Table of Contents
1.) Introduction
2.) Why Melee
3.) What a Bane Spider is
4.) Inherent
5.) Bane Spider Primary
6.) Bane Spider Secondary
7.) Training and Gadets
8.) Power Pools
9.) My Build
Introduction
In i12 CoV finally received an AT that the Heroes have had for a while and the is Epic also for villains known as the VEATs, and they were worth the wait. They are very different from all the ATs and unique, because unlike any other AT at level 24 you get an auto respec to branch into another form of that AT (One hopes that one day the Heroes will have a branching AT).
This guide covers the Bane Branch of the Wolf Spider AT. A mostly melee Bane build, its a very tight build with no room for travel powers. This is a Bane build with only Bane Spider primary powers, no hybrid (not saying that it isn't good or allowed its just not what I am covering).
Why Melee?
For a Bane all of the melee attacks are superior to the ranged ones as far as power and activation, which are key factors in dps. Not to say a ranged build is not effective a melee build would be better.
What a Bane Spider is
Only the best of the Wolf Spiders are allowed the grand honor of joining the ranks of the elite Bane Spiders.
Bane Spider Commando
Taken from the ranks of the Wolf Spiders, Bane Spider Commandos are given specialized assault training. They are vicious masters of combat that relish engaging the enemies of Arachnos.
Bane Spider Scouts
Taken from the ranks of the Wolf Spiders, Bane Spider Scouts are given specialized covert operations training. They are elite spies used by Lord Recluse to monitor activities both in Rogue Isles and Beyond.
Bane Spider Executioner
Only the most trusted Arachnos agents are allowed to lead the Bane Spiders. An agent must be ruthless and efficient to become one of Lord Recluse's personal guardsmen. It is a great honor to be promoted to the position of a Bane Spider Executioner.
Inherent
Conditioning
Soldiers of Arachnos undergo intense physical training before leaving "boot camp." Those that survive have greater than average healing rates and tire less quickly than others.
The increase in Regeneration and Recovery are not bonuses but are higher base values than other Archetypes.
Giving you Increased Regeneration (0.50%) and Recovery (1.75%).
Its good but to me not good enough to replace stamina but the added base Recovery makes stamina better for the SoAs than it does for other ATs.
Bane Spider Primary
Bash
You Bash with your mace dealing moderate Smashing damage and minor Toxic damage over time.
Animation Time: 1.33 seconds
Recharge: 4 seconds
Damage: 55.61 Smashing 3*5.56 Toxic (37.07 Smashing if hidden)
Range: 5 feet
Type: Single target melee
Also: Stun mag2 10% chance
I took Bash simply because of all the other attacks for Bane Tier ones this one was the best
Recommend Slotting: 3 Damage
Mace Beam
The Nullifier Mace is capable of firing a tremendous bolt of force from the end of it. The Mace Beam is a moderate damage single target attack.
Animation Time: 2 seconds
Recharge: 4 seconds
Damage: 27.81 Smashing 27.81 Energy
Range: 70 feet
Type: Single target ranged
Also: 1.8 Knockback 30% chance
As a mostly melee build I opted not to take this power, plus a lot of the ranged powers are weak.
No recommended slotting
Mace Beam Blast
The Nullifier Mace is capable of firing a tremendous bolt of force from the end of it. The Mace Beam Blast is a Light damage area of effect attack.
Animation Time: 2 seconds
Recharge: 8 seconds
Damage: 18.35 Smashing 18.35 Energy
Range: 70 feet
Type: AoE target ranged
Also: 1.8 Knockback 30% chance
See Mace Beam for notes.
Build Up
Greatly increases the amount of damage you deal for a few seconds, as well as slightly increasing your chance to hit.
Animation Time: 1.17 seconds
Recharge: 90 seconds
Damage: None
Range: self
Type: Self Buff
Also: + 20% tohit and + 80% damage for 10 sec
Take this at 6 or slap yourself.
Recommended Slotting: 3 Recharge Reductions
Mace Beam Volley
The Nullifier Mace is capable of firing a tremendous bolt of force from the end of it. The Mace Beam is a moderate damage area of effect cone attack.
Animation Time: 2 seconds
Recharge: 8 seconds
Damage: 16.13 Smashing 22.24 Energy
Range: 40 feet
Type: Cone target ranged
Also: 1.8 Knockback 30% chance
See Mace Beam for notes.
No Recommended Slotting.
Poisonous Ray
You fire a poisonous ray from your mace.
