Exxar
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Posts
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Joined
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Quote:He has Knockout BlowOriginally Posted by BrandX
However, if you do, having a Hold power comes in handy, more so for the LGTF.
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Pair it with a damage aura secondary so that the aura benefits from Follow Up.
I'm not sure about this, but IIRC ST damage is better on scrappers and AoE on Brutes. Brutes also have an added benefit of a taunt aura no matter which secondary you pick so you won't be getting many runners which is extremely irritating otherwise.
So if you're going with a damage aura you have 3 sets to choose from: DA, FA and ElA. DA is arguably the toughest while FA has the greatest damage potential but is the squishiest. ElA is somewhere in the middle.
If you're looking for max survivability, however, I'd recommend Inv or WP. SR is nice but in the high-end IO game I'm afraid it loses to other sets. -
Quote:I'm a bit out of the loop... so it's confirmed that it's an AoE attack? Any info on when it will be available?Originally Posted by mauk2
Dyin' to know. I've got respecs pending on four different main toons until I see how much AOE we get out of it.
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If you're looking to spend one billion or more on the toon, I'd say go MA. If don't want to spend that much, go BS. BS is hands down the winner while leveling to 50 and for slotting with cheap sets, but doesn't shine very brightly with high-end slotting (when Parry starts getting obsolete). I'm saying this with a BS/SD as one of my favorite toons, but one that's tethering on the brink of being shelved because no matter how much I tweak his build, he's just not very good in the damage department. Sure, very survivable, but Whirling Sword is really a piddly AoE (Slice even more so) and I think you could get better ST damage with MA. The only thing BS has going for it over MA if you ignore Parry, is the tasty CRUNCH of Head Splitter.
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Quote:This. You'll feel the pain even more on the Brute since he gets GA later. So just say no to SA and go Invul. You'll be plenty survivable and you'll actually be able to do damage.Originally Posted by Deus_Otiosus
If you didn't follow through twice before on Stone Armor, I don't think you will follow through a third time around.
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The dragging and dropping actually works without holding shift.
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As ultrawatt said, Fences do -KB and I'd never use them with a SS toon because FS is an important source of mitigation. So that leaves us with one AoE in the pool. So the question is do you want a great ST attack as well as an AoE? If yes, go for Soul. If not, is one power pick saved more important to you than a not-so-big increase in damage? If yes, stick with Mu, otherwise go Fire. Also go with fire if you can spare the power pick and need more recharge (you can stuff 4x Basilisk's Gaze into Char for +7.5%).
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You seem like a Dominator afficionado so I'm puzzled as to why don't you have a Mind/Fire Dom yet.
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Quote:I'd call him chef. Because he cooks the mobs so nicely with their behinds constantly on the Burn patch. Also makes pancakes with Clobber.Originally Posted by Nalrok_AthZim
Mace/Fire (I call him the welder)
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If you're leaning towards Shield make a Scrapper, not a Brute. Scrapper shielders do way more damage than their Brute counterparts, and the Brutes don't outsurvive them by much.
I won't give you any specific suggestions since I just can't get into ElM, but here are some pointers on the secondaries you mentioned. ElA and SD are the most offensive ones, with the difference being that SD is simpler to play and more survivable on average. ElA is purely offensive and relies on tricks to survive - a click heal with a long recharge that increases your regeneration for 30 s after being activated, endurance sapping and recovery. With ElA, you won't have endurance issues, ever. You can also use it to effectively sap the mobs so that if you survive the alpha, you drain them of end so they're left without their hardest hitters. You'll also have more recharge with /ElA which is very beneficial to ElM. So yeah, of those two offensive sets, SD is more on the defensive side and ElA is even more offensive.
Invul and WP are survivability monsters, no question about it, and will outsurvive any other secondary you listed if you build for that. WP offers a much smoother ride to 50 but Invul peaks higher in certain situations, so it's really a matter of preference.
