75% from reactive defense, you're also replacing the lost eng/neg resist from adjusted targeting in rage by having the 4 set shield wall.

 

You could also consider changing your alpha incarnate to musculature as well. It will further boost your damage since most powers are fully proc'd out and the entire point of building rad/ss in this way is to maximize damage. You also don't lose that much resist, and for tough fights you can spam Punch to upkeep 2x SMoT procs and still reach hard cap to most resists.

 

I really appreciate you taking the time to respond.

 

Honestly, making sure that I've got both the Reactive Defenses and Preventive Medicine full sets has almost become reflex in most of my builds, as I think that they're really underrated, especially together - but on most of my builds I already have 4 or 5 LotG +Rech elsewhere so it became a little bit of a blindspot on this build. I'll definitely look at the switch that you suggested there. With Harmonic Mind I don't suppose that I need the Endurance discount, but I think I get more out of 1.5% S/L and 3% F/C than 4.5% N (since I'm already WAY over the cap to E). This is really fine-tuning, of course, but maybe I'll go 4-slotting Reactive Defenses, drop the Shield Wall +Res and the LotG +Rech in there and drop a second LotG +Rech in the spot freed up in Combat Jumping.

 

I like the 9% +ACC that I get from 4-slotting Adjusted Targeting in Rage - honestly, I find that I kinda need it. When only one Rage is up, it (along with Kismet) puts all of my proc'ed out attacks at just over 95% Accuracy against +3's.

 

I really weighed the two Alphas, as Musculature is almost always the automatic take on all of my non-support characters. I didn't want to completely sacrifice my defenses for offense and Resilient doesn't just give me a noticeable bump in Res (7% S/L/Tox, 6% N/F, and 2.5% C/Psi) it also improves my absorb shield and the +ToHit that I get from Rage, which I need as mentioned above. While the additional Res can really be made up for by a single SMotT proc, as a whole it just seems too synergistic to pass on, especially with Rage frequently crashing my damage bonus. I think I'm going to eventually max them both out though, and equip the one best suited for what I'm doing.

 

I find that I use Punch a lot, as Cross Punch, KO Blow and Dominate just don't give me a full attack chain and an attack loaded with all those beneficial procs just makes too good of a filler. I actually wish that the two AT procs didn't come with a Recharge enhancement though, for the very reason that it causes them to go off even more infrequently. Ultimately I slotted Punch because I had to take the power anyway, and I'm greedy for power slots, but now I'm looking at dropping something - maybe Fold Space since I'm not using it as much as I expected to (and I always get annoyed when someone else uses it to pull targets out of my AoE attacks) - and dropping Haymaker in there instead, giving it the slots I'm currently using for Punch.

 

Thanks again for chiming in - no matter how strong I think I am at assembling builds, I never fail to learn something from the perspectives offered on this board.

 

EDIT: I made the change discussed up top with Weave/CJ and dropped Fold Space so that I could work in Haymaker, replacing Punch in the attack chain. I'll let you know how it goes, but I think it'll be a definite improvement. if it works out I'll replace the above post with the updated build.

 

[Nemu]

16 minutes ago, Story Archer said:

Reactive Defenses and Preventive Medicine full sets has almost become reflex in most of my builds

Reactive defense is 5 additional slots you toss in a mule power that provides your build no benefit. It might be a reflex for other builds where defense makes a meaningful contribution to your build. Rad/SS needs recharge, and you fully slotting a power for 8.75% recharge when you could have it fully slotted for 12.5% recharge instead makes little sense.

 

Do you even toggle on weave or is it just a set bonus mule? If the latter you can also put a LOTG 7.5 in it and rip those slots along with some others that do very little for your build, like the Aeigis unique, and slot up other powers for recharge, for example boxing with 5 piece hecatomb for 10% more recharge and 15% more global ACC, which you also need to push certain powers to 95% chance to hit with a single rage buff.

