Culach

or whatever issue we are on now...

I have 1 fire/Kin, built before I started reading the forums, and was never intended as a farmer.

I was told, by an uninformed individual, that controllers were lousy damage and could't kill anything...so I debated and came up with a character I thought would be fun and went to show them...

They no longer think that way, and this was around issue 4, trollers have only gotten better since then...

He hasn't seen much play recently, and is stalled in his 20s, but I do enjoy taking him out and playing him occassionally...

1) JohnnyKat
2) U-Naught
3) PyroNympho

this is my first time around these parts, but I would like to vote if the voting is still open...

First off good work to all.

1) Lousy Day
2) Clutch
3) Happy Dan

Honorable Mention: Battlewraith

Thanks...I'll be making a change for that...

I usually make my own binds...but I will look into the bind creator you mentioned...

I thought, after reading this thread, that I would take your initial build (the only one with a data link that worked for me) and alter it for my use.

This character is currently is only at level 35, but I will soon be looking to continue his advance to 50 and this is the build that I came up with for the ride from here to there and after.

1. With the changes to flightspeed, I felt that I was better taking Swift and slotting it with a flight speed. This not only takes Fly over its cap with only the default slot, but more importantly brings Hover, as I have it slotted, up past Sprint's non-Swift enhaced running speed making hover more useful.

2. I was not specifically looking for defense as I generally consider PA to be defense, but squeezed some extra out any way that is approximately equal (I believe) to what I lost in originally making the changes.

3. Not entirely sure on how the -KB Uniques work, but if it works like the +Stealth Uniques I am not really interested in having to keep turning on a fly power every 2 min to keep the -KB active. As I always have SI running it seemed that would be a good place to slot that.

4. This is not a 'Perma' build as I usually slot level 35 IOs for those times when I exemp down, which I do fairly regularly. Were this slotted with level 50s it would be, as it stands it is a near-perma build with only about 1.4 secs of downtime for PA and .2 secs for Hasten. My basic feeling though is that if I can't deal with those really small downtimes I have bigger problems that I need to address.

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.601
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Abramelin: Level 50 Magic Controller
Primary Power Set: Illusion Control
Secondary Power Set: Radiation Emission
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leaping
Ancillary Pool: Fire Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Blind -- BasGaze-Acc/Hold:30(A), BasGaze-Acc/Rchg:30(3), BasGaze-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold:30(11), BasGaze-Rchg/Hold:30(17), Thundr-Acc/Dmg:35(27), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg:35(31)
Level 1: Radiant Aura -- Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx:35(A), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg:35(9), Dct'dW-Heal:35(34), Dct'dW-Rchg:35(34), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg:35(40)
Level 2: Spectral Wounds -- Decim-Acc/Dmg:35(A), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx:35(3), Decim-Dmg/Rchg:35(5), Decim-Build%:35(5), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:35(31), Dev'n-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:35(43)
Level 4: Deceive -- CoPers-Conf/Rchg:50(A), CoPers-Acc/Conf/Rchg:50(7), CoPers-Acc/Rchg:50(7), CoPers-Conf/EndRdx:50(31), CoPers-Conf%:50(37)
Level 6: Accelerate Metabolism -- Efficacy-EndMod:35(A), Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg:35(11), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc/Rchg:35(15), Efficacy-Acc/Rchg:35(34), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc:35(40), Efficacy-EndMod/EndRdx:35(46)
Level 8: Superior Invisibility -- LkGmblr-Rchg+:35(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx:35(9), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:35(37), LkGmblr-Def:35(43), Krma-ResKB:30(46)
Level 10: Radiation Infection -- HO:Enzym(A), HO:Enzym(13), HO:Enzym(15)
Level 12: Hover -- LkGmblr-Rchg+:35(A), Flight-I:35(13), Flight-I:35(17)
Level 14: Fly -- Flight-I:35(A)
Level 16: Swift -- Flight-I:35(A)
Level 18: Phantom Army -- S'bndAl-Build%:50(A), ExRmnt-Acc/Rchg:35(19), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg:35(19), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:35(21), ExRmnt-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg:35(21), S'bndAl-Dmg/Rchg:50(23)
Level 20: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+:35(A), Mrcl-Rcvry+:35(27), Mrcl-Heal:35(50)
Level 22: Stamina -- P'Shift-EndMod:35(A), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg:35(23), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc:35(25), P'Shift-End%:35(40)
Level 24: Hasten -- RechRdx-I:35(A), RechRdx-I:35(25)
Level 26: Spectral Terror -- U'spkT-Acc/Rchg:30(A), U'spkT-EndRdx/Fear:30(29), U'spkT-Fear/Rng:30(48), U'spkT-Acc/Fear/Rchg:30(48), U'spkT-Stun%:30(48)
Level 28: Enervating Field -- EndRdx-I:35(A), EndRdx-I:35(29)
Level 30: Lingering Radiation -- Acc-I:35(A)
Level 32: Phantasm -- ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg:35(A), ExRmnt-Dmg/EndRdx:35(33), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:35(33), ExRmnt-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg:35(33), BldM'dt-Acc/Dmg:35(37)
Level 35: Flash -- BasGaze-Acc/Hold:30(A), BasGaze-Acc/Rchg:30(36), BasGaze-Rchg/Hold:30(36), BasGaze-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold:30(36)
Level 38: EM Pulse -- BasGaze-Acc/Hold:30(A), BasGaze-Acc/Rchg:30(39), BasGaze-Rchg/Hold:30(39), BasGaze-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold:30(39)
Level 41: Fire Blast -- Decim-Acc/Dmg:35(A), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx:35(42), Decim-Dmg/Rchg:35(42), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg:35(42), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:35(43)
Level 44: Fire Ball -- Posi-Acc/Dmg:35(A), Posi-Dmg/Rchg:35(45), Posi-Dmg/Rng:35(45), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:35(45), Posi-Dam%:35(46)
Level 47: Fire Shield -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/EndRdx:30(A), S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+:30(50), HO:Ribo(50)
Level 49: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Rchg+:35(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Acc-I:35(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- EndRdx-I:35(A)
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I:35(A)
Level 1: Containment

