Naz_Nomad

Cheers guys. Thanks for the answers.

I did wonder about the PFF thing, and it's nice to see you both agree about dragging the robots around with me.

A quick bit of advice needed here. I have a bots 'n' bubbles MM and also feel the need to have a shivan available should the need arise.

When in Bloody Bay, should I summon the Bots then wander round dragging them along to collect the meteor samples or should I run round without my faithful bots and only summon them for the firebase? Will dragging them round the zone just attract trouble?
Can I collect meteor samples with PFF up?


Cheers.

Meh, in the rare occasions I wander into the zones with my scrapper (50 DM/inv/dark mastery) nothing much bothers me. Rad corruptors I tend not to chase after too much, I have to admit, but anything else is fair game for a challenge when I am in the mood.

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Just thought I'd start a thread to see how other people liked to name their minions...



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I have gone with Bob because it's short for Robot, obviously.

Drones:
Bob Bot I
Bob Bot II
Bob Bot IV

Protectors:
Bob Bot III
Bob Bot V

Assault:
Bob Bot VI

You live and work in a city where half the population fly, shoot rays from their fingertips, turn invisible and grow spikes from their bodies instantly and you'd be surprised if a turret got up and ran off? Sheesh!


And yes Cobra_Man, thats exactly what I meant, the annoying one or two who run away from PBAoE's and take just that extra shot or two to clean up. Hence, scatter effect.

One of two things happens with Blazing Aura, and I used to swear by it on my /fire.

1) The mobs hit you a lot because they haven't taken any or much damage and you are ticking away just enough to get their attention.
2) The mobs are damaged already and move away from AoE effects.

So either you get hit or the mob effectively scatters. Not scatters like Rain Of Fire scatters, but moves away enough to effect the efficacy of Fire Sword Circle, Fireball and Blazing Aura itself meaning there are mobs alive after you have fired off your attacks because they have moved away alive because blazing aura doesn't damage fast enough to stop them doing so. I call that scattering.

I'll agree with Stalk_obot here. My only ever problem with AR has been the gun itself and the drawing. OK, lethal damage is resisted well, and it is possibly the power set with the most droppable powers but on the whole it seems to have a decently melded attack chain and there are some powers that are worth sticking with the gun for.

My two cents worth.

You're right, combustion doesn't. My mistake. I just took FSC because it fitted better with the Fire Sword.

Blazing Aura I will argue against though. It lacks the gauntlet component of a Fire Tank's PBAoE. Mobs tend to run from such effects in my experience unless there is a reason for them to stay. Beating on the blaster is not a good reason to stay, especially when it's my blaster.

I use my Fire/Fire as what I believe to be a reasonable mixture of single target, AoE and Blapper. Regardless of primary, there will always be a few enemies who get too close, especially on a crowded map. So I have tried over a few respecs to build a blaster who can dish AoE goodness, has good single target damage and at the same time is able to polish off those few eneies who get close. Fire Sword and FSC do that job for me.

My build seems at present to work well for teams and is excellent solo on the middle setting. I am of the belief that specialised blasters are at a slight disadvantage and if it is possible to build powers that offer a balanced approach to dealing damage, you will have a blaster you can have fun both in teams and solo.

Don't forget also that an AoE attack is just as viable as a single target attack against one enemy when thats all you have for the range or is all thats recharged.

I have also taken great care to choose powers that do not scatter enemies. There seems little point in having any AoE's if your early attacks spread the bad guys out too much for them to effective. For that reason, I have not taken Rain of Fire, Blazing Aura, Combustion and will not take Burn or Hot Feet, all of which can cause enemy groups to scatter. The only reason I can see for taking such powers is to get bad guys away from your personal space and I find that Build-Up, Fireball, FSC sends a clear message where that sort of behaviour is concerned.

I am up for a Hami raid, Ennil Pwysau is my level 50 scrapper (see sig). Gimme a call whoever is leading on @Naz Nomad and I will pop along.

Blasters....


"Whoops!"

"Bugger, I didn't mean that"

"Sorry, I'm a Blaster, Sh*t happens"

Peacebringers:

Bringing Peace through sparkly blasting

Lend us a squid

The Lobsters of Love

Personally, I feel the main difference between regen and almost any other scrapper secondary is that regen is clicky whereas the majority of the other secondaries are toggle based.

Of course, there are toggles in regen and there are clickies in the other sets, but on the whole Regen involves more clicking/key stroking.

~DA - 2 clickies
~Regen - 5 clickes
~SR - 1 clickie
~Inv - 2 clickies
(According to my quick look in the manual which I know is out of date slightly)

So I say choose a secondary based on concept and play style rather than what other people think is the best or most survivable. If you ain't a quick clicker, regen won't be as efficient for you as someone who is quicker with the mouse/buttons.

An opinion, as usual.

You'd be much better doing this in Firebase Zulu. There are masses of Nemesis spawn spots, whereas PI can be a tad sparse at times.

And it is one of the best early level attack chains available to any AT in my opinion. Even at level 50 with more powers than I really needed, my scrapper used those 4 more than any other powers short of her shields.

Thank you Maelwys, just what I wanted.

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I agree with Naz. Shadow punch is excellent to bind the attack chain together and provides quick, decent damage.


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Let's not forget the -Acc it has too. Might only last a few seconds, but these things build nicely.

