Maelwys

Ack, just noticed the Dwarfie Taunt...

Play about with the toon for a while and see how your aggro control is, but I'd advise changing that Recharge SO to an Accuracy seeing that Antagonise isn't Autohit. With one accuracy you'll hit most things in PvE (not high defense mobs like MoGed PPs though - be aware! )

Increasing Duration rather than decreasing Recharge will give you better overlap seeing you're short on slots.

Aren't Carnie holds Psionic based? If so they'd get blocked by SR but not Ice Armor... not tested it personally.

You could use hold resistance (like the 50% ish from Acrobatics) to make multiple applications wear off sooner, increase your hold protection mag via Clear Mind/Clarity buffs or reduce the carnies' tohit chance.

Looks fine to me!

[ QUOTE ]
but can't find a 6th slot for Essence Boost for the life of me.

[/ QUOTE ]

You could always use the 3rd slot from Build Up, it only makes about 3-5 seconds difference in the recharge time and you don't have many Human form attacks that will be making regular use of it. I had it on my Human/Dwarf and never three slotted it until my most recent respec.

Lot better than before certainly, looks workable.

I'd try to get Essence Boost 6-slotted tho, the extra HP really makes a difference to your survivability no matter what form you're in. Buffs from Essence Boost, Conserve Power and Hasten all carry over between forms.

The only other major point would be that Dwarfie isn't a damage form. It has three things going for it: Tanking ability, Mez Protection, and an Extra Heal. Slotting the attacks for damage really does you very little good because it does such low base damage to begin with.

Dwarfie's heal is the same as your Human Form one, but works on percentages from your dwarf form's larger HP Pool. The tanking comes down to survivability (slotted heal, resistance SOs in dwarf form, slotted dwarf flare for PBAoE Knockdown) and Aggro control ('mini-gauntlet' from attacks and Antagonise which is NOT autohit).

Ideally for a "tanking" dwarfie you'll want a 6-slotted heal, a fast recharging Flare (2 recharges, one endred and an accuracy seemed to be the best minimum slotting for me), 3 Resistance SOs in dwarf form and at least one accuracy and a few recharges/taunt durations in antagonise.

Also bear in mind that if you respec you can use earlier slots (like the ones in your sheild) in your two forms.

I'd say the best possible primary for a soloist would be Rad or Kin.

Each one has a self-heal, an endurance buff and the capacity to raise your own damage output considerably... Rad would be safer with -tohit and -regen, but Kin would never have any endurance issues and has the potential for much higher damage with Fulcrum Shift.

Sonic would be the most damaging secondary due to the -res, but Psi and Archery look to have very decent numbers on their higher-damage attacks. I'd guess that Fulcrum Shift + Rain of Arrows would be fun... but a soloist would be unlikely to ever see that many mobs clustered together, so I'd suggest the Single Target attacks of either Sonic or Psi.

There's a big problem with slots when you're trying to build both your Human Form and your Nova Form for damage output.

I'd say pick either one or the other for damage output and stick with it, your ability to chain attacks really suffers otherwise. With that build's slotting you will have major, major endurance problems. If you pick Human form, you'll need a three-slotted Stamina and Conserve Power, plus Endmods in at least Incandescent Strike/Solar Flare. If you pick Nova Form, you'll be lighter on Endurance use but still probably need endreds in your attacks.

With lessons learned from my 50 Human/Dwarf bi-former, I've got a level 6 tri-former PB with a build plan that essentially has Nova form doing all the damage, with Human form as a Healer/Buffer and Dwarf as a tanker.

