Peg_on_Justice

I posted a Dual Blades compendium guide a few months back and forgot to post a link here. It covers DB/Dark, DB/Will, DB/Elec, DB/SR, and DB/Regen. It should be identified as an I16 guide.

Here is the link: http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=206387

Thanks.

Here you go hun. This is the build I'm using right now. Probably could be tweaked, I haven't fooled with it in over a month.

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.601
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Witchery: Level 50 Magic Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Dark Melee
Secondary Power Set: Shield Defense
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Body Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Smite -- T'Death-Acc/Dmg(A), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx(3), T'Death-Dmg/Rchg(3), T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(13), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(17), T'Death-Dam%(31)
Level 1: Deflection -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(5), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(9), RedFtn-EndRdx(19), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(34), RedFtn-Def(40)
Level 2: Battle Agility -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(5), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(9), RedFtn-EndRdx(19), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(37), RedFtn-Def(40)
Level 4: Shadow Maul -- Sciroc-Acc/Dmg(A), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx(7), Sciroc-Dmg/Rchg(7), Sciroc-Acc/Rchg(13), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(17), Sciroc-Dam%(43)
Level 6: Super Speed -- Zephyr-Travel(A), Zephyr-ResKB(25), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(31)
Level 8: Siphon Life -- Theft-Heal/Rchg(A), Theft-Acc/Heal(11), Theft-Acc/EndRdx/Heal(11)
Level 10: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(15), RechRdx-I(15)
Level 12: Active Defense -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 14: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 16: Health -- Numna-Heal/EndRdx(A), Numna-EndRdx/Rchg(37), Numna-Heal/Rchg(37), Numna-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(39), Numna-Heal(39), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(46)
Level 18: Against All Odds -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 20: Stamina -- P'Shift-End%(A), EndMod-I(21), EndMod-I(21)
Level 22: Combat Jumping -- GftotA-Def(A), GftotA-Def/EndRdx(23), DefBuff-I(23), DefBuff-I(25)
Level 24: True Grit -- Mrcl-Rcvry+(A)
Level 26: Soul Drain -- Sciroc-Dam%(A), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg(27), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx(27), Sciroc-Dmg/Rchg(29), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(29)
Level 28: Phalanx Fighting -- DefBuff-I(A)
Level 30: Dark Consumption -- Erad-Dmg(A), Erad-Acc/Rchg(31), Erad-Dmg/Rchg(39), EndMod-I(46), EndMod-I(50)
Level 32: Midnight Grasp -- T'Death-Acc/Dmg(A), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx(33), T'Death-Dmg/Rchg(33), T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(33), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34), T'Death-Dam%(34)
Level 35: Shield Charge -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(36), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(36), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(36), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(40), Oblit-%Dam(50)
Level 38: Boxing -- Acc-I(A)
Level 41: Focused Accuracy -- GSFC-ToHit(A), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg(42), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(42), GSFC-Rchg/EndRdx(42), GSFC-ToHit/EndRdx(43), GSFC-Build%(43)
Level 44: Tough -- Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(A), Aegis-ResDam/Rchg(45), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(45), Aegis-ResDam(45), Aegis-Psi/Status(46)
Level 47: Weave -- LkGmblr-Def(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(48), LkGmblr-Def/Rchg(48), LkGmblr-Rchg+(48), Ksmt-ToHit+(50)
Level 49: One with the Shield -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Clrty-Stlth(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Critical Hit
------------
Set Bonus Totals:

• 14.5% DamageBuff(Smashing)
• 14.5% DamageBuff(Lethal)
• 14.5% DamageBuff(Fire)
• 14.5% DamageBuff(Cold)
• 14.5% DamageBuff(Energy)
• 14.5% DamageBuff(Negative)
• 14.5% DamageBuff(Toxic)
• 14.5% DamageBuff(Psionic)
• 9.88% Defense(Smashing)
• 9.88% Defense(Lethal)
• 13.6% Defense(Fire)
• 13.6% Defense(Cold)
• 13.3% Defense(Energy)
• 13.3% Defense(Negative)
• 6.13% Defense(Psionic)
• 16.8% Defense(Melee)
• 18.9% Defense(Ranged)
• 19.6% Defense(AoE)
• 3.6% Max End
• 22.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
• 6% Enhancement(Heal)
• 36% Enhancement(Accuracy)
• 5% FlySpeed
• 105.4 HP (7.87%) HitPoints
• 5% JumpHeight
• 5% JumpSpeed
• Knockback (Mag -4)
• Knockup (Mag -4)
• MezResist(Held) 8.8%
• MezResist(Immobilize) 9.9%
• MezResist(Stun) 2.2%
• 4.5% (0.08 End/sec) Recovery
• 52% (2.91 HP/sec) Regeneration
• 2.52% Resistance(Fire)
• 2.52% Resistance(Cold)
• 6.25% Resistance(Negative)
• 3% Resistance(Psionic)
• 10% RunSpeed
• 2.5% XPDebtProtection

Thanks for the tip. Over the last few days I thought of a couple other tips that I wish I had included.

For example, sometimes you want to take your chain out fo order, because you don't want to knockback something and have to move to finish it off. So I will use Sweeping Strike before Vengeful Slice in order to make sure they die at my feet, forgoing the Attack Vitals bonus.

Anyway, I'm sure I could think of many things to add, if I spent a few more weeks on this.

I'll have to play around with DB/Invuln, based on your recommendation, in Mid's. See what the totals look like with IO sets.

I'm afraid I can't help. My DB tankers are still relatively low level, while I worked on this project. You are right, tankers are different, so don't expect my thoughts on scrappers to apply to tankers.

Thanks for the compliment!

DB/Regeneration

Swordsong is my DB/Regen scrapper. Regeneration plays differently than the other secondaries, including Willpower. You don’t even try to prevent damage, you just heal your way past it. Traditionally, the problem with Regen has been dealing with alpha strikes, especially with large groups of enemies such as Nemesis. However, the changes to Moment of Glory have given an elegant solution, where you get a 15 second period of high defense and resistance, allowing you to weather the alpha strike.

I want to give credit to Camo Fire for his Regeneration guide that focuses on IO sets. He uses some different advice than I do in my example build, but his recommendations are as valid as mine. I am focused on recharge reduction more than he is. Go take a look at what he says.

Here are the powers for Regeneration:

Fast Healing – Your default power, it gives 75% boost to regeneration. This better than the 40% you get from Health. This is an important point about leveling a Regen scrapper; while you will still want Health and Stamina, you get powers early that are better than both. You can delay taking the fitness pool until later, while you select more important powers that you need early in the game. Fast Healing is an auto power, so it cost no endurance. You will want to slot it with 3 heal IOs, until you start putting in IO sets.

Reconstruction – Available at Level 2, this is a click heal that heals for 25% of your health, before enhancements. It also grants a 15% resistance to toxic damage for 60 seconds. This resistance is interesting in that you can slot resistance IOs in this power, however the resistance itself is not that important to you. This is a power that I usually take later, typically at level 12 or even later. Dull Pain can offer you a decent heal early in the game, and between Ablating Strike, Quick Recovery, Hasten, and Blinding Feint, there are too many other important powers you will need early. Once you do take it, you will want 4 or 5 slots in it, with 3 heals and 1 or 2 recharge reductions. With recharge reduction powers and IOs, you can bring the 60 second recharge down to around 20 seconds.

Quick Recovery – Available at Level 4, this power provides a base 30% boost to your endurance recovery. Since this is 5% better than Stamina, you should take this power as soon as it is available. You will still want Stamina, but you can put it off until your mid 20s, instead of getting it at Level 20. This is an auto power, so you only need 3 slots, all with endurance modification.

Dull Pain – Available at Level 10, this click power is a must have. It has two effects, first it will give you a 40% heal, second it will give you a 25% boost to your hit points, which will last for 2 minutes. Heal IOs will boost both of these effects at the same time, meaning you can get close to an 80% heal and 50% more health. You will want 5 or 6 slots, with 3 heal IOs and 2 or 3 recharge reduction IOs. With a base of 6 minutes for recharge, you want to bring this down as low as possible. Ideally, you will bring it below 2 minutes, allowing you to keep this active indefinitely. In the example build I offer below, the recharge for Dull Pain is 112 seconds.

Integration – Available at Level 16, this toggle is your status resistance power for this secondary. Unlike with the powers in the other secondaries, Integration includes an important secondary effect. You get knockback, stun, hold, sleep and immobilization protection. The only protection you are missing is fear. You also get a boost to regeneration. You get a 50% boost that cannot be enhanced, and another 100% boost that can be enhanced by IOs and set bonuses. This means that with 3 heal IOs, you will get a 250% boost to your regeneration on top of the 150% you get from Fast Healing. Interestingly, this is the only toggle in the secondary, meaning that Regeneration is among the least burdensome from an endurance standpoint. It costs .26 end/second to run. You will want 3 or 4 slots in this power, with 3 heal IOs and an optional endurance reduction IO.

Resilience – Available at Level 20, this auto power provides additional protection against stuns and a significant reduction in the duration. You also get 5.63% resistance to smash/lethal, and 7.5% resistance to toxic. This power is an odd one for this set, and is probably skipable if you want to take something else. Stun protection is already provided by Integration, and the resistance is minor given that your primary damage mitigation is through regeneration. It does have the advantage of taking resistance IO sets, so if you want the benefits of one of those sets, you can slot them here. Personally, I prefer to take Stealth instead, giving me a place to slot an additional Luck of the Gambler IO. If you take it, you probably won’t need more than 1 slot with a resistance IO.

Instant Healing – Available at Level 28, this click power gives you a 200% enhanceable and a 600% unenhanceable boost to your regeneration. With a full set of heal IOs slotted, you will get almost 1000% boost to your regeneration. It last 90 seconds and takes almost 11 minutes to recharge. With your other regeneration bonuses, you will have over 1700% regeneration increase. In all honesty, I think this power is as much of a “god-power” as Moment of Glory, and is frankly much better than the Tier 9s for Dark and Willpower. I’d trade those Tier 9s for this power any day. You will want 6 slots in this, with 3 heal IOs and 3 recharge reduction IOs. With all of the recharge bonuses you will be putting into this build, you can bring the recharge down to under 4 minutes.

Revive – Available at Level 35, this is a resurrection power. You get back most of your hit points and half of your endurance. You have to deal with a 4 second immobilize, but in the larger scheme of things, that isn’t too much of a burden. In most cases, you should be able to use this while still in combat and get back into the fight. As I said before, I view resurrection powers as skipable. I prefer to focus my powers and set bonuses on survival, not on getting back up after dying. If I take this power at all, it will be late and I only put a single recharge reduction into it. It’s base recharge is 6 minutes, which is pretty easily brought under 2 minutes. But if you need this every 2 minutes, then you need to find something closer to your level to fight.

Moment of Glory – Available at Level 38, this click power has been dramatically revised from its original (severely broken) original incarnation. It now gives massive bonuses (71.3% base) to your defense and resistance for 15 seconds, along with protection against all status effects, other than fear. As if that isn’t enough, you also get a 100% bonus to endurance recovery. The only thing it won’t protect against is psionics. This power is excellent for using before going into a fight, absorbing the alpha strike, then letting the rest of your powers mitigate the rest of the damage you receive. It has a base recharge of 4 minutes, but with powers, enhancements, and set bonuses you can bring that well under 90 seconds. You want at least 3 slots, with recharge reduction IOs. You can also add a resistance IO if you want to bring it up to the 75% cap. A defense IO is not needed, since you are already way over the 45% soft cap. However, because it takes defense IOs, this is a good power for slotting Luck of the Gambler.

DB/Regeneration Builds

The following is the build I am following for Swordsong. It is optimized for recharge reduction, reaching 138%, mostly through excessive use of Doctored Wounds. I’ve also tried to use every chance to get more regeneration, 10% and 12% at a time through using at least 2 of the Numina and Luck of the Gambler sets. The final result is 803% regeneration, without using Instant Healing. With IH, that jumps up to 1798%. Finally, I have ignored the Fighting pool in this build in favor of the Body Mastery pool. I consider accuracy improvement, endurance reduction, and a small boost to recovery and regeneration to be more important. I am taking Combat Jumping and Stealth, but only to give a place for defensive sets allowing more recharge reduction.

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.601
Swordsong: Level 50 Natural Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Dual Blades
Secondary Power Set: Regeneration
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Concealment
Power Pool: Leaping
Ancillary Pool: Body Mastery

Hero Profile:
------------
Level 1: Power Slice Acc-I(A)
Level 1: Fast Healing RgnTis-Regen+(A), Numna-Heal(3), Numna-Heal/EndRdx(3), Numna-Heal/Rchg(34), Numna-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(50)
Level 2: Ablating Strike AnWeak-DefDeb(A), AnWeak-Acc/DefDeb(15), Mako-Acc/Dmg(15), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(34), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(45), Mako-Dam%(50)
Level 4: Quick Recovery Efficacy-EndMod(A), Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg(5), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc(5), Efficacy-EndMod/EndRdx(39)
Level 6: Hasten RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(7), RechRdx-I(7)
Level 8: Blinding Feint C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg(A), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(9), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(9), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx(13), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg(13), ToHit-I(40)
Level 10: Dull Pain Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx(A), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(11), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(11), Dct'dW-Heal(36), Dct'dW-Rchg(36)
Level 12: Reconstruction Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx(A), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(21), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(21), Dct'dW-Heal(45), Dct'dW-Rchg(46)
Level 14: Super Speed HO:Micro(A)
Level 16: Integration Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A), Numna-Heal(17), Numna-Heal/Rchg(17), Numna-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(37), Mrcl-Rcvry+(37), Mrcl-Heal(37)
Level 18: Vengeful Slice Hectmb-Dmg(A), Hectmb-Dmg/Rchg(19), Hectmb-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(19), Hectmb-Dmg/EndRdx(25), Hectmb-Dam%(25), FrcFbk-Rechg%(31)
Level 20: Swift Run-I(A)
Level 22: Health Numna-Heal(A), Numna-Heal/EndRdx(23), Heal-I(23)
Level 24: Stamina P'Shift-EndMod(A), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(40), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc(43), P'Shift-End%(43)
Level 26: Sweeping Strike Armgdn-Dmg(A), Armgdn-Dmg/Rchg(27), Armgdn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(27), Armgdn-Dmg/EndRdx(31), Armgdn-Dam%(31)
Level 28: Instant Healing Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx(A), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(29), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(29), Dct'dW-Heal(39), Dct'dW-Rchg(40)
Level 30: Stealth LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(43), GftotA-Run+(45), GftotA-Def(48)
Level 32: One Thousand Cuts Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(33), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(33), Oblit-%Dam(34)
Level 35: Combat Jumping LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(36), Ksmt-ToHit+(42)
Level 38: Moment of Glory LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), RechRdx-I(39), RechRdx-I(46), RechRdx-I(46)
Level 41: Focused Accuracy AdjTgt-ToHit(A), AdjTgt-ToHit/EndRdx(42), ToHit-I(42), EndRdx-I(50)
Level 44: Conserve Power RechRdx-I(A)
Level 47: Physical Perfection Numna-Heal(A), Numna-Heal/EndRdx(48), Heal-I(48)
Level 49: Revive RechRdx-I(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint ULeap-Stlth(A)
Level 2: Rest Empty(A)
Level 1: Critical Hit

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Here is my generic build for DB/Regen. There are quite a few optional powers in this build, and if you wanted to go with a different set of pool powers, you could drop resilience and revive without a problem. Even Combat Jumping is optional, and I include it only for being able to jump up onto walls. This build has a very respectable 616% regeneration, which goes up to 1616% with Instant Healing. Endurance drain is also minimal at 1.16 end/second when running all toggles. This gives you a reserve recovery of about 2.5 end/second. By no means do I think this is the “only way” to build a DB/Regen, you should tailor to your own needs.

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.601
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Generic: Level 50 Natural Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Dual Blades
Secondary Power Set: Regeneration
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Leaping
Ancillary Pool: Body Mastery

Hero Profile:
------------
Level 1: Power Slice Acc-I(A)
Level 1: Fast Healing Heal-I(A), Heal-I(3), Heal-I(3)
Level 2: Ablating Strike Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(5), Dmg-I(5), DefDeb-I(7), DefDeb-I(45), EndRdx-I(46)
Level 4: Quick Recovery EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(7), EndMod-I(9)
Level 6: Hasten RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(9), RechRdx-I(11)
Level 8: Blinding Feint Acc-I(A), Acc-I(11), ToHit-I(13), ToHit-I(13), EndRdx-I(46), RechRdx-I(46)
Level 10: Dull Pain Heal-I(A), Heal-I(15), Heal-I(15), RechRdx-I(17), RechRdx-I(17), RechRdx-I(19)
Level 12: Reconstruction Heal-I(A), Heal-I(19), Heal-I(21), RechRdx-I(21), RechRdx-I(23), RechRdx-I(23)
Level 14: Super Speed EndRdx-I(A)
Level 16: Integration Heal-I(A), Heal-I(25), Heal-I(25), EndRdx-I(50)
Level 18: Vengeful Slice Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(27), Dmg-I(27), Dmg-I(29), EndRdx-I(29), RechRdx-I(31)
Level 20: Swift Run-I(A)
Level 22: Health Heal-I(A), Heal-I(31), Heal-I(31)
Level 24: Stamina EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(33), EndMod-I(33)
Level 26: Sweeping Strike Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(33), Dmg-I(34), Dmg-I(34), EndRdx-I(34), RechRdx-I(36)
Level 28: Instant Healing Heal-I(A), Heal-I(36), Heal-I(36), RechRdx-I(37), RechRdx-I(37), RechRdx-I(37)
Level 30: Resilience ResDam-I(A)
Level 32: One Thousand Cuts Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(39), Dmg-I(39), Dmg-I(39), EndRdx-I(40), RechRdx-I(40)
Level 35: Combat Jumping Jump-I(A)
Level 38: Moment of Glory RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(40), RechRdx-I(42)
Level 41: Focused Accuracy ToHit-I(A), ToHit-I(42), ToHit-I(42), EndRdx-I(43), EndRdx-I(43), EndRdx-I(43)
Level 44: Conserve Power RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(45), RechRdx-I(45)
Level 47: Physical Perfection Heal-I(A), Heal-I(48), Heal-I(48), EndMod-I(48), EndMod-I(50), EndMod-I(50)
Level 49: Revive EndMod-I(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint EndRdx-I(A)
Level 2: Rest Empty(A)
Level 1: Critical Hit

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Some final thoughts on DB/Regeneration. To be fair, Swordsong is the last DB scrapper I created and my lowest level, currently at level 33. However, she is the easiest to play, so far. Endurance use is not a problem, and with the high levels of regeneration, I rarely need to use Reconstruction and Dull Pain. I anticipate that once I get to higher level content, then Instant Healing will be a god send. I base this off the fact that my DB/Willpower scrapper has almost identical regeneration, and she only has trouble with the highest level of content (e.g. the RWZ challenge). If Mistress of Knives had Instant Healing, she would be close to unstoppable. Of course, with Willpower I have both resistance and defense, so the levels of damage will be higher with Regeneration. Overall, for me it is a tossup between Willpower, Super Reflexes, and Regeneration for the best secondary to use with Dual Blades. Each of them has their own strengths and weaknesses, but all three of them will provide you with a very survivable scrapper.

DB/Super Reflexes

Queen of Knives is my DB/SR scrapper (yes, I started to run out of ideas for names). As with all SR builds, it is a tight build, since you need all 9 of the powers from your secondary. DB is a good choice for SR, since you can easily live without 3 or 4 of Dual Blade’s powers. The advantage of the SR build is that you can pretty easily get to the 45% soft cap in positional defense (melee, ranged, AOE) using IO sets. Once fully built, this scrapper is truly “set it and forget it”, since you will dodge 95% of the attacks against you. The other advantage is that because it has so many defense powers, it gives a lot of places to slot Luck of the Gambler: Recharge Speed. If you have the money for it, you can easily put 5 of them into your build, and reach the perma-Hasten level of recharge speed. One important point to consider as you level, SR doesn’t give serious AOE defense until level 35, when you can take Evasion. Getting to Level 35 can be a challenge, as you avoid enemies that throw fireballs. Once past level 35, things become dramatically easier.

Let’s take a look at the individual powers:

Focused Fighting – Your default power at the start, this toggle provides 13.9% defense against melee attacks, as well mag 10.4 protection against confusion and 13.8% defense against defense debuffs. It is pretty simple, you have to take it, and you need it. It burns .26 end/second. This power should have 4 slots, with 3 defense and 1 endurance reduction.

Focused Senses – Available at level 2, this toggle provides 13.9% defense against ranged attacks, as well as a 60% perception bonus. It also burns .26 end/second. Slot with 3 defense and 1 endurance reduction.

Agile – Available at level 4, this is the first of 3 auto powers that give additional positional defense as well as a special resistance component if your hit points get low. Agile provides a base of 5.63% defense against ranged attacks. The special resistance is a nice feature, but you aren’t going to want to rely on it to keep you alive. Once you are hitting the soft caps, then defense will be your primary mitigation, and resistance becomes irrelevant. This power can wait until your 20s to take, since other powers are of more value early in the game. Slot with 3 defense IOs.

Practiced Brawler – Available at level 10, this click power provides status protection against knockback, stun, holds, sleep, and immobilization. Note that you are not protected against fear. The protection lasts for 2 minutes, and costs 10.4 endurance. Since it isn’t a toggle, it doesn’t cost endurance to run, and can’t be dropped by a lucky stun or running out of endurance. But you will have to remember to click on it, frequently. The 200 second base recharge is easily brought below the 2 minute duration by your recharge reduction powers. Since it can’t take IO sets, there is no need to dedicate slots to this power. Either put in an endurance reduction or a recharge reduction, depending on your needs.

Dodge – Available at level 16, this is the second of 3 auto powers that give additional positional defense as well as a special resistance component if your hit points get low. Dodge provides a base of 5.63% defense against ranged attacks. This power can wait until your 20s to take, since other powers are of more value early in the game. Slot with 3 defense IOs.

Quickness – Available at level 20, this auto power is identical to Electric’s Lightning Reflexes. You get a 20% bonus to recharge, a 35% boost to run speed, and a 13.7% bonus to flight speed. This power costs no endurance, and can only take flight and run IOs, no sets. Of all the builds, SR is able to reach the perma-hasten level, so this power is highly recommended for a DB/SR scrapper. No need to add slots to it, however. Simply put a run or flight IO into the default slot, as needed.

Lucky – Available at level 28, this is the third of 3 auto powers that give additional positional defense as well as a special resistance component if your hit points get low. Lucky provides a base of 5.63% defense against AOE attacks. Lucky is the first defense you will get against AOE attacks, until you get Evasion at level 35. Slot with 3 defense IOs.

