Maelwys

The only thing remotely tough about higher-level CoT are the twisty underground maps. They're very easy even with something like an INV tanker that doesn't have notable resistances to Dark/Cold/Fire/Energy.

Even the level 50 boss-level mages don't mez that often, and it's easy to shake their accuracy debuff... most PUGs are just scarred by their prior experiences fighting CoT in the hollows or the Envoy of Shadows AV.

There are also at least two level 50 outdoor maps that feature arcane-salvage-dropping-enemies on CoH.

CoV actually has a tougher time of it at farming magic salvage in large quantities since there are zero level 50 outdoor arcane-salvage-dropping-mob maps on CoV. However the "trickle" of salvage earned whilst playing normally through standard content is higher since longbow are prone to drop a fair bit of magic salvage.

Last I checked the big-earners were Prophecy, Pangean Soil, Essence of the Furies, Magical Conspiracy and Hamidon Goo. The lower level stuff like Deific Weapon and Enchanted Impervium were getting a lot less costly.

[ QUOTE ]
(which was also made redundant by Stalkers using +Stealth IOs, we can't see them anyway when their stealth cap is higher than our perception cap).

[/ QUOTE ]
The Stalker Stealth cap is always ten feet LOWER than your perception cap.

That said, I agree that TD would be better as a clicky (say 20 secs recharge, 120 secs duration, non-stackable, or 120 secs recharge, 120 secs duration, stackable?) and that Auto Turret could use either wheels or wings.

Both those powers could benefit from some of the Force-Field-Generator code from the /traps set.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
They're forms, aren't they? They might ACT as toggles, but they disable an awful lot of powers when you turn them on. Bit like Granite Armor, only moreso.

[/ QUOTE ]
Uhm, it's just the other way round: Kheldians' Dwarf and Nova forms are - just like Granite Armor - toggles. They must be fueled with endurance (although Kheldian forms pay their own cost with +recovery) and can be detoggled and behave just like toggles in any other way imaginable. They have special effects as they change the toon's appearance and disable other powers (or enable otherwise disabled powers), but in the end they are just toggles who act like forms (which is no official term for any power type in CoH/V).

[/ QUOTE ]

At the risk of straying a bit OT, I'd disagree with the "Forms not being official" bit.

Check the in-game power descriptions for various "Form" powers:

[ QUOTE ]
Kheldians are masters of energy and matter. A Peacebringer can transform into a massive unstoppable energy beast known as a White Dwarf.

[/ QUOTE ][ QUOTE ]
Kheldians are masters of energy and matter. A Warshade can transform into a massive unstoppable essence draining beast known as a Black Dwarf.

[/ QUOTE ][ QUOTE ]
Kheldians are masters of energy and matter. A Peacebringer can transform into a flying energy beast known as a Bright Nova.

[/ QUOTE ][ QUOTE ]
Kheldians are masters of energy and matter. A Warshade can transform into a flying energy beast known as a Dark Nova.

[/ QUOTE ][ QUOTE ]
When you activate Light Form, you become pure Kheldian energy and are extremely resistant to most damage.

[/ QUOTE ][ QUOTE ]
When you activate this power, you are transformed into a massive bulk of unyielding Granite.

[/ QUOTE ]

And most revealingly, the "Modes_Disallowed" flag for other powers in the Kheldian Powersets (from nofuture's power listing, which was originally taken from the i7 developer "powers" spreadsheet and provides a useful glance at how things are coded in CoH):

[ QUOTE ]
Modes Disallowed - Peacebringer_Blaster_Mode, Peacebringer_Tanker_Mode, Disable_All

[/ QUOTE ]

These "modes" or "forms" are coded differently to other clicks/toggles because they (i) change your character model (ii) disable and/or enable powers.

Note that this "enabling/disabling" is unlike other powers which can be made mutually exclusive (an example is Super Jump and Combat Jumping) or simply made to do nothing whilst another power is in effect (an example is 'attacks' when phase-shifted). In the case of Kheldian Forms other powers are actually disabled- they are greyed out and made completely inaccessable. Whilst a Kheldian is in a form only accolades and the powers 'inherently' available to that form are usable.

Also, I phrased it as "Forms which act as toggles" rather than the other way around because there exists a form which acts as a "Click": Light Form. Light Form allows most Normal and Temporary powers to be used, but disallows Transforming into Dwarf or Nova form (see the "Modes_Disallowed - Peacebringer_Light_Mode" flag on those two form powers).

[ QUOTE ]
A toggle is a switch between two settings.

[/ QUOTE ]

As I understand it, a Toggle is a type of switch. It can be defined as "any instruction that works first one way and then the other; it turns something on the first time it is used and then turns it off the next time".

Traditionally, it's more usual for a normal switch to have two distinctly seperate states and be "at rest" in either state (think of a traditional room "light switch") whereas a toggle switch would have one base state (off) but could be "enabled" to change to a different state (think of a push-in "ON/OFF" button on a TV). This would appear to be the case within CoH mechanics, where a toggle is OFF by default and returns to the OFF state whenever its operation is interrupted (you are mezzed or run out of endurance).

