JWatt

I would say to at least get a Peacebringer to level 20 before starting a Warshade. The reason for this is because the powers in all 3 Peacebringer forms are easier at the beginning, in my opinion, and allow you to learn more about how and when to bounce back and forth between forms.

Each form has its own strengths and weaknesses, and swapping between the three will allow you a wide number of options in combat. Staying in one form is also fine, but cool stuff awaits those who swap forms creatively. Here are a few random tips:

- Each Transformation to Dwarf or Nova takes about 4 seconds. That's 4 seconds of you being under enemy fire without the chance to fire back. See what you can do to minimize the risk you undertake when transforming in a fight so that you don't get killed before firing off a shot. Dropping to Human form is instant, though, so if you're in danger of taking some damage as a Nova or unable to escape as a Dwarf and there's no time to transform, drop back into Human form.

- Know when to transform. I know it's fun to go all 'splodey (I got kicked from a team once because I spammed the animation when Kheldians just came out), and I know that the AoE on your Nova Form just recharged and you want to use it because your Human Form's attacks are still recharging, but there are times when you should just settle down and stay in the shape you're currently in.

- Don't feel like you have to fully slot all the powers in your forms. Kheldians get a lot of powers, and slots are more precious than gold. If you never use a power, then don't slot it. Also, try to slot efficiently with Human Form powers, be it focusing on one power at a time or putting in just enough for them all to work, then fleshing them out later. I've seen people go either way, and both can work.

Of the 3 primaries you listed, I'd suggest Radiation. There is only one buff, Accelerate Metabolism, that you'll be obligated to give out on teams. A Sonic defender has to rebuff every 3 minutes or so and stick near the melee groups in order for them to get the most of your PBAoE shield, and a Kinetics Defender's Speed Boost is in high demand, and it only lasts 90 seconds before you have to reapply! Not only that, but people tend to be LESS inclined to wait for you to buff them when they're running on SB time. ;_;

So yeah, I'd pick Radiation for your primary.

Now for the secondary:

Energy, in my opinion, is much better for a blaster. For a defender, you have knockback that you need to worry about when attacking, as well as reduced damage. There are some people who like it for Defenders, but I'm not one of them.

Radiation: A Rad/Rad defender is a classic defender. You'll be spending more time in melee than you would with Energy or Sonic due to Irradiate, but Radiation's ToHit Debuffs, damage debuff, and healing aura make that easier than you'd think. Radiation Blast also lowers defense, which the Primary does as well. It's a solid choice, and probably has the most overall AoE of the secondaries you picked.

Sonic Blast: This is what I'd go for. You'll be more at range, and you can throw -Res debuffs, which are also in the Primary, all over the place while you're attacking (which I think does more, in the long run, than adding more -defense). It also gives you a very nice Cone Sleep, which is useful for soloing big groups of enemies. Just use the sleep and hit one enemy at a time with Single Target attacks while it's in your debuff area.

Electricity - This will give you some sapping potential, since every Electric Blast power drains a bit of endurance from the enemy. Ball Lightning gives you some AoE, and you have a ST Hold and a pet (just a ball of lightning that shoots a blast every now and again), and has a massive, very cool looking nuke that does less damage than other nukes, but saps a big hunk of enemy endurance away. I'd suggest you pick either the electrical Mastery or Psychic mastery epics with this one, to boost either AoE damage or your ability to control enemies.

Personally, my favorite defender is my Kinetics/Archery. I mostly solo it, using the damage buffs and Rain of Arrows to mess up mobs while constantly refilling my health and energy. I picked Psychic Mastery, and also picked up Tough on top of Mind Over Body, giving me 60-something percent smashing/lethal resistance and mezzes to hold enemies at bay while I use the kinetics powers to buff myself safely.

Either would work, but I think that the changes made to /Elec tip it into the lead in just about all contexts. It's an easier build to plan for, since you don't have to worry about compensating for its lack of mez protection (/Fire lacks hold and immobilize protection, outside of Burn). It also has Lightning Reflexes.

Personally, I think that the recharge time on Fiery Embrace is too long for it to be useful for a steady DPS set like DM when Lightning Reflexes increases the number of attacks you can pump out.

