Maelwys

Think it's just early and he's sleep deprived. Not being a morning person myself, I can relate. Hammer's had a thing about his tanker being [censored] for PvP for a while now. I don't see him PvEing much anymore on any of his toons actually...

(I'll ignore that dig about human-form khelds...)

My 2 inf is that my Scapper would love to have a disorient component to one of his attacks, since Knockback is sooo resisted in pvp that it's not even funny and he was originally built as a PvE knockdown machine: if nothing else it would allow me to detoggle acro and stack some knockdowns! Katana gets a pretty bad rep these days since it's geared for faster recharge at the expense of damage, but with careful slotting (my build's been refined about 16 times) it can outsurvive Broadsworders and still be at least on-par with them for average DPS.

In PvE the "Pulsar" PBAoE disorient was invaluable on my peacebringer as a survivability tool, but that was mainly because I could get it to perma-mez minions.

A single unstacked disorient is only *really* likely to be useful in zone pvp against unteamed squishies though. Duels might see some use out of it if they're not perma-breakfreed I suppose...

I still vote for that "shiny" factor being a big Mace "pro"!

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Thats now you saying Rad and Kin ftw!...or go get an accolade.

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As I stated before 6 posts above yours: It is rare to have a large team at higher levels without some kind of recharge buff, and if those powers are available it would be silly not to make use of them.

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Gauntlet is poo on an AV and GM

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Castle on the US boards, regarding the "Gauntlet" AV changes:
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It follows all the normal To Hit rules, so To Hit and Accuracy buffs and debuffs work normally.

Auto-Hit powers roll a To Hit check, but then ignore the result (ForceHit = TRUE) However, since the Gauntlet effect is ForceHit = False vs. AV's, that portion of the power still uses the To Hit check. So, Invincibility if unmodified in any other way, would have a 55% chance every second of having the Gauntlet effect take effect.

Honestly, though, the effect should be pretty transparent. If you have an aura on and are constantly attacking, there is a virtual certainty that you will be able to grab and maintain aggro on an AV or GM within a couple seconds of engaging.


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Emphasis mine.

Grats on the successful Onion raid folks!
Thought I'd pop in a list of HOs so folks can see what's on offer...

Lysosome (ToHit/DefDebuff/Acc)
Membrane (ToHit/DefBuff/Rchg)
Cytoskeleton (ToHit/DefBuff/EndRed)
Enzyme (ToHit/DefDebuff/EndRed)
Ribosome (DamRes/EndRed)
Peroxisome (Dam/Mez)
Endoplasm (Acc/Mez)
Nucleolus (Dam/Acc)
Golgi (Heal/EndRed)
Microfilament (Travel/EndRed)
Centriole (Dam/Range)

Finally a linky to a US post detailing what each HO is most useful for.

Happy swapping!

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PvP Code of Conduct?

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As far as I can determine, PVP Zone "Code of conduct" largely consists of:

#1. You must not badge hunt in a PvP zone. Ever.
#2. You must always PvP in a PvP zone. None of this "missions" rubbish...
#3. You are not allowed to interfere in duels, unless everyone else is already.
#4. Any toon that performs well automatically becomes a "cheap FOTM build"
#5. Any team with more than two people is a "Gank Squad"
#6. You must not run away when I'm trying to hit you.
#7. Droning is cheap when you do it, when I do it it's 'good strategy'.
#8. You must not use inspirations, only I'm allowed to do that.
#9. If you kill me then you cheated and I'm reporting you.
#10. If I can't kill you then you cheated and I'm reporting you.
#11. No using your powers either, that's cheating!
#12. Look- just stand there, don't press anything and let me hit you dammit!

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ps. Mael, I had to think hard to come up with a 'pro'..

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You missed "it's shiny" and "you can pretend it's a microphone in Pocket D"

(Don't give me that look... I picked 'Katana' because it was shiny....)

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pros: It has taunt

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Teh Winnar!!!

I've only actually seen Hammer's Tanker in action a few times, but TBH war mace does seem a little underpowered. Hammer's the only high-level Mace tanker I've ever met in the game.

Not so sure about Smashing Damage being the most resisted though. In PvE lethal damage, cold damage, negative energy damage and psionic damage are all very well resisted too by certain mobs. Energy and Fire are definately the least resisted all-around. In PvP it's a different story of course!

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I'm pretty sure you've slotted all your shields for 3xDmgres, 1xEndred on your PB?
A tri-form Shade wouldnt, saving a good load of slots..