Build is as follows:

---------------------------------------------
Exported from Ver: 1.7.6.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder - (http://sherksilver.coldfront.net/index.php)
---------------------------------------------
Name: pb_triform
Level: 50
Archetype: Peacebringer
Primary: Luminous Blast
Secondary: Luminous Aura
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Glinting Eye==> Acc(1)
01) --> Incandescence==> DmgRes(1)
02) --> Shining Shield==> DmgRes(2) DmgRes(3) DmgRes(3) EndRdx(50)
04) --> Essence Boost==> Heal(4) Heal(5) Heal(5) Rechg(9) Rechg(9) Rechg(19)
06) --> Bright Nova==> EndMod(6) EndMod(7) EndMod(7) TH_Buf(48) TH_Buf(48)
08) --> Swift==> Fly(8)
10) --> Hasten==> Rechg(10) Rechg(11) Rechg(11)
12) --> Aid Other==> Heal(12) Heal(48)
14) --> Super Speed==> Run(14)
16) --> Health==> Heal(16)
18) --> Pulsar==> Acc(18) Acc(40) DisDur(40) DisDur(42) Rechg(42) Rechg(42)
20) --> White Dwarf==> DmgRes(20) DmgRes(21) DmgRes(21) EndMod(50) EndMod(50)
22) --> Stamina==> EndMod(22) EndMod(23) EndMod(23)
24) --> Conserve Energy==> Rechg(24) Rechg(39) Rechg(40)
26) --> Glowing Touch==> Heal(26) Heal(34) Heal(34) EndRdx(36) EndRdx(36) EndRdx(36)
28) --> Stimulant==> EndRdx(28)
30) --> Reform Essence==> Heal(30) Heal(43) Rechg(43) Rechg(43)
32) --> Resuscitate==> EndRdx(32)
35) --> Restore Essence==> Rechg(35)
38) --> Light Form==> DmgRes(38) DmgRes(39) DmgRes(39) Rechg(45) Rechg(45) Rechg(45)
41) --> Assault==> EndRdx(41) EndRdx(46)
44) --> Tactics==> EndRdx(44) EndRdx(46)
47) --> Quantum Flight==> EndRdx(47)
49) --> Group Energy Flight==> EndRdx(49)
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Power Slide==> Run(1)
01) --> Sprint==> Jump(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Acc(1)
01) --> Energy Flight==> Fly(1)
01) --> Cosmic Balance==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Rechg(2)
10) --> Combat Flight==> EndRdx(10)
---------------------------------------------
06) --> Bright Nova Bolt==> Acc(6)
06) --> Bright Nova Blast==> Acc(6) Dmg(37) Dmg(37) Dmg(37) EndRdx(46)
06) --> Bright Nova Scatter==> Acc(6) Dmg(13) Dmg(15) Dmg(17) Rechg(33) EndRdx(33)
06) --> Bright Nova Detonation==> Acc(6) Dmg(13) Dmg(15) Dmg(17) Rechg(19) Rechg(33)
20) --> White Dwarf Strike==> Acc(20)
20) --> White Dwarf Smite==> Acc(20)
20) --> White Dwarf Flare==> Acc(20) Rechg(31) Rechg(31) EndRdx(31)
20) --> White Dwarf Sublimation==> Heal(20) Heal(25) Heal(25) Rechg(27) Rechg(27) Rechg(29)
20) --> White Dwarf Antagonize==> Acc(20) Rechg(29) Rechg(34)
20) --> White Dwarf Step==> Range(20)
---------------------------------------------

I'm going to assume that post was directed at me, since I'm the only one who has mentioned taking confront.

I can certainly see how kiting mobs would be effective for a Regen (I've kited AVs around pillars, rocks and hills before while a team got back on it's feet) or a SR with Aid Self. An INV might also do fine with some support from the medicine pool... However as a Dark Armor "Psionic scranker", no I wouldn't see any need for kiting. In fact, it'd usually be detrimental to your survival.

The reason for this is simple: Your Auras, most of your damging powers and your self Heal are all Melee ranged.
If you're going to be the one "scranking" Carnies, Psionic Clockwork or Malta then you'll need to be in the middle of the group, using Oppressive Gloom + Quills and as many of your AoE damaging powers as possible.

No tanker exists in CoH that can survive Psionic mobs better than a Dark Scrapper, not even a properly built Stoner can match the performance of Obsidian Shield + Dark Recovery + Oppressive Gloom.

I took Confront solely for Psionic AVs. Dark doesn't have the resists to take on anything else, but it's perfect for absorbing Psionic damage and weathering Endurance Drains. I've already tanked the Psionic Clockwork King without aid from any defender or controllers simply by going into melee range, using confront and spamming my self heal. If the AV itself doesn't get hit, his minions will and will always completely refill my green bar once every 20 seconds.

