Spiritchaser

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  1. Quote:
    Originally Posted by GavinRuneblade View Post
    Just FYI, there are PvP IOs as cheap as 5m right now on the market. Not the uniques, procs, etc, but still.
    Sorry about the lack of clarity, I was obliquely referring to my precious +3s... I have only two and they both have homes
  2. So I've wanted a flying broadsword tank for a while...

    I've made a reasonable approximation on my electrical tank with fire swords, and that's fine and all, but it's still not quite there.

    Since what I want in a tank is not to be, at least not for now, I go to thinking... I wonder how tough a broadsword scrapper could get... I wonder if they could be durable enough to serve as a true tank, and still have room for provoke?

    I wonder what secondary would work best?

    I'm looking for a new project and it occurs that this might be a reasonable one. I'd certainly be IOing this guy, but

    I would NOT be using either of my precious precious PvP IOs... I doubt I'd spurge on more than a set or two of purples, but anything else would be reasonable...

    I'm thinking NOT willpower. I understand that the taunt aura is marginal for tankers, I'm guessing it'd be a joke for scrappers.

    I'd prefer to avoid shields, just for concept reasons, but it's not impossible

    I'm going to fight in hover, so ele or dark may need additional pool protection... which is fine, I did it for my tank and it works.

    Any thoughts on this?

    Suggestions much appreciated.
  3. Well my fire swords will do for now

    I really do hope they port this one, and while I appreciate how there could be concern about parry, I don't think it's intuitively obvious that parry would be more problematic for tanks than it already is for scrappers... *

    Not that one broken thing justifies another... but still

    edit: yes I know tanker mods are different, I make this statement including tanker mods
  4. Can anyone recall if there has ever been a dev comment on porting Broadsword to Tankers?

    I'm sure there has been debate, over the years on the value and or suitability of the parry power with tanker mods, but does anyone recall any kind of official(ish) word on such?
  5. I think I'll wait before deciding on just how much def I need...

    I have this theory about what they might do to basic tohit numbers in some fraction of the upcoming content.

    There was this other MMO... One with orcs... and towards the end of the second last tier of content in a given expansion, some tanks were very nearly unhittable, while other builds couldn't approach that level.

    The solution? in the final tier of content, def numbers were debuffed substantially.

    Run the older content? you had all your defence. Run the final bosses, and you got hit with the debuff. They had to adjust incoming damage levels lower to account for the extra hits (in CoH, they'd probably have to lower debuffs and mez too) but it restored some sanity and more or less balanced the field

    This is rampant speculation on my part but given how those Tip DE appear to work, I wouldn't be surprised if a few more groups (almost certainly not all, but some) started getting more than base 50 in new content.
  6. In the end game, with IOs, I think the value of soft capping SL Def is self evident, it's literally beyond reproach.

    While leveling? and especially with a character that needs to earn what they use?

    It may not... probably won't be an option.

    Sneaking up close to the SL RES hardcap is an option available to all.

    No it won't protect you from debuffs, no it won't protect you from mez, and no it won't protect you from other damage types of multicomponent attacks.

    Since you can't realistically HIT that hardcap while leveling (without PvP IOs) it won't yield quite the same returns that capping it would.

    What it will do is provide low cost, HIGHLY reliable protection from what will probably end up being over half the damage you ever face.

    I'm not suggesting electric tanks should do this with anything but sl damage, just do tough and charged armor.

    And when you do get the cash to softcap that sl def (and in my opinion, consider at least some e/n def as well) then also consider what it would take to hardcap that SL res all the way to 90. It's probably going to be viable to do all the above once we get very rare alphas to play with.

    Personally I'm not sure if I will or not. With all the res I've currently got on my build, I may be fine with modest def.
  7. Quote:
    Originally Posted by New Dawn View Post
    I'd doubt the difference between 3SOs or 3IOs is a huge factor.
    That depends on the build.

    For the basic case, with 3 res IOs in tough and charged armor, the difference is between

    78% for SOs, which is 22% transmitted

    79.2% for IOs which is 20.8% transmitted.

    That's about the weakest case you could make for IOs, and you're already reducing incoming physical damage by 6%, I'd say this is non-tivial, but it might be ignored by many players.

    If you overslot, and I personally believe that Ele should at least consider overslotting, given what you have to gain, then the difference is more dramatic

    With four enhancements it becomes

    79.5% with SOs or 20.5% transmitted

    81.2% with IOs or 18.8% tranmitted

    That's 8% less. That's going to catch at least some general attention.

    81 vs 83.1 and 82.5 vs. 85 are next. I don't think too many players are going to 5 or 6 slot res SOs, but in my personal opinion they should at least think about what else they're losing to get those slots.

    With 5 slots, IOs get you an 11% reduction in damage over SOs. With 6, it's a 14% reduction when you go from SOs up to max level IOs.

    Just for context, a 6 slotted IO build takes a [edit] 32% reduction in physical damage over a 3 slotted SO build. The difference gets even more extreem with an alpha slot or IO bonuses and at this point the idea of overslotting has to be very compelling indeed... but that's not my point

    My point was that a 6% or 8% reduction is actually a reasonably big deal... or at least that was my point before I made my mandatory statement about overslotting ele.