I'll reaffirm that the new boards are growing on me, but I do understand some resistance to the new format after having the old for so long. Change, however, is inevitable and these changes are not THAT bad.

I'd say give it some time, if, after a few months, you don't like them (or the devs get mean and give us the old forums for a time to show us how we have grown into the new) then I say you can complain. Complaining out of the gate shows you didn't give them enough time to get settled in and for you to start using them more.

Much happiness...I have some MMs (and a few trollers) that will now be easier to play and less hassel trying to figure out when to spawn the long term pets (such as when ambushed outside and hearing that the door is hot inside)...I look at it as a VERY nice QoL...

and as to the crowding issue: Last I checked there was more than 1 market or AE...go visit them sometime, you will probably like it!

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I had a scrapper ask if there was gonna be anymore damage types in the Synapse i was running.I told him he got the pity spot

Needless to say he dropped and we continued on with our all def/troller team. He didnt even stay on so we could taunt him about how we were done with the first mission without 'damage types' .

Scrappers are such weenies.

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That guy is required to turn in his scrapper badage

Bah I be like cool more stuff for me

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Seconded...

I'd have been looking at it like, "Cool, now I don't have to chase the little buggers all over the map!"

But thats just me...

I will comment and say that Fireheart, above my previous posting, is usually my teammate and we enjoy trying to figure out how to leverage various powers for greatest effect.

As I stated before, I use it as a utility tool, and I usually run on small groups generally with a tank which allows for more useage.

Again I point out the greater area that it covers as well. This is something that is OFTEN overlooked.

I was just trying to point out that it has more uses than most people think, and some of those uses are for more than straight DPS.

When I read through originally, and through the replies to my post, the impression I get is that most of you are saying "If its not high DPS its garbage!"

I guess what I want to say is think of RoF as a good controller power in the middle of a blaster primary. Think about how you would use it as a controller, or a defender if offered it would use it, and suddenly the options open up. How will a tank or scrapper benefit from your useage of it? Another blaster could stand in it, or on the other side, and benefit from its area denial ability.

Thinking outside the button-smashing high DPS box (a valid playstyle), can be rewarding, and incredibly usefull.

I will preface everything that follows by saying I consider ALL powers to be situational.

