Sarrate

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It's actually Damage Per Activation time. It's the damage dealt divided by the number of seconds the animation is (usually modified for Arcanatime). The dimension is damage/second.

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Yeah, the DPA reported by the game is per activation time. I use DPA to mean damage per Arcanatime.

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Oh, and before anyone asks:

ArcanaTime = ( RoundUp( CastTime / 0.132) +1 ) * 0.132

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Scrapper
Martial Arts
Ripper > Throw Spines > Impale
Throw Spines needs 140% recharge.
Ripper needs 146% recharge.
Impale Kick needs 90% recharge.

Gets 139 DPS without counting Procs. Let's all point and laugh at Spines.

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Is that counting Quills? If not, you can tack on an extra 9.1455 dps. Still, that's pretty anemic. I guess Spines will just have to console itself with some mass murd, err, arresting...

What is your budget? I ask because you're using a lot of the cheaper/unused sets (ex: Focused Smite). Depending on how much you're willing to spend on the build will change what advice people will give you.

Also, are you planning on respeccing into this, or leveling a character with this as a final build in mind? Is exemplaring important to you?

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And yeah, doesn't Siphon Life do very decent damage now?? I tested it with my lvl 42 Dark/Elec Brute and the damage is quite impressive so SF is not just a "heal". It does more damage than 2nd tier attack.

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Yep, it does roughly twice the damage it used to do and recharges in 2/3 the time (15s -> 10s). It's a great attack now. Due to it's multiple strong aspects, it benefits greatly from IOs / frankenslotting.

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Sarrate, I don't know that the damage auras can be dismissed so easily, because the primary in use buffing the aura will be different in some cases. On top of that, for instance, soul drain buffing blazing aura on a scrapper will be better than soul drain buffing blazing aura on a brute.

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Did you mean Moonlighter there? I didn't even mention auras (which +dmg would benefit from and not the +rech one).

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At what point does the +Recharge actually detract from your ability to get +Damage?

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Moonlighter: That's a difficult question to answer, but I'd also say that there are pros and cons to both approaches.

The build / chain that focuses heavily on +dmg will be more end efficient than a +rech chain (using similar end reduc slotting). It would also have higher burst damage / crit potential. It would also benefit greatly from recharge buffs, allowing them to drop lower DPA attacks in favor of better ones. The con being that these builds count against the damage cap, so if you're being backed by, say, Fulcrum Shift, you're going to have more wasted potential.

A build focusing on +recharge is pretty much the polar opposite. It would have a higher end burn (since it'd be leveraging high DPA attacks) and not benefit as much from +recharge. (It would some, but not as much.) On the other hand, it would scale magnificently with outside sources of +dmg like Fulcrum Shift.

Which is better? I'd probably say +Recharge (since it also effects other click powers, Accolades, etc), but you have to be able to manage the burn.

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To put it another way, if I have 9% global damage buff and 100% from BU, it's still just Base*(1+1+.09) correct?

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Bill: You got it.


[edit: Fixed Moonlighter's quote. I blame the telecon distracting me.]

Something you may want to keep track of, Bill, is the EPS burn of each chain too. Some chains may be awesome damage, but near impossible to sustain due to end constraints. That disparity could be quite interesting.

[edit: You just going to average out Fire Melee's dot?]

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Things aren't much better with their epics, either:
Mental Blast - scale 1 damage, 6.5 end (25% high)
Power Blast - scale 1 damage, 10.66 end (105% high)
Ice Blast - scale 1 damage, 10.66 end (105% high)
Fire Blast - scale 1.1 damage (no dot), 6.5 end (13.6% high)
Hurl Boulder - scale 1.64 damage, 11.7 end (37.2% high)
Seismic Smash - scale 2.6 damage, 18.511999 end (36.9% high)
(Not sure if those are bugs, or intentional because of Containment; somewhat dubious though since their higher costs are inconsistent.)

