_Krom_
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Posts
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Joined
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Somehow, on Freedom, the name 'Pretty and Strong' was not taken...sorry folks...it is now...and yes....it is so STRONG!
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Quote:This ^. I've tried it and came to the same conclusion on my SS/ELA.Originally Posted by Clouded
Yep, well not exactly. I use to use Lightning Clap + Electric Fences. Then I realized it was quicker to just kill everything. -
Quote:While I can endorse this, mace\energy armor is not for the weak of heart, but it is funOriginally Posted by SchroedingerCat
war mace and energy armor.. while funny, may or may not be fun. but it is pretty and strong!
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Quote:Or you can pick up team teleport...which for my zombie and ninja MM's has saved me A LOT of hair pulling to try to get them into melee.Originally Posted by Psylenz
One thing to note, you can get away with some default binds on certain mastermind pets like robots, but you definitely need to have a bind to push the grave knights into melee. It also maximizes your heal aura's efficiency if the pets are all together.
/StandOnSoapbox
It's so dumb how the AI keeps them at range when they're primarily a melee set -
Quote:It makes a stalker more viable in a team in that the stalker no longer has to sit around and wait for hide to reset or for placate to reset (and if you're not a soft capped defense set, this could be a challenge). They can *cough* scrap it out if they choose and have quite the nice damage output still. This is especially true for AoE attacks, which in a team environment help out a lot more then the single targeted assassin strike.Originally Posted by filcher
And this is good how? To make a Stalker "viable" in a team setting they reduced the need to use the Stalker's premier power? Damage output was never the Stalker's problem! Why not just make AS more usable by removing the interruptability (again in PvE only)?
If a stalker can scrap it out and still get critical's, that would, to me, make a stalker much more team friendly because they're much less dependent on hide\placate\AS and can contribute to the sustained killing that is important in a team. -
I lurk in PvP every now and then...I 'used' to PvP a lot a loooong time ago, but now I just drop in every now and then. I've started to take it a bit more seriously though and the thing is I have a LOT of brutes in my stable and I'd like to at least have one that is zone PvP friendly (probably sirens). While mucking around I noticed that kick in the fighting pool does some pretty amazing damage in MIDs when in PvP mode (at least as far as brutes go). I have an array of brutes (some electric armor and some SR) but I'm looking, naturally, for ways to spike my damage output and noticed kick. Is it really worth while to take kick from the fighting pool and fully slot it as part of an attack chain (say with Fire melee and it's fast activating powers)?
Another side question...one of my favorite PvE toons right now is my dark\kin corruptor. I know back in the day they were pretty good (naturally depending on who was driving). Is it possible to build a decent PvP (zone) dark\kin these days with the changes? I was thinking of a build that includes torrent and repel fully slotted with KB enhancements to try to kb squishies around while I pelt them with the 1,000 paper cuts that is dark blast (dark blast\gloom\life drain). -
That's what I was thinking....given that dark has a self heal and I do intend on going with scorpion shield I figured it would be a good idere. Thanks for the feedback all. Normally I wouldn't bother with flash arrow, but it does seen to synergize well with Dark given trick arrows lack of mitigation. I've even considered slotting a little additional -tohit in TT since the damage it does is low to begin with (and after oil slick most of my damage will be coming from that).
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So I'm growing a little dark/ta corruptor...don't ask why...it just seems like fun (and so far it is). It occurred to me as he's getting into the 20's (where I normally respec my toons into something better) that flash arrow's toHit debuff might go well with tenebrous tentacles and night fall (if both hit thats ~16% tohit debuff before flash arrow, which looks like it can be slotted to give ~8% for a yummy 24% -tohit on a spawn). The question, of course, is that 8% worth it? Seems like it would help in the survivability department on teams and solo...any thoughts?
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Quote:It could certainly be perception. I'll time a few and compare.Originally Posted by Vitality
I understand about not having and sort of interruption and worrying about the crash...but I have a hard time believing you go through missions faster without rage on.
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Quote:Obviously, however what I've discovered (for my playstyle), the speed at which I run through missions at my current level (47) is much faster w/o rage always on. I think it's a playstyle thing though....I'm comfortable doing a little less damage if I can plow through 8 man missions without any sort of interruption and worrying about the rage crash.Originally Posted by Vitality
Rage is never required...but you will never do as much damage without rage on. (unless of course you have a kin with you)
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So this is going to sound like blasphemy, but I've been farming with my SS/ELA brute lately and I've come to the conclusion that I don't NEED to run RAGE all the time. I've actually started not running rage at all to see how well things move and with lightning field, foot stomp, and dark obliteration, I'm killing fast...very fast without any sort of down time due to rage crashes. I'm not saying it's not needed...but I've discovered (for me) that it's not required to be on ALL the time.
