Dirae

Hey Neo,

Tried to open that in mids but I keep getting an error. Must be have to do with version 1.94. If you can post a data chunk I'll try that.

Also, I modified the build you posted here: http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showt...light=huntsman

Dropped Soul Mastery, picked up Bayonet and E. Fences. Still has soft-cap (including 49.4% def to Psi) and perma-hasten. Bayonet is because I wanted to be able to have some single target burst from hide for things I dislike, like sappers, and because I wanted a ST chain with no redraw. I can run single shot->burst->single shot->bayonet seamlessly for some good ST dps (if anyone would like to calculate that, I would much appreciate it, or else I'll head to the scrapper forum. Burst has achilles proc, SS has apoc proc, Bayonet has heca proc).

Anyway, having a blast running a build that was almost entirely yours, and I'd like to help with this build if I can as thanks.

Level 12 Peacebringer: 1200+ days offline.

Highest PB I've played was at level 30, and that's only because I was playing one on test before i3 launched and he got level bumped that high.

I also have a 29 BS/Shield I started and absolutely loved everything about, but then I went on vacation for a week. Came back, and the magic was gone. Stripped him of his uniques and threw them to the character I took from 46-50 yesterday: my Huntsman, who is, for the time being, my new main.

Countless other alts have been discarded on their way to 50. Many were promising at first, but just lost their flavor. I keep most of them once they get to about 30, but rarely play them again. Oddly enough, my most played toon is my very first villain, an SS/EA brute from the launch of CoV. I soloed him 99% of the time from 1-43, without getting bored somehow.

Why not DM/INV? Dark melee has a heal built in to one of its best attacks, as well as to-hit debuffs and an endurance recovery tool. There were some VERY durable DM/INV builds floating around the scrapper forums awhile back, for both brutes and scrappers I believe.

Edit: For your consideration, the previously mentioned threads:

http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=254520

http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=254520

The stereotypical mind/fire
The oft mention earth/fire
The orange number spawning fire/fire
Or plant/psy for double creepers, seeds, and drain psyche shenanigans.

If you want to be an AV killing tool, mind/fire. If you want to apply the control equivalent of a sledge hammer to spawns, earth. If you want to do lots of damage, fire. If you want to do some things others can't really do and be a bit more unique, plant/psy. If you want to only be able to do things others can do better with the exception of AoE phase shift or teleport foe, or shoot pool tables and stuff at bad guys, gravity.

I tried to think of something biblical and humorous in regards to the title, but couldn't.

Sorry, I tried.

I have a high level ice/energy blaster, ice/traps corr, and fire/storm corr.

My vote is for fire/storm. Then again, fire blast/storm is a combination I've wanted since issue 3.

Two fire/rad controllers or fire/rad corruptors.

I have found the best excuses for using hover in combat are the following.

Ranged character with high ranged defense.

Martial artist using rocket boots. Yes, I just did a backflip and kicked you in the face with my flaming jet feet. Can I deal a type of damage other than smashing now?

Hey guys, I'm about to create a highly original thread which will highlight both my search fu and CoX prowess.

What is the best farming build out there? And can someone post me a mids build?

Thanks.

I've been playing for awhile and two big "I feel the power" moments were:

Years and years ago, when I started a radiation emission defender, and that came around level 4.

A few weeks ago, when my BS/Shield was doing pretty silly things for a level 22. Admittedly, he did have multiple +recovery uniques and a +def 3%, but still. I haven't had such a large jump in performance because SO's in a long time. Long live parry/DA. And being on a team in which multiple members have TT:M and Maneuvers.

And of course, many archetypal (no pun intended moments) in which I was the last person standing during "insert whatever difficult TF/trial" as a scrapper and won while the team was cheering me on.

The thing to remember about a big game hunter is that the DPS a toon can deal pales in comparison to -regen. If you do the math, a character who can severely debuff regen does a lot of actual DPS. For this reason, things like traps and radiation emission will do extremely well. (See things people have done with ill/rad, or traps, or drain psyche. If you want evidence for the last two, simply look up a few posts at Silverado.)

So yeah, in order to reiterate and get +1 post count, ill/rad with perma PA, bots/traps, or for melee, dark/shield or fire/shield, I guess.

If you're looking for more data, here it is:

Fire/fire tanker which I literally have not touched since the original burn nerf (around i3 or something, it's been awhile. His build has provoke and no APP): Base recovery, 1.67%

BS/Shield scrapper I started after issue 19: Base recovery, 1.67%

Aside from the obvious "whichever you find the most fun/play the most" answer, if those were mine, I'd go with the traps defender or fortunata, and the huntsman. But I love my huntsman.

Also, a long time (a year, at least) ago you were standing in Cap and broadcasted that you'd give whoever came to you first in a rat costume a level 20 numina's unique. I won. Thanks for that.

Haven't tried this yet but if that is the case, well, as other have noted it's a pretty poor approach by the devs. There was some discussion about how simply letting the mobs hit you more often impacts non-defense sets equally or worse than defense ones, simply because defense sets have a lot of room to slot more defense bonuses. Shield, SR, and Ea aren't the only armor sets that rely on defense bonuses for extra and often needed survivability.

Don't have access to mids but with shield you'll want to prioritize soft capping your defenses to even con mobs (45% to melee/range/aoe), and then probably recharge to bring your tele-nukes up faster, as long as your end can handle it.

As for /elec, well, I'm not really sure. You'll more likely want to add def, specifically melee or smashing/lethal. Endurance won't be an issue and lightning reflexes will give you an easy 20% recharge.

