JRaven

I wonder how I managed to miss this thread for so long. It has been a very interesting read, in particular the posted builds and the analysis how Electric and Dark perform with soft-capped defenses. I haven't had the time to play around with Arcanavilles spreadsheet yet, but I am very curious to do so.

In particular I'm very curious about what happens in the new Incarnate content as enemy ToHit is a bit higher there. I'd expect the sets with some native defense would handle that better, if they have been built for higher defense levels. Invulnerability and Ice may be the most interesting there: while I'm not familiar with Ice most soft-capped Inv builds I've seen will be far above the soft-cap if Invincibility is saturated.

However, I realize that once the incarnate buff powers start flying around after I20 the question may be academic.

As the options are given, then I vastly prefer option 1. My reasons are:
- I prefer less clutter in the menus
- If no aesthetic details are changed, as was emphasized in the original post, I can't see any drawbacks. This thread should probably give a good indication of what people consider aesthetic details.
- I just came back from a stint in that other superhero MMO and while there are a number of things I like more in CoH/V (far less "glitchy" for one thing), graphics-wise the comparison does not favour CoH/V in or outside the costume creator. Comparing average quality in the costume creators only my personal impression is that CoH/V needs to do a quality pass and not only improve pieces but phase out the low-res, blurry variety. Or, if they are kept, only display them at very low graphic settings.



Furthermore, at some point I suspect you will have to do an update of geometries and add polygons: textures can only do so much.

Personally I've attempted to patch up an Invulnerability tank against psi. Attempting to get it to a level where it is at the same level as the defenses and resistances to other damage types will require sacrifices elsewhere, in my experience. Boosting resistance and defenses with the Impervium Armour IOs proved to be particularly expensive in my case, as that meant I wasn't able to soft-cap defense against other damage types.

In the end, I opted for a combination of psi defense and regeneration. It's possible to get psi defense on Invulnerability/Super Strength to the point where it is useful as leverage. By that I mean that starting off from a higher base psi defense, one small purple inspiration, the Vanguard temporary power or the Elusive Mind (?) accolade can cap you temporarily when it is needed. The Vanguard temp in particular is useful as it can cap you for minutes at a time before it runs out, which is useful in situations like a Mothership raid.
Given that Invulnerability lacks any form of psi protection (apart from the HP boost and heal in Dull Pain) it should be easier to reach a similar leverage point on other tanks.

As always with defense, you'll have to keep damage spikes in mind though. For a tank it's usually not as dangerous though, as they have a larger hitpoint buffer than other ATs.
The psionic Clockwork King and similar hard-hitting enemies can still be dangerous when they fire off their big attacks, so some psi resistance from orange inspirations or accolades can be used to mitigate a spike should it come.


If near psi immunity is your goal, then as others have said Dark Armour and Willpower are quite strong against psi out of the box. Adding extra resistance (for Dark Armour especially) or defense (only Willpower) against psi will have a larger impact on them, due to how defense/resistance scales. It may be superfluous though, unless you spend all of your time doing Mothership raids.

I ordinarily only play my main, an Inv/SS tank. It's a fairly old character with by now several billion spent on IOs; as a result I only die rarely if ever. It had even gotten to the point where it was somewhat boring to play her. I didn't even have to pop inspirations, instead I usually gave them away.

That's when I discovered the joy of macros, and the combine inspiration command. After realizing that I didn't need yellows due to Rage, I didn't need blues due to IO:s and I certainly didn't need greens as my health bar rarely moved, I set up a macro to combine whatever was in the tray to Reds and pop one. All with one keystroke.

I spent the first part of the evening in a red mist on the Cimerorian walls, popping Reds as soon as I got down below the damage cap. As long as I didn't stop inspirations were dropping often enough that I managed to keep myself at the cap for most of the time.

At the end I joined a group to round off the evening. Unfortunately I wasn't in a tanking mood from the earlier experiments, so as soon as we got on the mission map I went off on a killing spree away from the group with the goal to have as many victims around me as possible for Footstomp. Yes, NOW I remember that it only hits ten at a time. Didn't think of it back then though. I needed to kill to get reds, so that I could kill to get reds.

Quite a vicious circle, in other words. Luckily, the team was happy to let me go nuts as they had a second tank it was safer to follow around. I on the other hand was attacking everything in sight, pulling in neighbouring groups with ranged attacks to keep the pile around me nice and dense. Together with a scrapper durable enough to survive the stray aggro I think we matched the rest of the group in kill count.

