Harleyrider1

Thanks for the explanation, SS. Deeply appreciated. Good to know that even a six-year vet can still learn something new about the game!

I've got two accounts and each one has between two and four empty slots for new characters. On Sunday (7/17) I logged on to each account and noticed that all the empty slots on each account were missing. I had just enough slots for my existing characters, but nothing else.

Anyone else encounter the mystery of the disappearing empty slots?

I've always wanted to do an all-VEAT TF and thought this weekend would be perfect since the ITF is the featured TF. So, I'll be organizing one this Saturday, March 19, at 3 p.m. Central (4 p.m. Eastern).

We'll start organizing at 2:50 p.m. Central in Cim. PST @Johnny Cryonic Saturday afternoon if you're interested. All VEATs levels 35 and up are welcome.

It'll be a shard run designed at taking out most everything that gets in our way. Should be a great opportunity for Incarnate VEATs to collect shards and a Notice, and an excellent way to grind out xps for any VEATs under 50.

Looking forward to it, and hope to see you Saturday afternoon.

If that's the case OF, that's actually a pretty good buff for just one slot. Considering a couple of melee IO sets, for example, provide a 2.5% or 3% damage buff once you slot four of them, an overall 2.5% average damage buff for that one Gaussian seems like a pretty good return on a one-slot investment.

I've been considering adding a slot to Bright Nova on my PB for a Gaussian's Chance for Build Up. Was hoping it would stand a better chance to proc since it's in a toggle.

But I'm not sure if a) it would fire that often and b)the number of times it might fire was worth devoting a slot to it in a slot-starved build where the two forms are emphasized and only the human-form stun, seekers and heals are used.

Opinions? Advice?

Thanks in advance for your help.

"Patently untrue?"

First, did you miss the parts of the post that included me saying I was basing my opinion on my playing experiences with my two builds. My playing experience and builds might be different from others, so our mileages may vary.

And it seems like you're treating my post as if I said the Huntsman is better than the Crab. Nowhere in there did I say that. I enjoy both, they just play a bit differently to me. I think the Huntsman is a very viable build and it's fun to play. I enjoy the Crab, too.

To me, and again this is subjective, my Huntsman seems to kill mobs faster than my Crab. Perhaps my crab build is different from yours Dveight, which puts us back at our mileages may vary.

You make very good points about the viability of a Crab's damage output and I certainly don't disagree with you. I didn't disagree with that in your previous post. I was merely saying that the Huntsman is a viable build for taking out groups of mobs if you're not looking for a Crab build.

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Great guide. But aren't you gimping yourself by not going Bane or Crab? Just looking at the dmg numbers on Mids it just does not seem worth it unless it is for a particular concept.

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I can't speak for banes, but you're right that aside from concept it's not worth it to not branch into crab if you're looking at damage. Fleeting_Whisper actually summed it up quite well with this post:

Wolf Spiders have 3 (damaging) AoEs: Heavy Burst, Venom Grenade, and Frag Grenade. Crabs get 4 AoEs that can be put in a regular attack chain: Suppression, Venom Grenade, Frag Grenade, and Frenzy.

Suppression does more damage than Heavy Burst, with a 4s longer recharge and 0.33s longer cast, and twice the arc size
Venom Grenade(Crab) is 0.2s faster cast than Venom Grenade(Wolf)
Frag Grenade(Crab) has a 0.2s faster cast than Frag Grenade(Wolf), and does higher mag knockback
Frenzy does more damage than any of the other AoEs
None of the Crab AoEs cause redraw

And Omega Maneuver isn't available every fight, but does more damage still.

The Wolf Spider can't have a better AoE chain than the Crab Spider, assuming both are building optimized attack chains. It's not possible.

And just to add to that myself, you can go for a perma-pet crab build that will allow for 6 pets to be out punishing your foes at all times, yet another thing this huntsman can't do.

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I'm actually playing both a Huntsman and a Crab right now. The Huntsman is lvl 40 and the Crab is 32, and the both have double assault. Grabbing Build Up from the Bane pool greatly improves the Huntsman's AoE onslaught, even though he has one less AoE than my Crab. I'm building the Huntsman with tons of recharge in mind so that Build Up will be up more often. The Huntsman reminds me very much of my lvl 50 fire/nrg blaster in that he can take down large crowds with three buffed AoEs.

I'm also looking at adding Bile Spray as a patron to add a fourth AoE. You also get a pair of Arachnos blasters at 38, which certainly helps, but not to the extent of the Crabs' pets.

The Crab has Aim to provide a minor damage buff, but in my experience he doesn't kill groups of mobs as quickly as the Huntsman. He is still lethal, however. He reminds me of my AR/devices blaster. And the two sets of spiders, once they're added, will boost his damage output and survivability.

In my playing experience, both are very viable and the Huntsman certainly isn't gimped. It's just a slightly different playstyle that sets the two apart, much like playing the fire/nrg blaster a bit differently than the AR/devices blaster. I actually enjoy my Huntsman more because of what Build Up brings to the party, but both toons are fun and very capable of tackling the job at hand.

Edited for clairty