If I want to tank anything other than Psionic damage AVS, Carnies, Psi Clockwork or Malta... I have an INV tanker for that who would do the job with far better resists and superior aggro control. Therefore once my Spines/Dark hits 50, if a friend sends me a tell saying they are having problems with a mission... I will always be able to help take the bulk of incoming damage off them, regardless of what they are fighting.

To be fair a +7 boss is outside the bounds for most calculations... against +7s the scrapper's attacks will be working at only 8% of their "normal" effectiveness. Powers tail off very quickly against anything over +5, if the boss was even slightly lethal damage resistant then the Scrapper could have a VERY hard time doing enough damage to kill its natural regen rate.

Normally there's no need to slot for endred because of Quick Recovery. Damage output will be pretty much optimal with 3x Damage and 1x Recharge, especially with Hasten in the build. Katana attacks recharge quickly anyway... your big 3 are SOTW, GD and SD... if you take DA and Flashing Steel you'll always have an attack ready to fire, recharge SOs and Hasten are bonuses.

My Kat/Regen has the attack slotting below:

01) --> Sting of the Wasp==> Acc(1) Dmg(3) Dmg(5) Dmg(7) Acc(39)
02) --> Flashing Steel==> Acc(2) Dmg(3) Dmg(5) Dmg(7) Acc(39)
08) --> Divine Avalanche==> Acc(8) Acc(15) Rechg(15) DefBuf(21) DefBuf(21) DefBuf(36)
10) --> Build Up==> Rechg(10) Rechg(13) Rechg(39)
26) --> Soaring Dragon==> Acc(26) Dmg(27) Dmg(27) Dmg(29) Rechg(34) EndRdx(40)
32) --> Golden Dragonfly==> Acc(32) Dmg(33) Dmg(33) Dmg(33) Rechg(34) EndRdx(34)
44) --> Laser Beam Eyes==> Acc(44) Dmg(45) Dmg(45) Dmg(45) Rechg(46) Rechg(46)
47) --> Energy Torrent==> Acc(47) Dmg(48) Dmg(48) Dmg(48) Rechg(50) Rechg(50)

Well, that's how it WOULD be slotted without HOs anyway...

WITHOUT Hasten running I never need to use DA other than as a survivability buff, one of my other katana attacks is always available. LBE and ET are extra icing on the cake.

Runs Focussed Accuracy (3xEndRed/3xToHit), Integration (3xHeal/1xEndred), Combat Jumping (1xDefbuff) and Sprint (1xJump) pretty much constantly. Hasten is used as soon as it recharges, and clickyheals are used whenever they're needed (no endreds in any of them). He has no endurance issues ever, except when fighting carnies or malta (and even then turning off FA and Sprint will usually sort things out!).

Accuracy is not a big problem for katana scrappers, the -defence from your attacks is noticable when you're attacking flat out. Even when I only had one Acc SO in each of my attacks I could still reliably hit MoG'ed PPs using either Build Up or Focussed Accuracy... both at once was overkill. I only added the extra ACC SOs to SOTW/FS because I ran out of other places to put slots...

That said, I'd still be very wary of soloing a +7 Boss without a reliable perma-knockdown chain. Divine Avalanche will only really cap your defense against up to +5s, after that i7's defence scaling no longer works.

Very smooth going, I was on the GM team this time until the hold phase and didn't notice any hiccups.
No sign of any "ambush" mobs at any point in the raid, and we were keeping a VERY close eye on you guys!

Good Job All!

Take Acrobatics (2 Endred) and Combat Jumping (don't slot it, use a defbuff or something in the default slot).
I would definately advise you to pickup Tough if you want to tank. Typical slotting is 3Res/2Endred SOs.

Taunt by itself may let you control aggro, but you WILL need to spam it constantly to maintain aggro if you skip Blazing Aura. Blazing Aura is not autohit, and really requires two accuracies to work well unless you constantly run with tohit buffs (Rage/Focussed Accuracy). I'd agree with Shannon that slotting it for damage is better than Taunt Duration- suggest 2Acc/1-2Endred/2-3Damage.

