KillerShrike

You want a slow set? Try Energy Melee. Then tell me KM is slow.

Seriously though, Concentrated Strike specifically does feel a little slow to me but its damage is commensurate. I often one shot with it. However, I have enough recharge that I can constantly spam any three or four other KM attacks so if I don't want the long animation of CS I don't have to use it. It's less efficient, but it's an option.

In practice, I'll pop Power Siphon, use 5 lesser KM attacks (quick strike in particular is ideal for this purpose thanks to its fast recharge and animation), and then Concentrated Strike when I have 5 stacks of PS. BAM! Often an insta-gib. Rinse wash and repeat.

The set is not slow. It's not speedy gonzalez either. In terms of speed it's fair to middlin'.

My KM has both Focused Strike and Laser Beam Eyes, and enough recharge that he can spam them if for some reason I decide to do so. Which has actually come up a couple of times, once vs Ghost Widow in STF, and on the Apex TF vs Battle Maiden. I ended up just hanging back and spamming FS, LBE, and Blackwand when it was up for extra oomph rather than running into melee. Look ma! I'm a blaster!

No, I auto a useful clicky instead, like Haste, Fury, a click mez power, or something like that.

Also, I use the t1 attack or boxing in place of brawl. I get enough recharge going as a by blow of general design anyway so that its a non-issue, and I don't mind slotting those powers for set mules / general usage as opposed to brawl which will never get a single slot.


Generally, brawl is gone somewhere between level 6 and 10, depending on how long it takes me to get a solid chain going. Same with the archetype power. With Sands of Mu and Blackstaff / Nemesis Wand in the mix it doesn't take long to get a decent string of attacks.

Id keep Focused Strike...its a good attack and it looks cool. It's damage is respectable. Id skip either the t1 or the t2. Personally, I like Quick Strike for it's speed and the knockdown.

Well...my WP scrapper is more like what you describe for your shield scrapper. Vs. most opponents his regen outpaces damage and he's fine, and then suddenly >blam!< he's on his face. The t9 doesn't really help because he goes from fine to needs a rez really fast, before the t9 can be clicked.

My WP tanker on the other hand feels more invulnerable than my Invulnerability tanker vs most content, especially Rikti. The difference is the hitpoints and regen rate difference between the two more than the RES/DEF difference. The tanker regens significantly faster.


I have yet to get a Shield anything over 22 or so, despite multiple attempts. I get frustrated and quit on them. I've got a Mace/Shield Brute at somewhere in the tweens that shows promise that I play with my son (he likes the shield, which is why we've had so many attempts at it). The reliable stuns and knockdowns of Mace really seem to complement Shield, and it's been a very smooth ride so far. Hopefully this will be the one that pans out to higher levels.

At the lower levels I almost feel like my toon is naked, more so than other DEF based sets (I prefer DEF over RES generally). The click status effect is annoying now that toggle drops don't happen, and leaves me vulnerable until I can get the recharge down for no overlap. AAO is very sweet, but ultimately it just leads me to be too aggressive and bite off more than my weak mitigation can handle and get faceplanted. I know Shield is a good set from the numbers and the love it gets from players whose judgement I respect, but I think it just doesn't suit my play style.

So, if it were me, I'd invest in the WP scrapper

"Synergy, in general, may be defined as two or more agents working together to produce a result not obtainable by any of the agents independently."

So...sets that complement each other are said to have good synergy. Together they are worth more than the sum of their parts.

I've never played a DM/WP actually, but I can't think of much synergy off hand other than DM's -tohit aspect helping shore up WP's defenses. DM works really well with pure DEF sets, and Dark Armor.

Oh wait, I know this one! Um, "never"?

I've taken a Brute KM to 50 and it was a lot of fun.

It's actually not that slow, and the attacks flow from one to the next very smoothly.

The damage debuff is negligible for non-tankers, except for Burst, but really the knockdown of Burst is more effective than the damage debuff.

Concentrated Strike hits really hard.

