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Quote:White name. I'm a white name. That's why.There were already multiple threads about staff melee. In the scrapper forums, general ATs forum and on the beta forums.
Why does there need to be another one in a different sub-forum, that traditionally has not been used for power-set 'balance' and alterations.
I'm sorry, but this doesn't seem to fit under any other ALL ACCESS forum. And I used math that was missing from other threads.
To PleaseRecycle:
Yes, Staff has an advantage outside of damage. That's why I made one after all. But the problem is that it gives up too much for too little. And in order match other sets in damage, it has to give up the survivability of Melee for Assault.
The problem is that no one will realize that Staff Fighting is not the same set at 50 that it is at 10, 20, or 30. -
Quote:Yeah, Dark Obliteration is something I would put as an afterthought if I had room.Do I really need another AoE, though? I'm trying to save slots since Electric/Willpower is quite slot-heavy, even if I skip Lightning Clap (and why the hell wouldn't I?), so if I can skip Dark Obliteration entirely, I probably will. I'm sure it's a decent attack, but that'll make a few too many.
Here's something else I just found, though: Brutes don't get access to Soul Storm but Scrappers DO. That's actually a VERY strong argument for going with a Scrapper over a Brute -
Quote:Here's the thing: I can get better and do more on other sets without the sacrifices. I do better AoE and single target on Claws, SS, TW, Mace, and Electric. I can also do better single target on numerous other sets.Of course, and what I'm saying is that staff's tradeoff is different. It's much easier to justify taking those offensive tools since it already covers the gaps that we're so used to covering in other ways. Musculature is basically bundled free with staff fighting as far as I'm concerned, and soon the same will be true of assault. At this point you'd have to tell me with a straight face that getting almost 300 DPS isn't anything special in and of itself because it isn't just that staff can get there, it's that it can do it while still keeping all of this other stuff.
I don't care about pylon times in a vacuum and if you look at staff in that light you may well be disappointed, what I care about is that it can do very good damage in single target as well as aoe with amazing endurance management and a gaggle of other little tricks for those blue moon situations. You don't get to say musculature and assault don't count for staff unless I get to say that ageless and cardiac don't count for other sets. The truth is they do count and reaching your ideal build is all about balancing the myriad factors available. Staff does this in a novel way, that doesn't mean it doesn't do it.
You did hit upon my conceit in this thread: yes, the forms besides soul are essentially worthless in my opinion. They might be good for a laugh and the +tohit bonus in particular has some real applications, but for my money it's soul all the way. I don't count that against staff's diversity because that's my perspective alone.
Fact of the matter is, staff isn't competitive enough in the AoE department to make up for its low single target damage (and remember, I'm even counting a power that isn't in game yet), even accounting for its end reduction.
Basically:
Staff + Musc/Assault = 270ish single target, decent AoE, end sufficient
Claws/TW/SS/Mace/Electric + Ageless = 300+ single, great AoE, end sufficient
Literally every other set but spines = 300+ DPS, AoE?, end sufficient
Spines = lolDPS, Quills, end sufficient
That is the problem. By making the adjustments I suggest, staff would be balanced in the end game against those sets. It wouldn't be the best DPS set (probably top third though), would be good at AoE, and versatile. In other words, a set I would suggest to someone looking for fun at level 50.
At this point, I would suggest staff to anyone more concerned about leveling and "enjoying" the game than about end game. Probably a lot of people like that.
But to a person concerned about late game performance, especially damage?
Fuggedaboudit. -
Quote:Electric is better on other ATs, but gains considerably in single target like every Stalker conversion. So I can understand why it felt worse in the AoE department on a stalker.I can't agree that mace is really competitive with staff for aoe given the fact that its only power that ticks as many boxes as all of staff's powers is crowd control. Having recently played and purpled out an elec stalker, I also dispute that its aoe is all that. It's a great set but it is mediocre at aoe, particularly given the fact that lightning rod has the pseudopet damage cap and cannot critical.
Quote:SS is better at aoe if you count the fact that rage's buff turns patron aoes into real killers. That it does, fair point. TW is better at aoe because TW is broken and should be severely nerfed.
Quote:Spines is an odd set to bring up since you already used it as an example of a set with much worse single target, which it is. Claws is great at aoe, I won't deny that. Fire melee is in my view one of the absolute worst aoe sets along with energy melee: breath of fire is not just slow, it also requires you to do the bunnyhop shuffle to get anywhere close to its target cap. FSC is bog standard. So, in my view there are three sets that are arguably better than staff for aoe. I can live with that.
Fire Melee is different on tankers, but I can accept it as worse because its AoEs either take over 3 seconds or are annoying/weak.
Also, I'd say Kinetic Melee is better for stalkers only, because Burst currently procs 100% of the time from hide.