While I was playing a tank I suspect I was in scrapper-lock. That, or I just needed my next fix from the red pills...

I usually browse the forums a few times a week, so getting hold of me that way usually works. Otherwise an in-game e-mail or global tell should work fine.

As for my build, I'll post my I13 build below: hopefully it can give you some ideas. I recommend tweaking it until it fits your playstyle and you feel comfortable with it. It should be noted it doesn't include any PvP IOs, which can help significantly if you can get hold of them. Currently PvP IOs are extremely expensive though, so while the build below is certainly expensive it at least lacks that additional cost: today I saw the PvP +3% def unique sell for a billion inf.

I'd like to point out that the build is a bit unconventional in that several powers usually considered "must-haves" in PvP are missing, Hasten and superspeed in particular. It focuses on defense, which has a few interesting consequences: against non-PvP builds it's very powerful as such builds usually lack ToHit or Accuracy, while the effectiveness goes down markedly against PvP builds focusing on such things. It's also fairly resilient against burst damage, which almost never presents a problem.
Weaknesses are primarily debuffs: endurance and recovery debuffs in particular, but also regeneration and sometimes defense debuffs.
Since it also lacks Taunt, it is less effective in team PvP. In both team PvP and zone PvP you will most likely be a very low priority target for the opposing team.

The build also functions well in PvE, though most PvP builds not based on PvP IOs do.


Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1,401
http://www.cohplanner.com/

[u]Click this DataLink to open the build![u]

Jessica Raven: Level 50 Science Tanker
Primary Power Set: Invulnerability
Secondary Power Set: Super Strength
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Energy Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Temp Invulnerability -- Aegis-ResDam(A), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(5), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(33)
Level 1: Jab -- Amaze-ToHitDeb%(A)
Level 2: Dull Pain -- Numna-Heal(A), Numna-Heal/Rchg(3), Dct'dW-Rchg(3), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(7)
Level 4: Haymaker -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(5), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(7), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(13)
Level 6: Air Superiority -- KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(13), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(17), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(17), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(34)
Level 8: Unyielding -- RctvArm-ResDam(A), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(9), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(9), RctvArm-EndRdx(15)
Level 10: Resist Physical Damage -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), Aegis-ResDam(11), Aegis-ResDam/Rchg(11), Aegis-Psi/Status(15)
Level 12: Swift -- HO:Micro(A)
Level 14: Fly -- HO:Micro(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(34), Zephyr-Travel(43)
Level 16: Health -- RgnTis-Regen+(A), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(31), Numna-Heal(37), Mrcl-Rcvry+(37), Numna-Heal/EndRdx(40), Mrcl-Heal(43)
Level 18: Invincibility -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(19), GftotA-Def/EndRdx(19), GftotA-Run+(21)
Level 20: Knockout Blow -- G'Wdw-Acc/EndRdx(A), Hectmb-Dmg/Rchg(21), Hectmb-Acc/Rchg(23), Hectmb-Dam%(25), Hectmb-Dmg/EndRdx(25), Hectmb-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(29)
Level 22: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), P'Shift-EndMod(23), P'Shift-End%(36)
Level 24: Kick -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(36), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(42), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(48)
Level 26: Tough Hide -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(27), GftotA-Run+(27)
Level 28: Rage -- HO:Membr(A), HO:Membr(29)
Level 30: Tough -- RctvArm-ResDam(A), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(31), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(31), RctvArm-EndRdx(50)
Level 32: Weave -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(33), GftotA-Def/EndRdx(33), GftotA-Run+(39)
Level 35: Hurl -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(36), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(37), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(43), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(46)
Level 38: Foot Stomp -- Armgdn-Dmg/Rchg(A), Armgdn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(39), Armgdn-Acc/Rchg(39), Armgdn-Dmg/EndRdx(40), Armgdn-Dam%(40)
Level 41: Focused Accuracy -- HO:Cyto(A), HO:Cyto(42)
Level 44: Laser Beam Eyes -- Apoc-Dmg(A), Apoc-Dmg/Rchg(45), Apoc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(45), Apoc-Acc/Rchg(45), Apoc-Dmg/EndRdx(46), Apoc-Dam%(46)
Level 47: Resist Energies -- Aegis-ResDam(A), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(48), Aegis-ResDam/Rchg(48)
Level 49: Resist Elements -- RctvArm-ResDam(A), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(50), RctvArm-ResDam/Rchg(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Mako-Dam%(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Heal-I(A)
Level 1: Gauntlet
------------
[u]Set Bonus Totals:[u]<ul type="square">[*]4% DamageBuff(Smashing)[*]4% DamageBuff(Lethal)[*]4% DamageBuff(Fire)[*]4% DamageBuff(Cold)[*]4% DamageBuff(Energy)[*]4% DamageBuff(Negative)[*]4% DamageBuff(Toxic)[*]4% DamageBuff(Psionic)[*]16,8% Defense(Smashing)[*]16,8% Defense(Lethal)[*]12,4% Defense(Fire)[*]12,4% Defense(Cold)[*]12,1% Defense(Energy)[*]12,1% Defense(Negative)[*]8% Defense(Psionic)[*]9,88% Defense(Melee)[*]11,8% Defense(Ranged)[*]7,69% Defense(AoE)[*]52,5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)[*]37% Enhancement(Accuracy)[*]9% FlySpeed[*]175,7 HP (9,38%) HitPoints[*]9% JumpHeight[*]9% JumpSpeed[*]MezResist(Immobilize) 11,6%[*]MezResist(Terrorized) 2,2%[*]16,5% (0,28 End/sec) Recovery[*]70% (5,48 HP/sec) Regeneration[*]5,04% Resistance(Fire)[*]5,04% Resistance(Cold)[*]3% Resistance(Psionic)[*]46,5% RunSpeed[/list]