[/pedant]

Just a note on Temperature Protection:

As far as I'm aware the only real reasons to take this power are PvP related. It adds 20% to Ice's slow/recharge debuff resistance and lets you slot Resistance set uniques in something other than Hoarfrost. It also gives slight Fire resistance, which together with Psionic is one of Ice's "damage holes".

If you intelligently slot Hoarfrost, you can get away without taking any other Resistance power though... 2x level 50 Heal/Rech and 2x level 40 Heal/Rech, plus the Aegis Mez Resist and Steadfast +Def uniques.

A PvP Ice/Energy Tanker will want (CJ + SJ), (Hasten + SS) and (Hurdle + Health + Stamina) from Pool powers, plus Focussed Accuracy from their Epic pool. The Medicine, Presence or Concealment pools are optional.
Don't drop Energy Absorption either: it can be handy to have an endurance drain, and EA is a powerful one.

They're forms, aren't they? They might ACT as toggles, but they disable an awful lot of powers when you turn them on. Bit like Granite Armor, only moreso.

Given that like most bi-form Peacebringers my damage output comes from Human form, merely being able to "survive" a Cyst in Dwarf form is kind of pointless. You might as well simply teleport past it. Nova would be better suited to kill them than Dwarf, but would probably pull more aggro then it can handle with all the AoEs.

Human + Light form (or a double-mired Nova, but will you survive that long?) is probably your best bet. Personally I'll Pop Hasten and Light form, then whomp the Cyst itself and let the explosion deal with the unbound Nictus. If I get too much -recharge (rare with just Hasten, even rarer with Set Bonuses too) use Geas.

That's a respecced build at level 50, but it's not too different to my levelling build. I didn't take Spine Burst until 30 when I was levelling anyway. Ripper and the twin damage auras were easier for consistent damage output on teams than Spine Burst (low-damage PBAoE with a large end cost and a long activation time).

He was at level 50 before i9 hit, I had him IO'ed within two weeks of it going live. Fun biccies!

It takes Knockback IOs, but the only one I'd ever slot is the ForceFeedback "Chance for +Rech" one...

Yeah, slotting Range will increase the width of a Cone attack. It's worth noting that since Energy Torrent is longer range than Throw Spines (40 Feet as opposed to 30 feet), you can still catch roughly the same amount of foes in it. The only gripe I have is that it has a long recharge time, but a few IOs can take care of that...

Before IOs, I only bothered putting two Accuracy SOs into Gloom. One Acc SO or an Acc/Mez HO will work just fine in the base slot since it's "perma" out of the box, I just prefer slightly higher accuracy.

You can get Triage Perma with 3 Recharge SOs, but I'd focus on Healing first before I added Recharge.

Heal/Heal/Heal/Rech/Rech/Rech is obviously the best slotting for SOs, but you can get the same bonus with four Heal/Rech Set IOs (two level 50, two level 40) or various mix-and-matches of five Set IOs.

Build looks OK now, only thing that caught my eye was the lack of an Endred in Protector Bots. They NEED one after the level 32 upgrade, so Acc/Acc/Dam/Dam/Dam/Endred is the usual slotting method before IOs/HOs.

Aye, TBH I'd go with Acc/Stun/Rech, Acc/Rech, and Acc/End if you want the bonuses.
I didn't really bother with Set Bonuses on my Spines/DA, focussing instead on raw enhancement % values.

With my Spines/DA I went for as much +recovery, +endurance reduction and +damage as possible. Accuracy and +regen was next, followed by recharge. Currently I can turn on Focussed Accuracy and run about spamming attacks versus just about anything. I only really need to turn it off periodically when I'm fighting Carnies. Occasionally using "Conserve Power" easily manages keeps my endurance the rest of the time.

Since Issue 11, the only Purple enh I've slotted has been the AoE Fire Damage Proc in Death Shroud (I had a "Scirroco's Dervish" Lethal Damage one in before). It can tank Psionic Damage AVs, is by far my best "AoE damage" toon, and can hold it's own in "farming" capability versus most Fire/Kin/Fire controllers.

Current Build is below, with the exception of "Stamina" since Endurance Set IOs aren't fixed yet.

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.30
http://www.honourableunited.org.uk/mhd.php