 

This might shock the tanker community trained to build every AT with resist cap or defense softcap or both but my Rad/SS tank didn't even take the fighting pool and has around 50% S/L res. Once you achieve success playing melee blasters, you come to appreciate the power of offense and active mitigation (handclap/footstomp/psi nado/GZ with knockdown proc chaining knockdowns), and you'll come around to see see how grossly overcompensated some of these builds that tries to hit those survival milestones are when this combo has such killing power backed up by more mitigation tools that are available to my sturdiest blasters.

 

[Story Archer]

On 2/23/2025 at 10:42 AM, Nemu said:

Reactive defense is 5 additional slots you toss in a mule power that provides your build no benefit. It might be a reflex for other builds where defense makes a meaningful contribution to your build. Rad/SS needs recharge, and you fully slotting a power for 8.75% recharge when you could have it fully slotted for 12.5% recharge instead makes little sense.

 

Do you even toggle on weave or is it just a set bonus mule? If the latter you can also put a LOTG 7.5 in it and rip those slots along with some others that do very little for your build, like the Aeigis unique, and slot up other powers for recharge, for example boxing with 5 piece hecatomb for 10% more recharge and 15% more global ACC, which you also need to push certain powers to 95% chance to hit with a single rage buff.

 

This might shock the tanker community trained to build every AT with resist cap or defense softcap or both but my Rad/SS tank didn't even take the fighting pool and has around 50% S/L res. Once you achieve success playing melee blasters, you come to appreciate the power of offense and active mitigation (handclap/footstomp/psi nado/GZ with knockdown proc chaining knockdowns), and you'll come around to see see how grossly overcompensated some of these builds that tries to hit those survival milestones are when this combo has such killing power backed up by more mitigation tools that are available to my sturdiest blasters.

 

 

I've taken what you've posted here to heart and taken a long, critical look at the build (which I've been pretty happy with up to this point).  I tried to discard some of the more reflexive slotting that I tend to do and focused on chasing effectiveness a little more than chasing MIDS numbers. 

 

I don't agree with you on everything - I would never run her or any other Tanker at 50% S/L Res, I see value in the Aegis unique for this low-defense build where mezzes can stack quickly, and I would generally prefer not to have to waste time and clicks on mitigation or control if I didn't have to. but I have to say it's really left me open to some new perspectives.

 

I made a number of changes, mostly minor ones, but I did drop Weave to mule status and slotted up Punch to basically mule Hecatomb instead. Combat Jumping is also pulling some heavy mule weight as well. All in all, my accuracy is higher, my damage is improved, and I picked up another 10% +Rech, all without noticeably affecting my defenses. I'm still playign around with it, but this is where I'm currently at...

 

*deleted to avoid confusion with updates later in the discussion thread.

 

Edited 15 hours ago by Story Archer

[Sovera]

Out of curiosity why are you slotting for accuracy like in Rage? Even removing the ToHit IO from there you'd still be at 96% to hit +3 with the remaining three slots.

 

Unfortunately my Mids doesn't let me see the numbers of procced out attacks

 

 

But one +3 acc/damage HO + a +5 damage IO are enough to get both acc and damage maxed out. Even just the HO would probably let you remove those slots in Rage and the Kismetic to spread them where you might like. If you're double stacking Rage, which I assume is the way forward since the build is geared for maximum damage rawr, then even that HO and the Kismet are superfluous. Just move the Rage slider to two stacks and check your accuracy.

 

The only thing I'd add is that you're not min maxing your Might of the Tanker ATO. You have it slotted but your S/L resistances are already maxed out without it. E/N I could be slightly lowered as well if you want to game the 13.4% that two stacks will give, but S/L in particular could do with all the slots from Tough removed and spread around. Even so you'd still be at 84% so it could be lowered a bit more still though at 83-84% you can just rely on a single stack and be capped.

 

If you could find a place to stick another two Superior Gauntled Fist you'd get 6% E/N that would recoup the loss from the Adjusted Targeting in Rage and Unbreakable Defense in Tough.

 

The -res in Beta Decay has such a small chance of going off that it is negligible. You could throw in Rad Therapy as an opener before unleashing all AoEs. Less tooltip damage though, but a good opener that will affect all enemies. Unlike in Beta Decay.