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I didn't take any shields.
...unless you count Light Form or Dwarfie...
No, not even the S/L one.
Peacebringers get more clickyheals than a regen scrapper, you really don't need shields.

Now if I was going tri-form, I'd want to keep my powers slotted exactly the same as they are at the moment (since I wouldn't want to be less effective at blapping or tanking) plus slot all my Nova form blasts for damage, accuracy and recharge/endred. That's a fair few more slots!

For the "boss thing" I was really thinking about Voids and Quantum bosses, which can one-shot you and don't die very fast. I've juggled a few quantum bosses on my PB, but never managed to solo a void boss. LTs are easy since I can mez them.

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Just put a single Endred on the two melee's rather than slotting Dwarf, the end return is a lot better.


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Not when I'm tanking, I spam heals, footstomp (no real equivalent for WS) and antagonise. I imagine that a faster End return to "recover" faster in the safety of dwarfie would be more useful to a Warshade when you're soloing something tough and can't use Stigian Circle... like bosses or an EB.

I'm sure once I get around to actually levelling the 'shade that I'll tweak a few picks, but right now on the drawing board (level 12 ish) it's the one AT build I have that's really hurting for slots.

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Ouch, Stamina on a tri-form? Really?

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Yep, at level 49! I ran out of other powers I wanted after 41. Stamina could still use two more Endmods though. I'm definately more in need of more enh slots than more power picks in the 40s...

Must be one of those "different playstyles moments"...

Surely by the nature of going "Tri Form" you'll need more slots to attain peak effectiveness than going bi-form. Now granted that much of a Tri-form Warshades' damage and effectiveness is from Double-Mire and Eclipse, then switching to Nova Form to AoE blast... but if you had the option to expand your abilities (say by perma-mezzing bosses through stacking your Human-form PBAoE disorient with your Disorient Cone attack) wouldn't that be improving your performance too?

I've a Tri-form Warshade planned in hero builder. I've tweaked it and tweaked it, but i'll be an Iconites' uncle if I can find a spare slot there at all. And it could still use Endmods in Dwarf, heals and an endred in stygian circle, slots in stamina, recharges in quasar, damages in dwarf attacks and taunt durations in antagonise. And the single target Nova Form blasts aren't slotted for damage either.

I'd quite happily use another 15-18 slots on that toon.

Body Mastery

Conserve Power (Nice for longer fights if you're not /regen)
Focussed Accuracy (OMGWTFBBW!!111!!)
Laser Beam Eyes (Meh damage, but at least it's not smashing/lethal)
Energy Torrent (Scranker cone-knockdown goodness)


Weapon Mastery

Caltrops (Makes mobs run, twice the recharge time of the blaster version)
Web Grenade (Handy for stopping fliers and runners)
Shuriken (Meh damage and it's lethal)
Exploding Shuriken (Fun at parties, but not much damage)


Darkness Mastery

Torrent (Knockback on a scrapper. Yuck!)
Petrifying Gaze (A hold, yay! Doesn't stack so can't hold bosses)
Dark Blast (Much the same as Energy Eyes but with a longer range)
Tenebrous Tentacles (Rahh!! All must feel the fury of my tenties of DOOOOM!!)



I went Body Mastery for PvE. Usually Dark's the big PvE one, with Weapon Mastery only really used for PvP Duelling. WM powers cause a lot of redraw animations so they tend to slow your damage output down.

By that argument you don't need *any* slots since you always have the same powers available, even if their effectiveness is sub-par because they aren't enhanced.

My Bi-Form Peacebringer hasn't any slots left at 50.

Heck he could use at least 6 more enhancement slots to make him hit "peak effectiveness", and at least two more power picks. I dread to think what things would be like if I had've taken Nova form too...

The second raid is still on for tomorrow evening I take it?

Not been "bumped" lately...

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simply make it a toggle rather than a clicky.

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If memory serves you can only stay in Hibernate for a set amount of time before it kicks you out. As long as the MoG toggle had the same maximum duration as the current clicky-MoG, this could be useful. I think it'd still be easily the worst of all the "God mode" buttons by a long stretch though.

Allow normal regen but not clickyheals or outside healing!!
Then it'd be useful and thematic.

Attack slotting looks good and the build itself is at least passable!

From my experiences with Parry/Divine Avalance in PvP, you'll never get a chance to use it unless you're literally going Toe-to-Toe with another scrapper, a brute or a tank. In open zone pvp this will almost never happen, you'll be chasing people instead. I'd consider dropping it for Whirling Sword or Slice.

I'd swap swift for hurdle and at least two-slot it, so that you get your 'Super jump' at the speed cap.

