SpiderTeo_OC

I was able to update and reformat my guide for the new forums. The link in my signature is working as well. If the list gets recompiled, can I get my guide included as well? Thanks.

SpiderTeo's Martial Arts guide

You don't need the APP if you don't want them. I originally had the Weaponry pool on my build some time ago, but then I respecc'ed it out. Though I sometimes miss the extra ranged and AoE capabilities, that hasn't really slowed down my MA/Regen.

If you are looking for another power, consider getting Combat Jumping. That will help with your vertical movement, plus it can also be a mule for some nice Defense IOs, like Kismet's +6% ToHit and Luck of the Gambler's +7.5% Global Recharge.

Get your travel powers sooner if you are bothering to get it in the first place. Holding off until level 50 seems to defeat the purpose when you consider the the longevity of the character while leveling.

Also get Focus Chi, preferably before Level 28.

Only get Cobra Strike if you know what to do with it. Otherwise, you can lose it in the later levels, or just use it as a IO set holder.

Because /Regen gets Quick Recovery early in its build, that gives you more flexibility than other sets. You don't even have to bother getting the Fitness pool, and if you do, you can delay it until your 40's.

For your overall build, focus on global recharge if you decide to get IO sets. That helps your both your primary and secondary.

Jack & Coke?

I wrote "Smashing Damage, resisted but not as often as lethal" in regards to smashing. I could add that little note regarding smashing damage's pros.

Well, this guide has been in the making for a couple issues now, and with the renewed interest in the set, I decided to finally get my Martial Art guide out. It is current for I15, and I expect to update it for I16.

SpiderTeo's Martial Arts Guide [I15]

So any comments, critiques, and suggestions are welcome. I figure that the Scrapper board is the best place as any to ask, and I can use the replies to refine the current guide. Also is there a way to get this linked on the Scrapper Guide post?

MARTIAL ARTS

Though this set might not be the most popular in terms of combat effectiveness, Martial Arts is still competitive in actual gameplay as well as style points. Originally thought of as the King of Single Target attacks, Martial Arts (MA) now is considered to be centered around soft-controlling and solid attacks. Of all the primary powersets, the Martial Arts scrapper has one of the best chances of disorienting/stunning enemies. Nonetheless, MA still suffers from a lack of multiple AoE attacks (cones and PBAoE) and should mostly be treated as a single-target scrapper. This should not discourage anyone from playing a MA/ scrapper, though, as the experience can as fast-paced as any other scrapper, and you'll be looking good at the same time!

INHERENT SET PROPERTIES
Here is a list of properties that are inherent to the Martial Arts set, as well as some prominent characteristics that would set it apart from other sets.

• +5% Accuracy bonus (+3.75% ToHit) to all attacks
• Smashing Damage, resisted but not as often as lethal, but good against robots
• Stunning synergy
• Cool stylin' Animations
• Only one AoE
• Limited selection of useful IO sets to slot
• Can be endurance heavy

Most of these items are self-explanatory, but some items could use additional comments.

Several attacks have stunning effects which can be stacked with each other or with other stunning effects from another character. However, using these stuns need to be used consciously, as they are not secondary effects as seen in other primaries.

There is only one AoE attack, so a Martial Arts Scrapper would need to be able to change targets or have other ways to handle multiple targets. This makes the set best suited for a single or just a few tough targets, particularly lieutenants and bosses, as opposed to a whole mess of minions.

And because it only has one AoE attack, the rest are going to be single-target melee attacks. This means that most of the useful IO sets that MA can use will be Melee (Single Target) sets. Dragon's Tail is the only other attack in the set that can use another set, Melee (PBAoE), that is worth slotting. Now, it bears mentioning that Stun, Knockback, Immobilize, and even Slow IO sets can slotted into several of MA's attacks. Some of these sets do have desirable set bonuses, but they would require to be at least 4-slotted, compromising the damage enhancement for your powers. If you do decide to include Cobra Strike in your build, then Stun IO sets could be an exception to this, as its damage is negligible anyway.

This set also has solid attacks, but that also implies heavy endurance. Stamina is highly recommended for builds that do not have the Regeneration or Willpower secondaries.


SLOTTING FOR ATTACKS
Here is my recommended slotting for attacks, using SO values as a standard unit. If you choose to use IO sets, then the enhancement values should be at least equal to these values.

