Amauros' guide to SR Scrappers, version 3.5 (post I6 and CoV) - last revised Feb-03, 2006.
Scope of document. "Math-lite". I want this to be read and understood by the "average" player, therefore I will round off numbers and give approximations. When I say "Recommended slotting" this is a combination of my personal preference and generally accepted wisdom from the mesasge boards. When I give personal preferences I try to comment why I feel that way. YMMV.
This guide is geared towards CoH Scrappers, but most of the information is accurate for SR Stalkers as well. The most significant difference is when powers are available and the fact that Hide replaces Lucky. After I7 I will re-write this guide to cover both Stalkers and Scrappers. To the best of my knowledge, all base numbers are the same for both sets.
Section One - Brief description of CoH combat and how SR protects you
In combat every time you are attacked the computer rolls a "to hit" number from 1 - 100. A result of 5 or less is
always a hit and a result of 95 or more is
always a miss. What SR can do for you is make it harder for your opponents to hit you.
An even level minion starts out with a 50 or lower required to hit you, this is referred to as the "Base to Hit" or BTH for short. Defense (Def) subtracts from that BTH, making it harder for you to be hit.
It is important to understand the difference between Defense (Def) and Resistance (Res). Def makes it less likely that you will be hit, Res makes those hits do less damage. SR is unique within the game in that it relies exclusively upon Def. When you are hit you are hit hard. It hurts. Alot. Plan on carrying plenty of Heal (Green) Inspirations.
When I refer to a power having a base Def of 15%, that means before enhancements you subtract 15 from the BTH. In this example a Minion will go from hitting you 50% of the time down to 35%.
Section Two - Enhancements
With I5 they introduced "Enhancement Diversication" aka "ED". ED simply means that slotting more than 3 of the same type of enhancements in a power provides very little return. For all practical purposes, anything after the 3rd provides such a small bonus that it's just not worth doing.
In I7 (sometime late Feb or March) the base for Evasion and Lucky will be changing, but that'll be coupled with a major change in the way "To Hit" is calculated. A new version of this guide will have to be written at that time.
Simple chart of power bases and final amounts when slotted up. Numbers rounded off and assume even level SOs.
<font class="small">Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>
Power Base 3x Def
Focused Fighting 12.5 19.5
Focused Senses 12.5 19.5
Dodge 5 7.8
Agile 5 7.8
Lucky 7.5 11.5
Evasion 22.5 35
</pre><hr />
In short, each SO you put in FF or FS provides 2.5% bonus each. Each SO you put in Dodge or Agile provides 1% each.
Each SO in Lucky provides 1.25% and each in Evasion provides 4.5%
Section Three - The Resistance of the Passives
The addittion of RES to the passives was so significant I felt it best to create a new section just to discuss this aspect.
When CoV launched the Passives were changed to add Resistance to all damage types except Toxic and Psionic, but this RES scales as your health drops lower and lower, because of this change, taking all of your passives is much more effective than they ever were before. It is hard to describe how big a benefit it is when you have all three passives! The RES won't do much against attacks from AVs or Elite Bosses but attacks from minions and lt's will be lowered so much you can effectively ignore them until more dangerous targets are taken out first.
Simply put, the RES starts kicking in when you drop below 60% Health and scales up as your health drops with a (theoretical) maximum of 20% RES each. The passives stack, meaning if you're getting 10% RES from one passive, two passives would be 20% and all 3 would be 30%!
For those wanting the formula, try this:
(60%-CurrentHP/MaxHP)/3
Section Four- The powers
<ul type="square">
Focused Fighting (FF) (Toggle): Manditory power (you automagically get this power at level one). This Toggle provides Def against any melee attack. An example of Melee attacks are Punches, Kicks, Swords and the like. Some attacks can hit more than one target but are still concidered Melee attacks. The majority of all attacks in the game are Melee, so this power is very valuable to you.
The base Def of this power is 12.5% It will accept End Reducers and Def Enhancements only. This power also grants a bonus to Perception, meaning you will spot opponents who are either in Stealth mode or Invisible sooner than other players.