Quote:None of those things are baked in. All of them require one compromise or another, the most significant being ageless and body mastery. If you take body mastery you're not taking blaze mastery. If you take ageless you're not taking rebirth. SS/FA is not running Assault without cardiac, ageless, or a very endurance-focused body mastery build. Staff/anything for non-stalkers can easily run as many toggles as you care for and you're free to take musculature, rebirth, and the APP of your choice. That's huge and it bears repeating, so get used to me repeating it.
To put it bluntly, the ability to use every offensive tool in the game doesn't matter if the set is still behind after using every trick in the book. -
Dark Obliteration doesn't deal knockback. It isn't incredibly damaging, but it hits a fair number of targets. Could help between Lightning Rods if you go with electric melee. Soul Tentacles might be useful if you hate runners. Personally, I'd go with Darkest Night, Gloom, and Dark Obliteration, in that order.
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Quote:Every set has a baked in method of running Assault. It's called Ageless, IOs, physical perfection, superior conditioning, and teammates. And even if Staff magically got 75% bonus damage and no other set did, it would STILL beat the top DPS sets. A scrapper running PS-SR-PS-SS with 100% enhancement and 100% bonus damage would deal a total of 25.29 DS in 7.128 seconds, or about 244 DPS. And yes, that is counting the bonus damage of Sky Splitter and criticals. In order to get up to "good" levels of DPS, you have to add in reactive, musculature (275ish), plus about 50 DPS worth of procs, or 7 purple procs and 7 regular.Combat, why is it that you have yet again elected to ignore the level three perfection bonus for eye of the storm? Is it because you feel that it's an impossible goal for a staff fighter to achieve three stacks of it, or is it because you're still pretending the forms don't exist?
Staff is also the only melee set for any AT with a baked-in method of guaranteeing one's ability to run Assault Hybrid. If you think a permanent 75% damage buff for scrappers is insignificant I can see how that wouldn't sway you.
My point is that even spotted 75% extra +damage, Staff isn't going to wow because it lacks the tools. And other sets will find ways to run Assault. -
Sorry about the double post, but I dislike editing in things that happened while I was posting.
Quote:You've made the assertion that the forms will magically become more important after I23. That seems like something that should be proven or at least supported. Unless you are just trying to say that .52 endurance will make Soul more attractive, because then I would probably agree, though that merely means that Form of Body and Form of Mind become unused, rather than Soul and Mind. Two of the three will still be significantly less important.You're ignoring the fact that eye can do ~15% bonus damage every time it is fired as a part of staff's best aoe chain, you're ignoring the -res, you're ignoring the +def, and you're ignoring the bonus range. You also wrote off the forms as useless in high end content, presumably you haven't been keeping up on issue 23. You're also apparently ignoring the fact that axe's aoe is far worse than mace's.
I don't think you are ignorant, that was merely a set-up to assert that you're angling for undue buffs. Like I said to Shinobi, I'd love to see you try to mathematically demonstrate that change is appropriate, let alone necessary.
Now for my analysis. First, I did count for the bonus range (that was the area number that I gave, designed to show how large the AoEs actually are). Secondly, damage is damage. Even if I multiplied all of Staff's AoEs by 1.075 to account for the -resist, they would still only account for .7138, .683, and .835 DPA, and that's counting on the 30% bonus damage in Eye of the Storm. And all of those assume that you have ALREADY used your chain and gotten the bonus damage and -res, which isn't a 100% thing. And if you are going to do that, you really should average between the two states (and account for Mace using BU...).
Battle Axe is worse, admittedly. Unfortunately, I read Cleave's cone as 190 degrees, rather than 19, which definitely lowers the bar for the set's AoEs. My bad. Whirling Axe is underpowered and Pendulum is weak. I forgot that BA was worse than Mace at everything... oh well, that's one reason I have no BA characters.
Anyway, that only leaves Mace, SS, TW, ElM, Spines, and FM (maybe not for non-tankers). And Claws may come out ahead because of how good Spin is. Stj has more damaging AoEs, but the size allows me to give Staff an advantage.
Either way, we are still talking about Staff's strengths. People aren't really worried about Staff being weak in AoE or versatility, they are worried that staff is a bottom-feeder in single target. And it is. My changes would at least make them mediocre. -
Quote:On the contrary, Staff is unbalanced as is. It has remarkably high performance before SOs, above average till about level 32, and from 32 on becomes mediocre, then below average. It becomes a combination of Dual Pistols and Spines: Low damage, versatility focused, and AoE centered. The problem is that combination isn't a good one later on. Staff does allow a person to build for extra defense (in fact, I made a toon based on that fact), but for non-Stalkers the trade-offs are too large. It is a slightly above average AoE set, a significantly below average single target set, and the added versatility isn't worth the price of admission.Who said I don't care? I'd have thought it should be clear by now that I do. Staff is balanced now, self evidently so. You're asking for it to be changed to be unbalanced. Prove that it's necessary.
In fact, the only set with worse single target damage is probably Spines. This makes Staff the inverse of Energy Melee: Bottom-feeder in one aspect and not enough of the other to compensate. Staff will feel good in the lower levels. Real good. Great in fact. But let's look at level 50.
