The Hunter/Gatherer: an I6 BS/INV guide
INTRODUCTION:
This was the first toon I ever made, back in I3. Yomo sat on the sidelines for a time while I worked on other projects, but I always had to come back. My thought process was to look at the advantages and disadvantages of both the primary and the secondary, to take advantage of the plusses and to make the minuses work in my favor. And thus, the Hunter/Gatherer was born. I do not claim this is the only BS/INV guide, nor that it is the best, but it works like a charm and I have a ton of fun doing it.
If you care to follow my guidance, there are a few things that you should realize:
1. Your mandate, should you choose to accept it, is not to cause the most damage per second, or per enemy. The broadsword set has two cone attacks and one AoE attack that do a lot of damage. Your mandate is to cause as much aggregate damage as possible. This means an attack that hits one foe for 150 is inferior to one that hits 5 foes for 50 apiece. The broadsword set has two cone attacks and one AoE attack that do a lot of damage. Use them, you will kill a lot quicker that way! If you want to attack one foe at a time, then reroll and make a scrapper with a different secondary.
2. In order to make use of these multi-foe attacks, you must learn how to hunt and to gather. Hunting involves searching out your foes and getting their attention, either by attacking or by letting the AoE taunt from Invincibility do the job for you. Gathering, or herding as some would have it, consists of leading those foes into a very small space. Within a few feet of each other is good. Within a few inches of each other is better. On top of one another is best. Get their attention, then run behind a corner, a tree, anything to break the line of sight. Once the pack has closed, unleash hell.
3. Never, ever, forget that Head Splitter is a cone attack. If you activate Head Splitter and you only hit one foe, either you missed one or more, or you are just plain lazy, or there is only one foe left. And he is about to eat floor. Use the slowness of the broadsword set to your advantage (more on this later).
4. You will be virtually unstoppable solo PvE at any level you care to set. Rarely will you encounter a group of minions/lts/bosses that can stand before you. You will team well in group PvE situations. You will level extremely quickly once you know what you are doing. You will not fare so well versus AVs, since you lose your advantage of working against a group and your lack of a true heal will hurt. You will probably not fare well in PvP. Your only attacks are lethal damage, which is the type of damage your opponents are most likely to be able to resist. Your primary resistance is versus melee smashing and lethal, and most of your opponents will not use that type of damage. And once your toggles drop, they take forever to come back up. Such is life.
If you can accept this, and you are prepared to spend the rest of your career in Paragon City kicking butt and chewing bubble gum, then read on.
