OV_RealDark

I can't say anything about invuln, however:
I have a kat/sr at 40 and its great fun. You can't go wrong with kat, the animations and sounds are just so sexy. Right now I have golden dragonfly up every 6-7 seconds or so and even though I must have used it thousands of times since I got it I still love watching it every time.

I like kat/SR as a concept, it just so elegant.

Divine avalanche + focused fighting gives you pretty damn good melee def at low level (in fact if you stack two divine avalanche you'll only be getting hit about 7% of the time), later on you just keep DA on to keep your melee def at the soft cap of 45.

SR is indeed a tight build, you really want to take all 9 powers for PvE. People tend to then either go down medicine or fighting PP to top it off.

I don't know about ivuln, but SR can benefit greatly off IOs. I'm getting between 11 and 13% def from set bonuses to each of the types (range/melee/aoe) which really makes the toon shine. On top of that they are not expensive IO's and they don't gimp your build.

Going further down the line you can boost rech to crazy levels, and you can get some extra recovery and regen to really top out the build for PvE. This will be expensive, but does not require any compromise in your build (e.g. you'll still be pumping out the damage).

As DSorrow says though you will probably see other Kat/SR heroes around, but kat/invuln is going to be more rare.

Invuln is better at holding aggro (for obvious reasons) which can be helpful when you're on squishy guarding duty, or proxy tanking.

This is a buld i'm experimenting with for my kat/sr who's currently level 37. Note some of the enhancements are at different levels, and in fact higher level one's should be taken. Some of the final power picks could be in a different order, depending on preference.

It works exemped down to various levels 32 and above.
If you opt for LOTG def/endurance instead of def/increased attack rate, and don't take the numina's it's actaully very cheap.

Outside of elude all defense is around 45% (at level 50). It prioritises ranged defense first - my current live build has about 42% ranged defense, also caps melee with one divine avalanche (parry) and has something like 33% aoe def. The attack chain is fast and high damage.
Health and the passive's get slotted during the 40's btw.

It works great for PvE, I don't really PvP so I'm not sure how effective this would be, but it does have a 24% tohit buff and a 53% accuracy buff, as well as > 115% def to all when elude is up (I think elude would be up for more than half of the time with this build).

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.153
http://www.onthejazz.co.uk/hu/mhd.php