The average minion at level 50 has 430.8 life. Eye of the Storm deals about 157 when enhanced, which means it would take 3 enhanced Eye of the Storms from a Staff scrapper to defeat a level 50 minion (more of course for higher level mobs). A boss has 2570ish hp at 50. Which means it would take at least 7 Sky Splitters to defeat a boss.
In comparison, at level 2 (aka the beginning of the sewer trial), that same eye of the storm would deal 13.35 damage unenhanced, and the minion would have 24.6 life. Therefore unenhanced EofS is twice as good as level 50 enhanced EotS. The only set that compares is claws (spin dealing 16.9 damage), and even then, claws doesn't get a second AoE.
So if all you've done is run sewer trials and other low level missions, Staff will feel great. And I'm telling you that the feeling will not last. By level 50, the low damage, long animation attacks will not combine well with the general lack of +damage (+15% is not enough).
My solutions will not make Staff much more powerful in the early game, but they will bring it up to average in the late game. Trust me, the numbers say that the "great AoE" will not be so hot, and the single target is underwhelming on non-Stalkers. It may not "feel" that way, but the numbers predict that in low levels it WON'T feel that way. Level to 50 and tell me Staff is balanced with other melee powersets. -
Quote:I haven't been negative about Staff. I've shown that it is extremely good at lower levels, perhaps the best of all melee sets. The problem is that most of the people that have played the set are playing it at the lower levels, and that the set feels like it gets worse as it ages.That you think Staff's aoe could be called comparable to axe and mace, let alone worse, leads me to believe that you either don't know what you're talking about or are intentionally obfuscating in this silly crusade for buffs. Fortunately, the devs can probably tell that the anti-staff echo chamber is primarily composed of about six people.
And for why I feel its AoE isn't as good in the end game:
Guarded Spin: .664 DSpA, 63.62 ft^2 area, 5 target max
Eye of the Storm: .489 DSpA, 314.16 ft^2 area, 10 target max
Innocuous Strikes: .777 DSpA, 63.63 ft^2 area, 5 target max
None of those attacks have decent DPAs. When you get GS and EotS, they are as powerful as anything else available. But without any significant form of +damage (Body is basically insignificant), those powers are not very effective in the end game. Compare to War Mace:
Whirling Mace: .442 DSpA, 201 ft^2, 10 targets
Shatter: 1.01 DSpA, 25.13 ft^2, 5 targets
Crowd Control: .800 DSpA, 100 ft^2, 10 targets
Even if we treat Shatter as a single target attack, Whirling Mace is fairly comparable to Eye of the Storm (aka Whirling Staff) and Crowd Control is clearly better than GS or IS. And you don't need 3 weak AoEs in the end game, just one really good one. See: old-Psy Shockwave, Footstomp, Whirling Smash (yes, TW has other good AoEs, but they'd still be good with just WS), etc.
So please, don't call me uneducated or worse. I know what I'm talking about. Staff fighting hits a peak early, but the AoEs simply do not deal enough damage to compensate for long animation times. So when I say that it is about equal to War Mace or Battle Axe, it isn't because "it feels like it should be there." It's because they seem similar, looking at the numbers. And War Mace definitely has better single target. See: Clobber. -
Here's what I would like to have happen:
- Increase recharge on Serpent's Reach from 9 seconds to 12 seconds, and increase endurance from 9.36 to 11.856. Increase the damage to 2.394, or about Swoop-level.
- Increase recharge on Sky Splitter from 15 seconds to 20 seconds, and increase endurance from 14.352 to 18.512. Damage scalar would increase from 2.898 to 3.339, 3.63 with level 3 Forms.
- Increase the Form of Body bonus from 5% for non-scrappers and 6% (?) for scrappers to 10% and 12%. This probably shouldn't happen in combination with the other two, but is another option.
- Increase the Form of Mind bonus to a max of 25%, to make it competitive with the other two forms.
- Increase radius on Eye of the Storm from 10 ft to 12 ft. Also, add an alternate animation for those that don't want to break danceThis is mostly because I don't think they would be willing to extend it to 15 feet.
What will these do? Basically, the would make the set better prepared for the level 50 game. Staff is more than fine leveling up, but the 50+ game is different. A bigger focus is on single-target DPS because of the plentiful nature of EBs and AVs in new content. By increasing the recharge on Serpent's Reach and Sky Splitter, Staff would gain a decent DPA attack and a very good one, rather than 2 mediocre ones. The increase in recharge and endurance would also serve to make Form of Soul and Form of Mind useful in higher level.
Basically, Staff starts off extremely strong. By level 6, you have the potential for two decent AoEs, which will likely beat just about anything at that level. At 8, you have the ability to essentially take a SO's worth of endurance from every power, allowing low-level Staff fighters to be extremely end-efficient. But the set does NOTHING from there. With every level, enemies will get stronger and stronger against EotS and GS (and later on IS). At level 50, it takes roughly 5.5 times the number of unenhanced attacks to defeat an enemy compared to level 1.
