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Heraclea

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  1. Heraclea
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Healix View Post
    I actually got that pic from a website dedicated to shadflies.
    Are shadflies the same thing as mayflies or éphémères? That's what I knew them as.

    At any rate....

    The city lights — God bless them! for the net they weave keeps us safe from falling upwards into the sky. For it is a terrible thing to confront the vertiginous void of stars.
  2. Heraclea
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by GloryBoy View Post
    The only reason why I asked I guess was that I was noticing a few issues specifically running with scrappers that have a taunt aura, which is one of the issues you mention. It was more so an issue on my WP/DM who completely lacks the AoEs that this was mostly apparent (much more frequently then say my main WP/Axe whom only loses say AV aggro when the /shield or invul scrapper is wailing away and I havent dropped a taunt on him/her)

    But again, maybe I missed it, but I didn't see in your guide as to why WP has such a lower mag. *shrug*
    As to why, I don't know; it's a design decision by the devs. Willpower was designed to have to work for aggro, and was given the tools to do that; it's a set that relies on offense as well as defense, similar to Shields and Fire.

    And those scrappers with a taunt aura aren't probably characters you need to worry a lot about. If they want to leapfrog you, let 'em. It's their game too. Unless it's a master run of some kind, the worst that could happen to them is that they get over their heads, and it's up to them to learn their limitations. You are not to blame if they run past you, no matter whatever happens to them.

    Again, you have to pick priorities, and if scrappers want to tank let 'em. They can. You'd be better off minding the back row and keeping Taunt available for breakaways. This too is a useful service.
  3. Heraclea
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by GloryBoy View Post
    So, I have been playing my character for a while now; he is a WP/BA. I love the toon, he has become my main over the past two or so years despite being around since i2 or i3. Now, my question is why is it that Willpower has such a weak aggro aura? I haven't really ever seen an explanation to this and was simply curious. I do realize Willpower has a significantly high survivability and is pretty reliable in most incidents and blooms fairly early. I was just curious why the magnitude of taunt on WP's Rise to the Challenge is mag 3 as opposed to the usual mag 4, along with having a much lower taunt duration (1.25 as opposed to 10-15+seconds of most tanker taunt auras). I dont mind losing/having to fight for aggro when on a team with a tanker or even a brute, but my issue is when a /Shield or any other reliable/substantial taunt aura using scrapper tends to out aggro me. I admit, if I am throwing out my Taunt reliably and everytime it is up, then yeah, I have full aggro of the mob or that AV. However, if I say forget to toss taunt out on the AV then I am going to lose the aggro after a few swings by the scrapper.
    The magnitude is not the real issue; it only comes into play when you have a scrapper or brute with a taunt of equal magnitude and longer duration.

    With WP, it's a matter of choosing priority targets and using skill. The team doesn't need you to taunt everything constantly, and if you know there's one big target or a couple of bosses it's not difficult to keep that one occupied.

    Having lots of AoE and slotting for taunt helps. This guide may be of some help.
  4. Heraclea
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by GavinRuneblade View Post
    A part of me cringes to see the defense bonus from shield breaker not taken.
    That mostly was me not updating the saved build. I eventually did get the sixth button there, but it took a while to acquire since I was looking only for the level 30 button, because of the concept.
  5. Heraclea
    I took Temperature Protection, mostly because it is a useful mule, and slow resistance helps. This build contains a minor eccentricity: on live I use all 30 and below enhancements, in order to keep my set bonuses alive earlier. This took a while to assemble.

    You can very easily make a character that gets all the combos. The last three powers are quite optional, and could easily be replaced by Burn, Power Slice, Fiery Embrace. Finding slots for those may be harder. This was an unusual build in that I felt myself strongly constrained by available slots, while being able to throw away power selections.

    Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.704
    http://www.cohplanner.com/

    Click this DataLink to open the build!