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Interesting... not in the sense that you intended though... all Epics are meant to have end penalties but those two powers in bold are over the edge... they are likely a bug from when they used to do inherent double damage, they got all nerfed but they most have missed fixing the end cost for all of them... If i'm not wrong all should have a 25% end penalty (with the exception of fire due to the bonus DoT that should make that penalty look smaller)

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I wasn't aware there was an end penalty, but when I compared Fire Blast/Fire Ball to Pyre/Fire Ball, there was indeed a 25% end penalty. I thought recharge was the only one applied. Good to know!

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The point was that it's a small bit of healing over time, not a reactive type power like you would use with ToF and Cobra Strike. It's an attack that has the side effect of healing you a bit. It's not a support ability with a side effect of damage like the others listed.

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Okay, now I understand where you're coming from. (I still think you're downplaying its potency, but that's also Invuln synergy talking.)

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When referencing single target dps, you are saddling yourself with Shadow Maul. I'm just as big a fan of Shadow Maul as you are Sarrate. :P

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Ahh, okay, fair enough.

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Siphon Life is less a mitigation power and more of an attack with slight mitigation potential attacked to it. It's an attack that has a tad bit of a heal attached (it really isn't all that impressive, honestly).

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I have to disagree with you here. Siphon Life's heal is incredibly powerful, on part with Reconstruction over time (or stronger depending on how much recharge you have). Firing Reconstruction every 30s is roughly 1.667 base hp%/sec. Siphon Life (slotted as a heal) equals that when being used every 12s (zero recharge). Reconstruction every 20 seconds is 2.5% base hp/sec, which SL equals being used every 8s (so 6s rech or roughly 66% enhancement).

That's not as impressive on, say a Regen, but on a set with a lot of proactive mitigation (Invuln)? That's huge.

Yeah, I know, that's when slotted as a heal rather than an attack, but I don't think it's minor at all. Besides, if you frankenslot just for raw enhancement, you can get a hefty amount of both.


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unless you wanted to saddle yourself with Shadow Maul

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I'm... not going there... :P

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just remember to always take out the zombies first,ignore the buggers shooting crossbow bolts at you,they can wait

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always kill the mortificators first.......

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Er, might be better to take down the suicide bombers first.

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The Embalmed (especially the Cadavers) are easily dispatched. Run up to them and tag them with Brawl. When they crouch down, run away and enjoy full xp. :P

As for killing the zombies vs the morts... depends on the group, but I like killing the morts. Not only do the Lieutenants rez, but their poison darts have a wicked recharge debuff. That alone makes killing the zombies pretty dang hard.

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All ATs except tankers and defenders get tools that make their endurance cost relative to damage gravitate towards 1 modifiers.

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Of course, Controller powers aren't balanced as attacks. Take the single target hold Fossilize for example, it deals scale 1 damage and costs 8.528 end, or ~64% more than a normal attack. The single target immobilizes aren't much better; Chilblain deals scale 1 damage (as a dot) and costs 7.8 end, 50% more than a normal attack. Then there are enigmatic powers like Lift that deals scale 0.8 damage and still costs 6.864 end, 65% more than it should. (Lift looks like a clone of Levitate that deals less damage and costs the same end ... Levitate's cost is as it should be.)

That's not even mentioning the fact that most times these powers are slotted for, well, control rather than damage.


Things aren't much better with their epics, either:
Mental Blast - scale 1 damage, 6.5 end (25% high)
Power Blast - scale 1 damage, 10.66 end (105% high)
Ice Blast - scale 1 damage, 10.66 end (105% high)
Fire Blast - scale 1.1 damage (no dot), 6.5 end (13.6% high)
Hurl Boulder - scale 1.64 damage, 11.7 end (37.2% high)
Seismic Smash - scale 2.6 damage, 18.511999 end (36.9% high)
(Not sure if those are bugs, or intentional because of Containment; somewhat dubious though since their higher costs are inconsistent.)

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You're only going to notice the extra defense against enemies that have +tohit, which means AE enemies with BU type powers and Rikti Drones. That's a small enough portion of the enemies you'll face (and a small enough effect compared to the benefits they'll be getting from the +tohit powers), that you're wasting +def. Go with the lower defense and higher recharge.