Level 50 Magic Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Spines
Secondary Power Set: Dark Armor
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Leaping
Ancillary Pool: Body Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Lunge -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg:50(A), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(3), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(5), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(7), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx:50(45)
Level 1: Dark Embrace -- ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx:40(A), ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg:40(11), ResDam-I:50(15), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx:50(15)
Level 2: Death Shroud -- Armgdn-Dmg/EndRdx:50(A), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg:50(3), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(5), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx:50(7), Armgdn-Dam%:50(13), M'Strk-Acc/EndRdx:50(13)
Level 4: Murky Cloud -- ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx:40(A), ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg:40(17), ResDam-I:50(17), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx:50(36)
Level 6: Hurdle -- Jump-I:50(A)
Level 8: Impale -- Dev'n-Acc/Dmg:50(A), Dev'n-Dmg/Rchg:50(9), Dev'n-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(9), Dev'n-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(11), HO:Centri(36), Range-I:50(46)
Level 10: Obsidian Shield -- HO:Ribo(A), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx:50(40), ResDam-I:50(40), Aegis-Psi/Status:50(40)
Level 12: Combat Jumping -- Ksmt-ToHit+:30(A), LkGmblr-Rchg+:40(50)
Level 14: Super Jump -- HO:Micro(A)
Level 16: Health -- Numna-Heal:50(A), Numna-Heal/Rchg:50(39), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+:50(42), Mrcl-Heal:40(43), Mrcl-Rcvry+:40(43), RgnTis-Regen+:30(43)
Level 18: Quills -- C'ngBlow-Acc/Dmg:50(A), C'ngBlow-Dmg/EndRdx:50(19), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(19), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx:50(37), Sciroc-Dam%:49(37), M'Strk-Acc/EndRdx:50(37)
Level 20: Stamina -- Efficacy-EndMod:50(A), Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg:50(21), EndMod-I:50(21)
Level 22: Dark Regeneration -- Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(A), Sciroc-Acc/Rchg:50(23), M'Strk-Acc/EndRdx:50(23), Numna-Heal/EndRdx:50(25), Numna-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg:50(25), Numna-EndRdx/Rchg:50(36)
Level 24: Acrobatics -- EndRdx-I:50(A), EndRdx-I:50(39)
Level 26: Ripper -- M'Strk-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(A), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(27), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(27), C'ngBlow-Acc/Dmg:50(29), C'ngBlow-Dmg/Rchg:50(34)
Level 28: Build Up -- HO:Membr(A), HO:Membr(29), HO:Membr(39)
Level 30: Spine Burst -- M'Strk-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(A), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(31), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(31), C'ngBlow-Acc/Dmg:50(31), C'ngBlow-Dmg/Rchg:50(34)
Level 32: Throw Spines -- Det'tn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(A), Det'tn-Dmg/Rchg:50(33), Det'tn-Acc/Dmg:50(33), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(33), Posi-Dmg/Rchg:50(34), EndRdx-I:50(46)
Level 35: Oppressive Gloom -- Rope-Acc/Stun/Rchg:50(A), Rope-Acc/Stun:50(46)
Level 38: Confront -- Taunt-I:50(A)
Level 41: Focused Accuracy -- HO:Cyto(A), HO:Cyto(42), HO:Cyto(42)
Level 44: Conserve Power -- RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(45), RechRdx-I:50(45)
Level 47: Energy Torrent -- Det'tn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(A), Det'tn-Dmg/Rchg:50(48), Det'tn-Acc/Dmg:50(48), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(48), Posi-Dmg/Rchg:50(50), RechRdx-I:50(50)
Level 49: Soul Transfer -- RechRdx-I:50(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Acc-I:50(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- ULeap-Stlth:50(A)
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I:50(A)
Level 1: Critical Hit
------------
[u]Set Bonus Totals:[u]<ul type="square">[*]+3% DamageBuff[*]+7% Enhancement(Accuracy)[*]+12.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)[*]+99.4 (8.25%) HitPoints[*]+MezResist(Confused) (Mag 20%)[*]+MezResist(Held) (Mag 20%)[*]+MezResist(Immobilize) (Mag 22.2%)[*]+MezResist(Sleep) (Mag 26.6%)[*]+MezResist(Stun) (Mag 20%)[*]+MezResist(Terrorized) (Mag 20%)[*]+19.5% Recovery[*]+72% Regeneration[*]+3.75% Resistance(Energy)[*]+6.25% Resistance(Negative)[*]+3% Resistance(Psionic)[/list]<font class="small">Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>| Copy &amp; Paste this data chunk into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build |
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</pre><hr />

ET is knockDOWN not knockBACK on Scrappers, so it makes a fantastic mitigation tool and keeps your foes in one place long enough to use "Throw Spines" and your opening few AoEs.

It's slightly longer range and slightly narrower than Throw Spines, but does virtually identical damage.
(although being energy/smashing rather than lethal, it can actually be more damaging than Throw Spines)

Acc/Acc/Rech/Def/Def/Def is the best survivability SO slotting. That makes you able to double-stack it constantly (rather than a short period of non-overlap) and hit the soft Defence cap with two applications.

With IOs/HOs? The best method I've found is:

Acc/Dam HO
Acc/Dam HO
Acc/Dam HO
Level 50 LOTG +Defense IO
Level 50 LOTG Global +7.5% Rech IO
Recharge/Defense/ToHitBuff HO

Works out at 99% Accuracy, 99% Damage, 64.44% Defense (3 SOs is 60%), 33% Recharge.

Focussed Accuracy is wonderful. Conserve Power makes you virtually omnipotent.

And Energy Torrent is vastly underrated. Slot it for Accuracy, Damage and Rech. EndRed if you can spare it. Use it as your opening attack on a mob, follow up with Throw Spines, then jump in and unleash your AoE.

Oppressive Gloom is fine with 2 SOs worth of accuracy. If you have the slots, go for Stupefy, Although I'd rather have more Acc (so would go for Acc/End/Stun, Acc/End and Chance for Knockdown).