I read through and found some interesting tidbits that I had missed in my own rise on my Fire/Ice blaster, but had a minor disagreement in the area of Rain of Fire.

I will agree that it is NOT a fire-and-forget power, which is what many generally mean when they call a power 'situational'. It DOES require some thought to get the most mileage out of it, making it less desirable to buton-mashers, but even out of the box it is usefull.

Blasters tend to be weakest in regards to Melee attackers, but with Ice Patch + Rain of Fire dropped on top of yourself you can turn them into non-issues. Chilling Embrace and Shiver can enhance this. Also, remember, this power will tag fliers as well just adding to its desireability.

You can also make great use of it as an area-denial power in missions that have you protecting some object from waves of attackers. Since most attackers tend to be melee, they hit the RoF and move away, and with the wide radius even ranged attackers can be driven off with it placed appropriately (also usefull in the previously mentioned bit about using it for self-defense).

When used in conjunction with the powers of other ATs it becomes a good force multiplyer for smaller teams, especially duos which I tend to be on if I am not solo.

Inside buildings you can have a tanker grab agro and run into a side room, you run up at the tanker's signal, drop IP in the doorway and then RoF in the room and possibly throw a fireball in for good measure. Presto, no more bad guys.

With controllers, and certain defenders, your options are greater. If they do a control, of virtually any type, on a group of enemies, by the time they are mobile RoF can have melted them to nothing.

There are numerous other possible tricks that can be used to leverage the power of RoF, both on teams and solo, but I won't go into them all here. Think of it as 3-dimensional as opposed to 2-dimensional like Fireball.

Outside of that little quibble I rather enjoyed the OP and gleaned some little items I may try to incorporate into my own character's playbook.

Thanks.

This thread must not die

That would depend on the reason you are going without the temp powers. Since most people running the no temp power arcs in Ouroboros are doing it for the badge it is only a consideration for one arc, which makes it not such a big deal.

For those who are doing so for the added challenge, then yes, you are correct. One arc with no temp powers is easily dealt with, multiple arcs will make you want to get those travel powers ASAP.

So basically that breaks down to playstyle and frame of mind.

Sweet...somehow I had missed the guide before and had an AR/* just languishing...now I have a better idea what to do with him...

Bookmarking as promised!

And again my thanks. I always appreciate seeing what others are doing so I can see where I'm at and what I might be able to try to get different results.

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Get your travel power as soon as you can! My first toon was always last to mish and I found that frustrating. I didnt realize, until he was 18th that what I needed was a travel power! duh, you say but as a newb I just wanted the next attack for my scrapper!

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Not necessarily true anymore with the safeguard/mayhem missions you can get from doing Radio/Newspaper missions. The first safeguard/mayhem mission will give you the Raptor Pack temporary power with a 2 hour time limit. If you are frugal with it you can extend the amount of time you have before you need to actually get a real travel power. And you can get it at level 5 making areas like the Hollows FAR easier on you.

I am a feral, whether I play scrappers or any other AT. This does get me some wierd looks when my controllers jump in and start flailing at motionless bad guys, but I enjoy myself.

I tend to think of my scrappers as very animalistic, kind of like wolverines with ADHD. I can team with you, but if you wait too long I WILL find something to do. Results often vary as to whether you like what I choose or not.

As for other ATs, I've grown to not mind them so much anymore. Blasters, if I was taking them down and they had only a sliver left anyway they were not worthy of my attention and I needed to move on. Tanks, keep my defenders and controlers safe. Defenders, make me kill faster, whats not to love. Controllers, make it so I don't have to chase everything down. Save on me being annoyed. Khelds vary depending on type and form.

But I do admit this is a great post, see my sig for how great I thought it was.

What about the Peacebringer contact? I can't find him listed here.

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Wanna make a regen unhappy?

In the Terra Volta reactor: "Max_Speed, your bubble is gone, go bubble up."


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Grrr.... Yes, I've been told that 1 too many times. Okay I am regenerating at over 300% and once every second my health drops 1%. DO THE MATH! I don't need a frikin bubble.

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Agreed...I had this happen to me once not long ago...it felt odd...I was thinking to myself "Are you seeing something I'm not?" Oh well...