The reasons I ended up paying 700 million for it were basically:

- I only play one character, and it was the last item I needed to complete the build. I've no interest in building up another character. This is mainly due to time constraints.
- Due to my build decisions, I usually survive well in PvP but have trouble catching runners and scoring kills. I also prefer to solo in the zones (the wisdom of that can be debated, but there it is). As a result, I didn't expect to ever get a +3% def IO as a PvP drop.
- My time online is fairly limited these days, so what time I do have online I spend playing the game rather than farming, which I find boring.
- Influence is fairly easy and quick to accumulate through the market. Since I bought the IO a week ago, I'm up a couple of 100 million. Come I16 and potential new IOs, I expect to have built up sizeable reserves again.
- And finally, it's essentially monopoly money we're discussing.

So all in all, on that basis I consider it not completely mad to pay 700 million. A little eccentric (i.e. mad with money), at most.

I have to admit I lost patience to wait for a "low" bid of 450 million to go through for the 'Gladiator's Armour: +3% def(All) unique'. Since I had the influence and nothing else to spend it on, I coughed up the 700 million that was the going rate at the time.

If I was attempting to IO out more than one character, I doubt I would have done it. My regular policy for the really expensive items is to place a low bid and wait a month or so if necessary for it to go through.

My understanding is that no recharge buff or debuff, be it from:
- set bonuses
- Hasten, Quickness or similar powers
- special IOs such as LotG
will affect the recharge time of Strength of Will. This is similar to the way no damage buffs or debuffs of any kind will affect the damage of Veteran attack powers.

One option available to you is to diversify. Due to Diminishing Returns, any very high value is going to take a hit. Hence a purely defense based character will be in trouble. A purely resistance based character will also be in trouble. As will a purely regeneration based character.

If you can add on some mixture of resistance, extra hitpoints, regeneration and a self-heal it will make you much more durable. Tough is for example +Res(All damage) in PvP. Regeneration is available through Health and different set bonuses, as if extra hitpoints. Extra hitpoints can also be added through some of the accolades. Then there is Aid Self for a self-heal.

I do not know which of these will be useful in your particular build, as I've never played SR myself.

Lastly, no single build is going to do well against three opponents that has some skill in PvP. For such situations, there's the Ethereal Shift temporary power. It's will not give complete safety anymore, as other phased opponents will be able to hit you, but it will usually cut down on the incoming damage quite a bit as not everyone in the crowd going after you will have a phase power.

First off, welcome to PvP and I hope you'll have fun.

Second, do you expect to be doing PvP over a longer time period? If so, I wouldn't worry too much about what is currently a good AT/combination of powersets and just pick a character you enjoy playing. The developers are giving PvP more attention now than in a long while, and things are therefore in a state of flux.
IO:s also makes a very large difference to most builds.

