Silas
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Posts
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Joined
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So with that matter more or less resolved (tyvm guys), build feedback? Already gonna dump Smoke Flash for Caltrops and chuck a Posi Dam/End in it.
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Quote:I'm getting 177.1 DPS for the Placate->AS combo without BU (864.77 divided by 4.884).Originally Posted by Microcosm
Turn on "Assassination" at the bottom of mids to see the numbers from hide. I believe the base crit chance is factored into the other attacks, but if you want to calculate how you will do with several teammates boosting your crits, you are going to have to start from scratch.
Your AS is doing 864.77 from hide, so divide that by the activation time of AS plus the activation time of Placate.
With Buildup (remove the proc) you get 1187.31, which works out to 243.1 after dividing by placate and AS activation times.
So it looks like a resounding very very yes for including Placate -> AS in my chain. Hrm, I'll have to drop a Pylon and see what it works out to overall.
As a sidenote, if the proc goes off in BU AS hits for 1,509.9
Ye gods. -
Yeah, I understand Arcanatime. Well:
DPS for chain using MG: 384.7 (MG) + 183.27 (Smite 1) + 243.41 (SL) + 183.27 (Smite 2) = 994.65. Divided by total animation time (6.732) is 147.75 DPS
What's the math for working out how Criticals boost that number or is it already factored into the Mids average damage numbers?
Placate+ AS Combo is tricky, does anyone know how to find out how much damage the Assassin Strike portion does in Mids? Mids is listing AS damage as 328.02 which I'm pretty sure is just the normal damage.
Heh, I realize I'm demonstrating gross ignorance of DPS mechanics with this thread but fuggit, I've been meaning to learn for a long time
Edit:
Quote:So it seems from what you and Arbegla are saying, throwing Placate-> AS into the mix as soon as Placate is up (since AS recharges really fast anyway, Placate is the bottleneck) would be the best way to go.Originally Posted by Microcosm
Without using buildup your chain is doing 147.75 dps. Placate+Assassin's Eclipse, again without buildup, works out to 177.06.
You should definitely take Caltrops over Smoke Flash. Caltrops adds a little dps and a good chunk of mitigation.
I figured it would be, since AS does do crazy damage. It was just irking me a little since I'd be pausing in my attacking for several seconds at a time. If the numbers back up my suspicion of it being worth it (which it seems they do) I'm sure I'll get used to it
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So I rebuilt my DM/Nin Stalker recently and decided to try him out against a Pylon. While I was beating its regen, I ended up getting bored and abandoning the attempt because of something that was bothering me.
A friend with a DM/SD said the best (or one of the best?) DM attack chains is MG-Smite-SL-Smite, or the same replacing Smite with Fire Blast. Now, I have enough recharge to run that chain on my Stalker. So my question is, how does AS work out DPS wise?
Namely, is it worth using Placate -> AS as often as possible? Or instead using Placate-> MG? I'm terrible at DPS maths so was wondering if anyone could lend some insight. Interrupting my attack chain every 18ish seconds to do Placate -> AS was sorta bothering me since I wouldn't be attacking for about 4 seconds, in which I could have used 2 of the 3 powers in my attack chain.
Second issue, general build help. The build chunk is below. Goals were: stupidly high recharge, softcapped melee/range while in combat. Not too fussed about AoE defense, really. Expense not an issue, I've already got this entire build bar the Glad Def proc which I'm working on with A-merits. Anyone have any feedback/improvements to make to the build? I'm not very experienced with melee guides so all feedback is very welcome.
I can't decide if I'm happy with Armageddons in Maul or not. On the one hand, its the only other AoE I've got other than BL and it seems fairly decent when I line up a few guys in it. On the other, it seems kinda wasteful. Might swap Smoke Flash for Caltrops, as it stands I don't use SF at all so perhaps the occasional utility of Caltrops would be better. The other thing I was considering was swapping the DW H/E/R in SL for a CI D/E/R once I've got my Spiritual Total Radial Alpha. Just on the tier1 atm. Sha is my main heal, so perhaps it'd be worth losing a tiny bit of heal on SL for more damage.
Thanks in advance
Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.93
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
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Yeah, now people are getting the hang of the new trials and getting more and more of the new Incarnate powers things are going much smoother.