EA is an odd beast. You'll have trouble holding aggro like with other Brute secondaries because it doesn't have a taunt aura. Instead, it has a taunt component in its AoE endurance recovery power, but since you can only use it every 15-25 seconds it's not a true substitute. Just like ElA you'll never have end problems but it doesn't sap as well. The ride to 50 will be the roughest out of the listed sets, although it can be made quite survivable later on. What makes it special is its unsupressing stealth aura - you'll be able to engage half of a spawn without the other half noticing, and similar. If that's not your cup of tea, other secondaries are much better for you. -
Quote:Well yeah, you practically don't have a ST attack chain :D. The only thing for which ElM/SD is worth solo is farming, and even then probably with no bosses (I admit the last bit is pure speculation on my part based on not having an effective ST chain, I don't have any ElM/SD toons).Originally Posted by McCharraigin
Lisa sits straight up in her chair, puts her cup of coffee down, and blinks.....Electrical Melee not for soloing....Exxar, is this why out of all the Scrapper and Brute primaries I like Elec Melee the least???
Whew.
I thought there was something very wrong with me because I dislike my Elec/Shield scrap :)
Mmmmm I love me some /ElA (my current favorite is a SS/ElA brute), but it really does take Tough and Energize to start shining.Quote:Originally Posted by McCharraigin
However..my fav secondary for soloing is not on your list.../elec..however, for me at least, it does take about 15 levels to find it's sealegs so I guess that is why it is not on your list :)
To be perfectly honest with you, you'll definitively have the smoothest and easiest time with Claws/Willpower, there's no discussion about it. Both sets are the earliest bloomers there are, and together they're just the easy mode of rampant carnage.Quote:Originally Posted by Silvre
Claws
Dual Blades
Kinetic Melee
War Mace
and
Dark Armor
Fiery Aura
Willpower
Shield Defense
So these are all great solo powersets? Most of them, except for Dark Armor, I'm interested in, not because I think it sucks, it's much more because I like cool effects and I don't like DA's visual effects. I'm going closer towards Kinetic Melee because it has the coolest animation (for me) out of all of them and Fiery Aura as secondary because it's like getting a free Aura early on.
Other combinations also bloom early in comparison to those not on this list, but Claws and Willpower are the definite winners (with Dual Blades coming in as a veeeery close second after Claws, but only because its AoE at lvl 6 does less damage than that of Claws - Dual Blades have more AoE than Claws overall). So yeah, if you want the best experience all the way from lvl 1 to 50, I definitively suggest Claws/Willpower or Dual Blades/Willpower.
But don't let this deter you from Kinetic Melee if you like it. If you don't like a set, there's no reason to play it, just as there's no reason not to play a set that you like.
You won't get pushed aside for a weak powerset, no matter which powerset you have either as a Scrapper or Brute, as long as you don't play as a complete moron. Sure, people will look at you strangely if you pick Energy Aura or Energy melee, but they won't push you aside :)Quote:Originally Posted by Silvre
But I'm not sure if I should go Scrapper or Brute, some people I talked to in game say it's better for Scrapper as a whole instead of Brute and it kinda makes sense in a way to me because there's no Kinetic guide on Brute Forum and I'm hearing it's a weak power set when it comes to Brute AT? Is this true about it being weak? It's important because I really plan on grouping with others once in a while especially end game and I don't want people pushing me aside because my powerset is weak.
Regarding the Brute/Scrapper dilemma. Brutes are more survivable than Scrappers, period. However, Scrappers do more damage than Brutes unless you play to your Brute's strengths, meaning keeping fury at or above 80+. There is more to it than that, of course, but its not something you should bash your head about as a new player. So in short - Scrappers do more damage and Brutes are more survivable (unless you're a pro Brute player har har).
But some sets plainly are better on Scrappers just like some plainly are better on Brutes. Invulnerability and Willpower are better on Brutes because they directly depend on your hit points, and Brutes have more of those. On the other hand, Dual Blades, Kinetic Melee and Shield Defense are better on Scrappers because of the way damage is calculated in this game. The same could possibly be said for Claws since they use the same damage mechanism as Dual Blades, but unlike Dual Blades Brute Claws have different base damage and recharge numbers than Scrapper Claws so it's kinda fuzzy.