Animation Time: 2
Recharge: 9 seconds
Damage: 5*22.24 Toxic
Range: 40 feet
Type: Single target ranged
Also: -0.075 defense for 15s
One of the strongest attacks in your arsenal, and the only ranged attack that I can recommend.
Recommeded Slotting: 3 Damage, 2 Recharge Reduction
Pulverize
You Pulverize with your mace dealing high Smashing damage and minor Toxic damage over time.
Animation Time: 1.5 seconds
Recharge: 8 seconds
Damage: 91.2 Smashing 5*5.56 Toxic (60.8 Smashing if hidden)
Range: 5 feet
Type: Single target melee
Also: 6 sec Stun mag2 20% chance
Great attack this and Bash are a good 1-2 punch for minions.
Recommended Slotting: 3 Damage, 2 Recharge Reductions
Shatter
You attempt to Shatter the bones of your opponent by striking them with all your might. This attack will deal great damage and knock foes back a great ways. The power of this attack can actually extend a short distance through multiple foes.
Animation Time: 2.33 seconds
Recharge: 12 seconds
Damage: 126.79 Smashing 5*5.56 Toxic (84.53 Smashing if hidden)
Range: 10 feet
Type: Single target melee
Also: .67 Knockback 80% chance
Best attack I have ever used. Signature attack for all Bane Spiders everywhere. I don't know what it is but I get chills everytime I see that Executioner's Strike.
Note: I received this info directly from paragonwiki and it says can extend through multiple foes, but I think they just copied it from the regular Mace move.
Recommended Slotting: 3 Damage, 2 Recharge Reductions, 1 Endurance Reduction
Placate
Allows you to trick a foe to no longer attack you. A Successful Placate will also Hide you. The Hide is very brief, and offers no Defense bonus, but it will allow you to deliver a Critical Hit or Assasin Strike. However, if you attack a Placated Foe, he will be able to attack you back.
This is what makes soloing EBs real easy. Use this and then Shatter makes for quick kills. Sucks when there are a lot of minions around because once they hit you, you are no longer hidden, wasting a perfectly good ES.
Recommended Slotting: 3 Recharge Reductions
Crowd Control
You swing your mace in a wide arc in front of you. This attack strikes all foes within melee range, deals them serious damage and minor Toxic damage over time, and knocks them down.
Animation Time: 2 seconds
Recharge: 16 seconds
Damage: 89.53 Smashing 5*5.56 Toxic (59.69 Smashing if hidden)
Range: 7 feet
Type: Cone target melee
Also: .67 Knockback 80% chance
Great attack guaranteed to knock a foe on its behind, helps take minions out of a big fight quick, went through a recent nerf can only 5 enemies max, but its still great.
Recommended Slotting: 3 Damage, 2 Recharge Reductions, 1 Endurance Reduction
Bane Spider Secondary
Bane Spider Armor Upgrade
Your Bane Spider Armor Upgrade improves your overall health, protection to all damage types, as well as increasing your protection against most status effects, including Confuse, Fear, Disorient, Hold, Sleep and Immobilize effects.
Type: Auto run self buff
Effects: +20% HP, +7.5% Resistance to all damage types, Magnitude 4 protection against Stun, Immobilize, Confuse, Sleep, Hold, and Fear. It also has 500% resistance to Sleep.
This is way better than Wolf Spider Armor, gives you double the protection, better resistance, and an hp bonus (unfortunatly unlike Willpower this can't be slotted for the hp bonus). You can get both armors but I wouldn't waste a power slot on that when this gives you enough to take boss lvl mezzes and there are so many other powers to choose from. Take it if you want the extra protection but CT
will do a lot more for you than this will, or if you have room for it but I had so many other things to do and I think soft capping def is a lot more important than an extra mag2 mez protection. I didn't waste any slots on this but you can, the dam resist is not enough to really slot I guess if you wanted to for IOs but its ultimately up to the player.
Recommended Slotting: 3 Damage Resistances
Cloaking Device
Cloaking Device makes you almost impossible to detect. When you attack or are damaged while using this power, you will be discovered. Even if discovered, you are hard to see and retain some bonus to Defense. Like most Stealth powers, Cloaking Device cannot be used at the same time as other Concealment powers.
Type: Self stealth
Effects: 50 feet of stealth (PvE), enables Stealth Striking with melee attacks from Hidden status
Endurance Cost: 0.21 per second
Recharge: 20 seconds
What can I say? This power is a necessity. Having using this power not only makes missions you really don't want to play go quicker, it also helps for a great opening attack. Take it be happy.I put 3 def slots and another slot for KB protection IO on this, puts me at about 12.75 unsupressed and about 6.37 after it supresses which is pretty nice.