Power Siphon is interesting and if you can keep it going it is very significant. This is the main benefit a high recharge build is going to squeeze out of KM.

All the attacks are good except the Torrent clone. I really like the ranged attack and Burst in particular.

If you get a couple of KM toons together on a team it sounds like you are at a jet testing facility. The sound effects of KM are crazy.

I like all the animations except for the t9, which looks like a drunken monkey attack or something along those lines.

For all powers: Increases Recharge Rate and Healing by 33% One third of these bonuses ignore the effects of enhancement diminishing returns.


I have it on my KM/EA brute, and it increases Energy Drain, Health and Physical Perfection by 33%.

Longish post, but hopefully some useful info for you

Some 101...

This game is overall very casual and easy to learn. There aren't any real penalties for failing a mission or being defeated other than a mild xp penalty and even that is canceled out if you just leave a character unlogged overnight or for a few days depending on how much debt you accrue. It's really just a formality at this point. It wasn't always like that...my year 1 characters lost entire levels worth of xp to debt, but they scaled it waaaaaay back and now the game is basically penalty free.

Also, if you make bad character build decisions, the game offers a plethora of ways to rebuild your character. The easiest way is, if you keep your account paid up you'll earn Veteran's Rewards which periodically give you respecs for _all_ of your characters...even retroactively. So, if I were to make a new character today they would have more than enough respec's available to them for me to change their builds multiple times. Also, whenever the devs make a serious tweak or add things to the game they issue a global 'freespec' which allows you to repsec your characters just by typing /respec in the chat window. Note that unlike other respecs, freespec's are use it or lose it however as you can only have one per character.


You don't need to take all the powers in your primary or secondary set. This isn't clearly stated anywhere, and some new players don't realize it. Your power selection are just options. Having said that, in each set there is at least one or two powers that you are foolish not to take because they are awesome. Knowing which powers those are isn't always obvious, but with time and experience you'll find out.


For attacks you only need enough attacks to put together a seamless attack chain..which is to say you always have an attack to use and don't have to wait for something to cool off. Once you have a solid attack chain, more attacks are superfluous...er...wasted. When you get to the top levels and have access to all you attacks, you'll probably want to respec (which means re-pick your powers and slots) and keep the optimal selection of attacks to put together a maximum DPS (damage per second) chain, but when you are leveling up just take whatever works for you.


As a scrapper, you should avoid taking attacks from Pool powers unnecessarily. Things like Boxing, Kick, Air Superiority, and especially Flurry, etc. Your Martial Arts attacks are pretty much just better. The exception is you will probably have to take one as a prereq for something, most commonly Boxing or Kick to unlock Toughness and Weave in the Fighting Pool. Toughness and Weave will help any character's survivability out, and in your case using Willpower you will almost certainly want at least Tough by the mid to late 20's.


In the early game it really doesn't matter too much how you slot your powers; your personal preference will dictate what is important to you. When you get to the mid game the enhancements get better and start bumping into caps which limit their effectiveness; this is called ED or Enhancement Diversification, which is just double-speak for imposed ceilings that make it pointless to over-slot a particular boost. Back in the old days we used to 6 slot of damage or recharge and push really extreme builds around with lots of skew which made it very difficult to balance the game. There's a complex tree of percentages backing the numbers now, but the rule of thumb is it is never beneficial to slot more than 3 of the same kind of enhancement in anything, and you are going to get most bang for your buck with 2.

My default slotting is: (Note that everyone has an opinion on this subject)

6 in all primary attacks with Acc x 1, Dam x3, End x1, Rech x1, and I tweak from there as suits a particular power. Once you get to Invention Origin sets this goes out the window, but when using standard enhancements it's a good starting place.

Toggle defenses get 3 or possibly 4 slots total (including the free slot), depending on what it is, and I typically go End x1 DEF or RES x 2 or 3.

Toggle auras (Rise to the Challenge for you) generally get 6 slots just like an attack. The slotting will vary as each taunt aura is different, but for RttC I go for Heal 3, Taunt 1, -ToHit 2. However, there are exceptions; for example Oppressive Gloom from Dark Armor (DA) doesn't need any extra slots beyond its freebie.

