Madadh

Well, since I really missed the bus on the 'Hami-Nerf'/'Hami-Exploit Fit' comment window, I guess I'll answer the actual question.

Um, really depends on your build...

If you have the time, and the inf, and the inclination, yes, 2 builds would be a smart way to go. I'd prefer to spend more on one top-end, versatile build than to spend less on two specialist builds. And I can't justify the time and expense of making 2 top end builds for 1 alt...
But that is because I have dozens of other alts clamouring for my time and attention, tho, so if you're less alty and/or more time and inf rich than 2 builds really is the best way to get the most out of one alt.

And yeah, I can't see why someone would take Invis if they are taking Super Speed anyhow unless you want it as a set mule.



Looking at what you have in your most recent build post, that looks like a pretty decent start. To my taste, I'd take Assault or Amplify later and move the Fighting pool stuff up a notch sooner, but that's a very minor nitpick based on my personal preference, so feel free to ignore that entirely. If you get it more fleshed out, feel free to post what you come to,a nd I'll try to make more helpful comments when I have more specifics to look at. If you want me to try and through together a build, let me know, but all my builds end up very much influenced by my tastes unless I've teamed with ya enough to be able to guess your play style or at least seen the direction you are trying to get in.

Edit: I was blind to the previous post somehow, but now that my vision is restored, I'm deleting the almost identical sentiment....

Well, first, to reiterate. Yes, -500% regen is a lot. Especially if it can be made permanent. Only 2 or 3 powers in the game debuff regen more than this. Drain Psyche and Poison Gas Trap, in case you were wondering. There might be one or two more, but not many. If you want to melt hard targets as a debuffer, -regen in decent sized chunks is really critical.

As for how effective -62% damage is. It's about like getting a 62% Resistance buff, that only applies to that target. (That's not exactly true, as Res is usually purely additive, and -damage added to +res isn't, it's like an extra step in the equation. Also, I suspect that -damage is resisted somehow, but some targets, but I don't know the details. I suspect that one of the resident hard numbers experts will pop in and correct/clarify, but I'm pretty sure I'm close enough to show that -damage is quite nice. To compare, a Rads -damage numbers are under 1/2 that.)

Third, if you want to focus mostly on iTrials, I'd still take forge. When you pop your lore pets, have a 'target you big DPS pet' macro and just forge it every time forge is up. But, even if you don't wanna mess with that, it is still a good set mule. If you take teh scorp shield, you're obviously building for s/l def. Two slots of rectified reticle can get you some +perception (always handy) and 1.88% extra s/l def. Which is slot for slot, worth as much or more than Kinetic Combats, if you think about it. A couple more slots can get ya a bit of global damge buff, too.


OK, now, I looked at you most recent post, and overall looks pretty top end. I have a few minor suggestions, tho.
1) I'm a tad worried about End consumption. Never tried this pairing, but if Therm gets busy, it can be end heavy. And since Sonic Blasts are pretty fast, they can burn through end fast, too.
2) I seem to recall that Power of the Phoenix isn't the most damaging power available, but does have a good stun. If so, I'd consider the Stupefy set over the Posi blast set. If people are dying, that extra stun may turn the tide ore than a bit of extra damage. And it'll save some Inf. And get ya some more stun duration across the board (nice with Screech) and more HP, and keeps the same +recovery, and +recharge. Stupefy also has more +Recharge so it'll be up more often. You would give up some +Acc for that change, though.
3) Speaking of losing Acc. If you ever do, you may not be hitting the GM/AV with total reliability. With Tactics, you probably will be (but tactics provides no direct tohit debuff resistance), but for a must hit power like HE, I'd want 1 Acc in there. I'd steal the slot from Afterburner to put an Acc in HE.
4) I'd move the Glad armour special +Def to Thaw, and drop the other Glad for a Pair of Inpervium Armours. Res/End and Res/Rech/End will get you a tad bit more Res,and more end reduction, while keeping the same +Recovery set bonus. Or Slot the Res/End and strait Res. Or, if you want a tad bit of Psi Res, you can even slot that in there. The other thing that takes a hit then, is some of the cold resistance from Thaw.
5) I'd swap the Lyso in Melt Armour for a strait Acc enhance. My thought here is... If they are easy enough to hit that it only needs 1 SO and Tactics to hit reliably, then the Def debuff component isn't going to be noticed anyhow, especially on iTrials. If it's hard to hit, you'll want to make sure you really do hit, else the power is a waste of time. I'd slot it with Analyze Weakness Acc/Recharge and Acc/Recharge/End for the max effect. Granted, you're already over the Rule of 5 on +10% regen, but it's still better than 1 Acc IO and 1 Recharge IO, and will save ya some end. And, if you can scare up a 3rd slot for this power, I'd add in teh Achilles' Heel proc. Yes, chances are others will be throwing it around too, on trials especially, but the odds aren't high that it'll stay procced on the same specific target. I always true to get that proc in on AOE -def powers when I can. If you didn't steal the fly speed IO from Afterburner before, I would do so to make room for this proc.