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Haha, you and many others. I like yours the best though, since make-up sex is great
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Yup, thanks Aneko
Didn't change much, just added the bit about Fury to the coop vs comp aggro bit. Repost was mainly so it doesn't get pruned. -
Introduction
So for a while I was wondering what to do for my next guide project. Perhaps something on pet grooming, or Internet Sugar Daddies: the Art of Prostitution Without Getting Screwed. Maybe audiobook versions of all my guides, for the illiterate or merely lazy.
For anyone who has read uh, basically any of my other guides, I can imagine a certain amount of skepticism at me writing a melee guide.
BUT
I did a great deal of soul-searching, long walks on the beach as the sun set and generally thinking about melee.
I came to a conclusion and it is as follows:
It wasn't melee making me mad, just the people that play them!
Isn’t that great? I thought so too.
I then thought well, why do I hate them?. That answer took me a lot less time to come up with, namely “their stupid horseshit on teams”. Being a loving, tolerant sort of fellow I couldn’t care less about melee horseshit when they’re solo :3
No, in all seriousness this is actually a guide for teamy stuff for melee types. Like, for real and also for serious. If you only ever solo with your Scrapper/Stalker/Brute/Tanker, you’re free to go. Everyone else, please remain seated. Contained herein will be advicings, tips and various melee animal facts.
In my mind, playing melee effectively on a team no matter the AT boils down to two factors. One: damage and two: aggro control. Since there’s a great deal of overlap in how these factors are relevant to the 4 melee ATs (5-6 if you count Banes/NWs which I do not because COUNTING IS DIFFICULT) I’ll be talking about them in terms of general considerations rather than specifically Stalker/Brute/Scrapper/Tanker sections.
Quote:So, without further ado:Why Damage and Aggro Control?
Before I continue into the actual substance of this guide, I should clarify the above terms.
Quote:Damage: This one is simple, basically hitting things and/or killing stuff. If you’re only controlling aggro but not contributing any damage (yes, even Tanker damage) you suck at melee. Secondly, the damage you contribute has to be maximized and it has to be relevant to the team. If you’re off fighting stuff halfway across the map, well, we’re all just super duper impressed but your damage would be much better utilised where all the buffs/debuffs are and killing stuff the team is fighting. Quote:Aggro control: This one requires a little more explanation. I’m not suggesting all Tankers/Brutes be tauntbots, (quite the opposite, in fact), but that when playing melee, aggro control should be a consideration. You don’t need Taunt/Challenge/Provoke/a taunt aura to control aggro. Aggro control is also about controlling the flow of a fight, prioritizing targets and mob positioning, not just getting punched in the head so the other guys don’t. As a melee player, you’re by and large much better equipped to deal with aggro than squishies, so you should try to control aggro.
How to Not Be Bad at Melee:
Quote:Stick with the team:
While Scrappers are generally the main offenders here, I see it from all ATs. If you’re a Scrapper/Brute/Stalker, you’ve got good ST and/or AoE damage. It’ll be much better leveraged if you’re with the team so you can get all the awesome buffs and smash the debuffed mobs into bits.
If the team goes one way and you go another, finish up and go catch up with them. If you want to decide the pacing and path you take, either solo or lead the team. Don’t run off and insist on doing your own thing just because you can. It’s frustrating for people with buffs and you’re not contributing anywhere near the damage you could be.
Now, I’m not saying you should stick with the team always no matter what no exceptions because there are always exceptions. Think of it this way: imagine a bungee cord tied around your waist. You can zip off to other spawns, piss them off and then snap back to your team, dragging more mobs to the slaughter with you. You can run off ahead of the team to get to a room first to gather up the mobs so when the team arrives they’re in a neat little pile to be shredded. You can run off to quickly kill some objective mobs before bouncing back.
What I’m saying is, exercise judgement. Never straying from the team is equally idiotic as insisting on running off and doing your own thing, if less detrimental
Which brings us nicely to…Quote:Leading the Team:
Another side to sticking with the team is leading them, if/where applicable. As a melee character, you’ve got a primary or secondary set dedicated almost entirely to keeping you alive. This is a luxury other ATs don’t have. This makes you one of the best people to start a fight and soak the alpha. This applies most if you’re a Tanker, but also for the other ATs. There is almost nothing worse than a cowardly Tanker. Chances are you’re the toughest person on the team by a not insignificant margin. You should be first into the spawns. Don’t be afraid to set the pace.