A willpower/stone tank should work well I think, once you've put some IOs into him. Just keep in mind that very high numbers of any quantity usually runs afoul of the Diminishing Returns mechanic. Regardless, you will need good ToHit and good Accuracy both if you fight defense based characters. I recommend the Focused Accuracy power from the Energy Mastery pool, if you are able/want to pick it up (the other pools have other powers that could be useful in PvP). Further, the Kismet unique will boost your ToHit and +Accuracy set bonuses are common in different sets.

If you haven't already noticed it, there are two differences to the PvE game that are worth keeping in mind, especially for Willpower:
1. There's no mez protection, though on the plus-side player mezzes will not last very long either. NPC mezzes can be very irritating in the PvP zones, as are the Heavy mezzes, but there is a fix for that on the way in I15.
2. Any toggle powers that does anything to an opponent will shut off if you are mezzed. This includes Rise to the Challenge, which debuffs the ToHit of an adjacent enemy. Damage auras are also obviously affected, as are toggle debuffs from powersets like Radiation.

Hi there.

One easy method to improve your ToHit is to hunt down the Kismet unique. It is slottable in defense powers and will give you +6% ToHit. Improving global accuracy as well as accuracy slotting in your attacks will also help.

One easy way to get more ToHit and global Accuracy is to pick up Focused Accuracy, as mentioned by the previous poster. This would however mean dropping Earth Mastery, which does have some interesting utility powers.

I notice you don't have Invincibility. I assume that is a conscious design decision though. Personally I've found the defence it grants is helpful in melee fights: against a blaster, it would likely not make any difference though.


As I'm writing this at work, I haven't been able to look over the build in Mids: hence the rather general comments.

To clarify a bit, I believe you are referring to Knockback protection. Knockback resistance exists as well, but is measured in percent rather than magnitude.

Knockback protection is affected by Diminishing Returns. Whether Knockback resistance is, and to what extent, I am unsure.

Most armour powersets, such as Invulnerability or Willpower, will first apply their Knockback resistance to an attack. This reduces it by some large factor (in PvE Knockback resistance is VERY high: 10000%). After that a check is made against the Knockback protection, and if the remaining Knockback is higher you will take a trip through the air.

A problem in PvP will be attacks that cause both mez and knockback. An example is KO blow from the Superstrength set. The hold will suppress toggle Knockback defenses partly or fully (I'm uncertain whether both resistance and protection is suppressed). The Knockup from KO blow is then applied, and the character is thus launched skyward.
This is conceptually rather fitting: if you're stunned and can't brace yourself, you'll go flying. It can be very irritating having to deal with it though, as you'll be unable to take action for a few seconds.

Passive knockback protection does however not suppress. Knockback protection IOs or set bonuses can thus be used to improve knockback protection for characters that ordinarily wouldn't need it, but do in PvP.

May I ask how you define damage mitigation, PRAF? Depending on whether you mean:
- Indefinitely sustainable incoming damage
- Time before falling to a certain rate of incoming damage
- Reduction of incoming damage in relative or absolute terms
you will reach different conclusions.

From your conclusion
[ QUOTE ]
Having a high resistance reduces the effectivness of defense as damage mitigation, and having a high defence reduces the effectivness of resistance as damage mitigation.


[/ QUOTE ]
I am guessing you mean "reduction of incoming damage in absolute terms"?

I have concentrated on defense and regeneration myself, on my Inv/SS tank. The defense is at roughly 30%. It makes a significant difference for me, though it depends on the opposition. Invulnerability benefits from significant def debuff resistance, which means debuffers are not as large a problem they could otherwise be.

The enemies I have trouble with are Superstrength Tankers or Brutes. In addition, I have found it pays to back off whenever Aim or Buildup goes off as it will negate my defense.

If you want numbers, for me 30% defense to S/L is sufficient to reduce most Superstrength opponents (not all) down to roughly 85% net ToHit, from 95%.
Other opponents are usually reduced down to 60% net ToHit.

Hi there Escalus. I'd like to echo Max and say that if you want to try a few fights and get advice, I'd be happy to help you out. Send me a tell or in-game e-mail and we can arrange a few fights.