Do NOT take weave. You will gain a little defence from it (7-8% slotted) but you have nothing to stack it with so it is effectively useless. You will gain much more survivability by 6-slotting Healing Flames (3xHeal/3xRecharge is the norm)than by taking Weave.

Consume is not Autohit either, so 2accuracy/2-3recharge/1-2endmod is the usual way to go. The other power of note in FA is Firey Embrace, which can be skipped if you're planning on tanking but is definately a worthwhile pick for a more damage-orientated build: it does +damage, not +damage and +accuracy.

[u]Necessary for tanking:[u]
(i) Taunt
(ii) Your Armors - Fire Shield/Plasma Shield
(iii) Healing Flames - Very powerful self heal
(iv) Acrobatics - Knockback Protection
(v) Combat Jumping - Immobilisation Protection
(vi) Stamina - Endurance
(vii) Tough - Extra Resistance. Some say it isn't "needed" but it's VERY high on any "Optional Powers" list.

[u]Good for Tanking:[u]
(i) Blazing Aura - Taunt/Damage Aura
(ii) Consume - Endurance Recovery
(iii) Rise of the Pheonix - Self Rez, can be useful
(iv) Hasten - Can help to get your heal up sooner, especially if -recharged.

[u]So-so for Tanking:[u]
(i) Firey Embrace - short +damage boost. Good for damage orientated toons but less effective than Build Up.
(ii) Burn - Good damage but makes mobs scatter in fear so is bad unless there is an AoE immobilise handy.

[u]Do NOT take:[u]
(i) Temperature Protection - useless, useless, useless!! You'll already be at the Fire damage resistance cap.
(ii) Weave - It gives small +defense, but FA has nothing to stack this with and it's a considerable end drain.

Grats Dis!!
(You dirty PLing hippy!)

I'd pretty much agree with FF's post...

SS is the most damaging single target secondary until level 35, Energy Melee pulls ahead after that.
Fire is by far the highest AoE damage secondary, and fire damage is fairly unresisted by PvE mobs.
Ice is by far the least damaging secondary, but is usually less often resisted than S/L damage.

Of the remaining ones (Stone, Mace, Axe) there's very little in it but I'd rank Axe as slightly higher.

Yeah, it's a narrow cone along the lines of Golden Dragonfly. It's certainly not an AoE, but you'll be able to hit a few mobs with it if you have enough clustered around you. It fits into a single-target attack chain nicely.

Spines/Dark currently at 41. I took the twin damage auras, Oppressive Gloom and Spine Burst as my PBAoEs.
Dark is very slow to mature because it requires a lot of powers/slots, but since 35 it's been a lot of fun.

The only major downside with /Dark is endurance usage, you'll need to be very, very careful with endurance management and liberally slot your powers with EndReds unless you have a pet kinetic tagging along.


[u]Opinions on Power Choices[u]:

+ Dark Embrace, Murky Cloud, Obsidian Shield (Mez protection and damage resistance shields)
+ Oppressive Gloom (PBAoE stun aura, take it and love it. Only affects minions)
+ Dark Recovery (Self-Heal, VERY powerful, but high endurance cost and requires a tohit check)
+ Quills, Death Shroud (Death shroud is more damaging than Quills, good PBAoEs but heavy on the endurance)
+ Cloak of Fear (Get Oppressive Gloom instead, this is a bad choice especially with your damage auras)
+ Cloak of Darkness (Stealth/Immob protection, I prefer just using Combat Jumping, much lower End cost)
+ Soul Transfer (More useful than most self-rezes, but requires at least one foe nearby)

+ Barb Swipe (Don't bother, poor damage and long activation)
+ Impale, Ripper, Lunge (Good single-target attacks)
+ Spine Burst (Good PBAoE damage)
+ Throw Spines (Good damage cone attack)
+ Build Up (Handy to use just before Spine Burst/Throw Spines)
+ Confront (Not as useless as on other scrappers, you're one of the better choices to tank Psi mobs)

