Issen

I realize this is mostly a math-driven thread, but I feel like I should say something:

Okay, so the DPS is 200, which is low for a Scrapper set.

...So what?

Yeah, I know, the obvious counter-response is that it shouldn't be so low. But really, in the long run, unless CoH suddenly gets tossed a massive difficulty spike, does it matter?

I mean yeah, TW is a great set. I had a TW/Elec Scrapper at 35. I also dumped it and rerolled it into an MA/Elec. Why? Because I couldn't get over the ridiculous end useage. Even with Power Sink, I was frequently bottoming out and it was pissing me off. Not to mention the fact that missing any attack when you're trying to START momentum is painful.

So sure, mathematically, TW is a great set. But while I know the forums are great for number-crunching, I don't think they take into account what a player will feel like using or just personal perference. Sure, ELM is a stupidly good Stalker set. But unless I have a concept for it, why would I make an ELM stalker? Because it's one of the best AoE Stalker sets?

Now, before anyone starts the slippery slope of "Well if they don't do something now, then later sets will just be more of the same!" I don't think that's the case. Beast Mastery has poor performance, but they KNOW that. They just don't have the time to sit down and work out a compromising fix.

But I don't think every set should necessarily always be as hot as StJ or TW. Otherwise the escalation would wind up making almost ALL the old sets utterly obsolete.

Fighting: Mostly on Melee ATs. I will take it on ranged DPS if I have the slots.

Leadership: Mmm...this is situational. Obviously every MM I have takes it. Otherwise, case-by-case.

Concealment: Grant Stealth and Stealth are good powers.

Movement Pools (Leaping/Speed/Jumping/Teleportation): Again, situational based on the characer. I've actually completely foregone movement powers on a select few characters.

Medicine: Highly underated. Sloted right they heal for a great amount and are difficult to interrupt. I leave out Stimulant because I don't often get in a situation where a friend gets mezzed and needs to be let out RIGHT that moment. And often I don't have room for Resuscitate. When I do, it's great.

Electric Armor or Energy Aura are solid choices.

And while Brutes benefit more from the raised resist cap, they're both great choices for scrappers.

I have an MA/Elec Scrapper with capped energy resist, and 60% S/L resist.

Now, Energy Aura is typed defense, not positional, so Guarded Spin won't help as much, but it's still good (every little bit counts).

It's largely a matter of preference.

Here's the thing, and I'm sort of surprised no one thought of this:

If Zwill is accurate in saying he has a release calender. Then it doesn't matter that Staff was ready before BM was. They have a schedule they're obligated to keep.

It doesn't make logical sense to us, sure. But Paragon has deadlines and marketing and all that jazz. If their deadlines said "Beast Mastery released in this timeframe" then they HAVE to release it. Why?

If they don't or if it's late, they it sets back their ENTIRE release schedule. Likely everything has to be rearranged so that items are released with proper spacing.

Besides, sure, BM isn't quite up to snuf, but that CAN be fixed, and that's likely easier than them having to completely redo their release schedule.

I can't argue with the math. That'd be silly.

But I feel there's a serious disconnect. The math tells me that I underperform comparatively.

But not once have I ever felt that. Sure, I've wished I wasn't so easily mezzed. But I've never gone "Man, if only I was doing more damage." or "Man, if only I wasn't faceplanting twice every mission." And my first character (a Blaster!) was a DP/Dev, so not even an optimal combination.

Maybe I just play differently than most Blasters do or something, but the math and my personal experience don't connect, at all, whatsoever.

Is this normal?

I can't decide if I should go Staff/EA or Staff/Elec.

Kheldians need help? After the buff Peacebringers got? Admittedly I preferred Solar Flare to be a Footstomp rather than a Hand Clap, but that's just because Aesthetically I'm a -huge- fan of Footstomp. But really, IMO Kheldians don't need much help.

I've got a Peacebringer with Perma-Hasten, Perma-Lightform, and Perma-Inner Light. Hell, the crash at the end of Lightform can wind up -healing- me if I've been smacked around a bit.

Scrappers do NOT need help. Yes, they don't bring anything particularly unique to the table, but their performance is always solid and consistent, which makes them my favorite AT ever. One of the times that being 'The Mario' is a actually an advantage. I'm not sure there's any other AT with such reliable consistency in their output.

Masterminds do need AI-fixes. Rather badly too. As far as specific primaries? Mercs do need some help (almost entirely in Spec-Ops). Ninjas? I don't think so. They're squishy, sure, but good lord their DPS output?

As far as other ATs? I don't think anyone else needs help really.

