Aett_Thorn

Zwill: "It's like looking into a mirror!"

Charles: "You wish."

Thanks, all. Will take the advice under consideration. Like some of it, don't like others.

Sinister, interesting slotting on Acid Mortar, and may do just that. Sacrifice set bonuses for additional effects. Probably a good call. Although you also broke the power order of Tactics and Maneuvers, but that's an easy fix. Also like putting the Defender set in Sniper Rifle once I24 comes out, should get the heal each shot with that.

Though I'm already having trouble with mob scatter on teams, so really looking to get some sort of immob in the build if possible. Though with all of the chances for Hold, it might not be that big of a concern later. Will have to see if that changes as I level up.


Thanks again for the help!

"Here is the church, and here is the steeple..."

Added your idea to the front page, Joe.

edit -> Though I will also remind you that Taunt already comes with a debuff, so I'm not sure how much this would help with gaining Aggro.

In-game? No. But you can always ask in the help channel. People are usually willing to help you understand all of the various acronyms. Or we can just tell you here. There used to be an acronym guide on the forums, just don't know how up-to-date it is.

Hello all,

As I am trying to level up a Defender to level 50, since it's not something that I've done before, I was looking through all of the new enhancement slotting opportunities. And the thought of a Traps/AR/Mace Defender caught my eye. Along with the changes coming to the Fighting Pool, making it easier to get Weave, it seems like I'd be able to easily soft-cap some stuff. Little did I know how much "some stuff" would be.

Now, I know that Trip Mine and Time Bomb are usually regarded pretty low, but I do want to take Trip Mine at least for some fun while solo, even if I don't slot it all that much.

Now, I made this build with Tough as a placeholder for Weave, but if I take Weave instead, it looks like I'll be Incarnate soft-capped (actually over) to S/L/E, normal soft-capped (or within a few percentage points) to Negative, Melee, Ranged, and AoE. I'll be able to heal every once in a while with Slug, won't cause massive knockback woes with the Overwhelming Force proc in M30 Grenade, and have perma-FastSnipe to help with ST damage.

Here is my build so far:

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.96
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Half-Tec: Level 50 Technology Defender
Primary Power Set: Traps
Secondary Power Set: Assault Rifle
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Medicine
Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Caltrops -- Ragnrk-Knock%(A), ImpSwft-Dam%(5)
Level 1: Burst -- Achilles-ResDeb%(A), Decim-Acc/Dmg(5), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx(11), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(21), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(31), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(34)
Level 2: Slug -- SDefendersB-Acc/Dmg(A), SDefendersB-Dmg/Rchg(3), SDefendersB-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(9), SDefendersB-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(15), SDefendersB-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(27), SDefendersB-Rchg/Heal%(36)
Level 4: Super Jump -- Zephyr-ResKB(A)
Level 6: Acid Mortar -- ShldBrk-DefDeb(A), ShldBrk-Acc/DefDeb(7), ShldBrk-Acc/Rchg(13), ShldBrk-DefDeb/EndRdx/Rchg(25), ShldBrk-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(46), ShldBrk-%Dam(48)
Level 8: Force Field Generator -- LkGmblr-Def(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(9), LkGmblr-Def/Rchg(17), LkGmblr-Rchg+(23)
Level 10: M30 Grenade -- OvForce-Dam/KB(A), OvForce-Acc/Dmg(11), OvForce-End/Rech(13), OvForce-Acc/Dmg/End(21), OvForce-Dmg/End/Rech(25), OvForce-Acc/Dmg/End/Rech(33)
Level 12: Poison Trap -- Lock-Acc/Hold(A), Lock-Acc/Rchg(15), Lock-Rchg/Hold(31), Lock-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(37), Lock-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(50), Lock-%Hold(50)
Level 14: Combat Jumping -- Krma-ResKB(A)
Level 16: Maneuvers -- LkGmblr-Def(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(17), LkGmblr-Def/Rchg(37), Ksmt-ToHit+(43)
Level 18: Seeker Drones -- RzDz-Acc/Rchg(A), RzDz-EndRdx/Stun(19), RzDz-Acc/EndRdx(19), RzDz-Stun/Rng(29), RzDz-Acc/Stun/Rchg(43), RzDz-Immob%(50)
Level 20: Sniper Rifle -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(27), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(33), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(34), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(43), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(48)
Level 22: Tactics -- GSFC-ToHit(A), GSFC-ToHit/EndRdx(23), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(37), GSFC-Rchg/EndRdx(40)
Level 24: Boxing -- Empty(A)
Level 26: Web Grenade -- Immob-I(A)
Level 28: Flamethrower -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(29), Posi-Dmg/Rng(33), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(34), Posi-Dam%(39)
Level 30: Tough -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), Empty(31), Empty(40), Empty(46)
Level 32: Trip Mine -- Empty(A)
Level 35: Ignite -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(36), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(36), Posi-Dmg/Rng(39), Posi-Dam%(45)
Level 38: Full Auto -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(39), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(40), Posi-Dmg/Rng(45), Posi-Dam%(46)
Level 41: Scorpion Shield -- LkGmblr-Def(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(42), LkGmblr-Def/Rchg(42), LkGmblr-Rchg+(42)
Level 44: Web Envelope -- GravAnch-Acc/Immob/Rchg(A), GravAnch-Hold%(45)
Level 47: Triage Beacon -- Heal-I(A), Heal-I(48)
Level 49: Aid Other -- Heal-I(A)
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Vigilance
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Health -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- P'Shift-End%(A), P'Shift-EndMod(3), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(7)
------------

And the Taunt in it lasts for a whopping 1 second even. As in, worse that Willpower's Taunt aura. I have asked the Devs several times about it, and I've gotten the stock "We'll look into it" response. No timeline for when this will be fixed. Each Dev I've talked to admits that it's probably a bug, I've told them exactly where the bug is, and still no fix. Sigh.

