Harkness

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  1. I keep having that problem. The links work in preview, but not when I post.

    Here's the data block:

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  2. Quote:
    Originally Posted by GeminiProject View Post
    Positional Defense has NO weakness that is NOT also a weakness for typed defense.
    This is not true. Some Typed attacks (mostly Psi IIRC) lack a Positional component.

    From what I've read on these boards, covering all six Types blocks a higher percentage of attacks than covering the three Positionals.

    However, if you can't cover all six Types, then the three Positionals win out.
  3. Ranged soft-capped and perma-hasten (and hence perma-AM). Stealth is meant to be left running, to maintain the softcap when suppressed.

    This is very much a team build focused on disabling the enemies and enabling my allies rather than providing a lot of direct damage.

    Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.601
    http://www.cohplanner.com/

    Click this DataLink to open the build!

    Level 50 Mutation Defender
    Primary Power Set: Radiation Emission
    Secondary Power Set: Sonic Attack
    Power Pool: Speed
    Power Pool: Flight
    Power Pool: Concealment
    Power Pool: Leadership
    Ancillary Pool: Psychic Mastery

    Hero Profile:
    Level 1: Radiation Infection
    • (A) Achilles' Heel - Chance for Res Debuff
    • (3) Dark Watcher's Despair - To Hit Debuff/Endurance
    • (3) Dark Watcher's Despair - To Hit Debuff
    • (5) Dark Watcher's Despair - To Hit Debuff/Recharge/Endurance
    • (5) Dark Watcher's Despair - Recharge/Endurance
    • (7) HamiO:Enzyme Exposure
    Level 1: Shriek
    • (A) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage
    • (36) Decimation - Damage/Endurance
    • (36) Decimation - Damage/Recharge
    • (36) Decimation - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge
    • (37) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
    Level 2: Radiant Aura
    • (A) Numina's Convalescence - +Regeneration/+Recovery
    • (7) Numina's Convalescence - Heal/Endurance
    • (9) Numina's Convalescence - Endurance/Recharge
    • (9) Numina's Convalescence - Heal/Recharge
    • (11) Numina's Convalescence - Heal/Endurance/Recharge
    • (11) Numina's Convalescence - Heal
    Level 4: Howl
    • (A) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage
    • (23) Positron's Blast - Chance of Damage(Energy)
    • (31) Positron's Blast - Damage/Recharge
    • (31) Positron's Blast - Damage/Range
    • (34) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
    Level 6: Enervating Field
    • (A) Endurance Reduction IO
    • (37) Endurance Reduction IO
    • (40) Endurance Reduction IO
    Level 8: Mutation
    • (A) Recharge Reduction IO
    Level 10: Hasten
    • (A) Recharge Reduction IO
    • (13) Recharge Reduction IO
    • (13) Recharge Reduction IO
    Level 12: Lingering Radiation
    • (A) Recharge Reduction IO
    • (23) Recharge Reduction IO
    Level 14: Hover
    • (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
    • (15) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
    • (15) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range
    • (17) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range/Endurance
    • (17) Blessing of the Zephyr - Knockback Reduction (4 points)
    Level 16: Fly
    • (A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range
    • (19) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range/Endurance
    • (19) Blessing of the Zephyr - Knockback Reduction (4 points)
    Level 18: Stealth
    • (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
    • (21) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
    • (21) Red Fortune - Defense/Endurance
    Level 20: Invisibility
    • (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
    Level 22: Grant Invisibility
    • (A) Recharge Reduction IO
    Level 24: Choking Cloud
    • (A) Basilisk's Gaze - Chance for Recharge Slow
    • (25) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge/Hold
    • (25) Basilisk's Gaze - Endurance/Recharge/Hold
    • (27) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Hold
    • (29) Endurance Reduction IO
    • (37) Lockdown - Chance for +2 Mag Hold
    Level 26: Maneuvers
    • (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
    • (27) Red Fortune - Defense/Endurance
    • (29) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
    Level 28: Assault
    • (A) Endurance Reduction IO
    • (31) Endurance Reduction IO
    Level 30: Vengeance
    • (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
    Level 32: EM Pulse
    • (A) Lockdown - Accuracy/Hold
    • (33) Lockdown - Accuracy/Recharge
    • (33) Lockdown - Recharge/Hold
    • (33) Lockdown - Endurance/Recharge/Hold
    • (34) Lockdown - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge/Hold
    • (34) Lockdown - Chance for +2 Mag Hold
    Level 35: Accelerate Metabolism
    • (A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range
    • (43) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range/Endurance
    • (46) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod
    • (48) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Recharge
    • (48) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Accuracy/Recharge
    • (50) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Recharge
    Level 38: Screech
    • (A) Stupefy - Chance of Knockback
    • (39) Stupefy - Stun/Range
    • (39) Stupefy - Accuracy/Endurance
    • (39) Stupefy - Endurance/Stun
    • (40) Stupefy - Accuracy/Recharge
    • (40) Stupefy - Accuracy/Stun/Recharge
    Level 41: Dominate
    • (A) Lockdown - Chance for +2 Mag Hold
    • (42) Lockdown - Accuracy/Recharge
    • (42) Lockdown - Recharge/Hold
    • (42) Lockdown - Accuracy/Hold
    • (43) Lockdown - Endurance/Recharge/Hold
    • (43) Lockdown - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge/Hold
    Level 44: World of Confusion
    • (A) Coercive Persuasion - Contagious Confusion
    • (45) Coercive Persuasion - Confused
    • (45) Coercive Persuasion - Confused/Recharge
    • (45) Coercive Persuasion - Accuracy/Confused/Recharge
    • (46) Coercive Persuasion - Accuracy/Recharge
    • (46) Coercive Persuasion - Confused/Endurance
    Level 47: Mind Over Body
    • (A) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%
    • (48) Impervium Armor - Resistance/Endurance
    • (50) Titanium Coating - Resistance/Endurance
    Level 49: Amplify
    • (A) Recharge Reduction IO
    • (50) Recharge Reduction IO
    ------------
    Level 1: Brawl
    • (A) Empty
    Level 1: Sprint
    • (A) Empty
    Level 2: Rest
    • (A) Empty
    Level 1: Vigilance
  4. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Ultimo_ View Post
    Interestingly, for sheer volume of invites, my SCRAPPER gets more than anything except my bubble Defender.