Recommended Slotting: 3 Defense Buffs
Surveillance
When this power is activated, you focus your senses to analyze your target's defensive capabilities and discover their weaknesses. By sharing your knowledge of the target's weaknesses with your teammates, you effectively reduce their defense and resistance to damage.
Type: Single target debuff
Effects: -15% Defense to all, -20% Resistance to all, both effects for 20 seconds. Also allows you to view enemy combat attributes.
I guess this power depends on the person and to me the pros outweigh the cons. The cons are that it only lasts 20 sec, it causes redraw, and like most Bane powers it has a large activation time. The pros it is a hot looking power ( I have had a lot of people tell me it looks cool), really -15% def and -20% res (this is not just for you if you solo it makes it easier for your pets to hit the target and do more damage, and if you team it is Godsend for AVs/EBs, received may complements for the debuff), and one of the hottest features that really makes it origanal is that if you click on the powers tab and then go to combat attributes the foe you used it on will have his stats displayed making it real good to find weaknesses. I strongly recommend you take this power really does a lot for you, your pets, and your team.
Recharge: 45 seconds
Recommended Slotting: 3 Recharge Reductions, 1 Accuracy
Web Cocoon
The Bane Mace can fire a more powerful version of the common web grenade. The sinewy fibers of this grenade are strong enough to completely Hold one target. Targets able to resist the Hold are still likely to have their attack and movement speed dramatically slowed. Web Cocoon can also bring down flying targets and prevent foes from jumping.
Animation Time: 2 seconds
Recharge: 16 seconds
Damage: None
Range: 60 feet
Type: Single target ranged hold
Also: Magnitude 3 Hold for 13.4 seconds, renders the target unable to jump or fly, slows its movement speed by 50%, and reduces its recharge bonus by 50%
Yes I know, an ST hold at 35, that what we get. I took it at first because with your pets its great for stacking holds I think one time I held an EB just for the fun of it. It does slow down your attack chain, you will probably never use it on a team, but it is an effective tool if you solo. I had it and it was nice really didn't want to get rid of it but need to make room for more def.
Recommeded Slotting: 3 Hold Durations, 3 Recharge Reductions
Training and Gadgets
Wolf Spider Armor
Your Wolf Spider Armor provides good protection to Smashing, Lethal and Psionic damage types, as well as offering basic levels of protection to most status effects, including Confuse, Fear, Disorient, Hold, Sleep and Immobilize effects.
Type: Auto run self buff
Effects: +3% Resistance to Smashing and Lethal damage, +2% Resistance to Psionic Damage, Magnitude 2 protection against Stun, Immobilize, Confuse, Sleep, Hold, and Fear. It also has 500% resistance to Sleep.
To me as a Bane Spider, this would be a wasted power Bane Spider Armor is more than enough protection. I wouldn't recommend getting it, I personally beleive that the 7.5 base range defense that you get from Combat Training: Defensive is a better choice.
Recommended Slotting: 1 Resistance Buff
Combat Training: Defensive
You are more evasive to ranged attacks.
Type: Auto run self buff
Effects: +7.5% Defense to ranged attacks
This is a great power when taking on a Boss and you notice his minions trying to shoot out your Placate and you are dodging it.
Recommended Slotting - 3 Defense Buffs
Combat Training: Offensive
Your accuracy is improved.
Type: Auto run self buff
Effects: +10% Accuracy, +33% Resistance to ToHit debuffs.
This is another great power, I have it 3 slotted with acc SOs and I have no trouble hitting. Its a real great passive eliminates the use for Accuacy enhancements.
Recommended Slotting - 3 Accuracy
Tactical Training: Maneuvers
A good leader knows how to protect his team. While active, this power increases the defense of yourself and all your nearby teammates to all attacks.
Type: Toggle team buff
Effects: +10% Defense to all, to self and all teammates
End Cost: 0.21 per second
Radius: 60 feet
Love this power 10% base defense to all. Take it, slot it, love it, and survive. As a Bane Spider this is your best defense I don't see how some Soldiers don't take it.
Recommended Slotting - 3 Defense Debuffs
Tactical Training: Assault
While this power is active, you and your nearby teammates deal more damage and are protected from Taunt and Placate.
Type: Toggle team buff
Effects: +15% Damage to self and team, +10.38 mag protection to taunt and placate
End Cost: 0.21 per second
Radius: 60 feet
It's a real nice power, big damage buff. I really wanted it but didn't have room for it in my build.