+ Combat Jumping (Might as well take this instead of CoD since you need Acrobatics anyway)
+ Acrobatics (You'll NEED it for the knockback protection)
+ Stamina (You will NOT want to miss this)
+ Hasten (Useful for Dark Recovery, but a large endurance drain if you keep using it as soon as it's up)
+ Air Superiority (The Knockdown is very, very helpful at keeping you alive when you're fighting bosses)

+ Conserve Power (Very good choice of Epic Pool power, Highly advise you to take it)
+ Focussed Accuracy (Will help you hit stuff, but a large endurance drain, situational)
+ Laser Beam Eyes (Could be useful combined with Impale)
+ Energy Torrent (Comparable damage to Throw Spines and does Knockdown, but you can't get it until later)


[u]Build Guidelines[u]:

I'm following this slightly more soloing-friendly build until my Spines/Dark hits level 50.
Air Superiority is taken at 32 because that's when bosses really began to give me trouble.
If Quills is running then you won't need to 'redraw' the spines after using Air Superiority:

---------------------------------------------
01) --> Lunge==> Acc(1) Dmg(3) Dmg(3) Dmg(5) EndRdx(42)
01) --> Dark Embrace==> EndRdx(1) DmgRes(11) DmgRes(15) DmgRes(15)
02) --> Death Shroud==> EndRdx(2) EndRdx(5) Acc(7) Acc(7) Dmg(13) Dmg(13)
04) --> Murky Cloud==> EndRdx(4) DmgRes(17) DmgRes(39) DmgRes(40)
06) --> Hurdle==> Jump(6)
08) --> Impale==> Acc(8) Dmg(9) Dmg(9) Dmg(11) Rechg(37)
10) --> Obsidian Shield==> EndRdx(10) DmgRes(39) DmgRes(39) DmgRes(40)
12) --> Combat Jumping==> DefBuf(12)
14) --> Super Jump==> Jump(14)
16) --> Health==> Heal(16) Heal(17)
18) --> Quills==> EndRdx(18) EndRdx(19) Acc(19) Acc(23) Dmg(33) Dmg(33)
20) --> Stamina==> EndMod(20) EndMod(21) EndMod(21)
22) --> Acrobatics==> EndRdx(22) EndRdx(23)
24) --> Dark Regeneration==> Acc(24) EndRdx(25) EndRdx(25) Acc(34) Rechg(43) Heal(43)
26) --> Ripper==> Acc(26) Dmg(27) Dmg(27) Dmg(29) EndRdx(34) Rechg(34)
28) --> Build Up==> Rechg(28) Rechg(29) Rechg(40)
30) --> Spine Burst==> Acc(30) Dmg(31) Dmg(31) Dmg(31) EndRdx(36) Rechg(36)
32) --> Air Superiority==> Acc(32) Acc(33) EndRdx(37) Rechg(37) EndRdx(43)
35) --> Oppressive Gloom==> Acc(35) Acc(36) DisDur(46)
38) --> Soul Transfer==> Rechg(38) Rechg(50)
41) --> Conserve Power==> Rechg(41) Rechg(42) Rechg(42)
44) --> Focused Accuracy==> EndRdx(44) EndRdx(45) EndRdx(45) TH_Buf(45) TH_Buf(46) TH_Buf(46)
47) --> Energy Torrent==> Acc(47) Dmg(48) Dmg(48) Dmg(48) Rechg(50) EndRdx(50)
49) --> Confront==> Rechg(49)
---------------------------------------------

After I hit 50 I'm going to respec my scrapper into a Pure AoE damage toon/Psionic mob Tanker.
Note the lack of Air Superiority in this build, as I'll always be teamed when I'm exemping him:

