Maelwys

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Just dont roll a DA scrapper if you want to pvp.


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I think DA's get too much of a bad rep tbh. It's really just their self heal that lets them down, it uses an accuracy check but that could be countered with the medicine pool.

They get stealth, +perception, fear protection and end drain protection, and the fear/stun mez toggles could concieveably be quite useful when fighting squishies. And when they fall Soul transfer is pretty much an unresistable mez (can detoggle Granite Armor iirc).

Only thing would be that with Acrobatics and Aid Self practically required there'd be less pool power options available. Could see a /DA struggling in solo PvP but doing nicely with defender backup.

Pulsar won't be *really* useful until you can get it 6-slotted. It needs at least two accuracies in it to even be "momentary crowd control".

I think I ended up taking it pre-30 on my Human/Dwarf build the first time around and made slotting it a priority... it certainly made life in the early 30s go easier and allowed me to be a bit less fearful of groups of mezzing enemies.

I imagine Solar flare would work better if you just had the one slot to devote to it (no accuracy penalty) but it has a fairly long recharge and drains considerable endurance.

Go with your gut instinct!

Pulsar can perma-mezzle minions with usual slotting(2acc/2disorient/2recharge). It really needs those two accuracy SOs though. It has a 50% chance of affecting LTs, which is handy in a big group. Very effective when soloing and still fairly useful on teams.

Solar Flare's description is a bit off there. It hits flying foes fine as long as they are within the range, but you DO have to be on the ground to use it. It does good damage but has 80% chance of a Knockback (not Knockdown/Knockup) so use it too often on a team and you'll find tankers and scrappers will get rather annoyed at you... is a handy attack chain filler when soloing though.

I'd pick Pulsar if you already have a workable attack chain, but Solar flare is by no means a bad attack. I'd aim to get both in the build eventually.

MoG is pants.
Next question.



In PvE it needs one resistance SO to "cap" everything.
You'll still get taken to pieces by Toxic, Psionic and Autohit/Untyped damage even when capped.
AVs and GM/Monsters will still have at least a 5-10% chance to hit you no matter what you do.

99% of the time you'll be better off with Dull Pain + Instant Healing.

The "Galaxy" troops? Can't say I've noticed them being particularly strong mezzers, but I haven't tried herding them except on my INV tanker who tended to run both Unyielding and CJ.

I know my Regen got immob'ed a good bit when he just ran integration but hardly ever got Held or disorientated. I think PvE mobs immobilisations just stack easier (or at least cycle more quickly) than the other mezzes.

Acrobatics gives extreme resitance to KB, it's actually 10 times higher than any armor mez toggle.
Combat Jumping gives only slightly less Immobilisation Protection than Unyielding.

I run them both on my DA scrapper and have only very rarely seen CJ get overloaded (never seen Acro overloaded)

I don't doubt that a Fire Aura can produce a workable tanker, but it's still the best choice for a "scranker".

Bleh. Mace fanboys....

I'm getting numb to it now.

Lookies nice!

I didn't get a chance to help mito clear this time since I was helping the tank team.
Was possibly the most fun raid I've been to yet tho- things were very hectic!

Geez... how drunk was Xan last night...?
I still say we should have made 'em lead it!

Bleh.

I'm 99% sure that was sarcasm, but glance at the US board thread linked on the first post Shannon:
Castle jumped right into a "friendly" discussion about rage, nerf-bat in hand!

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Can I shout DOOM! yet? I've been waiting ages.


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Feel free. Haven't seen that kitten vid linky in weeks...

*** Points up ***

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It's a nerf in that it's been that way for a considerable amount of time. And now has had a negative change performed to it. That's pretty much the definition of "nerf".

....

I'm not saying it isn't a long-time bugfix.
I'm saying it's still a nerf and will hit some toons hard.


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And yes. I'm trying to create drama in order to inform other tankers who currently run perma-rage.

It's the first "nerfing" SS has had since I've been playing.
It's unlikely to get reversed, and I'm not expecting a reduction in the endurance crash either.