So, let's compare.
Beginning Staff Fighter:
Extremely strong AoE
More end-efficient than just about anyone else
Equal single target (single-target damage being fairly standardized).
End-game Staff Fighter:
Decent AoE, but below the level of Claws, Electric, SS, TW. War Mace/Battle Axe level, maybe lower.
No net gain by using forms, considerable amounts of lost damage.
Bad single target.
This leads me to believe that in the coming weeks we will begin to see posts like the following after people begin to reach the higher levels: "Why is my Staff/x *****-er so weak? He was a beast in the low levels! Now he just seems meh" - Increase recharge on Serpent's Reach from 9 seconds to 12 seconds, and increase endurance from 9.36 to 11.856. Increase the damage to 2.394, or about Swoop-level.
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Alright, looks like you have a more specific idea than just "god". I'd say it sounds something more like "deity." If that is the case, I guess there are differences between what you are looking for and what I've done before.
However, what are Praxis's motivations? Just to be a badass? Amusement?
On the gameplay side, I would go Electric/Willpower/Soul Brute. (electric has a "dark" setting that should look good if I remember right). -
Quote:That was part of what I was suggesting. Either make them completely separate (ie, not in the recipe folder at all).I'd prefer a permanent solution, to be honest.
Okay but seriously. I like this idea actually, it doesn't really make sense for these to be mixed in with standard Invention recipes. They also need to either split out memorized recipes onto another tab or at the very least not have the memorized section auto-expand.
I disagree with allowing temp recipes to collect without a cap though. For one thing, I don't see the devs giving us that, and another, it's really a pretty poor band-aid for the bigger problem of temp power/costume piece recipes dropping wayyyyy too much. The drop rate needs to be reduced, just by a little bit.
My point on collecting without a cap is simply that they shouldn't take away from "important" recipe space. That way, we could ignore them if we wanted to or use them without annoyance. -
Here's mine. I tend to stay fairly traditional, but more cluttered than a lot of people. First thing I do when I create a new character is expand the chat bar.
On 50s, I like to group like powers together, so the 4x3 groups (usually the first is toggles, the second is AoEs, and the third is single targets). Usually the single row of powers is for utilities. I usually have about 99 things in the combat attributes bar.
The pic is from a solo-MoITF attempt. The time isn't amazing now (I've done way better), but the character didn't have any purples or PvP IOs. Before the HO change, I had managed to do a sub-1:00:00 MoITF.
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I've run with the God theme a little. My last two mains were both modeled after gods.
My DM/Shield Scrapper was named "Dis Pater", named after the Roman god of the underworld (it also means father of wealth, because I intended to use him as a sugar daddy). He isn't evil, because the underworld wasn't associated with evilness, but rather with the power that came from the ground: mineral richs, agriculture, etc. However, his powers reflected the belief in him, and he became a god of death, rather than simply prosperity, when became began to associate the underworld with death.
His ambitions were simple: gain followers. I theorized that the power of a lower-case god is based on the magnitude of belief in the god. Because Dis Pater hasn't been worshiped for centuries, his power started as that of a fledgling hero, a fragment of his strength. However, before the last of his followers died he managed to steal the Aegis of Mars, whose divine power allowed him to survive until he could find a way to regain his strength without followers. The shield adapted to him over the centuries, eventually becoming an embodiment of the underword (dark elemental shield).
That power came in the form of the Well, which promised to make him strong irrespective of the belief in him. The catch is that he would still gain strength by converting followers, which would be easier with incarnate abilities, and the two sources of power would feed into each other.
On the other hand, my TW/Elec Brute was named Teshub, and was based on the Turrian god of sky and storms. He is usually depicted with a weapon, generally an axe or mace (I used the electric mace from the TW pack, which fit perfectly with electric armor and made for a nice "godly" weapon). His name comes from the Hattian tarh- meaning "to defeating, conquer". When I changed servers, I changed his name to Tarhunt, another name for the same god. He is a villain, because he is consumed solely with usually power to conquer his enemies, unlike Dis Pater, who simply views power as a way to survive and maintain a balance between the riches of the world and the danger of death.
If I were choosing powersets for "godliness," I'd look at powers that can represent the most common godly forces. The ones most common in literature are sun gods (energy blast/manipulation, peacebringers, fire blast/melee/armor, etc.), moon or death gods, water gods (dark control colored), storm gods, and earth gods. I usually like to base my characters off of a real world god, but that isn't necessary. The important thing for me is that they cannot be omnipotent deities, and must be given actual goals, ambitions, and limitations to avoid being Mary Sues.
My scrapper is an example of how I tried to do this. While he has godlike potential, he starts weaker than almost any hero or villain, before gaining strength by strengthening belief in him. Simply appearing on the news can make him more powerful, but the belief can also change his basic identity. For example, he gained the ability to use fire powers late in his career when a news story was run over him "blowing up" a building on accident, creating the belief that he used fire to create an explosion. This gives him the ability to adopt new powers, but also means that his identity is constantly at risk of being changed without his control.