---------------------------------------------
01) --> Lunge==> Acc(1) Dmg(3) Dmg(3) Dmg(5) EndRdx(42)
01) --> Dark Embrace==> EndRdx(1) DmgRes(11) DmgRes(15) DmgRes(15)
02) --> Death Shroud==> EndRdx(2) EndRdx(5) Acc(7) Acc(7) Dmg(13) Dmg(13)
04) --> Murky Cloud==> EndRdx(4) DmgRes(17) DmgRes(39) DmgRes(40)
06) --> Hurdle==> Jump(6)
08) --> Impale==> Acc(8) Dmg(9) Dmg(9) Dmg(11) Rechg(37)
10) --> Obsidian Shield==> EndRdx(10) DmgRes(39) DmgRes(39) DmgRes(40)
12) --> Combat Jumping==> DefBuf(12)
14) --> Super Jump==> Jump(14)
16) --> Health==> Heal(16) Heal(17)
18) --> Quills==> EndRdx(18) EndRdx(19) Acc(19) Acc(23) Dmg(34) Dmg(34)
20) --> Stamina==> EndMod(20) EndMod(21) EndMod(21)
22) --> Acrobatics==> EndRdx(22) EndRdx(23)
24) --> Dark Regeneration==> Acc(24) EndRdx(25) EndRdx(25) Acc(29) Rechg(46) Heal(46)
26) --> Ripper==> Acc(26) Dmg(27) Dmg(27) Dmg(29) EndRdx(36) Rechg(37)
28) --> Build Up==> Rechg(28) Rechg(34) Rechg(40)
30) --> Spine Burst==> Acc(30) Dmg(31) Dmg(31) Dmg(31) EndRdx(36) Rechg(37)
32) --> Throw Spines==> Acc(32) Dmg(33) Dmg(33) Dmg(33) EndRdx(45) Rechg(46)
35) --> Oppressive Gloom==> Acc(35) Acc(36) DisDur(50)
38) --> Confront==> Rechg(38)
41) --> Focused Accuracy==> EndRdx(41) EndRdx(42) EndRdx(42) TH_Buf(43) TH_Buf(43) TH_Buf(43)
44) --> Conserve Power==> Rechg(44) Rechg(45) Rechg(45)
47) --> Energy Torrent==> Acc(47) Dmg(48) Dmg(48) Dmg(48) Rechg(50) EndRdx(50)
49) --> Soul Transfer==> Rechg(49)
---------------------------------------------

[ QUOTE ]
So? It seems you've got the (not needed) GM team in place....so whos actually raiding Hami then?

[/ QUOTE ]

The others who've posted "I'll be there", plus all the folk who'll just turn up and don't bother to post!
Hammer's tanking, War's targetting... think there's still the issue of 'PA drop co-ordinator' though?

(Oh, and I should be able to make it to that unneeded GM team after all... )

Taking the power picks you posted as a guideline, this is how I would take and slot those powers...

---------------------------------------------
Exported from Ver: 1.7.6.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder - (http://sherksilver.coldfront.net/index.php)
---------------------------------------------
Name:
Level: 50
Archetype: Tanker
Primary: Fiery Aura
Secondary: Fiery Melee
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Fire Shield==> DmgRes(1) DmgRes(3) DmgRes(3) EndRdx(5)
01) --> Scorch==> Acc(1) Dmg(46) Dmg(48) Dmg(50)
02) --> Blazing Aura==> EndRdx(2) EndRdx(5) Acc(11) Acc(13) Dmg(13) Dmg(15)
04) --> Healing Flames==> Rechg(4) Rechg(7) Rechg(7) Heal(9) Heal(9) Heal(11)
06) --> Combat Jumping==> DefBuf(6)
08) --> Boxing==> Acc(8)
10) --> Swift==> Fly(10) Fly(50)
12) --> Taunt==> Rechg(12) Taunt(15) Taunt(17)
14) --> Super Jump==> Jump(14)
16) --> Health==> Heal(16) Heal(17)
18) --> Plasma Shield==> DmgRes(18) DmgRes(19) DmgRes(19) EndRdx(23)
20) --> Stamina==> EndMod(20) EndMod(21) EndMod(21)
22) --> Acrobatics==> EndRdx(22) EndRdx(23)
24) --> Burn==> Dmg(24) Dmg(25) Dmg(25) Rechg(45) Rechg(46) Rechg(46)
26) --> Tough==> DmgRes(26) DmgRes(27) DmgRes(27) EndRdx(29) EndRdx(29)
28) --> Combustion==> Acc(28) Dmg(34) Dmg(34) Dmg(34) Rechg(37) EndRdx(37)
30) --> Consume==> Acc(30) Acc(31) Rechg(31) Rechg(31) EndMod(40) EndMod(43)
32) --> Fire Sword Circle==> Acc(32) Dmg(33) Dmg(33) Dmg(33) Rechg(36) EndRdx(37)
35) --> Build Up==> Rechg(35) Rechg(36) Rechg(36)
38) --> Greater Fire Sword==> Acc(38) Dmg(39) Dmg(39) Dmg(39) Rechg(40) EndRdx(40)
41) --> Focused Accuracy==> EndRdx(41) EndRdx(42) EndRdx(42) TH_Buf(42) TH_Buf(43) TH_Buf(43)
44) --> Conserve Power==> Rechg(44) Rechg(45) Rechg(45)
47) --> Fiery Embrace==> Rechg(47) Rechg(48) Rechg(48)
49) --> Hover==> Fly(49) Fly(50)
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Power Slide==> Run(1)
01) --> Sprint==> Run(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Acc(1)
01) --> Gauntlet==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Rechg(2)
---------------------------------------------