You can still lead the team if you’re a Stalker, with all the eccentricities that entails. AS the nastiest thing in the spawn, scrap it out. Since the Stalker changes Stalkers are scrappier than ever before and since you know, you’re on a team, you’ll have other people there to help. This also has a use in smart application of damage for AS. If you AS something tough like a boss, the AS debuff will debuff the spawn and really reduce the alpha damage. Weigh up whether the best way to leverage the AS would be to take a chunk out of the boss and debuff the spawn or instantly drop a nasty minion/lt.
Hell, speaking of which…Quote:Target Prioritization:
Knowing which mobs can do what and their respective threats is important. Maybe not to you, as a softcapped mez-protected beast with upwards of two thousand hitpoints, but it may be a concern to the squishier team members.
This is about smart application of damage. Choosing what to attack is as important as attacking in the first place. Choosing what to attack is both important for damage, in dropping the biggest threat first and for aggro control, because my experience is that that things I try to gut ARE NONE TOO PLEASED ABOUT IT.
Imagine a large-sized Malta spawn. Sappers are a threat, the Tac Ops dudes are a threat to squishies because of their AoE long duration stuns, Gunslinger bosses are a threat because they can do a lot of damage quickly and TP around so you want them locked down. Learn what to focus on given the makeup of your team and the situation.
If you’re a Tanker, Gauntlet gives you the luxury of being able to juggle several of these tasks more easily than other melee ATs. By punching the biggest thing in the head, you’ll also get aggro on the stuff around it and have Taunt to use on stuff out of reach.
Quote:Taunt (and Taunting powers):
Now, Taunt has always gotten a lot of flack. First of all because it sucked compared to Provoke, then when it got buffed because a lot of people objected to the idea of being a Tauntbot.
GOOD NEWS EVERYONE!
Being a Tauntbot means you’re bad at Tanking. Every time I see a Tanker using Taunt from range before they enter a spawn, I facepalm. Every time I see a Tanker running into a spawn and using Taunt on the stuff right-fracking-next to them, I facepalm. Every time I see a Tanker use Taunt on stuff that is already well pissed off at them, I facepalm.
My face, you guys, my poor face. I need it to eat and breathe and stuff, have mercy.
Taunt, (and to a lesser degree Challenge and Provoke), are aggro-I-Win buttons. So…rather than spamming them like an idiot, use them on stuff you want to (here’s the tricky part) win aggro on. Stuff that’s not within range of your BRUTAL FACE PUNCHINGS, taunt/damage aura or PBAoE attacks. Stuff that’s off to the side about to bifurcate a squishy. There is also the neat trick of messing with -range on Taunt, but more on that later.
Not Taunting at all is bad. Taunting too much is also bad. Taunt has a 5 target cap, ranged AoEs are 16 and PBAoEs are 10. So you can aggro 2-3 times as many mans using them rather than Taunt.
Please use Taunt like…smart. Here’s how I break it down: If you hop into a spawn, anything that got nicked by your aura on your way to the middle is going to be mad at you, as is anything hit by your PBAoE attack if you open with it. That leaves Taunt for anything particularly nasty/multiple dudes out of your range. Time spamming Taunt is time better spent attacking and contributing damage.
Technical Aside: the way threat works is a combination of damage/debuffs applied to the mob and Taunt. Taunt acts like a multiplier for whatever threat you already have on the mob. That means if you’re Taunting stuff you’ve already Taunted instead of attacking, WHOOPS, YOU’RE AN IDIOT. The less offensive way to put this would be: using Taunt in conjunction with attacking is the best way to get and keep aggro.
Edit: Aggro can be screwy sometimes, so using Taunt more often to make sure the AV is taunted to you isn't a bad idea. Still don't spam it, but you know, use it occasionally. Doesn't have to be that often at all, since even at base it has a stupidly long duration. Also try and get a feel for whether something is aggroed on you or not. It sounds dumb, but yeah. Moving round to the side of the AV has a dual purpose. It aims all the cones and AoEs at you so the team doesn't get caught by splash and you can clearly tell when the AV is swinging at you.Quote:Cooperative, not Competitive Aggro:
If there are other melee dudes on the team, you want to be cooperating with them for aggro, not competing with them. Yes, it is hilarious and rad to wrench aggro off a Tanker by dint of kicking orders of magnitude more anus, but most of the time its not gonna help the team any more.