Evasion – Available at level 35, this toggle power gives you the defense against AOE attacks that you got for melee and range back at levels 1 and 4. It provides a base 13.9% defense, identical to the other defense toggles. This is an important power, and the game will become much easier after you get this, and put some defense IOs into it. You will now have a full range of defenses against all types of positional attack types. This power uses .26 end/second. You will want to put 3 or 4 slots into it, using 3 defense and optionally 1 endurance.

Elude – Available at level 38, this is your Tier 9 power, and it is very nice. It provides a 45% bonus to all three positional defense types, an increase of 100% in your recovery, a 34.6% defense against defense debuffs, a 200% boost to jump height, and a 175% boost to run speed. This is a great power, if your IO sets haven’t put you over the defense soft cap yet. However, if you have already reached the softcap, then it is a little redundant. It has a 3 minute duration, and a base recharge of over 16 minutes. This can be brought down into the 5 to 6 minute range, using recharge reduction enhancement, IO set bonuses and powers. After 3 minutes you will have an endurance crash, unable to recover endurance for 20 seconds. I view this power as optional, if you have a solid build that has put you over the soft cap, then Elude isn’t going to do much for you, beyond the recovery bonus. If you are fighting things way above your level, it will help protect you from the bonuses they get for level differential, but so would a purple inspiration. I do have this power on Queen of Knives, but I often contemplate replacing it with Combat Jumping as a more practical choice. Conserve power is another tempting choice, since SR has no powers that help manage endurance.

DB/Super Reflexes Builds

My build for Queen of Knives is focused specifically on recharge reduction. It pushes recharge up to 172.5%, which makes Hasten permanently operational. It also hits the soft caps, with 45.8% melee defense, 45.6% ranged defense, and 45.1% AOE defense. Note that I haven’t taken Combat Jumping, so these numbers could be pushed even higher, if you wanted to.

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.601
Queen of Knives: Level 50 Magic Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Dual Blades
Secondary Power Set: Super Reflexes
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Body Mastery

Hero Profile:
------------
Level 1: Power Slice Acc-I(A)
Level 1: Focused Fighting RedFtn-EndRdx(A), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(3), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(3), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(37), RedFtn-Def(46), LkGmblr-Rchg+(48)
Level 2: Ablating Strike P'ngS'Fest-Acc/Dmg(A), P'ngS'Fest-Dmg/EndRdx(9), AnWeak-DefDeb(9), AnWeak-%ToHit(11), ShldBrk-DefDeb(34), ShldBrk-%Dam(43)
Level 4: Focused Senses RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(5), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(5), RedFtn-Def(37), RedFtn-EndRdx(40), LkGmblr-Rchg+(48)
Level 6: Hasten RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(7), RechRdx-I(7)
Level 8: Blinding Feint C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg(A), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx(11), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(13), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(13), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(40), ToHit-I(40)
Level 10: Practiced Brawler EndRdx-I(A)
Level 12: Swift Run-I(A)
Level 14: Super Speed Zephyr-Travel(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(15), Zephyr-ResKB(15)
Level 16: Health Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A), Numna-Heal(17), Mrcl-Rcvry+(17), Mrcl-Heal(37), RgnTis-Regen+(39)
Level 18: Vengeful Slice Hectmb-Dmg(A), Hectmb-Dmg/Rchg(19), Hectmb-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(19), Hectmb-Dmg/EndRdx(23), Hectmb-Dam%(23)
Level 20: Stamina P'Shift-End%(A), P'Shift-EndMod(21), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(21), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc(45)
Level 22: Quickness Run-I(A)
Level 24: Agile LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(25), GftotA-Def(25), GftotA-Run+(45)
Level 26: Sweeping Strike Armgdn-Dmg(A), Armgdn-Dmg/Rchg(27), Armgdn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(27), Armgdn-Dmg/EndRdx(31), Armgdn-Dam%(34)
Level 28: Lucky GftotA-Def(A), GftotA-Def/EndRdx(29), DefBuff-I(29)
Level 30: Dodge Ksmt-Def/EndRdx(A), Ksmt-ToHit+(31), LkGmblr-Rchg+(31), LkGmblr-Def(45)
Level 32: One Thousand Cuts Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(33), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(33), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34), Oblit-%Dam(39)
Level 35: Evasion RedFtn-Def(A), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(36), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(36), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(36), RedFtn-EndRdx(46)
Level 38: Elude LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def/Rchg(39), GftotA-Def/Rchg(46), GftotA-EndRdx/Rchg(50)
Level 41: Focused Accuracy GSFC-ToHit(A), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg(42), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(42), GSFC-Rchg/EndRdx(42), GSFC-ToHit/EndRdx(43), GSFC-Build%(43)
Level 44: Boxing Acc-I(A)
Level 47: Tough S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), S'fstPrt-ResDam/EndRdx(48)
Level 49: Weave GftotA-Def(A), GftotA-Def/EndRdx(50), DefBuff-I(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint ULeap-Stlth(A)
Level 2: Rest Empty(A)
Level 1: Critical Hit
------------

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The generic build does not hit the soft caps, without using Elude. It is tempting to take Combat Jumping instead of Elude, since with it the defenses will be at 40% all the time.

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.601
Generic: Level 50 Magic Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Dual Blades
Secondary Power Set: Super Reflexes
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Body Mastery

Hero Profile:
------------
Level 1: Power Slice Acc-I(A)
Level 1: Focused Fighting DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(3), DefBuff-I(3), EndRdx-I(5), EndRdx-I(40)
Level 2: Focused Senses DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(5), DefBuff-I(7), EndRdx-I(7), EndRdx-I(43)
Level 4: Ablating Strike Acc-I(A), Acc-I(11), Dmg-I(11), DefDeb-I(13), DefDeb-I(13), EndRdx-I(15)
Level 6: Hasten RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(9), RechRdx-I(9)
Level 8: Blinding Feint Acc-I(A), Acc-I(15), Dmg-I(19), ToHit-I(19), ToHit-I(23), RechRdx-I(23)
Level 10: Practiced Brawler EndRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(40)
Level 12: Swift Run-I(A)
Level 14: Super Speed Run-I(A), EndRdx-I(40)
Level 16: Health Heal-I(A), Heal-I(17), Heal-I(17)
Level 18: Vengeful Slice Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(27), Dmg-I(27), Dmg-I(31), EndRdx-I(33), RechRdx-I(33)
Level 20: Stamina EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(21), EndMod-I(21)
Level 22: Quickness Run-I(A)
Level 24: Dodge DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(25), DefBuff-I(25)
Level 26: Sweeping Strike Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(33), Dmg-I(34), Dmg-I(34), EndRdx-I(34), RechRdx-I(37)
Level 28: Lucky DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(29), DefBuff-I(29)
Level 30: Agile DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(31), DefBuff-I(31)
Level 32: One Thousand Cuts Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(37), Dmg-I(37), Dmg-I(39), EndRdx-I(39), RechRdx-I(39)
Level 35: Evasion DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(36), DefBuff-I(36), EndRdx-I(36), EndRdx-I(45)
Level 38: Elude EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(45), EndMod-I(45), RechRdx-I(46), RechRdx-I(46), RechRdx-I(46)
Level 41: Focused Accuracy ToHit-I(A), ToHit-I(42), ToHit-I(42), EndRdx-I(42), EndRdx-I(43), EndRdx-I(43)
Level 44: Boxing Acc-I(A)
Level 47: Tough ResDam-I(A), ResDam-I(48), ResDam-I(48), EndRdx-I(48)
Level 49: Weave DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(50), DefBuff-I(50), EndRdx-I(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint EndRdx-I(A)
Level 2: Rest Empty(A)
Level 1: Critical Hit

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Some final thoughts on DB/Super Reflexes. SR feels like the most survivable set out there, and the ability to push the build into perma-hasten is a very attractive feature. What it doesn’t have is mitigation for health or endurance loss. Both Willpower and Regeneration provide the Quick Recovery power, while Electricity has Power Sink. All of the other secondaries include powers that allow you to heal, regenerate, or both. SR relies on defense only, and you must use inspirations if you need to recover your bars. Some people like to get Aid Self, which is a possibility, however SR is such a tight build that you will have to give up Elude and Focused Accuracy to fit it in. You could also take Combat Jumping instead of Weave, and try to find a way to boost your defense through IO sets.

Bottom line, DB/SR is a very good choice, which lets you keep plowing through the enemies until your endurance runs out. You don’t have to think too much about it, and there is a lot of beauty in that level of simplicity. I like this combination a lot.

Electric Armor

Princess Electra is my DB/Electric scrapper. Electric Armor is a new option for Scrappers, having been available for Brutes since the release of City of Villains. It is a pure resistance set that includes click powers for endurance recovery and healing. It also has a truly God-like Tier 9 power that will hit the resistance cap for all damage types, except psionic, and give large status protections. Visually, it is an attractive set, with the toggles giving just a slight electric effect while you are running them. Unlike some of the other secondaries, there isn’t a lot of nuance to this set. You resist damage, you heal when you need to, and you steal endurance when you get low. If it is a really tough situation, you turn on your tier 9 and wade in.

Let’s look at the powers:

Charged Armor – Available as your default power choice, this is a resistance toggle that gives you a base of 26.3% resistance to smashing, lethal, and energy based attacks. It is the first of several toggles that you need to provide protection against the range of damage types. With three resistance IOs slotted, your resistance will be raised to 41.6%. This is a very good start toward the 50%+ goal that I advocate on scrappers. It costs .26 end/second to run, which is a little more expensive than toggles on other secondaries. I recommend slotting with 3 resistance IOs and 1 endurance reduction IO.

Lightning Field – Available at Level 2, this is an 8 foot field that does 12.5 damage and reduces targets endurance by 3%, every 2 seconds. I think it looks very pretty, however it isn’t useful for a DB scrapper. You have plenty of other AOEs that can do much higher damage. Also, at .52 end/second, it is a huge drain on your endurance that you will need for other, more important powers. I recommend that you skip this power. If you do elect to take it, then you will want to slot endurance reduction into any slots you dedicate to it.

Conductive Shield – Available at Level 4, this is your second resistance toggle. It provides 26.3% resistance to energy, fire and cold, and 15% resistance to negative. Note that Charged Armor also gave energy resistance. This is a quirk of the Electric Armor set, you get two very good energy resistance powers, that will result in hitting the 75% cap for this one damage type. However, you don’t get full protection to Negative and Psionic, and no protection against Toxic (except for your Tier 9). Your IO set bonuses will be mostly geared toward filling this negative damage hole. Unlike with the energy hole in the Dark set, you do have a Tier 9 that gives excellent negative protection, if you really need it. This shield costs .26 end/second to run, which is a little more expensive than toggles on other secondaries. I recommend slotting with 3 resistance IOs and 1 endurance reduction IO.

Static Shield – Available at Level 10, this toggle provides status protection against stun, sleep, holds, and teleports. It also provides 26.3% resistance to psionic attacks, which makes it worth slotting with more than 1 resistance IO. Note that it doesn’t protect against knockback, fear, or immobilization. These protections are provided by other powers, except for fear, for which you will have no mitigation. It costs .21 end/second to run. Because of the Psionic resistance I like to use 4 slots on this power, with 3 resistance and 1 endurance reduction. If you are unconcerned about psionics, then you can leave this with one resistance IO, and use the slots elsewhere.

Grounded – Available at Level 16, this power provides an additional 9.38% of energy resistance, 7.5% negative resistance, along with knockback and immobilization protection. The restriction is that you must be on the ground, which sometimes results in odd in behavior on steps, ramps and bridges. Since you are trying to fill that negative hole, it is a required power to take, even with the restrictions. However, you can safely delay taking it into your 20s, in order to take the fitness pool. It is an auto power, so costs no endurance. Use 3 slots with resistance IOs in this power.

Energize – Available at Level 20, this is a click power that provides several useful benefits. First it provides a direct heal of 25% of your hitpoints. Second it increases your regeneration by 100% for the next 30 seconds. Finally, it gives you a 59.6% reduction in endurance use for the next 30 seconds, which applies to both running toggles and attacks that you execute. It costs 10.4 endurance to activate, which you will probably recover in about 2 seconds. When slotted with 3 Heal IOs, you get benefit to both the heal and regeneration, boosting the heal to 49.8% of your health and a 199.1% boost to regeneration. You should give this power 4 or 5 slots, and slot 2 or 3 Heals and 2 Recharge Reduction, depending on your play style. As a click heal, it has a pretty long 2 minute recharge, but with 2 recharge IOs, that can be brought down to around 40 seconds when including Hasten and Lightning Reflexes recharge bonuses. This is a power you will find yourself using a lot. I often will use it before going into a fight, even if I’m at full health, just for the endurance and regeneration benefits. It is a power that really makes this secondary fun to play, not only do you heal yourself, but you become better after doing it.

Lightning Reflexes – Available at Level 28, this is an auto power that gives you a 20% boost to recharge speed, a 40% resistance to slow effects, a 35% boost to run speed, and a 13.7% boost to flight speed. It takes no sets and no enhancements other than run and flight. Given the need to boost recharge speed with Dual Blade, you want this power. Take it and stick either a run or a flight IO in it. No need for anything else.

Power Sink – Available at Level 35, this power suddenly makes DB/Electric a whole lot easier to play. Up to this point you have good shields protecting you, and a great click heal to deal with burst damage, but you’ve had to watch that blue bar, to make sure you aren’t running out of endurance. Energize helps, but it isn’t a cure all. Power Sink lets you drain endurance from your enemies and recharge your endurance pool. Unenhanced, you will reduce their endurance by 40%, and increase yours by 25% for each enemy that you hit. Slotted with 3 endurance modification IOs, you will recover half of your endurance from each enemy, AND reduce their endurance by 80%. It has a pretty short 60 second recharge, which can be easily reduced to about 20 seconds using recharge reductions, Hasten, and Lightning Reflexes. It does cost 13 endurance to activate, so you don’t want to wait until you are gasping for breath. It is best to click this when you are at about 50% endurance. You will want 4 or 5 slots in this power, with 3 endurance modifications and 1 or 2 endurance reduction IOs.

Power Surge – Available at Level 38, this is a true Tier 9 “God Power”. For 3 minutes you will get enough resistance to put smashing, lethal, energy, negative, fire and cold over the 75% resistance cap. You will also get 52.5% resistance to toxic, something you have had no protection for previously. You get massive status protections for knockback, repel, holds, stuns, sleep, and immobilization. Finally, you will get a 100% boost to your recovery rate. After 3 minutes, you will have a crash, losing 90% of your health, 100% of your endurance, and be unable to recover endurance for 20 seconds. However, you do an EMP pulse when you crash, hitting up to 10 enemies with a 22 second, mag 3 hold, a small regeneration penalty, and bonus energy damage against robots. Because of this EMP pulse, this power will accept hold IO sets, giving a wide range of options for slotting. It makes for a great place to slot the Unbreakable Constraint purple set, gaining you very desirable bonuses to recovery, fire/cold resistance, accuracy, and recharge time. For generic slotting, I recommend 4 or 5 slots, with 3 recharge reduction and 1 or 2 hold duration IOs. Recharge for this power is glacial, taking over 16 minutes to recharge. However, with recharge enhancements, Hasten, and Lightning Reflexes, this can be brought down into the 4 to 5 minute range.

DB/Electric Builds

Again, I’m giving two example builds for you to consider. First is my intended build for Princess Electra, including Typhoon’s Edge, which takes full advantage of IO sets. Second is a generic build that uses IOs only and doesn’t use Typhoon’s Edge. Some things to notice about these builds, first because it is a resistance set, there are no powers where you can slot defensive sets. With the generic build, this is irrelevant, since defense plays no part in mitigating damage. However, with a build using set IO bonuses, you need someplace to slot Luck of the Gambler to get the recharge reduction bonus. I personally recommend taking Combat Jumping, since it costs almost nothing to run (unlike Weave), you get a jump height bonus, and the increased defense from Weave doesn’t matter to you. By not taking Weave, you can take more of the Body Mastery epic pool, like Conserve Power and Physical Perfection. These two powers work synergistically with Energize. If you want to really be “God-like” then turning on Power Surge, then Conserve Power, then Energize will reduce your energy consumption by 70%, increase recovery by 100%, and increase regeneration by 183% for 30 seconds. With Hasten running, and a few damage inspirations, you will spit out a lot of damage very quickly. Cycling through your 6 second attack chain, you will be able to hit a single target for over 8000 points of damage during that 30 second period.

Here is my build for Princess Electra:

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.601
Princess Electra: Level 50 Magic Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Dual Blades
Secondary Power Set: Electric Armor
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Body Mastery

Hero Profile:
------------
Level 1: Power Slice Acc-I(A)
Level 1: Charged Armor ImpArm-ResDam(A), ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx(5), ImpArm-ResPsi(11), ResDam-I(15), Aegis-Psi/Status(23)
Level 2: Ablating Strike C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg(A), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx(3), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg(3), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(5), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(11), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(33)
Level 4: Conductive Shield ImpArm-ResDam(A), ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx(13), ImpArm-ResPsi(13), ResDam-I(15)
Level 6: Hasten RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(7), RechRdx-I(7)
Level 8: Blinding Feint AdjTgt-ToHit(A), AdjTgt-ToHit/Rchg(9), AdjTgt-ToHit/EndRdx/Rchg(9), AdjTgt-EndRdx/Rchg(48), AdjTgt-ToHit/EndRdx(48)
Level 10: Static Shield ImpArm-ResPsi(A)
Level 12: Swift Run-I(A)
Level 14: Super Speed HO:Micro(A)
Level 16: Health Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A), Numna-Heal(17), Mrcl-Rcvry+(17), Mrcl-Heal(46), RgnTis-Regen+(48)
Level 18: Vengeful Slice Hectmb-Dmg(A), Hectmb-Dmg/Rchg(19), Hectmb-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(19), Hectmb-Dmg/EndRdx(23), Hectmb-Dam%(31), FrcFbk-Rechg%(31)
Level 20: Stamina P'Shift-End%(A), P'Shift-EndMod(21), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(21), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc(43)
Level 22: Typhoon's Edge Sciroc-Acc/Dmg(A), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx(36), Sciroc-Dmg/Rchg(37), M'Strk-Acc/Dmg(37), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx(37), M'Strk-Dmg/Rchg(39)
Level 24: Grounded ImpArm-ResDam(A), ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx(25), ImpArm-ResPsi(25), ResDam-I(29)
Level 26: Sweeping Strike Sciroc-Acc/Dmg(A), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx(27), Sciroc-Dmg/Rchg(27), M'Strk-Acc/Dmg(29), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx(31), M'Strk-Dmg/Rchg(34)
Level 28: Lightning Reflexes Run-I(A)
Level 30: Energize Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx(A), Dct'dW-EndRdx/Rchg(39), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(39), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(40), Dct'dW-Heal(40)
Level 32: One Thousand Cuts Armgdn-Dmg(A), Armgdn-Dmg/Rchg(33), Armgdn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), Armgdn-Dmg/EndRdx(34), Armgdn-Dam%(34)
Level 35: Power Sink Efficacy-EndMod(A), Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg(36), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc(36), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(43)
Level 38: Power Surge UbrkCons-Hold(A), UbrkCons-Dam%(40), UbrkCons-Hold/Rchg(42), UbrkCons-Acc/Hold/Rchg(43), UbrkCons-Acc/Rchg(46)
Level 41: Focused Accuracy AdjTgt-ToHit(A), AdjTgt-ToHit/EndRdx(42), AdjTgt-ToHit/EndRdx/Rchg(42)
Level 44: Combat Jumping LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(45), RedFtn-Def(45), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(45), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(46), RedFtn-EndRdx(50)
Level 47: Boxing Acc-I(A)
Level 49: Tough ImpArm-ResDam(A), ImpArm-ResPsi(50), ResDam-I(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint ULeap-Stlth(A)
Level 2: Rest Empty(A)
Level 1: Critical Hit

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The IO set provide the following important bonuses to the build:

61% Enhancement(Accuracy)
57.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
26% (0.43 End/sec) Recovery
42% (2.35 HP/sec) Regeneration
12% Resistance(Fire)
12% Resistance(Cold)
2.52% Resistance(Energy)
8.77% Resistance(Negative)
20.5% Resistance(Psionic)

This results in the following results from powers, enhancements and set bonuses:

57.7% smash/lethal resistance
75%+ energy resistance
44% negative resistance
53% fire/cold resistance
0% toxic resistance (watch out for Toxic Tarantulas!!)
46.8% psionic resistance
199% recovery
295% regeneration
28.5% ToHit bonus
81% Accuracy bonus
147.5% recharge bonus
A 50% click heal (with end reduction and regen bonus)
A 50% per target click endurance recovery
A 3 minute Tier 9 available every 5 minutes

Here is the generic build:

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.601
Generic: Level 50 Magic Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Dual Blades
Secondary Power Set: Electric Armor
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Body Mastery

Hero Profile:
------------
Level 1: Power Slice Acc-I(A)
Level 1: Charged Armor ResDam-I(A), ResDam-I(3), ResDam-I(3), EndRdx-I(5)
Level 2: Ablating Strike Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(11), Dmg-I(11), DefDeb-I(13), DefDeb-I(13), EndRdx-I(46)
Level 4: Conductive Shield ResDam-I(A), ResDam-I(5), ResDam-I(7), EndRdx-I(7)
Level 6: Hasten RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(9), RechRdx-I(9)
Level 8: Blinding Feint Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(15), ToHit-I(15), ToHit-I(19), EndRdx-I(19), RechRdx-I(23)
Level 10: Static Shield ResDam-I(A), ResDam-I(39), ResDam-I(40), EndRdx-I(40)
Level 12: Swift Run-I(A)
Level 14: Super Speed Run-I(A), EndRdx-I(46)
Level 16: Health Heal-I(A), Heal-I(17), Heal-I(17)
Level 18: Vengeful Slice Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(23), Dmg-I(25), Dmg-I(25), EndRdx-I(27), RechRdx-I(27)
Level 20: Stamina EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(21), EndMod-I(21)
Level 22: Energize Heal-I(A), Heal-I(29), RechRdx-I(29), RechRdx-I(31)
Level 24: Grounded ResDam-I(A), ResDam-I(31), ResDam-I(31)
Level 26: Sweeping Strike Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(33), Dmg-I(33), Dmg-I(33), EndRdx-I(34), RechRdx-I(34)
Level 28: Lightning Reflexes Run-I(A)
Level 30: Boxing Acc-I(A)
Level 32: One Thousand Cuts Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(34), Dmg-I(36), Dmg-I(36), EndRdx-I(36), RechRdx-I(37)
Level 35: Power Sink EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(37), EndMod-I(37), RechRdx-I(39), RechRdx-I(39)
Level 38: Power Surge RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(40), RechRdx-I(42), Hold-I(46), Hold-I(48)
Level 41: Focused Accuracy ToHit-I(A), ToHit-I(42), ToHit-I(42), EndRdx-I(43), EndRdx-I(43), EndRdx-I(43)
Level 44: Tough ResDam-I(A), ResDam-I(45), ResDam-I(45), EndRdx-I(45)
Level 47: Conserve Power RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(48), RechRdx-I(48)
Level 49: Physical Perfection EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(50), Heal-I(50), Heal-I(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint EndRdx-I(A)
Level 2: Rest Empty(A)
Level 1: Critical Hit

| Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build |
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This generic build results in the following results from powers, enhancements and set bonuses:

59.4% smash/lethal resistance
75%+ energy resistance
35.7% negative resistance
41.6% fire/cold resistance
0% toxic resistance
41.6% psionic resistance
173% recovery
216% regeneration
7.9% ToHit bonus
20% Accuracy bonus
90% recharge bonus
A 45% click heal (with end reduction and regen bonus)
A 50% per target click endurance recovery
A 3 minute Tier 9 available every 5.76 minutes

This build doesn’t lose much, compared to the IO set build. The negative, fire, and cold resistances are a bit low and need to be watched. There is also a pretty large drop off in accuracy bonuses, and noticeable drop in the recharge bonus. However, Power Surge still gives you over 75% resistances, and you still have heal and endurance recovery powers.