3 Damage, 1 Accuracy, 1 Endurance Reduction, 1 Free Choice

As a scrapper, you should make damage as your priority. For PvE, one Acc SO should be enough for most situations. Because MA can be a little Endurance heavy, 1 EndRedux is necessary if you plan to stay in the fight for very long. The 6th slot can be devoted to either Accuracy, EndRedux, or Recharge, depending on your build and/or tastes. Using a proc is another option for the 6th slot.

Here are a list of suggested IO sets that can be used for the attacks, as well as their bonuses.

• 2-Slotted Pounding Slugfest - +regen
• 4-Slotted Kinetic Combat: +HP, +def(smashing/lethal)
• 6-Slotted Touch of Death: +HP, +def(melee)
• 5-Slotted Crushing Impact: +acc, +recharge
• 6-Slotted Mako's Bite: +HP, +dam, +def(ranged)

Slotting and recommended IO sets for other powers in the set are included in the individual power descriptions.


POWERS
These are the descriptions of each individual power, with corresponding statistics.

Thunder Kick
Level: 1
PvE Damage Scale: 0.882
End Cost: 4.368
Recharge: 3 sec
Cast: 0.83 sec
Effects: mag2 Stun for 7.152 sec (mag2 Stun for 2.384 sec for PvP) (10% chance)
Animation description: Front snap kick
This is one of choices for your first attack. At lower levels, I would recommend this power for its decent damage and quick recharge. As you get to the mid and higher levels, you could consider to replace this attack with another one. However, it is still a solid attack that you can keep even up to level 50. Thunder Kick also has a 10% chance for a mag2 Stun. This aspect of the power can be ignored, but it can be a pleasant surprise at lower levels when it does go off, and also allows Stun IO sets to be slotted into this power


Storm Kick
Level: 1
PvE Damage Scale: 1.452
End Cost: 7.0044
Recharge: 6 sec
Cast: 0.83 sec
Effects: --
Animation description: Jumping spinning heel kick
This is your other choice for your first attack. If you don't get this at level 1, then get it at level 2. With its balance of damage and recharge, Storm Kick has the best DPA of all the attacks in this set and supposedly one of the best DPA of all scrapper primaries. That alone makes this attack a keeper. Storm Kick has an additional +5% chance for a critical hit, for totals of a 10% chance against minions & players, and a 15% chance against everything else, upping its damage potential.


Cobra Strike
Level: 2
PvE Damage Scale: 0.263
End Cost: 10.14
Recharge: 20 sec
Cast: 1.67 sec
Effects: mag3 Stun for 11.92 sec (mag3 Stun for 2.384 sec for PvP)
Animation description: Open-palm strike
This has been a questionable power selection throughout all of the changes to the MA power set. It does negligible damage, and its stunning effect is not as useful in play by itself. Nonetheless, used by a skilled scrapper, Cobra Strike can still be a great tool for damage mitigation through soft-controlling. If you don't know how to use this power, or you don't want to learn how to, then don't bother. Cobra Strike requires a particular gamestyle and slotting to make it worthwhile. By itself, you will only be able to stun minions and lieutenants. In the early game, that could be useful while you are waiting for Crane Kick to recharge. However, once you get to the upper levels, it losses its usefulness unless you can start to use it against bosses, who have mag3 protection to stuns. One way to do so is to stack it with another power such as Thunder Kick (very low chance) or Eagle's Claw (your tier 9). The other way is to stack it with itself by increasing the stun duration and lowering the recharge time. Because global recharge is more available than stun effect increases, you want to slot for Disorient Duration first then for recharge. To make this a viable power you will need to at least 4-slot it, barring Hami-Os and IO sets.
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Suggested Slotting: at least 2 Disorient Duration SO, 1 Recharge SO, 1 Accuracy SO; ideally 3 Disorient Duration SOs, 2 Recharge SOs, 1 Accuracy SO
Suggested IO Sets: Stupefy Set for +HP, +Recharge, +def (ranged), and KB proc; Razzle Dazzle set for +def (melee/AoE); Rope a Dope set for +regen


Focus Chi
Level: 6
PvE Damage Scale: --
End Cost: 5.2
Recharge: 90 sec
Cast: 1.17 sec
Effects: ToHit +20% for 10 sec
Base Damage(All types) +100% for 10 sec
Animation description: Scrapper stands with hands clenched, head lifting up
Ths is MA's build up power, but with a cooler name. This is also a mandatory power for anyone wishing to push his or her scrapper to the limits. For ten seconds after activation, you get a +20% ToHit bonus and a +100% bonus to base damage. That's ten seconds to get your scrapper-lock on. And ten seconds is a long time for scrapper-lock. You want to have this power up and ready as often as possible, so slot it first for Recharge then for ToHit.
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Suggested Slotting: 3 Recharge SOs, then for ToHit if slots are available.
Suggested IO Sets: The Adjusted Targeting set can can hit the ED cap for both Recharge and ToHit with just 5 slots plus global recharge, though a 6-slotted Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control set provides some nice defense bonuses.