Edited Sunday at 10:55 PM by Sovera

[Story Archer]

19 minutes ago, Sovera said:

Out of curiosity why are you slotting for accuracy like in Rage? Even removing the ToHit IO from there you'd still be at 96% to hit +3 with the remaining three slots.

 

Just checking - are you responding to the OP?

[Sovera]

No, to you 😄

[Story Archer]

12 minutes ago, Sovera said:

No, to you 😄

 

lol - okay, another question - are you referencing the most recent build that I linked right before your post or any earlier iteration?

[Sovera]

Just now, Story Archer said:

 

lol - okay, another question - are you referencing the most recent build that I linked right before your post or any earlier iteration?

 

Yes, the Majestrix III. Unless there's another iteration?

 

 

[Zect]

On 2/22/2025 at 3:59 AM, Story Archer said:

[Majestrix II].mbd 44.45 kB · 6 downloads

 

 

The first thing that strikes me is why you are not using the ATIO1 proc to cap your resistances. You have procs turned off in punch, though that could be due to not wanting FF proc to show in mids. Might of the tanker proc is worth 6.7% res to all, which is a significant amount. 

 

(Note: one of the recent builds of mids does not apply the might of the tanker +res proc even if you turn it on, but it will work fine in game.) 

 

Secondly, while procs are generally good, some of your attacks might gain from slotting partial or full sets. For example, this is your KO blow.

 

You could instead try this. Triple hec triple proc is a classic that many fenders/corrs/blasters will be familiar with.

hecatomb proc, D, D/E

 

This gives slightly more damage, and also grants 6% FC res, which will allow you to cut the winter's gift pieces. While slotting a damage proc usually beats slotting a damage enhancement, high damage attacks lose less from slotting enhancements over procs, and may even gain overall. It is always worth testing enhancements vs procs on high damage attacks to see what is a gain.

 

Aoes are another example where the advantage of procs is much lessened, because procrate often gets shit on by area factor.

 

This is how you slotted your foot stomp. (Last slot reserved for FF proc)

 

Let's compare this with a set IO slotting (last slot ditto):

all but D/R

 

At first, it seems like a clear win for the procs, gaining 55.6, or +20.9% damage. However, note the lower recharge time on the 2nd footstomp. The 2nd slotting allows +30% more footstomps over the same period of time.

 

Spoiler

power activations per second = 1/(recharge duration + animation time)

 

1st slotting: 0.085005 foot stomps/second

2nd slotting: 0.11057 foot stomps/second

 

(0.11057/0.085005) * 100% = 130% as many footstomps per second

 

Consider that the 2nd slotting means more knockdowns from foot stomp (= mitigation), more FF procs, less end cost, higher acc, and +15% acc, +10% rech and +6% of that FC res you seem to be slotting for, and the advantage of the procs is less clear-cut.

 

On 2/22/2025 at 3:59 AM, Story Archer said:

On that topic, is Gamma Boost something I could drop at higher levels, once I have Harmonic Mind in place?

 

No. Gamma boost gives end drain resistance, 86.5% of it. Always check your powers for important resists and other effects.

 

On 2/22/2025 at 3:59 AM, Story Archer said:

I took the Pyronic over Ionic Judgement because I like the quicker casting time - but I'm happy to hear alternative suggestions.

 

Apart from pyronic and ionic the only really notable one is void radial. 30s of -50% damage. Note however that it's not as strong vs AV's as it looks on paper, because of how damage debuffs interact with resistance and how AV's usually have high res to their own damtype.

 

On 2/22/2025 at 3:59 AM, Story Archer said:

Am I overdoing it on the FF procs?

 

Probably. FF procs have the best value when put in fast recharging aoes. A high chance to get a 5s proc every 9s when you foot stomp is pretty good. Change it to a 22s psinado, and it starts getting less hot. Napkin math suggests the one in punch has its procrate floored, so that's not going to be very good. It also depends on what you want the rech for. Results are more consistent with long-recharge powers than fast-recharging ones, like filler attacks.