Some final thoughts on DB/Electric Armor. I really thought I was going to love this secondary, but I’m not as enamored as I thought I would be. As a resistance set, it depends on the click heal to get out of trouble. And it is pretty easy to get into trouble in large spawns, unless you run the Tier 9, due to multiple alpha strikes. I’ve run into several situations where I have to watch my health, but Mistress of Knives (DB/Will) would have had no trouble regenerating me out of trouble. This set isn’t as much of a “set it and forget it” build as you get with Willpower and Super Reflexes. You have to decide when you will use your click powers to heal or recover endurance. It does provide good options for actively dealing with the biggest problem with Dual Blades, the endurance use. If your green or blue bars are getting low, you hit a click power, and keep on fighting. You don’t have to interrupt your rhythm. Like Super Reflexes it includes a recharge boost that is so important to Dual Blades, and it has a really awesome Tier 9. This set plays a lot like the Dark set, except you have endurance recovery and a good Tier 9.

Willpower

Mistress of Knives is my DB/Will scrapper. As one of the more recent secondaries, Willpower is a little better balanced than the original secondaries, like Dark. Willpower is an interesting set; it is a hybrid of Resistance, Defense, and Regeneration. Your Lethal, Smash, and Psionic protection is through resistance, while Energy, Negative, Fire, and Cold is through Defense. While none of the protections are really amazing, they are sufficient to reduce the damage you take to a level where the excellent regeneration compensates. Since Willpower does not have self heal power, you are relying on regeneration and the occasional inspiration to manage your health.

As with all of the DB builds, it is very endurance hungry. Even with Quick Recovery and Stamina, heavy fighting will leave you gasping for breath. Early in your career, while using SOs and generic IOs, you should consider slotting endurance reduction in toggles and your major attacks. The major attacks also need recharge reduction, to keep your attack chain active. One trick is to realize that both Super Speed and Sprint use a good bit of endurance. It is worth it to slot them with endurance reduction instead of speed. You won’t really notice that you run much slower, but you will notice the improvement to recovery.

Early in your career, you should consider using the lower level IO sets. For example, the Doctored Wounds set will give a general improvement to all of your heal based powers, a 5% bonus to recharge time, and a bonus to fire/cold resistance.

Let’s take a look at the individual powers.

High Pain Tolerance – Your default power, HPT (without enhancements) provides an extra 134 hit points and 5.63% resistance to all attack types. It is an auto power, and uses no endurance. This is a really great power. Slotted with heal and resistance you will get an excellent hit point bonus (about half Regeneration’s Dull Pain), an important boost to your resistances, and a power that you can slot with a wide range of Heal and Resistance IOs. Generic slotting for this power should be 6 slots, with 3 heals and 3 resists.

Mind Over Body – Available at Level 2, this is a basic resistance power, giving a base 16.9% lethal and smashing resistance, and a 15% psionic resistance. Keep in mind that Willpower is a hybrid set, so your defense against smash and lethal will be through resistance, especially when considering your Tier 9, Strength of Will. The psionic resistance is a bonus, and can be augmented using the Impervium Armor: Psionic Resistance IO, if you feel it needs more attention. It is a toggle with a fairly standard .21 end/sec cost. You will want to give this power 3 or 4 slots, with 3 resistance IOs and an endurance IO, if desired.

Fast Healing – Available at Level 4, this is an auto power that increases your regeneration. It has a base regeneration of 75% (compared to health’s 40%) and it one of the contributors to Willpower’s potential for very high levels of regen. With 3 Healing IOs slotted, you will increase your rate by almost 150%. I recommend taking this power as soon as available. It takes Healing IO sets, making it one of several powers where you can slot Miracle and Numina IO sets.

Indomitable Will – Available at Level 10, this one of the best status resistance powers in the game. It provides level 10.4 protection against stun, hold, fear, knockback, sleep, confusion, and immobilization. Note that unlike other similar powers (e.g. Dark’s Obsidian Shield), it covers all possibilities, and doesn’t leave a hole, like knockback. Additionally, it provides a small psionic defense of 7.5%, which in itself is not very significant to your overall defenses, but it does give you a place to slot Defense IOs. I recommend not putting additional slots into this power, and using one slot for defense set IOs, such as Luck of the Gambler 7.5% recharge or Kismet 6% ToHit enhancements.

Rise to the Challenge – Available at Level 16, RTTC is an important power in the secondary. I’m not going to wax poetic about it “being the defining power of the set”, because that is really an over statement and leads people new to Willpower into getting killed. RTTC provides a regeneration boost, based on the number of enemies. Unenhanced, the first enemy will give you a 100% boost to regen, and each additional enemy will give 25%. Fully enhanced with Heal IOs that will be just under 200% and 50%. Now before you get all excited, and saying “I roxorz cuz I gotz 650% regen!!!11!11!”, temper that with a little perspective. If you are in a spawn of 10, getting 650% regen, that is really about 45 hit points a second you are regenerating. If everything in that spawn is hitting you for 20 points of damage every second, you are still going to be a 0 health in about 10 seconds, regardless of your regen. And you don’t have a click heal, like the Regeneration set has. The only way this helps you is if you are able to kill the enemies quickly, or your other defenses are mitigating the damage. If you turn on Strength of Will, and wade into a spawn of 10 that do lethal damage, then RTTC is going to work well for you, because that 75% resistance is going to keep the total damage accumulated below your regen rate. RTTC is a great power, but only if used in conjunction with other powers. I find that RTTC works well with the DB AOE attacks, there is a nice synergy between them. Early in the game, you should take the Willpower equivalents of Health and Stamina, and delay the fitness pool until your 20s. Between Fast Healing and RTTC with a single enemy, you will get a 175% regen bonus, compared to 40% if you take Health at level 16 instead. Plan to put 3 or 4 slots in this power, with 3 heals and an optional endurance. This toggle costs the standard .21 end/second to run. Also note that it has a mag 3 taunt and a 3.75% ToHit debuff that it generates every 2 seconds. This will help keep enemies close in to you, to get the benefit. However, if you want to remain stealthy, then you want to turn this power off, to keep from waking up enemies next to you.

Quick Recovery – Available at Level 20, this auto power is slightly better than Stamina, giving a base Recovery bonus of 30%. Stamina provides a base of 25%, so with both powers, fully enhanced, you will get about 110% recovery bonus. Given how endurance hungry DB can be, I strongly recommend taking both QR and Stamina. Like with Fast Recovery/RTTC, you should delay the fitness pool (Swift, Health, Stamina) until your 20s, taking this power as soon as available. Since your two big, endurance hungry attacks aren’t available until level 26 and 32, you can safely delay those pool powers. QR should be slotted with 3 endurance modification enhancements.

Heightened Senses – Available at Level 28, this power at first seems odd. It is a defense power, available late, in a secondary that has been all about resistance and regeneration. The problem is, up to this point, you have been getting eaten alive by anything that has fire, cold, energy, or negative attacks. You probably avoided Damned and Clockwork like the plague, while feasting on a nice steady diet of Trolls. Until this power comes along, you have no viable defense against these 4 attack types. This power gives a respectable 9.75% base defense against energy, negative, fire and cold, along with 2.48% defense against smashing and lethal. With enhancements, those go up to 15.4%. If you also take Combat Jumping and Weave, you can bring those defenses up to just under 25%. While this is still a long way from the soft cap of 45%, it will be enough to make sure that about 50% of these types of attacks miss you. Set IO bonuses will also help a great deal. Fire/cold and energy/negative defense is the most common set bonus you will find. By adding 1.25% here and 3.13% there, you can bring the defense totals up to 35%+. With a high regeneration, having your enemies miss 2/3rds of the time (or more) allows you to survive indefinitely, unless you get very unlucky. Note that in a tough fight, a single purple inspiration will put you over the defense 45% cap. Running this toggle cost slightly more than others, .33 end/second, and you also get a 60% perception bonus. You should plan for 3 or 4 slots, with 3 defense IOs and 1 endurance IO.

Resurgence – Available at Level 35, this is a very good resurrection power. It gives you back 80% of your health, 50% of your endurance, as well as a 28% damage buff, 21% ToHit buff, and 100% recharge buff, for 90 seconds. As with all powers of this type with a scrapper, the problem is you have to die to use it. Of all the powers in Willpower, I view this as one that you can skip. I’d rather take a power, like Combat Jumping, that helps keep me alive. If you do take it, I wouldn’t put any slots into it. Use the single enhancement for either a recharge reduction (if you plan to die a lot) or an endurance modification to improve your endurance recovered.

Strength of Will – Available at Level 38, this is your “Tier 9 God Power”, and is a pretty underwhelming example of a tier 9. It gives you a base smash and lethal resistance boost of 18.8% and 9.38% for all other damage types. It also gives a 30% boost to endurance recovery, which I often find to be more valuable than the resistance. It will last for 2 minutes, after which it has a crash which takes 50% of your endurance. If you have High Pain Tolerance, Mind of Body, and Tough, all fully slotted, then Strength of Will brings you very close to the 75% resistance cap in smash and lethal. Depending on what you are fighting, you will be pretty close to invincible. There is no real need to put more than the default slot into this power. You cannot reduce the 5 minute recharge time. A single resistance IO, should be sufficient.

DB/Willpower Builds

Here are two example builds for the Willpower set. The first is the IO Set build that I have completed for Mistress of Knives. The second build uses generic IOs, without set bonuses, to give an idea of how the secondary plays without expensive sets.

In this first build, I have used the IO set bonuses to primarily boost Regeneration (which includes Heal power bonuses) and defense for fire/cold and energy/negative. Secondary priorities are recharge time and Recovery. The following are the key set bonuses from the build:

17% Enhancement (Heal)
80% (4.47 HP/sec) Regeneration
13.6% Defense (Fire)
13.6% Defense (Cold)
10.8% Defense (Energy)
10.8% Defense (Negative)
45% Enhancement (RechargeTime)
19.5% (0.33 End/sec) Recovery

With powers and enhancements you get the following totals:

52% Smash/Lethal resistance
34.9% Energy/Negative defense
37.7% Fire/Cold defense
31.7% resist and 20.4% defense, psionic
252% Recovery
743% Regeneration
115% Recharge
47.9% ToHit bonus
59% Accuracy bonus

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.601
Mistress of Knives: Level 50 Natural Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Dual Blades
Secondary Power Set: Willpower
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Body Mastery

Hero Profile:
------------
Level 1: Power Slice Acc-I(A)
Level 1: High Pain Tolerance Mrcl-Rcvry+(A), Mrcl-Heal(5), Mrcl-Heal/EndRdx(7), Mrcl-Heal/Rchg(7), ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx(13), ImpArm-ResDam(13)
Level 2: Ablating Strike AnWeak-%ToHit(A), AnWeak-Acc/DefDeb(3), P'ngS'Fest-Acc/Dmg(3), P'ngS'Fest-Stun%(5), P'ngS'Fest-Dmg/EndRdx(46)
Level 4: Fast Healing Numna-Heal(A), Numna-Heal/EndRdx(11), Numna-Heal/Rchg(11), Numna-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(40)
Level 6: Hasten RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(15), RechRdx-I(15)
Level 8: Blinding Feint AdjTgt-ToHit(A), AdjTgt-ToHit/Rchg(9), P'ngS'Fest-Acc/Dmg(9), P'ngS'Fest-Dmg/EndRdx(36), P'ngS'Fest-Dmg/Rchg(45)
Level 10: Indomitable Will LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 12: Mind Over Body Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(A), Aegis-ResDam/Rchg(23), Aegis-ResDam(25), ResDam-I(50)
Level 14: Super Speed Zephyr-Travel(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(37), Zephyr-ResKB(48)
Level 16: Rise to the Challenge Numna-Heal/EndRdx(A), Numna-Heal/Rchg(17), Numna-Heal(17), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(40)
Level 18: Vengeful Slice Hectmb-Dmg(A), Hectmb-Dmg/Rchg(19), Hectmb-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(19), Hectmb-Dmg/EndRdx(21), Hectmb-Dam%(21), FrcFbk-Rechg%(23)
Level 20: Quick Recovery Efficacy-EndMod(A), Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg(25), Efficacy-EndMod/EndRdx(31), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc(46)
Level 22: Swift Run-I(A)
Level 24: Health RgnTis-Regen+(A), Heal-I(34), Heal-I(36), Heal-I(46)
Level 26: Sweeping Strike Armgdn-Dmg(A), Armgdn-Dmg/Rchg(27), Armgdn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(27), Armgdn-Dmg/EndRdx(29), Armgdn-Dam%(29)
Level 28: Stamina P'Shift-EndMod(A), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(34), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc(40), P'Shift-End%(45)
Level 30: Heightened Senses RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(31), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(31), RedFtn-EndRdx(33), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(34), RedFtn-Def(36)
Level 32: One Thousand Cuts Sciroc-Acc/Dmg(A), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx(33), Sciroc-Dmg/Rchg(33), Sciroc-Acc/Rchg(37), Sciroc-Dam%(45)
Level 35: Combat Jumping RedFtn-Def(A), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(37), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(39), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(39), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(39), RedFtn-EndRdx(42)
Level 38: Strength of Will S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A)
Level 41: Focused Accuracy GSFC-ToHit(A), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg(42), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(42), GSFC-Rchg/EndRdx(43), GSFC-ToHit/EndRdx(43), GSFC-Build%(43)
Level 44: Boxing Acc-I(A)
Level 47: Tough Aegis-ResDam(A), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(48), Aegis-ResDam/Rchg(48)
Level 49: Weave LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(50), DefBuff-I(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint Clrty-Stlth(A)
Level 2: Rest Empty(A)
Level 1: Critical Hit
------------

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This build will reduce smash/lethal damage by 50%, allow you to avoid other attacks all together about 2/3rds of the time, while regenerating health at a rate similar to a Regeneration Scrapper (without Instant Heal). It is a very solid build, with great survival properties.

This second build is a generic one that doesn’t use set bonuses. This shows you the baseline properties of the DB/Willpower combination, and should give you an idea of areas you should watch. The major differences are the reduced defense for energy, negative, fire, and cold; and pretty substantial reduction in Regeneration.

With powers and enhancements you get the following totals:

53.5% Smash/Lethal resistance
24.4% Energy/Negative and Fire/Cold defense
32.7% resist and 20.1% defense, psionic
209% Recovery
578% Regeneration
70% Recharge
7.9% ToHit bonus
20% Accuracy bonus

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.601
Generic: Level 50 Natural Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Dual Blades
Secondary Power Set: Willpower
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Body Mastery

Hero Profile:
------------
Level 1: Power Slice Acc-I(A)
Level 1: High Pain Tolerance Heal-I(A), Heal-I(3), Heal-I(3), ResDam-I(5), ResDam-I(5), ResDam-I(7)
Level 2: Ablating Strike Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(11), Dmg-I(15), DefDeb-I(19), DefDeb-I(23), EndRdx-I(23)
Level 4: Fast Healing Heal-I(A), Heal-I(7), Heal-I(9)
Level 6: Hasten RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(9), RechRdx-I(11)
Level 8: Blinding Feint Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(27), EndRdx-I(27), ToHit-I(31), ToHit-I(31), RechRdx-I(31)
Level 10: Indomitable Will EndRdx-I(A), DefBuff-I(46), DefBuff-I(46)
Level 12: Mind Over Body ResDam-I(A), ResDam-I(13), ResDam-I(13), EndRdx-I(15)
Level 14: Super Speed EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(45), Run-I(45)
Level 16: Rise to the Challenge Heal-I(A), Heal-I(17), Heal-I(17), EndRdx-I(19)
Level 18: Vengeful Slice Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(33), Dmg-I(33), Dmg-I(33), EndRdx-I(34), RechRdx-I(37)
Level 20: Quick Recovery EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(21), EndMod-I(21)
Level 22: Swift Run-I(A)
Level 24: Health Heal-I(A), Heal-I(25), Heal-I(25)
Level 26: Sweeping Strike Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(34), Dmg-I(34), Dmg-I(36), EndRdx-I(37), RechRdx-I(37)
Level 28: Stamina EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(29), EndMod-I(29)
Level 30: Heightened Senses DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(40), DefBuff-I(43), EndRdx-I(45)
Level 32: One Thousand Cuts Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(39), Dmg-I(39), Dmg-I(39), EndRdx-I(40), RechRdx-I(40)
Level 35: Combat Jumping DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(36), DefBuff-I(36)
Level 38: Strength of Will ResDam-I(A), ResDam-I(46)
Level 41: Focused Accuracy ToHit-I(A), ToHit-I(42), ToHit-I(42), EndRdx-I(42), EndRdx-I(43), EndRdx-I(43)
Level 44: Boxing Acc-I(A)
Level 47: Tough ResDam-I(A), ResDam-I(48), ResDam-I(48), EndRdx-I(48)
Level 49: Weave DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(50), DefBuff-I(50), EndRdx-I(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint EndRdx-I(A)
Level 2: Rest Empty(A)
Level 1: Critical Hit

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Some final thoughts on DB/Willpower. I like this combination a great deal, and prefer it to DB/Dark. I have to admit that a large part of why I prefer it over Dark, is it doesn’t have all the graphics running at the same time. Willpower is “graphics lite”. Even without the click heal that Dark has, it has great survival properties. Much of the time the regeneration is overcompensating for the damage you are taking, that you don’t even notice you are taking damage. Playing this build with mostly generic IOs, I have found it is pretty easy to play at +2 to your level. Now that I have completed my IO sets, +3 and +4 are pretty easy, and +2 almost seems like cheating. I’ve also found that multiple boss spawns in RWZ at +1 and +2 to my level are relatively straight forward, as long as endurance holds out. I have also taken on the level 54 spawns in RWZ, and find that if you use Strength of Will, you can succeed, but without it things can be dicey. They Psi bolts from the Mesmerist bosses are particularly troublesome, as is an alpha strike from 3 Chief Soldiers at the same time.

The one area that I’ve run into difficulty, is trying to solo AVs. To get an idea of how it would work, I tried to take on Infernal, and found that I was doing ok compensating for his attacks for awhile. However, I wasn’t able to do enough damage to overcome his regeneration. Eventually, my lack of a heal made the fight impossible, and I had to retreat. He was getting enough high damage hits through, to overwhelm my regeneration. I have since continued through the AV arc, and found that while AVs aren’t dangerous, you just don’t so enough burst damage to overcome their regen. However, it is relatively simple to solo them as Elite Bosses. Even before the build was finished, I was easily taking on the EBs at a “+2 to my level” setting, and plowing through them without difficulty. This includes taking out ShadowHunter toe to toe, which has always been a challenge for me because of his healing powers. The Willpower regeneration capability keeps up with their damage quite easily. I do find myself hitting Strength of Will toward the end of the fight, but that is only for the recovery boost, not because I am having any health issues. I could just as easily pop a blue. In fact, I did that against Siege. I quit fighting, spent time turning inspirations into blues, while standing there letting him beat up on me. I then topped off my endurance and finished him off.

Dark Miasma

Ruby Flechette was the first DB scrapper I created, immediately after the release of the power set. It is a good choice, but challenging. If I were to do it over, I would make a different selection as my first. Dark is primarily a resistance set, but with some quirks:

Energy Hole – The biggest problem with Dark is that it has protection holes with both Energy, Psionic, and Toxic damage that are not easily patched. While fixing the Psi resistance hole is relatively easy using the Impervium Armor: Psionic Resistance enhancement, there are no energy resistance IO set bonuses. Toxic is less of a problem, since it isn’t a widely used attack. I had a number of heated discussions with Desmodos (you should be sure to read her Dark/Dark guide if you intend to use this secondary) where she drilled into me that you need to use defense to patch the energy hole. This can be done either with IO set bonuses that directly target energy defense, or set bonuses that address positional defense (melee, ranged, AOE).

Targeted Heal – You have a heal, and it is a pretty good one. But it has to hit foes to work. Generally, you need two enemies to get back to full health. It is also a huge endurance pig, taking a third of your endurance, if you don’t modify it in some manner. This means if you are going toe to toe with something, and getting beat up, you can’t spam your heal to stay in the fight. You will quickly be out of endurance.

No Tier 9 “God Mode” – You don’t even get the partial god mode of Willpower’s Strength of Will. Instead, at Tier 9 you get a really powerful stun attack combined with a resurrection. It is pretty cool, however the part about having to die first makes it kind of a poor choice for a scrapper.

Control Aura – You get two very nice auras that continuously pumps out a magnitude 2 fear or stun attack. These are powerful control options, allowing you to keep most of the minions out of the fight, while you concentrate on the larger enemies.

Invisibility – The Cloak of Darkness power gives you stealth (which becomes invisibility when combined with Super Speed), a perception bonus, and doesn’t suppress defense when you are detected.

Graphics Heavy – If you don’t have a high end graphics card, you might want to consider a different power set. When all of your toggles are running, you are generating a lot of graphics. Before the introduction of changing the colors of powers, you wouldn’t even be able to see your character. Personally, this made all the influence I spent at Icon feel like a real waste.

Let’s take a look at the individual powers.

Dark Embrace – This is your first shield, which you get by default. It gives a base of 22.5% resistance to smashing and lethal and 15% to negative and toxic. It is a toggle with .21 end/sec cost. You should slot it with 3 or 4, where 3 will be resistance and optionally 1 for endurance. Fully slotted with level 50 IOs, you will get 35.7% resistance to smash/lethal and 23.8% resistance to negative/toxic.

Death Shroud – This is a DOT aura available at level 2. It hits everything in an 8 foot circle with 12.5 points of negative damage every 2 seconds. This toggle has a pretty hefty .52 end/sec cost. I used this power on Ruby Flechette all the way up to level 50, and it is decent for keeping damage flowing on minions that are stunned by Oppressive Gloom. However, it is absolutely skippable for your scrapper, since you have so many other options for AOE damage. If you take it, you will want at least 5 slots in it. You will slot with 1 acc, 2 or 3 dam, and 1 or 2 endurance reduction. Later you can slot useful PBAOE sets, like Sirocco’s Dervish into it.