Crane Kick
Level: 8
PvE Damage Scale: 2.058
End Cost: 10.192
Recharge: 10 sec
Cast: 1.67 sec
Effects: 6.231 Knockback (60% Chance)
Animation description: Strong side kick
This is your second strongest attack, and it's available at a pretty early level. Take it and keep it, as this is a great finishing attack and part of your damage mitigation. Crane Kick has KnockBack, which is both a blessing and burden. As a blessing, it can knock troublesome mobs off their feet with ragdoll physics, which makes them to take more time to recover than the usual KnockDown. That can give you a little time to heal up, finish off another mobs, or to continue the beatdown without fear of immediate retaliation. As a burden, it knocks mobs away from you, a melee combatant. That can be irritating as it forces you to run up to the critter in order to beat it down again. However, that can be easily remedied with targeting the mob against a wall or increased movement speed. Despite the KB, Crane Kick should be a regular part of your arsenal.


Warrior's Challenge
Level: 12
PvE Damage Scale: --
End Cost: --
Recharge: 3 sec
Cast: 1.67 sec
Effects: mag4 Taunt for 23.1 sec (mag4 Taunt for 6.16 sec for PvP)
Range -75% for 12 sec
Animation description: unknown, "come here" hand gesture?
This is MA's Confront power, but with a cooler name. It's the scrapper's single-target taunt. Overall, most scrappers won't bother to get this, even with a scrap-tank build. Because it's single-target, you would only really see much benefit out of this in small groups, and in small groups you might as well use an attack to get aggro. This is definitely a skippable power.


Crippling Axe Kick
Level: 18
PvE Damage Scale: 1.722
End Cost: 8.528
Recharge: 8 sec
Cast: 1.6 sec
Effects: mag2 (mag3 50% chance) Immobilize for 11.92s (50% mag2 Immobilize for 2.384 sec for PvP)
RunSpeed, SpeedJumping -0.4 for 8 sec
-1.6 Fly for 8 sec
JumpHeight -40% for 8 sec
Animation description: Inside crescent kick to axe kick
Despite its respectable damage, this power is split in its popularity, partly because of its quirky animation, partly because of its legacy back when CoH first went online. It is the third hardest hitting attack in the set, but its animation time and the late timing of the delivery of damage make this power skipped over by many players. Plus its immobilize and -Speed effects are not that useful for scrappers, as most players who can deal with Crane Kick's KB can equally deal with running mobs. In its defense, it has decent burst damage, and its DPA is good enough that it is used in high DPS attack chains. Plus its -Fly effect is useful for flying enemies to bring them closer to you. Along with Thunder Kick, Crippling Axe Kick can be kept up to level 50, but it can be replaced by another power. It's up the the individual player to decide if it fits in his or her build or not.


Dragon's Tail
Level: 26
PvE Damage Scale: 1.239
End Cost: 13.52
Recharge: 14 sec
Cast: 1.5 sec
Effects: .67 Knockback (75% chance)
Animation description: 360 degree low sweep kick
This is MA's only AoE attack, and it's a great one at that. A Point-Blank attack rather than a cone, Dragon's Trail doesn't require you to position yourself in any particular direction in order to hit multiple targets. It also has a KnockDown component, so it also has a level of damage mitigation as well. Dragon's Tail is your crowd-control power for an otherwise single-target set. Whether you like it because it hits multiple targets or because it can knock them all down, you'll want to keep spamming this attack every time it comes up.
--
Suggested IO Sets: 6-Slotted Obliteration for +acc, +recharge, +def(melee); 6-Slotted Eradication for +HP, +def(Energy, Negative, AoE); 6-Slotted Scirocco's Dervish for +regen, +acc, +def(ranged, psi)