Other than those points, I guess I should say that a non-IO'd version of either secondary would affect your travel power. A /FA scrapper would be inclined to take SJ so that Combat Jumping and Acrobatics plug the holes in its mez protection, wheras a /Elec Scrapper will more likely take Super Speed because its mez protection power, Grounded, requires the scrapper to be on the ground for it to work.

I'd say FA, SD, or /Elec.

A Fire/Fire Scrapper is squishy, but puts forth a big amount of burst damage, and I also think it looks cool. Not the strongest, but not BAD. The holes in its mez protection are a problem.

A Fire/Shield scrapper has better sustainable DPS with Against All Odds, probably even if you take the Damage Aura in the other sets out. It also gives you a great AoE attack in Shield Charge, defense that you can softcap (along with decent resistance), and really good mez protection. If you invest money into this build, you'll have a monster. The only potential issue is that it lacks a self-heal or endurance recovery power.

A Fire/Elec Scrapper will have a damage aura, solid resistance and mez protection, a self heal/recovery click, a PBAoE endurance recovery power with a Tohit check, and an "Oh crap" button in Power Surge.

Of the three, I'd eliminate the Fire/Fire. It's too weak compared to the others, sad as it makes me to say it. The order of secondaries listed by me, in my opinion, is /shield, /Elec, and /Fire in last place.

Your choices are many and varied if you want to make a scrapper whose is a Flash or Quicksilver type hero.

Primaries:

Martial Arts - It isn't flashy, but it's plenty powerful and fits the theme of the unarmed super speedster.

Electric - The Flash always had an electric motif. Yours could be the manipulation of static electricity built up from your running, maybe?

Claws - The fastest recharging set with the fastest animations, Claws also has a couple of ranged attacks that could be interpreted as you moving so quickly that you created a projectile out of displaced air. Because they're so lightweight, they'd be the only weapon, other than Dual Blades with daggers or something, that I'd suggest.

Secondaries:

Regeneration - Super Speed might translate into an accelerated healing rate.

Willpower - Willpower could be roleplayed as ANYTHING. It just means you're sturdy.

Super Reflexes - You dodge attacks at super speed.

Electric - Your amped up Super Speedster nervous system channels arcing electricity for protection, maybe?

Invulnerability - Your powers generate a shield which protects you from the friction generated by traveling at super speed, and can be activated to protect you from other attacks, as well.

Shield - I dunno. You could be a guy with super speed and a shield?



Personally, I'd go with either MA or Claws for the primary and Elec, Regen, or SR for the secondary. MA/SR or MA/Regen if you want to BE the Flash.

I'm really wanting a to roll up a character with both Super Strength and Shield Defense. My problem is that I can't decide whether to make a Brute or a Tanker.

It looks like a Shield/SS Tank will have plenty of offensive power, have better protection with Shield being in the primary, and have better energy management due to Body Mastery's Conserve Power and Physical Perfection.

A SS/Shield Brute, on the other hand, looks like it'll have damage off the scale, but I know from my time playing an Elec/Shield brute and previous experience with a WP/SS Tanker that both sets are kind of high on endurance use, especially if I add in Tough and Weave and shoot for the softcap.

I'd really appreciate a second opinion.

A friend of mine was teaming with me on my Earth/Therm troller, and she asked me which Earth control power I thought was the best. I answered Quicksand, because it has a 25% defense debuff, making just about any other power I use on anything withinin Quicksand's range much more likely to land, which is especially handy when it comes to Stalagmites (due to its low accuracy). Essentially, it's a power that makes all of my other powers almost guaranteed to work, and it helps the less accurate members of any team I'm on, as well.

She had no idea. Apparently she though it was just Glue Arrow for Earth Control.

Anyone else have an experience like this, where their favorite power was kind of poo-pooed because people don't know what it does?

From what I've heard (because I wanted a claws/stone brute just for the silliness of a giant golem weighing several tuns just SCRATCHING things instead of punching or stomping), it's mostly due to animation troubles with Granite Armor.

I find myself wanting to make a character with the combined powers for Dual Blades and Stone Armor, mostly for having a granite armor golem with two big swords who uses the Dual Blades Taunt.