    Maybe it's because of the Captain America theme I used for him...

    Not even my Tanker gets as many invites as that Scrapper.
    There's a common theory in PuGs that you need 1 Tank, 1 healer and 6 damage dealers.

    On the days when there's no tanks about, my tank gets a lot of invites from everywhere, but on the weekends she usually gets none.

    My scrappers always get a lot of invites, but usually to those 1/1/6 teams.

    My defs get less invites than my scrapers, but they're from a better range of teams
  5. Quote:
    Originally Posted by PrincessDarkstar View Post
    The key difference between defenders and controllers/masterminds/corruptors is that defenders tend to concentrate on their primary and so the team tends to feel the benefit more than with any of the others, that isn't even counting for the better numbers.

    On my Fire/Kin I am awful with handing out the SB's since I am concentrating on the Fire Control part, yet on my Empathy defender everyone without mez protection is constantly CM'd since I actively look for that kind of thing.

    That is the main reason defenders are wanted, and always will be.
    I think this is the key. In general, Controllers focus on control, Corruptors want to blast things and MMs are more focused upon their pets than you. Defenders are not only better at their de/buffs, but they're more willing to use them.

    This is no way changes the fact that the Defender secondary is underpowered, their inherent is a joke, and they're usually the hardest AT to solo.

    But I'd also argue that a well-played Defender is often the strongest component to any team, and a team stacked with defenders will typically out-perform a team stacked with a different AT. I haven't seen anything beat the kind of mob-crushing and AV-obliterating power that a 5-6 Defender team can enable.

    So, in terms of power, my Defs are giants on teams, and poor solo, but that's how the AT ought to play, isn't it?

    I like the idea of them still being squishy and lower on direct damage, but I'd like to see the Inherent switched to some form of mez-protection like Blasters have. The damage bonus wouldn't fit the AT, but a broader mez-protection would. Perhaps so they can still use all of their Primary powers?
  6. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Digito View Post
    I suppose we can't color epic power pools yet? Otherwise a Fire/Fire/Fire might be the way I wanna go on this guy unless there's some reason this just wouldn't work. I love the things that can be done with Fire color-wise.
    The epic fire can't be changed, but it can be blended fairly easily.

    Fire Manipulation works better for the blapper model than an aerial blaster. You can fly and fight, but it's struggling against how the set was designed. This really bothered me (I'd wanted an aerial blaster) until I just learned to accept it.

    FM also lacks any mitigation except damage.