If you guys are gathering mobs up, don't gather up the same stuff the other guy is. Work together and grab separate spawns and bring them together for massive AoEing. Often on teams melee dudes will each go off their own way, assuming leadership but not communicating well. So you've got people herding and fighting on entirely different areas of the map, because neither of them is a big enough man to go back and fight with the rest of the team. This is bad, and people who do this should feel bad.
A friend raised an excellent point, namely that the deciding of who is 'leading' and who is the assist is tricky. Usually unspoken, too. But it also doesn't have to strictly be that way. Be flexible. If you see the other melee dude is doing some crazy awesome stuff, go join him in it. Don't refuse to be a team player because of ego nonsense.
In the beginning of a team, try and gauge how the other melee dudes (not just the rest of the team) is playing. If they're really timid, you might want to be more aggressive in leading the charges.
While having multiple melee characters on a team can mean you won't always have max Fury, this really isn't a big deal. Decently high Fury (70%ish) can be generated and maintained just by attacking, so there's no need to fight over every last scrap of aggro. To a certain extent, you've gotta be responsible for your own Fury. You can't expect others to not attack/taunt or do so less so that you have more Fury.
Contributing to the team as much as possible is more important that always having max Fury. Yes, max Fury means you do more damage which is important for your contribution to a team, but with all the damage and debuffs flying around in a team the amount of extra damage you're doing* will not justify mindlessly chasing your Fury bar.
You've basically gotta work out amongst the team how things work best. Brutes demonstrating they can take the punishment to take the brunt of things and the Tanker being willing to off-tank, so to speak. The biggest problem about aggro fights is that they're not usually done for maximizing Fury or protecting the squishies, its an ego thing. Which is bad, mmkay?Quote:*Math Example for a SS/SD Brute, courtesy of Obitus:
At 80% Fury (+160% damage), with ED-capped damage slotting (+95%) in your attacks, with Rage (+80%), with fully saturated Against All Odds (+65 damage, IIRC), you're sitting at ~500% of Brute base damage.
At 50% Fury (+100% damage) and all else being equal, you're sitting at ~440% of Brute base damage. So that 60% extra damage from Fury represents a whopping net gain of 500 / 440 = 13.6%. With one foe in range of AAO (+15.5% damage), the net difference jumps as high as 450.5 / 390.5 = 15.4%. Which is not a lot. At all. Basically, don't measure team performance by the same metrics as solo performance.Quote:Positioning:
Where you stand while you kick heads in is important for several reasons. A lot of stuff aggroed on you will try to close to melee range, so clever positioning helps you get as many mobs as possible into your and your teammates AoEs. Bunched mobs = bigger Fulcrum Shifts, bigger Heat Losses, maximized AoE attacks, all kinds of delicious stuff. At least until some shitwizard who never turns off Hurricane hops in the middle of things but I guess THAT'S LIFE.
Learn how to mess with Line of Sight. It’s really straightfoward. If the mobs can’t see you, they can’t attack you. If they’re aggroed on you, they will try to see you so they can attack you. So if you’ve got stuff aggroed on you, hop round a corner. Duck behind a crate/pillar/whatever. Stuff will bunch up around the corner to take a shot at you. They’ll bunch up delightfully to be mass debuffed and butchered.
Mess with LoS to bunch mobs up. If you can just hop right in the middle of a spawn and they’ll all clump up on you, great. But sometimes mobs aren’t that cooperative, sometimes the terrain isn’t suited for it, whatever.
The somewhat new –range debuff on Taunt also allows Line of Sight-esque shenanigans without actually blocking LoS. Hitting stuff with Taunt will cripple their range, forcing them to come closer to take a shot at you. If you’ve got a lot of stuff shooting at you from afar but can’t really block LoS or whatever, using Taunt even if they’re already aggroed can help bunch them up.
Bear in mind there is a difference between this and full-on herding. Herding doesn’t really exist anymore, since you can only have 17 mobs aggroed on you. Anything new aggroed over that limit will bump something else off the list. This means gathering mobs up is more important than trundling off to try and grab entire rooms.