All fairly minor suggestions, though. All in all, you've got a very solid looking build.

Yeah, mostly I"m with Claws. But I have to add, I'm also with Rosswell and McNum. PVP safeguard/mayhem sounds like lots of fun.

Of course, I've always thought the Gladiators PVP sounded fun and I've never been able to even try that. I don't have even the slightest clue what kind of a mechanic that system even uses. I'd just like to try and get some of those fun badges and at least experience it once. I any not care to try it a second time, but curiosity alone makes me intrigued.

Wow. Now I really wanna make a Staff alt. I just can't find a set that I want to pair it with.

Sonic/Sonic, is perfectly viable for solo and team play. Just as long as your solo expectations aren't to run +4/x8 easily, or for super rapid farming, etc.

I would try to get maneuvers added in, or alternately, swap one of your pools for fighting, as Virus suggested. The Scorpion Shield is also a good idea, as it would make a s/l/e softcapped build fairly easy.

I normally wouldn't suggest it, but for the phantom theme, the Phase Shift power might be nice. It can be used as a Hibernate substitute, and can be used to take an alpha, too. Invis doesn't allow you to attack, so I might consider the +Stealth proc and stealth, instead. When they are stacked this way (or with Super speed, too) it grants the same effective level of sneaky as invisibility, but doesn't prevent ya from fighting that way.

Your primary isn't a lot of use solo for survivability, so I'd make sure to get Sonic Dispersion maxed out asap. Liquify isn't the best T9 either, but it can turn the tide in a tight fight. I might be tempted to slot it for recharge, acc, and maybe tohit debuff. Might also be a nice place for the Chance for +2 mag hold, and or the Purple KD proc. I'd consider using 4 of one of the accurate tohit debuff sets and then a proc or 2. Make sure to get what use you can out fo your primary when solo, tho. If you have a minor combat buff pet, like the shield drone, summon that, shield it, and hang the Disruption Field on it and drag it into a fight when you need even more oomph. But that thing is an end hog, beware.

I wouldn't spend 2 slots on clarity, myself, nor 3 slots on Invis for end reduction, since you can't use an attack while invis is up anyhow.

I'd try and get the defender ATE slots into the build someplace, especially the proc, as a nice little heal will help out.

Well, hope that helps some.

A friend of mine recent built his DB/Regen scrapper, and I offered lots of advice, and then he prompt ignored most of it and built a smoking build. Point being that htere are several ways you can go and all will be quite effective. It comes down to how much to you want to spend, and play style, and skill, and how much clickiness you can tolerate/do well.

So, without seeing your starting point, and getting an idea of how much you want to throw at it, and your goals/expectations, you might get wildly different replies.

Edit #1: What Princess D said is a very good point. KD is great mitigation. AOE KD even more. It really helps regen a lot.

Edit #2: +Regen IOs aren't bad, but they are just a drop in the bucket of regen-ness that is Regen (and WP, too). Every bit helps, but regen IOs alone don't turn Regen into a world beater. Build for lots of +HP and Regen and then you have some. Get a way to get some decent Def and/or decent Res, too, and you're even better. From there, just gotta get used to timing when to clicky, and when to inspire, and you can go a LONG way.

Sorry, Xz, gotta agree with all the others, and disagree with you.

