Best balance of damage vs survivability?

[Bphillips35131]

Hey everyone, I was wondering which primary (in combination with storm secondary) would offer the best balance (maybe leaning more toward attack) between attack and survivability? I was thinking thugs or demons. When I run storm, I'm an in-the-middle type of player. Don't need to be able to withstand everything, just be decently tanky. Bonus points for including a mids build.

[Maelwys]

Bots are the most survivable primary powerset and are very good at AoE damage, but poor at ST damage. However Mercs deal top tier ST and AoE Damage and the pets can sit at the damage resistance cap with sufficient investment (see: Serum). Demons have a slightly higher potential damage ceiling but are much more unruly than Mercs.

Either way, I'd very much recommend combining them with /Marine. I posted example Mercs/Marine and Demons/Marine builds earlier today (currently just one thread down in this very subforum)

 

Whilst I do enjoy my Bots/Kin it is very much an acquired taste and requires a lot of active juggling of incarnate abilities to survive solo farming on +4x8.

[TheSpiritFox]

For defense, Bots. For offense, Mercs. 

Protector shield gives you a huge leg up on your own survivability and maintenance drone is amazing tbh for helping keep bots alive. I would absolutely take your single target heal but you dont have to slot it heavily unless you need a recharge bonus out of it or something. In bodyguard mode, you'll be tanky as hell. Enough potentially to throw on tornado and facetank AVs with provoke. 

Mercs on the other hand, bring more damage to the table with less survivability.  When Serum starts, you're immortal. 20 seconds later, you're very killable. Its a good bit less suited for being right in the middle of the action not just because its a bit weaker when not in the first part of serum, and also because Merc's aoe comes in the form of cones so you are better off to the side of hte group than surrounded by it. Storm, however, is kinda like ideal for positioning. Drop snow storm on enemies around a corner for the pull, park your dudes about 30 feet past the corner, drop freezing rain on the corner and use hurricane to keep enemies from approaching your mercs while in defensive mode and shit will absolutely melt. And of course, tornadoes and stormclouds every cooldown. You will absolutely wreck +4x8 played like this. In teams, same basic idea. Stand to the side of the enemies so you can cone them down hard. 

[tidge]

For a Storm secondary? I'd say Robotics.

 

I write this partially because the Robots are good on offense (although they are slower against Bosses... but just fine against AVs and GMs, because they are TOUGH)... and partially because Robots are ranged attackers and won't have to run all over the place to fight whatever Storm has scattered.

 

[Hitback]

Storm is a very active powerset, so ideally you want a primary that doesn't require you using your own attacks all that often. Robotics is good for that, because you only ever need to use the attacks against AVs for the -regen. Storm also gives you some ST damage to compliment Bots AoE. The catch is that both sets have tons of KB, so you are going to have to slot KB-to-KD in multiple powers, and/or pick one of the epic power pools with AoE immob, especially because Bots function best against grouped-up mobs that don't move around (the T3 Assault Bot has an AoE rocket attack that summons a burn patch for each target hit, and the patches themselves are AoE, so mob size greatly increases the damage).

 

If you are not absolutely adamant on playing Storm, I would also suggest Merc/Marine. Marine is like the bio armour of support sets, bringing all forms of mitigation (heal, regen, absorb, %maxHP, res, def, CC, -dmg) along with damage buffs and on-hit damage to give you that balance of offense and defense you are looking for. But Marine's survivabilty is good enough on its own that you have more freedom in picking your primary there, personally I love Ninjas with it.

Edited January 4 by Hitback