Eagles' Claw
Level: 32
PvE Damage Scale: 2.622
End Cost: 11.856
Recharge: 12 sec
Cast: 2.53 sec
Effects: mag3 Stun for 4.768 sec (mag3 Stun for 2.384 sec for PvP)
Animation description: Bullet-time 360 degree spinning jump kick into a springboard back flip
This is your Tier-9 attack, the strongest single damaging attack in the Martial Arts set. Despite its cool looking animation, it does take a significant amount of time to complete, even longer than Crippling Axe Kick. There will be times in teams when you activate the power against a mob and during the animation, your team will drop its health from full to nothing before you can connect for damage. Despite this drawback, you'll still want this power for its damage and its now 100% mag3 stun effect which can stun minions and lieutenants. Coupled with a well-slotted Cobra Strike, you can stun Bosses and even Elite Bosses. Finally, Eagle's Claw has an exceptionally good chance to score a critical hit, or a straight-up 15% rate. Because of its animation, you usually want to open with this attack. In teams, once you get into the chaos of combat, you'll be using this power less often in favor for quicker attacks like Storm Kick or Crane Kick. Nonetheless, this is a great attack for the Bosses, and it stacks well with Energy Melee attacks, Rad Blast's Cosmic Burst, and other MA scrappers. Only really specialized builds can consider dropping this attack.


SECONDARIES
Because of the single-target nature of the Martial Arts set and some of its other properties, there are certain considerations for some secondary Defense Powersets.

Dark Armor
The significance of this powerset is the Oppressive Gloom power. This toggle has a mag2 Stun aura in an 8 ft. radius. Stacked with Cobra Strike or Eagle's Claw, this power can reliably keep bosses stunned.

Fiery Aura
Some of Fiery Aura's PBAoE attacks could help round out Martial Art's lack of AoE attacks. MA's only AoE, Dragon's Tail, could also be useful to keep multiple mobs in melee range for Fiery Aura to do its work.

Invulnerability
Invulnerability's highest potential comes in herding multiple mobs around itself, due to the Invincibility power. But this does run counter to Martial Art's focus on few mob targets. Otherwise, the sets themselves are compatible but a player needs to be aware of varying levels of performance through the length of some fights, and whether fighting solo or on teams.

Regeneration
This set is powerful and versatile so it works well with all sets. However, many of its core powers are click activated, which causes redraw for weapon sets. Because Martial Arts does not have any weapons to be drawn, some players who are decided on the Regeneration set might consider Martial Arts as an option. This is also a powerful set in solo or small team settings, which works well with Martial Art's focus.

Shield Defense
This set can be used to increase the damage potential of a Martial Arts Scrapper. Shield Charge also supplements another AoE attack to assist Martial Arts against multiple targets. Shield Defense is a late bloomer, so damage mitigation from your primary, such as Crane kick and possibly Cobra Strike, would be useful in the early levels.

Super Reflexes
This reliable set works well for all primary sets, including Martial Arts. Like Shield Defense, this is also a late blooming set, so using your primary for damage mitigation is definitely recommended, particularly at lower levels.

Willpower
Just as Invulnerability, Willpower becomes more powerful when surrounded by more targets. And just as Invulnerability, a MA/Willpower Scrapper would need to find a balance between its primary and secondary powersets.


POOL POWERS
There are as many different builds as there are players, and pool powers contribute greatly to this. However, some of these powers would have some particular consideration for the Martial Arts set.

Fighting
If you are getting Tough and Weave, then you will need to get either Boxing or Kick. Boxing can be a later replacement for Thunder Kick as their DPA is kinda close (though higher recharge would cause a more disparity in TK's favor). Kick has more burst still than Boxing, and has Knockback as opposed to Boxing's chance to Stun. Using one of these powers in place for Thunder Kick or another power could help free up a power pick.

Fitness
Even if you are also a Regen or Willpower, the Fitness pool is usually recommended simply for Stamina. Several players have said that Martial Arts can be Endurance-heavy, so this pool would be necessary for sustaining a continuous chain of quick and rapid attacks if access to Quick Recovery is not available.

Flight
If you choose Flight as your travel power, then Air Superiority is an excellent power to open the set and as a supplemental attack. Like Boxing, Air Superiority can be used to replace an attack in the your primary. Its damage is comparable to Thunder Kick and Boxing, and is only slightly worse in DPA than Thunder Kick (again high recharge can show more disparity between the powers). However, it also has a KnockUp and -Fly component. Because Martial Arts doesn't have to worry about redraw, Air Superiority is a great attack that won't slow down your primary. The KnockUp can be chained with Crane Kick and Dragon's Tail to keep mobs off their feet, and the -Fly could allow this power to even replace Crippling Ax Kick in terms of soft-control.