Tactics doesn't need the tohit buffs, the bonus is useless for scrappers so you'll only use it combined with Focussed Senses for the +perception. Put them into Build Up instead or as EndReds in your SR toggles.

Unless you want to be a "Stalker Hunter", taking 'Aid Self' will benefit you more than taking Assault/Maneuvers + Tactics. You could also consider Hasten to improve your attacks' recharge (since they're slotted for EndRed).

I used Sparky in my Sonic/Elec's PvE build.

It's certainly not blaster level damage any more (you can do more damage per shot with your tier 1 blast) but it does help over time.

I didn't take the nuke, but I had toggles to keep up!

From my own experiences:

[u]Peacebringers:[u]

+ More damaging powers in Human form, less control options.
+ Heals and buffs don't need dead mobs nearby to use.
+ Pets are best used as a PBAoE not an actual pet.
+ All attacks are basically Energy/Smashing damage.
+ Forms are largely seperate entities, no real 'synergy' between forms.
+ Better Tanks in dwarf form (better aggro control, better self heals etc)
+ Can do high damage in Human form, Nova form damage is OK but gets mediocre at high levels.
+ Light form gives mez protection and high resistance, but locks you out of other forms.
+ Easier to use in PvP, much higher burst damage than Warshades especially in Human form.
+ Better at one-on-one encounters, has sufficient AOEs to cope fairly well with large mobs.

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[u]Warshades:[u]

+ More control powers in Human form, less damage powers.
+ Far better Pets, they actually hang about and help out.
+ Need dead enemies nearby for some buffs/heals/attacks.
+ All attacks are basically Negative Energy/Smashing damage.
+ Eclipse and Mire mean that there is a lot of synergy between all three forms.
+ A Tri-former Warshade will generally be more effective than a Tri-form Peacebringer.
+ Much harder to PvP with Warshades than Peacebringers.
+ No Mez protection in Eclipse, unlike Light form.
+ Eclipse gives Psionic damage resistance.
+ Very good at encounters with a *lot* of mobs, poorer at one-on-one fights.

If you're completely impervious to melee attacks, then frankly that deserves to be nerfed in pvp.

The point is not that there are not counters to Force Bubble, the point is that it negated entire powersets. It was essentially akin to a one-way personal force field or phase shift: toons literally couldn't lay a finger on a bubbler unless heavily buffed by a 3rd party.

If all that a set has to throw at you are melee attacks and you remove all chance they have of landing such attacks, then there is a pvp balance issue that needs to be addressed.

Coming from the POV of someone on the recieveing end of Force Bubble, it is still very annoying to hit through and virtually impossible without a lot of breakfrees or constantly toggled-on superspeed. Even with superspeed, you cannot remain in one place since you will be pushed away outside the bubble if you linger, you must "joust" which cuts incoming damage to the bubbler considerably.

With a bubbler running fly or hover, or even one jumping around, it quickly becomes extremely difficult to joust through FB even with Super Speed.

Well, on my defender Swift (Fitness pool) + Fly both one-slotted for Flight Speed with +3 SOs didn't hit the flight cap. It took 2 SOs in Fly and 1 in Swift.

"Sprint" (the inherent) still can't be slotted for Flight speed AFAIK.

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And ignoring the fact that those powers are available is foolish if they will help you hold aggro more firmly.


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I dont ask for AM or SB in general cos i overshoot my mark.

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So then don't take them.
They'll generally help Granite Tankers considerably, and it was The_MD who mentioned hasten. YMMV.

My INV tanker likes Speed boost/AM and Hasten since it lets him have near-perma Dull Pain, not 'cause he has problems holding aggro (he doesn't, at least not to date on up to +5s).

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Except, y'know, Epics which give all melee characters ranged attacks/holds. Counter already exists for it, without what is essentially a mechanics exploit.

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By that logic jumping out of range of any power or running behind a wall to break line of sight could be considered a "mechanics exploit" since game mechanics also require ranged blasts to be used within a certain range to affect a target.

Scrappers and/or Tanks still have to dip into an epic pool in order to counter one power. And even then it's not a real counter, it doesn't actually help that toon close to melee range or apply anything from their melee attack set to the Forcefielder. Instead it lets them hit the Forcefielder with one ranged hold which does not stack enough to break acrobatics (let alone FF's mez protection toggle) or one ranged blast which has damage output that barely compares to a blaster's unslotted tier 1.

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Not at all - Acrobatics gives hold protection. Super Speed is a plain run speed buff and does not include repel protection.