Murky Cloud – This is your second shield, which is available at level 4. It gives a base of 22.5% resistance to fire and cold and 15% to negative and energy. It is a toggle with .21 end/sec cost. You should slot it with 3 or 4, where 3 will be resistance and optionally 1 for endurance. Fully slotted with level 50 IOs, you will get 35.7% resistance to fire/cold and 23.8% resistance to energy/negative. Note that your two shields both give negative resistance, combining for 47.6% resistance.

Obsidian Shield – Available at Level 10, this toggle provides status protection, with magnitude 10 protection against Holds, Sleep, Stuns, and Fear. Note that it does not provide Knockback or Immobilization protection. Immobilization protection will be provided by Cloak of Darkness, however none of your powers provide Knockback protection, and you will have to provide it yourself through IO Sets, or Acrobatics. The tradeoff is you get Fear protection, which isn’t universally provided by other powersets. This power also gives 37.5% resistance to Psionic attacks. It has a .21 end/sec cost. You will most likely keep just the one slot, with an endurance or resistance enhancement. If you do add slots, then you will likely want 3 slots, with resistance IOs in order to improve the psionic resistance. Keep in mind that you can also use up to 5 of the Impervium Armor: Psionic Resistance enhancements in any resistance power to also increase psionic resistance.

Dark Regeneration – Available at Level 16, this heal power is a useful mitigation against slow health loss due to accumulated damage mitigated by resistance. It requires at least 1 enemy to work, and will heal 30% of your health for each target it hits, without enhancements. It takes 30 seconds to recharge, and has a massive 33.8 endurance cost. This power is not intended to be spammed as you are getting beat up by an Arch Villain. It is intended to compensate for accumulated damage that you are losing a little bit at time, because your resistances are reducing them. As an added bonus, this power will do 12.5 point of damage to all enemies that it hits. There are a lot of options for slotting this power. In addition to taking Healing and Accurate Healing IO sets, it also takes PBAOE IO sets, which may give you some interesting options for picking up a 2nd or 3rd set bonus you want. If slotting standard IOs, you probably want 5 slots. With 2 heals, 2 endurance and 1 recharge, you will need only 2 enemies to return to full health at a cost of 18.4 endurance. Also, with Hasten running, the recharge will be 14.1 seconds. If you decide to only use 3 slots, then 2 heals and 1 endurance will still perform well.

Cloak of Darkness – Available at Level 20, this is a stealth power that provides immobilization protection, defense and a perception bonus. The stealth component provides 35 feet of stealth toward the magic 60 feet you need to be invisible to enemies. With Super Speed also providing 35 feet, you will be invisible to most enemies, if you have both powers running. This power also gives you mag 10 protection against immobilization, which was not provided by Obsidian Shield. A 60% perception bonus is useful against things like Bane Spiders. Finally, you get a base 3.75% defense for all damage and situation types. Using 3 defense IOs, this becomes just short of 6% (5.94%). While this may seem small, it is actually very significant toward fixing that energy defense hole. This toggle uses .26 end/sec. You will want to slot it with at least 3 defense IOs, and possibly an endurance reduction IO. One note about this power, if you use it with the original color scheme, it completely obscures your character with a swirlly mass of dark tendrils. If you spent a lot of time designing a cool costume, you won’t get to see it at all, and you will never see the DB moves either. Now that you can change power colors, I recommend selecting the bright or dark sets, instead of the original color. You will still be obscured, but at least you can see your character.

Cloak of Fear – Available at Level 28, this is the first of your two soft control auras. This aura will generate a Mag 2 fear attack against all enemies in an 8 foot circle, every 2 seconds. It also has a secondary effect of reducing their ToHit value by 5%. The biggest problem with this aura, and the reason I generally recommend against it, is that it has a massive .52 end/sec cost. With the DB attacks going constantly, you really can’t afford this endurance cost. Since its effect on your game play is essentially the same as Oppressive Gloom, I strongly recommend taking that power instead. You really don’t need both, since the two effects aren’t additive (i.e. you don’t have mag 4 status control because you run both). If you do take this power then you likely will want 5 slots in it, with 2 fear and 3 endurance. This power does allow the use of Fear, ToHit and Accurate ToHit IO sets, which may be useful if there is a specific set bonus you would like.

Oppressive Gloom – Available at Level 35, this is your second soft control aura. This aura generates a Mag 2 stun attack against all enemies in an 8 foot circle, every 2 seconds. I consider this power a must have. It is very cheap from an endurance standpoint, using only .08 end/sec. It is very effective in keeping large groups under control, while you take out the most dangerous enemies in the group. It does damage you to the tune of 6.26 points every second, but to a scrapper with well over 1000 hit points, that damage is easily overcome by your regeneration. You will never notice it. You can slot this with up to 4 slots, though if you don’t want to commit any slots to it, you will be fine. If going with 4 slots, you can put in 3 stun IOs and 1 acc. The stun duration is somewhat short at 7.15 seconds, and with 3 IOs you can extend that to around 14 seconds. Accuracy is optional, especially if you have been using set bonuses or Focused Accuracy to improve your likelihood of hitting. This power also gives access to the stun IO sets, which have bonuses you might not be able to get any other way. This includes the purple IO set, Absolute Amazement, which gives this DB scrapper access to 3 purple sets, instead of 2.

Soul Transfer – Available at Level 38, your Tier 9 is a resurrection power. Now to be fair, it is a very good resurrection. It will heal you about 20%, restore about 30% endurance, make you untouchable for 15 seconds, hit everything around you with a Mag 50 immobilization for 4 seconds, and a Mag 30 stun for 12 seconds. It also takes PBAOE, heal, stun and endurance modification IO sets. But ultimately, you have to die to use it, which is not the point of a scrapper. Recharge is a base 300 seconds, which can be reduced by both Hasten and slotting with a recharge reduction.

DB/Dark Builds

Here are a couple example builds for DB/Dark. The first build is the one I used for a long time on Ruby Flechette. It was an attempt to increase energy defense as must as possible. Since that time, IO sets have changed and new sets have become available. I have rebuilt Ruby using the second build. The important change is I moved from focusing exclusively on fixing the energy hole through energy defense, to filling the energy hole through positional defense (melee, ranged, AOE). The results are much better. I’ve gone from a 22.9% energy defense to positional defenses of 27.9% Melee, 28.5% Ranged, and 31.3% AOE. Additionally, my resistances are marginally improved; I have 40% better regeneration, and a much higher ToHit bonus (due to including Focused Accuracy). I did this without sacrificing recharge reduction bonuses.

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.601
Ruby Flechette: Level 50 Natural Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Dual Blades
Secondary Power Set: Dark Armor
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leaping
Ancillary Pool: Darkness Mastery

Hero Profile:
------------
Level 1: Power Slice C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx(A), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg(3), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(3), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(5), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(5)
Level 1: Dark Embrace S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(7), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(7), RctvArm-ResDam(9)
Level 2: Ablating Strike LdyGrey-DefDeb(A), LdyGrey-Rchg/EndRdx(9), LdyGrey-%Dam(11), P'ngS'Fest-Acc/Dmg(11), P'ngS'Fest-Dmg/EndRdx(13), P'ngS'Fest-Dmg/Rchg(13)
Level 4: Murky Cloud S'fstPrt-ResKB(A), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(15), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(15), RctvArm-ResDam(17)
Level 6: Hasten RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(17), RechRdx-I(19)
Level 8: Blinding Feint AdjTgt-ToHit(A), AdjTgt-ToHit/Rchg(19), P'ngS'Fest-Acc/Dmg(21), P'ngS'Fest-Dmg/EndRdx(21), P'ngS'Fest-Dmg/Rchg(23)
Level 10: Obsidian Shield S'fstPrt-ResKB(A), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(23), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(25), RctvArm-ResDam(25)
Level 12: Hurdle Jump-I(A)
Level 14: Super Speed HO:Micro(A)
Level 16: Health RgnTis-Regen+(A), Mrcl-Rcvry+(27), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(27)
Level 18: Vengeful Slice Hectmb-Dmg(A), Hectmb-Dmg/Rchg(29), Hectmb-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(29), Hectmb-Dmg/EndRdx(31), Hectmb-Dam%(31), FrcFbk-Rechg%(31)
Level 20: Stamina P'Shift-EndMod(A), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc(33), P'Shift-End%(33), EndMod-I(33)
Level 22: Dark Regeneration H'zdH-EndRdx/Rchg(A), H'zdH-EndRdx(34), Mrcl-Heal/EndRdx(34), Mrcl-EndRdx/Rchg(34), Mrcl-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(36)
Level 24: Cloak of Darkness LkGmblr-Def(A), LkGmblr-Rchg+(36), DefBuff-I(36)
Level 26: Sweeping Strike Sciroc-Acc/Dmg(A), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx(37), Sciroc-Dmg/Rchg(37), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(37)
Level 28: Typhoon's Edge C'ngBlow-Dmg/EndRdx(A), C'ngBlow-Dmg/Rchg(39), C'ngBlow-Acc/Rchg(39), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx(39), Sciroc-Dmg/Rchg(40), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(40)
Level 30: Death Shroud C'ngBlow-Acc/Dmg(A), C'ngBlow-Dmg/EndRdx(40), C'ngBlow-Dmg/Rchg(42)
Level 32: One Thousand Cuts Armgdn-Dmg(A), Armgdn-Dmg/Rchg(42), Armgdn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42), Armgdn-Dmg/EndRdx(43), Armgdn-Dam%(43)
Level 35: Oppressive Gloom Amaze-Stun(A), Amaze-Stun/Rchg(43), Amaze-EndRdx/Stun(45), Amaze-ToHitDeb%(45)
Level 38: Boxing Acc-I(A)
Level 41: Torrent Ragnrk-Dmg(A), Ragnrk-Dmg/Rchg(45), Ragnrk-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(46), Ragnrk-Dmg/EndRdx(46), Ragnrk-Knock%(46)
Level 44: Tough RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(A), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(48), RctvArm-ResDam(48), RctvArm-EndRdx(48)
Level 47: Weave GftotA-Def/EndRdx(A), GftotA-Def/Rchg(50), GftotA-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(50), GftotA-Def(50)
Level 49: Combat Jumping Ksmt-ToHit+(A)

| Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build |
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Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.601
Ruby Flechette: Level 50 Natural Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Dual Blades
Secondary Power Set: Dark Armor
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Body Mastery

Hero Profile:
------------
Level 1: Power Slice Acc-I(A)
Level 1: Dark Embrace ImpArm-ResPsi(A), Aegis-Psi/Status(3), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(3), Aegis-ResDam/Rchg(5), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(11), Aegis-ResDam(39)
Level 2: Ablating Strike ShldBrk-DefDeb(A), ShldBrk-Acc/DefDeb(9)
Level 4: Murky Cloud ImpArm-ResPsi(A), ImpArm-ResDam(5), ResDam-I(9), ResDam-I(11)
Level 6: Hasten RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(7), RechRdx-I(7)
Level 8: Blinding Feint T'Death-Acc/Dmg(A), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx(13), T'Death-Dam%(13), T'Death-Dmg/Rchg(15), T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(19), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(37)
Level 10: Obsidian Shield S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A)
Level 12: Swift Run-I(A)
Level 14: Super Speed Zephyr-Travel(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(15), Zephyr-ResKB(17)
Level 16: Health Numna-Heal(A), Mrcl-Rcvry+(17), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(19), Mrcl-Heal(45), RgnTis-Regen+(48)
Level 18: Vengeful Slice Hectmb-Dmg(A), Hectmb-Dmg/Rchg(21), Hectmb-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(21), Hectmb-Dmg/EndRdx(23), Hectmb-Dam%(23), FrcFbk-Rechg%(25)
Level 20: Stamina P'Shift-EndMod(A), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc(25), P'Shift-End%(27), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(27)
Level 22: Dark Regeneration Dct'dW-Heal(A), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx(29), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(29), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(50)
Level 24: Cloak of Darkness RedFtn-Def(A), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(31), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(31), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(39), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(40), RedFtn-EndRdx(42)
Level 26: Sweeping Strike Armgdn-Dmg(A), Armgdn-Dmg/Rchg(31), Armgdn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), Armgdn-Dmg/EndRdx(33), Armgdn-Dam%(33)
Level 28: Typhoon's Edge Sciroc-Acc/Dmg(A), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx(34), Sciroc-Dmg/Rchg(34), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(34), Sciroc-Dam%(36)
Level 30: Combat Jumping RedFtn-Def(A), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(36), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(36), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(37), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(40), RedFtn-EndRdx(40)
Level 32: One Thousand Cuts Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(42), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(42), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(43), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(43), Oblit-%Dam(45)
Level 35: Oppressive Gloom Amaze-Stun(A), Amaze-EndRdx/Stun(37), Amaze-ToHitDeb%(39)
Level 38: Boxing Acc-I(A)
Level 41: Focused Accuracy GSFC-ToHit(A), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg(43), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(45), GSFC-Rchg/EndRdx(46), GSFC-ToHit/EndRdx(46), GSFC-Build%(46)
Level 44: Tough ImpArm-ResPsi(A), ImpArm-ResDam(48), ResDam-I(48)
Level 47: Weave LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(50), DefBuff-I(50)
Level 49: Conserve Power RechRdx-I(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl Acc-I(A)
Level 1: Sprint Clrty-Stlth(A)
Level 2: Rest RechRdx-I(A)
Level 1: Critical Hit

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Finally, I want to offer a build that uses standard IOs, without sets. This will give an idea of how I would build a DB/Dark, if I wasn’t using IO sets, but only the inherent capabilities of the build. In this particular build, I didn’t take Typhoon’s Edge, allowing me to take Physical Perfection instead. This is a decent choice, given the endurance burden of running this build with all of the toggles.

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.601
Generic: Level 50 Natural Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Dual Blades
Secondary Power Set: Dark Armor
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Body Mastery

Hero Profile:
------------
Level 1: Power Slice Acc-I(A)
Level 1: Dark Embrace ResDam-I(A), ResDam-I(3), ResDam-I(3), EndRdx-I(40)
Level 2: Ablating Strike Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(7), Dmg-I(7), DefDeb-I(9), DefDeb-I(15)
Level 4: Murky Cloud ResDam-I(A), ResDam-I(5), ResDam-I(5), EndRdx-I(43)
Level 6: Hasten RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(9), RechRdx-I(11)
Level 8: Blinding Feint Acc-I(A), Acc-I(11), Dmg-I(13), ToHit-I(13), ToHit-I(15), RechRdx-I(37)
Level 10: Obsidian Shield ResDam-I(A), EndRdx-I(48)
Level 12: Swift Run-I(A)
Level 14: Super Speed EndRdx-I(A)
Level 16: Health Heal-I(A), Heal-I(17), Heal-I(17)
Level 18: Vengeful Slice Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(19), Dmg-I(19), Dmg-I(21), EndRdx-I(21), RechRdx-I(37)
Level 20: Stamina EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(23), EndMod-I(23)
Level 22: Dark Regeneration Heal-I(A), Heal-I(25), EndRdx-I(25), EndRdx-I(27), RechRdx-I(27), RechRdx-I(36)
Level 24: Cloak of Darkness DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(29), DefBuff-I(29), EndRdx-I(40)
Level 26: Sweeping Strike Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(31), Dmg-I(31), Dmg-I(31), EndRdx-I(33), RechRdx-I(36)
Level 28: Combat Jumping DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(33), DefBuff-I(33)
Level 30: Boxing Acc-I(A)
Level 32: One Thousand Cuts Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(34), Dmg-I(34), Dmg-I(34), EndRdx-I(36), RechRdx-I(37)
Level 35: Oppressive Gloom Dsrnt-I(A), Dsrnt-I(39), Acc-I(39)
Level 38: Tough ResDam-I(A), ResDam-I(39), ResDam-I(40), EndRdx-I(46), EndRdx-I(46)
Level 41: Focused Accuracy ToHit-I(A), ToHit-I(42), ToHit-I(42), EndRdx-I(42), EndRdx-I(43), EndRdx-I(43)
Level 44: Weave DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(45), DefBuff-I(45), EndRdx-I(45), EndRdx-I(46)
Level 47: Conserve Power RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(48), RechRdx-I(48)
Level 49: Physical Perfection EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(50), EndMod-I(50), Heal-I(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint EndRdx-I(A)
Level 2: Rest Empty(A)
Level 1: Critical Hit

| Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build |
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Some final thoughts on DB/Dark. I have the more experience with this combination than all the others, and in many ways I feel it is the least effective choice. The fully built version of Ruby Flechette performs very well in most situations, but it doesn’t feel “god like”. In RWZ, the build will easily handle a 3 boss spawn of level 52 Rikti, however level 54s (the true RWZ challenge) is very difficult. In my opinion, the problem is the energy hole takes so much work to fill, and the single heal is so unreliable. I find that when I die, it is usually because the heal is just “this close” to being available again. Without the Tier 9 “God power” that the other secondaries get, the build feels just a little “so so”. However, it is a solid choice, and will perform very well in almost all situations, as long as you aren’t trying to take on too many enemies at once.

Peg’s Dual Blades Compendium
- Dual Blades with Dark, Willpower, Regeneration, Super Reflexes, or Electric

This is the third guide I have written, and by far the most ambitious. I have been playing a Dual Blade/Dark scrapper since the powerset was released, and have tremendously enjoyed the combination. However, rather than simply write a guide focused on this single combo, I decided to branch out and provide a much larger perspective on Dual Blades and the available secondaries. This guide provides advice on using DB with five different secondaries, Dark, Willpower, Regeneration, Super Reflexes, and Electric. I didn’t want to just speculate on the differences, I chose to actually create and play all five types of scrappers, in order to offer a real world assessment.

The five characters I have created are:

Ruby Flechette – A DB/Dark scrapper and the first scrapper I took to level 50
Mistress of Knives – A DB/Will scrapper that I leveled to level 50 for this guide
Queen of Knives – A DB/SR scrapper, currently level 36
Princess Electra – A DB/Electric scrapper, currently level 40
Swordsong – A DB/Regen scrapper, currently level 33

As of writing this guide, all 5 of these are at least level 33, with two of them at level 50. I’ve played them all enough to have a good idea of their qualities, and have a plan for their completion. Below you will find the builds I plan to use in their final versions.

I’m sure some are wondering, “What about the other secondaries?”. Five characters are ambitious enough. Shield is obviously not available with Dual Blades (dang it – Shield is a GREAT secondary). Invulnerability has been dissed so much for so many years that I just didn’t want to get involved. Finally, one of my guides is for a fire/fire blaster, I’ve seen enough fire to make that secondary very undesirable to me personally. I may at a later time try to look at Invuln and Fire, but don’t hold your breath.

So let’s get started. First we need to look into Dual Blades as a primary.

Dual Blades

Obviously, I think DB is a fun set, otherwise I wouldn’t have 7 characters with it (did I mention I also have two tanks with the set?). I think it is a little like Claws, in that it doesn’t have any huge damage attacks (like BS’s Headsplitter), but instead is designed for fast attacks working in combination with each other to deliver high Damage over Time. I personally don’t see DB as a very good choice for PVP for two reasons. First is the DOT vs. High Damage I mentioned. The second is that all of the damage is Lethal, which is the easiest damage type to defend against if you are a player. Fortunately, in PVE, lethal damage is not a drawback. The most unique feature of DB is the combo attacks.

Combos

Dual Blade strongly encourages you to use a specific attack chain through the implementation of combos. A combo is a set of three specific attacks that must land in a specific order to give an additional effect. You have 5 seconds to execute the next attack after successfully hitting with its predecessor. This brings up an important point, your buffs, debuffs, damage bonuses, and soft control is all dependant on you hitting your opponent. This means that accuracy debuffs can be dangerous. With certain enemies, like death mages, you might want to use a defense and accuracy inspiration before fighting them.

The combos are:

Weaken – Decreases the abilities of all foes immediately surrounding you for 20 seconds and hits with an extra 50% damage. Foes will have defense lowered by 7.5% and their ToHit by 7.5%. This combo is first available at level 6, if all the required powers are selected.

Empower – Provides an extra 3.3% ToHit and 12.5% damage for 10 seconds, above the bonus already gained by landing the Blinding Feint attack. This combo is first available at level 8, if all the required powers are selected.

Attack Vitals – Delivers about 60% of extra damage over that of Sweeping Strike to all enemies in a 7 foot/90 degree cone in front of you. This damage is delivered in 5 DOT chunks over the next 4 seconds. This combo is first available at level 26, if all the required powers are selected.

Sweep – Delivers an additional 50% of damage over that of Typhoon’s Edge alone in an 8 foot circle around you. Additionally, has a 67% chance of knocking down enemies. This combo is first available at level 32, if all the required powers are selected.

You will note that two of the combos are available early in your career, while the last two aren’t available until your late 20s and early 30s. As a result, most people view DB as a set that you will respec once you get into higher levels to eliminate the two earlier combos. There is no requirement to do so, since only 1 power, Nimble Slash, is needed to keep all combos available. However, the effects of Attack Vitals and Sweep are so good, that no one bothers to execute 3 attacks to get the Weaken or Empower effects, when they could be using their higher damage attacks.

Whether or not you respec, in the end the decision regarding Dual Blades is whether to be a single target specialist, or to use its very good PBAOE capabilities.

Single Target vs. PBAOE

Assuming that you will respec in your late 20s, or so, the question is what powers to keep? This is actually a pretty significant question. Nimble Slash is not needed for the advanced combos, so you can drop it. Blinding Feint is such a good buffing attack that you will want to keep it, even without Empower. You then have 3 distinct powers needed for Attack Vitals and Sweep, respectively. The powers in Attack Vitals tend to be single target focused (2 single attacks followed by a 90 degree cone), while Sweep is more AOE focused (a 90 degree cone, a single attack, and a 360 degree circle).

Your choices are to keep the powers needed for Sweep, for Attack Vitals, or both. Since most people don’t choose to play a scrapper if they want to dish out AOE damage (you can check out my fire/fire blaster guide if that is your thing) the choice really comes down to keeping Attack Vitals or both. If you choose to just keep the Attack Vitals combo, you will limit some of your flexibility, but you will be able to drop 2 powers from your build, allowing you to use more powers from your secondary or pools. The downside of this is your will likely be dreaming of the “4 move dance” while you sleep, because you will see the same moves over and over and over again. To help you with this, let me offer the following scenarios (in both scenarios I am assuming no damage enhancement in the powers):

Scenario 1 – A DB scrapper with at least 70% recharge enhancement (Hasten is active) attacks a single target. Blinding Feint delivers 50 points of damage and a 37.5% damage buff for the next 10 seconds. Next Ablating Strike hits for 113 points of damage (including the 37.5% buff). Next Vengeful Strike hits for 141 points of damage (again including the buff) and has a 67% chance of a knockdown. Finally, Sweeping Strike hits the target and everything in the 7 foot cone for 146 points, followed by 86 points over the next 4 seconds. The total time to execute all 4 attacks is just under 6 seconds, and you have delivered 406 points to a single target, and 232 in AOE damage. Blinding Feint is now almost recharged (12 seconds modified down to 7.8 seconds by Hasten) and you can start all over again. In fact, with a single recharge enhancement in Blinding Feint, it will be back up in 5 seconds, before Sweeping Strike has completed. This means you average 67 dps to a target, unenhanced, continuously for as long as your endurance holds out, and Hasten remains running.