Auto Defenses will get either 2, 3, or 4 depending on what it is. If its single purpose (only DEF, only RES, etc), it gets 2. If it's dual purpose (RES and +HP, for example) it will get 2, 3, or 4 as slots are available but as a low priority...unless the base numbers are large in which case I might load it up to take advantage of the numbers.

Click powers are one offs and get anything from just the freebie if its a low-usage / situational power, to 3 for Recharge x 3, or 6 to really maximize whatever it is that the clickie does. Willpower's only click's are Unstoppable and Resurgence which are a) optional (ie you don't need either) and b) don't require any additional slots to be useful. Martial Arts click power is Focus Chi which you are going to want and probably should put 2 or 3 Recharge into.


Pool Powers are important as they give you utility options, but don't go overboard. If you have more Pool Powers than primary / secondary Powers you are going to be underpowered. You don't need more than one travel power. If you are taking powers that let you mimic some other archetype you are going to be much less good at it than the real archetype, though it might be good enough for your purposes. If you are trying to be too toolboxy you are missing out on what your archetype does best. So...I recommend you use Pool Powers to supplement and fill gaps.


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Martial Arts is a solid single target set, with a mix of secondary status effects and some of the cooler animations in the game (the last part is subjective, of course). Check out both the default kicking animations and the variant punching animations in the Powers tab of the character designer and pick the ones you like best. There's a drop down under "Martial Arts" in the character designer that lets you pick unilaterally for the entire set, or you can go to each power and select each one individually.

I recommend Storm Kick over Thunder Kick when starting, but either are serviceable.

Cobra Strike is decent choice, but I really don't like the default animation. The variant animation is passable however.

Crippling Axe Kick is an important power for you. Very good damage (2nd in the set behind Eagle's Claw), and it has good side effects. Note that it has the capacity to ground a flier which can be handy. I'm not a fan of the kicking animation, though they have sped it up a bit, however the punching animation is pretty butch.

Crane Kick is good, but don't slot it for knockback; kb is bad for most scrappers as you have no range and thus either have to chase or wait for them to come back. There isn't a punch animation for CK.

Dragon's Tail is your only area of effect, and also it has very reliable knockdown, which is an important form of mitigation as bad guys can't hit you while they are knocked down and getting up. Again, don't slot it for knockback as that will convert it from knockdown to knockback. What's the difference? Tangent: Knockback sends opponents flying away from you, Knockdown drops them where they stand so no chasing or waiting. From a scrappers perspective, Knockdown == good, Knockback == bad. For future reference, there is also knockup which is just like knockdown but with hang time, but you don't have any powers in MA that do knockup. Back on topic, definitely take Dragon's Tail as soon as you can get it and slot it for Acc x1 Damage x 2 Recharge x2 End x1.

Eagle's Claw is an awesome attack, but it has a longish animation. It does a lot of damage, stuns, and gives you a short-duration buff to your chance to critical greatly increasing the chance of the attack that follows it to crit (by +33%). It also, in my opinion, looks cool though opinions vary on this. Both the punch and the kick animation are nice.

Focus Chi is your "build up", which grants a big damage boost for a short period of time. You don't need it when it first becomes available, and can easily leave it until mid to late 20's to pursue other aspects of your character. However, when you have a solid base adding Focus Chi will give you burst damage capability and if you can remember to use it consistently it will give you a solid increase in total damage output.

Never bother to take Confront on any Scrapper. It's a silly power. If you want a bad guy to pay attention to you, just hit them.
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Willpower is a solid "toggle and go" set. It provides ample END with Quick Recovery. It starts off good and stays pretty good. It's top end isn't as tough as some of the more focused defenses, but it's across the board very strong. Second (or third) best at everything is still very solid. It's psi protection in particular is top notch.

Some key notes:
You can't take an alpha strike as well as most other sets...in other words, the big slam of damage when you first engage a mob and they all unload their attacks on you. However, you will heal very fast so if they can't take you down quickly you will outpace them and survive. Your health bar will go up and down, unlike say an Invul based character, but it's ok.