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Acrobatics gives knockback protection, which is all several sets like energy blast, axe, katana and broadsword have to rely on in terms of control.

Super speed is a run speed buff, so by that logic it *should* let you run into directly into a strong wind, or towards someone repelling you away.

I honestly don't see a problem with the power as it stands in PvP. It really was essentially a one-power "God Mode" button against melee toons, allowing you to fully affect them but preventing them from affecting you (or to limit them to very minor resistance via one light-damage ranged blast from an epic pool). Now those toons actually have a chance to hit you (albeit only by jousting, and only by taking Super Speed).

AFAIK that's Working As Intended (tm) in PvP.

And rightfully so, since activating Force Bubble effectively negated any chance that most melee toons (any tank or scrapper, outside of /inv and spines/*) had of causing you any damage.

My Katana scrapper, for example, would not have stood the slightest chance of being able to hit you. Neither would my Human/Dwarf form Peacebringer (unless he used Light Form for the repel protection). Meanwhile you could quite happily stack holds and setup containment on both of them (controller) or blast away to your heart's content (defender).

Now dealing with the current "nerfed" form of FB, most toons that even consider PvP will take Acrobatics via Combat Jumping and SJ. But far less will also take Super Speed, because given that "everyone takes fitness" that leaves them only one last power pool choice for all the other must-have pvp powers such as Tactics/Phase Shift/Aid Self/TP Foe etc.

If your complaint is that pool powers now counter part of your control, consider that taking acrobatics negates all of the inherent control in several powersets.

After all, you still have all the powers from your primary (controller) or secondary (defender) to call on. Plus mez protection, considerable defense, Detention Field and Personal Forcefield from your FF set.

Game balance, indeed.

As for PvE, it wouldn't be the first time that a PvP-change has negatively impacted the PvE game... but that doesn't make it right. I don't see why it needed changed in PvE.

Yep, but given the popularity of the rad and kin power sets it's unlikely that a 8-man team at higher levels would not have at last one toon with SB/AM.

And ignoring the fact that those powers are available is foolish if they will help you hold aggro more firmly.

This is all assuming that you've a problem holding aggro in the first place though.

Ice tankers' aren't all that squishy actually. They're generally at least comparable to INV tankers in terms of survivability.

With a normally slotted Ice tank, plus weave and Combat Jumping you'll be constantly sitting at just under 40% defense to Smashing, Lethal, Negative and Energy damage, and you'll hit the soft "cap" with Energy absorbtion. You also get "Dull Pain" and Chilling Embrace cuts incoming damage considerably.

I'd usually rather have an Ice tanker than an 'Inv tanker sans unstoppable' tanking AVs. My absolute favourite combo's got to be a Fire tank (with Taunt) teamed with a sonic defender though. Capped resistance to all but psi and a sweet heal...

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I dont see haste as a good to have recharge buff for taunt though as its not perma anymore cos what happens if you was relying on it and it runs out?


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Hit "Geas the Kind ones"? Or ask to be AM'ed/SB'ed?
Or start using lower damage/higher recharge attacks for gauntlet?

You shouldn't be completely relying on it, a good tank's always in control of the situation.
(Or at least knows when to cut and run or take one for the team...)

I love Hasten, I've taken it on all my toons except my Mastermind.

** Agrees with pet **

Scrappers are far better soloers than Kheldians, but Kheldians are usually better in teams.

If you can sit in a large team from 1 to 50, then Kheldians will be very fast to level. But sadly that's not usually possible and you'll spent a large amount of time soloing.

My scrapper was my first AT and he took over 3 months to hit 50 (1 to get to 35, then I deleted and rerolled him). My PB was the second, had all the influence he could use, and took a little under 3 months to hit 50.

So far my Mastermind has been the fastest of all my alts to hit 50 (took under 6 weeks) and he mainly soloed.

Kheldians are an "Epic" AT because they're inherently more difficult to master than the majority of the other ATs. If you don't play a normal toon to 50 you're unlikely to have developed the skill to play a Kheldian well. If you don't play a Kheldian well, you'll die quicker than a fire/fire blaster surrounded by AVs.

Discussion here on the US boards about this very topic.

Info can also can be found in a Regen Guide on the UK Boards.

And here on the Scrapper forums (it's a bit of a regular debate!)

You can probably guess my personal opinion of MoG from that last thread!

Ninjitsu stalkers get "Kuji-In Rin" which is essentially Practised Brawler with Fear and Confuse Proection, but without Knockback protection.

They can still get acrobatics though.