Broadsword - sell me on it or warn me away

[Johnny Velocity]

I've never played broadsword. If you love it, tell me why and what to pair it with.  If you hate it, tell me why!

[Haijinx]

Katana is the same set but quicker with better DPA.  

 

Warmace is almost the same set but crunchier, with better DPA 

 

Other than that its a solid set that gets the job done.

[biostem]

1 hour ago, Johnny Velocity said:

I've never played broadsword. If you love it, tell me why and what to pair it with.  If you hate it, tell me why!

Broadsword is a solid set that hits reasonably hard, but the biggest thing going for it is parry.  It's a quick-recharging power, (~3 seconds), that grants a decent defense buff against lethal and melee damage.  You slot this for acc, defense buff, and recharge, and you should be able to stack it, (IIRC, its effect lasts 10 seconds).  While I'm not a huge fan of parry's animation, it's still quite good and highly effective...

[Trademarked Name]

I agree with Biostem. I originally veered away from Parry as it seemed like an under-powered attack that I would drop from my attack chain once I got closer to soft cap and only pounding on the few heavy hitter attacks to drop foes with 1-2 key strokes. And I bet a lot of people think this same way. I do this with a LOT of powers that others point out in these forums from a glancing view as dumpable are actually indispensible. Parry is a welcome DEF boost. It not only also harmonizes well rhythmically in the attack chain for speed of refresh, whether I'm going single opponent (Parry-disembowel-Headsplitter) or multi-foe (Parry-Slice-Whirling Sword) <-squeezing in Build-up or head-splitter as needed. The parry stacks and can offset mob debuffs. 

I was doing an S/L farm to get my BS/INV scrapper through the tough 40's to reach 50 and having a tough time of it, until I figured out the pattern of working in parry against the mob. It seemed counter-intuitive when Headsplitter can be a single stroke enemy drop; but in farming mobs, dropping a foe just allows another fresh opponent (or 2) to step into reach and even hastened HSpltr throws off the attack chain rhythm. But I found I was pounding on Headsplitter or Disembowel when they hadn't hit recharge and it was throwing off that rhythm and I was paying for this wasted time in health.

This rhythmic keyboard synchronicity where one animation pops just as another power is charged is what I look for in all of my attack chains now. 

I skipped Slash due to the underwhelming DPS, but you may find otherwise if slotted well.

For secondary, I like INV because it's low on toggles and I was trying to hit the S/L resistance cap (All resist powers except for Tough Hide) and low END cost. When you're stretching things out to hit max resistance, it means your DEF is now lacking, so Parry helps percolate with that as well. I had exemplared down to lev 10 the other day teaming , and she was still beasting against Hellion mobs like a tank due to the lethal resistance. She was shrugging off bullet-storms like she had Personal Force Field on her. 

I only have a couple of scrappers, and only the one with BS. So I can't speak much else comparatively about secondary sets. I originally rolled this toon as a Dark Armor but the END drain was too much for me. Though they say if I had stuck with it, it comes into its own at high levels. YMMV but the END crashes when I was solo or team from button mashing were heart breaking (even when I had 3 stamina slots with performance shifter, End Mods, and Panacea). I just had enough of the endurance torment and wasn't thrilled with the way the set obscures your toon even with tailor effects set to Minimal on all your powers.

I hear that it pairs well with shield and you better get your medieval warrior toon done (or at least a name picked) before the 100 others make their appearance on HC now that Kit Herrington has been announced to join the MCU as the Black Knight.  😉

 

 

[Yomo Kimyata]

Hermm...

 

Let me give you some superfluous background.  My main on Live was a BS/Inv scrapper and I loved loved loved him.  Anything you could do with the game, I did with him.  I recreated him here on HC and he was my main for a while until he stalled out in his high 40s.  Because I just couldn't stand to play him anymore.

 

BS is a perfectly serviceable primary.  Unfortunately, it has aged badly.  It was originally a hard hitter that was of a type that was resisted highly.  And now that seems to be filled by a number of other alternatives.  As an earlier poster noted, katana and war mace do much of the same thing, only marginally better and significantly better.  My BS/Inv can still gather up groups of minions and hack them to pieces.  He can still solo a lot of AVs.  But he feels really underpowered.  I am a huge fan of finding ways to make underpowered sets super, but I'm mostly failing with BS (although my BS/SD stalker has some promise).

 

Let me put it this way.  You know when you join a pick up group for a TF, and you feel like, yeah, all right, I'm really producing!  I'm like the most valuable member of this squad!  They would have a hard time replicating this performance without me!!

 

My BS always feels like it's underperforming, like I'm holding up the group, like someone else needs to finish off the LT I'm beating on.