I think it stems from the perception that since everyone else NEEDS it so must the */regen. I'd say that others need to be educated a bit better as to how our abilities work, but anytime I start to speak up and explain the originator of the demand stops listening thinking that they know how to play better than I do.

Others need to learn to trust that we know what we are doing and have no intention of doing anything that would jeapordize the team.

I also feel the need to add that teams should allow the */regen scrapper to wander during their Endurance rests after large battles. We can do scouting while you are trying to get back up to speed, and should we get into a fight, it won't be one that we can't handle. If it IS one we can't handle alone (I'm ashamed to admit they do exist) we will let you know where it is at so that you don't go rushing in blindly. Don't try to follow us in unless we say it shouldn't be a problem for a rush, we ARE NOT responsible for your actions when you do. We can soak debt better than any other AT, let us. We'll be out of debt in a far shorter period of time than anyone else on the team.

Admittedly there will be those */regen scrappers who say "I don't want debt!" To you I say: Debt helps keep me from leveling past content, even when solo. YMMV.

Have fun and good scrapping!!!

The short reply to your post is: You are entitled to your opinion, but my experience has shown me otherwise.

The long reply:

I'm going to start with your attack on my statement:

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Quote:
If you have either a wild or feral scrapper on your team it will be an exciting ride, just sit back and watch them work, and offer assistance IF they ask for it.

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Now this quote is a prime example of not knowing what the concept of team is. Your teams job is not to sit back and watch you work like some little kids in awe over their favorite hero. Micheal Jordan would hav never won anything if his teammates had that attitude (and the bulls didn't win when that was the case). A good team oriented player who actually cares about teammates and team goals will supress his/her wild or feral nature in order to make the team more productive towards it's overall goal, not your own personal goals. A good example is wolverine in the x-men. he has constantly wanted and even has become so feral at times that it broke down the team and it's goals and other team members had to exert themselves beyond what they should have just in order to clean up the situation, if they even can....however you look at it, it's still detrimental to the team. However, wolverine knows that there are times where he must hold back some and stay with the team objectives and perform as a unit. Afterall, a team of players who work together as a single unit are much more powerful and productive than any single rambo who's powers or abilities are comparable to that of a full team.

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"Sit back and watch" does not mean that the rest of the team can just leave off their jobs. It means: if you can, keep an eye on what I'm doing, it may surprise you. Reading into it that the rest of the team can just take the day off is an ignorant extrapolation.

While I have made mistakes while playing, I would posit that my mistakes have been no larger or heinous than those of many of my teammates in the past. The blaster who kept firing after the last guy in the current mob was taken down, thus agroing the next mob before the team was ready. The Defender/Controller who forgot to drop the agro grabbing toggle from their anchor when he ran to the next mob while we are still fighting the first one. The Tank who tries to agro a large group only to find out it is more agro than he and the team can handle. Almost every player I teamed with has made one or more of these mistakes (and others not mentioned) often doing so at various times. They are accidents not how the player typically plays, and my style (described above) falls within the bounds of "good" team play, for a scrapper who is doing his job.

I do not advocate keeping people on the team who are constantly running off on their own to do their own thing irregardless of the team objective and what others are doing. It just seems that most people remember when the scrapper does it and apply it to the AT as a whole. They overlook when the blaster/tank/controller/defender does it. This is part of the reason for some of the bad attitude seen in the ops post and mine.

I do not advocate playing like an idiot, or ignoring the needs of the team. If a player is consitantly causing a problem for the team I recommend kicking them regardless of AT.

If your scrapper isn't causing lots of problems, but they aren't with you or are doing something that you didn't expect, ask them. There is usually a good reason. Even if it is sacrificing themselves to give the rest of the team an opportunity to retreat. "But thats a detriment to the team!" Well guess what, you can use the time the scrapper is taking to get back from the hospital to hash out a new strategy for taking out whatever caused the problem in the first place.

Quick definitions of the types of Scrappers as laid out in the Care & Feeding of Scrappers in my sig:

Wild: (Very Aggressive) Almost never teams, and when they do they do as they please irregardless of team objectives and welfare. Chooses powers and slotting strictly for soloing needs.

