Santorican

Originally Posted by Moonlighter

I would love to hear your experience with an IO'd out Regen that doesn't have Parry since I can't get my Regen to perform like my other characters. But I went recharge all the way, and I just get decimated by big spawns. I haven't gone full out defense yet, but on paper (err Mid's) I just can't seem to get a build with high enough melee defense to really compare to some of my other scrappers.

And I am well aware how well regen can do when paired with Parry or DA.

Originally Posted by ClawsandEffect

I like Fire/Regen.

But, then again, I just like Regen in general. No redraw issues when you click a heal, and QR early makes you an engine of destruction much sooner than other sets.

Granted, other sets will pull ahead in the late game, but I have gotten some ridiculous survivability out of regens, even without Divine Avalanche/Parry. My main's passive regen is high enough I seldom need to click a heal, and with my experience in trial and error with the set I can do it right the first time this time around.

Originally Posted by Moonlighter

I disagree. It's Against All Odds that really kicks it over the top. That paired with Shield Charge is wonderful, but without Shield Charge the damage due to AAO would still put shield on top for any set without decent AoE output.

And it's not Shield Charge that pumps /Shield builds to solo pylons in the five minute range.

Originally Posted by New_Dark_Age

I have pondered this question ever since taking my level 42 Ice/EM tanker out of hiatus. The most recent opinions regarding Energy Melee have been negative. I have seen numberous post recently either advising that a player not take Energy Melee or claiming that the downgrade has greatly weakened the set. When I looked at the overall perspective , I could not see how simply doubling Energy's Transfer activation time and decreasing the stun in TF would severely weakend the set, except in the case of Brutes who benefit more from fast attacks. While EM has no doubt been weakened, I still find it powerful against single targets. I am a heavy hitter man who loves powers like KO blow , ET, TF, Seisimic smash so while slower I still find EM quite satisfying. Unfortunately, I find myself weaker in teams.

My Tank is quite durable but I am continueously outshown by all other sets because of their greater AOE attacks. I jump into a crowd and hit Whirling Hands then they jump into a crowd and hit Foot Stomp, Lightning Rod/Thunder Strike , Tremor, Combustion/Fire SWORD Circle and make me look like a chump. I then quickly become the secondary tanker/scranker for the team. I just cant contribute enough AOE when compared to others. I do have Taunt toggles but often the mob is dead so quickly that I might a well leave them off. This would be even worse for some other sets like WP and Invul.

Energy Melee lost some of its strength with the recent downgrade but it received nothing in return. Its very low AOE damage was not increased in any way. I understand that Whirling Hands is a Tier 5 Power and therefore probably should not match a Tier 9th like Foot Stomp or Lightning Rod. Nevertheless the developers should ponder this question as well.

There is another factor; Scrappers getting Energy Melee. If they do and Energy Melee is not changed at all, then why would anyone roll a EM tanker ? Playing a Scrapper would play more to EM's strengths so there is no logical reason to make an EM Tanker other than having that prestigous Tanker symbol by your name. While some may nitpick me on reasons to roll a Tanker, it is not the point. As far as effectiveness goes , there would be no reason to choose an EM Tanker over an EM Scrapper...unless of course there was more AOE in the Tanker EM similar to how Fire Melee has 2 AOE powers for Tankers and only 1 for Scrappers.

The solution of giving EM more AOE would be simple, change Total Focus to an AOE like Thunderstrike where it still does Extreme damage to the target but only does moderate damage to enemies around the target. Another solution which would be more controversial is to decrease the damage of Total Focus and change it to an AOE while maintaining only one Extreme damage attack, Energy Transfer and then reinstalling the original faster Energy Transfer animation or speeding up its current animation so the single target damage is not reduced by too much from losing the extreme Total Focus. The end result of the latter change would be slightly less single target damage and significantly greater AOE damage.

I myself believe that Energy Melee should have its AOE increased, especially for Tankers who need it most for Arggo control. With its current weak AOE potential, I believe it is an inadequate primary compared to other primaries for maintaining arggo and if Scrappers are giving Energy Melee, there would no reason to play an EM tanker unless some improvement occurs. Since Tankers should not have more damage than Scrappers, AOE improvement is the best way.

How would you answer this question ?

Originally Posted by Werner

Fire/Fire for getting lots of opportunities to use Rise of the Phoenix.

Originally Posted by D-Void

After having searched the scrapper forums, I've found a surprising dearth of FM/FA threads, but far more /SD, /Reg and /WP pairings. Though I love the thematic coherence of going FM/FA/Blaze, I'm getting the impression that it's not really a good synergy.

I'd be interested in knowing: what's your preferred secondary for Fire Melee, and your reasons. Extra points for rationales as to why /FA seems to get skipped over.

Thanks in advance!

Originally Posted by Fiery-Enforcer

No, the reason I was saying that as a bad point is because SC and LR are both on a long recharge so you can't consistently use them where as you can TS and SB very often to wipe out mobs. While, you can SC + LR a mob to wipe them out, but then that leaves the next mob with not so stellar AoE, as to why I suggest picking up an epic AoE blast for some extra damage.

Just my personal preference, I'd rather have consistent AoE damage rather than burst AoE damage. As to why I prefer a SS/Fire or SS/Shield Brute to a Elec/Shield Brute villain side.

Originally Posted by Silverado

AoE defense is way too underrated and neglected