Number45

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Swap Build-Up and Dull Pain. Disclaimer: I'm not a big fan of Build-Up at all and have never taken it on anything. I find the duration too short to be worth the bother. I think even Build-Up fans would admit Dull PAin is more use though.

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Agreed. Build Up on a blaster is superb (Even more so when it's able to buff 'pets'), but on a Scrapper in the middle of an angry mob the increased HP/regen is far more important.

If the early Sonic blasts on my Defender are anything to go by, the set should prove very powerful. Looking forward to Fulcrum Shifting some of the later powers in the set!

If you've got some time, there's some interesting dicussion here about it. Lots of hints that the set is getting buffed without any real information.

Perhaps I misunderstood what I'd heard and that it was the 'currently testing' version of Claws that out-damages all other sets.

I'm sure I read (And I'm positive either Bridger or Rockjaw mentioned it over here too) that Claws actually outdamages all other sets in terms of DPS, due to the speed of the attacks?

Be interesting to see what the changes are? Perhaps adding a secondary effect, as has been mentioned.

Whadda you know, managed to find it with minimal searching! ^_^

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Castle, 2005-11-18 - "We're trying to eliminate autohit damage powers. Debuffs and other types of effects may still be Auto-hit, however. This is one reason we gave Defense Debuff Resistance to SR."

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That wasn't where I was looking at the time, but it's the same quote. Can be found here.

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No MoG yes thats right folks!

Answer - Anything that is an auto hit such as caltrops, gun turrets etc, will get through. The slow tick that these powers generate will grind that health down... fast!

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Don't ask me to find the quote (saw it browsing through the US forums), but I believe those auto-hit powers are being looked at, so it might become more viable against Knives etc... soon.

I didn't think the DE did Toxic? I know Vaz, Lost, Hydra and Rikti certainly do.

As for Resilience, it's normally used as an 'if you've got a spare power slot' pick - most people take it because it allows you to shake off the awaken / revive disorient very quickly.

Of course, if you team with Rad/Emp/Dark Defenders all the time it's probably of no concern.

Yep, you're right I meant the immob. Tenebrious Tentacles FTW!

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Um dark blast on defender sucks

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I've always thought Dark Blast is an excellent Defender secondary. A good second attack, snipe at 4, a hold and all the -acc (Which is actually quite effective).

I know my first char on beta (Emp/Dark) loved it.

That'll be the wonderful Knives of Artemis. *shudders*

On a positive note, autohits from those are apparently getting looked at so that +DEF sets (In particular) can't be taken apart by Caltrops / various [currently] autohit auras. Yay!

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Well, Energy Absorption is the cornerstone of Ice and you say that's not vital?

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But I don't believe it's available pre-22?

That makes more sense certainly, and with a good team makeup (Which you had) there's certainly little reason for the Tank with Taunt not to use it (If only to make sure that runners are controlled).

As for the one that didn't, many Tanks don't like to use it. There are other tools for Taunting in the Tank sets (PBAoE auras mainly, along with the 'punchvoke' effect of the attacks and Gauntlet) and some Tanks find that enough. Not saying I agree (Far from it, I personally wouldn't consider building a Tank without it), but some people certainly do.

In my seemingly neverending bid to find an AT and build that I'm happy with (Since Ed in i3 of course *reminisces*), I rolled a Kinetics / Sonic Defender last night and played through to 6. I'm enjoying it, though (as always) lamenting the low level whiffs and the fact that I chose Science as my origin and have been fighting Vaz! >_<

+DMG -RES seems like a good mix to me!

Anyhoo, this is what I've come up with up to 41. I'm thinking that I'm too heavily loaded with accuracy post 31 (Tactics) but I can swap them out for either recharge reduction or endurance reduction (More likely recharge seeing as how I'm not aiming for Hasten and I think I'll have few End worries post-Transference).