 

I am running out of time, but think about dropping your +3 def uniques and unslot some slots from weave, if you're truly all-in on res as you say. I wouldn't be comfortable with 65% slow res. And maybe optimize a little more for rech. If you can get to around 150-160% rech that will bring your rage close to double-rage territory, 65s recharge time. (5% from completing your adj targeting, 7.5% lotg, 10% 5x armageddon, 10% ageless radial, 110% existing global rech = 142.5%, and you have FF procs to help it along.)

 

Finally, this is a personal thing but I like to slot rad therapy 5x panaceas instead. The meta is procs, but really, how many nukes do you need with GZ, footstomp and an epic aoe. I find the heal useful when soloing against stuff like vanguard or going full rambo on the ITF mission 1 stairs ambush.

[Story Archer]

2 hours ago, Zect said:

 

The first thing that strikes me is why you are not using the ATIO1 proc to cap your resistances. You have procs turned off in punch, though that could be due to not wanting FF proc to show in mids. Might of the tanker proc is worth 6.7% res to all, which is a significant amount. 

 

First off, thank you so much for taking all that time to respond in such detail, there were many interesting perspectives offered there. Secondly, the reason why I'm leaning into procs so heavily on something like Footstomp is because of how frequently Rage floors my damage - procs are far and away the best means to circumvent that aspect of Rage crash. With all the recharge I have coming from things like Beta Decay, Cross Punch, Ageless, Hasten, etc. It tends to come back very quickly.

 

Lastly, I've already updated the build considerably, including a number of things you happened to mention, and posted a link to the build above (Majestrix III). I really do appreciate the offered insights and will keep them in mind moving forward.

[tidge]

Re-read the post immediately above by @Zect especially about how slotting a Very Rare set vs. franken-slotting for %damage isn't always clear-cut.

 

Minor comments about the Radiation choices.

 

Even though Radiation is a Resistance set, I would try to get at least one 4xUnbreakable Guard bonus (+3% Melee Defense) and single-slot Beta Decay with an HO Enzyme for Endurance Reduction, -ToHit, -Defense instead of the %proc.

 

My own choice for Radiation Therapy (with its base accuracy of 3.0!!!!) Would be Touch of the Nictus Heal/Recharge and %Negative (for more Health), 3 more %damage, and then one of the two Tanker ATO procs (because each also has a Recharge component). I'd have to take a hard look at the Secondary's timing and proc rates to decide which one makes more sense, but without looking at all, I'd lean towards the %Absorb from Superior Gauntleted Fist

[Story Archer]

16 hours ago, Sovera said:

Out of curiosity why are you slotting for accuracy like in Rage? Even removing the ToHit IO from there you'd still be at 96% to hit +3 with the remaining three slots.

 

Unfortunately my Mids doesn't let me see the numbers of procced out attacks

 

 

But one +3 acc/damage HO + a +5 damage IO are enough to get both acc and damage maxed out. Even just the HO would probably let you remove those slots in Rage and the Kismetic to spread them where you might like. If you're double stacking Rage, which I assume is the way forward since the build is geared for maximum damage rawr, then even that HO and the Kismet are superfluous. Just move the Rage slider to two stacks and check your accuracy.

 

The only thing I'd add is that you're not min maxing your Might of the Tanker ATO. You have it slotted but your S/L resistances are already maxed out without it. E/N I could be slightly lowered as well if you want to game the 13.4% that two stacks will give, but S/L in particular could do with all the slots from Tough removed and spread around. Even so you'd still be at 84% so it could be lowered a bit more still though at 83-84% you can just rely on a single stack and be capped.

 

If you could find a place to stick another two Superior Gauntled Fist you'd get 6% E/N that would recoup the loss from the Adjusted Targeting in Rage and Unbreakable Defense in Tough.

 

The -res in Beta Decay has such a small chance of going off that it is negligible. You could throw in Rad Therapy as an opener before unleashing all AoEs. Less tooltip damage though, but a good opener that will affect all enemies. Unlike in Beta Decay.