Feral: (Aggressive) Prefers to solo, or teams irregularly, but can lend aid when and where needed, though not as well as a Domestic. Chooses powers and slotting primarily based on soloing, but with some thought towards teaming.

Domestic: (Defensive/Slightly Aggressive) Completely team oriented, usually teaming with the same group or certain people and chooses powers and slotting based on teaming with little or no regards to soloing.

Please keep in mind these are generalities and oversimplifications, not entirely indicative of individual players. I have feral in my team notes box to give people an idea of how I play since it is closest to my playstyle.

Nope, pretty much said it the way I wanted to. The only part that was tongue in cheek is before I said "Seriously".

The way I see it, scrappers are the wild card on any team. If you invite them you realize this and have accepted that. They are going to be doing A LOT of things that may seem crazy or stupid, but they can handle it. But as the post in my sig explains, there are different types of scrappers, learn which one you are playing with and you will get great results.

If you have either a wild or feral scrapper on your team it will be an exciting ride, just sit back and watch them work, and offer assistance IF they ask for it. The domestic is far safer on teams but, imho, both the person playing the scrapper and the teammates are cheated of quite a bit of fun.

And lest ye think I reallly need to learn to play scrappers, my one, and only so far, level 50 is a BS/Regen scrapper. Most of my other characters across all the servers are scrappers also (followed closely in numbers by controllers). I tried playing a domestic scrapper once, it was very painful for me and my SG/Teammates. I have since been let off that hook.

I have played both sides of the coin (having played every AT in the game) and I've just learned that people need to learn to adapt to the other players. Very few players of any AT are really a liability to the team unles they aren't contributing in some way. Try and figure out what it is that they are doing and decide if it is helpful to you or your team. And thats not just scrappers.

Not meaning to sound snarky in this post, just explaining my position on scrappers.

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I play pretty much every AT, and as any of them I really dislike this attitude in a team, even as a scrapper. I'm sorry, but if you're going crazy all over the place and not sticking with the team, you're a liability, even if you're a good solo player. You're just going to stress out your teammates and get somebody killed eventually, especially if you actually nitpick about someone "stealing your prey." It's a team, kills are shared, get over it!

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Ah...a domestic scrapper! I've heard of these but never actually seen one.*

Seriously, if thats the way YOU want to play, fine. The thing is that many of us (and I'm thinking thats the majority) feel otherwise. What you have described, imo, is a melee range blaster (blapper). Build one of those if you so choose.

We are RARELY a liability. I used to get yelled at all the time about "not being with the group" while they were getting the crap kicked out of them. The problem was that I was taking out the group THEY agroed on the way to their current fight. This lasted until someone who was SKd to someone out of range was following me and actually told them what I was doing while the fights were going on.

If you have problems, ask the scrapper what it is that they are doing. If they aren't in the middle of a fight (and often while they are they will pause) they will tell you. Or if you have the time to spare you may want to go and find out for yourself.

On the topic of kill stealing...get over it yourself. This is a typical attitude among scrappers of all builds. We are trying to be like our comicbook idols (Batman, Wolverine, Daredevil, Shang Chi) who NO ONE tries to take an "arrest" from, because they are the best for the job. Others may be able to do more damage to more individuals at once, but few (if any) can lay claim to the majorly impressive defeats that we hand out regularly.

*If you wish to know why I used this term read the "Care & Feeding of Scrappers" in my sig below.

These are exactly my thoughts when running my main (or any other) scrapper. As a BS/Regen I always imagine him walking into a room of enemies and saying, "Bring it on!"

Anyone who tells me that their empathy defender/controller is keeping me alive with their heals needs to have their head examined.

Buffer/DeBuffers are cool. They make the enemies weaker/me stronger and result in a greatly increased mob fatality rate...er, greater number of arrests.

Tanks are great for getting the minions out of my way so I can go after that Boss/EB/AV at the back of the room. Thanks for clearing the path. When I'm done here I'll come back and help.

Blasters....um, ok, whatever. You guys say you can outdamage us, but when your AoE just makes all the mobs angry you run away screaming. If you can't handle the agro, don't bother the baddies. Let me do it.

I could prattle on, but I think everyone gets the point.