That slotting will give you maximum return for minimum endurance usage. Aside from Power Pick order, if I was designing an AoE-heavy fire tanker that's pretty much how I'd build it. The only things I'd change would be to swap out Hover for Hasten and Swift for Hurdle... but since you want Hover, that's not really an option!

Weave is essentially useless for a fire tanker, you've nothing to stack it with besides Combat Jumping (which has a very tiny def buff). You'd get a lot more use by taking Focussed Accuracy there.

On Hover: it's VERY slow. If you slot Swift for Flight Speed and Hover for Flight Speed then you might just get from one mito to another before they finish killing them.

The other thing to consider is that people really, really hate AoEs at Hamidon raids and your toon is pretty much a AoE on legs. The only damage you'll be able to usefully contribute will be from Greater Fire Sword and Scorch because any PBAoEs could draw aggro to you from nearby mitos (The Phantom Army mito aggro control is a bit flaky these days). I'd really advise you to consider swapping in Incinerate or Fire Sword if you want to go raiding... you could swap one in instead of Focussed Accuracy if you don't want to lose a PBAoE.

[ QUOTE ]
So presumably that makes us a weak team?

[/ QUOTE ]

That's edging towards being slightly confrontational, but yes... at least it would if you were playing Hero-side.

Seeds of Confusion is a CoV power and most Brutes aren't built as tankers... that makes it rare for a CoV team to have aggro locked down as well as on a CoH team unless the Dominators are pulling their weight. There's certainly more than enough damage available, but you generally have to be a bit more cautious with aggro so 15 seconds sounds like a reasonable amount of time to prepare.

However if it took a full 15 seconds on CoH for a tanker to gather a mob then there would be something wrong with the way that tank was performing. It generally takes only 4 or 5 seconds to fully setup a "herd" of that type when you're on a good, strong team- jump (or TP) into the middle of the group with your Taunt Aura running, then taunt any that are outside the Aura's radius... a Footstomp/PBAoE is optional...

[ QUOTE ]
You can use Krunch (Smashing) or Hax (Lethal).
They are both 50 as of this morning.
IIRC The DE mobs are normally resistant to one type, yet vulnerable to the other? So Which one da want?
The team seems to have a lot of Smashing in already.
K

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I'd say bring Hax in that case, since we'll have two super strength tankers. Though to be honest with both sonic and dark debuffs, they won't be standing very long (-60% resistance from Sonic and a further -30% from Dark's Tar Patch, along with -regen from various Dark powers). Cap's damage will also be fairly unresisted.

Red Noise is Sonic/Elec/Elec btw... End Drains are useless at a raid but has Tesla Cage for the hold phase.

Should be able to find out this evening if I can make it next week or not, hopefully will be there OK.

PBs don't get the ability to properly SLOT all their powers till later on tho.
And you won't have access to both Dawn Strike and Photon Seekers until 35, then Light form's at 38.