Scenario 2 - A DB scrapper with at least 70% recharge enhancement (Hasten is active) attacks a single target. Blinding Feint delivers 50 points of damage and a 37.5% damage buff for the next 10 seconds. Next One Thousand Cuts hits for 203 points against all enemies in a 90 degree cone, plus a 67% chance of knockdown. Next Power Slice hits for 100 against a single target. Finally, Typhoon’s Edge hits all enemies around you for 98 points, while Sweep adds an additional 49 points and a 67% chance for a knockdown. This is 301 points of AOE damage along with two knockdowns, along with 451 to a single target. The total time to execute all 4 attacks is 8.2 seconds. Against a single target, this is 55 dps to a single target, however 37 dps is also being delivered as AOEs to secondary targets. Plus the two knockdowns provides an AOE soft control option that you don’t get in Scenario 1.

To sum up the differences, the Attack Vitals combo gives you 22% more single target damage, while the Sweep combo gives you 29% more AOE damage along with soft control. Additionally, when Hasten is not running, you have to wait until Blinding Feint comes back up before restarting the Attack Vitals combo. If you have the Sweep powers available, you can instead execute that combo and alternate between the two sets. All things being equal, it is clearly better to take both sets of combos, especially if you aren’t planning to invest in increasing recharge through Invention Sets. But all things aren’t equal, since if you take only the Attack Vitals combo, you will save 2 powers.

In the example builds I provide below, I offer both options. As far as my personal experience, I use Attack Vitals and Sweep on Ruby Flechette (DB/Dark) and Princess Electra (DB/Electric). The other three (DB/Will, DB/SR, and DB/Regen) use Attack Vitals only. The compromise I use in my builds is to take One Thousand Cuts only. This gives me a 5th attack in my chain, when Hasten isn’t running, and two powers that can deliver knockdowns, if I want to keep something out of the fight. This compromise allows me to skip 3 powers, Nimble Slash, Typhoon’s Edge, and Confront. Skipping 3 powers is very helpful on some of the builds, especially Super Reflexes.

Dual Blade Powers

In the following discussion I give general slotting advice, but won’t provide specific recommendations. This is because slotting these powers depends a lot on the overall build and the Invention Set bonuses you need to get. As a result, the specific selections are highly dependent on the secondary choice. I recommend that you first decide which secondary you want, and then examine one of the example builds I provide for that combination.

Nimble Slash – One of the first two powers you can select. It delivers minor damage (50 points at level 50) and is needed to start the Weaken and Empower combos. I don’t recommend slotting it with anything other than an Accuracy, however if you want to use it in the early game and respec, then you could go with the standard 1 acc, 3 dam. Personally, I don’t bother taking this power and foreswear the combos until I hit 26.

Power Slice – This is the other option at the start, and the one I recommend you take. Unlike Nimble Slash, this is needed for one of the late game combos (the middle attack in Sweep). Purely a melee attack, it does 75 points of damage to a single target. If you are using the Sweep combo, then the standard 1 acc, 3 dam will be sufficient until you start using IO sets. At that point you might want 5 or 6 slots, depending on the set bonus you want. With a 5 second recharge and 6 endurance cost, there is no need to add enhancements to improve them. If you plan to only use Attack Vitals, then you will have to take this at Level 1, then you will ignore it, unless you want a filler attack.

Ablating Strike – This attack is the start of the Attack Vitals combo. It is available at Level 4 and adds a 10 second, 7.5% defense debuff to the 82 points of damage it gives. This power is a must have, and provides excellent synergy with the combo it is part of. Hitting with Ablating Strike makes it that much easier to hit with the next two powers. In the early game, the standard 1 acc, 3 dam is sufficient. However you might consider a second acc, since hitting with this power is so important to the combo. Because it will also take debuff sets, you will probably end up with 6 slots in this power to get IO set enhancements. It is not unusual to have 3 IOs from a melee set and 3 IOs from a debuff set in this power. It has a 6 second recharge and costs 6 endurance. No need to add recharge or endurance enhancements, until putting IO sets into this power.

Typhoon’s Edge – Available at Level 6, this is a neat looking attack where you jump in the air, spinning your swords in a circle around you like a top. It will do 70 points of damage in an 8 foot sphere around you, and finishes both the Weaken and Sweep combos. On its own, it is a decent attack, especially if surrounded by minions. As part of the Sweep combo it is very nice due to the knockdown effect. Since it is the only AOE you will get until level 26, it is a good choice to take it, then respec out of it later, if you choose to go down the Attack Vitals only route. You will want to put 5 or 6 slots into this power fairly early. It takes 12 seconds to recharge on its own and costs 12 endurance. You will want 1 acc, 3 dam plus 1 end and/or 1 recharge enhancement. Bringing the recharge down to 8 seconds allows it to be available to any of your combos, even if Hasten isn’t running.

Blinding Feint – This power is a must have. Available at level 8, take it as soon as you see it offered. Even important secondary powers, like Willpower’s Rise to the Challenge, should be delayed 2 levels to take this power. In addition to the 50 points of damage that it gives, it also gives you a 10% ToHit buff and a 37.5% damage buff for the next 10 seconds. You can complete all of the moves in any 3 power combo during the duration of this buff. This power is also the finishing move for Empower, which will increase the bonuses to 50% damage and 13% ToHit. Personally, I don’t find Empower to be useful. You have to go through a 3 power combo to get a slightly better buff than you can get with one attack. You also have to keep Nimble Slash, meaning you do without something in the late game like Combat Jumping, Weave, or Focused Accuracy. There is no hard and fast rule for slotting this power. You can leave it with 1 or 2 acc enhancements, since the value is in the buff, not the damage. Another option would be to use 4 slots with an acc and 3 ToHit buffs raising the ToHit buff to 15% with SOs. Since it can take both melee and ToHit IO sets, you can use this power for the melee sets and also either the Adjusted Targeting or Gaussian Fire Control IO sets, each of which offer excellent set bonuses (and tend to be relatively cheap at Wentworth’s). Endurance cost is 8, so slotting for reducing it isn’t really needed. However, with a 12 second recharge, putting in a single recharge reduction is useful. Having this power available in 8 seconds is important for keeping your attack chain going.

Confront – Available at Level 10, this is a single target taunt, magnitude 4 (good for minions or lieutenants). It costs no endurance and lasts for 23 seconds. It is completely skipable (as other scrappers would say, “If you want to taunt something, hit it in the face”). However, if you go down the Attack Vitals only route, you might consider picking this up for two reasons. First, there will be times that you want to focus on a single powerful boss, without worrying about his friends. You can use this power to pull them off (or you could take TP Foe). The other value is that you can use it to slot the Perfect Zinger or Mocking Beratement IO sets to get some excellent set bonuses, very very cheaply.

Vengeful Slice – Now we are talking. Finally at Level 18 you can get a really hard hitting attack with a knockdown. This is also the second attack in the Attack Vitals combo. You should arrange your build so that you don’t need to take Health at Level 18 in preparation for Stamina. Unmodified, this power will do 102 points of damage with a 67% chance of a knockdown. Early on you will want 1 acc and 3 dam slotted. With an 8 second recharge you might put in a recharge enhancement, although with Hasten running it isn’t needed. With a 6 point endurance cost, there is no need for an endurance reduction enhancement. Later in the game you will want to use 6 slots in the power. While it takes both Melee and Knockback IO sets, you will want to use a Melee set, and ultimately you will want to put Hecatomb in this power. However, you will also want to slot the Force Feedback: Chance for +Recharge proc into one of your slots. This proc has a 10% chance to give you a 100% boost to recharge for 5 seconds. Since you will be using this power every 6 or 12 seconds, you will get this bonus often. It will add up, especially during a long fight.

Sweeping Strike – Available at level 26, this cone attack is my favorite. It executes in a very fast 1.23 seconds, and the animation is very cool with a double thrust, finished by sweeping both swords out in opposite directions. As a finishing move in the Attack Vitals combo, it delivers a nice 232 points of AOE damage, after being modified by Blinding Feint. Assuming you slot with 3 damage SOs, this attack will do 452 points of damage. After you get a feel for playing with DB, you will learn how to judge when your opponent doesn’t have enough health left to survive the 4 second DOT of Attack Vitals. You will hit with this, and turn your attention to another target, while your former enemy is quietly defeated in the background. You will want to put 5 or 6 slots into this power. Before IOs, you will want 1 acc and 3 dam. Since the endurance cost is 11 and the recharge is 11 seconds, you should also consider slotting an endurance reduction and recharge deduction. This power takes the PBAOE IO sets and will be one of the powers you will consider for the Armageddon set. However, there are viable combinations using all of the other PBAOE sets that make them viable choices, depending on the set bonuses you want. For example, 6 slots with Obliteration gives hefty melee, smashing and lethal defense bonuses, while 5 slots using Sirocco’s Dervish will give you nice AOE, fire and cold defense bonuses.

One Thousand Cuts – This is your Level 32, Tier 9 power. It delivers 203 DOT damage (again, assuming Blinding Feint) over a 3 second period, and finishes with a 67% knockdown. All targets in a 90 degree cone ahead of you are affected. It is the initial move in the Sweep combo. As pointed out above, DB scrappers without this power can be effective, provided they have their recharge time reduced sufficiently to use Blinding Feint and the 3 Attack Vitals powers. A very viable option is to take this power without Typhoon’s Edge, and use it as a second AOE attack after Attack Vitals is executed, shifting to a 5 power attack chain, instead of 4. This power takes 3.3 seconds to execute, costs 14.4 endurance and 15 seconds to recharge. The slotting options are identical to Sweeping Strike, with the exception that it also can take Knockback IOs. If you plan to use this power extensively, you could put the Force Feedback: Chance for +Recharge proc into this power instead of Vengeful Slice. Before IO sets, you should put 1 acc, 3 dam, and 1 recharge reduction. You may consider adding endurance reduction as well. Since both Force Feedback and Kinetic Crash have IOs with damage and accuracy, it is possible to slot one of the Knockback sets into this power. However, if you do that, you will be giving up some damage potential. For example, 5 slots of Sirocco’s Dervish produce 15% more damage than 6 slots of Kinetic Crash. This power is your other option for slotting the Armageddon set.

Regarding Damage Mitigation, Pool Powers, and IO Set Bonuses

The idea of a scrapper is to go toe to toe with one or more enemies and deal damage to them. While you are toe to toe, they will also be trying to damage you. Your success depends on your ability to mitigate that damage. There are three mechanisms used to mitigate damage:

Healing/Regeneration – You recover hit points faster than they can inflict them on you.

Resistance – You resist the magnitude of the damage so that the actual damage you take is less than the maximum inflicted.

Defense – You avoid the attack all together, but if it does hit, you take full damage.

The scrapper secondaries use one or more of these techniques to mitigate damage, and allow you to survive your toe to toe fight. For the Dual Blades scrapper, your secondary powers, pool powers, and set bonus selections will target one of the following areas:

Accuracy – Because so much of your effectiveness is dependent on successfully hitting your enemy, you want to improve your accuracy and ToHit values. Acc enhancements in powers, the Focused Accuracy Epic Pool power, The Kismet unique, and set bonuses are all options that can be used for this.

Recharge time – The Attack Vitals attack chain requires at least a 70% recharge reduction to be effective. This means that Hasten is pretty much a requirement for a DB scrapper. If you want to focus on having a continuously available 4 power attack chain, then you need to get as close to perma-Hasten (170% recharge bonus) as possible. However, you will find in practice that the best you will achieve is between 110% and 130% (except with Super Reflexes). This is because of the 5 instance limitation on slotting bonuses of a specific type. Only 5 of the medium recharge bonuses (5% increase) will count. Also, unless you pick them from epic pools, you have no powers allowing you to slot more than 2 of the large recharge bonuses (10% increase) that come from the unique purple IO sets. The final option is to slot multiple copies of the Luck of the Gambler: Recharge IO. You can put up to 5 of these in your build (current Wentworth’s value: 1 billion influence). But you must have sets that take defense IOs. In practice, Super Reflexes is the only secondary that can really use this option.

Endurance recovery – Because you are going to be fighting non-stop, endurance use will be a problem. Some of the sets (Willpower, Regeneration, and Electric) provide powers that help with endurance recovery. Even so, it may not be enough to allow you to continue non-stop without stopping or using an inspiration. Stamina is required for all builds, even if you have Quick Recovery. You will also want to take advantage of set bonuses, and IO unique. The IO uniques that you specifically will want are the Numina, Miracle, and Performance Shifter.

Health Regeneration – For the Regeneration and Willpower secondaries, you want regeneration as high as possible. Regeneration also gets click heal powers, which Willpower does not. The effect of high regeneration is that you will take lots of damage, but it won’t move your health bar during a fight. The other secondaries benefit from regeneration, but it isn’t the primary mitigation.

Resistance – In an ideal world, the secondaries that rely on resistance (Dark, Electric, and Willpower) would approach the 75% level of a Stone Tank’s Granite power. In practice, if resistance is slightly above 50%, then that particular damage type is easily survivable in conjunction with regeneration or heals. The effect of high resistance is you will see lots of red “0”s and “1”s rising up as they attack you.

Defense – With defense you want to reach the soft-cap of 45%, either in the 7 damage types, or in the 3 situational types (melee, ranged, and AOE). The effect of high defense is you will see continuous messages of “deflected”, as they miss you. With SR in particular, reaching 45% in the three situational defenses is pretty easy, but does require the use of IO set bonuses to do it.

Very nice guide. I just finished the last IO set for my level 50 DM/Shield and used this guide as a baseline. I did modify a bit by not using any purple enhancements and taking focused accuracy. But the result is I'm softcapped in all 3 defense categories, with health and endurance recovery capabilities. Using the Midnight>Shadow Maul>Smite>Siphon Life chain makes me pretty close to invincible.

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.601
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Witchery: Level 50 Magic Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Dark Melee
Secondary Power Set: Shield Defense
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Body Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Smite -- T'Death-Acc/Dmg(A), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx(3), T'Death-Dmg/Rchg(3), T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(13), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(17), T'Death-Dam%(31)
Level 1: Deflection -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(5), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(9), RedFtn-EndRdx(19), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(34), RedFtn-Def(40)
Level 2: Battle Agility -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(5), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(9), RedFtn-EndRdx(19), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(37), RedFtn-Def(40)
Level 4: Shadow Maul -- Sciroc-Acc/Dmg(A), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx(7), Sciroc-Dmg/Rchg(7), Sciroc-Acc/Rchg(13), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(17), Sciroc-Dam%(43)
Level 6: Super Speed -- Zephyr-Travel(A), Zephyr-ResKB(25), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(31)
Level 8: Siphon Life -- Theft-Heal/Rchg(A), Theft-Acc/Heal(11), Theft-Acc/EndRdx/Heal(11)
Level 10: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(15), RechRdx-I(15)
Level 12: Active Defense -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 14: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 16: Health -- Numna-Heal/EndRdx(A), Numna-EndRdx/Rchg(37), Numna-Heal/Rchg(37), Numna-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(39), Numna-Heal(39), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(46)
Level 18: Against All Odds -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 20: Stamina -- P'Shift-End%(A), EndMod-I(21), EndMod-I(21)
Level 22: Combat Jumping -- GftotA-Def(A), GftotA-Def/EndRdx(23), DefBuff-I(23), DefBuff-I(25)
Level 24: True Grit -- Mrcl-Rcvry+(A)
Level 26: Soul Drain -- Sciroc-Dam%(A), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg(27), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx(27), Sciroc-Dmg/Rchg(29), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(29)
Level 28: Phalanx Fighting -- DefBuff-I(A)
Level 30: Dark Consumption -- Erad-Dmg(A), Erad-Acc/Rchg(31), Erad-Dmg/Rchg(39), EndMod-I(46), EndMod-I(50)
Level 32: Midnight Grasp -- T'Death-Acc/Dmg(A), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx(33), T'Death-Dmg/Rchg(33), T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(33), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34), T'Death-Dam%(34)
Level 35: Shield Charge -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(36), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(36), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(36), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(40), Oblit-%Dam(50)
Level 38: Boxing -- Acc-I(A)
Level 41: Focused Accuracy -- GSFC-ToHit(A), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg(42), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(42), GSFC-Rchg/EndRdx(42), GSFC-ToHit/EndRdx(43), GSFC-Build%(43)
Level 44: Tough -- Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(A), Aegis-ResDam/Rchg(45), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(45), Aegis-ResDam(45), Aegis-Psi/Status(46)
Level 47: Weave -- LkGmblr-Def(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(48), LkGmblr-Def/Rchg(48), LkGmblr-Rchg+(48), Ksmt-ToHit+(50)
Level 49: One with the Shield -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Clrty-Stlth(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Critical Hit
------------
Set Bonus Totals:

• 14.5% DamageBuff(Smashing)
• 14.5% DamageBuff(Lethal)
• 14.5% DamageBuff(Fire)
• 14.5% DamageBuff(Cold)
• 14.5% DamageBuff(Energy)
• 14.5% DamageBuff(Negative)
• 14.5% DamageBuff(Toxic)
• 14.5% DamageBuff(Psionic)
• 9.88% Defense(Smashing)
• 9.88% Defense(Lethal)
• 13.6% Defense(Fire)
• 13.6% Defense(Cold)
• 13.3% Defense(Energy)
• 13.3% Defense(Negative)
• 6.13% Defense(Psionic)
• 16.8% Defense(Melee)
• 18.9% Defense(Ranged)
• 19.6% Defense(AoE)
• 3.6% Max End
• 22.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
• 6% Enhancement(Heal)
• 36% Enhancement(Accuracy)
• 5% FlySpeed
• 105.4 HP (7.87%) HitPoints
• 5% JumpHeight
• 5% JumpSpeed
• Knockback (Mag -4)
• Knockup (Mag -4)
• MezResist(Held) 8.8%
• MezResist(Immobilize) 9.9%
• MezResist(Stun) 2.2%
• 4.5% (0.08 End/sec) Recovery
• 52% (2.91 HP/sec) Regeneration
• 2.52% Resistance(Fire)
• 2.52% Resistance(Cold)
• 6.25% Resistance(Negative)
• 3% Resistance(Psionic)
• 10% RunSpeed
• 2.5% XPDebtProtection

[ QUOTE ]
This is one of the better guides I've read. Nice work!

I had a question about slotting as you level up; with some exceptions, it doesn't seem worth slotting IO sets until quite late on in the character's life. How would you slot this as you level up?

[/ QUOTE ]

Sorry that I haven't looked at this thread in awhile, but let me respond to this. I think it is an important question.

I find that over time, the urge to use IO sets has decreased for me as I have built more alts. My heros are leveling faster than I can keep up with.

However, I wrote this guide assuming that you are playing this build from level 1, not being powerleveled and then respecing. Quite a few of the sets are very valuable to you as you grow, and because the IO sets don't expire, you can replace them when you feel like it. For example, I recommend that people start slotting Fireball and Firebreath with Positron's Blast as soon as they hit 22 and can start putting level 25 IOs into their powers. Five slots of Positron in two powers gives a 5% recovery bonus, an 18% accuracy bonus and a 12.5% recharge time bonus. These bonuses will help you be more effective, even if you aren't getting the maximum damage from these powers. I feel the IO sets to be very much worth the investment throughout the growth of the build.

I think I'll make a mission that has a big field with lots of demons evenly spaced out in nice sized groups. Let's say 6 to 10 of them in each group, but no more than 10.

Yeah, I bet that will win the award for most popular mission...

If you are curious, this is the current (and final!) build for Hellcatt. She uses the modified PvP build mentioned above, with some minor changes from my recommendations, due to what IOs I was able to get for slotting (and I'm not doing another respec, thank you very much).

Also interesting for the curious who want to know what a billion influence build looks like.