ATTACK CHAINS
Before I get into this section, I do want to state that the fascination with DPS should really only be a concern if you are dealing with high HP targets, like Elite Bosses, AVs, and the occasional Rikti Pylon. Even Bosses could probably be taken down fast enough that using an optimized DPS attack chain might not make a big difference.

With that said, I want to begin by throwing some credit to Werner since he did the hard work of getting these attack chains for me. The optimized chain attack for Martial Arts is:

Storm Kick -> Crane Kick -> Storm Kick -> Crippling Axe Kick

This assumes +225% recharge in Storm Kick (and comparable +recharge in the other attacks) so that there are no gaps in the chain. Even with slotting and IO set bonuses, Hasten might be needed to get the required recharge for this chain. For downtime of Hasten, Thunder Kick (or another fast attack) could be used as filler to help keep DPS from dropping too low:

Storm Kick -> Crane Kick -> Thunder Kick -> Storm Kick -> Crippling Axe Kick -> Thunder Kick

Now for me, I like using Eagle's Claw in my build, and dropped Crippling Axe Kick due to its animation. You can use Eagle's Claw in place of Crippling Axe Kick in the above chains, though this will drop your DPS about about 5%, according to Werner's calculations. So the attack chains using Eagle's Claw would then be:

High Recharge: Storm Kick -> Crane Kick -> Storm Kick -> Eagle's Claw

Low Recharge: Storm Kick -> Crane Kick -> Thunder Kick -> Storm Kick -> Eagle's Claw

Again, these are just suggested chains for you to use, but feel free to experiment and calculate to see what chains work best for you, and to see if you would prefer another variant of the above examples. However, for any hard hitting DPS chains, you will need at least two of the "Big 3" attacks of the set, which include Eagle's Claw, Crane Kick, and Crippling Axe Kick (Storm Kick is a given to be in your build). Without at least two of these strong attacks, you would not be able to min/max a high DPS chain. But that should not be a deterrent to play, experiment, and make a concept with the Martial Arts set for your Scrapper.


-=BONUS SECTION=-

USING COBRA STRIKE LIKE A KUNG FU MASTER
Okay, here is my personal section on how to use a power that seems pretty useless as you get to higher levels. Honestly, I hardly ever use Cobra Strike anymore, but I still have it in my build for when I exemplar low enough to lose some of my super cool powers, for keeping a Purple set in it, and for the occasional Boss that might give me problems.

For the most part, by the time you get Eagle's Claw, your stunning needs are taken care of, and you don't need Cobra Strike any more. However, there are times that it is useful, and need to be stacked with Eagle's Claw in order to temporarily neutralize an immediate threat. These "immediate threats" are usually a problem when soloing or in small teams, as large team dynamics more than likely compensates for any deficiencies in a single hero.

For the most part, you got to slot up Cobra Strike as described in its entry above. Without that slotting, Cobra Strike is a one-shot pony for lieutenants and minions, and it's mostly wasted on them. With that slotting, you'll be able to double-stack it for bosses and sometimes Elite Bosses. Once you get Eagle's Claw, you can stack both powers to get an immediate stun on bosses so they can drop their toggles or keep them contained for a little while to give you some breathing room.

Not all bosses need to be stunned, however. A smart Martial Arts Scrapper knows which enemies pose as a greater threat than others. With that said, here is a list of critters that could be a problem if you are running low on inspirations on the field or have not fully slotted out your build.

Ring Mistresses
Yeah, these girls are a real [censored] for any soloing scrapper. Though some secondaries do better against them than others, if they hit you with Mask of Vitiation it's almost game over, man, but almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. From my experience, if I get hit with that Mask, then I got to be swallowing inspirations like a junkie until the power is over. It wasn't until I was able to double stack Cobra Strike or combo Cobra Strike with Eagle's Claw that I can confidently take down a Ring Mistress without fiending on blues. Even with Quick Recovery and Stamina, you can probably still feel that Mask, so stunning the Carnie is a good idea before she can perma-Mask you.