    Taking Flame Mastery rules out the S/L softcap option.

    I have a Fire/Fire/Fire that's built for recharge reduction and endurance, and I enjoy it a lot, but it face-plants more than any other AT I have. I love Rise of the Phoenix, so this doesn't bother me, but it might bother you.

    I'd highly recommend Fire as a primary, but if you want to be a flier, I'd recommend MM as your secondary (and Fire/MM is arguably better AoE damage than Fire/Fire). You could build for the Ranged Def softcap and be a very survivable blaster.
  7. I think you're going to find either a Dom or a Corr to your tastes. Given your full list of "wants", I'd suggest a fire/dark corr. Lots of damage in your primary, and debuffs and soft-controls galore in your secondary.
  8. Quote:
    Originally Posted by McCharraigin View Post
    Dumb Question number four-Lots of level 50 IOs sets. Are you going to be exempting?
    With the exception of PvPers targeting Siren's Call or Warburg, I don't think there's such a focus on building for exemplaring. Most people are dropping levels for TFs, and i16 just gave me 5 extra levels of powers for those.

    Unless I PvP or they introduce a Supreme Master of Positron TF where you have to play at +4 diff, I don't think the lower end material is hard enough to justify buying lower-level IOs.

    In addition, the whole softcap trend is, to a certain extent, pushing ATs away from their natural needs. If you're a Blaster softcapping, you're probably also worried about recharge reduction and endurance, and there's only so many masters you can serve at once. If you lower the IOs, and hence their bonuses to your Defense abilities, achieving softcap becomes that much harder to achieve without crippling your DPS.
  9. The only scrapper I've really enjoyed playing is my first, a DM/Regen. I've tried various builds and enjoyed them all. There's times I feel envious of the AoE mob-killers, but I have other ATs to play if I want AoE joy. My DM/Regen is a boss-killer, and she does that extremely well.

    She's also my most scalable AT, and doesn't feel crippled in lower lvl TFs or PvP zones. She solo-d all of the Oro badges without any major problems.

    I haven't found another AT that can handle bosses like her (although I'd imagine DM/SD would be slightly more effective), and she's just a hell of a lot of fun to play.

    I've played various scrappers to the 30s, only to delete them. My Kat/WP is boring, the claws/SR never felt like it was coming together, and the BS/Dark was far too slow with major end probs.
  10. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Cardinal_Doom View Post
    Thanks for all the advice guys, I appreciate it and with the combination have been able to make a very strong build, which I will post tonight when I am not on a work computer.

    Why are some people so insistent on slotting howling twilight? Yes it has awesome -regen debuff, but that is only useful when fighting Av's really, there aren't many normal enemies that have enough regen for it to matter. Also slotting it and adding sets does not increase the -regen so the best you could hope for is for recharge time.
    You're right that's primarily for AV mobs. A 30 second auto-hit stun on the AV mob (or any mob) is a good control. If you're buying purples, it's a nice place for Absolute Amazement.
  11. Harkness

    AoE Crab build

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by _Caliban View Post
    With all my Accuracy bonuses from sets and Combat Training, offensive, I never used AIM as it was. Especially since I do mostly AoE attacks, missing has never been an issue.

    I swapped out the Spiderlings for Bile Spray. Venom Grenade + Bile Spray does more damage, in a much larger area.

    Jetpack lets me hover and rain death if I need to stay out of melee.

    All I can really say is this build does more DPS with better survivability than my previous one.
    AIM is a 50% boost to damage as well as accuracy.

    I don't agree that a single cone attack covers more area and does more DPS than 3 pets attacking on top of your other attacks, but it's comparing apples and oranges, so YMMV.
  12. Harkness

    AoE Crab build

    I think you've done an admirable job of survivability. The Def and Res, even for a Crab, are impressive.

    However, you're sacrificing a lot for that survivability. Aim is a huge offensive power that you've skipped, and having only two out of the six possible pets drastically cuts down on your DPS.

    You'll lose that beautiful Ranged softcap pretty quickly solo, but you don't have any way to keep the mob off you, and your damage output is lacking, so you're not best-suited to solo.

    In teams, you'll probably be the last person left standing, but the team might have survived if you'd been dealing more damage.
  13. This is an excellent discussion about Fire Manipulation that I'd call required reading for finding FM easy to use.