 

I apologize for the earlier confusion. I misread part of your initial post and then didn't want to take the chance of seeming like I was ignoring you.

 

I'm actually starting to run into the law of diminishing returns with some of what you suggest. I move slots from Tough to create some slots for the Gauntleted Fist so that I can raise my N Resist (E is already way over-capped), dropping my S/L Resist a bit but it's okay because the MotT ATO can cover it - except that the ATO was already covering my N resist to begin with. There aren't really many more places that I can actually put or need additional slots at this point. My original intent was for the ATO to help cover the hole in C & P on the occasion that I faced it, and leave the more common S, L, E & F as close to capped as reasonably possible. If I wanted to maximize its benefits, I'd probably drop the Resilient Incarnate for Musculature, but I like the other benefits that Resilient provides (improved Absorb, Taunt and ToHit Buffs). I'm in the process of maxing out Musculature as well, so I'll give it a try both ways to see which works better in practice. 

 

I'm over the bare minimums on ACC & ToHit buff because my defense is frequently floored (or underwater), and when ToHit DeBuffs come, they tend to come in bunches (like with CoT). Never once in this game have I ever felt 'hey, I'm hitting WAY too much', so I'm fine with going a little overboard on accuracy, especially when it lends other useful set bonuses in the process. I've got ways to mitigate Endurance Drain and -Rech, and the Ageless Incarnate certainly helps, but unless I see a clear benefit elsewhere - rather than just freeing up slots to do it - I'm probably going to keep the higher accuracy for now.

 

What else would I put in Beta Decay if not the Achilles -Res proc? Slot a couple of damage procs? I can't believe that would grant me much of a return...

[Story Archer]

1 hour ago, tidge said:

Re-read the post immediately above by @Zect especially about how slotting a Very Rare set vs. franken-slotting for %damage isn't always clear-cut.

 

Minor comments about the Radiation choices.

 

Even though Radiation is a Resistance set, I would try to get at least one 4xUnbreakable Guard bonus (+3% Melee Defense) and single-slot Beta Decay with an HO Enzyme for Endurance Reduction, -ToHit, -Defense instead of the %proc.

 

My own choice for Radiation Therapy (with its base accuracy of 3.0!!!!) Would be Touch of the Nictus Heal/Recharge and %Negative (for more Health), 3 more %damage, and then one of the two Tanker ATO procs (because each also has a Recharge component). I'd have to take a hard look at the Secondary's timing and proc rates to decide which one makes more sense, but without looking at all, I'd lean towards the %Absorb from Superior Gauntleted Fist

 

This is some interesting advice. You might have already read my response to Zect regarding the frequent flooring of my base damage from Rage as the reason why I went with procs in Foot Stomp over the set bonuses, which I would normally take in literally any other build.

 

The very first version of this character actually had 4x Unbreakable Guard in all four Res toggles, along with Darkest Night from the Soul Mastery Epic to try and compliment all the Res defense despite the inherent Rage crash (this is what I do on my Rad/Stone and it works amazingly well), but I ended up coming to the conclusion that chasing any defense while attempting to stack Rage was just trying to ice skate uphill.

 

I've seen a few suggestions about not leaning quite so heavily into the two proc bomb mini-nukes purely for damage, and I think there's genuine merit to that. With Foot Stomp, the surprisingly effective Psionic Tornado and my Incarnate AoE to go along with the mini-nukes, I think there's some value there to turning Radiation Therapy into more of a 'utility bomb'. At the moment I'm thinking maybe three of the Superior Gauntleted Fist for the benefits there (incl. the proc), and three touch of Nictus to increase the healing and give me a little accuracy bump, potentially freeing up the slot I'm currently using for Kismet in the process. Or maybe adding the Theft of Essence, Power Transfer and Performance Shifter procs to help with healing and especially recovery when I experience those sudden double Endurance drops from Hasten and Rage... do we have any hard numbers on how much benefit slotting Radiation Therapy for Healing actually provides?