You need Rise to the Challenge. It's the biggest part of your regeneration and thus your survivability. Get it and slot it. The power description is not helpful and doesn't really speak to how important this power is. The real story is, your Regen goes up significantly based on how many bad guys are around you.

Quick Recovery and Fast Healing are key, but you also want to slot Stamina and Health. The combination of QR + Stam, and FH + Health is a big base for your recovery and regen to build on. I recommend you 3 slot all 4 powers for End Mod x 3 and Heal x 3 respectively for the recovery boosters and regen boosters. You might also later consider going into the Body Mastery epic for Physical Perfection, though you arguably wont need it if you've build your character correctly and invested in IOs.

Heightened Senses may seem like a meh power at first, but you do want to take it. It's also an important power if you get into IO's later as it will let you slot Luck of the Gambler. The rule of thumb is, every 1% of DEF is roughly equivalent to 2% of RES; however due to an artificial ceiling incorporated in the to-hit check algorithm 45% DEF is as unhittable as you can get vs standard opponents and is very uber...this is referred to as "soft capping". If you stick with the game and get into IO sets, you can potentially soft cap Willpower at least vs some damage types and HS will give you the base to build on.

You will want to seriously consider getting Tough and maybe Weave from the Fighting Pool. Willpower has mediocre resistance, and Tough will be a creditable supplement. Your main survivability is from regeneration, but you need to brake the incoming damage so that you are healing more than you are taking. Also, one-shot big hits from bosses hurt. Tough helps to ameliorate this for you. Note that the power text on Tough lies; it's not really +RES all, its just +RES Smashing / Lethal. However, S/L is the most common damage in the game, and even a lot of putatively "energy" attacks have a smashing or lethal component. I have Tough on both my WP characters, and it makes a major difference.


Hope there's something of use in that wall of text...good luck and welcome to the game!

6-slot Focused Accuracy and put Gaussian's in there.

The set bonuses are way more beneficial than the chance for build up. Though it does add a nice damage spike every now and then, it is totally unpredictable and holistically speaking really not much of a buff on average.

Gaussian's is a pretty affordable set, and the broad 2.5% DEF bonus for 6 pieces is solid. It also helps bring the END cost on FA down a bit, and buffs the to hit bonus to something youll actually notice.

In fact, I'd go so far as to say, FA by itself is kind of a stinker; high END cost for very modest benefit. FA+Gaussian (6) is painful in terms of slots but does grant a collection of noticeable buffs.

I still _have_ all the attacks on my DB/WP, but under most circumstances I just endlessly chain Vitals and Sweep, with Blinding Feint as a bookend / gap filler (just like any other build up).

It is amusing when fighting -RECH opponents, as I have enough attacks to cycle and keep attacking.

Also, when playing casual, it is sometimes fun to mix it up a bit to relieve the monotony. DPS efficiency isn't a holy grail, its just a measure of objective capability. Fun is also an important measure, it's just a subjective one. For me, watching my little blender of death jump around and twirl his blades is amusing, and mixing up animations by using the lesser combos / attacks contributes to that.

Even when I'm not using them the other attacks are set mules.

My DB/WP is 41 currently, so he's still in leveling build mode. When I get at or near 50 I'll respec into an endgame build and likely drop some if not all the lesser attacks in favor of more utility abilities. An alternate build is attractive however, and I may very well retain the "fun" version on build 1 and use the second build as the "serious" version with heavy IO investment.

My first character, back at the beginning of the game, was an MA/SR...and happily I still play that character. I've lived thru all the ups and downs of both MA and SR and am pleased to say that for me, aside from the days of perma-elude god-like DEF, the current state of MA/SR is the best it's ever been and I've been enjoying a new found appreciation for my original character who I had left to gather dust for quite a while as I played various other alts. It's like reconnecting with an old friend.