[u]Set Bonuses[u]:

Level 32: Rain of Arrows -- Posi-Acc/Dmg:50(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx:50(33), Posi-Dmg/Rchg:50(33), Posi-Dmg/Rng:50(33), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(34), RechRdx-I:50(34)
------------
[u]Set Bonus Totals:[u]

[*]+9% Enhancement(Accuracy)[*]+6.25% Enhancement(RechargeTime)[*]+2.5% Recovery[*]+1.58% Resistance(Fire)[*]+1.58% Resistance(Cold)[/list][u]Performance[u]:

Level 32: Rain of Arrows -- HO:Nucle(A), Det'tn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(33), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(33), Posi-Dmg/Rchg:50(33), RechRdx-I:50(34), RechRdx-I:50(34)
------------
[u]Set Bonus Totals:[u]
[*]+2.5% Recovery[/list][u]Money is no object[u]:

Level 32: Rain of Arrows -- Ragnrk-Dmg/Rchg:50(A), Ragnrk-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(33), Ragnrk-Acc/Rchg:50(33), Ragnrk-Dmg/EndRdx:50(33), Ragnrk-Knock%:50(34), Posi-Dmg/Rchg:50(34)
------------
[u]Set Bonus Totals:[u]
[*]+15% Enhancement(Accuracy)[*]+10% Enhancement(RechargeTime)[*]+4% Recovery[*]+2.52% Resistance(Fire)[*]+2.52% Resistance(Cold)[/list]

[ QUOTE ]
He was actually REFUSING to CM the team because he threw power build up and then RA'd the team, turning us (in his words) 'into regen scrappers' and therefore didn't need CM (go figure THAT one out!) It was quickly pointed out to him that A) regen scrappers have Integration for mez resistance and B) have a lot more HP than lowly squishy blasters/trollers/defenders.

[/ QUOTE ]

C) "Power Build up" does not increase either Regeneration Rate or Endurance Recovery Rate. An Empath will only get any benefit from it for increasing the ToHit/Defence of Fortitude or the potency of their heals.

[ QUOTE ]
However, at the end of the day, it could also be a lazy (or selfish) person who can't be bothered to buff (which, again, begs the question 'why pick empathy as a powerset?)

[/ QUOTE ]

On the issue of CM, whilst I don't yet have a high level Empath, I do have a high-level Sonic. Clarity is exactly the same as CM, albeit with a shorter animation time. When on my Sonic I usually fall into two "modes"...

If I'm completely alert (we're fighting enemies that use sleep attacks or "no deaths" is vital) then I will try to keep Clarity proactively on everyone who doesn't have their own mez protection. When I'm just "cruising" through missions (there's no real danger that Sonic Dispersion's AoE hold/stun/immob protection can't handle) I'll use Clarity more reactively and only people who I notice are mezzed or who type "zzzzzz".

The exception would be if there is an Empath (or another Sonic, though this is rare) on the team. That person is always first in my list of people to CM, and usually has perma-CM on them even when I'm just "cruising".

There is no excuse for an Empath who does not keep CM on their teammates in dangerous situations. Even Tanks need CM occasionally (GW is a good example, but so is Jack-in-Irons' Fear or Night Widow's -perception).

[ QUOTE ]

Anyway, here is my build.

------------
Level 1: Battle Drones Acc(A), Dmg(3), Dmg(3), Dmg(5)
Level 1: Web Grenade Acc(A), Acc(15), RechRdx(15), RechRdx(40)
Level 2: Pulse Rifle Burst Acc(A), Dmg(7), Dmg(7), Dmg(9), EndRdx(46)
Level 4: Caltrops RechRdx(A), RechRdx(5), Slow(43)
Level 6: Equip Robot EndRdx(A), EndRdx(9)
Level 8: Swift Run(A)
Level 10: Acid Mortar Acc(A), RechRdx(11), RechRdx(11), DefDeb(13), DefDeb(13)
Level 12: Recall Friend Range(A)
Level 14: Teleport Range(A)
Level 16: Protector Bots Acc(A), Acc(17), Heal(17), Heal(23), DefBuff(27), EndRdx(40)
Level 18: Force Field Generator EndRdx(A), DefBuff(19), DefBuff(19), DefBuff(21)
Level 20: Poison Trap RechRdx(A), RechRdx(21), RechRdx(33)
Level 22: Aid Other Heal(A), Heal(23), Heal(27), RechRdx(34), RechRdx(37), EndRdx(39)
Level 24: Aid Self Heal(A), Heal(25), Heal(25), RechRdx(34), RechRdx(34), EndRdx(39)
Level 26: Assault EndRdx(A)
Level 28: Assault Bot Acc(A), Dmg(29), Dmg(29), Dmg(31), EndRdx(39)
Level 30: Tactics EndRdx(A), ToHit(31), ToHit(31), ToHit(33)
Level 32: Upgrade Robot EndRdx(A), EndRdx(33)
Level 35: Trip Mine Acc(A), Acc(36), Dmg(36), Dmg(36), EndRdx(37), EndRdx(37)
Level 38: Seeker Drones Acc(A), RechRdx(40), RechRdx(43), RechRdx(43)
Level 41: Charged Armor EndRdx(A), ResDam(42), ResDam(42), ResDam(42)
Level 44: Electrifying Fences Acc(A), Acc(45), Immob(45), RechRdx(45), RechRdx(46), RechRdx(46)
Level 47: Repair RechRdx(A), RechRdx(48), RechRdx(48), EndRdx(48)
Level 49: Detonator Dmg(A), Dmg(50), Dmg(50), Acc(50)


[/ QUOTE ]

You are going to have major endurance issues with that, and there are a few power pick/slotting issues.