It's actually now got me considering SR for my next SS toon to see how well it can go with only using RAGE for certain fights (bosses and large fights, etc...). -
Quote:While not great...EA does indeed have it's own heal.Originally Posted by uberschveinen
Dark Melee has its advantages. It has a heal, which you don't, and accuracy debuffs, which help you live.
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strong goes well with pretty.
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Quote:With thugs\dm, it's the standard dark corner pull trick. You put all your pets on passive stay around a corner, run up to the spawn as close as you can without getting aggro (shadowfall helps with this), cast darkest night on the furthest enemy away...then run back around the corner drop tar patch and put thugs on def follow and wait....when the entire spawn is bunched up on the tar patch and starting to turn the corner I jump out and fire fearsome stare and start auto-provoking. With the spawn all bunched up the AOE's are flying and the brute is dropping his foot stomp and hand claps....it takes ~5-10 seconds for the spawn to go bye bye, and I rarely lose a minion (except that one that we shall not name). If it's a tough spawn....I toss out howling twilight....as that is a FANTASTIC spawn stopper.Originally Posted by GangstaBlade
Care to share your combo liek you run into a group cast tar patch use darkest night yah dah yah dah yah dah and maybe your build but If you didn't make it in mids I can easily make it myself.
I am not quite ready to share my IO'ed out build..but it's basically this:
Level 1: Call Thugs (A)(3)(3)(5)(5)
Level 1: Twilight Grasp (A)(7)(7)(11)(11)(33)
Level 2: Tar Patch (A)(9)(9)
Level 4: Darkest Night (A)(40)(43)(46)(50)
Level 6: Equip Thugs (A)(43)
Level 8: Provoke (A)(17)(19)(19)(36)(37)
Level 10: Swift (A)
Level 12: Call Enforcer (A)(13)(13)(15)(15)(17)
Level 14: Health (A)
Level 16: Shadow Fall (A)(33)(34)(34)(48)
Level 18: Howling Twilight (A)(25)(25)(36)(37)(37)
Level 20: Fearsome Stare (A)(21)(21)(23)(23)(48)
Level 22: Stamina (A)(34)(36)
Level 24: Combat Jumping (A)
Level 26: Call Bruiser (A)(27)(27)(29)(29)(31)
Level 28: Super Jump (A)
Level 30: Gang War (A)(31)(31)(33)
Level 32: Upgrade Equipment (A)(43)
Level 35: Acrobatics (A)
Level 38: Dark Servant (A)(39)(39)(39)(40)(40)
Level 41: Dark Embrace (A)(42)(42)(42)(48)
Level 44: Oppressive Gloom (A)(45)(45)(45)(46)(46)
Level 47: Assault (A)
Level 49: Tactics (A)(50)(50)
I rarely need my dark servant (as much as I love fluffy...he's not all that helpful when corner pulling) and I use gang war even less...dark just has so many tools to keep things alive that I just don't find myself needing them (but I do take them and slot them...for a rainy day..and they're great for IO's). I went down the dark patron path because I'm constantly in the middle of a spawn provoking...so that is a great use of oppressive gloom. Thugs\dark is a pretty flexible build..with the big dark heal though, playing it like a tankermind works out really well (it's almost a 50% heal to my mastermind per shot and it rechanges in ~5 seconds).
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I have (of your list)
Thugs\Dark
Necro\Pain
Ninja\Thermal
So I can kind of speak to each a little. Thugs\Dark is a steam roller pretty much from the get go. My Thugs\Dark is a toon that I regularly use to farm 8 man missions and he wipes spawns quickly thanks to corner pulled spawns on a tar patch. Thugs AoE damage + Dark's debuffs has FANTASTIC synergy.
I play my Necro\pain and ninja\thermal like a tank. I take Provoke at 8 and heavily slot it and set it to auto and run in to spawns. Pain and Thermal go a long way to keeping pets alive. Necro\thermal would be especially good at this, especially after lvl 32 with the necro pets since you can give your pets some really good resists plus they all heal themselves.
In the end the secondaries would pan out like this:
dark - awesome debuffs early..although the heal is a small radius for MM's which is annoying at times...especially with thugs, which spread out normally (especially the bruiser and the arsonist). Dark with melee pets can be tricky since they don't stay together in larger fights.
pain - does a great job of healing and later, providing some resistance and debuffs (and pain bringer...which is just awesome on the brute).
thermal - the resists and heals really....really help the minions (no matter what they are) stay alive longer. Thermal on top of a pet that already has decent resists (like the necro pets) would be a good mix.
For me, though, the real thing to consider is that melee pets require a lot of attention. If you haven't played them before, be forewarned.