1) On SOs alone, DA does fine vs +2/x1, which was the max possible setting pre IOs. It'll still do fine on that. Sure, you'll want to carry blues, purples and greens, but what set out there doesn't need to ever use Inspirs on SOs alone? Not many. DAs strength on SOs alone is no real weakness other than being end costly, and thus needing to be slotted infor end reduction. Invuls got a gaping Psi hole, tho, and that weakness is harder to cover even with IOs, and is impossible (preIncarnate SO only) to do anything about. So, as for balanced for SOs, DA is. It's *weakness* is that it requires toggle management.

2) The OP didn't mention a thing about disliking the set from a standpoint of SOs only anyhow so replies about IOs that help fix the issue addressed in the OP are quite relevant, unless the SO later clarifies and states that SO only is the standard being discussed.

3) When was the last time the Devs were on record as stating that the game was balanced around SOs and *not* around IOs? I don't know personally (so I'll want to see a link), but I bet it isn't recent. They devs are also on record as stating that the real numbers wouldn't be shown, either, but that is demonstrably a thing of the past. I think it can be argued that 'balanced around SOs and *not* IOs' is also a thing of the distant past. I think if you saw anything about how the game was balanced recently (post I13) and it mentioned being balanced around SOs, that it was also understood that it also balances around IOs equally, or even more so, and that perhaps that you read into that something that wasn't there.




That said, to the OP.. Yes, it's a good set. It sucks end, and Dark Regen really sucks end. It can be a bear to level on SOs alone. Practice toggle management if you are in SO only mode and for the love of all that's good and cuddley, slot end reduction in toggles AND attacks and DR. If you have access to IOs, use them. The ToE and Perf Shift procs along with Numi and Miracle uniques, and some frankenslotting make a huge difference.

I'll add my voice to those that don't want to see DA messed with (although if any change was going to be made, the CoF power, not DR, probably does need some love, but even that is bearable).

I'm in the home stretch of a BS/DA Brute,a nd I've had my end issue largely under control since lvl 30-35ish. They did come back some when I added Focused Accuracy into the mix, but I avoid leaving that running all the time and don't have too much trouble. I'm expecting that after I finish my IOing that the end issues will be largely fixed again, but it there is any residual problem, Cardiac will likely be the end of it. I intentionally took FA at lvl 44, and my IO set bonuses that provide end help are at levels so as to have them available exemped to lvl 44 so once the issues are solved, they likely won't resurface ever. My point if that it's quite manageable. I wans't heavily IOed all the way. Mostly I was on SOs and frnkenslotting. But yes, it's a tricky set to manage, and get used to, and build well, but once you get the hang of it, you'll likely be in love with it, and like most of the rest of us here, won't want to see it changed, either.

I love Storm, and it's such an obvious choice, I'm really tempted to go there, but I have a feeling there might be an overload of those, so...

Maybe an Emp/Water... Or a Water/Poison Corr..

Really, the water blast set looks great, but I prefer thematic pairings, and really, nothing other than Storm jumps out at me as a great thematic match.

It's funny, but I'm thinking it might pair better with some of the Troller/Dom primaries, but, of course, a blast set doesn't go with Trollers at all (theme-wise, yes, but mechanically, not so much) and it would need some work to port over to Doms..



Maybe what someone else said, and do a Cold/Water, and see if the name Liquid Nitrogen isn't taken yet, but skipping the Steam power might be in order then...

Welcome back. Love the forum name, too...


Looks like a decent starting spot, really. I could nitpick, but really most of what I 'd notpick about might be changed if/when you move to some (all) IOs.

Are you looking for an example build to shoot for as an end? Are you looking for a leveling build? Or just critiques of what ya have so far? If the later, I'd say it looks good, if you don't have Auction House and Invention System access, other than obviously respec and get the Inherent Fitness. If you do have access to those 2 tools, at least look into frankenslotting and/or cherry picking a few choice IOs like a Perf SHifter Proc for stamina, and the Miracle and Numina's uniques for health.

It seems most are closer to the 1M end than the 100 mil end. I think only Res/End and Def/Tohit/End (Cytos) are above the 50 mil mark when last I looked. Nucleos weren't even over 50 mil last I checked (Acc/Damage).

Of course, there is strangely a lot of price difference at times between the synthetic and non synth varieties...

I like the set. Most pros and cons have all already been mentioned, except for one..

It has alternate animations.

I, for one, much prefer most of the alternates (including the one that most people apparently didn't like).