It should be obvious by now that I don't like this change since it impacts my playstyle negatively. Thankfully my INV tanker is at 50 and is built more for survivability than damage, otherwise I'd be considerably more upset.

The fact remains that anyone who is considering levelling a SS tanker (particularly an INV/SS tanker due to the lack of self-end buffs and no -recharge) needs to be aware that the perma-rage setup is being made less effective.

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Ah! That'd be why then.
Not going to ask why you're browsing the tanker forum... I forum-hop plenty myself!


[/ QUOTE ]Not having an SS tank != Not having a tank

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/e Facepalm

(patiently waits for INV/SS tankers to comment and reassure him that it's not "the end of the world"...)

Apologies if that first post seemed a little SS-fanboyish. I'm fairly on-edge since I read Lighthouse's post and learned that the team salvage/enhancement drop messages on US test are a further move towards CoH having a "loot-based system".

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I'm surprised you didn't know about it MaX. It's common knowledge amongst most SS tankers I've talked to

[/ QUOTE ]I don't have an SS tank

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Ah! That'd be why then.
Not going to ask why you're browsing the tanker forum... I forum-hop plenty myself!

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I herd as much as a tank with considerably less surivability, I have to spam my attacks to (ie; more end use)get Fury and I have lower base damage than a tank.

All the change means is that you have to pay attention a little bit more and maybe *gasp* pop a CAB!


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Your higher damage from fury offsets the lower survivability. I've never met a Brute that didn't heavily slot his attacks for endurance reduction before damage output, since with fury damage enhancements give less return on a brute than a tanker.

With Fury you also won't need to use the larger end-drain attacks such as Footstomp and KO Blow as regularly as a tanker will in order to produce the same amount of damage. Therefore combined with a Brute's slotting for endred and higher damage output a SS/INV Brute will finish off a mob far faster and with less endurance issues than a INV/SS tanker...

Now I realise that Brutes are meant to be more damaging, and tanks more survivable. It still doesn't sweeten the fact that running perma-rage will now give an already end-heavy secondary further endurance problems.

It's a nerf in that it's been that way for a considerable amount of time. And now has had a negative change performed to it. That's pretty much the definition of "nerf".

I'm surprised you didn't know about it MaX. It's common knowledge amongst most SS tankers I've talked to and alongside Dull Pain is probably the most popular reason for INV/SS taking Hasten.

I'm not saying it isn't a long-time bugfix.
I'm saying it's still a nerf and will hit some toons hard.

I know for a fact that my INV/SS will have a lot of trouble with his endurance usage now, and the Rage crash in general seems far too harsh. The -defense and "only affecting self" can make it tricky enough to survive and keep aggro through a crash... I don't need that much -endurance coming at me too.

-20% defense, only affecting self and -25% endurance.

I can cope with that once or twice, but every few minutes?
That's going to make "rage" much more situational and change some toon's playstyles.

Think of this as a mild rant and a "heads up".

Yes, but to be fair Brutes don't (generally) herd or take as much aggro as tankers. And you guys tend to rely on fury to kill things so you can get away with using your large heavy-hitters less often.

Scenario: INV/SS Tank fighting a big mob, in the middle of the herd letting Invincibility do its thing. Hitting things with your End Bar hovering around 50% (normal practice for my INV/SS, the big attacks cost a fair bit).

You hit Knockout Blow on a Boss, bringing your end bar down to around 25% and notice that "rage" is beginning to blink. You hit Rage and Queue Footstomp to avoid some aggro with the -defence you're about to receive. Suddenly rage crashes and you get hit with the 25% end, dropping all your toggles, leaving you with -defence and that "only affecting self" message ---> **Completely** helpless.

And it'll be far worse when fighting carnies...

No, it won't affect people who don't run perma-rage.
It'll probably mostly affect PvE tankers who solo from time-to-time.

It's not a SS-killer, but it'll certainly be very annoying for certain people- myself included.

How many of you run Perma-rage on a scranker build, particularly in PvP?

Basically the end drain crash has just been made unavoidable. That means that you'll still get hit with a -25% end when running "Perma Rage", just like you're hit with the "only affecting self" message currently...