Fake Nemesis
These guys are pain when they hit that Personal Force Field of theirs where they become untouchable. To prevent that from happening, stun them so you can always get your attacks to connect. Stunning them is faster than waiting for them to drop their Personal Force Field.

Gunslingers
I only add these guys here because some players have said that their high Accuracy renders defensive builds moot. Personally, I haven't seen it, but I play a MA/Regen. In any case, stunning their lieutenant and boss variants can cut down on their shooting time, and lower the risk of another shot.

Malta Sappers
Like the Ring Mistresses, these guys can drain you of Endurance and probably keep you perma-Held if your mez protection drops. At one time, opening up with Cobra Strike was a smart move to stun them and prevent them from attacking at all while you defeated them. Opening up with another attack could still allow them to activate an attack which could mess up your Recovery. However, since Eagle's Claw now has a 100% mag3 stun, opening up with that power is probably your best move. If you don't one-shot the Sapper, the stun will keep him disabled long enough for follow-up attacks.

Sorcerers
Most Tsoo are not bad by themselves, but once they get in a group, each of their individual powers can cause problems for a soloer. Sorcerers in particular can debuff your To Hit and heal up damaged enemies, erasing any progress you've done so far. If you don't have the high damage potential yet, usually because you are still leveling up, then a quick stun to these Sorcerers will stop their bothersome tactics and allow you to drop a mob or two before he can regain his senses and start his heals again.

Circle of Thorn Mages, especially Ruin
Okay, almost everyone I play with universally hate the CoT. They have a number of debuffs that can overwhelm some toons, or at least annoy them. At the lower levels, Ruin Mages can be a pain for any player who hasn't gotten KB protection (Positron TF). So in these cases, a quick stun might be able to hold them off before they hit their AoE effects and give enough time for the team to drop him.

Paragon Protectors
Paragon Protectors are some of the tougher critters that the Crey can throw at you. What makes them even worse is that they might use one of their special "tier 9s" to prevent eminent defeat and prolong the fight. Their Unstoppable might not be so bad for heavy damage dealers, but their Elude and Moment of Glory are [censored] to deal with. Avoid the frustration and stun them before they can start their respective animations. Like with Fake Nemesis, you got to time when to stun, not too late or not too early. If you can pull it off, then those Paragon Protectors won't frustrate you as much.

Rogue Vanguard
These guys are only available in the Rikti War Zone arcs, but you won't forget them after your first encounter. They not only hit hard, but some of them can use the Curse of Weariness power which will significantly cut your Max Endurance. Using the Nectanebo's Curse Breaker temp power would probably be your best bet, but if you run out of uses, then stunning might be a possible alternative to prevent this nasty debuff.

For PvP, Regen seems to be the popular choice.

The "SK - CK - SK - CAK" chain is a very high recharge change. I think you need to get at least +225% recharge on Storm Kick in order for this chain to really work without any gaps.

CAK has a better DPA than EC, but the drop of DPS may not be that big of a difference in an optimized build.

For PvP, this kind of chain might not always work if we consider an enemy always on the move. Then you are best served just using your key burst attacks. Eagle's Claw is you heaviest hitter plus it has its stun, so that should usually be your opener.

Heh, I like how statistics can be used to support anything you want them to support. But my point still stands:

[ QUOTE ]
I find it both amusing and confounding that people keep thinking that Willpower has better +regen than Regeneration, particularly when Regeneration can cap out its Hit Points easily and has Instant Healing, which does beat a fully saturated RttC.

[/ QUOTE ]

But...
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The +regen dominance issue is pretty much a non-point: */WP wins; RttC is simple better than Integration and Instant Healing combined.

[/ QUOTE ]
Bovine feces. If you want to consider the downtime of IH, then you also got to consider non-saturated stats of RttC, and that can fluctuate any number of times while idle, running from mob to mob, or in the middle of a spawn. Numerically, Regen beats out WP when it comes to having the highest +regen rate. There's really no way to deny that.

With that said, +regen rate is not the end-all/be-all of which set works better for you. I believe it's still a matter of style, and a personal preference.

I find it both amusing and confounding that people keep thinking that Willpower has better +regen than Regeneration, particularly when Regeneration can cap out its Hit Points easily and has Instant Healing, which does beat a fully saturated RttC.

Regen tends to be favored over WP in PvP. Though it has more layered mitigation, WP simply doesn't have the unconditionally high +regen of Regeneration, plus its click heals can come at very opportune times even despite heal decay. Willpower's Rise to the Challenge power can also be simply detoggled by any mez attack because it also have a -To Hit component in its aura.