Comic books provide a large number of comic deities in a superhero world. Numero uno is Thor, but Zeus, Ares, Hercules, Isis, Odin, and many more populate the comic book realm. Personally, I prefer to use less known characters, often from Middle East origins. An eastern god would be easy to make with the new Imperial Dynasty pieces, and could be made by making a fire/fire brute or scrapper (example: Tai Yang Gong, the chinese grandfather sun, or Star Lord of the Solar Palace). If you want something more western, you could base a character off a lesser-known European culture, for instance Barsamid, the storm god of the pre-Christian Armenians (easily represented as an Electric/Electric stalker/brute/scrapper).
For a non-elemental god, you could use a god of war template, such as Cariocecus, the Lusitanian god of war. Said character could use any combination of a weapon set and shield, invulnerability, and willpower. If I were using such a character, I'd use a Mace/Shield Scrapper, and make use a hand motif in the costume (Lusitanians cut off the right hand of prisoners and consecrated it to Cariocecus). Said character could be run as a villain, as the Lusitanians also practiced human sacrifice to their gods.
Just some ideas I've had on a similar theme. Because you mentioned using a female character, I will stress that the gender of gods is one important variable you can change to create a new character. For instance, Cariocecus could become Cariocecia, goddess of war. This will allow you to have a decent mythology to expand/modify to create your character, and should give you a near infinite amount of resources to draw from. -
Just an update: I've leveled my Staff/Dark Stalker to level 12. Along the way, I would say 75% of my teammates were staff fighters, a testament to how high the interest was in the set. I mainly used sewer trials, and the amount of early level AoE was staggering.
So far, the set is living to my predictions. It is excellent at lower levels, even without using the forms. While Stalkers lose out from an AoE perspective, the recent Stalker changes have made the AT downright OP in the early game. I'm not even using AS as my opener anymore, preferring instead to open with Precise Strikes, followed by MB and GS and capped by AS. This will usually leave at least two lts down.
This set seems to fill a nice niche to me. Usually I obsess about single target DPS as much as anyone, but I am liking the way Staff is working out. It reminds me a lot of Katana back in the day, as its semi-low DPS is balanced by its other bonuses. Katana had DA and a decent AoE, along with -def to help hit in low levels, while Staff also has a parry-clone, decent AoEs, and endurance/recharge tools to help in the low levels. Staff is actual helped by its attacks in the low level, and has been remarkably end-efficient (I have picked up every Staff attack so far, and generally don't run out of end even running sprint and attacking non-stop).
However, I still think that Staff will be second-tier at the high-end, where DPS becomes more important. I think the simplest fix would be to increase the bonus from Form of Body from 5% to 10%, along with a slight increase in bonus damage for Sky Splitter. This would help it compete in the high end. I think the 15% buff is just a little to small to account for the long animations and lack of other damage options, but 30% is probably good compensation. -
Quote:Staff Fighting has three AoE attacks, all of which are fairly large. Though they won't make anyone's brain's explode, they are decent attacks that are easy to use, and appear early in the build.thinking of getting it...
what do you think?
is it aoe? pbaoe? pure melle? and ranged? def? -resist what is it like?
Staff Fighting's single target attacks consist of the 2 basic starter attacks, a decent ranged attack, and a heavy hitter T9. These attacks are generally seen collectively mediocre, though not completely underpowered. Instead, the long animations on some of the powers simply serve to balance it around it's versatility and AoE. In many respects, it has trade-offs like old-school Katana or Electric Melee: A focus on aspects other than single target damage (Katana being a defensive specialist, EM being an AoE specialist) leads to a slight lessening in single target damage.
Staff Fighting has a couple of "tricks." First, non-Stalkers have 3 forms which give bonuses such as extra damage, endurance reduction, and recharge (Stalkers get the damage one). However, these stacks also make the main AoE and the heavy hitter more powerful, and those attacks consume the stacks for more damage and other benefits. In low levels, and on characters without IOs, Staff Fighting will prove to be a superb leveling set because of how end-efficient it is while using Form of Soul. This ease will probably off-set the semi-low damage for most. -
This will be long, feel free to skip to the good parts, highlighted in Big Text.
There seem to be a few debates going on in various places over staff fighting. I've begun playing the set, and I have some experience with number crunching, and I'd like to share my feedback.
First off, the numbers. Before I begin, I'd like to clarify that I am playing the set on my newly minted Stalker, Sandformer (Staff/Dark Armor), and stalkers will likely see the best DPS from the set. However, this shouldn't skew things too heavily.
Anyway, let's me get one thing over with quickly: Staff is below average in single target DPS. The lone exceptions are Stalkers, and they still are not going to top the Stalker charts. I'm not saying this to discourage people, just to let the knowledge
How do I know it has low DPS? Simple: I calculated it. This isn't to say that I magically conjured up every attack chain in existence. Instead, I did something slightly simpler, in that I looking at the best two unique powers from each set. The simple fact is that the early attacks for each set are roughly similar, so the the difference between sets is largely from the powers later in the build. I also factored in damage enhancements, damage buffs, and recharge.