I know that this build won't be some kind of meta-awesome-super-powerful thing, but I think it might be a lot of fun to play. That being said, if there's a particular epic/patron pool that will give this build an advantage, I'd be all for it. It looks like it will be easier to get all of the powers I want at an easier pace as a DB/Stone brute (minus the whole "getting granite armor at level 38" thing), but a Stone/DB Tanker would have access to Physical Perfection and Conserve Power to ease the cost of Dual Blades' attacks, and a tanker doesn't have to worry so much about damage, leaving more options for IO slotting.

Any comments? Questions? I'd ask for criticism, but that'll come whether I want it or not. :P

I've never really found soloing as a dominator to be terribly hard, especially with my Earth/Earth Dominator. He manages to breeze through most missions just fine, and soloing EBs is possible with inspirations.

I really like Earth Assault for soloing because it lets you stack Holds and Stuns more easily with Seismic Smash and Fissure. Earth Control is also probably my favorite solo set because of the -def debuffs in its powers. Quicksand alone has a -25% defense debuff, making it a great opening power against big groups. When the two sets are used together, the defense debuffs in the primary make the commonly defended against damage type of the secondary hit much more accurately, increasing overall damage while adding extra control to the primary. Power Boost is like a miniature domination, which I find very useful when up against more than one boss.

Earth/Elec should be fine, as long as you keep your powers properly slotted, use inspirations, and play smart.

I played a Sonic/Sonic to lv 24 before deleting it. It was a great character, and everyone I teamed with gave compliments on how effective it was, but I just didn't have fun playing it. That being said, I got a lot farther with a Sonic/Sonic Defender than I ever got on my numerous attempts to make a Force Field defender.

This is not to say that I dislike Force Field defenders. I just don't want to PLAY them.

Sonic plays like a resistance debuffing set that just happens to have some buffs handy. Force Fields plays like a hardcore buffing set with some knockback slipped in. It's easier to solo Sonic, and it's more exciting than Force Fields. Pair it with Sonic Blast, and you have a whole other set that can throw around resistance debuffs, allowing you to turn enemies into jelly.

I just got bored with it. While it's more involved than Force Fields, it's still so effective and easy to play that I just set my brain on autopilot. Buff team mates whenever the shields are going down, and mushify any enemy that looks strong with the variety of powers at your disposal. Watch endurance. Repeat.

My brother got his Sonic/Sonic Corrupter all the way to level 50, and I find it more fun to play from, just because it's a bit more "blastery" than a defender.

I'd be more inclined to make that combo into a tank than a Brute. Aside from having trouble with endurance, building Fury might also be an issue. As a Tanker, you'd be more in line with "doing your job", and you'd get both Fault and Oppressive Gloom by level 26, as opposed to level 35 as you would with a brute.

Chain induction: I don't know if this was fixed, but there used to be a bug in the power that causes it to not chain the attack if a proc was slotted into it. Other than that, you should mostly aim it at an enemy with plenty of health who is close to other enemies. Keeping them packed will net more chains, but less prediction as to where the chain will go.

Moonbeam: Yes. It does crit, but you'll get much better DPS out of Dark Blast. I actually made it part of a sustained attack chain (replacing shadow punch) on my Dark/Nin Stalker.

My WP/SS tanker is more Scranker than tank, most of the time. The aggro it pumps out is massive, so I mostly can just attack and pop out a taunt every now and again when something looks like it wants to eat a squishy. AVs aren't as fun to Tank, but not hard to do at all.

It depends on what you want from your secondary. I don't see Radiation having any particularly magical synergy with one particular Secondary.

I would personally go for Radiation/Energy. The -Defense debuffs that Radiation Blast gives off will help the more powerful ST melee strikes land, and Boost Range is a great way to extend the effective range range of Electron Haze, Cosmic Burst, and Irradiate without using enhancements. I would definitely pick Force Mastery and get Repulsion Field, Repulsion Bomb, and Personal Force Field. I think they're the most fun Blaster epic powers (aside from the LRM Rocket), and great for buying you some time if you get in too deep.

Edit: It could look something like this, if you use Ninja Run as a travel Power.

