Faultline_EU

A tri-form PB will only reach their full potential at level 50 when they have all their slots. Before that it's a case of only slotting two forms whilst the third is a little weak or trying to slot all three and being generally weak.

If I can get my new computer built by then (assuming the parcel containing all my new components that has dissapeared at my workplace turns up) I'll come along for my first raid.

I'm on most nights as Bob so if you need a hand, give me a shout mate. You have me on global.

Some more thoughts for you.

You can get much better returns with slotting endred in attacks than by slotting endmod in forms. For instance one EndRed in Dwarf Flare will save 4 end every 16 seconds (if hasten is running, every 9.5 seconds) whilst one EndMod in Dwarf itelf will gain you 4 end every 48 seconds. It is similar for Nova. Slot heaviest end usage attacks first.

The To Hit in Nova is tricky. If you really don't want to slot Acc in the attacks I would three slot with To Hits in Nova but put one Acc in say Bright Nova Detonation. That should mean you hit with that attack if used first and then the -def should mean the others will hit after and you can start to stack -def.

You may want to avoid trying to spread the slots out over all three forms straight away. I slotted Nova early, then human, then finally started seriously slotting dwarf in the late 40s. Focus on the forms you want to use most first.

First thought is I think you are going to miss a lot with no acc in all those attacks...

I was always going to be a tri-former as I felt it had the best versatility. If you are carefull where you put slots and don't waste them, you can get by pretty easily. I've often thought how my build would be different if I went all human but other than six slotting essence boost and reform essence (currently four and three slotted I think) and adding Pulsar, I wouldn't change the human part of my build at all. Seems like a good trade off to me for getting two extra forms with additional powers.

After reading on the US boards that power build up affects Fluffys chill of the night I always use that before summoning him now. Should double his debuff (although it's hard to test).

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So you would suggest moving the EndRed to IS and SF, or keeping them both on shields and on powers?

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Well if you look at the figures. One endred in IS saves 5 end every 12 seconds (which is how often you can use IS when using hasten). One endred in a shield saves 0.06 end every second meaning you save 0.72 end in 12 seconds. Much better returns on the first option.

The secret of tri-forming is making the best use of every slot. Hence for DS I only have 3 damage. I don't use it much (so no recharge needed) and when I do it will be with buildup and maybe a yellow insp, so no need for acc either (plus it has a 20% acc bonus anyway).

Nova and To Hit buffs is tricky as the attacks also have -def. Seen it shown that for even level mobs the acc is actually worse with just To Hit until a mob is hit and the -def kicks in. Maybe just use an acc on one of the AoE to make sure it hits and the -def should mean the other attacks hit as well? The best option is acc and To Hit but again that depends on how many slots you can spare.

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1) Shields
Do i need to slot them with an EndRdx, or is Stamina enough to avoid End issues?
2) White Dwarf
Same as above, do I need to slot it with EndRdx?
3) Reform Essence and Sublimation
Are 3 Rech to much? I was thinking, as an alternative, of slotting them with 1 Rech and 1 Heal. Or would 2 Rech be better?
4) Powers from lvl 44 up are in some way "fill-ins". I mean that I didn't know how to complete the build and choose them, but they don't satisfy me completely. I know that the utility of Pulsar is much debated on the forum, and I don't know much about Photon Seekers.
The alternative would be dropping them and get Superleap and Acrobatics. What do you think about it? Alternative solutions

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Let me give it a try

1. Think you'll still have end problems even with Stamina. EndRed in shields helps if you have the slots but you get a bigger return from slotting an endred in attacks like IS and Solar Flare.
2. Ditto. EndMod helps in the forms but an Endred in Dwarf Flare is a big help too.
3. Having a heal ready when you need it is never too much. Depends on how many slots you can spare in the powers. I presonally prefer healing more often than one big heal less often but thats me...
4.Jumping pool would depend on how much time you plan on spending in Human form?

On the build itself. Not sure it's worth putting 3 slots in Incandescence. The To Hit buffs in Nova form do help but you will probably need an acc in at least the two AoE attacks themsleves if you plan on fighting +2 and higher. Dawn strike won't be as powerfull a nuke as you are used to as a Blaster. You'll kill minions but Lt and Bosses will just end up flung all over the place and rather angry with you most of the time. Fun to use but not always very practical. Try it and see but you may decide that it's not worth using all the time and save yourself a couple of recharge slots there.

Quick question. You said you are going to spend time in Nova until light form is recharged and then use that. Will you be spending anytime in human at all? If not and you wil only be in nova or LF I can see a few things I might change.

It will be harder, especially as I don't think Fire secondary has much in the way of soft control powers for adding extra damage mitigation? Best way to check may be to pop along to Sirens and Bloody bay to see how you fare against some of the mobs there when you are exemped to 25 and 30. Will give you an idea about how much aggo you can handle at those levels. Pick a quiet time so you don't have to worry about being jumped by any villains.