Thugs - AoE damage plus your own personal brute. Truly a fun set, although, the arsonist WILL die a lot (as in multiple times a mission). The only way I've successfully gotten that red shirt to stay alive reliably was when I was leveling my thugs\force field MM...and even then with firgging 50% def, he'd still die every now and then.
Necro - Mostly single target damage except for zombie puke and the lich. Zombies are a great bunch and, like ninjas, are great at taking stuff down and you get a mini-controller as a boss pet. After the lvl32 pet upgrade,they become much more survivable (especially when paired with pain or thermal).
I think if you want more AOE madness, thugs\dark would be where I'd go. Thugs anything will work, but there is great synergy with thugs\dark. -
When I am running my melee MM's....I pretty much almost ALWAYS pick up provoke and heavily slot it. I generally turn it on auto in fights and I find that my zombies and ninjas live A LOT longer. Might be something to consider.
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Quote:Nope it doesn't. If you want to go jumping that's cool, but I wouldn't pick up acrobatics. I'd just slot KB protection into combat jumping and don't bother with acrobatics. That would free up a power option tooOriginally Posted by Larcen3
A few reasons:
1) Does dispersion bubble give knockback protection (I don't know..)
2) Ran out of powers
3) habit
He wanted superjump, CJ provides a bit more defense and then acro is another pick. He stated he wanted university style IO's, so I decided to ignore any other IO's.
personal preference is I don't like hover, but like I said there's no real great reason for acro..
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Quote:Why jumping (specifically acrobatics)? In Dispersion Bubble you get hold\immob\disorient protection...all you need is KB protection and you're covered. If you go with hover, that covers that nicely and no need to pick up acrobatics. Or if you insist on something else besides hover, you can spend ~5mil and pick up a KB protection IO and put it in combat jumping (or dispersion bubble....though taking hover seems cheaper to me).Originally Posted by Larcen3
leaping combat jumping (1 def), super jump (1 jump) acrobatics (1 end mod)
Everything else makes sense to me...I just don't see why acrobatics is needed. -
Quote:It wouldn't be bad on END and it is a good combo (I have one), but the synergy with stone/dark is fault+opressive gloom to stack disorients and pretty much lock down an entire spawn.Originally Posted by Fire_Minded
heres a silly question..would a claws/dark armor brute be any better?i mean with spin and what not,and lower end usage on attacks?
Claws would be more about damage+kb\kd. Not a bad thing mind you....but just different. The lighter end usage by claws with the heavy end usage by dark makes them seem like a good couple indeed (and they are). -
As far as primaries you can't really go wrong...they're all fun and have a strength (ok..except one...but I won't go there). I'm personally fond of SS and SM as well. I have a SS/ELA and SM/ELA in the 40's and I can say that even without heavy IO slotting they're pretty solid. My SS\ELA is an AoE monster with lightning field, foot stomp, and dark oblit. The thing is that ELA can feel squishy...so add in tough and weave....it really does make a difference. And since ELA has Power Sink and energize (and end drain resistance)...endurance isn't an issue. So my pick would be one of those personally.
I have other brutes, including willpower brutes, but for me, ELA with something like SS, SM, or even WM would be quite strong. You get decent resists (add in tough\weave), endurance drain resist, PSI resist, END management tools, +Rechange, a self heal, slow resists, an AoE damage aura that can be slotted not only for damage\acc\end, but with a disorient proc, which I've found to be invaluable (especially on my fire\ela brute).
In the end though, there is always something that a secondary won't do well. For ELA that's toxic damage, which is relatively rare. In my opinion, ELA can be made into quite a beast...even with light IO slotting. -
With ninjas and thermal, at least in my experience, provoke has been critical to keeping them alive. I have it fully slotted and on auto. I jump in the middle of spawns and keep it firing while the paper dragons tear things up. I haven't gotten to patrons yet, but with this playstyle I'm thinking of taking opressive gloom to lock down spawns.
Just something to consider. -
Pretty sure only you.
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Quote:Checked when hitting the opponent.Originally Posted by Knightslayer
Hey folks, i'm wondering if the above makes a good combination.
And how does it work with the proc? Does it have a chance to trigger on all healed allies separately? Or is it checked only while hitting the opponent? -
if your level changes (such as going from 50 to 26), your pets will go away.
For example, if your on a team...summon your pets while in a mission (and you're side kicked to 26)...when you exit the mission you'd normally get another prompt about changing level since when you zone you zone as your actual level..not as your side kicked level. Because of this your lvl 26 bots go away. If you zoned as your side kick level, this wouldn't happen, but that's not how it works as far as I can tell. -
when you enter\exit zones you would normally get re-prompted for the level changes. When you accept a level change your minions go by-by due to the level change (since they're level is based on your level). Since you're auto-accepting...well they going by-by all on their own. I believe this is by design (currently).
It would be nice if they just adjusted their level with you, but it doesn't work that way.