    Pomba Gira: Level 50 Magic Tanker
    Primary Power Set: Fiery Aura
    Secondary Power Set: Dual Blades
    Power Pool: Fitness
    Power Pool: Fighting
    Power Pool: Leaping
    Ancillary Pool: Energy Mastery

    Hero Profile:
    Level 1: Fire Shield -- RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx:30(A), RctvArm-ResDam/Rchg:30(7), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg:30(11), S'fstPrt-ResKB:30(15), RctvArm-EndRdx:30(17), S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+:30(34)
    Level 1: Nimble Slash -- S'ngH'mkr-Acc/Dmg:30(A), S'ngH'mkr-Dmg/EndRdx:30(3), S'ngH'mkr-Dmg/Rchg:30(3), S'ngH'mkr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:30(42), Acc-I:50(43)
    Level 2: Healing Flames -- H'zdH-Heal/EndRdx:30(A), H'zdH-EndRdx/Rchg:30(5), H'zdH-Heal/Rchg:30(7), H'zdH-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg:30(19), H'zdH-Heal:30(37), RechRdx-I:50(40)
    Level 4: Ablating Strike -- ShldBrk-DefDeb:30(A), ShldBrk-Acc/DefDeb:30(5), ShldBrk-Acc/Rchg:30(11), ShldBrk-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg:30(42), ShldBrk-DefDeb/EndRdx/Rchg:30(42), Dmg-I:30(43)
    Level 6: Hurdle -- Jump-I:50(A)
    Level 8: Consume -- Adrenal-EndMod:20(A), Adrenal-EndMod/Rchg:20(9), Adrenal-EndMod/Acc/Rchg:20(9), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc:30(15), Efficacy-Acc/Rchg:30(43), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc/Rchg:30(45)
    Level 10: Taunt -- Annoy-Taunt:20(A), Annoy-Taunt/Rchg:20(45), Annoy-Taunt/Rchg/Rng:20(46)
    Level 12: Plasma Shield -- RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx:30(A), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg:30(13), RctvArm-ResDam:30(13), RctvArm-ResDam/Rchg:30(31), RctvArm-EndRdx:30(45)
    Level 14: Kick -- Acc-I:50(A)
    Level 16: Typhoon's Edge -- Oblit-Dmg:30(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg:30(17), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg:30(23), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:30(23), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:30(48), Oblit-%Dam:30(50)
    Level 18: Health -- Mrcl-Rcvry+:30(A), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+:30(19)
    Level 20: Stamina -- EndMod-I:50(A), EndMod-I:50(21), P'Shift-EndMod:30(21), P'Shift-End%:30(46)
    Level 22: Blazing Aura -- M'Strk-Acc/Dmg:30(A), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx:30(25), M'Strk-Dmg/Rchg:30(31), M'Strk-Acc/EndRdx:30(31), M'Strk-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:30(34), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:30(34)
    Level 24: Blinding Feint -- Acc-I:50(A), Acc-I:50(25), RechRdx-I:50(46)
    Level 26: Tough -- RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx:30(A), RctvArm-ResDam:30(27), RctvArm-EndRdx:30(27), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg:30(50)
    Level 28: Vengeful Slice -- S'ngH'mkr-Acc/Dmg:30(A), S'ngH'mkr-Dmg/EndRdx:30(29), S'ngH'mkr-Dmg/Rchg:30(29), S'ngH'mkr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:30(48), Acc-I:30(50)
    Level 30: Temperature Protection -- S'fstPrt-ResKB:30(A)
    Level 32: Weave -- GftotA-Def/EndRdx:30(A), GftotA-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:30(33), GftotA-Def:30(33), GftotA-EndRdx/Rchg:30(33)
    Level 35: Sweeping Strike -- Oblit-Dmg:30(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg:30(36), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg:30(36), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:30(36), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:30(37), Oblit-%Dam:30(37)
    Level 38: One Thousand Cuts -- Oblit-Dmg:30(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg:30(39), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg:30(39), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:30(39), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:30(40), Oblit-%Dam:30(40)
    Level 41: Combat Jumping -- Ksmt-ToHit+:30(A), Winter-ResSlow:50(48)
    Level 44: Rise of the Phoenix -- RechRdx-I:50(A)
    Level 47: Conserve Power -- RechRdx-I:50(A)
    Level 49: Physical Perfection -- P'Shift-End%:30(A)
    ------------
    Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
    Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
    Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
    Level 1: Gauntlet
    Level 0: Ninja Run
    ------------
    Set Bonus Totals:
    • 9% DamageBuff(Smashing)
    • 9% DamageBuff(Lethal)
    • 9% DamageBuff(Fire)
    • 9% DamageBuff(Cold)
    • 9% DamageBuff(Energy)
    • 9% DamageBuff(Negative)
    • 9% DamageBuff(Toxic)
    • 9% DamageBuff(Psionic)
    • 18.3% Defense(Smashing)
    • 18.3% Defense(Lethal)
    • 6.75% Defense(Fire)
    • 6.75% Defense(Cold)
    • 6.75% Defense(Energy)
    • 6.75% Defense(Negative)
    • 3% Defense(Psionic)
    • 20.5% Defense(Melee)
    • 4.88% Defense(Ranged)
    • 10.5% Defense(AoE)
    • 1.8% Max End
    • 3% Enhancement(Heal)
    • 38% Enhancement(Accuracy)
    • 15% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
    • 5% FlySpeed
    • 84.3 HP (4.5%) HitPoints
    • 5% JumpHeight
    • 5% JumpSpeed
    • Knockback (Mag -8)
    • Knockup (Mag -8)
    • MezResist(Confused) 4.15%
    • MezResist(Held) 2.5%
    • MezResist(Immobilize) 10.2%
    • MezResist(Sleep) 4.15%
    • MezResist(Stun) 10.8%
    • MezResist(Terrorized) 2.5%
    • 10% (0.17 End/sec) Recovery
    • 4% (0.31 HP/sec) Regeneration
    • 20% ResEffect(FlySpeed)
    • 20% ResEffect(RechargeTime)
    • 20% ResEffect(RunSpeed)
    • 3.45% Resistance(Fire)
    • 0.95% Resistance(Cold)
    • 5% RunSpeed



