SpiderTeo_OC

1) Getting the Fighting pool is good since it stacks a couple more layers of damage mitigation in addition to your regen. Tough stacks well with Resilience for some decent S/L resists. Now Weave itself might not be that much defense in itself but if you can stack it with other sources, then it can be significant.

2) Fitness is not necessarily pointless since DM has some heal and +end powers, but it's not necessarily a mandatory power either. Fitness seems to be a given on any build because of Stamina, but Regen is a set where you do have some flexibility to forgo that whole pool. Couple that with DM's Dark Consumption and you certainly don't need the Fitness pool if you build your scrapper right. Hell, I've ran a MA/Regen for the longest time without the Fitness pool and it did just fine.

My perspective comes from need. If you are running a number of toggles on your /regen and your attacks still eat up a lot of endurance, then go get Stamina. If you don't have endurance issues, then you might not need Stamina after all. Think about what you will be running, and see if you feel the need for Stamina or not. Otherwise, that gives more flexibility to what you could get for your build.

Hey, congratulations!

I have been contemplating on respecing my Fire/Cold for some more damage mitigation in exchange for some powers that I hardly use. I am deciding to choose between Leadership and Fighting. I originally thought of going Leadership, but then I started thinking more and more about the Fighting pool since it does give better defense.

Running the numbers through Mids, here are the trade-offs for the two pools:

Leadership: +15% dam buff, plus one extra power selection (Conserve Power at this point) with positional defense at 14.4%/24.4%/23.1% (mel/rng/Aoe)

Fighting: Overall better defenses at 16.9/26.9%/30.4% (AoE is much higher because of set bonuses) and an increase in S/L reists from 28.4% to 44.8%


Though I like the damage buff, dealing damage hasn't been a problem on this corruptor. However, the Fire/Cold has little in terms of self buffs for survival. Fighting seems to fill in that hole better than Leadership. I know Leadership also adds in team buffs, but I'm not worrying too much about that since I already have the two Cold shields.

So any opinions on what to do here, and why?

Use 2-3 Level 50 Recharge IOs, depending on the slots to spare. You don't need to slot for anything else.

You can add a 3rd or 4th slot as a mule for a special IO, like the Steadfast +3% def IO, or the LotG +7.5% Global recharge.

I would think that Grant Cover is a high priority power for your later levels, not because of the team benefits but for the debuff resists. That would be important even while solo. Earlier on, the benefits are minimal to yourself. As you increase in level, and also supposedly get closer to the soft-cap, Grant Cover will help you preserve your defense against defense debuffs, and there are several by the time you get to the mid- and late game. Sure, it's not as high as SR's defense debuff resistance, but it will prevent your defense from a cascading failure.

When it comes to PvP, PvE conventional wisdom regarding the individual sets and powers goes right out of the window.

In PvE, Katana is generally the better set. I think they both have comparable DPS and burst (I can't recall numbers, so please correct me if I'm inaccurate), but Katana has better AoE capabilities and Divine Avalanche's defense buff tends to be better damage mitigation than MA's stuns.

But in PvP, it seems that MA has gotten more popular. MA probably has better burst due to EC's animation time, and the stuns tend to be more useful than the defense since there is no mez protection in PvP (just mez resistance).

Most of the information on this board tends to revolve around the PvE game, but that doesn't always apply to PvP, and it's better to check those boards to see what trends and strategies work in general, and then apply that info on a scrapper build.

The only reason to go for Body Mastery in PvP is for Focused Accuracy. That gives some +Acc or +To Hit (forgot what the numbers are for the power), To Hit Debuff resists, and a Perception buff. Web grenade is a decent single target soft-control power (-Fly, Imm), but that could be broken by a BF. Since the build already has CAK, webnade might be redundant, unless you are going for something with range.

Stuns wouldn't kill Martial Arts. I say just treat stuns the same way you would treat Crane Kick's KB. Some people don't like it, sure, but with some practice, it won't even be a minor annoyance.

If you are looking more for a glow, you can always try adjusting for character auras made available after level 30, rather than relying on power sets for "Da' Glow."

As for the sets themselves, Invulnerability seems to be most like a Golden Age secondary out of the three, thematically. If you can herd with the set then you can bring out its full potential.