I know this change will affect my tanker. I regularly run perma-rage when he's soloing and Super Strength is endurance-intensive enough without losing an extra 25% endurance every few minutes.

I'll probably have to slot some endreductions into rage now rather than tohit buffs. Blast!

Link to the changes here

Link to the thread where Castle said it needed nerfing here

I'm kinda upset about this, It seems harsh particularly for INV tanks who don't get any self- recovery bonuses. If they're going to do this then I'd suggest reducing the endurance cost crash, 25% seems very harsh considering that we already have to deal with the -defence and "only affecting self". I already have serious end problems fighting carnies and malta without my toggles dropping due to perma-rage crashing.

For reference, although it has a far shorter duration (and no debuffs) "Build up" only costs 5 endurance.

The patch also brings some candy like fewer rooting toggle powers and gauntlet/aura taunt fixes, I'm happy about them, really... but I can picture this change making life for a soloing tanker very tricky, and INV/SS tankers will have to manage their endurance very, very closely if this goes live.

Avoiding the rage endurance crash by running perma-rage has been a known "trick" for years, it's a way to improve the combat strength of your character with the sacrifice that you'll have -defence and not be able to attack every few minutes. I find it very annoying that they've only just decided it's an "unacceptable exploit" now.

It shines more as a scranker than the other sets because it has a regular Bigass self heal and a second "build up". It also has no abilities which increase it's defence or resistances when it's in a big herd of mobs.

FA also has mediocre resistance rather than medium/high defence which lends itself to scranking better than tanking. It doesn't suffer any movement penalties from it's mez protection, although you'll need to pick up acrobatics. And finally there's a lack of autohit taunt aura.

It's certainly possible to build a Tanking Tanker with Fire Aura, the set just lends itself better to scranking. It was designed to be the most damaging primary.

Case in point, for the usual FOTM Scranker Fire/NRG... the increased self heal should now completely remove any worries about HP loss from "Energy Transfer".

Thanks to all who stepped up at the last minute to make the raid a success.

Was on the edge of my seat for the whole mito phase- Best raid ever!!!!!

I bit the bullet...
Here's the guide you wanted!

Def Debuff HOs produce very slightly greater +defence than Def buff ones.
It's a known bug/feature about the way defence is calculated and everyone's generally quite happy with it.

So an Enzyme would boost the defence buff and End Cost of Stealth.

Actually I'm really liking the look of Fire Aura now.

It's the perfect choice for a solo or "scranker" build, fairs far better in PvP than before and has the Brute population raving about their new "Regen Brutes".

With a Broadword Primary you'll probably find it easiest to run a regen, with SR coming in a fairly close second.

SR is lighter on the endurance than Dark is, and it's arguably a better PVP secondary than regen anyway.
(OK, OK... unless you're dueling Blasters... )

In general with SR you'll have better recharge and movement (due to quickness) and your clicky-based mez protection fares better in pvp than toggle-based mez protection.

If you're having endurance issues you can slot endred in your attacks and make do with quickness and hasten for recharge. I'd also try to fit "Aid Self" in before 30 if you're doing Sirens Call PvP.