I'm also a little concerned at leaving Inertial Reduction so late, but not sure how I can get it into the build earlier. :/

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Exported from Ver: 1.7.5.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder
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Name: Sonic Shift
Level: 41
Archetype: Defender
Primary: Kinetics
Secondary: Sonic Blast
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01) --> Transfusion==> Acc(1)Acc(3)Heal(3)Heal(5)Heal(5)Rechg(7)
01) --> Shriek==> Acc(1)
02) --> Scream==> Acc(2)Acc(7)Dmg(11)Dmg(15)Dmg(17)Rechg(19)
04) --> Siphon Power==> Acc(4)Rechg(9)Rechg(23)
06) --> Siphon Speed==> Acc(6)Rechg(9)Rechg(34)
08) --> Combat Jumping==> Jump(8)
10) --> Howl==> Acc(11)Dmg(13)Dmg(15)Dmg(17)Rechg(19)
12) --> Speed Boost==> EndMod(12)EndMod(13)EndMod(23)
14) --> Super Jump==> Jump(14)
16) --> Swift==> Run(16)
18) --> Hurdle==> Jump(18)
20) --> Stamina==> EndMod(20)EndMod(21)EndMod(21)
22) --> Acrobatics==> EndRdx(22)EndRdx(25)EndRdx(37)
24) --> Assault==> EndRdx(24)EndRdx(25)EndRdx(40)
26) --> Transference==> Acc(26)Acc(27)EndMod(27)EndMod(29)EndMod(29)Rechg(31)
28) --> Increase Density==> DmgRes(28)
30) --> Tactics==> TH_Buf(30)TH_Buf(31)TH_Buf(31)
32) --> Fulcrum Shift==> Acc(32)Acc(33)Rechg(33)Rechg(33)Rechg(34)EndRdx(34)
35) --> Shout==> Acc(35)Acc(36)Dmg(36)Dmg(36)Dmg(37)Rechg(37)
38) --> Dreadful Wail==> Acc(38)Acc(39)Dmg(39)Dmg(39)Dmg(40)Rechg(40)
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01) --> Sprint==> Run(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Acc(1)
01) --> Vigilance==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Rechg(2)
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I know I'm fairly light on attacks, but the build will be more team oriented anyway.

I'll fit Inertial Reduction in at some point, but I wanted the Jump pool for Acrobatics to keep myself mobile against mezzing mobs.

Any thoughts or suggestions? Thanks. ^_^

What levels are we talking about, and team make up? At early levels Taunt is almost certain death for Tanks in large groups so it's not surprising someone would be reluctant to use it.

If you have an 8 man team on, say the Igneous missions in the Hollows, and a single tank... I'd certainly think twice (Three times even) about using it.

Give your rant some context, please.

Neither of those have been upgraded recently though have they? I know I can't build my tank using either because they're not taking into account the fact that Taunt has been shifted to *after* the second attack. :/

Personally I always try and avoid mezzing mobs at lower levels, until I have some status protection as a tank. *stares at CoT*

I know my Blaster's only at level 16 at the moment, but I have never seen my Defiance bar at more than ~10% no matter how much of a beating I'm currently taking!

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Doubt it: in my experience, the animation of BFR (almost 4 secs) is way too slow to be of much use in PvP.

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Surely as an opening attack it would be OK?

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(*)Eminators are fixed in the patch currently on test server, most likely going live next week.

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Hopefully not the patch that's been announced for this afternoon then? >_<

Hehe, my current is /EM and I only have the initial attack and Build Up so far. I'm sure I'll take more melee attacks t some point (Particularly towards the end of the set) but in the meantime I'm focused on keeping mobs at distance... something that I can do nicely with the Ice primary! ^_^

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But as I say none of us actually knew. Anyone else know where the Z comes from ?

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I'm pretty sure the Z is just added to all sorts of things because of it's general overuse in 'leet' speak. I don't believe there's a specific reason for it being there.

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Secondly you should be able to pick this up yourself from Maren MacGregor in founders falls...

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Not at level 50 he won't.