Super Reflexes works too, though it is a late bloomer until you can get all your defensive powers and get them slotted up.

Dark Armor allows for multiple stunning when paired with MA, compared to the other sets.

With the most recent changes in PvP, Martial Arts is probably one of the top scrapper sets, in part to its animation times (which also impacts top damage) and soft-controls.

It's still good in PvE.

It also has to be said that MA has been marginalized compared to the rest of the Scrapper primaries. It still does a does a decent job for the role of the Scrapper, but outside of its stylish animations, it doesn't distinguish itself from the rest in terms of performance. You compare it to BS, BS will have the better burst damage. You compare it to Katana, Katana will have comparable DPS but with better AoE and DA. You compare it to Spines, Spines has better AoE capabilities, etc. Still, many players do have fun playing MA/ Scrappers and play them very effectively even if the set itself doesn't have a performance niche of its own.

That said, any buff to the set, even if it is just cosmetic, will get people excited.

That zero defense value is for the added defense from allies. If you toggle the power off and on whiel viewing the totals, then you should see the difference of 3.75%

Hey, it just takes practice. Sure, the radius of Shield's powers are not the greatest, but against serious threats, you guys shouldn't be too far apart anyway. In the same way that it takes a little practice to get a scrapper lined up for cones and KB powers, it would probably require a little more work to get the distance between the two scrappers figured out for the harder targets.

Now if you are talking about multiple targets, then it should be noted that the MA primary lacks AoE attacks against multiple targets. Shield Charge does help a little but if multiple targets are dropping you faster than you can drop them, then sticking to smaller but tougher mobs (diff. 5 than 4) might be the better scenaro for that combination.

Not to discount your experience, but I have had a different experience leveling my BS/SD scrapper. One instance was in a Sister Psyche TF where most of the team wiped and the rest trying to fight or run away. The tank got a bad alpha strike and didn't last too logn, but he did enable to rest of bust a move. Most of the team dropped and that left me alone and being told to run. Instead, I decided to hold the fort until the tank got back from the hospital. I was able to hold off most of the Freak bosses for a while, and was able to last until the tank got back to relieve me. For me, Shield Defense didn't feel weak, but tough enough in most general situations. Of course, this doesn't mean that I didn't get dropped many times, but after figuring out what the thresholds were for the toon, then I was able to get better with it.

Again, Shield Defense, like SR, just takes a bit longer to mature than other secondaries because it is a defense-based set. Even by your own words, the set isn't as tough prior to level 35, which is also the same case with Super Reflexes, but after wards it starts to get better.

The way I see it, we just can't take sets in a vacuum. If that were the case, no one would get Super Reflexes because it couldn't get to the soft-cap (outside of Elude) and everyone would be getting Regen or Willpower for Quick Recovery. That there is nearly an unlimited number of ways to customize and build a character demonstrates that one cannot just look at the individual powers at face value but also consider their impact on our powers as well. The fallacy of building with 9-and-9 + travel powers no longer applies in the game, regardless if it was the original intent. Just like toggle IH, things change.

Is Shield Defense lacking in some areas? Yes, it does. It's a bit of a late bloomer like SR, but once a SD build matures, it starts to perform well. It is harder to soft-cap than SR, true, but even around SO builds, Shields is a set that considers a team experience as well as soloing. Team with a Force Fielder or Cold Dom toon and you could get near the soft-cap, while providing some benefit to the team. In exchange, SD scrappers also have a higher potential for damage.

And while the numbers don't make Shields as tough with just SOs while soloing, just add two Shield Scrappers together and their survivability jumps up significantly, also as if the other was a defender, but without the loss of more damage. Sure, we should always try to at least take a look at powers and sets with SO builds in mind, but even for a solo AT like scrappers, we should also consider the team experience as well as when fighting alone.

Descriptions of the set combos should say what they do have rather than what they don't have. Using the term "mitigation" doesn't mean much unless you know how its applied. For example, MA/SD has some soft-controls in stuns, a KB and AoE KD, though they could said to be a indirect form of damage mitigation. BS/SD has some KD and Parry, which is a defense buff, and is great direct damage mitigation.

Shield Defense has good defense values with some minor resistance thrown in. You can soft-cap it, but it won't be as easy as /SR is. One main reason players would choose Shields for the greater damage potential while still having a high defense build (through pool powers and inventions).