I don't PvP much but have found my dark/rad defender can be quite hard to kill. Was in RV last night clearing a bit of debt with a heavy but got bored and was heading back to the exit. Found a MM and brute blocking my way so sat back to see what they would do. They spotted me and sent a heavy in. Whilst trying to decide how to tackle that I realized it was a diversion and the MM jumped me from behind followed by the brute from the front. I didn't last long.

I almost left the zone as I'd been on my way out anyway but decided to have a quick try at payback. Picked up a heavy and headed off to find them. The brute spotted me first and sat a little way off waiting for the MM to catch up with him. Unfortunately for him he was a little too close - tar patch, tp foe and one shot from my heavy has him on about 10hp. He got about 3 seconds of slow motion running in before even my limited firepower finished him off. The MM jumped in and stunned me but his pets were still far behind whilst mine was right there. Fluffy kept me nicely safe til I was back in the fight and the MM went down soon after. Whole fight took about 25 seconds. I don't often get kills so was very happy and hope I taught them not to mess with a defender.

Tar Patch is -res

Not about too much at the moment False but you may catch me.

Once I got Tactics I found that the -def wasn't that important anymore. Plus two of the AoE are short ranged and Neutron Bomb takes forever to animate (although I still took it cos it looked good). Sonic looks good for the extra offense and -res debuffs. Can't say I've ever seen one about tho....

Found Rad useful early on but not so much later and dropped half.

This is all assuming that you can stack all those powers which is really dependant on what sort of chain you can make out of them. I'm not /dark so can't comment but I suspect it will be hard to have them all debuffing at the same time all of the time?

Bob D Buffer - Dark/Rad/Power mastery.

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DN and FS are both 18.75% base for defenders.

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Any source for the FS figure? I know it's supposed to be 15% for corruptors but I was getting the same figure when I tested for defenders (although my sample wasn't huge - 130 odd attacks)

DN is 18.75% base. Fearsome Stare is 15%. Those two (with 3 slots in DN and one in FS) plus TT should get you to the 45% for +2 mobs.

A few things I'd say about slotting.

A second acc in TG is handy - three heals will make it a huge heal but no good if it misses...

Tar Patch - 3 recharge is a must most of the time. Makes it near perma.

Howling Twilight - The heal is pretty big anyway without heals slotted. It has a huge end cost tho (26 says the hero planner) and recharge can be handy.

Fearsome Stare - Mine is slotted 2 acc, 2 recharge, 1 fear, 1 debuff. I don't like missing and like it up often so I can react to new threats. Personal choice though really.

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with 3slotted stoneskin and 1 in GA you're pretty much capped in that department

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Actually you are nowhere near the cap. One res in GA takes you to 60% and 3 in stone skin gives you about another 15.5% - miles off the 90% cap and that's only for S/L. You are 40% off for F/C/E/NE. Filth gave a much more detailed rundown for you back in the thread about slotting GA if you didn't see it. I think his bottom line was you are taking twice as much damage as a tank with 3 res slotted in GA.

Fearsome Stare rarely scatters - pins them in place all trembly and fearfull like - and it's a power you really don't want to miss out on.

It's not really a capping issue. The way things work nowadays is that the first two enh work as normal. The third is only about 85% effective ( I think) and the last three are about 5% effective. You get very little return on the last three so it's generally better using them somewhere else. So for GA, three slotted is 78% res, 6 slotted is 82.5%.

I'd agree with all that.

Re: Stamina. I went without it my whole career and managed even when running two leadership toggles, Shadow Fall and DN. If I attacked lots and kept Super Speed on all mission I struggled so carefull toggle management can be needed (Do I really need Assault on for this mish etc..). By the time I got to 50 I had even more toggles but also Conserve Power and Geas of the Kind ones which evened it out a bit. Having Stamina would make things easier but you gain three power choices by skipping it so.... Just watch the insp drops and make sure you always have a few cabs handy.

Re: Black Hole. Whilst I feel this power is dismissed far too quickly by most people and have made it my quest to get more Hole Lovin' going ( ), I agree that you will very rarely use it most of the time. That said I probably use it as much as tp foe so...

Fearsome Stare is much better but it has a quite long recharge and if you have just used it, Black Hole is the next best power to use to take out a whole spawn without leaving you a fair bit of aggro. Well, for 30 seconds anyway after which they all come straight for you if the rest of the team doesn't come to help you.

I have tp foe and recall friend but I'd take recall first as you can stack dead bodies for rez along with the other reason Dead Calm listed.

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Black hole is a pain, and I'd recomend not taking it, though it may have PvP applications.


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Oh it's great for the comedy value when combined with Tactics. Watch those stalkers sneaking around eying you up as a target. Then watch them power up and rush in. Then watch as they stand there trying to figure out why they can't hit you. Just don't gloat for too long as the duration seems shorter than 30 seconds in PvP.