 

Random question - I think I'll have an additional proc slot available for Psionic Tornado, what do you think about dropping a Confusion proc from the new damage set in both it and Radiation Therapy as additional mitigation?

 

And a proc question: the Armageddon damage proc fires 4.5 PPM, or roughly every 13 second as I understand it, meaning that it would theoretically fire every time if placed in a power that recharges every 15 seconds or less, right? So that would mean that placing it into a power that fires less often than that, say every 20 or 30 seconds would be wasting a lot of its potential. Does that sound right? I'm thinking it might be better placed in Foot Stomp if I free it up here.

 

Also, thanks for the suggestion about slotting Beta Decay, I was just asking in another post what I would put there if not the Achilles Heel proc.

 

Edited 17 hours ago by Story Archer

[Story Archer]

4 hours ago, Zect said:

Let's compare this with a set IO slotting (last slot ditto):

all but D/R

 

 

How do I get Mids to show/reflect the enhancement boosts like that?

[tidge]

I saw the response about Rage crashes... obviously it is only during play that you can make some assessments. Unslotters are cheap!

 

I only wanted to comment on the Radiation part... I have somewhat strong (personal, not "right v. wrong") opinions on how I build the offensive side of Tankers that don't align with the direction you've chosen, so I don't feel the need to yuck-in-the-yum, as it were. (*1)

 

The only other aspect of the primary that I think might be worth taking a harder look at is Gamma Boost. It has an interesting mechanic where the Regeneration improves with damage taken, which may not be obvious from MIDS. For Tankers/Brutes (i.e. "big sacks of HP") I usually try to 2-slot Numina's Covalescence (Heal/Absorb and the +Regen/+Recovery) somewhere, Gamma Boost would be my choice. Those two-pieces can yield a strong triple-whammy of Regeneration on top of Gamma Boost giving it to you when you really want it.

 

(*1) The closest I'll get to being critical about the offense I see here is this: The build looks like an effort to simply get as many %damage attacks as possible... and I'm not quite sure what the anticipated attack chain would be, (read this as "are there too many attacks?") and at what level content you will be trying to maximize offensive output. There are other options for similar %damage attacks available earlier than the epic pools. I single out the epic pools because often I (for personal reasons) typically don't invest many slots in powers after level 35, because the slot investment came earlier in the build.

[Story Archer]

Update: Majestrix IV

[Majestrix IV].mbd

 

I really want to thank everyone who has taken the time to weigh in on this discussion. The different perspectives offered have not only helped to immeasurably improve this build, but a number of my others and hopefully will continue to offer additional insights to anyone who comes across it in the future.

 

This newest iteration has some substantial improvements, including:

• I am leveraging the +Res ATO proc more efficiently, so that 1 tick will put me right at 50% for Cold & Psi, 90% for everything else.
• I picked up an additional +6% Cold, Negative and Psi Resistance to round out the above.
• Foot Stomp deals more damage, more consistently.
• Beta Decay is slotted more efficiently with the Enzyme HO.
• I'm adding additional mitigation by leveraging the Confuse proc from the new Cupid's set in both Radiation Therapy and Psionic Tornado (shown as empty slots for now).
• Radiation Therapy has gone from (yet another) mini-nuke to a utility proc bomb to help with mitigation and recovery. Still playing with the slots there.

At the moment, I still have the Kismet +Acc IO in there. With it, against +4's, it brings the Accuracy of my purely proc attacks (Foot Stomp, Cross Punch and Psionic Tornado) to right at 98% vs. +4 foes. Without it, the accuracy of those attacks drop to 90% (while remaining well above 90% for everything when facing+3 foes or lower). Is that the best use for that slot, or would I be better off using it for the Impervious Skin IO that grants additional +7.5% status protection and +25% Regen? I can't see anywhere else that it would be especially useful.

 

Note: the empty slots in Haymaker, Foot Stomp, Cross Punch and one of the ones in Psionic Tornado are all for the FF +Rech proc. The one in Radiation Therapy and the additional one in Psionic Tornado are for the Confusion procs from the new Cupid set.