Really good mob gathering comes down to two things. Speed and efficacy. If gathering up the mobs would take more time than would be saved by nuking them all down together, don’t bother. Hell, with their fondness for melee most mobs gather themselves. If trying to herd results in more stray mobs and loose aggro than otherwise, don’t do it. Clumping spawns > herding. This gives a sizeable advantage to non-damage Taunt auras because they tick more quickly and tend to have an autohit component. With something like AAO, Invincibility and to a lesser extent, RttC you can literally run past something and it’ll be taunted on you.Quote:Positional Awareness:
Being able to maximize your damage and aggro control on a team requires that you keep your head on a swivel. When I’m playing my Scrapper I keep my camera just as zoomed out as when I’m playing any of my Corruptors so that I can keep an eye on as much of the fight as I can and react accordingly.
Emphasis on being able to react accordingly. Scrapperlock is the worst absolute worst thing on a team. I’m sorry, but it is. God knows I empathize, I often feel myself slipping into it playing my Scrapper. But that singlemindedness, that tunnel vision totally, totally sucks for contributing as much as you can to a team. Going off and doing your own thing just because you can? Congratulations, you suck at teaming.
If you’re good at melee you should be able to deliver just as much butchery and dead mobs as someone in the throes of Scrapperlock. If anything, you should be able to deliver much more because you’ll be attacking where you can maximize your damage. Unless you’re fighting dentists, whose extensive knowledge of topical anaesthesia means that fighting a dentist is like hitting a bag of angry meat.
Moral of the Story: DO NOT FIGHT A DENTIST, YOU WILL ONLY LOSESo:Quote:How Silas Be Doin It:
Tadaa!
So I’ve got 2 main melee dudes. My SS/Fire Brute, who is largely an agricultural tool and my KM/SD Scrapper. Since the Brute is pretty much just for farming, we move swiftly onto the Scrapper. He was actually made from the ground-up to be my default melee dude for teams and Task Forces, for those one in a million times where we don’t already have melee and b) there is no b, stop right there, criminal scum!
Going from playing support almost exclusively to playing melee on teams was a lot like walking through a mirror. Everything is familiar, but different. Many things are reversed and also I was covered in shards of glass and bleeding all over my body. I had to be right next to things to hit them, what was the deal with that?
The reason I chose to make my main melee dude KM/SD is for several reasons though. I mean, I thought it was cool but I also thought the combo had a lot of potential and powerset synergy, both important things to consider for melee characters. This is the main point here, more on this in like, a minute. I swear. God, what a nag you are.
Using my KM/SD as an example, the powersets complement one another in a few ways. Both sets have –damage to stack, KM is a bit lacking in AoE which Shield Charge makes up for and the sets together have a lot of +damage for you. All the damage debuffs in KM/SD also help for aggro generation because the –damage isn’t actually one debuff, its 6-8 debuffs (one for each damage type. Fun Fact: the KM attacks debuff all damage types but tox/psy, AAO debuffs all 8 kinds).
So uh, I guess that about wraps it up. I’ll probably be adding more stuff to this guide as I think of it. Hope this was of some useQuote:Powerset Choice:
In the terrifying halls of my mind, I see powerset choice coming down to three factors. First of all, as mentioned above, if you like the character idea/sets. Don’t roll something you don’t enjoy.
But then comes the delicious crunchy powergaming considerations, namely synergy and potential. The realm of brutal, crushing efficiency and power. Be aware what your powersets can do and how to achieve it. Bear in mind what their given strengths and weaknesses are. For example, DM has great utility and ST damage but is a little weak on AoE. ElM has great AoE, but yo’ mommas MRP build got mo’ ST DPS.
If you’re building with IOs, which you really have no reason not to*, try and work out how to make the most of your character. Even if it’s just frankenslotting to get the most out of each power.
Quote:*Being poor ain’t no excuse. Dumping your stuff on the market as you level gets you plenty of inf and if you play something at level 50, hot burning inf is pumped directly into your rectum. Also, market forums. Go there, read the guides, learn how to make stupid amounts of money then troll by saying that manipulation is ruining everything for the casual player. Or complain about inflation, bonus points if you don’t understand how it works. Everyone wins.