I'll save the numbers for a later time, but let's just say that scrapper, brute, and tanker Staff will be around the area of electric melee, above Spines but below most other powersets. This is compounded by other sets having better places to slot -res procs.
Skip to here to read positive stuff
There are positives about staff fighting. For one, the set is aesthetically pleasing, and the animations seem to be more polished than previous sets (specifically TW, whose powers were simply mistimed with respect to their animations). Particularly, I found that simply using a basic staff I could make a "sand staff", which complimented my character perfectly (using stone, plus sand colored waterfall, dark armor turned sand colored, and the staff matches well).
In addition, I found the set to be adequate in damage on my Stalker. This isn't surprising, because Stalkers have the thing Staff lacks: a hard hitter with low animation time. Unfortunately, Sky Splitter isn't even that great, with a DS-animation ratio of about 1:1. In contrast, a good ratio for a set's best power is generally greater than 1.2, and in extreme cases greater than 1.5. For comparison, most T1 and T2 attacks are slightly below 1:1.
That said, my theoretical calculations show that in absolutely ideal situations, a Staff stalker could reach over 350 dps (using the PS-SR-AS-SS chain). This isn't mindblowing for stalkers after the change, but is still a good standard. That also didn't count for pets, Assault hybrid, or stuff not currently in the game, or the damage buff from using buildup whenever recharged. I'd expect scrappers and brutes to max at around 230-240 (higher with procs), and tankers around 190ish.
However, damage isn't where Staff excels. Instead, Staff should be viewed as a defensive set in the high levels, and a versatility set in the low levels. While leveling, non-Stalkers will find the forms very useful, specifically Form of Soul, which will make smooth leveling considerably by making endurance manageable. This by itself will make it better than Street Fighting and Titan Weapons for those who do not plan on going past 50, as both of those "OP" sets are considerably bad on the end bar before they are maxed out.
The build I have planned for my Stalker is great (which is the same build I used to calculate the above DPS number), and I chose Staff over other powersets because of its unique abilities, specifically Sky Splitter's +resistance. My numbers for the build are as follows:
S/L res: 67.2%
F/C res: 54.7
N res: 75%
E res: 32.1%
P res: 65%
All of which are just "nice". However, the kicker is what I get when I use Shadow Meld:
Melee def: 59.1%
Ranged def: 70.6%
AoE def: 59.8%
And combine that with 167.5% recharge before Ageless, an endurance sustainable attack chain, good slotting on Dark Regeneration, -kb procs, and the set is simply the best possible Stalker for me, because it wouldn't be possible to get those values on a Stalker without Staff. And the scary thing is that I didn't even plan around Guarded Spin when considering that.
The point is that Staff has end-game potential, but not because it is a top-tier DPS set. It has a decent AoE, good enough damage, and allows players to build in previously impossible ways. It is both mechanically and aesthetically fun to play, and better in low levels than most sets.
For those wondering, my theoretical DPS charts would top out over 450 with 75% more damage buff (ie: Assault), while Melee would allow me to cap resistances to S/L/N/P, as well as getting F/C to 70+ and E to 47%. In addition, I would be nearly softcapped without SM. -
This isn't exactly an original idea (can't remember who I got it from though), but I think it deserves a mention.
The problem is that temporary powers are annoying, cumbersome, and despite their coolness are virtually unused and worthless.
The solution is simple. Split the recipe tab into two folders, inventions and temps. Invention recipes would take normal salvage, and would be limited in number. Temporary powers would simple collect endlessly, without a cap (and hopefully the stack limit for temps would be raised).
In fact, I would like to split the folder into 4 tabs to eliminate some of the clutter: IO sets, all common IOs, costume drops, and temps. This would make the UI much less cluttered (seriously, I really get annoyed at the way invention sets are hidden in the middle of dozens of common IOs). -
Why destroy old bases? If a new system is desirable, create it and keep it separate from the old system. Introduce dialogue at the registrar for selecting the between legacy and modern base systems, "Warning: The legacy system will not allow you to do as much as the modern system".
If people want to switch, they will. If they don't, they'll have their legacy bases still intact. -
Quote:Using Ageless as the destiny basically eliminates endurance problems, as it gives a base +100% to recovery, equivalent to 1.67 eps before adding in +end powers. For half of the duration, it will give at least double that. Usually, that is more than enough to cover any end problems (most builds have between 2 and 3 eps after toggles, so this will essentially double your net endurance recovery).How do you not run out of end on Dark Armor?
My Elec Armor toon recovers 2.24eps where you get 2.33eps but I have to use Power Sink a lot.
Is it purely coming from me having more recharge?