    I think that a F/F/F loses too much by chasing after Def. It's a fun, frenetic combination, best built with the goals of recharge and endurance (the set's inescapable bane). The following build is the most recharge and endurance I can get without using purples. Purple sets could easily turn it into a perma-hasten build with even less End concerns.

    I typically fire off RoF, FBall, hop into melee with HF running and FSC, Combustion, pick off the stragglers.

    I try to keep an AV at the far edge of my HF (out of melee range, within Consume's radius), using Char to hold it in place, and then slide Burn under it. With Blaze up every three seconds and Char up every five seconds, most AVs are locked down and taking a hell of a lot of damage.

    This is still a risky build. Aid Self between mobs, or when an AV is locked down, can help, but I expect that RotP will remain a part of my "attack chain".

    You can trade RoF for Fire Breath if the scatter is an issue, and you can trade Burn for Combustion for a farming/AE play-style.

    Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.601
    http://www.cohplanner.com/

    Click this DataLink to open the build!

    fast f/f/f: Level 50 Mutation Blaster
    Primary Power Set: Fire Blast
    Secondary Power Set: Fire Manipulation
    Power Pool: Speed
    Power Pool: Fitness
    Power Pool: Medicine
    Power Pool: Leaping
    Ancillary Pool: Flame Mastery

    Hero Profile:
    Level 1: Flares
    • (A) Decimation - Chance of Build Up
    • (7) Decimation - Damage/Endurance
    • (25) Decimation - Damage/Recharge
    • (36) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage
    • (39) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
    Level 1: Ring of Fire
    • (A) Enfeebled Operation - Accuracy/Recharge
    • (3) Enfeebled Operation - Accuracy/Endurance
    • (17) Enfeebled Operation - Endurance/Immobilize
    • (27) Enfeebled Operation - Immobilize/Range
    • (36) Enfeebled Operation - Accuracy/Immobilize/Recharge
    Level 2: Fire Blast
    • (A) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage
    • (3) Decimation - Damage/Endurance
    • (17) Decimation - Damage/Recharge
    • (27) Decimation - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge
    • (36) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
    Level 4: Fire Ball
    • (A) Positron's Blast - Chance of Damage(Energy)
    • (5) Positron's Blast - Damage/Endurance
    • (5) Positron's Blast - Damage/Recharge
    • (7) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage
    • (13) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
    Level 6: Hasten
    • (A) Recharge Reduction IO
    • (31) Recharge Reduction IO
    • (31) Recharge Reduction IO
    Level 8: Rain of Fire
    • (A) Positron's Blast - Chance of Damage(Energy)
    • (9) Positron's Blast - Damage/Endurance
    • (9) Positron's Blast - Damage/Recharge
    • (13) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage
    • (15) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
    Level 10: Fire Sword Circle
    • (A) Obliteration - Damage
    • (11) Obliteration - Accuracy/Recharge
    • (11) Obliteration - Damage/Recharge
    • (15) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
    • (25) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
    Level 12: Hurdle
    • (A) Jumping IO
    Level 14: Super Speed
    • (A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Knockback Reduction (4 points)
    Level 16: Health
    • (A) Numina's Convalescence - +Regeneration/+Recovery
    Level 18: Blaze
    • (A) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage
    • (19) Decimation - Damage/Endurance
    • (19) Decimation - Damage/Recharge
    • (23) Decimation - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge
    • (23) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
    • (37) Devastation - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
    Level 20: Stamina
    • (A) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End
    • (21) Performance Shifter - EndMod
    • (21) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Recharge
    • (46) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Accuracy
    Level 22: Stimulant
    • (A) Recharge Reduction IO
    Level 24: Aid Self
    • (A) Interrupt Reduction IO
    • (34) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Endurance
    • (37) Doctored Wounds - Endurance/Recharge
    • (37) Doctored Wounds - Heal
    • (40) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Endurance/Recharge
    • (46) Doctored Wounds - Recharge
    Level 26: Build Up
    • (A) Adjusted Targeting - Recharge
    • (34) Adjusted Targeting - To Hit Buff/Endurance
    • (40) Adjusted Targeting - To Hit Buff/Recharge
    • (43) Adjusted Targeting - To Hit Buff/Endurance/Recharge
    • (43) Adjusted Targeting - Endurance/Recharge
    Level 28: Consume
    • (A) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Accuracy/Recharge
    • (29) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Recharge
    • (29) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Accuracy
    • (31) Performance Shifter - Accuracy/Recharge
    Level 30: Combat Jumping
    • (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
    Level 32: Inferno
    • (A) Obliteration - Damage
    • (33) Obliteration - Chance for Smashing Damage
    • (33) Obliteration - Damage/Recharge
    • (33) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
    • (34) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
    Level 35: Burn
    • (A) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
    • (40) Obliteration - Accuracy/Recharge
    • (43) Obliteration - Damage
    • (45) Obliteration - Damage/Recharge
    • (45) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
    Level 38: Hot Feet
    • (A) Tempered Readiness - Accuracy/Endurance
    • (39) Tempered Readiness - Endurance/Recharge/Slow
    • (39) Eradication - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
    • (45) Eradication - Chance for Energy Damage
    • (46) Scirocco's Dervish - Damage/Endurance
    Level 41: Char
    • (A) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge/Hold
    • (42) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Recharge
    • (42) Basilisk's Gaze - Recharge/Hold
    • (42) Basilisk's Gaze - Endurance/Recharge/Hold
    Level 44: Fire Shield
    • (A) HamiO:Ribosome Exposure
    Level 47: Rise of the Phoenix
    • (A) Stupefy - Accuracy/Stun/Recharge
    • (48) Stupefy - Chance of Knockback
    • (48) Stupefy - Accuracy/Endurance
    • (48) Stupefy - Accuracy/Recharge
    • (50) Stupefy - Endurance/Stun
    • (50) Recharge Reduction IO
    Level 49: Aim
    • (A) Recharge Reduction IO
    • (50) Recharge Reduction IO
    ------------
    Level 1: Brawl
    • (A) Empty
    Level 1: Sprint
    • (A) Unbounded Leap - +Stealth
    Level 2: Rest
    • (A) Recharge Reduction IO
    Level 1: Defiance