People slate Shadow Punch and seem to drop it early, but I think the strength of the Dark Melee specialist is that really good early attack chain that can last right the way through to 50 and can be complete at level 4. OK, it's not a perfect attack chain, maybe the damage can be considered too light on Punch, Smite and Shadow Maul have quite slow recharge times and SM has the long animation, but between the three attacks you have a nice little chain that melds well and does a nice steady damage output, leaving your scrapper to spend their next few power picks without having too much of a dilemma about attack vs defence. I swear by Shadow Punch.

DP drags my /inv scrapper back from the brink more than I can say, it's a tremendous power and I am sure that a 6 minute recharge is wrong, especially with 3 recharge SO's. I slotted it for recharge right from TO's and it has always been available every 3 groups or so. Give or take.

Of course, my scrapper is DM/ so I also have siphon life (which is as way better than Aid Self too) and self-healing even solo is little trouble for her.

I say Nay to Aid Self for any scrapper, having played a few. It's only really useful for between fight heals. If you spend any time at all teamed, then Aid Self is of limited use. Solo you'll have trouble using it for anything other than after fight top-ups when to be honest you gain more from resting.

It's slow, it costs endurance that could be better used elsewhere and it's interruptable. It also needs slotting to be fully useful and as was said above, slotting a pool power of limited use on a scrapper is not really an option until well into the 30's and if you haven't learned to live without Aid Self by then, I suggest you enslave a defender.

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Like the post but wouldnt it be better in another bit of the forum??

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Why? It's a discussion of learning to be a scrapper, with advice that stretches across many AT's. Its main focus is scrapping, so it stays for me.

Cheers, Standoff. Thanks for the help.

My two-penneth worth...

I respecced back into shadow punch, have all the secondaries apart from Unstappable (Don't like, not my style), have fly and Air sup for travel pool choices, swift health and stamina because it's the law. For Epic pools, I chose Dark mastery. Conserve power isn't necessary and I felt another hold, a blast and a second tentacle power was more needed. (We always need more tentacles in combat!!)

Armours are slotted for 3 res and an end reduction, except I think Invincibility which I chose to slot three defence, an end reducer and two to hit buffs because I can. Attack powers with three damage, two accuracy and an end reducer except Siphon Life which has two accuracy, end reduction and three heals. Similarly, Consumption has three end modifiers and two accuracy, Soul drain just has an accuracy as I found I was using it too little to justify heavy slotting and respecced slots later in life. Touch of Fear is enough with just a couple of accuracy, nice power that one, take it as early as you can!

I have respecced into and then back out of hasten. In my opinion it just isn't needed. An early attack chain of shadow punch-smite-air superiority-shadow maul is one of the better chains for scrappers as it times perfectly to never break the damage output. Throw in Siphon Life, Dark Consumption, Midnight Grasp and Touch of Fear later on and you're cooking on gas.

DM/Inv is a difficult combination to get right until you start getting excess slots in the 30's, so I found with no other experience in scrapping. However, the dark clouds and flashy armours actually meld well together. Don't ever make the mistake of thinking you're as good as an Invulnerable tank though, you'll find out very very quickly you aren't!

The PB build I have at the moment is a triform - I just can't bring myself to respec out of the squid as my play style is more suited to blasting than tanking, so the Dwarf has become my panic button of a sorts, at least giving me armour enough to get out of Dodge if the heal doesn't save my skin and mean I can continue the fight.

What I was looking for rather than a build guide was just a simple list of which levels powers are unlocked at. I prefer for some strange reason to have pen-and-paper (Pre-MS Word writing implements for the less ancient among you) build plans, and for that I require a little list of what levels powers unlock at.

I am at work and my search-fu was left at home.

While I am at it and asking questions more suited to a n00b than a veteran, is there a bind expert out there can write the following for me so I can apply them when my sad and lonely 24 hour shift ends and I can go home and have a CoH session?

1) Bind onto number pad 1 - go to human form, go to tray 1 where my human powers are
2) Bind onto number pad 2 - go to squid form, go to tray 4 where my squidlie powers are
3) Bind onto number pad 3 - go to dwarf form and tray 5 where my dwarf powers are

I am also assuming that the tray you "go to" is the first tier one of all those you have open? I have three open already - tray 1 for human blasts and attacks; tray 2 for heals and shields; tray 3 for temps, travel powers and forms; tray 4 for squid blasts; tray 5 for dwarf attacks. All this confusion and only level 25!!!

Is anyone able to point me in the general direction of a "What powers are unlocked at what levels" guide for PB's especially and WS too if it's been written. WS powers I find pretty intuitive to choose. PB's I feel need more planning and I haven't yet seen a decent guide for what unlocks at which level.

Cheers guys.

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All the best tanks are either 4ft or 12ft. Inbetween is unacceptable!

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How sadly true that is... I hate it when really stupid generalisations are absolutely correct.

Of course, for female tanks it is slightly inaccurate. Female tanks have to be either 4ft tall OR appear to be six years of age and dressed in fluffy pink OR be as close to naked as the player thinks they can get away with. (anyone wanting to combine all three is playing CoX from the same cell as Gary Glitter)

It's true. Just check next team you're on.

Trust me, I'm a scrapper.

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Sorry if I haven't spotted this yet, but are you US, Canuck, Aussie or from the Best Bloody Country On Earth (Kiwi)?

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...and there was me thinking that the Best Bloody Country on Earth & Aussie were the same thing!

Welcome to Defiant! Good to have another cobber on.

Cambo.

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Yep, I'm an Aussie.



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Ah, So you're From the West Island of NZ then. Not a lot of people know we have three main Islands, though we don't boast about the near-forgotten West Island too often.

Welcome to Defiant!