Recommended Slotting - 1 Endurance Reduction
Tactical Training: Leadership
While this power is active, your chance to hit and that of all your nearby teammates' is increased. Your advanced Tactics also protect you and your team from Confuse and Fear effects. Additionally, your Perception is improved, allowing you to better detect Stealthy foes.
Type: Toggle team buff
Effects: +10% ToHit, +5.19 magnitude Fear and Confuse protection, +60.55% resistance to Confuse and Fear, +51.9% Perception, all to self and team.
End Cost: 0.21 per second
Radius: 60 feet
As a team player I really wanted this power, but I found TT:M to be more benificial to the team, and I could only choose one. I really think this is a great power if you have room take it.
Recommended Slotting - 3 Tobuffs
Mental Training
Your mental training allows you to focus your will, allowing you to move faster than normal, as well as resist slow effects. This power is always on and permanently increases your attack rate and movement speed.
Effects Auto
Self: Self: +Recharge +Run Speed +Fly Speed +Resistance (Slow)
Type: Auto run self buff
Effects: +20% recharge, +40% Resistance to Run, Fly and Recharge debuffs, +13.7% Fly Speed, + 35% Run Speed.
What can I say? This is one of the greatest powers in the set, making all powers recharge quicker, even though its only 20% (I personally am not complaining but I have heard others), to me any extra is better, it also makes you run faster, so with this, swift, and sprint, you can move pretty quick, feels faster than fly.
Recommeded Slotting: 1 - 2 Runspeed
Call Reinforcements
As an Arachnos Soldier you have access to a small squadron of Arachnobot Disruptors. Two Disruptors that are one level less than you will show up when summoned.
Type: Pet summons
Effects: Summons 2 Arachnobot Disruptors to come and fight for you.
Recharge: 900 seconds (15 minutes)
Duration: 240 seconds (4 minutes)
These boys are nice I can see how there is some debate as to why some Banes don't take them, but when you really look at it these are like ill/ decoy (except they can die) they take aggro off of you. I mean I go in stealth let them attack everyone and grab the aggro and then I pick the baddies of one by one and don't have to worry about any aggro, since they get like a 22% def buff from TT:M and Manuvers they can dodge quite a few hits and with thier ST hold it really helps them and me survive. For EB fights I hold the aggro and they just add to my dps, and using survallence really makes their hits count.
Recommended Slotting (for recharge): 3 Recharge Reductions, 1-2 Damage, 1 Accuracy, 1 Hold
Recommended Slotting (for other than recharge): 3 Damage, 1-2 Hold, 1 Accuracy, 1 Immoblize
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Power Pools
Fighting
I think fighting is a nice set, on top of all of the other defenses Banes get Weave would be nice with an extra 5% to all, and Tough is a nice addition to, but sadly enough I didn't have room for it.
Fitness
I would rather have this than a travel power any day, Health and Stamina save so much downtime, I am able to run through mishes and I hardly ever see my blue bar go down, I recommended this 100% for any melee Bane.
Flight
Hover has a nice def bonus, but I like Combat Jump better.
Concealment
Can't stack stealth, didn't really see a need for this pool either.
Leadership
Stacking Leadership is nice, on my Wolf I had TT:A and Assult for a 30% damage buff it was real nice. For my Bane I took an extra Manuvers really helps to soft cap defense. If you have room take it.
Leaping
See notes for flight.
Presence
I guess if you want to Tank take this but, Banes are not built to Tank.
Medicine
I was actually about to sacrifice some powers for this pool. A self heal would give you what you need to really survive. I was thinking about it until I realized that I never really lost that much health to need it, or atleast I had enough greens. Take if you feel it may add to your survivablity, a nice pool to have.
Speed
Had to get Hasten, I mean it with Mental Training your powers now have a 90% recharge boost.
Teleportation
I can't comment on it, haven't had a Toon use this pool yet, and I only play my PB been meaning to create a WS but never got around to it.
Patron Power Pool
For a Bane Spider the only PPP I am going to recommend is Mace. Its pretty ok and is the only PPP that doesn't cause redraw. Mace Beam is nice does decent ranged damage, great for runners. Disruptor Blast is a great ranged AoE, I fully slotted it with Positron's Blast IO set and the proc comes up a lot when I use the attack. Blaster, a nice pet to have syncs real well with the Disruptors, since it is the same level as you it does do a bit more damage than the Disruptors.
My Build
Going to put it on later didn't have much time and I really wanted to get this guide out.
^Q_P'C(>|