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    Credit: Build based off Hatred666's here.
  14. A suggested build. 38% Ranged Def.

    Compared to the OP's build, in combat you're now flying at 25mph instead of running at 17mph, you have KB and Immob Prot of 8, regain .18 End/Sec more, and you're slightly faster and more accurate.

    Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.601
    http://www.cohplanner.com/

    Click this DataLink to open the build!

    Suggestion: Level 50 Mutation Corruptor
    Primary Power Set: Fire Blast
    Secondary Power Set: Dark Miasma
    Power Pool: Speed
    Power Pool: Fitness
    Power Pool: Leaping
    Power Pool: Flight
    Ancillary Pool: Mu Mastery

    Villain Profile:
    Level 1: Fire Blast
    • (A) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
    • (3) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage
    • (3) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance
    • (5) Thunderstrike - Damage/Recharge
    • (5) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
    • (7) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
    Level 1: Twilight Grasp
    • (A) Touch of the Nictus - Chance for Negative Energy Damage
    • (7) Touch of the Nictus - Healing
    • (9) Touch of the Nictus - Accuracy/Healing
    • (9) Touch of the Nictus - Heal/HitPoints/Regeneration/Recharge
    • (11) Touch of the Nictus - Accuracy/Endurance/Heal/HitPoints/Regeneration
    Level 2: Flares
    • (A) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
    • (11) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage
    • (13) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance
    • (13) Thunderstrike - Damage/Recharge
    • (17) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
    • (17) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
    Level 4: Fire Ball
    • (A) Positron's Blast - Damage/Recharge
    • (19) Positron's Blast - Damage/Endurance
    • (19) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage
    • (34) Positron's Blast - Damage/Range
    • (36) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
    Level 6: Tar Patch
    • (A) Tempered Readiness - Endurance/Recharge/Slow
    • (36) Pacing of the Turtle - Endurance/Recharge/Slow
    • (37) Impeded Swiftness - Endurance/Recharge/Slow
    • (37) Curtail Speed - Endurance/Recharge/Slow
    Level 8: Fire Breath
    • (A) Positron's Blast - Damage/Recharge
    • (37) Positron's Blast - Damage/Endurance
    • (40) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage
    • (40) Positron's Blast - Damage/Range
    • (40) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
    Level 10: Rain of Fire
    • (A) Positron's Blast - Damage/Recharge
    • (42) Positron's Blast - Damage/Endurance
    • (42) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage
    • (42) Positron's Blast - Damage/Range
    • (43) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
    Level 12: Hasten
    • (A) Recharge Reduction IO
    • (43) Recharge Reduction IO
    • (43) Recharge Reduction IO
    Level 14: Super Speed
    • (A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range
    • (15) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range/Endurance
    • (15) Blessing of the Zephyr - Knockback Reduction (4 points)
    Level 16: Swift
    • (A) Flight Speed IO
    Level 18: Health
    • (A) Healing IO
    Level 20: Stamina
    • (A) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End
    • (21) Performance Shifter - EndMod
    • (21) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Recharge
    • (23) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Accuracy
    Level 22: Fearsome Stare
    • (A) Cloud Senses - ToHit Debuff
    • (23) Cloud Senses - Accuracy/ToHitDebuff
    • (25) Cloud Senses - Accuracy/Recharge
    • (25) Cloud Senses - ToHit Debuff/Endurance/Recharge