 

Edited 14 hours ago by Story Archer

[Story Archer]

54 minutes ago, tidge said:

(*1) The closest I'll get to being critical about the offense I see here is this: The build looks like an effort to simply get as many %damage attacks as possible... and I'm not quite sure what the anticipated attack chain would be, (read this as "are there too many attacks?") and at what level content you will be trying to maximize offensive output. There are other options for similar %damage attacks available earlier than the epic pools. I single out the epic pools because often I (for personal reasons) typically don't invest many slots in powers after level 35, because the slot investment came earlier in the build.

 

This particular type of build definitely plays differently from other Tankers - when teaming I even make sure to inform the others of that, particularly if there is another, more traditional Tanker there.

 

The entire point of the build is to leverage the Rage benefit of SS by mitigating its drawbacks as much as possible, otherwise the Rage crash would be utterly intolerable (to me, at least). This is primarily done by focusing on non-Defense 'defenses' and by using Damage procs in place of more traditionally used sets because they help to circumvent the massive -DMG drop. Rad Armor checks all these boxes and then some (such as -Rech and Endurance drain resist), creating a lot of synergy with trying to get your recharge up (Particle Shielding, Rad Therapy, Ground Zero, KO Blow, Rage, Foot Stomp, etc.).

 

My attack chain is actually pretty simple, though you have to be a little flexible given all of the variable recharge flying around.

 

Against single targets it's pretty much Cross Punch -> Haymaker -> either Dominate or KO Blow (whichever is up) and then scan the recharge row listed below for applicable options before beginning again.

 

When surrounded (which is most of the time) it's Foot Stomp -> Cross Punch -> Haymaker -> whichever ones of the following that have recharged: Rad Therapy, Ground Zero, Psionic Tornado, Pyronic Judgement, Hasten, Rage, Ageless Destiny and Assault Hybrid. It seems like a lot, but its really not -  you just click your three attacks and scan the row of potential recharges before beginning again. FWIW, she is an absolute wrecking machine.

 

As a further aside, Psionic Tornado and the Pyronic Judgement make for a brutal ranged AoE one-two punch. I'll frequently use them against a second group of mobs further away while I'm surrounded by the first group.

 

Edited 15 hours ago by Story Archer

[Sovera]

1 hour ago, Story Archer said:

 

I apologize for the earlier confusion. I misread part of your initial post and then didn't want to take the chance of seeming like I was ignoring you.

 

I'm actually starting to run into the law of diminishing returns with some of what you suggest. I move slots from Tough to create some slots for the Gauntleted Fist so that I can raise my N Resist (E is already way over-capped), dropping my S/L Resist a bit but it's okay because the MotT ATO can cover it - except that the ATO was already covering my N resist to begin with. There aren't really many more places that I can actually put or need additional slots at this point. My original intent was for the ATO to help cover the hole in C & P on the occasion that I faced it, and leave the more common S, L, E & F as close to capped as reasonably possible. If I wanted to maximize its benefits, I'd probably drop the Resilient Incarnate for Musculature, but I like the other benefits that Resilient provides (improved Absorb, Taunt and ToHit Buffs). I'm in the process of maxing out Musculature as well, so I'll give it a try both ways to see which works better in practice. 

 

I'm over the bare minimums on ACC & ToHit buff because my defense is frequently floored (or underwater), and when ToHit DeBuffs come, they tend to come in bunches (like with CoT). Never once in this game have I ever felt 'hey, I'm hitting WAY too much', so I'm fine with going a little overboard on accuracy, especially when it lends other useful set bonuses in the process. I've got ways to mitigate Endurance Drain and -Rech, and the Ageless Incarnate certainly helps, but unless I see a clear benefit elsewhere - rather than just freeing up slots to do it - I'm probably going to keep the higher accuracy for now.

 

What else would I put in Beta Decay if not the Achilles -Res proc? Slot a couple of damage procs? I can't believe that would grant me much of a return...

 

No worries, and you have good points too. At some points extra slots are not much of use when all important powers have been six slotted. For Beta Decay I'd just put in an end reduction because there isn't much that is of use since E/N is near capped, and S/L is capped.