 

Also, I really cannot stand the sound that broadsword makes anymore.  War mace is super thunky.  Broadsword sounds like you are banging a piece of rebar against a concrete wall.

 

I wish you luck on your journey, and I hope you find enjoyment where I apparently cannot.

[Johnny Velocity]

Well, I rolled a BS/Inv.  I mainly wanted the force sword visual which I tinted to resemble a torch of liberty (patriotic themed toon). We'll see how it goes!

[Rockfall]

The reason to do broadsword is because you want something with +def to go with shield. In that regard it isn't bad. War mace hits a lot harder though and works with shield. Without a shield katana is clearly superior.

 

I loved my bs/sd on live, early on near when sd was released, but...

[Hopeling]

My first character back in 2005 and longtime main was a BS/Inv scrapper. I'd love it if what other people have said wasn't accurate, but it is.

 

Broadsword is... serviceable, I guess. It's not crippled, but it doesn't offer any particular strengths over other sets besides Parry. Katana is almost directly superior; you used to at least be able to say that Broadsword had unusually large single hits even if its DPS was lower overall, but with so many sets that now have a Knockout Blow equivalent, Head Splitter is no longer exceptional.

 

Broadsword is supposed to be pretty great on a Stalker, which at least play well to the "I want to deliver huge crits" Broadsword fantasy. On a scrapper, eh, I'd rather play War Mace or Titan Weapons at this point.

Edited August 28, 2019 by Hopeling

[Johnny Velocity]

10 hours ago, Hopeling said:

My first character back in 2005 and longtime main was a BS/Inv scrapper. I'd love it if what other people have said wasn't accurate, but it is.

 

Broadsword is... serviceable, I guess. It's not crippled, but it doesn't offer any particular strengths over other sets besides Parry. Katana is almost directly superior; you used to at least be able to say that Broadsword had unusually large single hits even if its DPS was lower overall, but with so many sets that now have a Knockout Blow equivalent, Head Splitter is no longer exceptional.

 

Broadsword is supposed to be pretty great on a Stalker, which at least play well to the "I want to deliver huge crits" Broadsword fantasy. On a scrapper, eh, I'd rather play War Mace or Titan Weapons at this point.

Hmmm...what about as a Brute?  This is a concept toon that is meant to be visible, so I'm not sure about Stalker.  I did finally break down and make a stalker, though, since nuStalkers are a thing.  (I've never been a big fan.)  I'm satisfied with this character being a content player and not an endgame hustler, so BS is probably exactly what I thought it was before starting this thread - adequate.  I suspect there is not a huge difference between Scrapper and Brute versions, though.

[Riverdusk]

I'd probably stick with scrapper for BS over brute.  Biggest advantage it has over katana is its big hits.  The one time it is faster than katana is when you can one shot something that katana takes two hits to take out.  More likely to do that as a scrapper than a brute.

[Murcielago]

Its not as strong as war mace and its not as pretty as katana. Its the middle child of the weapon sets. 

[Haijinx]

On 8/28/2019 at 9:03 PM, Murcielago said:

Its not as strong as war mace and its not as pretty as katana. Its the middle child of the weapon sets. 

Katana! Katana! Katana!

[Werner]

6 hours ago, Haijinx said:

Katana! Katana! Katana!

"Well, all I hear all day long at school is how great Katana is at this or how wonderful Katana did that! Katana! Katana! Katana! I'm tired of being in Katana's shadow all the time!" - Broadsword

[Johnny Velocity]

10 hours ago, Werner said:

"Well, all I hear all day long at school is how great Katana is at this or how wonderful Katana did that! Katana! Katana! Katana! I'm tired of being in Katana's shadow all the time!" - Broadsword

Sure, Broadsword.

[Crysis]

On 8/26/2019 at 8:51 PM, Yomo Kimyata said:

Hermm...

 

Let me give you some superfluous background.  My main on Live was a BS/Inv scrapper and I loved loved loved him.  Anything you could do with the game, I did with him.  I recreated him here on HC and he was my main for a while until he stalled out in his high 40s.  Because I just couldn't stand to play him anymore.

 

BS is a perfectly serviceable primary.  Unfortunately, it has aged badly.  It was originally a hard hitter that was of a type that was resisted highly.  And now that seems to be filled by a number of other alternatives.  As an earlier poster noted, katana and war mace do much of the same thing, only marginally better and significantly better.  My BS/Inv can still gather up groups of minions and hack them to pieces.  He can still solo a lot of AVs.  But he feels really underpowered.  I am a huge fan of finding ways to make underpowered sets super, but I'm mostly failing with BS (although my BS/SD stalker has some promise).

 

Let me put it this way.  You know when you join a pick up group for a TF, and you feel like, yeah, all right, I'm really producing!  I'm like the most valuable member of this squad!  They would have a hard time replicating this performance without me!!