I have a BS/SD and I can tell you that it's END heavy. It hits hard, but if you don't have any END management, you won't be able to last in longer fights. It seems kinda slow after leveling a MA to 50, but that's based on a personal perception.

There are at least three sides to every story.

That said, I'm withholding judgment on the Stone Tanker/Leader and the rest of the team since we haven't heard their side of the story. Sure, they might have been a green team, but we don't know if they were playing like rookies because they were rookies or because they were experienced noobs.

As for Pine, I see him/her whining that he/she got kicked from the team at best, bragging that he/she inspired scrapper envy at worse. Hey, I've seen some great players who have done some great things on this forum and in the actual game. Still, some act like jackasses on a team, and I would never willingly team with them.

I can safely assume that we all play to have fun here. If you are on a team, then you should try to contribute to the enjoyment of the team. You make a small commitment to be a team player, so you should act like it. I don't care what your normal play style is or what you think it best for yourself. Think about the other team members as well. And that's what the Pine is guilty of. Already, we see the OP bragging that he did this and that on the ITF, claiming leadership of the team as well as showing up the Stone Tanker. Big deal. I'm not impressed. I've seen it before. I'd rather team with a less experienced team that I know that I will have fun with (albeit at a slower pace) rather than tolerate a hotshot teammate who casually ignores other teammates. And hey, if being a hotshot is fun for you, then make sure that you give a chance to everyone else on the team. And if you think that the team is slowing you down, then quit and go solo; you might be happier that way.

Now, did the tanker/leader overreact? I can't say without knowing that side of the story. Hell, the leader could have been receiving tells from other teammates against Pine. I don't know. I don't care. But Pine did act counter to what the Tanker wanted to do. The fact that Pine admits to forgetting what was told to him/her tells me that Pine probably was not being mindful to his/her teammates. That already puts a small question to his/her credibility when we only know one side.

Just wait for Power Customization them. There are some punch animations now for some of the attacks, so you can make use of the set without having to rely on pool powers.

Correct, we are thinking of exemplaring conditions. If you are only getting your travel powers at levels 47 and 49, then why bother getting them in the first place? You went through most of the game without them so why even bother?

On the other hand, getting your travel powers by level 14 allows you to exemplar to any TF level and still be able to move at a decent speed. That's a big benefit when TFs are the best ways to get merits.

You can delay Stamina and the Fitness pool much later. I got it in the level 40's where I have all the toggles I will need. I suggest getting it right before Focused Accuracy, so you have the Recovery to be able to handle it.

Unlike some of the others here, I can always appreciate a soft-capped build. It's true that you might be sacrificing something for the extra defense, like +recharge and +HP, but I like to subscribe to the philosophy of survival on almost any toon, particularly when facing higher level threats.

On the flip side, if you got enough other SoA or toons with Leadership sticking close by, then you might not need that extra defense since you'll all be stacked past the soft-cap. For me, it's about building for the concept you want and like, and that it works for you in-game.

For your questions, I will concur with the comments on #1, but I'm 100% definite on that. For #2, the numbers do seem to add up correctly. I verified the numbers on City of Data, and they do match, so I don't see why it would be different from what you have right now.

Is there any reason that attacks from a Secondary set will not Crit? I know that Pool attack powers do crit (unless that has changed). Or is this more from a coding issue, a la the pseudo pet damage?

I think it's possible but you'll need a pretty specialized build. Like Shred_Monkey said, you might make a build against one of the lethal/Smashing only AVs. I personally would think that such a build might sacrifice too much in standard PvE, but you do have dual builds to use.

W'sup,

This is SpiderTeo, or Teo for short. I'm just here to have fun. My first and main toon is my MA/Regen scrapper, which I have been able to tweak and build up enough so it can do the RWZ Challenge (What? a non-sword /Regen?) and solo a pylon. I'm big into concept over min/maxing, but I can still appreciate, and have made and used, optimized builds. Hell, I even take self rez powers on my builds and am not afraid to use them. It's my reset button and it works better than a wakie.

Even though I solo a bit, I also know team dynamics. I've got TF experience behind my belt, though the one Task Force that has alluded me thus far is the Master of the Statesman Task Force (but I've always failed it due to someone else dying). But that's the Teo-Luck for ya!