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Well, whatever works for you. This doesn't seem like an issue we're gonna get anywhere on, (especially if we already had this discussion a year ago, haha), so let's just agree to disagree.
Sorry for the derail, OP. -
No, I use Aim all the time.
Let me put it this way, what are you doing with those two slots which could otherwise go in Benumb that's more important than ensuring one of your two best debuffs lands? And why couldn't those slots be taken from a less important power? -
Quote:No, Aim is there to be used as an additional tohit buff for when I need it, for Benumb or other powers. For my slotting, Aim is pure bonus. For your slotting, its making up for the power being underslotted.Originally Posted by Crazy_Larry
Yeah, I missed that part. But how is using Aim a silly solution? It's there, ready to be used. Are you just going to sit on it because you have accuracy slotted in Benumb? Is there some scenario where you're not allowed to use Aim?
You call using Aim a silly solution. I call slotting accuracy a silly waste of slots. -
Quote:This is also true, good point. It's not my preferred slotting, but its certainly a way to get the benefits of both options.Originally Posted by Wanted_NA
Or you can put the proc in Fire Blast and the rest of the set in Blaze.
Sure, it won't miss on the stuff that doesn't matter. Stuff without heavy defense buffing, stuff not several levels above you, tough AVs, etc. Either way, I don't think eyeballing it is a good enough way to measure it.Quote:Originally Posted by Crazy_Larry
I've spent hundreds and hundreds of hours on my Fire/Cold without an ACC in Benumb. And no, I don't use Infrig, I was just stating it's an option if you're that paranoid about ACC. With an IO'd build (meaning you have upwards of 30% global ACC) and Sleet constantly running (often stacked), Benumb DOES NOT miss. I'll have to watch combat logs sometime to prove it. If you're paranoid you can always save Aim (it recharges faster).
While I don't really agree with the value judgement implicit in saying "paranoid", I do want to give Benumb the best chance to hit possible. It's your AV killer power, I see no reason to skimp on accuracy for it.
I mean, its not like it takes a huge amount of slots to get good accuracy in it, mine is only 4 slotted (2acc 2 rech). Given the number of powers in /Cold that you can skimp on slots with (Infrigidate, Snow Storm, Frostworks, hell, even the shields can be okay with 2 slots) I don't see any reason to skimp on Benumb, which is one of the set-defining powers. I get that for most content its gonna be fine relying on global acc, debuffs and tohit buffs, I just don't get why you would take the chance with a power as key as Benumb.
Haha, really? I don't remember but I can imagine that being the case. I've certainly not changed my mind about slotting accuracy in one of Colds most important debuffsQuote:Originally Posted by Rad_Avenger
I find this entertaining - mainly because you and Silas had this exact same exchange six months ago in the other Fire/Cold thread. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that neither of you have changed your mind.[...]
Excellent, thanks for running the numbers for us DeaconQuote:Originally Posted by Deacon_NA
[Ker-Maths!]
So yeah, you can reliably hit that level 50 Cimeroran Boss or EB with no Accuracy in Benumb. That's not when Benumb must hit. Fighting Lord Recluse, or Battle Maiden, et al, that's when it must hit and slotting no Accuracy simply won't get it done reliably. I'm terrible at that stuff but I know enough to know I want acc in Benumb, heh.
EDIT:
Actually he says right at the start its for a +3 AV, you at 50+1 vs a 54 AV. Plus, you said your Benumb never misses in your hundreds and hundreds of hours, have all of those hours been after i19?Quote:Originally Posted by Crazy_Larry
Thank you for not including Aim. I also assume this math excludes the fact that a high end toon is level shifted to 51.
While Aim would help you hit, its a silly solution to a non-issue. Slot Benumb properly because a) you don't need a lot of slots to do so, b) there are plenty of other places to skimp on slots and c) its frigging Benumb. Then you don't need to rely on Aim or defense debuffs or whatever other nonsense. Plus, I've got Benumb slotted for Acc and Aim in my build. That gives me much better chances to land Benumb when it'll count. -
Quote:Actually, comparing Fire Blast with the Apoc set and Blaze with the Apoc set, Blaze only has marginally less DPS (46.6 Blaze vs 48.4 Fire Blast). However, Blaze blows it out of the water for DPA (279 vs 129).Originally Posted by Crazy_Larry
All of these things except the bold.