    • (27) Cloud Senses - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge
    • (27) Cloud Senses - Chance for Negative Energy Damage
    Level 24: Shadow Fall
    • (A) Red Fortune - Defense
    • (45) Red Fortune - Endurance
    • (45) Red Fortune - Defense/Endurance
    • (46) Red Fortune - Defense/Recharge
    • (46) Red Fortune - Endurance/Recharge
    • (46) Red Fortune - Defense/Endurance/Recharge
    Level 26: Blaze
    • (A) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
    • (31) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance
    • (48) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage
    • (48) Thunderstrike - Damage/Recharge
    • (50) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
    • (50) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
    Level 28: Darkest Night
    • (A) Dark Watcher's Despair - Recharge/Endurance
    • (29) Dark Watcher's Despair - Chance for Recharge Slow
    • (29) Dark Watcher's Despair - To Hit Debuff/Endurance
    • (31) Dark Watcher's Despair - To Hit Debuff/Recharge/Endurance
    Level 30: Combat Jumping
    • (A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range
    • (31) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range/Endurance
    • (33) Defense Buff IO
    Level 32: Hover
    • (A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range
    • (33) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range/Endurance
    • (33) Blessing of the Zephyr - Knockback Reduction (4 points)
    • (34) Gift of the Ancients - Defense/Endurance
    • (34) Gift of the Ancients - Defense/Endurance/Recharge
    Level 35: Aim
    • (A) Recharge Reduction IO
    • (36) Recharge Reduction IO
    Level 38: Dark Servant
    • (A) Dark Watcher's Despair - To Hit Debuff/Recharge
    • (39) Dark Watcher's Despair - To Hit Debuff/Recharge/Endurance
    • (39) Dark Watcher's Despair - Recharge/Endurance
    • (39) Dark Watcher's Despair - To Hit Debuff
    Level 41: Power Sink
    • (A) Recharge Reduction IO
    • (45) Recharge Reduction IO
    Level 44: Charged Armor
    • (A) Impervium Armor - Resistance/Endurance
    • (50) Impervium Armor - Resistance/Endurance/Recharge
    Level 47: Conserve Power
    • (A) Recharge Reduction IO
    • (48) Recharge Reduction IO
    Level 49: Howling Twilight
    • (A) Recharge Reduction IO
    ------------
    Level 1: Brawl
    • (A) Empty
    Level 1: Sprint
    • (A) Empty
    Level 2: Rest
    • (A) Empty
    Level 1: Scourge



    Code:
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  15. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Cardinal_Doom View Post
    Hey everyone, this is my first time posting on here. I just made a build for my lvl 50 fire/dark corr and wanted to get some advice. It is my first actual build on mid's. This corruptor will be used mainly for tearing through large groups of enemies solo
    You've made a few serious mistakes on this build.

    You're 6-slotted several sets with no noticeable benefit: the Positron's Blasts and Impervium Armour.

    You've bizarrely opted-out of Aim, which is a huge 42.5% Dam buff for 10 seconds every 45 or so. Double-slot it with Recharge Reductions and learn to love it.

    You've gone for a range of Def bonuses and taken the end-drain of the Fighting Pool, but you haven't hit a single softcap. Even with the to-hit debuffs, you're not achieving the sort of attack-mitigation you'll need for solo-ing large mobs.

    You can't effectively build for multiple kinds of Def. You need to target Positional or Typed.

    My advice would be to drop the Fighting Pool, and pick up Aim, CJ and Hover. CJ and Hover can be run together, and you move at an okay rate with BotZs in both powers.

    (Travel with SS and CJ, fight with CJ and Hover.)

    You can use the considerable BotZ bonuses and try to focus on getting Ranged to softcap and AoE to 30ish, and forget about other Def.