Level 50 Science Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Katana
Secondary Power Set: Super Reflexes
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Body Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Sting of the Wasp -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg:35(A), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:35(15), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg:35(15), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:35(17), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:35(17)
Level 1: Focused Fighting -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx:35(A), RedFtn-Def/Rchg:35(3), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg:35(3), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:35(5), RedFtn-Def:35(5), RedFtn-EndRdx:35(7)
Level 2: Focused Senses -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx:35(A), RedFtn-Def/Rchg:35(7), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg:35(9), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:35(9), RedFtn-Def:35(11), RedFtn-EndRdx:35(11)
Level 4: Agile -- LkGmblr-Rchg+:35(A), LkGmblr-Def/Rchg:35(43), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:35(46), LkGmblr-Def:35(46)
Level 6: Build Up -- RechRdx-I:35(A)
Level 8: Divine Avalanche -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg:35(A), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:35(19), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:35(19), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:35(27), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg:50(29)
Level 10: Practiced Brawler -- RechRdx-I:35(A)
Level 12: Hasten -- RechRdx-I:35(A), RechRdx-I:35(13), RechRdx-I:35(13)
Level 14: Super Speed -- Clrty-Stlth:30(A)
Level 16: Hurdle -- Jump-I:30(A)
Level 18: Health -- H'zdH-Heal/EndRdx:30(A), H'zdH-Heal:30(40), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+:30(42), H'zdH-EndRdx/Rchg:30(42), H'zdH-Heal/Rchg:30(43), H'zdH-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg:30(43)
Level 20: Stamina -- EndMod-I:30(A), EndMod-I:30(21), EndMod-I:30(21)
Level 22: The Lotus Drops -- M'Strk-Acc/Dmg:35(A), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx:35(23), M'Strk-Dmg/Rchg:35(23), M'Strk-Acc/EndRdx:35(25), M'Strk-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:35(25), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:35(27)
Level 24: Kick -- B'ngBlow-Acc/Dmg:30(A)
Level 26: Tough -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+:30(A)
Level 28: Weave -- LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx:35(A), LkGmblr-Rchg+:35(29), LkGmblr-Def:35(42), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:35(46)
Level 30: Soaring Dragon -- T'Death-Acc/Dmg:30(A), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx:30(31), T'Death-Dmg/Rchg:30(31), T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:30(31), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:30(34), T'Death-Dam%:30(36)
Level 32: Golden Dragonfly -- M'Strk-Acc/Dmg:30(A), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx:30(33), M'Strk-Dmg/Rchg:30(33), M'Strk-Acc/EndRdx:30(33), M'Strk-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:30(34), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:30(34)
Level 35: Evasion -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx:30(A), RedFtn-Def/Rchg:30(36), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg:30(36), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:30(37), RedFtn-Def:30(37), RedFtn-EndRdx:30(37)
Level 38: Elude -- S'dpty-Def/Rchg:30(A), S'dpty-Def/EndRdx:40(39), S'dpty-EndRdx/Rchg:40(39), S'dpty-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:40(39), S'dpty-Def:40(40), RechRdx-I:40(40)
Level 41: Quickness -- Run-I:35(A)
Level 44: Lucky -- LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx:30(A), LkGmblr-Rchg+:30(45), LkGmblr-Def/Rchg:30(45), LkGmblr-Def:30(45)
Level 47: Focused Accuracy -- EndRdx-I:30(A), EndRdx-I:30(48), EndRdx-I:30(48), ToHit-I:30(48)
Level 49: Dodge -- LkGmblr-Def:30(A), LkGmblr-Rchg+:30(50), LkGmblr-Def/Rchg:30(50), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:30(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Critical Hit
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)


Copy & Paste this data chunk into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build.
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08J1H0ST[F#\\K+`JY:795X;1Q4N+_X#J69%BP``

Hmm I can't slot any set's into rest in my version of Mid's - how did you manage that?

On the build:
Watch out for end usage - with all the recharge and the lack of end redux in attacks, the 1 minute downtime of elude is going to be extremely painful, and not just in terms of enduance - only 30% defense to range and AoE.

Due to the recharge you attack chain is actually going to be full with just the sword attacks though which is nice.

I don't think it's "gimped", but in for PvE terms it's missing AoE damage I guess. Having headsplitter up quicker than every 5 seconds is going to be doing a lot of damage!

You can probably change a lot of the set IO's to lower level so that it will still work at say 38, without affecting the overall bonuses as well. (e.g. all the defense set IO's and only loose a tiny % of defense).

Bloody expensive build mind!

My answer:
Yes

My reasoning:
They're both great fun (and sometimes very different) to play

Probably a PB though if you want something easier because most of the powers are self activated rather than relying on foes or defeated foes as a number of the really good WS powers are. TBH what tends to hapen is you get to level 6 and then you get nova, and blast for a while, as neither human form is all that great until a bit higher up.

You're probably going to respec at some point regardless of how you build the toon, so I really would suggest taking powers because they sound cool and then seeing what you think.

I'm guessing my rambling here hasn't helped in any way, but there you go

I have a human/nova at level 41, but I only took nova at 41 so it's not slotted.

I think human/nova is very team and damage orientated (e.g. you can't really use nova solo). I think it will kick out a lot of damage when I have nova slotted, and although Maelwys is right with the human form aoe's, the nova ones are far easier to use effectively.

I certainly wouldn't recomend human/nova without access to light form.

I think I will ultimately be getting tri form, as the dwarf is just so useful.