Also, isn't Dark Melee one of the best top-end ST damage sets out there? Not THE greatest, but up there?

OP: Slot Siphon Life as an attack, not as a heal, and you'll see a big difference in how much ST damage you can do.

Because they are mutually exclusive powers, and in their description, this should be apparent. As for the technical reason, I think they work like CJ and SJ, where the powers are taking up the same "slot," so can't be used at the same time.

For me, I usually slot a full set of SOs at 27, and then replace them with standard IOs as I pick them up, replacing SOs as need be until I no longer need them. Then I replace the IOs with sets when I get those as well.

You've basically taken everything from your primary and secondary sets, and I don't think you really need to. You can probably drop at least one single target attack which can free up some room for Acrobatics, as Claws said.

If you're going to take Taunt, and use it, you're going to be the focus of attention of the enemies. But without the defenses to back it up, you're going to get pummeled. I would drop Taunt and Temperature protection and pick up either boxing/kick and Tough. This will give you more S/L resistance, which can help you out a bit. Then maybe pick up Weave in the 40s, which will give you some Defense as well.

Net, while many of your points are valid, there are some counterarguments to them:

1) Yes, they are click powers, but if we compare against other sets, depending on the fight duration, they are not necessarily cheap. Let's look at Radiation Emission, which will use two toggles and a click for it's debuffs. It will use 15.6 endurance + 1.56/second to maintain its debuffs. Lingering Rad will need to be recast every 30 seconds, so overall, it needs 2.08 end/second for debuffs alone.

TA will use Flash Arrow, Glue Arrow, PGA, Disruption Arrow, and Acid Arrow, just to debuff. That is 7.8 + 7.8 + 10.4 + 7.8 + 14.56 = 48.36 endurance per debuff cycle, needing to recast powers anywhere from 20-30 seconds. Let's use 30 seconds. That's an average of 1.612 endurance/second. So you're only saving 0.468 end/second, which can easily be made up.


If the fight lasts only 15 seconds, then TA is spending 48.36 endurance on that 15 second fight, while Radiation is spending only 39. So the "cheapness" of the set depends on the fight.

2) TA will spend more of its time in a long fight debuffing. Since it doesn't have toggles, it needs to reapply the debuffs. Radiation only needs to reapply one power. Dark has two it will need to reapply. Time has three debuffs it can reapply (though it can also use time to apply buffs). TA has 5 debuffs it will need to reapply during the fight. Each of those has an animation time that is not being spent attacking.



Certainly, TA has strengths compared to more toggle-heavy sets, but that can also have drawbacks (no pun intended). There is also the fact that TA uses more powers to get relatively the same effects as other sets. So while other sets can get some more situational powers, if you want to make the best use out of TA, you need to use a lot of powers most of the time.

Simple answer: there is no simple answer.

There is a ton of content (now) in this game, from level 20 up. While there are some bad eggs out there in terms of content, most of it is pretty good. For instance, First Ward at level 20 has a good storyline to it.

Using the "Find a Contact" feature can be handy, as it will show you some of the contacts for your level range. By doing that, you can get right into their stories (and can even teleport right to the contact). Since this works on either side, you can just pick which contacts you feel like meeting, and run some of their missions.

Since you are VIP, once you choose a side, the signature story arcs (SSAs) are a series of missions separated into shorter (3-4 mission) arcs. You can start doing them at level 10, and the later parts of the arc are higher level, so you can kind of progress through them.


If you're going for story, all you really need to do is avoid doing newspaper/radio missions and tips, since those are more self-contained missions. But I would go through enough of them so that you can affirm your alignment (hero or villain) so that you can get hero or villain merits from the other content you may run.

I don't think that it would break the cottage rule, as the power would stay the same for the most part, retaining only the ST-damage set IO capability, but would gain some effects only IF the target dies between the first check and the second check.

And yes, you wouldn't see much difference soloing, where I think that EM is already doing fine, because you don't have the issues you have while teaming (i.e., you can't corpse-blast your own target, at least usually).



Also, remember that the Cottage Rule is a guideline, and I think you're taking it much more strictly than even the Devs do. The Cottage Rule basically says that without overwhelming balance issues, no power will have its basic effects changed. So, basically, you can't turn an attack into just a stun, but you can add a stun to the attack without breaking the cottage rule.

So, you can turn Stun into an AoE stun effect, or give it 4 times more damage, and you wouldn't be breaking the cottage rule, since you're not changing the basic function of the power. Conserve Power got changed to Energize without breaking the Cottage Rule, since it kept the End Discount feature of the power, and simply added other effects to it.

Adding conditional AoE to an attack would change the power, but wouldn't break the Cottage Rule. The cottage rule is there to prevent the Devs from arbitrarily changing an AoE stun into an AoE confuse for no reason. But it doesn't prevent them from adding effects, or changing values to powers.