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.30
http://www.honourableunited.org.uk/mhd.php

Hellcatt: Level 50 Magic Blaster
Primary Power Set: Fire Blast
Secondary Power Set: Fire Manipulation
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Concealment
Ancillary Pool: Force Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Fire Blast <ul type="square">[*] (A) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage: Level 33[*] (3) Decimation - Damage/Endurance: Level 33[*] (11) Decimation - Damage/Recharge: Level 33[*] (19) Decimation - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge: Level 33[*] (25) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 33[/list]Level 1: Ring of Fire <ul type="square">[*] (A) Accuracy IO: Level 50[/list]Level 2: Fire Ball <ul type="square">[*] (A) Ragnarok - Damage: Level 50[*] (3) Ragnarok - Damage/Recharge: Level 50[*] (5) Ragnarok - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 50[*] (15) Ragnarok - Damage/Endurance: Level 50[*] (23) Ragnarok - Chance for Knockdown: Level 50[/list]Level 4: Fire Sword <ul type="square">[*] (A) Hecatomb - Damage: Level 50[*] (5) Hecatomb - Damage/Recharge: Level 50[*] (11) Hecatomb - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 50[*] (19) Hecatomb - Damage/Endurance: Level 50[*] (25) Hecatomb - Chance of Damage(Negative): Level 50[/list]Level 6: Hasten <ul type="square">[*] (A) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50[*] (7) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50[*] (7) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50[/list]Level 8: Fire Breath <ul type="square">[*] (A) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage: Level 50[*] (9) Positron's Blast - Damage/Endurance: Level 50[*] (9) Positron's Blast - Damage/Recharge: Level 50[*] (15) Positron's Blast - Damage/Range: Level 50[*] (23) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 50[/list]Level 10: Hurdle <ul type="square">[*] (A) Jumping IO: Level 50[/list]Level 12: Aim <ul type="square">[*] (A) Adjusted Targeting - To Hit Buff/Recharge: Level 50[*] (13) Adjusted Targeting - Recharge: Level 50[*] (13) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50[/list]Level 14: Super Speed <ul type="square">[*] (A) Run Speed IO: Level 50[/list]Level 16: Build Up <ul type="square">[*] (A) Adjusted Targeting - To Hit Buff/Recharge: Level 50[*] (17) Adjusted Targeting - Recharge: Level 50[*] (17) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50[/list]Level 18: Health <ul type="square">[*] (A) Regenerative Tissue - +Regeneration: Level 30[*] (31) Miracle - +Recovery: Level 33[*] (31) Numina's Convalescence - +Regeneration/+Recovery: Level 33[*] (37) Miracle - Heal: Level 33[*] (46) Numina's Convalescence - Heal: Level 31[/list]Level 20: Stamina <ul type="square">[*] (A) Endurance Modification IO: Level 50[*] (21) Endurance Modification IO: Level 50[*] (21) Endurance Modification IO: Level 50[/list]Level 22: Combat Jumping <ul type="square">[*] (A) Kismet - Defense/Endurance: Level 15[*] (31) Kismet - Defense/Recharge: Level 15[*] (37) Kismet - Endurance/Recharge: Level 15[*] (40) Kismet - Defense/Endurance/Recharge: Level 15[*] (43) Kismet - Accuracy +6%: Level 15[/list]Level 24: Stealth <ul type="square">[*] (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed: Level 50[*] (34) Luck of the Gambler - Defense: Level 30[*] (37) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance: Level 30[*] (40) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Recharge: Level 30[/list]Level 26: Blaze <ul type="square">[*] (A) Apocalypse - Damage: Level 50[*] (27) Apocalypse - Damage/Recharge: Level 50[*] (27) Apocalypse - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 50[*] (29) Apocalypse - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 50[*] (29) Apocalypse - Damage/Endurance: Level 50[*] (43) Apocalypse - Chance of Damage(Negative): Level 50[/list]Level 28: Super Jump <ul type="square">[*] (A) Jumping IO: Level 50[/list]Level 30: Acrobatics <ul type="square">[*] (A) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 50[/list]Level 32: Inferno <ul type="square">[*] (A) Armageddon - Damage: Level 50[*] (33) Armageddon - Damage/Recharge: Level 50[*] (33) Armageddon - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 50[*] (33) Armageddon - Accuracy/Recharge: Level 50[*] (34) Armageddon - Damage/Endurance: Level 50[*] (34) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50[/list]Level 35: Fire Sword Circle <ul type="square">[*] (A) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Damage: Level 50[*] (36) Scirocco's Dervish - Damage/Endurance: Level 50[*] (36) Scirocco's Dervish - Damage/Recharge: Level 50[*] (36) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 50[/list]Level 38: Blazing Bolt <ul type="square">[*] (A) Sting of the Manticore - Accuracy/Damage: Level 50[*] (39) Sting of the Manticore - Damage/Endurance: Level 50[*] (39) Sting of the Manticore - Accuracy/Interrupt/Range: Level 50[*] (39) Sting of the Manticore - Damage/Interrupt/Recharge: Level 50[*] (40) Sting of the Manticore - Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50[/list]Level 41: Personal Force Field <ul type="square">[*] (A) Red Fortune - Defense/Endurance: Level 45[*] (42) Red Fortune - Defense/Recharge: Level 45[*] (42) Red Fortune - Defense/Endurance/Recharge: Level 45[*] (42) Red Fortune - Defense: Level 45[*] (43) Red Fortune - Endurance: Level 45[/list]Level 44: Temp Invulnerability <ul type="square">[*] (A) Impervious Skin - Status Resistance: Level 15[*] (45) Impervious Skin - Resistance/Endurance: Level 28[*] (45) Impervious Skin - Resistance/Recharge: Level 27[*] (45) Impervious Skin - Resistance/Endurance/Recharge: Level 29[*] (46) Impervious Skin - Endurance/Recharge: Level 30[*] (46) Aegis - Psionic/Status Resistance: Level 25[/list]Level 47: Force of Nature <ul type="square">[*] (A) Impervious Skin - Status Resistance: Level 15[*] (48) Impervious Skin - Resistance/Endurance: Level 30[*] (48) Impervious Skin - Resistance/Recharge: Level 30[*] (48) Impervious Skin - Resistance/Endurance/Recharge: Level 30[*] (50) Impervious Skin - Endurance/Recharge: Level 30[*] (50) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%: Level 30[/list]Level 49: Consume <ul type="square">[*] (A) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50[*] (50) Endurance Modification IO: Level 50[/list]------------
Level 1: Brawl <ul type="square">[*] (A) Accuracy IO: Level 50[/list]Level 1: Sprint <ul type="square">[*] (A) Celerity - +Stealth: Level 50[/list]Level 2: Rest <ul type="square">[*] (A) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50[/list]Level 1: Defiance
------------
[u]Set Bonus Totals:[u]<ul type="square">[*]+13% DamageBuff[*]+3% Defense(Smashing)[*]+3% Defense(Lethal)[*]+3% Defense(Fire)[*]+3% Defense(Cold)[*]+3.95% Defense(Energy)[*]+3.95% Defense(Negative)[*]+8% Defense(Psionic)[*]+3% Defense(Melee)[*]+3% Defense(Ranged)[*]+3% Defense(AoE)[*]+2.25% Max Endurance[*]+72% Enhancement(Accuracy)[*]+86.3% Enhancement(RechargeTime)[*]+99.4 (8.25%) HitPoints[*]+MezResist(Confused) (Mag 36.7%)[*]+MezResist(Held) (Mag 35%)[*]+MezResist(Immobilize) (Mag 40%)[*]+MezResist(Sleep) (Mag 39.4%)[*]+MezResist(Stun) (Mag 35%)[*]+MezResist(Terrorized) (Mag 35%)[*]+18.5% Recovery[*]+60% Regeneration[*]+10.4% Resistance(Fire)[*]+10.4% Resistance(Cold)[*]+3.13% Resistance(Negative)[*]+3% Resistance(Psionic)[*]+5.5% Debt Protection[/list]------------
[u]Set Bonuses:[u]
[u]Decimation[u]
(Fire Blast)<ul type="square">[*] +MezResist(Immobilize) (Mag 2.75%)[*] +13.6 (1.13%) HitPoints[*] +2.25% Max Max Endurance[*] +6.25% Enhancement(RechargeTime)[/list][u]Ragnarok[u]
(Fire Ball)<ul type="square">[*] +4% Recovery[*] +2.52% Res(Fire, Cold)[*] +15% Enhancement(Accuracy)[*] +10% Enhancement(RechargeTime)[/list][u]Hecatomb[u]
(Fire Sword)<ul type="square">[*] +4% Recovery[*] +2.52% Res(Fire, Cold)[*] +15% Enhancement(Accuracy)[*] +10% Enhancement(RechargeTime)[/list][u]Positron's Blast[u]
(Fire Breath)<ul type="square">[*] +2.5% Recovery[*] +1.575% Res(Fire, Cold)[*] +9% Enhancement(Accuracy)[*] +6.25% Enhancement(RechargeTime)[/list][u]Adjusted Targeting[u]
(Aim)<ul type="square">[*] +2% DamageBuff[/list][u]Adjusted Targeting[u]
(Build Up)<ul type="square">[*] +2% DamageBuff[/list][u]Miracle[u]
(Health)<ul type="square">[*] +2.5% Recovery[/list][u]Numina's Convalescence[u]
(Health)<ul type="square">[*] +12% Regeneration[/list][u]Kismet[u]
(Combat Jumping)<ul type="square">[*] +1.5% Recovery[*] +MezResist(Confused) (Mag 1.65%)[*] +1.5% Debt Protection[*] +3.75% Enhancement(RechargeTime)[/list][u]Luck of the Gambler[u]
(Stealth)<ul type="square">[*] +10% Regeneration[*] +13.6 (1.13%) HitPoints[*] +9% Enhancement(Accuracy)[*] +7.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)[/list][u]Apocalypse[u]
(Blaze)<ul type="square">[*] +16% Regeneration[*] +36.2 (3%) HitPoints[*] +4% DamageBuff[*] +10% Enhancement(RechargeTime)[*] +5% Defense(Psionic)[/list][u]Armageddon[u]
(Inferno)<ul type="square">[*] +4% Recovery[*] +2.52% Res(Fire, Cold)[*] +15% Enhancement(Accuracy)[*] +10% Enhancement(RechargeTime)[/list][u]Scirocco's Dervish[u]
(Fire Sword Circle)<ul type="square">[*] +10% Regeneration[*] +3.13% Resistance(Negative)[*] +9% Enhancement(Accuracy)[/list][u]Sting of the Manticore[u]
(Blazing Bolt)<ul type="square">[*] +12% Regeneration[*] +0.945% Def(Energy, Neg)[*] +3% DamageBuff[*] +7.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)[/list][u]Red Fortune[u]
(Personal Force Field)<ul type="square">[*] +MezResist(Immobilize) (Mag 2.2%)[*] +1.26% Res(Fire, Cold)[*] +2% DamageBuff[*] +5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)[/list][u]Impervious Skin[u]
(Temp Invulnerability)<ul type="square">[*] +MezResist(Sleep) (Mag 2.2%)[*] +18.1 (1.5%) HitPoints[*] +2% Debt Protection[*] +5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)[*] +7.5% Status Effect Duration Reduction[/list][u]Aegis[u]
(Temp Invulnerability)<ul type="square">[*] +3% Resistance(Psionic), +MezResist(Confused) (Mag 20%), +MezResist(Held) (Mag 20%), +MezResist(Immobilize) (Mag 20%), +MezResist(Sleep) (Mag 20%), +MezResist(Stun) (Mag 20%), +MezResist(Terrorized) (Mag 20%)[/list][u]Impervious Skin[u]
(Force of Nature)<ul type="square">[*] +MezResist(Sleep) (Mag 2.2%)[*] +18.1 (1.5%) HitPoints[*] +2% Debt Protection[*] +5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)[*] +7.5% Status Effect Duration Reduction[/list][u]Steadfast Protection[u]
(Force of Nature)<ul type="square">[*] +3% Def(All)[/list]


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[ QUOTE ]
Question:

Which, if running missions solo in a 6 person team is faster, a fire/fire blaster, or a fire/energy blaster? I've seen a fire/energy blaster and he went really fast, but I really havent seen a fire/fire enough to judge how good they are.

[/ QUOTE ]

If your question is speed, and you are not concerned with the types of mobs you are fighting (let's call them large numbers of minions) then fire/fire will significantly outperform fire/energy. The fire secondary has access to 4 additional AOEs: Combustion, Fire Sword Circle, Blazing Aura, and Hot Feet. When you combine those with the primary AOEs of Fireball, Firebreath and Inferno, you produce a lot of damage. What /fire doesn't get is the devastating single target attack of Total Focus, with its high probability stun.

If you ran a competition using identical maps with large concentrations minions and lts, the fire/fire would clear the map much faster than the fire/energy. Only bosses are able to survive the alpha strike using a triple AOE combo of Firebreath/Fireball/Fire Sword Circle.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
A couple comments in here I need to respond to:

1) Getting this in the blaster guides... Anyone who can help that happen, i would love it. I have asked several times to get this guide on the main page of the guides list, without any results. I'm confident I have the most up to date Fire/Fire guide around atm.

[/ QUOTE ]
The Blaster Guides is where I found this. It's the second entry under Fire.

Sorry if I misunderstood what you're asking.

[/ QUOTE ]

Woot! It is on the guide's list, I have arrived

Actually, you can find the link on both the Fire primary and Fire secondary list now.

A couple comments in here I need to respond to:

1) Getting this in the blaster guides... Anyone who can help that happen, i would love it. I have asked several times to get this guide on the main page of the guides list, without any results. I'm confident I have the most up to date Fire/Fire guide around atm.

2) Force mastery - Kind of like Churchill's quote about Democracy. Force mastery is the worst epic pool, except for all the others. I'll be honest, PPF is situational at best, and the slotting for the shield is only to give enough slots to get set bonuses, not because I have the defense of a scrapper. But FON alone is worth it. I use FON against Elite Bosses and AVs all the time. My farm mission is Battle Maiden, and I am easily able to solo her using FON. And don't underestimate the resultant defenses when all the set bonuses are applied. I find that I play Hellcatt exactly like I play my scrappers, with the only exception being against high level mezzing enemies. This build is a lot more survivable than you would think.

3) Cost of the build - Oh yeah, this thing, fully built is expensive. I have over 1 billion (with a B) influence invested in Hellcatt right now. But then I have 4 complete sets of Purple IOs slotted. Keep in mind that the point of the build is to reduce recharge time, so you are cheating in everyway you can to get those recharge reduction set bonues. I have my recharge bonus up to 158% now, which means Hasten is down for 8 seconds. This is really really close to perma-hasten. However, only a few of the IOs have to be really expensive (luck of the gambler, numina and miracle). the rest of the sets can be filled by shopping carefully and getting IOs at lower levels than max. I find that IOs that sell for 4M at level 50 can be bought for 500K at level 45. The original version of Hellcatt's IO sets was built using a 30 million influence investment and smart shopping. I filled in the expensive IOs later.

4) Combat Jump vs. Hover - Since I use the hybrid PvP build I discussed, there isn't really an option. I have to have acrobatics and SJ, so CJ is the obvious choice. But I used to use Hover, and don't really see much difference in the effects between them when fully enhanced. The main difference is that I can turn on CJ and pretty much forget it, where Hover will effect your movement. There are times I really miss Fly though.

I have reworked my Fire/Fire guide to account for Issue 11 changes and also to include PVP variations. You can find this guide here

Section 6 - Conclusion:

I’m now up to version 3 of this guide and can attest that these builds are very effective in both PVE and PVP. Of course there are plenty of options for people to use to fit their personal play style. All of these builds are very IO heavy, making maximum use of the available IO sets. The improvement in ability from using IO sets is dramatic.

The biggest concern I hear from people is cost. Yes, it is very expensive to build one of these. I have probably 200 - 300 million influence invested in my IO sets, and I haven’t purchased a single Purple IO yet. The upside though is that your ability to defeat large numbers of minions quickly gives you plenty of potential for making influence, financing the purchase of these sets.

Section 5 - PVP Builds:

I offer two PVP variations here. The first build is my version of a Stalker in a fire/fire blaster. The stealth pool is taken to make you very hard to see. After spending some time in all the PVP zones, and dying over and over again, I developed a theory on what could be effective. The one type of characters that the villians rarely have to deal with are stalkers, so many of the villians don't build in the extra perception that heroes do to deal with stalkers. I researched stealth to learn exactly how it works and what the limitations are, then tried to craft a build to accentuate the advantages of stealth.

From the Stealth pool, you select all four of the powers. With Stealth active and a stealth IO in a travel power you are invisible to most builds when over 50 feet away. This is well within the range of your attacks, except Blaze. When using Invis, you can't be seen at all. There are exceptions, such as builds with extra perception and people using yellows, but for the purpose of this build this is more than sufficient. Grant invisibility is useful for teams, and as a place to put more red fortune IO sets. Finally Phase Shift is a nice "oops, I messed up and need to escape" button. Since you are hard to see anyway, Shift is also nice for tricking someone into burning their alpha strike, like stalkers and brutes with TP Foe.

The attack concept with this build is brutally efficient. You select your target, and stand about 100 feet away. I find masterminds to be best choice for really making someone annoyed. You hit aim and build up, then press your key for attacking with fire sword. You then speed into melee range of your victim. Once you get in range, you are going to stop to swing the sword. As soon as you see the animation start, hit your blaze attack. At this point you have just done 700-800 points of burst damage, and they are likely taking DOT damage as well. Since it will be another second before Blaze comes back, Fire Blast should now finish them off. If they are still clinging to life, you can either follow up with another Blaze or speed/jump out of their visibility range.

Extreme PVP “Stalker”:

Level 1: Fire Blast - Decim-Acc/Dmg:33(A), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg:33(3), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx:33(11), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:33(25), Decim-Dmg/Rchg:33(39)

Level 1: Ring of Fire - Acc-I:50(A)

Level 2: Fire Sword - C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx:33(A), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg:33(3), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:33(15), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:33(25), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg:33(37)

Level 4: Fire Ball - Posi-Acc/Dmg:33(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx:33(5), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:33(5), Posi-Dmg/Rng:33(40), Posi-Dmg/Rchg:33(40)

Level 6: Hasten - RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(7), RechRdx-I:50(7)

Level 8: Combat Jumping - Ksmt-ToHit+:15(A), Ksmt-Def/EndRdx:30(9), Ksmt-Def/Rchg:30(9), Ksmt-EndRdx/Rchg:28(27), Ksmt-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:30(27)

Level 10: Hurdle - Jump-I:50(A), Jump-I:50(11)

Level 12: Aim - RechRdx-I:50(A), AdjTgt-ToHit/Rech:50(13), AdjTgt-Rech:50(13)

Level 14: Super Speed - Clrty-Stlth:15(A), Clrty-RunSpd:50(15)

Level 16: Build Up - RechRdx-I:50(A), Re AdjTgt-ToHit/Rech:50(17), AdjTgt-Rech:50(17)

Level 18: Health - RgnTis-Regen+:30(A), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+:33(19), Numna-Heal:33(19), Mrcl-Rcvry+:33(34), Mrcl-Heal:33(36)

Level 20: Stamina - EndMod-I:50(A), EndMod-I:50(21), EndMod-I:50(21)

Level 22: Blaze - Decim-Acc/Dmg:33(A), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg:33(23), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx:33(23), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:33(31), Decim-Dmg/Rchg:33(31)

Level 24: Super Jump - Jump-I:50(A)

Level 26: Acrobatics - EndRdx-I:50(A)

Level 28: Stealth - LkGmblr-Rchg+:50(A), LkGmblr-Def:50(29), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx:50(29), LkGmblr-Def/Rchg:33(31), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:33(33)

Level 30: Invisibility - RedFtn-Def/EndRdx:33(A), RedFtn-Def/Rchg:33(40), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg:33(43), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:33(43), RedFtn-Def:33(46)

Level 32: Inferno - Sciroc-Acc/Dmg:50(A), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(33), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx:35(33), Sciroc-Dmg/Rchg:50(34), Sciroc-Acc/Rchg:35(34)

Level 35: Blazing Bolt - Mantic-Acc/Dmg:50(A), Mantic-Dmg/EndRdx:40(36), Mantic-Acc/ActRdx/Rng:40(36), Mantic-Dmg/ActRdx/Rchg:50(37), Mantic-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(37)

Level 38: Grant Invisibility - RedFtn-Def:40(A), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg:40(39), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx:40(39), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:40(46), RedFtn-Def/Rchg:40(50)

Level 41: Personal Force Field - RedFtn-Def/EndRdx:50(A), RedFtn-Def/Rchg:50(42), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg:50(42), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:50(42), RedFtn-Def:50(43)

Level 44: Temp Invulnerability - ImpSkn-Status:15(A), ImpSkn-ResDam/EndRdx:30(45), ImpSkn-ResDam/Rchg:30(45), ImpSkn-EndRdx/Rchg:30(45), ImpSkn-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg:30(46), S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+:30(50)

Level 47: Force of Nature - ImpSkn-Status:15(A), ImpSkn-ResDam/EndRdx:30(48), ImpSkn-ResDam/Rchg:30(48), ImpSkn-EndRdx/Rchg:30(48), ImpSkn-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg:30(50)

Level 49: Phase Shift - RechRdx-I:50(A)

Note many of the changes between the PVE build and this build. Most of your secondary powers have been sacrificed for pool powers. In addition to the stealth pool, you are also taking the leaping pool to get Super Jump and Acrobatics. Acrobatics in particular is critical in PVP giving you a magnitude 100 protection against knockback. Given the proliferation of the Nemesis staff among veterans, this protection is essential.

Also note the inclusion of the Red Fortune IO set. This set gives the recharge time increase that you want out of the IO sets, replacing sets lost from your secondary. It also provides a damage buff, something always helpful.

Finally, the IO levels have been adjusted down on many powers. For example, Combat jump has 3 level 50 versions and 2 level 33 versions of Luck of the Gambler. This is done to allow you to still get the recharge set bonus (10%) from the set, even when playing in Siren’s Call, where you are automatically made level 30. The idea is to give you important powers at the levels of the PVP zones (25 for Bloody Bay, 30 for Siren’s Call, and 38 for Warburg). You will also retain many critical set bonuses, while not sacrificing much in the way of enhancement bonuses by not using level 50 IOs.

Hybrid PVE/PVP Blaster:

This second build is more of a balance between PVE and PVP. You retain most of your AoE powers, but still get critical PVP pool powers like Stealth, Super Jump and Acrobatics. You will find it performs well in PVP, but sacrifices some tactical options and survivability features. In return, you get back three important powers for PVE, Fire Breath, Fire Sword Circle and Consume.

Level 1: Fire Blast - Decim-Acc/Dmg:28(A), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx:28(3), Decim-Dmg/Rchg:28(11), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg:28(19), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:28(25)

Level 1: Ring of Fire - Acc-I:50(A)

Level 2: Fire Ball - Posi-Acc/Dmg:28(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx:28(3), Posi-Dmg/Rchg:28(5), Posi-Dmg/Rng:28(15), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:28(23)

Level 4: Fire Sword - C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg:33(A), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx:33(5), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg:33(11), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:33(19), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:33(25)

Level 6: Hasten - RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(7), RechRdx-I:50(7)

Level 8: Fire Breath - Posi-Acc/Dmg:28(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx:28(9), Posi-Dmg/Rchg:28(9), Posi-Dmg/Rng:28(15), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:28(23)

Level 10: Hurdle - Jump-I:50(A)

Level 12: Aim - RechRdx-I:50(A), AdjTgt-ToHit/Rech:50(13), AdjTgt-Rech:50(13)

Level 14: Super Speed - Clrty-Stlth:50(A)

Level 16: Build Up - RechRdx-I:50(A), AdjTgt-ToHit/Rech:50(17), AdjTgt-Rech:50(17)

Level 18: Health - RgnTis-Regen+:30(A), Mrcl-Rcvry+:40(31), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+:50(31), Mrcl-Heal:40(37), Numna-Heal:50(46)

Level 20: Stamina - EndMod-I:50(A), EndMod-I:50(21), EndMod-I:50(21)

Level 22: Combat Jumping - Ksmt-Def/EndRdx:28(A), Ksmt-Def/Rchg:28(31), Ksmt-EndRdx/Rchg:28(37), Ksmt-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:28(40), Ksmt-ToHit+:28(43)

Level 24: Stealth - LkGmblr-Rchg+:28(A), LkGmblr-Def:28(34), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx:28(37), LkGmblr-Def/Rchg:28(40)

Level 26: Blaze - Decim-Acc/Dmg:33(A), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx:33(27), Decim-Dmg/Rchg:33(27), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg:33(29), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:33(29)

Level 28: Super Jump - Jump-I:50(A)

Level 30: Acrobatics - EndRdx-I:50(A)

Level 32: Inferno - RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(33), RechRdx-I:50(33), Dmg-I:50(33), Dmg-I:50(34), Dmg-I:50(34)

Level 35: Fire Sword Circle - Sciroc-Acc/Dmg:41(A), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx:41(36), Sciroc-Dmg/Rchg:41(36), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:41(36), Dmg-I:50(43)

Level 38: Blazing Bolt - Mantic-Acc/Dmg:41(A), Mantic-Dmg/EndRdx:41(39), Mantic-Acc/ActRdx/Rng:41(39), Mantic-Dmg/ActRdx/Rchg:41(39), Mantic-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:41(40)

Level 41: Personal Force Field - RedFtn-Def/EndRdx:50(A), RedFtn-Def/Rchg:50(42), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:50(42), RedFtn-Def:50(42), RedFtn-EndRdx:50(43)

Level 44: Temp Invulnerability - ImpSkn-Status:30(A), ImpSkn-ResDam/EndRdx:30(45), ImpSkn-ResDam/Rchg:30(45), ImpSkn-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg:30(45), ImpSkn-EndRdx/Rchg:30(46), S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+:30(46)

Level 47: Force of Nature - ImpSkn-Status:30(A), ImpSkn-ResDam/EndRdx:30(48), ImpSkn-ResDam/Rchg:30(48), ImpSkn-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg:30(48), ImpSkn-EndRdx/Rchg:30(50), Aegis-Psi/Status:50(50)

Level 49: Consume - RechRdx-I:50(A), EndMod-I:50(50)

The IO levels have been adjusted down in many cases to provide as many set bonuses as possible when playing in PVP zones. This is very much a trade off, where you need to decide whether you want to sacrifice a damage bonus in Fire Blast in order to keep the recharge time bonus. This build assumes that important set bonuses like accuracy and recharge time are more important than enhancements in a single power. Careful examination of this build will show minor changes, such as use of the Aegis unique for Psi defense, instead of the Steadfast Protection knockback unique. Since you have acrobatics, the KB unique is unnecessary.