As far as elec/shield goes, the general consensus is to choose scrapper. This because of the way the +dmg from Against all Odds functions, and because lightning rod is technically a pet and there's some issue with that pet's damage cap.

For /WP, a brute will likely be better, because regeneration is a percentage of your max HP, and brutes have a higher HP cap. Same with /elec, but because brute's have a higher res cap.

As far as being able to take a beating, I'm pretty sure that any of those secondaries will fit the bill, regardless of archetype, especially when you IO them out, or if you're on a team with any sort of good support. My BS/Shield became amazing the instant he got SO's, but that is in large part due to parry playing to /SD's strengths.

Why not got with elec/shield? It's popular for a reason. Give an already powerful AoE primary more AoE damage. Since you aren't interested in AV soloing, well, you don't need to hit some ST DPS mark. I'm no number cruncher, but the extra damage a scrapper deals may well exceed the brute's single target chain even though the brute has gloom.

I vote for elec/shield. We scrappers are often the soloists and much of the forum discussion centers around what a minx/max'd scrapper can do by his or herself, but CoX is a team game, and an easy one with that. Why wade in and lay waste when you can teleport in and lay waste at the same time? Throw in fireball from the APP and a judgment incarnate, and you could probably make a few blasters jealous.

One word of warning, however: Taking /SD to its full potential is expensive.

On the topic of legacies left form the early days:

Why on earth do we still have the same selection of medieval helms?

Hey Bass,

This thread inspired my to start my own BS/SD.

He's currently sitting at 21 and is about to start getting some helpful IO's. (+end uniques mostly).

However, I'm forced to play on OSX at the moment and don't have access to mids. Would you mind posting that build in the whole?

Thanks. Pictures coming soon.

I made sure to grab every badge I could with my katana/sr loyalist (power) scrapper, and had no problems at all soloing most of the content. Divine avalanche is a beautiful thing. That mission in which you need to defeat 100 Destroyers? No problem. Soft capped melee defense in a character's teens? (Double stacked DA, FF, CJ, dodge, etc. ) Yes please. Those ghouls aren't so bad when they don't hit you.

Hey Auroxis, did you ever run a character named Black-Op who sat in the Siren's Call hospital all the time?

Hello Corruptor Forums,

I come to you in need of advice.

As a long term player, I have many high level characters. The high level characters which I devote 99% of my wealth to have all been melee characters, as I have always preferred the brute/scrapper/stalker lifestyle. This time around, however, my project is to turn a Fire/Rad corruptor into a complete monster.

My problem is as follows: Because I devote my time to my favorite melee characters, I am only used to producing purpled out builds for melee characters. Typically I am used to doing the following: developing a build which is soft capped and has enough +rech/+rec to run a specific high DPS chain indefinitely.

Also, my PC no longer functions, so I am forced to go without Mids. (( I am not asking for you to build for me, I much prefer to do so myself. I will have bootcamp+windows 7 running shortly. )) Going without Mids has been tough, considering some days I'd spend more time playing in Mids than playing in Paragon.

Anyway, on to the question: What are the optimum build goals a fire/rad should shoot for? Keep in mind that price is a non-issue here.

Is the number one goal recharge? If I remember correctly, perma-AM is possible, however I don't have access to Mids. I assume that with perma-AM, having enough recharge to run the best chains is a given.

Should I build for some positional defense? Typed defense? How much is enough to stack with radiation infection's -tohit and essentially make me a SR? Do I want the +def patron shield, or a different epic altogether?

How much recovery am I looking for? As much as possible after building in +rech, or as much as possible after building for +rech/necessary +def?

Is there anything else which would greatly benefit this character, or satisfy any unforeseen needs?

What sacrifices would this build need to make in order to become a hard-target specialist? (AV's, hopefully GM's) Will I have to forego my AoE bread and butter attacks?

Do you have any advice as far as slotting my secondary?

I realize much of this comes down to personal preference, but when builds are designed to push performance to its limits, there are typically some guidelines.

Thank you for taking the time to help out a melee-centric builder.
-Dirae

If survivability is your number one concern, I am not sure that fiery aura is exactly what you're looking for. I'm not saying your fiery aura brute is going to fold like paper, only that historically fiery aura has been a set that sacrifices some defenses for additional damage.

That said, pretty much every brute is going to survive average teaming conditions (barring terrible pick up groups) on the run to 50. You'll have stone melee, which offers quite a bit of mitigation for knockdown. This will allow you to use fault to throw a bunch of baddies on their back, then hit healing flames and be good to go.

But if you're concerned about taking on extreme situations, fiery aura might not make it far up the difficulty curve without significant IO investments. Typically, shield/sr do very well once softcapped, willpower does well throughout its career, and /inv can do very nasty things as well (i.e. solo multiple AV's simultaneously, with proper IO's). Stone armor (I hope you didn't mean FM/stone armor) was once the king of survivability, and probably still is, it's just not as popular as it once was essentially because of set bonuses.

As for power choices, I can't offer too much advice on stone melee other than you're probably going to want the four single target attacks, fault, build up, and tremor.

As for FA, you obviously want the shields, can probably skip temperature protection (unless you really find the need for the slow/recharge res; it can be good to have since a large part of your mitigation will be from a fast recharging heal), definitely grab Healing Flames, Fiery Embrace, Blazing Aura. You will likely want consumption to help with the endurance cost of stone melee. If you want more AoE, take burn. I haven't tried the new burn but I would imagine it would help nicely to balance out stone melee's single target orientation.

I'm one of the people who will take rise of the phoenix if I have room, mostly because I love the animation. As well as Self Destruct->RoTP.

Oh, and you'll want to pick up KB protection somewhere, whether with IO bonuses or through Acrobatics.