Yeah two things I'm interested in are the KB protection and the stealth squiddie, what fun.

I think IO's will be a big help to kheld's because we're often short on slots, as people have mentioned you end up with 2 res slots in the shields etc.

The 20% reduction in duration of mez on you is not amazing, but I think it still might be worth having, yes your toggles will drop, but there has been the odd ocation where I've recovered from a mez just in time to faceplant, and another second might have allowed me to get a heal in.

Extra's made some good comments there. My WS is currently level 41 or something, havent played it for a while.

I would strongly recomend having a planned respec. The WS in the late game is very different from early game. Slotting is tough, although easier now with ED.

I only use the inherent teleport, with stamina its not a problem, and you can slot it for an extra range if you want to move really fast.

Human form WS is very different from any other toon I have played, when I first played him all my SG mates nick-named him "Shrouded Debt", his actualy name being "Shrouded Dark", however this was back when human form had -30% res to all...

Powers to look out for:
Gravity Emanation - cone disorient with knockback
Gravity Well - single target hold with decent damage
Inky Aspect - PBAoE disorient, great in conjunction with gravit emanation.
Dark Extraction - pet from fallen enemies
Eclipse - PBAoE, self +end, +res - more enemies the better, but you have to be careful using this.
Sunless Mire - PBAoE self +dam +acc, more enemies the better, use with black dwarf mire for great damage, the combindation of the two actually does ok damage.
Stygian Circle - self +health +end this is an amazing power, use during or after a fight when there are fallen enemies, 2-3 enemies for FULL health, 5-6 for FULL endurance. Lt's give more, bosses even more.
Shields - often underestimated, but if you are in a team with say 1-2 controllers and 2-3 defenders/tanks and you have the shields on you will have 85% res and ok status protection. Even solo these can help.

Binds are very important, I have one bind that changes me into dwarf and changes tray to those powers:
</bind X "powexec_toggleon Black Dwarf$$goto_tray 4">
Another which changes into human form, and if I keep pressing it turns on my shield and things (I'm at work so this is just guessing from memory):
</bind X "powexec_toggleon Quantum Shield$$powexec_toggleon Gravity Shield$$powexec_toggleon Inky Aspect$$powexec_toggleoff Black Dwarf$$goto_tray 1"

I currently have my alt try up all the time, and I sometimes have to go into the third tray (ctrl+num).

At 41 my warshade is seriously powerful, leaping about changing forms, firing of AoE's, nukes, pets, healing himself, going toe to toe with large groups, and controlling them. Playing it is sometimes manic, sometimes timing goes wrong and I'm faceplanted, but most of the time its just great fun.

Ah will do ohms,

Thanks for the replies guys, all useful info

Hi everyone, (no doctor nick jokes please )
I'm just playing around with the idea of a sonic/energy blaster as I think the damage potential could be quite fun.

I'm by no means new to COH, but I haven't really played blasters much and certainly not since before issue 4. Although I have teamed with them. What do people think of these powersets in general?

What is the potential of the -res from sonic?
How much single target/AoE balance does sonic have?

Note: Most likely I'll be playing this toon in a team, however the ability to solo never does any harm. I'm not fussed about PvP for now

Hi I've been looking about because I'm getting close myself, check out these threads:
UK boards - recharge time
US Boards 1
US Boards 2

I realise its too late now, but wanted to add a comment here. People have mentioned personal taste, and I think that is the main thing. Personaly I haven't had nova form in either my PB or WS for ages, because I became sick of using it. It was great fun at first (in my sg 3 of us got level 50's shortly after issue 3 and all played khelds together for a bit), but after using it so much I don't like it anymore.

Kheld powers are fairly well balanced now, what you get for having nova form, costs you in human/dwarf form, mostly in terms of slotting. I could go on to explain, but basically what I'm saying is the most important consideration should be "Do I like playing nova form?" imho.