Burst damage seems to be the general consensus for PvP. That's why Broadsword and Fire Melee are so popular; they bring out big chunks of damage in just a few hits. Katana might also work, but it's less burst damage and more DPS. Martial Arts is also a decent primary for PvP, and probably even better than Katana because it has some controls to its attacks. Sure, it won't hit as hard as Head Splitter, but Eagle's Claw also has a 100% mag3 Stun which will drop or suppress your target's toggles. That is something you can't ignore in PvP, where in the zone or arena.

Spines seems to be popular because it also has range attacks as well as melee. Plus it also does toxic damage, an exotic damage type. Some people might gripe about its AoE capabilities, and lack of ST damage, but its exotic damage and range attacks might make up for it.

I don't know about Shield Defense, since +defense tends to be pretty weak in PvP, even if you have it stacked up. But its AAO power might give more damage potential (if you can get a significant amount), plus its Shield Charge might also work as "ranged" attack if you can catch your target off guard.

If you got an account that is at least a year old, then you can use one of the prestige sprints as an extra toggle for the stealth IO. Yeah, it will still use End as much as sprint does, but it won't affect your other "regular" toggles if you don't want them to.

I could be wrong but he might be referring to Invisibility's translucent outline aura, which is probably closer to how the Predator stealth is depicted in the movies.

The Stealth IO does indeed make a toon translucent/transparent like most standard stealth powers.

In a practical sense, they still see through double-stacked stealth for that matter. Though the mechanics may be distinctly different, the end is still the same.

I think Regen and probably Willpower might be the go-to secondaries for PvP. Don't quote me on that, though.

As for accuracy, blue-side has access to a bunch of to-hit buffs, so hitting villains shouldn't be a massive concern if you build right. Elude and Kuji-In Retsu might still allow them to run away in time, but that's how a stalker plays.

The short answer is if you can stack two stealthy powers, then you will be invisible for the majority of PvE content. The only thing that's going to see you are mobs with significant +perception, like snipers and Rikti drones. And against those critters, you got to stack about at least a couple more layers of stealth just so they don't see you in melee range. So it's not worth it trying to beat those mobs with your stealth.

The easy way to go full practical stealth is to take the Stealth IO and Super Speed. If you don't have Super Speed as your travel power, then you will need to take another power to stack with the Stealth IO, like Stealth from the Concealment pool.

I got a MA/Regen who does pretty well on its own.

Yes, it does lack in the AoE department. And though its single target damage is not the best, it's still respectable in burst damage. With higher levels of +recharge, it does get better.

Its animations are pretty quick now and flow well with each other. Eagle's Claw is the only one that has a long animation time, but it's still a very viable attack (some say that CAK might also have some animation issues, but that's per opinion).

Regen is still susceptible to burst damage and alpha strikes, but the current MoG offsets that problem (provided it's not psi damage).


At least for me, I still like MA/Regen. it has been reliable for me, and I like the playstyle. Werner did suggest Willpower as an alternative to Regen, though its playstyle is different. Shield Defense is also a new popular secondary, and I'm resisting the urge to make a MA/Shields until I can give enough love to my other current toons.

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Are these two posts basically saying that against a single target opponent, as MA, you should just cycle through SK, CK, SK, CAK?

Is EC right out then on single targets? Since it has no AE value, should you even take it?

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I worked with Werner on variants of this chain, and you could even replace CAK with EC for around a 5% loss of total DPS (Werner did the work).

Eagle's Claw is still a nice power, though the long animation does mess with long term DPS. The burst damage is good enough that you could still see action on it during normal play. If you learn to stack stuns, you can even use it as mitigation aganst Bosses and some EBs.

And as everyone else has said, you need a really high recharge to make use of that optimal chain. It's not always practical for many MA Builds.

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I always thought eagle's claw was a weird name for a kick...

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What part of an eagle has talons? (read as claws)

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I think he's referring to an actual martial art technique/style where hands are used to simulate the talons of a bird of prey. It was weird for me too when I first heard, but I got used to it.

Heh, I'm not sure if I should finish my Martial Arts guide now or if I should wait until after I16....

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And in the end, the base damage Foot Stomp does is less than Fire Sword Circle, that you already have access to.

