Backbreaker

I agree. The Signature Characters were way too strong. The whole RV event was a ton of fun though. I had a great time in general.

[ QUOTE ]
DM can easily be the most scrappy stalker build available aside from claws.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's what I was hoping for. I found that I needed criticals to kill though, and the speed of DM attacks seemed much less advantageous in PvP, than it usually is in PvE. I really needed my "hide" to be deadly. Of course, this was against primarily scrappers, so I was definitely the underdog in most encounters. In retrospect, I should have taken Shadow Maul. The damage is needed.

Yeah, the damage is definitely not at the level of EM. I had very little chance to kill anyone outside of hide (anyone = scrappers/tankers). However, I'm not sure I want to pass too much judgement based upon a PvP event against primarily scrappers. I don't expect to be able to kill scrappers out of hide very often. As a stalking set, DM was very effective. BU -> AS -> ToF -> Placate -> MG -> Smite = dead victim. If I was seen prior to engaging, leading with ToF before Placate -> AS was a good way to get ahead at the beginning of an encounter. Basically, if I couldn't get an AS off against an enemy, I was in trouble. If I could land an AS, then I could get a kill the majority of the time.

As a PvP set, DM seems to definitely favor the "stalky" playstyle on teams, and not the "scrappy" playstyle solo, which was to be expected. Organized teams trump all in PvP anyway. If you are a fan of Dark Melee, PvP, and teaming, I don't think you will be disappointed by the new set.

[ QUOTE ]
Can't believe anyone would suggest replacing Build-UP.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yeah, it's pretty much mandatory since damage is balanced with it in mind. I wouldn't play without it.

Forgot to mention - Touch of Fear is great. I wouldn't want to be without it in PvP. It causes enemies to burn through inspirations, their "oh crap" powers, and generally makes people try to scramble. It sets up successful placate/AS combos, and is just nice damage mitigation.

After playing Dark Melee for four hours in RV yesterday, I am still impressed with its performance. Midnight Grasp criticals are great. The crit damage is all negative energy - a huge plus. Assassin's Eclipse is great, of course. I skipped Shadow Maul, which I've never really liked. The animation bugs me. Not having it in my build was no problem at all.

Getting an AS off in RV was tough at times, due to the tremendous lag of my machine and the test server. MM Thugs could practically freeze my machine at times. I was able to kill a few heroes with AS, and it was very satisfying due to the fact that many heroes could see me with Hide on. I don't feel the need to use Invisibility on top of Hide in RV. I was fine without it. It's more exciting when there is a chance for you to be seen, IMO.

After two hours of playing DM/SR, I switched to DM/Regen. SR was acceptable only when Elude was running, which I really didn't like. Without Elude, I was eaten alive by scrappers. No thanks. I attempted to plug my defensive holes with the healing from Siphon Life, with no luck. SL's targetted nature makes it hard to use in many situations, including when you get nailed from behind. It was too little, too late.

Regen was great. My survivability jumped significantly when I switched. The DM/Regen power-build is now available on both sides of the law. Works for me

Looking forward to some more action today in RV. Villains FTW!

Just gotta say...

I love my DM/SR stalker already! I'm only a whopping level 6 atm, but I am very impressed so far. Critical Smites are awesome! The potty-squat AS animation is actually not so bad with the dark effects and freaky skull. With Focused Fighting running, my endurance usage has not been an issue yet. I'm hoping that Siphon Life will be a good heal for PvP, despite the fact that it's targetted.

Can't wait for the level bump tomorrow. I may have to take a day off of work. I think I feel a cold coming on.

Thanks to the Devs for bringing my favorite melee set to my favorite AT!

[ QUOTE ]
The Lightning Rod power *is* affected fully by Fury. The description has been changed to reflect this.

Chain Induction is only partially affected by Fury. The initial hit is affected by the Furies Strength, however, any 'chained' blasts are not. They *are* affected by the strength of the opponent who is chaining the power, though, so an arc from an AV will be stronger than an arc from an underling by quite a margin.

[/ QUOTE ]

Wow! Thank you very much. I am really excited for Elec Melee. Looks like a pretty novel and creative set. Can't wait.

Tamale!!!!!

[ QUOTE ]
For those who have speculated that Newspaper missions are coming to City of Heroes, they aren’t…yet.

[/ QUOTE ]

Noooooooooooo!!!!!

I love newspaper missions.

Guess I'll be running them with my new Elec Brute.

[ QUOTE ]
I use defiance all the time. It works well for me. If you have no more use for defiance, then by all means go right back to always having to do normal damage all the time across the board to defeat enemies.

[/ QUOTE ]

That's what I do, which is fine. I just wish that Defiance was something that was more useful for my aggresive playstyle. I can enter tough fights with my Controllers, and get much benefit from Containment. Same goes for my Corruptors and Scourge, or my Scrappers and Crits. Defiance does nothing for me in a tough situation. If I'm doing poorly, I die. In my Electric Blapper's 30 level existance, Defiance has saved me from certain death only once. That bums me out. Defiance seems to reward a more cautious playstyle, which I don't find very fun.

I still love my Blasters anyway. I just wish that Defiance would do something for me, more of the time. The inherents just don't seem balanced, IMHO. *shrug*

[ QUOTE ]
For me defiance doesn't work because I never use the section of my health bar between half full and empty!

[/ QUOTE ]

Yup, that's how I operate as well. I have not found a use for Defiance at any level. Defiance needs to do "something," more often. Even if it just gave a tiny damage boost, earlier on, it would be infinitely more useful than it is now. However, I expect that nothing about Defiance will get changed, ever. This is the "deadest" horse in the CoH universe, IMO.

I can understand suppression of the "stealth" component when you are in combat. I do not understand the suppression of the defense bonus, because it is only useful when you are in combat, period. There is no need for defense when you are not being attacked. It seems as though the only time you would get benefit from the full defense bonus is if an enemy with high perception is firing at you, but has not hit you yet. Why not just adjust the defense bonus to an acceptable level, and keep it static. Suppression of the defense bonus seems like more trouble than it's worth.

Thanks for reading.

Very nice. All your guides are great. Thanks!

Domanix Front

Domanix Side

Domanix SiphonPower