The Apoc set is mostly preference, but if you want the best possible DPS, it belongs in Fire Blast. You simply use it more in your single target attack chain and so the proc will go off more.
Blaze is your best ST ranged attack, so slot it with your best ST ranged set. Yes, Fire Blast recharges faster so if you're spamming it, the proc will go off more there. However, Blaze should be your go-to attack, your main attack, so slot it with the best set.
Yes, you do. Benumb is your main AV debuffing power, you don't want to take chances with it missing. Since you can very easily slot it to get good accuracy and recharge, there's no reason not to. Using Infrigidate later on to anything but debuff fire dealing AVs is a bit silly, since Sleet does more -def and is a large AoE.Quote:Originally Posted by Crazy_Larry
And you DO NOT need accuracy in Benumb. You have Aim, and while I'm not looking at the exact numbers, I imagine you have 30+% built-in Acc. You also have Sleet and Infrig (not to mention you can always go grab Force of Nature/Geas). If you can find me a scenario when that's not enough, I'd love to see it.
FoN/Geas will grant tohit but will also debuff your defense. Aim is arguably the best solution, but I really don't see why you wouldn't just slot Benumb properly to begin with.
You want more accuracy in it to hit AVs in +def godmodes, stuff several levels above you, etc. -
Okay?
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Heya, yep Fire/Colds are awesome.
Few tips on the build:
I'd swap the Apocalypse set to Blaze. It has much higher damage than Fire Blast so makes better use of the high damage enhancement in the set. Blaze is also your go-to kill button, so having the proc in there is better too.
Put the Ragnarok set in Fireball. The damage enhancement values are totally wasted in Sleet and you can get decent mitigation with the KB proc in Fireball. Knocking down about a third of the mobs in a spawn = win. I'd go with 2 recharge/end, a def/recharge/end and the Achilles proc. Priority is recharge, dropping the end cost and then making some more out of the -def debuff.
You're not actually softcapped to anything but energy defense. Which is fine, but I'd try and rejiggle things so you're softcapped to s/l instead or as well.
Your cold shields are underslotted. Well slotted shields should be giving 16-17% defense, yours are giving just under 13.
I'd go with a full 5 Efficacy Adaptors for Heat Loss. You can max out the recharge and get good end mod values on it with good set bonuses to boot. You'd also get some accuracy which is important too, your current slotting only has accuracy from set bonuses.
Speaking of accuracy, Benumb needs 2 acc IOs. Its not much good having it recharge really fast if it doesn't hit. Especially on AVs with defense buffing godmodes, you really want it to land. I go 2 acc 2 recharge.
Snow Storm is way, way overslotted. I personally am not a big fan of the power, but if you want to take it I'd drop some of the slots from it. Those slots can be put to much better use elsewhere.
For example, end rdx in your AoEs. Using your 3 AoEs in a row will eat about 40 endurance. You really don't want to need Heat Loss to function. Which it currently looks like you will, you've got really, really low recovery without Heat Loss up and massive endurance consumption running all your toggles. While this can be much alleviated with the Cardiac Alpha, my personal preference is to properly slot my powers to begin with so you can go Spiritual for even more recharge.
Hope that helps
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Quote:Cascading hp failureOriginally Posted by Fiery-Enforcer
Yep, 6 RoF's was fun. AV's dropped really fast once Scourge kicked in.
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Quote:Silas only sounds like silly-*** if you don't know how to pronounce it. That's okay though, I get that it was a cheap shot and doesn't necessarily have to make a lot of sense.Originally Posted by Tourettes
@Silas (which phonetically sounds similary to silly *** to me) there are a couple of things.
1- Why should I have to set the mission to -1? That's just a cop out cheater way. Sure, I don't set my stuff to +1 or +2, but is it TOO Much to ask we able to be able to fight at equal level?
2- There are no neg regen or debuffs with FF. And this may surprise you, but not all Defenders heal either.
3- "Just fly over and knock off his spawns and go back to him....By which time he's back to full health.