Also, I don't agree with previous posts that state only Ice/SS is good enough. There are plenty of other options, and it is quite possible to get what is viewed as bad combinations to work. It will just take a bit more time, build investment and unconventional tactics.

My global is "@Jessica Raven"

Ah, pity I had to work late this evening. It is very nice to hear there was good attendance and that people had fun. Hopefully PvP will pick up a bit now.

Heat exhaustion is an excellent -recovery debuff which will make life difficult for many characters. However, you'll have to watch out for people with Geas as that trumps Heat Exhaustion. There is a PbAOE recovery debuff in one of the Dominator psi sets that, as I recall, does not have that problem. Unfortunately I forget the name though.
Nonetheless, a Thermal corruptor should be a good choice under the current rules.

Keep in mind that they are still tweaking set performance in PvP however, so if you suspect you'll stick with the character long-term current performance is not as important a yardstick it would otherwise be.

I believe most VEATs got a damage decrease in PvP upon I14 release. I have not fought one since release, however, so I am uncertain about their current performance.

I did mention Hurl and it's -Fly, although admittedly I did not mention Energy Melee lacking ranged attacks in the comparison.
I could add that Superstrength performs rather well in the PbAOE department compared with Energy Melee due to Footstomp. That would be more of a PvE concern than a PvP one, though it does come in handy for Masterminds.

I agree about Hurl being useful for fliers and runners, to a certain extent. The caveats, again in my impression, are:
- It does not work very well against Hover.
- For runners, unless they are very low on health so that a single hit will finish them off, it is only useful at times. I base that on the knockback not being 100% reliable: an armoured opponent or one equipped with IO sets will not be affected at all, and others will only be knocked down occasionally. If they are, you'll be able to close in on them though.

One large advantage of Hurl is that it allows a tank to have almost a complete ranged attack chain given certain power choices. I find that the combination of Hurl, veteran Nemesis Staff and Laser Beam Eyes means I will usually have a ranged power ready to use (with some gaps).

I applaud your reasoning behind the decision to go with Energy Melee: it is a game after all and if you think you'll get more fun out of a new powerset you haven't tried before than Superstrength, then it's definitely the better choice.

Have fun with your new Tanker.

Superstrength I have first hand experience with. The primary advantages are, in my view:
- Good ToHit due to Rage means less slotting for accuracy and to hit is necessary. Rage also boosts non-powerset powers, such as the power pool attacks.
- A good ranged attack with -Fly in Hurl will, together with a ranged attack from the APPs, allow decent ranged damage output.
- KO blow, with it's Hold component and KnockUp will send anyone not slotted with KB protection IOs OR using click KB protection powers flying. The somewhat greater than usual melee range also means it's easier to fire off.

As for Energy Melee I've fought opponents with the set quite often, though less recently as Superstrength has gotten much more popular. My impressions are:
- Very good burst damage.
- Energy part of damage is not as critical now: resistances are more even across the board in PvP than in PvE these days. Tough grants +Res(All) in PvP now, as an example.
- The stuns, which are many and frequent, will interrupt an opponents attack chains. As soon as someone is stunned, it is not possible to queue attacks: it may be that queued attacks are unqueued as well, but on that point I'm uncertain. Against an attentive opponent, this may not be as large an advantage but it will irritate the opponent.


In a comparison, I would say that Energy Melee still hits harder than Superstrength. It does depend on what metric you use though, and the amount of IOs you are willing to put into the build. The short term burst damage of Energy Melee can be very useful against opponents relying on regeneration, whereas the steady DPS of Superstrength works slightly better against heavily armoured opponents without much regeneration.
On that topic, choosing Energy Melee will likely mean a heavier focus on accuracy and ToHit than Superstrength. You'll have a greater need for things like Focused Accuracy, IO Accuracy bonuses, the Kismet IO and/or Tactics than if you had Rage. High-defense opponents may be problematic otherwise.

Keep in mind my impressions above is current performance though. PvP rules and power effects in PvP are still being adjusted: what's best now might not be best after the next issue. A few issues ago, Energy Melee was held to be head and shoulders above everything else regarding single target damage. With that in mind, if you are in for the long haul, I'd just pick the set you prefer based on aesthetics, concept or similar. If you know you usually stay with a character for only a couple of months though, then current performance can be important.