I have an FF/BR Defender. It works beautifully because I just toss up my bubbles, toggle Dispersion, and then draw the rifle and go to town. Admittedly my damage isn't nearly as hot, but it's great. Only time I get redraw is recasting bubbles or when I go to use Aid Other/Aid Self.

I'm curious how people rate them, which they take, and how you slot them!

Me personally, I rate in the following order, descending from best to worst

Demons
Beast
Necro
Mercs
Thugs
Bots
Ninjas

Ninjas is undoubtedly the worst of the personal attacks since it doesn't take hardly any procs and doesn't have -any- secondary effects. Demons being the best is pretty darn obvious.

I rate Beast higher than Necro because Beast not only has good secondary effects, it helps with the set's own mechanic.

As far as taking them goes...usually I skip the 1st personal attack unless it's Demons or Mercs.

Usually Personal Attack 2 and the AoE Personal Attack are all I need.

Slotting...mostly with procs. Depending on the secondary, Decimation or Entropic Chaos

...No Staff Fighting?

/Ice and /Nin are just hilariously good. Ice has the issue of being visually ugly as sin though.

Mutant-style stories would be nice, but it's difficult because the discrimination angle a-la X-Men flatly doesn't exist. It actually bothered me once when I saw a group of people on Virtue RPing as mutants being discriminated against by the City.

I didn't interfere with their RP (though ICly my character suggested that the City just has it's hands full processing dozens if not hundreds of new heroes on a DAILY basis), but it bugs me that people try to intentionally create an angle we know does not exist.

I mean, maybe there could be some line drawn between "mutant" and "natural"? I honestly have no ideas.

DA was -great- IMO because it does the one thing in this game I love almost more than anything else:

It recognizes that you're a badass, and frequently cements the idea home that yes, you are indeed a badass.

As an avid RPer, this sort of thing always has me grinning. It's also why I particularly disliked almost the entirety of WWD. The heroes are forced into situations that are either obvious traps or set-ups (Idiot Ball), or you're simply forced to watch as people fail (Failure Is The Only Option).

Again, I'm fine with villains winning or coming out ahead, but when the arcs beat the "Heroes Suck" nail over and over and over again I got rather depressed.

Mutant and Natural tend to be my choices because they're easy to conceptualize.

Magic comes in next because it's...well, Magic.

Tech and Science are sort of in a mish-mash because really, the two are roughly equivocal to each other. I have to remember that Tech refers primarily to gadgets, whereas science refers to the processes or accidents.

Now I -have- created outliers:

I have an MA/Elec Scrapper who is "Natural". How? Because he's the natural-born son of two heroes. They're both mutants, but his powers weren't modified into him or granted due to some surprise alteration. He was born with them, and simply developed them on his own.

By the same token, I have a KM/WP Scrapper whose a Mutant, because his whole family has this "mutation" that grants them their powers that keeps occuring in each member of the family. Since it has to manifest itself, I qualify it as a "mutation", even if it always occurs.

My question is: Can you use this 2nd set of ATOs along with the 1st set.

So could I have Scrapper Set 1 in a power, and then Scrapper Set 2 in another?

Demons, Bots, and Thugs are pretty much the God-Tier Primaries of MMs.

Bots are remarkably sturdy and have AoEs up the yin-yang, not to mention /Traps and /FF make them pretty much nigh invulnerable. Combined with a good immobilize power like Electrifying Fences and you can melt mobs, bosses, and AVs.

Demons are one example where having a little bit of everything doesn't make you mediocre, it makes you ridiculous. Exotic damage types, -res, holds, heals, resists, buffs, etc, etc. I have a Demon/Thermal. Reppu and I once did an experiment of running a team of 8 Demon MMs.. Ember Shield stacking = Hardcapped resists.

AT LEVEL 12. BEFORE IOs.

Thugs, though mostly lethal, have the Enforcers as easily the best T2 pets in existence, bar none. Leadership pool on TOP of Player Leadership? Oh hell yeah! The Arsonist, if kept alive, does easily the most ridiculous amounts of damage. There's a reason Thugs/Dark is so OP.

I admit, the fact that NONE of the new sets are available in the AE kills my ability to create some arcs.

I wanted to make a villain character of mine into an AE villain. The character? Is a Ninja/Time MM. But /Time isn't an AE set option. So I was forced to go Nin/Storm and state the "character" was a robotic double. It worked for the purposes of the story (the villain couldn't program his double to use time manipulation abilities, so he was forced to improvise)

But still.

Also, what about the new Banished Pantheon or the Knives of Vengeance?