01) --> Hack==> Acc(1) Dmg(3) Dmg(5) Dmg(7) Acc(15) Rechg(43)
01) --> Focused Fighting==> DefBuf(1) DefBuf(11) DefBuf(13) EndRdx(37)
02) --> Slice==> Acc(2) Dmg(3) Dmg(5) Dmg(7) Acc(17) Rechg(45)
04) --> Focused Senses==> DefBuf(4) DefBuf(13) DefBuf(15) EndRdx(37)
06) --> Hurdle==> Jump(6) Jump(34)
08) --> Parry==> Acc(8) Acc(9) Rechg(9) DefBuf(23) DefBuf(23) DefBuf(34)
10) --> Practiced Brawler==> Rechg(10) Rechg(11) Rechg(50)
12) --> Combat Jumping==> Jump(12)
14) --> Super Jump==> Jump(14)
16) --> Health==> Heal(16) Heal(17)
18) --> Build Up==> Rechg(18) Rechg(19) Rechg(19) TH_Buf(46) TH_Buf(48)
20) --> Stamina==> EndMod(20) EndMod(21) EndMod(21)
22) --> Quickness==> Run(22)
24) --> Hasten==> Rechg(24) Rechg(25) Rechg(25)
26) --> Disembowel==> Acc(26) Dmg(27) Dmg(27) Dmg(29) Acc(29) Rechg(40)
28) --> Aid Other==> Heal(28)
30) --> Aid Self==> Heal(30) Heal(31) EndRdx(31) Rechg(31) IntRdx(46) IntRdx(46)
32) --> Head Splitter==> Acc(32) Dmg(33) Dmg(33) Dmg(33) Acc(34) Rechg(37)
35) --> Evasion==> DefBuf(35) DefBuf(36) DefBuf(36) EndRdx(36)
38) --> Elude==> Rechg(38) Rechg(39) Rechg(39) DefBuf(39) DefBuf(40) DefBuf(40)
41) --> Focused Accuracy==> EndRdx(41) EndRdx(42) EndRdx(42) TH_Buf(42) TH_Buf(43) TH_Buf(43)
44) --> Dodge==> DefBuf(44) DefBuf(45) DefBuf(45)
47) --> Agile==> DefBuf(47) DefBuf(48) DefBuf(48)
49) --> Lucky==> DefBuf(49) DefBuf(50) DefBuf(50)
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Power Slide==> Run(1)
01) --> Sprint==> Jump(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Acc(1)
01) --> Critical Hit==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Rechg(2)
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That's probably a reasonable idea of how I'd go about building a BS/SR.

I don't like the passives much and particularly with Aid Self and Parry they are not "must-haves". I'd imagine they'll be useful for the defence debuff resistance, if not the scaling damage resistance so I stuck them in there post-40. Conserve Power would be a good choice too, really depends how you want to play.

Peacebringers are very variable, I don't think there's a guide that covers all the ways you can build them.

There's a Tri-form guide here that is a good place to start if you're curious about powers.

If you're just looking for a Slotting/Power Pick guideline though, try Sherksilver's Hero Builder... can download the normal executable from the Program's Home Page or a slightly more accurate version from my webspace. (Several powers are tweaked to show correct stats for accuracy/recharge/endurance/resistance/defence)

The most popular build is probably Human/Dwarf, but there's plenty of Triformers and Pure-Humans out there. The overload of power picks means that two PBs will rarely be identical, even if they've taken the same forms.

I went Human/Dwarf on my PB, but I've got a second one on the drawing board that's a Triformer.

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would leaning towards soloing make it harder to be usefull in a team or later levels?

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Nope. Despite what some folks might say about single-target attacks and teams, you'll still find a team very easily at higher levels. Scrappers are very useful "boss killers" and damage dealers, and regens self-reliance can take some of the burden off support characters.

I agree with Cobra_Man: Regen is by far the best soloing scrapper secondary in the early game, just pick whatever secondary you like. I'd say that for soloing Claws and Spines will be a bit more difficult than the rest since they offer no extra damage mitigation through +defense or mez, but they're far from "bad choices".

It's pretty hard to mess up a regen build: take Reconstruction, Dull Pain and Quick Recovery ASAP, and Integration at 16. Instant Healing is also a popular addition before level 30... the rest is all personal choice and by no means needed, so you can play about with extra pool powers.

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Go test it.

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Have to say that I didn't think controllers got quite as high resistances until I looked it up. I can certainly vouch for the defender epics being 45-50% when slotted though- I've done plenty of testing with my Sonic/Elec/Elec defender and with Epic + Sonic Dispersion he's just under 70% S/L resistance.

According to the "Data standardization" tables Controller self-resistance buffs are identical to defender, tanker and mastermind self-resistance buffs ("ResDmg" under the MELEE column in that link). Before looking at that I'd always assumed that Controllers got less of a buff... and so did Sherksilver's hero builder!

I can't say I've noticed much difference between the Defender and Controller epic shields in-game... if you believe Nofuture, they're completely identical (though listed using blaster modifiers!).

There's certainly a BIG difference between the blaster and defender/controller shields.