As to MA specifically:

Eagles Claw now procs a very short duration critical hit %% buff. Basically if you queue up another attack while EC is going thru its animation, that next attack's crit chance is increased. I don't recall the exact bonus off hand, but my MA does seem to crit pretty often on whatever follows EC (usually CAK or Dragon's Tail situationally).

Cobra Strike and Crippling Axe Kick both got retooled to be primary attacks rather than the status effect imposers they were previously relegated to and are now worth taking.


Also, not a "buff" per se, but MA got more than its fair share of love back when they were doing alternative animations and there is a very nice set of punch based animations, so you can make a puncher scrapper now using MA. Unfortunately, Dragon's Tail is still the same spinny leg sweep so its not 100%, and IIRC Thunder Kick didn't get a punch animation either (but I skip TK so I can't really remember). Concept wise, I really appreciate this aspect of MA.

Yeah, I haven't done the hard analysis, but empirically speaking the recent MA buff was shot in the arm. I've been having a lot of fun with my MA scrapper again. He hits really hard now and crits a lot thanks to the small crit boost window on Eagles Claw.

I also have fun mixing punching and kicking animations on various costumes. I just wish there was a punch based animation for Dragon's Tail so I could do an all punchy line up.

Focus Chi plus Eagles Claw plus Crippling Axe Kick == a lot of damage.

I have my lvl 50 /SR scrapper up to 60% global recharge via Quickness and I/O's, and nearly have perma-Hasten (again...oh how I miss the days) on top of that. I'm using the END / RES Incarnate to compensate for an overall focus on damage and def in my slotting (and lots of toggles) vs the RECH incarnate.

I already have a pretty tight build, but if I switched some sets around I cound squeeze another 7.5% with a few weeks of effort to acquire the pieces and without giving up any set bonuses I couldn't live without.

So...that got me to wondering...how much is enough? Is 67.5% before Hasten markedly better than 60% or would I barely notice?

Granted, builds vary, but in the abstract sense do people have any philosophical perspectives on how much RECHARGE is enough?

How do you figure 10% of the time? It certainly doesn't feel like 10% of the time on my SS/WP.

As it happens my top two characters are an /SR and an /EA, both level 50 and both IO'd out.

They are roughly comparable. /SR is easier to softcap, is positional based, and has huge DDR. And pretty much nothing else, save for a flat +RECH auto. /EA for its part has some resistance, a much better T9, Combat Stealth, and Energy Drain.

I've run both thru most of the TF's and important arcs in the game, and they both perform similarly. The SR is slightly more survivable most of the time, but when the RNG goes against him he's got very little fall back, and he's got no utility. The EA has some gaps (vs Psi, and somewhat vs Negative), but has utility options and a fall back plan if he starts absorbing too many hits.

SR is very POWER choice intensive as you need both a toggle and an auto for each positional. EA is very SLOT intensive as you will need to fully slot a number of IO sets to get important +DEF bonuses. On the plus side, the grab bag nature of EA's powers means you have lots of decent options for a variety of IO set types as opposed to the almost uniform "Defense Set" option of SR.

EA is a bit weaker over all if all you look at is defense capability, but it offers more options than SR. If the only thing you are interested in is DEF, then go SR. If the toolboxy utility of EA appeals to you, then go for it.

On a side note, you'll likely do better with EA vs SR in Praetoria. There's a lot of Ranged and some AoE in Praetoria, which SR struggles with early as it does not get its full collection of positional toggles until later. EA's DEF on the other hand is vs damage type and the set get's it's protection vs most of the damage types in Praetoria pretty early.

The dmg and end debuff is still there even if you double stack; the DEF debuff isn't.

However, the duration is extremely small. Use your veterans award attack (Sands of Mu, Nemesis Staff, etc) during that interval as they are not affected by buffs or debuffs and do their normal damage.

Alternately, if you have Taunt and / or Hand Clap, slot the Perfect Zinger Chance for Psi Damage and throw them while in rage crash.

Bots/Traps is fun. The Guardian Bots combo nicely w/ Traps.


I've never done Thugs/Traps, but seems like it would be alright.