[Story Archer]

1 minute ago, Sovera said:

 

No worries, and you have good points too. At some points extra slots are not much of use when all important powers have been six slotted. For Beta Decay I'd just put in an end reduction because there isn't much that is of use since E/N is near capped, and S/L is capped.

 

Above, @Tidge suggested the Enzyme HO (Def DeBuff / ToHit DeBuff / End Redux), which is perfect.

[Zect]

4 hours ago, Story Archer said:

 

How do I get Mids to show/reflect the enhancement boosts like that?

 

Options > config > effects & maths

Chance of damage: select 'average'

 

View > tick 'show damage per activation'

[Story Archer]

13 minutes ago, Zect said:

 

Options > config > effects & maths

Chance of damage: select 'average'

 

View > tick 'show damage per activation'

 

Well, first off I can't find that last part (show damage per activation) anywhere in my config options, BUT I don't think I adequately expressed what I was wanted to know to begin with. In the image I quoted, it shows enhancements that have been boosted beyond L50 (i.e. 50+5). I don't see any option in MIDS which would allow me to turn on or display those individual enhancement boosts, much less have them taken into account in the Totals. This probably isn't the thread for all that, I just never knew it was an option.

[Zect]

 

Tick 'show enhancement relative levels' (and below it is also your 'show damage per activation').

 

They are always taken into account in ED calculations and in damage, res etc. numbers, even if the +5 signs do not show.

 

This back and forth makes me realize how so much of build design skills are taken for granted by veteran builders. Basics such as animation time and DPA, the PPM system and what affects procrate, how to calculate recharge time under the effect of varying recharge buffs, are probably already a lot to grasp for the average player. Then you get all the quirks of mids' and its interface, like what it does and does not calculate accurately. What does and does not stack from the same caster, and whether it stacks from a pseudopet. Weird and unexpected interactions (if I slot panacea chance for +HP/end in nature's lifegiving spores and put the patch under a teammate, who gets the proc?). Things like the heatloss-burnout interaction, 4* infiltration aggro radius, etc. Not even I know everything at the bottom of the iceberg.

Edited 12 hours ago by Zect

[Story Archer]

28 minutes ago, Zect said:

 

Tick 'show enhancement relative levels' (and below it is also your 'show damage per activation').

 

They are always taken into account in ED calculations and in damage, res etc. numbers, even if the +5 signs do not show.

 

This back and forth makes me realize how so much of build design skills are taken for granted by veteran builders. Basics such as animation time and DPA, the PPM system and what affects procrate, how to calculate recharge time under the effect of varying recharge buffs, are probably already a lot to grasp for the average player. Then you get all the quirks of mids' and its interface, like what it does and does not calculate accurately. What does and does not stack from the same caster, and whether it stacks from a pseudopet. Weird and unexpected interactions (if I slot panacea chance for +HP/end in nature's lifegiving spores and put the patch under a teammate, who gets the proc?). Things like the heatloss-burnout interaction, 4* infiltration aggro radius, etc. Not even I know everything at the bottom of the iceberg.

 

You're not wrong. I'd say that I know about 20x what the average joe running around knows and less than half of what someone who's really gotten into the thick of it might. I only ever remember how much there is to it when I try to explain it to someone new ("Alright, so a psuedopet is..."). Case in point, I don't have the slightest idea what 'Damage per Animation' might mean or how it would differ from 'Damage per Activation' - the animation occurs when I activate it, no?

 

Back to the original question, which is still somehow falling short. Let's take Hasten. I have two level 50 generic Recharge IO's in it. In the game, I use Enhancement Boosters to bump those up to '50+5' generic Recharge IO's, which increases their effectiveness and the speed at which Hasten recharges. I don't see a way in MIDS to make those two IO's in Hasten become '50+5', either visually or algorithmically, and I just assumed that it wasn't an aspect of the game that MIDS accounted for. Then I saw the image you posted and thought that maybe I had missed it. That's what I'm asking about.

 

Edited 11 hours ago by Story Archer