WM/SD is awesome. It's a bit bumpy from about 20 to about 33, but awesome.Quote:Originally Posted by Silvre
I'm also thinking of War Mace / Shield Defense. A friend of mine lvled it on his character before and he said it's a good combination.
Bad move. They both have the same range of AoE. ElM, however, is better in burst AoE damage which is important in farming and steamrolling in large teams. WM has a much more even AoE range though - all of its three AoEs are consistently good in their performance, while ElM's first one is nothing special and the other two are burst masters.Quote:Originally Posted by Silvre
He later decided to change to Elec / Shield because he wanted a much wider range of AoE attacks than War Mace. -
For great powerset combos for soloing from 1-50 pick any combination of:
Claws
Dual Blades
Kinetic Melee
War Mace
and
Dark Armor
Fiery Aura
Willpower
Shield Defense
The abovementioned powersets are all early bloomers so you'll have a great experience right from the start. The other sets are merely "good", because they're a bit of a pain to get to lvl 30 or so - they don't get any AoE attacks until then (or at all), their defenses are relatively weak compared to the above until that point, etc.
I'd also recommend that you avoid Battle Axe (War Mace is just plain better), Electrical Melee (NOT for soloing), Energy Melee (no AoE and there are much better ST sets), Energy Aura (mostly has a bad rep but is a very late bloomer and a bit quirky) and Stone Armor (sloooooooow). -
Oh. I forgot I don't need much accuracy because of Rage so I may as well switch those Crushing Impacts with procs.
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Looks great. I made one myself in the meantime and came to almost the same results. Well, maybe not that close because I don't use purple sets, but it's close enough. End consumption is a bit worse (but who cares, we have PS) non-SL defenses are 4% lower and regen took the biggest hit, being only 32 hp/s. It also saps a bit worse because I just love Gloom too much hehe, but I don't think BL saps that much anyway.
Here it is:
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I must say I haven't tried typed defenses on an /ElA toon with Alpha slots, I'll definitively have to check it. I assume you went Spiritual?
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Since you just said "better" without any specifics, here's a better build I'm currently using. I't a scrapper build, but there's no difference for a brute. You'll only have better hp and regen.
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.92
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Level 50 Magic Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Claws
Secondary Power Set: Super Reflexes
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leaping
Ancillary Pool: Body Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Strike -- Mako-Acc/Dmg(A), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(15), Mako-Dam%(15), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx(43), Mako-Dmg/Rchg(43), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(43)
Level 1: Focused Fighting -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(17), RedFtn-Def(37), RedFtn-EndRdx(42), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(42)
Level 2: Slash -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg(A), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(39), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg(40), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(40), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(40), Achilles-ResDeb%(42)
Level 4: Focused Senses -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(5), LkGmblr-Def(39)
Level 6: Spin -- Sciroc-Acc/Dmg(A), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx(7), Sciroc-Dmg/Rchg(7), Sciroc-Acc/Rchg(37), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(37), Armgdn-Dam%(39)
Level 8: Follow Up -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg(A), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(9), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg(9), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(11), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(13), Hectmb-Dam%(13)
Level 10: Agile -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(11)
Level 12: Practiced Brawler -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 14: Boxing -- Amaze-Stun(A)
Level 16: Dodge -- DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(17)
Level 18: Focus -- Decim-Acc/Dmg(A), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx(19), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(19), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(21), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(21), ExStrk-Dam%(36)
Level 20: Quickness -- Empty(A)
Level 22: Tough -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), Aegis-ResDam(23), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(23), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(34)
Level 24: Weave -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFtn-EndRdx(25), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(25), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(45), RedFtn-Def(46)