Caltrops, Pulse Rifle Burst, Swift, Acid Mortar, Aid Other, Aid Self, Poison Trap and Charged Armor are fine.
I'd consider substituting the Recharges on Aid Self for interrupt reductions though. And as an earlier poster pointed out, unless you're using the Rifle for roleplaying reasons it's usually better to go all-out-traps and let your Bots attack. You'll do far more damage by simply toebombing Tripmines anyway.

+ Battle Drones needs at LEAST two accuracies, ideally three. They will be -2 to you for most of your career.
+ Web Grenade is endurance-heavy, so slot it for endred and immob duration before recharge.
+ Equip robot only needs one endred. Upgrade wants two plus a recharge.
+ The only maps Recall friend won't work across are in the Shadow Shard. Use an endred.
+ Teleport wants an endred. Ideally three endreds if you're going to use it as primary travel without Stamina.
+ Protector Bots are NOT primarily healers. They are primarily damage dealers, with Defence buffing second.
+ FFG doesn't need an Endred. It is a clicky not a toggle.
+ Assault Bot needs no EndRed, but for the Burn Missiles you could use another Accuracy.
+ Assault and Tactics want at least two endreds each.
+ Trip Mines want Recharge and Damage. EndRed is not really a big concern, and they only need one Accuracy.
+ Seeker drones are pants. If you want them as a Alpha-Strike-Taker, consider using Bodyguard mode.
+ Electrifying Fences wants Acc/Acc/Immob/Immob/Rech/Rech to overlap.
+ After taking two Bot/ MMs to 50, I have never once needed "repair". Aid Self and (very occasionally) CaBs.
+ Detonator is fairly pants on anything other than a Necro/ MM. Robots won't be in melee range for a BOOM.
+ Triage Beacon ROCKS for Robots. They have high defenses and they stay in one place while attacking.

*Looks at the OP's original build and gets a mild case of the heebie-jeebies*

Right: First off, we need to establish what you want to do. If it's standard PvE (with maybe the OCCASIONAL excursion into a PvP zone or two) then you'll want to build on bot's and traps' main PvE strengths: Bots are king of AoE, only Thugs even comes close. Traps are king of +defense and the best "Tankermind" secondary.

In order to leverage Traps' placable traps and your Bot's Burn Patches, you'll need a method to immobilise and preferably inflict -knockback on your foes (Bot's laser Blasts can knock foes all over the place).

Web Grenade does both immobilise and -knockback on single targets, so it's worth slotting up for Elite Bosses and AVs. Caltrops will be your psuedo-AoE-immobilise until level 41. From the Patron pools, Web Envelope and Electrifying Fences are both good ranged immobs. But only Electrifying Fences inflicts -knockback.

A word on Defense: Traps grants the best Defence buffs available to a Mastermind (FF are better for allies but less powerful for yourself). Bot's bubbles stack with this, as will the Mace Mastery shield. With all three, it's quite possible to get over 45% Defense (the soft "cap") on your Mastermind... this is VERY good in PvE!

So once you have all that +defense, what else will help? Well, a regular heal for both you and your Bots... "Aid Other" and "Aid Self". Combine those with your Defense, and you'll be nearly unkillable in PvE...

The Fitness pool is not needed, but it will help if you plan to spam your traps. Likewise, teleport foe is not needed with decent +defence: simply enter bodyguard mode and "toebomb" your Trip mines and Poison Trap onto mobs. Recall friend is useful for freeing trapped henchmen, and Teleport-Self is pretty good on a Mastermind since your Henchmen will automatically respawn next to you after you teleport any distance.

The Leadership pool is however a big boost to any Mastermind and moreso to /Traps. Your debuffs can lower your enemies' resistances and defence, so +damage and +tohit combined with those debuffs will produce a very noticable increase in accuracy and damage output. Also consider that there are a lot of enemies that cause -perception on CoV. Tactics will protect you from becoming "blinded" to foes.

-----------------------------------------------

So, Medicine, Leadership, and some form of travel power. And either Mace Mastery or Elec Mastery (Mace is better defensively with the +defence, Elec better offensively with the -knockback). Plus perhaps Fitness.

Hasten is also nice to let you get out more Poison Traps or Tripmines, but it isn't needed by any stretch of the imagination. You can easily "perma" Acid Mortar and Poison Trap without it.

Right, onto slotting then. Looky here for my Bot/Traps builds.

If you're going to get ANY IOs, try and pickup a Knockback protection one (stick it into FFG) and the Pet "+5% Defence" one (stick it into Assault Bot, it only needs 5 SO slots Acc/Acc/Dam/Dam/Dam). SO-wise, Drones are best Acc/Acc/Acc/Dam/Dam/Dam and Protector Bots are best with Acc/Acc/Dam/Dam/Dam/Endred.

Do NOT sacrifice damage output for Defense or Heals on your Protector Bots. YOU can handle the main healing and damage mitigation, let your Bots deal the damage. If you can get extra +Defense out of them via HOs/IOs without sacrificing their damage, then by all means do it. I'd not bother buffing their healing though- they only throw one heal out every 60 seconds... Aid Other is so much better there is no comparison. After the level 32 upgrade the Protector Bots will also *require* at least one SO worth of endurance reduction.