The power trade offs in this build are specific for zone PVP. I’ve delayed selection of some powers until later. This allows Combat Jumping and Stealth to be selected prior to level 25 (for Bloody Bay) and Acrobatics by level 30 (for Siren’s Call). You still have those powers available to you when playing PVE. You may still want to select those powers according the PVE build, then respec into this build once you are a high enough level. This particular build is the one I am currently using on Hellcatt, as I find I am dividing my time equally between PVE missions and PVP zones.

Section 4 – PVE Builds:

With the PVE build, I didn’t worry about set IO levels. My rationale is that when PVE, if you are Exed, then you are on a team where the bonuses are less important. It is more important to have maximum effectiveness during normal play. I treat the PVP builds differently, since the PVP zones automatically exemplar, meaning that you do have to worry about set bonuses while solo. The one additional consideration you should think about is the I11 flashback system. If you plan to be using that system extensively, you may want to look at the PVP slotting suggestions to select appropriate IO set levels.

Level 1: Fire Blast - This is the first attack you will take and you will use it your entire career. It is decently powerful and has your best range, equaling Fireball. Only Blazing Bolt has more range. Using Build up and Aim at level 50 it will hit for 283 base damage, so it is quite useful.

Decimation-Acc/Dmg:40(A),
Decimation-Dmg/EndRdx:40(5),
Decimation-Dmg/Rchg:40(5),
Decimation-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg:40(39),
Decimation-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:40(40)

(2) Reduces the duration of immobilize effects on you by 2.75%
(3) Increases maximum health by 1.13%
(4) Increases maximum Endurance by 2.25%
(5) Improves the Recharge Time of all of your powers by 6.25%

Level 1: Ring of Fire - A single target immobilize that you have to take at level 1. Not powerful enough to justify adding slots to it (especially after I9) but useful throughout your career. I find I still use it at level 50 on things that would be troubling if they got into melee range, like Carnie Strongmen.

Acc-I:50(A)

Level 2: Fire Ball - The staple of your offense and a defining power for the set. It does good damage against a wide ring of enemies (15 foot circle). Useful for range blast and blapping. Positron’s Blast is an excellent set for both of your AOE powers, giving excellent recovery, accuracy and recharge bonuses.

Positron’s Blast-Acc/Dmg:50(A),
Positron’s Blast-Dmg/EndRdx:50(3),
Positron’s Blast-Dmg/Rchg:50(3),
Positron’s Blast-Dmg/Rng:50(15),
Positron’s Blast-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(31)

(2) Improves your Recovery by 2.5%
(3) Increases Fire and Cold resistance by 1.58%
(4) Improves the accuracy of all of your powers by 9%
(5) Improves the Recharge Time of all of your powers by 6.25%

Level 4: Fire Sword - A very good single target melee attack. It does more damage than Fire Blast and I find myself using them interchangeably while blapping. Crushing Impact is a monster set for increasing damage, with a damage bonus in every IO.

Crushing Impact-Acc/Dmg:50(A),
Crushing Impact-Dmg/EndRdx:50(11),
Crushing Impact-Dmg/Rchg:50(11),
Crushing Impact-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(40),
Crushing Impact-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(40)

(2) Reduces the duration of immobilize effects on you by 2.2%
(3) Increases maximum health by 1.13%
(4) Improves the accuracy of all of your powers by 7%
(5) Improves the Recharge Time of all of your powers by 5%

Level 6: Hasten - This power increases the recharge rate on all of your powers by 70% for 2 minutes. With the additional recharge rate enhancements from the IO sets the recharge on this power drops to about 171 seconds, giving you 2 minutes with it active and 51 seconds without. For 70% of the time, you will be able to use your powers over twice as often, as long as you have endurance.

RechRdx-I:50(A),
RechRdx-I:50(7),
RechRdx-I:50(7)

Level 8: Fire Breath - Your second AoE which does excellent damage in three ticks within a decent size cone (width and depth). Range is decent as well, though less than Fireball. The notes of Positron’s Blast apply here as well, though Fire Breath probably benefits from the range increase more than Fireball. Note that the effects of the sets are cumulative. With both powers slotted, you get 18% accuracy bonus to all of your powers, not just these two.

Positron’s Blast-Acc/Dmg:50(A),
Positron’s Blast-Dmg/EndRdx:50(9),
Positron’s Blast-Dmg/Rchg:50(9),
Positron’s Blast-Dmg/Rng:50(15),
Positron’s Blast-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(34)

(2) Improves your Recovery by 2.5%
(3) Increases Fire and Cold resistance by 1.58%
(4) Improves the accuracy of all of your powers by 9%
(5) Improves the Recharge Time of all of your powers by 6.25%

Level 10: Hurdle – With the selection of Super Speed, you have little in the way of vertical movement, necessary in some of the zones. Hurdle, when combined with Combat Jump later, will allow you to jump twice as high. Not enough to jump onto rooftops, but enough to get over walls.

Jump-I:50(A)

Level 12: Aim - A must have power. You want to get this as soon as available. It gives a 62% bonus to damage for a short period. It gives an outstanding bonus to accuracy for the same period. Using this power and Build up prior to starting an attack is standard operating procedure. The new I11 ToHit IOs give an additional benefit of 26.5% ToHit enhancement, without loss of recharge speed, along with a 2% damage increase set bonus.

RechRdx-I:50(A)
Adjusted Targeting-To Hit Buff/Rech:50(13),
Adjusted Targeting-Rech:50(13),

(2) Increases damage by 2%

Level 14: Super Speed – In previous versions on my guide, I recommended taking flight instead of Super Speed in order to get vertical movement. However, over time, I’ve come to agree that the advantages of Super Speed make it a very attractive choice. First of all, you are very fast. This is one of the fastest travel powers out there, and much faster than flight. Second, it doesn’t take slots to make it effective, allowing you to use those slots elsewhere. Finally, it has a built in stealth component. If you slot a Celerity: Stealth into this power, then you will be invisible to all of the mobs, other than Arch Villians. This will allow you to get as close as you want to “line up the shot”, maximizing the effectiveness of your AOEs, especially Fire Breath. A very viable option is to also take Super Jump later, giving you the vertical capability you want. In fact, for PVP, taking both SS and SJ is almost mandatory.

Celerity-Stlth:50(A)

Level 16: Build Up - Like Aim, this power is one of your most important. I strongly advocate taking this as soon as it is available, even with the need to take Hurdle earlier in your build. Combined with Aim, the damage you will do is phenomenal. For a short period of time, all of your damage powers will increase dramatically, getting a 162% damage bonus. You will use this power in preparation for all of your attacks, whether a snipe, ranged AOE, blapping or a nuke. The new I11 ToHit IOs give an additional benefit of 26.5% ToHit enhancement, without loss of recharge speed, along with a 2% damage increase set bonus.

RechRdx-I:50(A)
Adjusted Targeting-To Hit Buff/Rech:50(17),
Adjusted Targeting-Rech:50(17),

(2) Increases damage by 2%

Level 18: Health - This power will increase your rate of health recovery. I personally find it to be less useful that other do, because I’m either at full health because everything died first, or I’m struggling to survive because I messed up and everything is attacking me. The point is that regeneration is of limited use to a Fire/Fire Blaster. However, with the slotting of the Health uniques, this power becomes more interesting. Miracle: Recovery gives a 15% bonus to endurance recovery. Numina’s Convelescence: Regen and Recovery gives a 10% bonus to recovery and a 15% bonus to health regeneration. Finally, Regenerative Tissue: Regeneration gives a 25% bonus to regeneration. By also slotting a Miracle: Heal and a Numina’s Convalescence: Heal, you get an additional 2.5% recovery bonus and 12% regeneration bonus from the set bonuses. So add all these numbers together and you get 117% regen from the enhanced health power, plus 57% from the IOs, for a total of 174% regen bonus. You also get a 27.5% bonus to recovery, which comes in handy given all the attacks you will be using. Be warned that you will spend more influence at Wentworth’s getting these three uniques than all of your other IOs combined. But the results are very much worth it.

Numina’s Convalescense-Regen/Rcvry+:50(A),
Numina’s Convalescense-Heal:50(19),
Miracle-Rcvry+:40(19),
Miracle-Heal:40(37),
Regenerative Tissue-Regen+:30(46)

Level 20: Stamina - This has always been arguably the best power in the game. I have always advocated getting this as soon as possible. I have neglected to do so once, and regretted it. When slotted with 3 endurance modifications it will increase your endurance recovery by 1 endurance point per second. Given how endurance hungry this build is, this power is vital.

EndMod-I:50(A),
EndMod-I:50(21),
EndMod-I:50(21)

Level 22: Fire Sword Circle - This power is a player based area of effect (PBAoE) power. You do significant damage to all enemies within 10 feet of you, including a chance to set them on fire for time based damage. Using Aim and Build this power makes for an effective opening attack, followed by Fireball to finish. Later on, using Blazing Aura and Hot Feet, FSC alone will usually kill all the minions. The Scirocco’s Dervish set gives a large bonus to regeneration along with another accuracy bonus that stacks with Positron’s Blast.

Scirocco’s Dervish-Acc/Dmg:50(A),
Scirocco’s Dervish-Dmg/EndRdx:50(23),
Scirocco’s Dervish-Dmg/Rchg:50(23),
Scirocco’s Dervish-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(37)

(2) Improves your Regeneration by 10%
(3) Increases Negative Energy resistance by 3.13%
(4) Improves the accuracy of all of your powers by 9%

Level 24: Combat Jumping – This is a power that I didn’t include in my previous guides, but I’ve grown to be quite fond of. First of all, it provides immobilization protection, which is critical in PVE and PVP. Second, it provides a small defensive boost that is useful when added to the other defense bonuses from IO sets. Finally, it gives you a power that lets you slot the defense IO sets. This gives you a place to slot the Luck of the Gambler: Recharge unique with its 7.5% global recharge bonus and the Kismet set that gives an additional recharge bonus and the 6% ToHit unique.

Luck of the Gambler-Rchg+:50(A),
Kismet-ToHit+:30(25),
Kismet-Def/EndRdx:30(25),
Kismet-Def/Rchg:30(39),
Kismet-EndRdx/Rchg:30(43),
Kismet-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:30(43)

Level 26: Blaze - This is a high damage, short range single target attack. It does less damage than Blazing Bolt, but more than your other ranged attacks. It recharges quickly and will become a staple for your single target attacks. Anything left alive after your AoEs, you will attack with Blaze first, and will reuse it as soon as it is available again. As mentioned, with the I8 increase to the range, it is now possible to use this attack while hidden by Stealth. The IO selection is the same for this power as for Fire Blast.

Decimation-Acc/Dmg:40(A),
Decimation-Dmg/EndRdx:40(27),
Decimation-Dmg/Rchg:40(27),
Decimation-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg:40(36),
Decimation-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:40(36)

(2) Reduces the duration of immobilize effects on you by 2.75%
(3) Increases maximum health by 1.13%
(4) Increases maximum Endurance by 2.25%
(5) Improves the Recharge Time of all of your powers by 6.25%

Level 28: Blazing Bolt - This is your single target snipe. It does a lot of damage, but takes time to execute and will be interrupted if you take damage. As a result it is often used as an opening attack, and then ignored for the rest of the fight. There will be times, such as attacking an Arch Villain in a group where you can use it over and over. If you are in a position, such as hover blasting (assuming you are using a temp power, or took Hover instead of Combat Jumping), where you are not going to take damage but need to output maximum damage, then you will use Blazing Bolt as often as it is available. Usually this means alternating between Fire Breath, Blazing Bolt and Blaze, with Aim and Build Up used as often as they are available.

Sting of the Manticore-Acc/Dmg:50(A),
Sting of the Manticore-Dmg/EndRdx:50(29),
Sting of the Manticore-Acc/ActRdx/Rng:50(29),
Sting of the Manticore-Dmg/ActRdx/Rchg:50(36),
Sting of the Manticore-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(37)

(2) Improves your Regeneration by 12%
(3) Increases Energy and Negative Energy defense by 0.95%
(4) Increases damage by 3%
(5) Improves the Recharge Time of all of your powers by 7.5%

Level 30: Consume - This power will slightly damage all enemies within 20 feet you, transferring endurance to you. With the slotting specified, you can fully recover all endurance hitting just 3 enemies. This power is most useful after using Inferno, if things are still alive. Using an endurance recovery inspiration gives you enough endurance to activate this power, giving you a full bar and the ability to continue the fight. With the recharge reduction enhancement, and the enhancements in Inferno, these two powers recharge at the same rate allowing you to always use it after using Inferno.

RechRdx-I:50(A),
EndMod-I:50(31),
EndMod-I:50(31)

Level 32: Inferno - This is your nuke. It is the best nuke in the game since it does the highest damage and it does not do knockback. This tends to make the tankers like you a little better, since anything you don’t kill will still be within their aggro range. It can miss, so there will be times that you are standing there without any endurance, all of your toggles dropped, with a couple really angry enemies coming for you. This is especially true with bosses, since Inferno is rarely able to take them out (unlike Lieutenants and minions). With the recharge, Haste and the recharge rate bonuses, this power can be available every 90 seconds. It is not uncommon to be able to use Inferno on every other mob during team missions.

RechRdx-I:50(A),
RechRdx-I:50(33),
RechRdx-I:50(33),
Dmg-I:50(33),
Dmg-I:50(34),
Dmg-I:50(34)

Level 35: Blazing Aura - The much maligned Blazing Aura. Despite its reputation, it is a decent power. When you combine it with Hot Feet, you will do a base 25 points of damage (at level 50) every 2 seconds in a 10 foot radius. Note that this is the same radius as Fire Sword Circle, creating a nice synergy. Turning on Aura and Hot Feet, hitting Aim and Build Up, then running into a crowd of minions to use FSC will generally result in everything being defeated. Anything still hanging on will fall on the next tick. The biggest drawback to this power is the endurance usage. If you take any slots from other powers, I recommend adding a 2nd slot to this power with an Endurance reduction IO. Using BA and Hot Feet, it is possible to remove Fire Breath from your build, freeing up a power selection for something else. I find that BA/Hot Feet/FSC/Fireball will equal the damage done by Fire Breath/Fireball and allows you to attack from the center of a mob instead of lining up a cone.

EndRdx-I:50(A)

Level 38: Hot Feet - Hot Feet is another maligned power that is better than its reputation. As mentioned with Blazing Aura, Hot Feet works well in conjunction with that power. Hot Feet adds three additional components. First it has a larger radius at 20 feet. Second, it slows everything in the radius. Finally, it has a fear component that makes everything try to run out of the radius. The benefits of these two powers together should be obvious. You are a blaster standing in the middle of a large group and you have just hit the entire group at the same time. You now have all the aggro on you, unless a tank can quickly pull it back. If you are also running Hot Feet and BA though, those very annoyed enemies are going to start running to get away from you, instead of trying to kill you. And they will be slowed while doing it, giving you ample opportunity to use Blaze or Fireball on them. Like Blazing Aura, this power is endurance hungry. Without the endurance enhancements, BA and Hot Feet together will consume half of your endurance recovery.

EndRdx-I:50(A),
Tempered Readiness-Dmg/Slow:30(39),
Tempered Readiness-Acc/Slow:50(50)

(2) Improves your Recovery by 1.5%

Level 41: Personal Force Field – Personal Force Field is a tremendous defensive power, providing almost 83% defense against all attack types when fully enhanced, and 28% resistance to all damage types except toxic, for those attacks that do make it through. It is a toggle, which you can run indefinitely. Unfortunately, once active, you can not take any action the affects anyone other than yourself. A very viable strategy is to attack a mob, then turn on PFF to recover health and endurance. I personally find that this power gets used mostly in PVP. For example, if stalkers are teleporting you into an ambush, you can turn on PFF, let them use their alpha strike, then drop the field and attack with your high damage powers. In PVE, though, you will find that you kill the mobs so fast that using this power is unnecessary.

Red Fortune-Def/EndRdx:50(A),
Red Fortune-Def:50(42),
Red Fortune-Def/Rchg:50(42),
Red Fortune-EndRdx/Rchg:50(42),
Red Fortune-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:50(43)

(2) Reduces the duration of Immobilize effects by 2.2%
(3) Increases Fire and Cold resistance by 1.26%
(4) Increases damage by 2%
(5) Decreases recharge time by 5%

Level 44: Temp Invulnerability – This defensive power is a very nice resistance power against smashing and lethal damage. Fully enhanced it will provide 32% reduction in damage from these two damage types, which are the most common types used. You turn it on when you activate the rest of you toggles and forget about it. Note that my recommended slotting for this power includes the +3% defense unique from Steadfast Protection along with the Status duration reduction from Impervious Skin. When combined with the second one in Force of Nature, you will find you can wait out many common stuns from smashing attacks (like Total Focus), and then defeat your enemy when it expires.

Steadfast Protection-ResDam/Def+:30(A),
Impervious Skin-Status:30(45),
Impervious Skin-ResDam/EndRdx:30(45),
Impervious Skin-ResDam/Rchg:30(45),
Impervious Skin-EndRdx/Rchg:30(46),
Impervious Skin-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg:30(46)

(2) Increases resistance to sleep effects by 2.2%
(3) Increases health by 1.5%
(4) Decreases debt by 2%
(5) Decreases recharge time by 5%

Level 47: Force of Nature – FON is the gem of this epic pool. When fully enhanced, it provides close to 50% damage resistance to everything except Psionics, plus 100% bonus to endurance recovery for two minutes. It does have a hefty crash at the end of the period, dropping your endurance by 100 points and unable to recover endurance. Since this is a click power, it doesn’t drop if you are hit with a status effect. Like Inferno, a good technique to deal with the crash is to use an endurance inspiration, then use your consume power to recover a full endurance bar. This power is also useful in conjunction with Inferno. You turn it on before attacking with Inferno, and it remains active through Inferno’s endurance crash, protecting you from enemies (such as bosses) that didn’t die. The IOs for this power include the Steadfast Protection knockback unique. While insufficient for PVP (you really need Acrobatics) it is useful for most PVE situations. About the only exception is the Nemesis staff used by Fake Nemesis bosses.

Steadfast Protection-ResKB:30(A),
Impervious Skin-Status:30(48),
Impervious Skin-ResDam/EndRdx:30(48),
Impervious Skin-ResDam/Rchg:30(48),
Impervious Skin-EndRdx/Rchg:30(50),
Impervious Skin-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg:30(50)

(2) Increases resistance to sleep effects by 2.2%
(3) Increases health by 1.5%
(4) Decreases debt by 2%
(5) Decreases recharge time by 5%

Level 49: Recall Friend – Your last power is a convenience, and you can select anything that you would like to augment your build with. You need to remember that you can only add at the most 3 slots to this power, since you get it at 49. I try to make sure that the last power I take is something that will only need 1 slot, allowing me to use the 3 slots at level 50 in places where they are needed more.

RechRdx-I:30(A)

The following is the cumulative set bonuses for the recommended build. As mentioned previously, the bonuses in accuracy, recharge time, recovery, and regeneration will result in significant improvement in your character’s capability.

+9% DamageBuff
+3% Defense
+0.95% Defense(Energy)
+0.95% Defense(Negative)
+4.5% Max Endurance
+34% Enhancement(Accuracy)
+71.3% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
+76.8 (6.38%) HitPoints
+Knockback (Mag -4)
+MezResist(Confused) (Mag 31.7%)
+MezResist(Held) (Mag 30%)
+MezResist(Immobilize) (Mag 39.9%)
+MezResist(Sleep) (Mag 34.4%)
+MezResist(Stun) (Mag 30%)
+MezResist(Terrorized) (Mag 30%)
+35.5% Recovery
+79% Regeneration
+4.41% Resistance(Fire)
+4.41% Resistance(Cold)
+3.13% Resistance(Negative)
+5.5% Debt Protection

PVE Build with Purple IO Sets – The following build uses mostly the same PVE build, but replaces 4 of the IO sets with Purple sets in Fireball, Fire Sword, Fire Sword Circle and Blaze. Note that we need to add one slot to Fire Sword Circle to get a 5th slot. I recommend taking the slot from Inferno, since 2 recharge reduction IOs will generally be sufficient for keeping the power available.