    Hover also lets you fly out of melee if a mob slips your Tar Patch, or if you run out of end unexpectedly.

    Don't 3-slot Tar Patch with Recharge Reduction; it's inefficient. Instead give another slot to Howling Twilight and its massive -Regen debuff.

    Although do slot Tar Patch with Slow. Unlike some debuffs, IOs to slow increase its effect (rather than its duration), and with 2 slow IOs, I believe it hits the maximum movement debuff, essentially a weak immob with that wonderful -30% Res.

    If you're prepared to 5-slot Twilight Grasp, switch to Touch of the Nictus for the extra end bump.

    If you're prepared to pay the inf and move into purple sets, I'd recommend pursuing Recharge Reduction. With your other powers, I think a perma-hasten build would fix your end issues and still let you softcap Ranged.
  16. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Cardinal_Doom View Post
    So in the end I couldn't really find room for any more slots for howling twilight [...] I just don't think there is anything that is worth using up slots on it.
    5-slot Absolute Amazement in it? It's a fairly-cheap purple.
  17. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Umbral View Post
    There isn't really a definable point wherein a specific amount of typed defense is better than a smaller amount of positional defense because the benefits of the two are highly situations and vary greatly across those situations (too much to make me feel comfortable giving an average). There are simply too many variables. For example, what if you were fighting Cimerorans? That 45% +def(s/l) would be more valuable than 40% +def(melee/ranged/AoE) because all of their attacks are either smashing or lethal typed. Of course, if you were fighting Hydras, the exact opposite would be true because almost none of their attacks (none at all, iirc) are typed for smash/lethal (I believe they're fire/ranged or fire/melee even though they deal toxic).
    I realise that the best these kinds of calculations can do is give an average, but I still think that the average is useful to know.

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Umbral View Post
    Mezzes are interesting insofar as there are more of them without positional components than there are of attacks, so it would negatively impact positional stacking. Of course, I don't believe there are many s/l mezzes, so s/l typed isn't really going to help you much in that department either.
    Do you know roughly what percentage of mezzes have a Positional component? And what percentage have Typed?

    Or general attacks, for that matter.

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Umbral View Post
    The positional v. typed issue for most ATs isn't really a question of impact. It's more a question of how much you can get. It is vastly easier to get positional defenses from set bonuses in substantial enough quantities to have it matter than it is to get typed defenses high enough, not to mention that, with positional defenses, though you'll still have to contend with the occasional non-positional psi attack, there are fewer categories that you have to stack, especially if you're running as a hover/fly character (in which all you really need is ranged and a bit of AoE). Typed characters, in order to be softcapped, have to stack s/l, f/c, n/e, and psi. Positional characters only have to contend with melee, ranged, and AoE.
    Thanks for the perspective.

    How directly do dark's to-hit debuffs equate to a character's Defense? For example, if I have 25% Def, and I'm opening with a -20% to-hit debuff, am I effectively at soft-cap for those people I've successfully debuffed?
  18. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Starsman View Post
    My most recent numbers note that the most dominant attack type is smashing with lethal being 20% less common (basically 80% of smashing) and energy being 30% less common than smashing (basically 70% of smashing)

    I'd have to go back to my compiled data and so some querying to see how many attacks in average you would cover up if just focused on smash/lethal (don't have access to it right now,) but smash/lethal and energy are the 3 most common damage types. The next most common damage type would be Fire and that sits at -70% of smashing or 30% of smashing. Its very rare outside of the CoT, really.
    I think this would be fantastically-useful information to know, particularly considering mezzing.

    Obviously, comparing Typed to Positional will always have a YMMV aspect to it (if you're only doing AE and ITFs, S/L will dominate), but for people that want to build and play all of the game, I think the information would be really handy.
  19. Another reason to favour TG over LD: It heals Fluffy.
  20. I've been studying the Dark/Dark combo from both Corr and Def sides, and I think worrying about soft-capping really boils down to worrying about the alpha strike. After that, the mob should be sufficiently debuffed that even a moderate Def is good enough.

    If you want to slot for Def soft-caps, it's possible, but you really ought to take CJ, Boxing, Tough, Weave, Swift, Health, Stamina.

    Mezzes are disproportionately un-Position-ed compared to other attacks, and Positionals cover less than Typed attacks, but unless you're an AT that can shoot for capping all six Typed Defenses, you're still better off relying upon all Positions than just S/L.