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You should also consider the number of enemies that have -def powers, which is not an insignificant number. Of course, you have the possibility of using elude (if you still took it) or def inspirations to carry you through times where you may face such enemies.

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Or maybe count on the fact that */SR has 99% def debuff resistance to get through those situations. If you're packing 46% +def(all), you're going to need to get hit by more than 100% -def to have any effect. To have it actually be significantly noticeable, you'd need to get hit with ~600% -def.

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I could be mistaken, but I was pretty sure def resistance was capped at 95%? If so, it'd take 20% worth of def debuffs to drop 1% of SR's defense.

The markets are all linked, there is no "Infinity" price, or "Virtue" price; they're all the same market.
[edit: As mentioned, the only difference is Hero vs Villain. Those are separate.]

Not sure how you use the market, but in general, you can get better rates if...

*) ...you don't "buy it now. Putting up bids and waiting for them to fill is cheaper.
*) ...you place bids at multiple levels. You can get some discounts for bidding on lower level IOs. For whatever reason, lvl50 IOs tend to be super expensive. Even dropping a level or two can mean a hefty price reduction.

I'm not much of a marketeer, but the first are pretty important. (I'm not guaranteeing every set will be dirt cheap, but they're ways to get them cheaper than usual.)

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Not that I have seen. Both DCUO and CO look like they are all melee characters scrappers, with a tanker toggle.

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I can't comment on what I haven't played, but if all their melee characters are "Scrappers", and that's the toughest "class," wouldn't that make them the toughest and most melee damaging?


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This quote pretty much says it all. You problem isn't with Tankers, but that Tankers exist at all. You don't want a Tank, you want a Scrapper; yet since something is tougher than a Scrapper, it automatically has to be the mirror of Superman (etc).

The fact you're not saying that Scrappers don't represent people like Superman because they take too much damage makes absolutely no sense. (If you think Scrapper Invuln is anywhere close to Tanker Invuln... heh...)


[edit: It also plainly says you want something that deals the most damage and has the most survivability.]

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Not to derail things, but in looking over numbers I'm coming to the conclusion that Tactics is actually a better choice than Focused Accuracy since FA got the nerfbat. Am I all wet there?

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My vote goes to Tactics for two main reasons - it buffs the whole team, and it's cheaper on endurance. But Focused Accuracy still has a couple major advantages - it won't burn a power pool, and it has that nifty debuff resistance.

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It does come with extra accuracy enhancement as well to partially compensate for the lower tohit buff. If you want to make sure you hit, I'd go with FA for the debuff resistance (turn it on/off as needed if end is a concern), but Tactics certainly isn't bad.

I think they're both equal with their own pros/cons.

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err.... I believe what you're seeing is because Fulcrum shift is technically a "pet" and pet summon powers are always "autohit"... because you can't fail to summon them.

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That's not true, for proof of this, check out Transfusion, which most certainly isn't autohit.

As for Fulcrum Shift, that's a tough one. The power itself is autohit (so it will always summon the first debuff pet) but the debuff pet isn't. I'll have to test this later to try to figure it out.

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I still remember when they nerfed Integration: "made portion(read: half) of its regen unenhancable and slightly reduced unenhancable portion of integration. (read: gutted it by slicing it in half)"

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I remember when Integration had no regeneration at all... and Fast Healing's regen boost used to be 40% instead of 75%. (Health's was 30% instead of 40%, I think. It might have been lower.)

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I'd stick with the 62.42 DDR number. Having doublestacked AD would be waste of endurance, a waste of slots and a waste of DPS.

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I dunno, Bill, being able to hit 95% def resistance seems invaluable to me. I'd rather have the option to do it, even if I didn't use it most times. Besides, the investment is 2 extra slots.

I'm speaking from inexperience, but I'd personally take a close look at it when designing a build.

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SR is better at defense because you can cap defense debuff resistance without even using elude. Neither EA nor SD can come close.