And yes, more recharge = more burn. For instance, Whirling Smash burns about 1 eps with no enhancement, but adding in 300% of recharge (100% from enhancement, 200% from agility + set bonuses) will quadruple that to 4 eps before endurance reduction. -
Quote:It might. Usually that amount of net endurance would be fine, but TW is excessive (remember, I usually run on an /elec so I get infinite endurance). But, you could alternatively get ageless for enemies that don't require softcap.Mmm... i really think that build would have massive end issues.
Plus don't really see the point in adding two attacks to TW. To each their own i spose.
Managed to convert myself a fury of the gladiatior -res to put in arc of destruction. My build even more yummy now
The two attacks from fire are basically just for purple sets, though fire ball is nice to have another large-scale AoE option.
I'd have to test it on the test server to see if the endurance is too little. If it is, I would probably switch to energy, put just a performance shifter proc in pp and move the purple set to boxing. -
Personally, I was ready for a change in market.
Small-ball, that's where the money is. Unique, uncommon recipes in high demand, like the steadfast protection 3%. I've sold a few of those over the past few days, as the rest of the market has crashed.
I didn't want to stockpile too much, as I have limited time, so I just bought stacks of those starting a couple weeks beforehand (and other recipes with similar desirability of course). When the market shifted, demand skyrocketed, and I was able to sell with a greater than 100% return.
I like that the market has crashed. It lets me kite a character much more easily (though the purple lottery will be missed). I like collecting enhancements in my personal bases, and I usually run out of money whenever I kite out a new character and thus do not have the funds to prepare in advance (I have a bad habit of starting a new character every month or so and giving them the most expensive build possible). -
Assuming you use Barrier, this is what I would do for a TW/Will. I'm unoriginal, so I reused a lot of the tricks I used to build the TW/Elec Brute. Basically, I went for 40%+ to smashing/lethal/fire/cold, and perma-hasten (with agility as your alpha). Very high on expense, but that comes with the territory. Bonuses include 2200 hp (60 hps with one target is RtC, 101 with RtC maxed), 3 -res procs, and decent numbers for resistances. Not quite enough recharge to run "my chain" I think, but still decent numbers, and simply adding an empowerment +recharge buff should do the trick.
Build:Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.954
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Level 50 Magic Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Titan Weapons
Secondary Power Set: Willpower
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Speed
Ancillary Pool: Blaze Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Crushing Blow -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(7), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(13), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(13), Hectmb-Dam%(15), Achilles-ResDeb%(15)
Level 1: High Pain Tolerance -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), Heal-I(36), Aegis-ResDam(43), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(46)
Level 2: Mind Over Body -- Aegis-ResDam(A), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(7), Aegis-ResDam/Rchg(31)
Level 4: Titan Sweep -- Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(17), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(17), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(19), Oblit-Dmg(19)
Level 6: Follow Through -- Hectmb-Dmg/EndRdx(A), Hectmb-Acc/Rchg(23), Hectmb-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), Hectmb-Dmg/Rchg(34), Hectmb-Dmg(34), Mako-Dam%(34)
Level 8: Fast Healing -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A), Numna-Heal(9), Numna-Heal/EndRdx(9)
Level 10: Indomitable Will -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(11), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(11)
Level 12: Build Momentum -- Rec'dRet-ToHit/Rchg(A), Rec'dRet-Pcptn(36)
Level 14: Boxing -- Empty(A)
Level 16: Rise to the Challenge -- Numna-Heal(A), Numna-Heal/EndRdx(42), Numna-Heal/Rchg(42), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx(43)
Level 18: Rend Armor -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(39), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(40), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(40), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(40), Achilles-ResDeb%(42)
Level 20: Quick Recovery -- P'Shift-End%(A), P'Shift-EndMod(21), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc(21)
Level 22: Tough -- Aegis-ResDam(A), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(23), Aegis-ResDam/Rchg(50)
Level 24: Weave -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(25), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(25)
Level 26: Whirling Smash -- Armgdn-Dam%(A), Armgdn-Dmg/EndRdx(27), Armgdn-Acc/Rchg(27), Armgdn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(31), Armgdn-Dmg/Rchg(33), FrcFbk-Rechg%(33)
Level 28: Heightened Senses -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(29), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(29)
Level 30: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), Ksmt-ToHit+(43)
Level 32: Arc of Destruction -- SScrappersS-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), SScrappersS-Rchg/+Crit(37), SScrappersS-Dmg/Rchg(37), SScrappersS-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(37), SScrappersS-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(39), FotG-ResDeb%(39)
Level 35: Maneuvers -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(46)
Level 38: Strength of Will -- GA-3defTpProc(A)
Level 41: Ring of Fire -- Empty(A)
Level 44: Fire Blast -- Apoc-Dam%(A), Apoc-Dmg/EndRdx(45), Apoc-Acc/Rchg(45), Apoc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(45), Apoc-Dmg/Rchg(46)
Level 47: Fire Ball -- Ragnrk-Acc/Rchg(A), Ragnrk-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(48), Ragnrk-Knock%(48), Ragnrk-Dmg/EndRdx(48), Ragnrk-Dmg/Rchg(50)
Level 49: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(50)
Level 50: Agility Core Paragon
Level 0: Freedom Phalanx Reserve
Level 0: Portal Jockey
Level 0: Task Force Commander
Level 0: The Atlas Medallion
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(3), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(31), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(36)
Level 1: Critical Hit
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Swift -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Health -- Mrcl-Heal(A), Mrcl-Rcvry+(5), Mrcl-Heal/EndRdx(5)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- P'Shift-End%(A), EndMod-I(3)
Level 1: Momentum
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run
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-
What sort of farmer do I-
SS/Fire. Always SS/Fire.