Hope that helps.

- Mael

Leaving aside for a moment the fact that BackAlleyBrawler is currently working on Rage, I really don't see the problem with the "not being able to do anything for X seconds" component.

The Defence deduction is noticable when tanking, but not life-threatening. Rage needs a fairly heavy downside to balance it against other secondaries' "Build Up". Compared with Build-Up, rage is extremely overpowered... you can double-stack it quite easily for an insane amount of accuracy and damage output.

Put simply, that downside is the only-affecting-self component. Taunt is a power that affects enemies, thus you can't use it when you're "only-affecting-self". If you want to keep aggro then use Taunt and/or Footstomp right before Rage wears off. Or simply don't run Rage when teamed if you're worried about possible aggro loss.

Personally I find that in big teams I rarely need more damage, so I only tend to use Rage on smaller teams or when I'm soloing. I can also usually hold aggro just fine through the only-affecting-self bit, but the defence debuff can throw the team momentum off if I'm tanking anything other than S/L enemies.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

You cannot use your melee attacks in combat effectively with just "fly" and bad unsuppressed movement.

Can you use melee attacks without unsuppressed movement? Yes, but you will suck and you will die.


[/ QUOTE ]My blapper doesn't do too bad with fly...

Although I will probably 'spec for more unsupressed movement at some point, but the lack of it certainly isn't that big a disadvantage.

[/ QUOTE ]

Do you actually use Fly in combat, and if so what do you do to overcome the suppression weakness? I ask because I fail to see how a Flying Blapper could be as survivable or effective as one with another travel power.

They could certainly fly in whilst queuing an attack... but when that first attack triggers, movement suppression kicks in which vastly reduces their flight speed. The result is that they can't get away in time before their enemies counterattack. However with CJ + Hurdle, SuperSpeed, SuperJump, or even Teleport (if you're quick) you can "joust" so that when your melee attack lands you're out of the mob's melee range. With Fly, you're always going to remain within the mobs' melee range when you use a melee attack.

Against mobs at higher levels on higher-difficulty missions, staying within your foes' melee range is practically a death sentence unless you possess the means to mez or otherwise incapacitate them.

Fly also adversely affects your ability to heal yourself with 'Aid Self', since it always takes a second or two for you to actually "coast to a halt" in mid-air so that you can successfully activate an interruptable power. With any other travel power, once you stop moving you can always activate 'Aid Self' instantly.

Note that I'm not saying Fly is bad, just that it's the least-suited travel power for a Blapper.

[ QUOTE ]
Not that I want to sound rude but do you think you could keep your posts to relevance to the thread? Ideally not debates on which way of blapping works best, but rather blapping techniques overall and how to improve my build.

Cheers

[/ QUOTE ]

The build I've commented on directly already, but whilst I can give you a few pointers on the Art of Blapping it's largely something you're going to have to experience and learn for yourself.

You'll need to learn what mobs have AoE mezzes, what mobs have ranged mezzes, what mobs can reliably kill you before you can get "Short Circuit"'s animation off successfully and what mobs resist your own mezzes (virtually nothing is fully protected from endurance drain, but there are plenty of mobs that have light protection from Stuns, Sleeps and Holds). In terms of actually playing your toon, good movement and Aid Self will go a long, long way towards making you the best soloer you can possibly be, and it'll help considerably in teams too.

In teams, PBAoEs around the tanker are going to be your biggest headache as a Blapper. Again, good movement and Aid Self will help, as will essentially any buff from your teammates (but especially mez protection). Always position yourself carefully (out of range of any Cone Attacks that might be centred on the Tanker), carry plenty of breakfrees, use what you've learned whilst soloing in order to target the most dangerous enemies first without stealing aggro from the tanker and/or killing yourself in the process. And "Good Hunting!"

This:

[ QUOTE ]
My usual technique against a small group is to snipe one mob, queue up shocking bolt against another while snipe is activating, pile in and clean up.

When in a team against a bigger group, blast at first to thin out the crowd, then pile in and lay about you, perhaps targeting through a scrapper. Concentrate on downing one mob at a time rather than spreading damage.

[/ QUOTE ]

isn't "Blapping", it's "Blasting".

Blapping is when a Blaster uses melee attacks. The word "Blapper" is taken from a combination of "Blaster" and "Scrapper". Literally meaning: "a Blaster that uses melee attacks like a Scrapper".

[ QUOTE ]
Glad you put me straight on that one...

[/ QUOTE ]

Whilst this is no doubt meant as sarcasm, given that you appear to think there are different "styles of Blapping" including using ranged attacks to "blast to thin out the crowd" and "snipe", something definately needs to be clarified. Frankly I don't care whether or not you've played in a Blaster-only SG for two years or ten years, you are arguing that "Blappers" play essentially just like a normal Blaster, which is incorrect.

There are many, many ways to play the Blaster AT: Ranged, Melee, Controllery, Full-on-offense, etc. But the "Blapper" subset is built and intended to use melee attacks over ranged attacks.

It is pointless to advise the OP on Ranged blasting techniques when they have stated they are building a Blapper, and it is equally pointless to try to argue that using ranged attacks constitute "Blapping".