Level 1: Fire Blast - Decim-Acc/Dmg:40(A), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx:40(5), Decim-Dmg/Rchg:40(5), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg:40(39), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:40(40)

Level 1: Ring of Fire - Acc-I:50(A)

Level 2: Fire Ball – Rag-Dmg:50(A), Rag-Dmg/EndRdx:50(3), Rag- Dmg/Rchg/Acc:50(3), Rag-Dmg/Rchg:50(15), Rag-Knockdown:50(31)

Level 4: Fire Sword - Hec-Dmg:50(A), Hec-Dmg/EndRdx:50(11), Hec-Dmg/Rchg/Acc:50(11), Hec-Dmg/Rchg:50(40), Hec-Neg Energy:50(40)

Level 6: Hasten - RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(7), RechRdx-I:50(7)

Level 8: Fire Breath - Posi-Acc/Dmg:50(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx:50(9), Posi-Dmg/Rchg:50(9), Posi-Dmg/Rng:50(15), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(34)

Level 10: Hurdle - Jump-I:50(A)

Level 12: Aim - RechRdx-I:50(A), AdjTgt-ToHit/Rech:50(13), AdjTgt-Rech:50(13)

Level 14: Super Speed - Clrty-Stlth:50(A)

Level 16: Build Up - RechRdx-I:50(A), AdjTgt-ToHit/Rech:50(17), AdjTgt-Rech:50(17)

Level 18: Health - Numna-Regen/Rcvry+:50(A), Numna-Heal:50(19), Mrcl-Rcvry+:40(19), Mrcl-Heal:40(37), RgnTis-Regen+:30(46)

Level 20: Stamina - EndMod-I:50(A), EndMod-I:50(21), EndMod-I:50(21)

Level 22: Fire Sword Circle – Arm-Dmg:50(A), Arm -Dmg/EndRdx:50(23), Arm -Dmg/Rchg/Acc:50(23), Arm -Dmg/Rchg:50(34), Arm -Fire Damage:50(37)

Level 24: Combat Jumping - LkGmblr-Rchg+:50(A), Ksmt-ToHit+:30(25), Ksmt-Def/EndRdx:30(25), Ksmt-Def/Rchg:30(39), Ksmt-EndRdx/Rchg:30(43), Ksmt-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:30(43)

Level 26: Blaze – Apoc-Dmg:50(A), Apoc -Dmg/EndRdx:50(27), Apoc -Dmg/Rchg/Acc:50(27), Apoc -Dmg/Rchg:50(36), Apoc –Neg Energy:50(36)

Level 28: Blazing Bolt - Mantic-Acc/Dmg:50(A), Mantic-Dmg/EndRdx:50(29), Mantic-Acc/ActRdx/Rng:50(29), Mantic-Dmg/ActRdx/Rchg:50(36), Mantic-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(37)

Level 30: Consume - RechRdx-I:50(A), EndMod-I:50(31), EndMod-I:50(31)

Level 32: Inferno - RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(33), Dmg-I:50(33), Dmg-I:50(33), Dmg-I:50(34)

Level 35: Blazing Aura - EndRdx-I:50(A)

Level 38: Hot Feet - EndRdx-I:50(A), TmpRdns-Dmg/Slow:30(39), TmpRdns-Acc/Slow:50(50)

Level 41: Personal Force Field - RedFtn-Def/EndRdx:50(A), RedFtn-Def:50(42), RedFtn-Def/Rchg:50(42), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg:50(42), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:50(43)

Level 44: Temp Invulnerability - S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+:30(A), ImpSkn-Status:30(45), ImpSkn-ResDam/EndRdx:30(45), ImpSkn-ResDam/Rchg:30(45), ImpSkn-EndRdx/Rchg:30(46), ImpSkn-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg:30(46)

Level 47: Force of Nature - S'fstPrt-ResKB:30(A), ImpSkn-Status:30(48), ImpSkn-ResDam/EndRdx:30(48), ImpSkn-ResDam/Rchg:30(48), ImpSkn-EndRdx/Rchg:30(50), ImpSkn-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg:30(50)

Level 49: Recall Friend - RechRdx-I:30(A)

Looking at the cumulative bonuses using Purple IOs you can see significant increases in the total accuracy and recharge time bonuses, along with decent improvements in recovery and regeneration. This is on top of the benefit to the power itself from improved enhancement values. Finally, the set bonuses from these IOs will always be available to you, regardless of how low you are exemplared.

+9% DamageBuff
+3% Defense
+0.95% Defense(Energy)
+0.95% Defense(Negative)
+2.25% Max Endurance
+54% Enhancement(Accuracy)
+95.8% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
+7.12% HitPoints
+Knockback (Mag -4)
+MezResist(Confused) (Mag 31.7%)
+MezResist(Held) (Mag 30%)
+MezResist(Immobilize) (Mag 34.95%)
+MezResist(Sleep) (Mag 34.4%)
+MezResist(Stun) (Mag 30%)
+MezResist(Terrorized) (Mag 30%)
+45% Recovery
+85% Regeneration
+10.39% Resistance(Fire)
+10.39% Resistance(Cold)
+5.5% Debt Protection

Unused powers:

So some notes regarding the powers I didn’t recommend. I have actually had all of these powers in my build at one point or another. But after having played with many different configurations on Test, I’ve chosen not use four of them.

Flares: I’ve used this on a Hover-blaster build, and the range is decent. But the damage isn’t enough to warrant taking it, especially since Blaze and Fire Blast have fast recharge times. One of those single target attacks will always be available.

Rain of Fire: I like the synergy of this power with Blazing Aura and Hot Feet. However, I found that the mechanism for using it, selecting a ground target, was too cumbersome and disrupted the flow of the fight. Once you are engaged, you are going to be pressing keys continuously. Stopping in the middle to switch to the mouse to target a spot is too intrusive. If this worked the way Burn does, then I might reconsider.

Combustion: I stopped using this power because I found it to be unnecessary. It is a second PBAoE, but the damage comes over time, rather than all at once. I was finding the battles were over before I got to this point in my attack chain. It does about the same damage as Fireball and half the damage of FSC. However, you can use Fireball 2 or 3 times in the time it takes Combustion to do its work. If you do take it, I recommend using it as an opening attack, followed by FSC and the rest of your attack chain.

Burn: This is a power that has a lot of potential, but doesn’t quite work right. First of all, the burn patch is a pet so doesn’t get any damage benefits from Aim and Build up. Second it is short duration. If it lasted a little longer I would consider it, but the 8 second duration doesn’t make it worthwhile, in my opinion. If they switched the activation mechanisms between Rain of Fire and Burn I might reconsider them both.

Bonfire: A targeted AoE that does knockback for everything within a 10 foot circle. This power doesn’t really mesh well with the fire/fire concept, since you want enemies closely packed to use an AoE on them. Knockback works against that concept, and only slows you down.

Section 3 - IO Enhancement Sets:

When you start to look through the build, you will notice several powers that are not slotted they way it was done prior to I9. The reason is that this build is optimized to make maximum use of IO enhancement sets. These are slotable enhancements that give bonuses the more IOs from the set you use.

Remember, IO sets need careful consideration when determining the level you are going to slot. When you Exemplar three levels below the level of the IO you will lose the effect of the set bonuses. The enhancement values of the IOs will still operate, as will the powers of the uniques (e.g. stealth, the Miracle recovery unique).

This build's primary focus is to increase recharge time. My contention is that the Fire/Fire is most effective when dealing out damage, and the faster powers are available, the faster that can be done. You want as often as possible for every tactical option discussed above to be available to you. The secondary goal is to help with endurance recovery. Even with Stamina, you will use up endurance fast, especially with Blazing Aura and Hot Feet running. These sets will give you recovery bonuses that help tremendously. Finally, the last goal of the IO sets is to provide maximized accuracy bonuses. You want your attacks to hit.

Let's take a look at the significant bonuses that the sets will give, once fully slotted.

+9% DamageBuff
+34% Enhancement(Accuracy), +6% ToHit
+71.3% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
+Knockback (Mag -4)
+35.5% Recovery
+79% Regeneration
Stealth

Take some time considering these. With Haste running, you get over 140% increase in recharge time, not including the enhancement bonuses. You will get 35% bonus to recovery over what you get with Stamina, for a total of 3.09 endurance per second recovery (vs. the 2.68 with Stamina alone). All powers get a 34% accuracy bonus and you get a personal 6% tohit bonus, on top of the accuracy enhancements the sets give to the powers themselves. Finally, you are regenerating health 79% faster on top of the bonus you are getting from the health power, for a total regeneration bonus of 251%.

Purple IOs:

With the introduction of Issue 11, new very rare purple IO sets became available. These can only be used by characters level 47 and above, and each set can only be slotted once in a build. Because the fire/fire has a number of attack types, the following purple sets are usable by this archtype in the primary and secondary power selections.

Targeted AOE damage – Ragnarok
Dam (53%), Dam/End (33.1%), Dam/Rech (33.1%), Dam/Rech/Acc (26.5%), Rech/Acc (33.1%), Chance for Knockdown (20%)

(2) Improves your Recovery by 4%
(3) Increases Fire and Cold resistance by 2.52%
(4) Improves the accuracy for all your powers by 15%
(5) Improves the Recharge Time of all of your powers by 10%
(6) Increases Toxic resistance by 5%

Melee Damage - Hecatomb
Dam (53%), Dam/End (33.1%), Dam/Rech (33.1%), Dam/Rech/Acc (26.5%), Rech/Acc (33.1%), Chance for Negative Energy Damage (33%)

(2) Improves your Recovery by 4%
(3) Increases Fire and Cold resistance by 2.52%
(4) Improves the accuracy for all your powers by 15%
(5) Improves the Recharge Time of all of your powers by 10%
(6) Increases Toxic resistance by 5%

PBAoE Damage - Armageddon
Dam (53%), Dam/End (33.1%), Dam/Rech (33.1%), Dam/Rech/Acc (26.5%), Rech/Acc (33.1%), Chance for Fire Damage (33%)

(2) Improves your Recovery by 4%
(3) Increases Fire and Cold resistance by 2.52%
(4) Improves the accuracy for all your powers by 15%
(5) Improves the Recharge Time of all of your powers by 10%
(6) Increases Toxic resistance by 5%

Immobilize – Gravitational Anchor
Imm (47.7%), Imm/End (33.1%), Imm/Rech (33.1%), Imm/Rech/Acc (26.5%), Rech/Acc (33.1%), Chance for Hold (25%)

(2) Improves your Recovery by 4%
(3) Increases Fire and Cold resistance by 2.52%
(4) Improves the accuracy for all your powers by 15%
(5) Improves the Recharge Time of all of your powers by 10%
(6) Increases Toxic resistance by 5%

Ranged Damage - Apocalypse
Dam (53%), Dam/End (33.1%), Dam/Rech (33.1%), Dam/Rech/Acc (26.5%), Rech/Acc (33.1%), Chance for Negative Energy Damage (33%)

(2) Improves your Regeneration by 16%
(3) Increases maximum health by 3%
(4) Improves damage by 4%
(5) Improves the Recharge Time of all of your powers by 10%
(6) Increases Psionic defense by 5%

At the end of the PVE build, I provide an example of modification to the build using purple IOs, and the resultant set bonus totals.

Section 2 – The Build and Tiers of Capability:

Here are the powers and level progression to use. For the most part, I followed this although some powers (like Blazing Aura and Hot feet) I respeced into. The progression is purposeful, with the intent of giving the ability to execute one of the above roles at specific levels. The idea is that you will be effective at all levels while you grow, and each new "tier" will give you access to a new tactical option.

01) --&gt; Fire Blast
01) --&gt; Ring of Fire
02) --&gt; Fire Ball
04) --&gt; Fire Sword
06) --&gt; Hasten
08) --&gt; Fire Breath
10) --&gt; Hurdle
12) --&gt; Aim
14) --&gt; Super Speed
16) --&gt; Build Up
18) --&gt; Health
20) --&gt; Stamina
22) --&gt; Fire Sword Circle
24) --&gt; Combat Jumping
26) --&gt; Blaze
28) --&gt; Blazing Bolt
30) --&gt; Consume
32) --&gt; Inferno
35) --&gt; Blazing Aura
38) --&gt; Hot Feet
41) --&gt; Personal Force Field
44) --&gt; Temp Invulnerability
47) --&gt; Force of Nature
49) --&gt; Recall Friend

IO sets need careful consideration when determining the level you are going to slot. When you Exemplar three levels below the level of the IO you will lose the effect of the set bonuses. The enhancement values of the IOs will still operate, as will the powers of the uniques (e.g. stealth, the Miracle recovery unique). This is also true if you Exemplar below the point where the power is available to you. The exception is the new “Purple” IOs that were introduced with I11. These set bonuses are always available to you, regardless of how low you Exemplar, as long as the power is available.

Remember, when you play on a taskforce you will be automatically exemplared down to the top level of the TF. For example, doing Positron will make you level 15 for the duration of the TF. This means that how you build up over the levels, even during a respec, is very important. This build is designed to give you specific capabilities at levels 15, 20, 25, 28, 32, 38, 45 and 50. Each of these levels represents a tier at which you will have access to a set of capabilities that will allow you to excel. Additionally, the PVP versions of the build are designed to give you specific powers at levels 25, 30, and 38, which are the levels used in the PVP zones.

Tier 1 - AOEs, supported by Super Speed, Blast and Fire Sword

01) --&gt; Fire Blast
01) --&gt; Ring of Fire
02) --&gt; Fire Ball
04) --&gt; Fire Sword
06) --&gt; Hasten
08) --&gt; Fire Breath
10) --&gt; Hurdle
12) --&gt; Aim
14) --&gt; Super Speed

This tier is designed to allow you to succeed in the early levels and let you do the Positron TF. You have stealth (from your Super Speed power, see the IO sets later), as well as 2 AOEs and 2 single target attacks. You also have Aim (with its Acc and Damage boost), Hasten (with its 70% recharge boost) and a single target immobilize. This set gives you a lot of damage potential early in the build, which will help you as you level and when you Ex down to do Positron. Note that there is one anomaly in that you take Hurdle at 10. This is done to allow you to take Build Up at the first opportunity, while still getting Stamina at 20.

In the early levels, you want to take advantage of you AOEs to maximize experience gain. Missions at difficulty levels 2 or 4 are your best choice, since you maximize the number of minions, which are your primary target. Additionally, you will find hazard zones with large groups of tightly packed minions to be a good choice. Perez Park and Hollows are good locations for leveling. Once you get Super Speed at level 14, you will be able to set up your attacks for maximum effect, due to the inability of your enemies to see you.

One of the critical goals of this build is to reduce the recharge time on your powers. You don't just want them to be powerful, but you want them to be usable over and over in quick succession to allow you to keep dishing out the damage. Haste is your key for doing that, with its 70% increase if the recycle rate on your powers. Later, when all the IOs are in place, you will be getting over a 130% increase in recycle time.

Tier 2 - Add in Stamina and Build Up

16) --&gt; Build Up
18) --&gt; Health
20) --&gt; Stamina

The next tier gives you additional power in all of your attacks, plus reducing the endurance burden across the board. Doing the Synapse TF will be easier, especially since without Stamina the endurance issues are even more pronounced against Clockwork. Also keep in mind that with the extreme focus on recharge time in this build, you will be burning through endurance as a furious rate. This is another reason why Stamina is so important, along with all the recovery bonuses that come from the IOs.

At these levels you can keep hunting minions for maximum experience gain, though the hazard zones are a little low for you. Moving to Faultline and Boomtown are good choices. Faultline in particular has missions that include ArchVillians which can help you gain XP.

Tier 3 – Complete you AOE capability and add defense

22) --&gt; Fire Sword Circle
24) --&gt; Combat Jumping

Now that you have gotten the fitness pool out of the way, you can pick up your third AOE. This completes your blapping set of powers and will make you tremendously effective. You strategy will be to take advantage of your stealth IO to line up the best attack cone for firebreath, allowing you to hit as many enemies as possible. You will target one in the middle of the pack, and fire it off. After the animation completes (and it is a long animation, which makes it inappropriate for PVP), you will run next to your target and attack with Fireball. Fireball will affect all enemies within 15 feet of you. You will then complete Fire Sword Circle, which will affect all enemies within 10 feet of you. At this point all minions in the area will be defeated, and usually the lieutenants too. Simply mop up any of the remaining enemies using Fire Blast and Fire Sword.

At 24 you will take Combat Jumping, which will give you a couple important benefits. First of all, it gives you a bit of vertical ability when combined with Hurdle. Second, it provides you with protection against immobilization. Third, it provides a small amount of defense once fully slotted. Finally, and most importantly, it gives you a power to use for slotting defensive set IOs. This lets you slot the Luck of the Gambler: Recharge unique, which gives a 7.5% boost to recharge times. It also allows you to slot Kismet, which gives a 3.75% recharge boost and includes the +6% ToHit unique. The accuracy bonuses that will come with IOs are critical to this build, since you really don’t want your huge damage powers to miss, allowing enemies to survive.

This is the point where you begin doing missions in Independence Port and Talos Island. You can also start the Striga Isle story arcs and Dark Astoria opens up for you. Large crowds of Banished Pantheon are very susceptible to your AoEs.

Tier 4 - Sniping

26) --&gt; Blaze
28) --&gt; Blazing Bolt

With this tier you will add an important tactical option. Up to this point, you have relied on your AOEs to damage large groups quickly. But there are times that you will really want to remove a single troublesome target, such as a Tsoo Sorcerer. With the I8 boost to range with Blaze, you can now use stealth to get within 40 feet of your target. You hit Buildup and Aim, then Blazing Bolt. As soon as it fires, you hit Blaze, which will also be modified by Buildup and Aim. This gives you a base burst damage of almost 1800 points of damage before resists, which will kill minions and lieutenants and take a boss down considerably. Additionally, Blaze will recycle quickly, allowing you to follow up with even more damage.

Your blapping tactics will remain your bread and butter, but the additional high damage single target attacks will significantly improve your play. You can insure that one target will be defeated immediately, or you can deal with stragglers quickly.

Tier 5 - Nukes

30) --&gt; Consume
32) --&gt; Inferno

Ah Inferno. Your signature attack, the one that teams will change tactics just to let you use it more effectively. I've had tankers start running around trying to herd multiple groups into tight formations just by saying "Inferno's up". You hit everything in a wide ring with multiple fire attacks totaling over 2000 base damage before resistances. Anything still alive will be set on fire and will usually die a few seconds later. Using Aim and Build up, you will take out all of the minions and Lieutenants. The downside is that it will leave you without any endurance and unable to naturally recover any for a few seconds. This is where Consume comes into play (and is an example of why this primary and secondary work so well together). You use an endurance inspiration to get a little bit of endurance back, make sure you have 3 living enemies near you, then hit Consume. You will now have a full endurance bar and can use your blapping attacks.

At this point, you are the damage king. You will have the tools to deal with almost any situation. Any large group of minions or lieutenants in any mission or zone will be vulnerable to you.

Tier 6 - Extra Blapping with a Slow

35) --&gt; Blazing Aura
38) --&gt; Hot Feet

Yes I know, everyone thinks these two powers suck. They are wrong. You want these because they improve the blapping, especially with large groups. So a couple numbers. At level 50, Hellcatt will do 11 and 14 points of damage to everything around her every 2 seconds. With Build up and Aim, this goes even higher. This damage adds up quickly.
The most effective way to use them is to turn them both on. Hit Aim and Build up, run into the mob and hit FSC. If anything is left alive (unlikely) a Fireball will finish the job. They also have the advantage of reducing the aggro that you get from hitting so many things at the same time. When the mobs try to close to melee range, Hot Feet hits them with a fear and they try to run away. But they are slowed while doing it, giving you more time to attack them, and a few more ticks from these powers.

Tier 7 - Defense

41) --&gt; Personal Force Field
44) --&gt; Temp Invulnerability

In previous versions of this guide, I recommended using the Fire Mastery epic pool. I’ve changed that recommendation now to Force Mastery in order to provide more defensive options. You lose the ability to self-rez, but gain the excellent Force of Nature in exchange.

This tier takes the first two defenses, both of which are useful, allowing selection of Force of Nature at level 47. Personal Force Field is a terrific power, making you very very difficult to hit (82% defense once fully enhanced), reduces damage of anything that does hit (28% resistance) and provides magnitude 100 defense against all status effects. The downside is that when active, you can’t attack anything. This power is good as an escape power. If you are in over your head, you can turn it on and get out alive. Temp Invulnerability is an excellent resistance power, providing 32% resistance to smashing and lethal damage once enhanced. It is a power you will turn on and just leave running.

Tier 8 – Force of Nature and a convenience

47) --&gt; Force of Nature
49) --&gt; Recall Friend

Force of Nature is a terrific defensive power, which will last long enough for you to use your full set of powers numerous times. Note that it is a click power, meaning that you can use Inferno after turning it on, without worrying about dropping a toggle. Force of Nature provides almost 50% damage resistance to all damage types, except psionics (you will take half damage) and a 100% boost to endurance recovery. Of course, it also has the “crash” downside of all powers of this type, with a huge loss of endurance and ability to recover endurance when it expires.

The last power is completely optional. Recall friend is a convenience to allow me to get people to the mission door faster. You can choose from among the skipped powers if you like, something like Rain of Fire or Combustion. Or you could choose a pool power like Super Jump for a vertical movement option.

Is it Hot in Here? - Peg’s guide to the Fire/Fire Blaster

Section 1 - Introduction:

The Fire/Fire blaster. Wow, has this archetype gone through changes. It has been popular, flavor of the month, despised, avoided and now after I8 has come back into its own. Hellcatt is my Fire/Fire, and made level 50 in March of 2007. I created her back during I6, leveled her to 28 then forgot about her as I went off to play villains. Finally I came back and decided to get a hero to 50 so I could play around with Khelidans. So looking at my list of heroes, I could either keep working on Hellcatt, despite how much "fire/fire sucks", or start a new character.

In the end, I decided to stick with Hellcatt, but to invest some time in figuring out how to play her. Let me give credit to Snakebit. His guide is required reading for a Fire/Fire. The concept that he outlines really helped me to understand how to play this build. It forms the basis for the "blapping" set of tactics, and the core mechanisms he outlines are critical to success. The I8 increase to the damage of the /fire secondary is also a factor in the increased viability of this build. While I have deviated into something that is more versatile, his guide forms the core of the fire/fire philosophy.

For those of you that have read previous versions of my guide, you will note that my opinions on this build have modified over time. I used to recommend Fly, but now recommend Super Speed. I’ve changed the order of selection in a few cases. I no longer recommend the use of the Fire epic (unless you want to maintain a concept), and recommend Force Mastery instead. Finally, I offer 3 versions of this build, PVE, PVP “lite”, and PVP “hard core”. I have also taken into account the changes to IOs that were introduced by Issue 11.

What is a Fire/Fire Blaster anyway?

If you choose this route, understand what you are getting into. You deal damage. This is your primary and purposeful goal and you do very little else. You are optimized to deal high levels of damage in any and all situations, whether solo or on a team. You have no damage mitigation, other than inspirations. Your mitigation is to kill them before they kill you.

Get used to defeat and debt. You are going to get a lot of it. If this bothers you, then go make a stone tank. But if the thrill of dancing through 20 enemies, spinning like a marionette through the tankers and scrappers, watching hundreds of orange numbers rise up in the air over the heads of the enemies, pressing attack after attack is something that appeals to you, then you have found a home. When it is all working, it is poetry to watch. When it fails, it fails spectacularly.

Why is this build different from Snakebit's?:

As I said, I admire Snakebit's guide, but I found it to be too one dimensional for me. Blapping is fun fun fun, but there are many situations that require finesse. I wanted a build that gives me the most tactical options for any situation that arises. So in the end, I chose a combination that can fill the following roles:

1) Ranged blast – Use ranged attacks to defeat enemies from a distance, before they can get into melee range
2) Blapping - Dance through large groups dishing out damage to everything you get near
3) Stealth AOE attack - Place yourself precisely to damage and kill the maximum number of enemies from safety
4) Snipe - Distance single target attack to remove a specific enemy quickly
5) Nuke - Maximum damage single attack that will eliminate all minions and Lieutenants in a wide circle
6) High defense attacks – Use all attacks, including blapping, against dangerous enemies with superior defenses in effect

I've posted a PVP alternative to my fire/fire guide here.