    Had to work that in you know.

    Edit: edited to remove the other half of one in math I should have checked
  8. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Auroxis View Post
    Note that you don't have to build for resistance in order to handle the ITF. A simple orange insp will just about get you to the resistance hardcap.
    If you overslot Charged armor by even a single slot, it will get you there.
  9. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Grey Pilgrim View Post
    Even though my Fiery Aura Tank has lower resists to Negative than S/L, he ironically has had fewer issues with the negative energy of that second mission: that defense debuff really is the killer. Though upping those S/L resists via the Cardiac Boost should help. I haven't ITF'd with him enough to say anything conclusively, but he was taking considerably less damage the one time I was soloing on the wall (as I was waiting for an ITF attempt to start up).

    I mention Fiery Aura as I feel it is rather similar to Electric in performance (even though Electric has a lot more mobs it has easily capped resists to).

    I would also agree (like I noted earlier), that his being level 38 is probably part of the issue, and that could have been compounded if some of his teammates were at the same level, and also only had SOs. You can play without IO sets, but they do make a big difference.
    This runs counter to my experience with my electric/fire

    The def debuffs can put me to the floor, but 90% SL resists will still cut it against these guys.

    The spawns of nictus in the second mission (and that one spawn at the end of the first) on the other hand can be quite a handfull, it's important to clear the debuffs I have and pound back a luck or two before I dive in to those. If I get flat footed, it's time for archmage.

    I would conjecture that because of the performance of resistance (or def for that matter) near the cap, electric and fire could both be more resistant to SL than to neg, and by a crudely similar ammount, but that the electric would be taking so much less SL (potentially half or less depending on builds) that the fire would have SL and debuff issues, while the ele would have more problems with the negative energy

    Just a guess though.

    I do typically monitor my defence, but I usually give it up as a lost cause in a dogpile of swords.

    What I must NOT do, is hit the nictus and the traitors at the same time if I can at all avoid it.
  10. Well obviously looking for new content, new incarnate stuff etc, but how about some new power effect models?

    Some new optional looksfor granite woulf come high on the list, but ice armors (all versions from the tanker power set to the epic shields to the cold dom versions should get a few different looks too

    A couple of new fire swords? why not? Hey even a few different looks for phantom army or jack frost, or some new looks for stoney would be great.
  11. Quote:
    Originally Posted by New Dawn View Post
    I had the unfortunate experience recently of tanking a 52 Rommie with my SR Scrapper because the Elec Tanker kept faceplanting. I don't think the ITF is too favourable for Elecs and is less forgiving when the team is sked way way up to 50 as they're missing a lot of slots. If I were you just post the build with basic IOs and we can see where it lacks the flexibility to best prepare for much you will have to face.
    Rereading his post, he's 38, he may well be using SOs, which might be part of the problem. With IOs (even the basic ones) a 50 can basically hardcap S/L res with an alpha slot, even with no bonuses.

    SOs aren't going to get him to that point, which is a big deal. Ele with hardcapped S/L is pretty damned good for large parts of the ITF, even with no def at all.

    Negative energy is a significant, def encouraging obstacle of course.
  12. It's more than a little unfortunate that we can't roll ele/broadsword or ele/katana

    It'd be a wonderful mix, I'd probably re-roll my ele/fire for parry.
  13. I'm not sure how much luck you'll have with sapping on the ITF. If you've got tough and you're well slotted, you aren't actually soft against S/L. Negative energy, on the other hand, will tear you a new one. The most common source of this on the ITF is, unfortunately, boss level foes. By the time you've sapped these guys, they'll have had a chance to seriously unload into you.

    I have very mixed feelings about sapping on Ele. I'll agree that against certain foes, it's great... but in many of those cases, a bit of extra res, or some def would have done a better job. Something like Rogue vanguard? sure. Drain'em. The lower con mobs can be a serious threat for sustained output. Malta? not so much. Sure, as ele you ignore their drain, but if you don't do something about their stuns, and these can stack up FAST, you'll be dazed and confused long before they run dry.

    Best advice before IOs and that alpha slot? stock up on a few lucks, and punch them before crystal bashing. You should have enough s/l protection to do ok against most of the traitors.

    If you're really worried you could probably mail yourself a few more lucks.

    edit: or just run with a buffer...
  14. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Scirion View Post
    Arachnoids, or Arachnos? >.>

    I seriously doubt he'd have much trouble with Arachnos.

    Sure, if... I don't know, three mental scrambles hit just before he took on a toxic tarantula and a bane executioner, he might have to pop a pill or hit archmage or something, but in general, They're not a problem for my Ele, I doubt they'd even cause pain to a def capped one.

    Arachnoids on the other hand... yeesh.
  15. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Spiritchaser
    For your encore, how about some 4X8 arachnoids?

    j/k


    Im working on 4x8... there have been a few let down with what i expected from Elec Armor

    If you can manage Arachnoides at 4x8, I will be in awe. I can see it being reasonable on a ele/SM, but on any other ele... yoiks.