Archetype: Blaster
Primary: Radiation Blast
Secondary: Energy Manipulation
+----------------------------------------------------------------

01: Neutrino Bolt => Empty(1)
01: Power Thrust => Empty(1)
02: X-Ray Beam => Empty(2)
04: Build Up => Empty(4)
06: Electron Haze => Empty(6)
08: Hurdle => Empty(8)
10: Energy Punch => Empty(10)
12: Bone Smasher => Empty(12)
14: Health => Empty(14)
16: Conserve Power => Empty(16)
18: Cosmic Burst => Empty(18)
20: Stamina => Empty(20)
22: Aim => Empty(22)
24: Irradiate => Empty(24)
26: Neutron Bomb => Empty(26)
28: Power Boost => Empty(28)
30: Hasten => Empty(30)
32: Atomic Blast => Empty(32)
35: Boost Range => Empty(35)
38: Total Focus => Empty(38)
41: Personal Force Field => Empty(41)
44: Temp Invulnerability => Empty(44)
47: Repulsion Bomb => Empty(47)
49: Repulsion Field => Empty(49)

The title of this thread was misleading! I want my money back!

An Immob is good, and Mu Mastery has the best overall Immob.

Leadership is a quick way to get some extra damage. Just get assault and/or tactics.

Why not put a proc in Fearsome Stare? You're going to be using it all the time, anyway.

Make good use of Tar Patch in order to help lower enemy resistance.

Your secondary is your best means to keep your pets alive and well, so use it the best you can in order to keep from having to resummon them often, which will lower DPS.

Bots/Dark is a powerful debuffing combo, so make sure and take care of your secondary alongside your bots. For example, Darkest Night is a great power to slap on an enemy with high accuracy and/or damage. With your bots' defense being boosted from Protector Bot Force Fields, you get more out of the set than others.

The radius of your heal is rather small, so make sure and get close to the pet who needs the heal most.

I'd suggest you dip into the leadership pool. Any or all of the powers will benefit you. Maneuvers will boost your team's defense on top of the force fields, Assault helps boost damage in those slow levels, Tactics helps you stick your heal, and Vengeance is nice when teaming in order to recover from a near wipe.

Howling Twilight isn't just for teaming. It has a nice Stun effect on nearby enemies, giving you another advantage over the enemy.

I love Necro/Therm. There's nothing quite like being the master of several flaming zombies.

Anywho, I'd say that TP foe can be chosen later, like at level 49, because TP friend can be useful in missions for rezzing and bringing a late-comer to the mission to your position. :I'm not a big fan of team teleport, personally, because I think it sucks up a lot of endurance and doesn't let you travel very far. Also, I'd say that Hover isn't really needed unless you have an especially bad computer, unless you just like the effect it has. :P

If you're having any endurance problems then you may want to pick up Stamina, especially if you're considering adding the Tactics toggle to boost your pets' accuracy.

I would skip Gloom and pick your first shield at level 2, so you can grab your pet upgrade at level 6. Gloom is a nice attack, but your pets can do a whole lot more damage. I'd just as soon skip it altogether, or get it later in the game.

Hasten is always a nice choice, if you can fit it in. Your pet summons, heals, and debuffs will recharge faster as long as it's active.

Be thinking about which patron pool you want to use, and make sure to unlock your patrons before respeccing. That way you can use a patron pool for your level 41 slot and beyond.

My build grabbed Melt Armor and Heat Exhaustion as soon as they unlocked, and I never regretting getting them when I did. They're great for making weakening or rendering ineffective many extremely irritating enemies.

On my Stone/Thermal Controller, Rocky almost never misses because of Forge and Quicksand, and the Thermal shields boost this resistance high enough to where healing isn't too tough, no matter what I'm doing (Let's say that he gets near the cap. I'm not good with numbers). Thermal shields don't cover Psychic Damage, though, and I've never noticed Rocky taking more damage than usual when up against psychics.

Rocky is really my favorite Control Primary pet. It can tank for me, deal out good damage, and lacks any real AI quirks. It's my main weapon on my Earth/Thermal controller, and my advance guard on my Earth/Earth dom.