Both kheldians fully mature around the level 40 mark. (Slotted Light form and Slotted Eclipse)

PBs are generally better against single targets, WS are generally better against groups. PBs can buff themselves anytime at will, WS can buff themselves much more but need to get very close to large mobs in order to do it.

INV Pros:
+ Has very high resistance against the two most common forms of damage: smashing and lethal.
+ Has a "God Mode" in Unstoppable which caps resistance to all types of damage except Psi for 3 minutes.
+ Self-Heal/HP Boost in Dull Pain.
+ Taunt Aura in Invincibility.
+ Can get decent defence when herding (though it's less likely for a scrapper to do this than a tanker).
+ Has repel protection in Unyielding.

INV Cons:
- No resistance to fear, -recharge, slow, confuse or endurance drains.
- Other less common types of damage can cause major problems for INV when unstoppable isn't available.
- Very, very weak against Psionic damage.
- No endurance buffs, can be fairly heavy on endurance when running all the toggles at once.

SR Pros:
+ Defense based, so you get hit less often by debuffs and mezzes.
+ Strong against nearly all damage including Psionic since the defense is positional - melee/ranged/AoE.
+ Gets Slow/-recharge protection and a Self-recharge boost in Quickness, which can free up extra slots.
+ God Mode in "Elude", same idea as Unstoppable except it's defense based.
+ Click-based mez protection, so it won't detoggle if you get mezzed.
+ Tends to be able to dodge sapper's endurance drain beams.
+ Scaling resistance buffs in the passive powers that will increase your resistance as your health drops.

SR Cons:
- No endurance buffs, can be fairly endurance-heavy running all the toggles at once.
- When you get hit, you get hit HARD. Autohit damage, Toxic damage and high-tohit buffs will hurt you badly.
- You start panicing every time you see a DE quartz eminator or someone suggests doing a nemesis mission.



Both benefit from taking the medicine pool power "Aid Self", I'd say SR practically requires it.
INV benefits a lot from taking "Tough", to combine it with its already high S/L resistance.

Cytoskeleton Hami Origin = (ToHit/DefBuff/EndRed)

Invincibility's fine, but I'd echo that comment about Tough Hide... it's worth more than Res Elements/Energies.
You may want to dump two taunt durations into invincibility later if you're planning on tanking +4s/+5s though.

Bah, that'll teach me to copy and paste from the OP...

As Hammer points out those should be acc() not rechg() in smite/strike... but they're not particularly useful.
PB Dwarfie absolutely sucks for damage, the only good thing about those two attacks is that they can cause Knockdown and occasionally a low-Mag stun.

Dwarf has a good self-heal and very nice all-round resistances... however if doesn't have any taunt auras so aside from spamming Antagonise (which isn't auto-hit) you'll need to rely on the "mini gauntlet" effect.

At a minimum level of slotting for a dwarfie tanker, I'd suggest:

White Dwarf==> DmgRes() DmgRes() DmgRes()
--> White Dwarf Strike==> Rechg()
--> White Dwarf Smite==> Rechg()
--> White Dwarf Flare==> Acc() Rechg() Rechg() EndRdx()
--> White Dwarf Sublimation==> Rechg() Rechg() Rechg() Heal() Heal() Heal()
--> White Dwarf Antagonize==> Acc() Rechg() Rechg() Taunt()
--> White Dwarf Step==> EndRdx()

For human powers, there's already several good builds posted in the top few threads in this forum.

Weave 8% is *just* about enough to push your defense to the 45% cap when you're tanking 10 mobs (with Invincibility, CJ, Tough Hide and Unyielding's -5%). I'd still seriously consider picking it up, particularly if you want to take Tough. It's only one extra power slot and it's helped a lot on my INV tanker.

It's also worth pointing out that Weave and Combat Jumping are the only mitigation you'll have against psionic damage (11% ish total) and they'll stack with a defender's fortitude.

Give it an hour or two...
Some empaths have short attention spans when there aren't any big red numbers floating about!

I'd imagine Psi and Sonic would be the two cookie cutter ones, but I've not got a high level empath.
Sonic would generally be the most damaging secondary due to all the -resistance debuffs.