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  6. Heraclea

    Purple sets?

    POST-ACTION

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Dechs Kaison View Post
    The only exception here is Warshades, who get their survivability from recharge.
    Technically, fire and dark tankers get better survivability with high recharge. Even so, they're better off avoiding hits than firing their self heals more often. Other self-healing sets like Invulnerability and Stone also become tougher with recharge, but something like Dull Pain isn't going to be up often enough even with a high recharge build to substitute for defense.

    I agree, though: purple sets tend to be bad bargains for tankers. Defense is king, currently, and defense sets are in high demand. There are no purple taunt sets, no purple resist sets, and no purple defense sets. If you want purples in your build, pick power sets that do weird stuff, like the fear in Dark Armor or Dark Melee, or an attack set with a hold, or immobilize in it, or take a sleep from a 41+ power pool. These purples will be cost effective. For most tankers, you're better off saving your inf for defense sets.
  7. Heraclea


    "One of these three is not like the others." That is what the contact said, right? Damn, this is tough.

    If I am a winner, I permit NC Interactive, Inc. and NCsoft Europe Limited to use my name, likeness, photograph, hometown, and any comments that I may make about myself or this contest that I provide for advertising and promotional activities. I also certify that I am at least 13 years of age and am eligible to participate in this contest.
  8. Heraclea
    Since just about every other set has been given a nod....

    Empathy would probably be very useful here. Willpower's biggest issue, especially before it's practical to put Tough and Weave on, is seesawing hit points. A set with big single target heals would help. And Empathy gets a big single target buff early in Fortitude. Empathy still adds more than any other set, faster, to small teams.
  9. Heraclea

    Name that Powerset

    POST-ACTION

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Terminal Velocity View Post
    Kinetic melee/Will power
    Plant/thorns dominator?

    Toxotes (my character)
  10. Heraclea

    Name that Powerset

    POST-ACTION

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Thirty-Seven View Post
    Mantis Engine (one of my characters)
    Claws/Reflexes brute

    Laird of Kintyre
  11. Heraclea

    Name that Powerset

    POST-ACTION

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Thirty-Seven View Post
    Scattershock
    Storm/Electric defender.

    Jeanne la Pucelle
  12. Heraclea
    The only thing I would add is that your defensive set makes a difference.

    Particularly, Fire and Willpower have reasons to prefer Axe. The knockdown in Axe makes Burn easier to use, while the stuns in Mace don't help. The stuns in Mace can also set mobs running away at high speed, which doesn't help Willpower.
  13. Heraclea

    Name that Powerset

    POST-ACTION

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Philly_Guy View Post
    Energix
    Energy/Mind blaster, dressed up like a character from Asterix the Gaul.

    The Man from Uranus
  14. Heraclea


    I had a sprocket
    In my pocket.
    Where, Oh where
    Could I have dropped it?

    If I am a winner, I permit NC Interactive, Inc. and NCsoft Europe Limited to use my name, likeness, photograph, hometown, and any comments that I may make about myself or this contest that I provide for advertising and promotional activities. I also certify that I am at least 13 years of age and am eligible to participate in this contest.
  15. Heraclea
    I have a level 50 stone/axe tanker I'd never delete, but don't really enjoy the powerset much and don't play her often. Then again, I have to have concept before I can really enjoy a character, and stone is very limiting there.