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Don't care about that. It's the radius and appearance I want. They nerf the radius I'll be bummed. But really I just want the powerset. If dragon tail (that's MA's AoE right?) gets the Footstomp animation, I'll probably be cool. Although it would be [naughty word for engaging in coitus] weak to lose the radius.

I might start nerfherding on Brutes.

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if Dragon's tail got Footstomp Animation...

*thinks*

Man...if I could Footstomp -> Eagle's Claw in this game, i'd be so happy

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I highly doubt MA will get SS animations.
Foot Stomp is not Martial Arts at all.

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Heihatchi Mishima might disagree.

I used to have Concealment on my Scrapper back in the day as a stealther before the IO system. It's not a bad choice, but it's more for a concept build rather than several of the min/maxing builds that is usually talked about on this forum.

Don't get me wrong, I like concept builds, as long as you can play up to the AT's role and have fun playing. In PvE, Phase Shift would be useful for those "oh damn" situations and you need to run away. Well, most scrapper players don't run away indiscriminately and don't like our ability to deal damage taken away.

For PvP, Phase Shift seems to be a common power to ensure survival for half a minute when you really need it.

I would say go for Tough and Weave. Those powers will help your survivability while still able to attack. Phase Shift will just give you time to run away as it shuts off your offensive capabilities.

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Im not real familiar with the term "Squishy"

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I'll also add that it's not a derogatory term, but more descriptive.

When comparing the primaries, I would concur with Werner that Katana has better potential than Martial Arts in terms of the numbers and stats. However, Martial Arts has steadily become more popular lately, so it might just be a fun set to play with. That's my opinion of the two.

Fiery Armor is pretty squishy compared to WP and Regen, but it does have more damage potential, as Werner has said.

Regen tends to have a smoother ride at lower levels and up to the higher levels, but it tends to require more attention in order to keep it at high performance. Willpower is easier to play, as Werner has also pointed out, but it will still be kinda of a drag until you get to level 20, as most other secondaries. By that time, it picks up and starts to feel better up to the high levels.

The Confront/Taunt powers are always skippable. Self-rez are also skippable if you want to free up a slot.

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Here's an important detail to know about soft-capped defenses: it's not full-proof. There is still at least a one in twenty chance for you to get hit. And twenty chances is not a whole lot when you consider the number of mobs and the number of their attacks on big teams. And then you add in defense debuffs, and the each single hit just makes you more vulnerable to more hits, a "cascading failure" of defense. /SR is the only set that has significant Defense Debuff Resistance (DDR) to avoid cascading failure. Other positional defense sets, like Shields and the VEAT secondaries, also have some DDR but can still be susceptible to cascading failure for a short time.

The other thing to consider is that there are some mobs that have high Accuracy, To-Hit, or both. Rulaaru Watchers, Malta Gunslingers, and stacked-Vengeance Nemesis, and higher-level conning mobs can get a significant chance to hit through the soft-cap, and possibly even debuff that defense, which could lead to further problems. And let' not forget some of the mobs that have attacks with no positional tags!

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Most of the -Def attacks that cascade easily are energy based which is covered by the resists in Arctic Fog. Additionally slows halt -Def cascading in it's tracks, assuming it even gets started off. The lethal -Def attacks that cascade are all melee which is easily avoided using slows again. As I've said time and time again, +Def and -Recharge is an amazing defensive combo.

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Against single targets, -Recharge can help prevent additional attacks from cycling faster.

Against multiple targets, such as when you are on a team (which is precisely the situation where Frostworks, Aid Other, and the Cold Shield are exclusively used), then there will be that alpha strike, there will be multiple attacks from multiple mobs. In that situation, -Recharge is not going to help in the first cycle of attacks that come in. And that alpha strike is capable of dropping many a toons that are not built to mitigate all that damage.

Again, you have to look at the context of how the powers are used. If you are soloing as a Fire/Cold, then for the most part it's going to be a cake walk with maybe the exceptional of the occasional resistant EB.

In team situations, the dynamic changes altogether, as well as what powers are used, needed, and available.

And if you think all the slows in the world will stop a team mob of Cimeroran Traitors, then you probably have some good aggro management on your team, or else your defense WILL drop as well as your HP.

I know Turbo_Ski is probably not going to agree with me or many of the people here, but I'm also not going to ignore something and perpetuate false information either. If you are still thinking about who's more correct, then look at the numbers. They don't lie.