To a large extent, yes. It's intended primarily for duels, smaller team fights and zone fights. It performs fairly well in duels and zones, and ok-ish in 2 vs 2 or similar. I found it more sensible to build with that type of PvP in mind, as I've found the opportunities to do proper pentad matches rather limited.

I thought I'd post my build for Jess as an example of a survivable Inv/SS tank. It's not geared completely towards survival: picking up Aid Self would make it significantly better in that regard. It is a bit more general, with some focus on Accuracy and unsurpressed mobility. The major focus is passive survivability, i.e. defense, resistance and regeneration.
It is primarily a PvP build, although it does do well in PvE. I should mention that it's not updated for I14 yet - I expect to do a few changes to it.

Suggestions for improvement would be highly welcome.

PS
Yes, I know the extra psi defense could be considered wasted. I do not consider that to be the case, due to the stacking possibilities: Elusive Mind allows me to reach 40%+ psi defense for a minute. In addition, the Vanguard psi shield temporary power stacks with it and lasts for 30 minutes.
DS


Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1,401
http://www.cohplanner.com/

[u]Click this DataLink to open the build![u]

Jessica Raven: Level 50 Science Tanker
Primary Power Set: Invulnerability
Secondary Power Set: Super Strength
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Energy Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Temp Invulnerability -- Aegis-ResDam(A), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(5), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(33)
Level 1: Jab -- Amaze-ToHitDeb%(A)
Level 2: Dull Pain -- Numna-Heal(A), Numna-Heal/Rchg(3), Dct'dW-Rchg(3), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(7)
Level 4: Haymaker -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(5), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(7), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(13)
Level 6: Air Superiority -- KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(13), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(17), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(17), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(34)
Level 8: Unyielding -- RctvArm-ResDam(A), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(9), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(9), RctvArm-EndRdx(15)
Level 10: Resist Physical Damage -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), Aegis-ResDam(11), Aegis-ResDam/Rchg(11), Aegis-Psi/Status(15)
Level 12: Swift -- HO:Micro(A)
Level 14: Fly -- HO:Micro(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(34), Zephyr-Travel(43)
Level 16: Health -- RgnTis-Regen+(A), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(31), Numna-Heal(37), Mrcl-Rcvry+(37), Numna-Heal/EndRdx(40), Mrcl-Heal(43)
Level 18: Invincibility -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(19), GftotA-Def/EndRdx(19), GftotA-Run+(21)
Level 20: Knockout Blow -- G'Wdw-Acc/EndRdx(A), Hectmb-Dmg/Rchg(21), Hectmb-Acc/Rchg(23), Hectmb-Dam%(25), Hectmb-Dmg/EndRdx(25), Hectmb-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(29)
Level 22: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), P'Shift-EndMod(23), P'Shift-End%(36)
Level 24: Kick -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(36), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(42), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(48)
Level 26: Tough Hide -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(27), GftotA-Run+(27)
Level 28: Rage -- HO:Membr(A), HO:Membr(29)
Level 30: Tough -- RctvArm-ResDam(A), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(31), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(31), RctvArm-EndRdx(50)
Level 32: Weave -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(33), GftotA-Def/EndRdx(33), GftotA-Run+(39)
Level 35: Hurl -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(36), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(37), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(43), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(46)
Level 38: Foot Stomp -- Armgdn-Dmg/Rchg(A), Armgdn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(39), Armgdn-Acc/Rchg(39), Armgdn-Dmg/EndRdx(40), Armgdn-Dam%(40)
Level 41: Focused Accuracy -- HO:Cyto(A), HO:Cyto(42)
Level 44: Laser Beam Eyes -- Apoc-Dmg(A), Apoc-Dmg/Rchg(45), Apoc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(45), Apoc-Acc/Rchg(45), Apoc-Dmg/EndRdx(46), Apoc-Dam%(46)
Level 47: Resist Energies -- Aegis-ResDam(A), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(48), Aegis-ResDam/Rchg(48)
Level 49: Resist Elements -- RctvArm-ResDam(A), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(50), RctvArm-ResDam/Rchg(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Mako-Dam%(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Heal-I(A)
Level 1: Gauntlet
------------
[u]Set Bonus Totals:[u]<ul type="square">[*]4% DamageBuff(Smashing)[*]4% DamageBuff(Lethal)[*]4% DamageBuff(Fire)[*]4% DamageBuff(Cold)[*]4% DamageBuff(Energy)[*]4% DamageBuff(Negative)[*]4% DamageBuff(Toxic)[*]4% DamageBuff(Psionic)[*]16,8% Defense(Smashing)[*]16,8% Defense(Lethal)[*]12,4% Defense(Fire)[*]12,4% Defense(Cold)[*]12,1% Defense(Energy)[*]12,1% Defense(Negative)[*]8% Defense(Psionic)[*]9,88% Defense(Melee)[*]11,8% Defense(Ranged)[*]7,69% Defense(AoE)[*]52,5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)[*]37% Enhancement(Accuracy)[*]9% FlySpeed[*]175,7 HP (9,38%) HitPoints[*]9% JumpHeight[*]9% JumpSpeed[*]MezResist(Immobilize) 11,6%[*]MezResist(Terrorized) 2,2%[*]16,5% (0,28 End/sec) Recovery[*]70% (5,48 HP/sec) Regeneration[*]5,04% Resistance(Fire)[*]5,04% Resistance(Cold)[*]3% Resistance(Psionic)[*]46,5% RunSpeed[/list]