    You might get some mileage out of Hover. It's more efficient as a Def power than Maneuvers if you're solo, and it has the added bonus of being able to fly upwards if the fight goes badly.

    However, I don't think that soft-capping should hold tremendous relevance to a Dark/Dark Def/Corr beyond the alpha-strike.

    One particular trick I haven't seen mentioned in this thread that I've recently come to live by is slotting Fearsome Stare for -Acc debuff. 6-slotted with Siphon Insight, it's essentially Darkest Night with a Fear effect instead of a damage debuff. You can keep every mob at that same massive -28.5% to-hit without worrying about an anchor.

    It's a great opening attack because it controls most of the mob, and it debuffs more than it controls, including AVs. If I've put a Tar Patch between me and the AV mob, anyone who isn't hit with the fear and comes towards me is now grounded and their movement horribly debuffed.

    DN can double that, and a -57% to-hit debuff (even with AV Res to debuffs) is a powerful thing.

    Not slotting the Fear effect is actual helpful to this technique. Unslotted, the Fear wears off just before the debuff does, meaning that when the minions wake up you have a couple of seconds notice that the debuff is about to wear off for everyone (i.e. the AV).

    I think Recharge Reduction and Endurance Boosts is a stronger approach for a solo AV-killer than worrying about Def (although I'd still put that as the third priority).
  21. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Dechs Kaison View Post
    Ok, the way defense works is like this
    I know. I wasn't asking how Def worked.

    I was asking for a comparison of S/L versus Positional. Positional covers more than S/L, but no one's really sure how much more in actual play, or where the line is when you're better off with Positional over S/L (e.g. is 35% (Positions) > 45% S/L ?)

    I'm guessing that I'll need to try out a S/L softcap AT and a couple of Positional Def ATs to see how they compare.

    I was also asking about Mezzing as a factor of the Def argument, and according to Umbral, it's more the case that enough mezzes can bypass both Positional and S/L that unless I want to look at capping all Typed Def, there's not too much I can do about them.
  22. I started this topic over in the general forum, but I was told the Def gurus mostly hang out here

    I'd like to know the effectiveness of S/L Def versus Positional Defense.

    I understand that Positional Defense covers the vast majority of attacks, and that S/L Defense covers a good majority of attacks.

    I understand why a scrapper would find reaching the softcap on all Positions to be ideal, and why S/L soft-cap is a nice "next best" goal.

    However, I don't know where the effectiveness of one overtakes the over. Surely 40% Def (All Positions) is as good as 45% S/L Def, but where is the line? 35% Def (All Positions)? 30%?

    Additionally, I'd love to know if anyone has a clue how mezzes affect these results. I'd imagine that most mezzes have a Positional component, but that the Type has a greater variation than non-mezzing/damage attacks.

    For ATs other than Scrappers, doesn't Positional Defense have a greater impact simply by virtue of covering a greater percentage of incoming mezzes? For those ATs, surely the balance is even more skewed towards Positional Defense?

    Additionally, if you're a dedicated flier, can you safely cut Melee from your Positional Defense and just worry about Ranged and AoE, or does that work out badly in practice?
  23. I asked this question over in the general forum, but I thought I might hit more people with blaster experience over here:

    When building for Defense, how effective is S/L Def versus Typed Defense?

    For the blappers, I'd guess that S/L softcap is easier to hit than Ranged, AoE and Melee, but do you spend a lot more time mezzed as a result? Granted, you'll still have your primary attack chain, and that wonderful S/L Def, but do you find yourself down to the restricted chain a lot of the time?

    For the fliers, I'm assuming Ranged and AoE Defense are a lot more important than Melee, or even S/L?
  24. Thanks for the recommendation. I should probably ask the blappers in the blaster forum too.
  25. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Fleeting Whisper View Post
    I'm saying that 30% def to 3 things is better than 45% def to 2 things, yes. S/L may be common, but R/M/A is extremely common.

    Also, my numbers for how many critter powers have S/L vectors vs. how many have R/M/A vectors was completely made up on the spot.
    Yeah, I know, and I was hoping someone would be along with some more reliable figures.

    Given how often I've seen the "go for the S/L softcap" advice given, I was under the assumption it was coming from similar data to Dechs Kaison's softcapping post.

    Am I correct in assuming it's simply more anecdotal than that? We can guesstimate that ~70% of attacks have a S/L component, but no one knows what that exact figure is or how mez attacks skew those results?