Also (and as an aside):

[ QUOTE ]
Riiight. So rarely faceplanting these past 2 1/2 years or so when either in a team or soloing has been either my imagination or just a run of incredible luck?

[/ QUOTE ]

The above quote appears to be at odds with this one:

[ QUOTE ]
Lastly, remember that debt is the constant companion of the Blaster, get used to it and it isn't so bad.

[/ QUOTE ]

Debt is part and parcel of playing most toons, and Blasters are no exception. However since Blasters have next to no defences, their survivability can be improved astonomically... simply by taking the appropriate powers to give yourself good movement and the ability to get in and out of fights quickly. This is important for any Blaster, but as I pointed out in my previous post, it is vital for "Blappers".

There is not "only one way" to build a "Blapper" Blaster, but there is only one guideline that works well and consistently: get good movement. Combat Jumping + Hurdle, Sprint + Swift, Superjump, Superspeed, whatever combination of powers you choose to take and use to achieve this goal is entirely up to you.

"Jousting" enemies (whether by running or jumping past them) is far, far safer than simply standing or floating in melee range. And there are only a limited number of methods to do that. Combat Jumping + Hurdle is arguably the best, since your movement won't be slowed when you attack... but Fly is simply not even on the list.

Fly is great for using ranged attacks on foes from a distance, but for the vast majority of the time Blappers will not be using their ranged attacks. Some won't even have taken or slotted their ranged attacks.

Taking "Fly" will simply not help a Blapper. If you believe otherwise, I would genuinely like to know what you base that belief on... since I have never once encountered a good Blapper that used Fly in combat.

[ QUOTE ]
It seems that you are defining blapping as a single style, when there are as many as you would want there to be. Everything I've said works, everything you've said works, neither are wrong, it depends on how you enjoy playing.

[/ QUOTE ]

Unfortunately this is not a "shades of grey" situation, for Blasters this is black and white: survive or die.

Blapping can be defined as a single style. "Blapping" Blasters use their melee attacks in combat- the point of Blapping is to inflict massive amounts of melee damage to your opponents, and survive whilst doing so. Since Blasters are lacking defensively, above level 25ish you will need to find a way to stop every mob you encounter from two-shotting you. So you will need to either incapacitate them, or be extremely mobile.

Of all Blaster combinations, only /Ice (Ice Patch), Elec/ (Short Circuit) and possibly Sonic/ (Siren's Song) can incapacitate entire mobs at a time. The OP is Elec/, but they will not be able to completely two-shot-drain a mob until level 35. Until then, they'll need to be very mobile when "scrapping" with melee attacks.

You cannot use your melee attacks in combat effectively with just "fly" and bad unsuppressed movement.

Can you use melee attacks without unsuppressed movement? Yes, but you will suck and you will die.

If you want to use Fly (or to a lesser extent, Teleport) as a Blaster; then either you will find yourself relying much more on ranged than melee attacks, or you will find yourself being a very regular visitor to the Hospital.

[ QUOTE ]
Not entirly correct. Are you intending to be a PvP or PvE blapper, because that makes a big difference?

[/ QUOTE ]

My post assumed the OP was talking (at least mainly) about PvE. For PvP, the Leaping, Speed, Fitness and Medicine pools are practically a given. And you'll have a choice between the Force and Ice Epic Pools.

[ QUOTE ]
As a PvE player: fly will always be the safest way for a blaster to travel, EM Pulse is good for a panic button when soloing, a quick bit of crowd control in a team and a pre-nuke power, keeping you safe from any not knocked out or missed by your big boom.

[/ QUOTE ]

Fly is only the "safest" method of travel if you like to go AFK a lot between missions. It is the least safe travel power when used in fights, because of the speed suppression and the fact that a lot of enemies have -fly powers. All the flight pool offers to a Blaster is "Hoversniping", which a "Blapper" will have no use for.

Elec's Nuke is ranged, so you really don't need a mez to keep you safe from retaliation. Blaster "EM Pulse" isn't a hold but a Stun, you've nothing to stack with it and it takes nearly as long to animate as "Short Circuit". Anything that you can't drain via "Short Circuit + Power Sink" you've probably got no business soloing anyway.

A "Blapper" will want at least Combat Jumping and Hurdle if they plan on being mobile in fights. And if a Blapper isn't mobile, they're dead. It doesn't really matter if we're talking about PvE or PvP, though someone with poor movement (only having "fly" counts as poor movement) will likely die that much faster in PvP.

[ QUOTE ]
Now I just need to work out the key skills of blapping

[/ QUOTE ]

Stay mobile, practice "jousting" (using melee attacks whilst jumping past enemies), ramp up your unsuppressed movement as much as possible, get a good targetting bind and always carry plenty of breakfrees.

Elec/Elec is actually one of the safer Blapper options since you can keep everything around you drained of endurance (with Short Circuit, Power Sink and Tesla Cage) whilst you hit them with melee attacks.

+ For a Blapper, mobility is key. Hurdle + Combat Jumping at least. Fly is not great for a Blapper.

+ Aid Self is underslotted. 2-3 Heals minimum. Interupt Reductions and Recharges/Endreds are good too.