Alternatively, SS/Fire capped to S/L.
(Really though, you could do well with SS/Elec, TW/Fire, or even TW/Elec, though all would probably be worse). -
Here's an option for a softcapped build with taunt and soul transfer. It has problems, which I would suggest fixing before using, namely that it is expensive (PvP proc, but no purples). Endurance shouldn't be an issue because it is set up so that you won't need barrier (45% R/A, enough melee for defensive sweep) and it has a net 2.06 recovery. Personally, I would probably go for a more expensive build with more recharge (hasten and LotG procs are optional if you don't want them, and would give you slots to spare if you wanted other things).
Anyway, here's the build.
Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.954
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Capped def twarky: Level 50 Magic Brute
Primary Power Set: Titan Weapons
Secondary Power Set: Dark Armor
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Speed
Ancillary Pool: Energy Mastery
Villain Profile:
Level 1: Defensive Sweep -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), Erad-Dmg(15), Erad-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(43), Erad-Dmg/Rchg(43), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx(45)
Level 1: Dark Embrace -- Aegis-ResDam(A), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(5), Aegis-ResDam/Rchg(5), Aegis-EndRdx/Rchg(7), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(7)
Level 2: Crushing Blow -- Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Mako-Acc/Dmg(9), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx(9), Mako-Dmg/Rchg(17), Mako-Dam%(19), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(19)
Level 4: Death Shroud -- Erad-Dmg(A), Erad-Dmg/Rchg(34), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx(45), Erad-Acc/Rchg(46)
Level 6: Build Momentum -- GSFC-Rchg/EndRdx(A), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(39), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg(39), GSFC-ToHit/EndRdx(39), GSFC-Build%(40), GSFC-ToHit(40)
Level 8: Follow Through -- Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Mako-Acc/Dmg(17), Mako-Dam%(40), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(42), Mako-Dmg/Rchg(42), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx(42)
Level 10: Murky Cloud -- Aegis-ResDam(A), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(11), Aegis-ResDam/Rchg(11), Aegis-EndRdx/Rchg(13), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(13)
Level 12: Taunt -- Taunt-I(A)
Level 14: Obsidian Shield -- GA-3defTpProc(A), Aegis-ResDam(15), Aegis-ResDam/Rchg(46), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(46)
Level 16: Dark Regeneration -- Theft-+End%(A), Nictus-Acc/EndRdx/Heal/HP/Regen(31), Nictus-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(31), RechRdx-I(34)
Level 18: Rend Armor -- Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Mako-Acc/Dmg(21), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx(23), Mako-Dam%(23), Mako-Dmg/Rchg(27), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(29)
Level 20: Cloak of Darkness -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(21)
Level 22: Boxing -- Empty(A)
Level 24: Tough -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), Aegis-ResDam(25), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(25), Aegis-ResDam/Rchg(27), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(45), Aegis-EndRdx/Rchg(50)
Level 26: Whirling Smash -- FrcFbk-Rechg%(A), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(36), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx(36), Sciroc-Dmg/Rchg(37), Sciroc-Acc/Rchg(37), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg(37)
Level 28: Weave -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(29), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(43)
Level 30: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), Zephyr-ResKB(31)
Level 32: Arc of Destruction -- Erad-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Erad-Acc/Rchg(33), Erad-Dmg(33), C'ngBlow-Acc/Dmg(33), C'ngBlow-Dmg/EndRdx(34), C'ngBlow-Dmg/Rchg(36)
Level 35: Maneuvers -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 38: Soul Transfer -- Heal-I(A)
Level 41: Superior Conditioning -- P'Shift-End%(A)
Level 44: Physical Perfection -- P'Shift-End%(A)
Level 47: Titan Sweep -- Erad-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Erad-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(48), Erad-Dmg/Rchg(48), C'ngBlow-Acc/Dmg(48), C'ngBlow-Dmg/EndRdx(50), C'ngBlow-Dmg/Rchg(50)
Level 49: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 50: Agility Core Paragon
Level 0: Marshal
Level 0: Invader
Level 0: High Pain Threshold
Level 0: Born In Battle
------------
Level 2: Swift -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Health -- Mrcl-Rcvry+(A), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(3)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- P'Shift-End%(A), P'Shift-EndMod(3)
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Fury
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 1: Momentum
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