4- Damage cap on a defender. I can eat reds until I'm red in the face. I still won't deal signifigant dmg to take him down. Defender damage is a JOKE unless you're playing Rad or Storm and have the debuffs to offset this. Even Kinetic Fenders don't do much w/ Fulcrum Shift and 5+ mobs. I have a 50 Kin/Elec and he also could not solo Trapdoor.
Next time I have one, I'll purposefully set him to -1, but I sincerely doubt that'll be a huge difference. Reading your post and your tone sets a bad taste in my mouth, and more than anything leads me to think you really don't know what you're talking about when it comes to Defenders Solo'ing Trapdoor. Sure there may be 2 builds that can do it. FF/NRG isn't one of them.
Tourettes.
You're right, you don't have to set to -1. Perhaps I should have specified that. If you're really, really having trouble with Trapdoor you can set to -1. Otherwise, given the reds/purples situation you should be able to down him at even con or even +1.
I also mentioned nothing about Defenders having heals, so not entirely sure where you're getting that from. As for FF Defenders, that means you've got Dispersion Bubble so you only need 3 small purples to softcap. He really doesn't regen that fast without his clones. If you're only using fly, detoggle it and hop over using regular Hurdle/Swift to kill his clones if it'll be faster.
If you can't solo him with one of the powersets that most buffs your damage (Fulcrum Shift), has a fast activating and recharging self heal (Transfusion) and can instantly refill your endurance if need be (Transference) then maybe you're just bad.
If there were only two powersets or combinations that I thought could solo Trapdoor, I'd have said so. As it happens, I said even an Empath with only two attacks can solo him.
Trapdoor, even at +0 is not a terribly difficult challenge if you're willing to pop inspirations. Hell, he's not even that bad even if you refuse to pop inspirations. If you refuse to pop inspirations, refuse to turn your difficulty down, refuse to adequately use your buffs/debuffs to help you and generally refuse to do anything that will help you solo him and then can't solo him? It's your own damn fault. -
Quote:Just get a single Corruptor on the Defender and Controller teams, everyone knows Corruptors > Defenders anywayOriginally Posted by TFury
LRSF next week (now to find a defender that has the Usurper badge..... to start it).
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I seriously don't get this thing with having trouble soloing Trapdoor. You can set him to -1, get a tray full of reds and purples (400 influence). 4 small purples will softcap you to absolutely everything for 60 seconds at a time and you can use even less if you've got +def or -tohit in your primary/secondary.
3 lines of purples gives you three minutes to drop him. When he spawns his clones, hop over and blow them up. They'll be -1 minions, c'mon guys.
Most Defender primaries also have some -regen in them so you can debuff his non-clone-boosted regen too. Eat the reds, burn him down.
I've seen Trapdoor handily soloed on Empaths with like 2 attacks. I really don't get this stuff about bringing Shivans and VG Heavies and Nukes and all the rest of it. -
Fire/ is the way to go.
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HBD Llew!
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Howling Twilight recharges in 90 seconds with 3 recharge enhancements in it. If people are dying often enough that you can't afford to use it for the debuff/mez, your team has bigger problems.
Using HT purely as a rez is incredibly wasteful. -
I'm sorry Trev but I'm gonna have to bow out of this, got called in to cover a shift on Friday :C
Good luck with the TFs, guys. -
Quote:This is a quite outdated guide, there are more current guides out thereOriginally Posted by ramules
i just started a few days ago and i made my first villain as a tec, corruptor with a primary of the assault rifle and kinetics as my secondary. I know according to ur guide this isn't really good because i would be a melee, but i really wanted to go for a support role that can do damage and heal others without tec getting hurt myself. but this is a great guide and helped me which abilities i should get. That said, Assault Rifle/Kin isn't that bad. While AR is all ranged/cones and Kinetics is pretty melee heavy, Siphon Speed lets you zip around full speed so you can reposition quickly and easily.
If you want a character that can do damage as well as be a strong support character, you made the right choice with a /Kin Corruptor. -
Quote:This. The fact that the OP was very specific in what they were looking for, as well as clearly appreciative of any help they'd receive is probably why they've received so much help.Originally Posted by StratoNexus
It certainly wasn't the bribe that made me post. I have a level 50 FF/Nrg and the original poster was very detailed as to their goals. That made this an easy topic to respond to.
Most people just say "hey i want a build softcapped high rech kthx" and expect everyone to leap into a frenzy to make builds for them.