 

My BS always feels like it's underperforming, like I'm holding up the group, like someone else needs to finish off the LT I'm beating on.

 

Also, I really cannot stand the sound that broadsword makes anymore.  War mace is super thunky.  Broadsword sounds like you are banging a piece of rebar against a concrete wall.

 

I wish you luck on your journey, and I hope you find enjoyment where I apparently cannot.

 

As someone who mained a BS/Regen scrapper for years on Live, agree with all of this.

 

Then I discovered the Homecoming version of a Broadsword/Shield STALKER.

 

Everything written above is almost 100% opposite for a Stalker.  Crits on command?  Go Stalker.  Want to literally Assassin Strike + Crit Headsplitter followed by a Crit Disembowel or Crit Hack?  Yeah, go Stalker.

 

I ROUTINELY find myself finishing off everyone else’s kills.  I kill the boss, then move onto the other boss and/or play finishing kill to everyone else’s targeted quarry.  I’ve had Scrappers comment “How are you getting so many Crits per spawn?”  It’s gloriously broken thanks to the Stalker ATO.  And I literally have almost no reason to play Broadsword on a Scrapper on Homecoming as a result.  And I LOVE scappers!

 

Seriously, go play one.  There’s a whole thread about Broadsword/Shield Stalkers in the Stalker forum.  This is an outstanding powerset....but not for a Scrapper.  The hearty CHUNK of a Headsplitter is a glorious sound.  And you’ll hear it FAR more often as a one-shot-to-a-+3/4-Lieut on a Stalker than you will on a Scrapper.

 

 

[ColdSpark]

12 hours ago, Crysis said:

 

As someone who mained a BS/Regen scrapper for years on Live, agree with all of this.

 

Then I discovered the Homecoming version of a Broadsword/Shield STALKER.

 

Everything written above is almost 100% opposite for a Stalker.  Crits on command?  Go Stalker.  Want to literally Assassin Strike + Crit Headsplitter followed by a Crit Disembowel or Crit Hack?  Yeah, go Stalker.

 

I ROUTINELY find myself finishing off everyone else’s kills.  I kill the boss, then move onto the other boss and/or play finishing kill to everyone else’s targeted quarry.  I’ve had Scrappers comment “How are you getting so many Crits per spawn?”  It’s gloriously broken thanks to the Stalker ATO.  And I literally have almost no reason to play Broadsword on a Scrapper on Homecoming as a result.  And I LOVE scappers!

 

Seriously, go play one.  There’s a whole thread about Broadsword/Shield Stalkers in the Stalker forum.  This is an outstanding powerset....but not for a Scrapper.  The hearty CHUNK of a Headsplitter is a glorious sound.  And you’ll hear it FAR more often as a one-shot-to-a-+3/4-Lieut on a Stalker than you will on a Scrapper.

 

 

Absolutely agree. My main is BS/Shield stalker and can do some pretty amazing  stalker has some obvious utility advantages when it comes to ghosting teams through tedious to maps (I’m looking at you Citadel) that it’s a very useful addition to a team. 

 

 

[Without_Pause]

Since you rolled it, at least try it out. If it isn't working out, try it on a stalker at some point even if you need a different concept. Switched a SJ/sd scrapper to SJ/ea stalker and I don't know when I'll role another scrapper.

[Frostweaver]

I want to third the BS on stalkers. (heh)

Seriously, Stalker Broadsword is what scrapper broadsword wishes it could be. If you want a REAL sword for a scrapper, roll with a Titan Weapon. or whiffy whiffy with a Katana (ugh) BS/inv is kind of.... well, like patching the same hole in a roof over and over again while ignoring the rest of the great gaping holes. Then again, the same can be said of Katana/inv.

[Haijinx]

Never even realized you can't do invul as a stalker

 

[Hopeling]

That's because you CAN play Invulnerability on a Stalker.

[Frostweaver]

Inv for stalker is vastly different from Inv for scrappers/tanks. Broadsword does just fine with the stalker version.

[Haijinx]

Hmm i dont think i ever saw an inul stalker and didn't see it as an option on paragon wiki.  But i must be wrong. 

[Haijinx]

Back home now and checking Mid's/Pines the numbers for stalker Invul look really good.

 

The Invincibility replacement has the same Def as 10 foes in range for brute/scrapper

 

 

[Johnny Velocity]

Yes, I recently took it when I rolled my first stalker - Savage/inv.  Still a lowbie, but seems good.

[Without_Pause]

13 hours ago, Haijinx said:

Hmm i dont think i ever saw an inul stalker and didn't see it as an option on paragon wiki.  But i must be wrong. 

Any CoH wiki is essentially outdated.