Level 26: Eviscerate -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(27), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(27), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(29), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(31), Oblit-%Dam(34)
Level 28: Lucky -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(29)
Level 30: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(31), RechRdx-I(31)
Level 32: Shockwave -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(33), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(33), Posi-Dmg/Rng(33), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(34)
Level 35: Evasion -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(36), LkGmblr-Def(36)
Level 38: Super Speed -- Empty(A)
Level 41: Conserve Power -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 44: Focused Accuracy -- GSFC-ToHit(A), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg(45), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(45), GSFC-Rchg/EndRdx(46), GSFC-ToHit/EndRdx(46), GSFC-Build%(48)
Level 47: Physical Perfection -- P'Shift-End%(A), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc(48), EndMod-I(48)
Level 49: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 1: Swift -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Hurdle -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A), Mrcl-Rcvry+(5), Numna-Heal(50), Numna-Heal/EndRdx(50), RgnTis-Regen+(50)
Level 1: Stamina -- P'Shift-End%(A), P'Shift-EndMod(3), EndMod-I(3)
Level 0: Freedom Phalanx Reserve
Level 0: Portal Jockey
Level 0: Task Force Commander
Level 0: The Atlas Medallion
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Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Critical Hit
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 1: LEGACY BUILD
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Set Bonus Totals:- 12.5% DamageBuff(Smashing)
- 12.5% DamageBuff(Lethal)
- 12.5% DamageBuff(Fire)
- 12.5% DamageBuff(Cold)
- 12.5% DamageBuff(Energy)
- 12.5% DamageBuff(Negative)
- 12.5% DamageBuff(Toxic)
- 12.5% DamageBuff(Psionic)
- 9.25% Defense(Melee)
- 6.125% Defense(Smashing)
- 6.125% Defense(Lethal)
- 8.938% Defense(Fire)
- 8.938% Defense(Cold)
- 6.125% Defense(Energy)
- 6.125% Defense(Negative)
- 3% Defense(Psionic)
- 9.25% Defense(Ranged)
- 10.19% Defense(AoE)
- 2.25% Max End
- 41% Enhancement(Accuracy)
- 75% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
- 15% FlySpeed
- 145.58 HP (10.87%) HitPoints
- 15% JumpHeight
- 15% JumpSpeed
- MezResist(Held) 3.3%
- MezResist(Immobilize) 14.85%
- MezResist(Stun) 2.2%
- 5% (0.084 End/sec) Recovery
- 62% (3.466 HP/sec) Regeneration
- 4.095% Resistance(Fire)
- 4.095% Resistance(Cold)
- 3.125% Resistance(Negative)
- 20% RunSpeed
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I wouldn't recommend softcapping defense on an /ElA toon simply because it requires too big of a sacrifice in other areas. And as soon as you get to fight def debuffing mobs (heloooo cimmies), all of that slotting is wasted.
Personally I'd go for permahaste and as much positional defense I could get, which should be about 30% melee, 25% ranged and 20% AoE with proper Alpha slotting. -
Sign me up for the nedrage party regarding /auctionhouse.
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Go. Smash. Kil stuf.
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Indeed. It seems I was in a rush.
And yeah, you'll suddenly start loving carnies. -
Quote:It seems I have. Probably shows how rare those are.Originally Posted by Razia
You forgot Thermal, same regen debuff values than benumb and LR
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I picked Soul. Electric Fences don't mesh well with Footstomp, you need to waste two power picks to get Fireball, while in Soul you get everything you need - a terrific ST attack, an AoE and a great survivability tool.
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Quote:Ahem. Lethal resistant mobs like bots are one thing, but the OP was asking about the general trend according to which most mobs resist S/L to a degree while they don't resist other damage types. That is usually blown way out of proportion.Originally Posted by GavinRuneblade
it is not poo, it is significant. I lost it with a HD failure but I used to have a screenshot of headsplitter against a Freak Tank with the attack itself dealing less damage than the Armageddon proc in it. I will cop to only having I think 80% damage slotted into the power at the time, but the point is it is not total crap. Taking lethal weapons against robots or other heavily resistant enemies can be very frustrating.
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Cold, Dark, Rad or Traps. All are primarily debuffers and still have some kind of buffs, but what's more important, all of them have what I consider the most important debuff of all - shutting down the regen of AVs.
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The whole smashing/lethal mob resistance thing is a bag of bovine poo. You'll do fine with claws. They're awesome for both AoE and ST. And you don't need a damage boosting power in your secondary since you have one in your primary.