    If you think you won't enjoy playing a stone tanker because of the speed or aesthetic issues, you probably won't. My suggestion would be to roll Invulnerability instead. It can approach Stone in performance without any of the aesthetic or playstyle disadvantages.
  16. Heraclea

    Terror Tank

    POST-ACTION

    Ay, but you'll be working hard and spending millions to get a Dark Armor tanker to the soft cap. (Shields, not so hard.)

    The larger problem I can see with a fear based Dark/Dark/Presence tanker is that it would not scale well with team size. You would have four fear powers, but two are single target fears, and some are relatively slow to recharge. On a large team, that's an awful lot of mobs to try to control.
  17. Heraclea

    Terror Tank

    POST-ACTION

    If I wanted to make a fear based tanker, I'd go with Dark/Dark. Like with any kind of control power, stacking is key. With Dark/Dark you get a fear in your primary, one in your secondary, and can get another in Presence pool if that's your concept.

    Dark Armor is relatively forgiving if you are going to specialize in one form of its mitigation control, you can skip at least some of the others; you aren't going to need Oppressive Gloom, for instance. If I were doing this, I'd try taking Presence instead of Fighting, just to see how that would work.
  18. Heraclea
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Nethergoat View Post
    But I wonder if the impact on our old friend the "casual gamer" won't be more profound than anticipated. One popular complaint over the years has been "I like to play my alts too much, so I can't make a fortune". Now, what was once 16 individual cups of inf is one gallon.

    Another popular accusation is that "sugar daddies" funding other characters is an underhanded practice. Well, there are no more sugar daddies. Your entire account shares the same inf pool....it's positively Socialist!

    I'm wondering if, once all this sinks in, a new generation of 'casual gamers' will be less hostile and conspiracy minded about the market. Any thoughts?
    I was "hostile and conspiracy minded about the market" until I started elaborate contrivances to concentrate inf accumulation on a single character. Part of this was a question of having too many alts, and no real "main"; accumulating that much inf on any one character threatened to get dull.

    Thank God that this game does not include tedium like progression raiding, which more or less forces you into playing a single character consistently.
  19. Heraclea
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by LiquidX View Post
    I was afraid that I might be tempted back to WoW by Cataclysm.

    But if Blizzard does this, they effectively have closed their official forum down. And for me, forums are an important aspect of the game community and information base. Even awful forums, and WoW's forums were never very good, contain valuable information.

    I learned to hate their PvE endgame and progression raiding anyways; it was an exercise in ramping up the frustration until you could tolerate it no more. I am relieved to have the temptation removied.
  20. Heraclea
    If you are spending as much as you plan to on a build, I'd dump Acrobatics and pick up a couple of the -kb buttons to plug that hole. It won't be perfect --- I tanked Marauder on a fire tanker yesterday, and got knocked down a couple times, but it's no big deal --- but it's not that big a deal. You will be safe from most knockback with two buttons.

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  21. Heraclea
    Congratulations, Gumba!
  22. Heraclea

    "A salute is expected in a chance encounter like this. No... it's mandatory. But if I salute, I'm going to get pink sprinkles all over my bald head, and as for him....."


    If I am a winner, I permit NC Interactive, Inc. and NCsoft Europe Limited to use my name, likeness, photograph, hometown, and any comments that I may make about myself or this contest that I provide for advertising and promotional activities. I also certify that I am at least 13 years of age and am eligible to participate in this contest.
  23. Heraclea
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Aett_Thorn View Post
    Basically, aggro-holding capabilities are the only big hole in the set. If that was plugged, it would likely be hands-down the best Tanking set, outside of Granite Armor (but with none of the debuffs).
    It is pretty good, but it is not that: Invulnerability has better survivability and better layering, both out of the box with SOs and definitely with defense set bonuses. And of course, no aggro issues.

    And, as Dechs noted, it's just like a man: not about the magnitude, but the duration.

    I think the idea was that Willpower has to work at holding aggro, and needs to prioritize targets to an extent other tankers do not. Willpower was given tools to help it to work at holding aggro, with solid recovery powers. It's meant to be an offense based set like Fire and Shields.
  24. Heraclea
    I have definitely learned that the closer you are to the minimum team size needed to start the task force, the better off you will be in the end. Then again, this was true of Old Positron as well.
  25. Heraclea
    Mostly, I am curious about the situation where even three level 50 IOs in your mez protection clicky are not enough to make it permament, unless you also have a fair amount of recharge from purple sets or bonuses still active at the exemp level. Can a shield tanker successfully tank this TF without an outside mez protection power or constantly having to monitor the state of that power?