Recommended slotting: 1 End, 3 Def. Personally I recommend you have this at least 4 slotted by level 22 (when you get SOs).[/list]<ul type="square">
Focused Senses (FS) (Toggle): This power works the same as FF execpt it is available starting level 2, protects against Ranged attacks and further grants a Resistance against Confusion type powers.
When you should pick up this power depends upon your play style. Most ranged attacks do less damage than Melee attacks so many players wait until later in their career before picking this up. My personal preference is to wait until the mid 20s to pick it up and assign slots slowly. I had 3 slots by time I was in my 30s and didn't put the final slot in until 40+. For PVP you will definatly want this power earlier as you will face far more ranged attacks and the Res(Confusion) is very helpfull. (Note on the Resistance: it won't protect you from the effect but will make it wear off faster).
Recommended slotting: 1x End and 3x Def[/list]<ul type="square">
Agile (Passive): This is a passive power, it is always active once you pick it up. This power will protect you against all ranged attacks, even when you are stunned, held, disorientated or otherwise distracted. It provides 5% base. Each SO you place in will add only 1% DEF, you are usually better off slotting your toggle before your passives.
Recommended slotting: 3x Def.[/list]<ul type="square">
Practiced Brawler (PB) (Click): PB provides both protection and resistance against Hold, Mez, Knockback and similar powers and is available starting level 10. Once you activate this power it requires no additional endurance and cannot be turned off until it expires. Not only are you less likely to be effected by the protected powers but they will wear off faster than other characters.
This power is concidered the best status protection in the game. The level of protection it provides scales with your level, generally speaking it reaches it's maximum protection by level 40.
It is recommended you pick up this power sometime in your mid to late teens, generally when you start fighting the Tsoo.
Recommended slotting: 2x Recharge Enhancements and this power will be available all the time. The end cost is significant (15 end) but it is paid only when you start the power. Slot End reducers as you feel necessary, personally I have only 2x Recharge.[/list]<ul type="square">
Dodge (Passive): This power is the exact same as Agile except it covers Melee attacks (like FF) and is not available until 16.
I recommend you take this power as soon as possible, either 16 or shortly after.
Recommended slotting: 3x Def [/list]<ul type="square">
Quickness (Passive): This power is not available until level 20. This power will provide a small boost to the recharge times of all your powers, approximately equal to one DO enhancement, and will also boost your innate running speed.
Recommended slotting: 1x Run Speed. Run speed is the only enhancements you may place in this power. For characters who wish to make a "natural" character with no obvious travel power, it is commonly recommended to slot up Sprint instead. The run speed increase appears to be the same as "Swift" from the fitness pool.[/list]<ul type="square">
Lucky (Passive): This power is not available until level 28 and will protect you from all AOE attacks. It is highly recommended you take this power at 28 as you have no Def against AOE attacks until this time.
Recommended slotting: 3x Def.[/list]<ul type="square">
Evasion (Toggle): This power provides very high Defense against AOE attacks and is not available until level 35. Example of AOE attacks include Fireball, Cone attacks, etc. It is highly recommended you take this power at level 35.
Recommended slotting: 1x End, 3xDef[/list]<ul type="square">
Elude (Click): The final power in the game, it is not available until level 38. It is highly recommended you take this power at 38, the benefits are hard to overstate.
This power does several effects, first and foremost it provides a very large (45%) Def bonus against all attacks. This power, as a click, cannot be turned off even if you are held, stunned, etc. It also provides a boost to your Run speed, Jumping hight and Endurance Recovery. This power has a duration of 180 seconds and a recharge of 1000 seconds.
Recommended slotting: 3x Recharge. When you have slots to spare, you could put DEF enhancements in but that would rarely be of use. The Run speed and Jumping are significant already and I have never run out of End while this power is active (even with end drain from Carnies dropping around me left and right). Slotting End Reducers into this power is not recommended, it will not impact the end drain at the end, only reduce the initial cost of this power.
Warning: When this power wears off, you will lose *all* endurance, all of your Toggles will turn off and you will be unable to regen Endurance normally for 10 seconds. You can still use Catch a Breath (Blue) Inspirations during this time. +End regen powers like Stamina or Recovery Aura do not work during this time period as well.[/list]