+ Short Circuit wants Accuracies

+ Get Stamina. Yes, even with Power Sink. And Health to put the unique IOs in. And Hurdle for movement.

+ EndRdx is your friend before you get Power Sink. Toggles besides "Combat Jumping" always want EndRdx.

+ EM Pulse for Blasters is pants, especially without duration or accuracy slotting.

+ Voltaic Sentinel wants Accuracy and Recharge.

+ You will get mezzed. A LOT. Consider getting Acrobatics and/or the ranged Hold from the Elec Epic pool.

That's about it. Most of the attacks are fine if you can handle the endurance. There's some powers in there I wouldn't pick (Lightning Clap, Recall Friend, EM Pulse, Static Discharge), but nothing that's really awful.

The below is probably how I personally would build an Elec^3 "blapper" with SOs/Common IOs. Tesla Cage can be taken earlier if needed. There's two slots in Health for the Numina/Miracle Uniques.

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.30
http://www.honourableunited.org.uk/mhd.php

Level 50 Magic Blaster
Primary Power Set: Electrical Blast
Secondary Power Set: Electricity Manipulation
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Medicine
Power Pool: Speed
Ancillary Pool: Electric Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Lightning Bolt -- Acc(A), Dmg(3), Dmg(3), Dmg(7), EndRdx(23), RechRdx(48)
Level 1: Electric Fence -- Acc(A)
Level 2: Charged Bolts -- Acc(A), Dmg(40), Dmg(43), Dmg(46), EndRdx(50)
Level 4: Charged Brawl -- Acc(A), Dmg(5), Dmg(5), Dmg(7), EndRdx(17), RechRdx(23)
Level 6: Hurdle -- Jump(A), Jump(50)
Level 8: Short Circuit -- Acc(A), EndMod(9), EndMod(9), EndMod(13), RechRdx(15), RechRdx(15)
Level 10: Havoc Punch -- Acc(A), Dmg(11), Dmg(11), Dmg(13), EndRdx(17), RechRdx(19)
Level 12: Combat Jumping -- DefBuff(A)
Level 14: Super Jump -- Jump(A)
Level 16: Health -- Heal(A), Heal(50)
Level 18: Aim -- RechRdx(A), RechRdx(19), RechRdx(37)
Level 20: Stamina -- EndMod(A), EndMod(21), EndMod(21)
Level 22: Stimulant -- EndRdx(A)
Level 24: Aid Self -- Heal(A), Heal(25), Heal(25), EndRdx(27), RechRdx(34), IntRdx(46)
Level 26: Build Up -- RechRdx(A), RechRdx(27), RechRdx(37)
Level 28: Thunder Strike -- Acc(A), Dmg(29), Dmg(29), Dmg(31), EndRdx(31), RechRdx(31)
Level 30: Acrobatics -- EndRdx(A)
Level 32: Thunderous Blast -- Dmg(A), Dmg(33), Dmg(33), RechRdx(33), RechRdx(34), RechRdx(34)
Level 35: Power Sink -- EndMod(A), EndMod(36), EndMod(36), RechRdx(36), RechRdx(37)
Level 38: Tesla Cage -- Acc(A), Acc(39), Hold(39), Hold(39), RechRdx(40), RechRdx(40)
Level 41: Shocking Bolt -- Acc(A), Acc(42), Hold(42), Hold(42), RechRdx(43), RechRdx(43)
Level 44: Charged Armor -- EndRdx(A), ResDam(45), ResDam(45), ResDam(45), EndRdx(46)
Level 47: Hasten -- RechRdx(A), RechRdx(48), RechRdx(48)
Level 49: Super Speed -- Run(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Acc(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Run(A)
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx(A)
Level 1: Defiance
------------
Code:[/color]

---

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Piccy (and yes, it really WAS that dark in there)

Was a fun TF, Night made a lot of progress towards his final debt badge!

I was only partially joking about the self-rez being part of my attack chain by the way! The Mag 100 Stun is quite useful for "panic" situations which is why I tend to use it right away and not wait for Vengence. Since he's level 50, doesn't care about debt, has a fast-recharging rez and has AoE attacks coming out his ears, Faceplanting versus higher-level spike-damage foes isn't that rare an occurrance for Nightdagger!

I expected a lot of deaths around the Rularru TBH, those guys hit fairly hard and /DA is weak versus Energy Damage (Natterlings/Brutes). I didn't actually die that much besides versus Rularru, except for the time I was caught face-down in that room of Nemesis Bosses- killed twice before I could get out of the rez animation. The final AV was pretty tough though- he managed to hit me for over 1000 damage through my 60% Psionic resists. The second time he killed me, you guys defeated him before I got up again. Booooo...

Nice tanking and great support work on the TF. Keeping a leash on that many Scrappers isn't easy.
Next time I'm bringing my Peacebringer so you guys can share in the (Shadow Cyst) faceplanty goodness!

Of course, if we actually had a time/date PICKED, we might actually get 8 scrappers together...

The last few times it's been 'attempted' we've had half a day's notice if that. So if you still want to run this Shannon, test server or live, just pick a set time and date and post a notice of the event a week or two in advance. Screw anyone who can't make it, and run the TF with the people that turn up on the day.

At least that way we'd get something done...