(QR)

Regarding the build you posted Donna, I think it looks very durable. The only possible problem I can see would be endurance and recovery. You have good ToHit and Accuracy, so Siphon Life should hit.

Regarding the comments about Invulnerability earlier in situations where psi gets thrown around, I've found it possible to get around that to some extent by boosting regeneration and defense. I have actually gone for pure psi defense instead of relying on the positional defense you get from boosting the other typed defenses: this is due to the stacking possibilites with purple Elusive Mind and the Vanguard Psi shield temporary toggle power. If need be I can hit the softcap in PvE for a short time, or stay at about 30-35% for 30 minutes. This is usually the case during Mothership raids.

Regarding Confuse:
- Getting the Aegis unique would cut down the duration somewhat, though probably it would not be very noticeable.
- Psionic defense would make it more difficult for an opponent to apply it to you reliably. You have some psi defense in Willpower, adding to it using IOs, the Elusive Mind Accolade or the Vanguard Psi Shield temporary power would likely help quite a bit. The latter two are temporary boosts however.

Regarding short range:
- You have good mobility through Superspeed and Superjump. This should enable you to close the distance.
- Taunt will cut down on your opponents range, so applying it regularly will force a ranged opponent into melee.
- You'll have some free Slow resistance in PvP these days. If you need more, try to get the Winter's Gift Slow resistance IO and slot it in a Travel Power.

Regarding durability:
- Willpower does not have that great damage resistance except for S/L/Psi. You can add to it with Tough however, which will grant +Res(All damage) in PvP.
- Rise to the Challenge will be less useful, as your opponent must be in melee AND not have a mez attack. If they do, they'll shut RttC off everytime they hit.
- Willpower does have solid defense to most damage types except S/L. Adding to this can be an option. Pushing it up to the 40% level (PvE wise) will be high enough for it to be useful in PvP. Reactive Armor sets, the Steadfast protection unique, Weave and Combat Jumping will be useful if you attempt this route.
- Aid Self in the Medicine pool is another option, and will be a very good addition if you can fit it in. It will likely do more for your survivability in 1v1 fights than anything else. However, keep in mind that using it burns endurance and it also cuts down on your offense since you will not be able to attack while it's activated. In situations where you are hit very frequently it is also not as reliable and can require that you back off around a corner in order to use it.

Regarding Offense:
- You'll likely need +ToHit and global Accuracy to deal with most defense based opponents. Even though it uses a lot of endurance, I'd recommend picking up Focused Accuracy. As an added bonus, it will make you close to immune to ToHit/Accuracy debuffs and give some extra perception. The Kismet unique IO is also recommended.
- Unless you are fighting a Mastermind, single target attacks are more useful in PvP. I am not an expert at War Mace, far from it, but the build did seem a bit heavy on PbAoE/cone attacks.

General comments:
- Whirlwind I am not certain has any good use in PvP, although I haven't tried it since I13 came out.

If possible, could you supply a bit more information please? It will make it easier to give you advice on what to work on. In particular:

- What opponents you find difficult?
- What opponents do you do well against?
- What kind of tactics do you use?
- How does your build look?

I would be interested in that, time allowing. I'm in thesis crunch mode at the moment, for at least another three weeks. After that, it'd be my pleasure.