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SD can come close to SR's defense resistance, but it's not perfect:

Battle Agility - 21.59% slotted (13.84% base)
Grant Cover - 13.84% base (unenhanceable) **
Active Defense - 26.99% slotted (17.3% base)

A note on Active Defense - you can enhance its def resistance by slotting multi-aspect enhancers into it, namely Membranes. Also, it is possible to double stack the def resistance. So, with all the above powers slotted and AD double stacked, you're looking at around 89.41% def resistance.

Keep in mind that means you'd need to have enough recharge to double stack AD and you'd actually have to be double stacking it, which costs extra time and endurance.


[edit: ** I take that back, Grant Cover is enhanceable for Brutes / Scrappers, but not for Tanks (which is who I looked at SD last time). Not sure if that's intended or an oversight.]

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Haha! I knew you'd know the stats! Thanks for the tip on Honoree too, I'll skip him as well.

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It's not so much knowing the stats as it is knowing where to look for them.

Well, it started as the RCS (before heavy IO use) where you fought a 3 boss group of even cons (lvl50 was the highest you could find there, iirc). Tier 9s trivialized that a bit more than it does now. For one thing, it was far easier to kill a +0 group within 3 minutes, but a beating a +4 within that same time frame is much harder - making the crash a much more real possibility.

That's how I remember it, anyways. I could be off a bit.

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His Unstoppable is out of control. He will always cast it at 25%, I don't think his has a recharge.

I can get him to 25%, he will then pop Unstop. I can't beat through the resists and regen, and he gets back to 50-60%. I get him back to 25% and the cycle continues.

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It's probably the same as Honoree's in the LGTF.

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It is, indeed, identical to the Honoree's.

Unlike player Unstoppable, Statesman's lasts for 200s (instead of 180s) and it does have a recharge... it's small consolation, though, since the recharge is 245s. In other words, it has a downtime of 45s.

Good luck with that.

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Shield defense can easily get 90% debuff resistance as well.

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Are you sure? I know my BS/Shield scrapper is only around 50% debuff resistance with the entire set. I always thought it's only Super Reflexes that can get 95% debuff resistance.

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A couple tidbits about Shield def resistance:

*) Active Defense's def resistance can stack
*) Active Defense's def resistance is slottable. (Namely, Membranes.)

That's an interesting idea, Pippy, but I see one hurdle and one problem with it:

[u]Hurdle[u]: The implementation. You mentioned two solutions in your post, the first being the best, but would time / CPU intensive. Time because the devs would have to alter every attribute in every power to check the player's current endurance. CPU intensive to actually make all the checks. (There may be a better way to implement it - I don't know enough about their system, but that's how I see it from the outside.)

The debuff would be much simpler, but it begs the question "what is the right debuff value?" This is vitally important when you factor in enhancement value. Adding a 50% debuff would cut an aspect in half unslotted, but only cause a 25% decrease in an SO enhanced build. If you add a 100% debuff to balance the SO case, then powers not slotted (or aspects of a power) become useless. (Imagine this happening to a lowbie w/o SO access.) Not sure how hard it would be, but I suppose they could add a table to scale up the debuffs from a low value at low levels to higher at high levels (when SOs become available). I still don't quite like it.

[u]Problem[u]: This would penalize toggle based characters more heavily than click based ones. As soon as a toggle user drops below the end threshold, their toggles would drop in effectiveness. This would negatively effect their survivability and cause a higher rate of health fatigue than normal.

Example: A Tanker is fighting and runs low on endurance, while waiting for his end to recoup in order to have his toggles come back to full effectiveness, mobs will deal more damage to him, causing him to suffer downtime due to health.

Compare that with a more click based set like, hmm, a Controller. If they use a control and drop below the threshold, the hold's duration isn't immediately slashed since it was used above the threshold. They can now wait to peek above (if they choose) and suffer no other detriment.

At any rate, I could see people not wanting to drop below 10 end so they'd never be debuffed, this would give them 10 end less to work with.

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Having said all that, I like the general idea you've put forth, Pippy. It's definitely food for thought. Hmmm...