    We'll see what the rest of the incarnate powers have to offer. Who knows, there may be some more toxic res in there somewhere, or hell, an SoE confuse would be funny
  16. Quote:
    Originally Posted by untoldhero View Post
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JR024QOQCzU
    This is my Electric Armour/Dual Blade tank soloing +4+8 enemies

    This is the potential for any tanker build out there

    (note whislte filming i was still working out human error bugs with Fraps and window movie maker, hopfully the next one will be far better)

    For your encore, how about some 4X8 arachnoids?

    j/k
  17. Spiritchaser

    Elec / ?

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Auroxis View Post
    I doubt that's possible, but let us know how it goes.
    I actually have a sl capped ele/

    some day when I dont have baby aggro I should try it and see.

    That day may never come.
  18. Well, I can only supply one data point, but my ele/ found tin mage to be a bit of a cake walk

    Now, I can't claim to have tried a wide array of team compositions, but even when I had no buffs, things seemed ok

    Also: I do have a capped SL resist build, but I think that since we are, by difinition, considering alpha slotted characters, you can probably expect electric tanks to either be at, or within a hairs bredth of that SL cap, at least once word spreds that you can get there without IOs with overslotting and a cardiac... radial I think? something like that. edit, yup, tough+ cardiac radial, then either overslot tough and charged armor, or pony up for a gold plated +3 res if you can
  19. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Kusac View Post
    I am familiar with ED. I got advice on Tank building from a friend a year or two ago and have pretty much built all my tanks the same way. After running TF for Incarnate salvage and seeing all the other tanks out there way outperforming mine I decided it was time to get some advice from others.
    Lots to talk about here, I'll just address this...

    An elec tank with tough is one of the places where at least some of the radical overslotting you have in your first build actually COULD make sense, especially with a +res alpha boost.

    I played around with this idea on my elec/fire and eventually respecced into an overslotted build that took me all the way to the SL cap. Overslotting isn't a must do for elec, but it's hardly a bad idea. I found the performance delta was quite significant for me, to the point where I'd say it's a no brainer for the way I play. It's well worth the few extra slots.

    Once the very rare cardiac boost is available, less overslotting will be needed to cap, and it wouldn't surprise me if overslotting to cap might change from a good idea to just the way most elec tanks are built.

    EDIT: if you happen across the +3 res IO, this all gets easier, but given the price I paid for mine... well, it's not in the bargain bin.
  20. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Sgt_Hobo View Post
    The more I play this game, the more I feel like it focuses mostly, if not entirely, on AOE centered characters. It seems to me that it's far more rewarding to invest in a character that can wipe out huge groups all at once than a character with more of a single target focus. Almost everything I read on these boards seems agree with me. Heck, it might have even been the place where I got the idea from.

    I'm really not trying to bash single target powersets or archetypes, but at the moment I just don't see why anyone would chose a build such as Dark Melee instead of fire or electric melee. Yes, dark melee does offer more control which helps with survivability, but if staying alive isn't a concern, would there be any other reason to chose dark melee over fire or electric?

    It just seems that it's much more rewarding to have AOE characters. You can tear through huge groups in very short amounts of time, as opposed to killing targets one by one.
    And yes, there are EB's and AV's that appear, but do they show up enough to really make having a single target build worth it?

    Look at the FOTM of the month builds too. They're almost all AOE heavy. Fire/Dark Corruptors, electric/shield scrappers, ill/rad controllers, Robots masterminds. They all have huge amounts of AOE, group-destroying powers.

    Maybe I'm missing something here (I assume I am), but every time I roll a character, I feel like I should make sure I have good AOE abilities before I go any further. If I don't I feel like it won't take me very far.

    So, can anyone tell me what the advantages are to single target builds?
    Given the advent of some new encounters that are not static tank and spank, I'm hoping for a future tf/sf where the focus is more on the boss fights, with hard single targets that don't just hit hard and take a lot to kill, but which require some dancing to down properly.

    Untill then rev up the elec/shield, fire/psi etc.
  21. Quote:
    Originally Posted by EvilRyu View Post
    I think alot of people are missing the point of the alpha slot. Its not to make you that much stronger by building on your strengths directly but to do that indirectly. Instead of ED capping yourself stop short of 1 slot if you can on a few powers. Allow the alpha slot to make up the difference.
    I'm of the opinion that this is build specific. Even a tier 2 alpha might be the difference between perma PA and not perma PA, and I KNOW it makes the difference between my electric tanker capping SL and missing the cap by over 4%.

    We all know how big a deal that can potentially be, and in the case of my character, it made a significant difference.

    I'd imagine a lot of fire and dark tankers could end up in the same boat.
  22. Thanks for the replies. Sounds like I may as well go for minimum level.

    With regards to selling, I don't PLAN on ever selling this thing but...

    Never say never I guess. It's a minor concern whatever the case.
  23. So... after much ado, I've finally saved enough A-merits to buy one of these overpriced little gems.

    Before I drop all those hard won merits, I had a question:

    Does anyone know of any reason NOT to buy this at it's minimum level (level 30) to make it that little bit easier if I ever feel like actually leveling a build with it?

    If there's any exemping/derating effect, it's clearly better to get this at level 50.

    I know the steadfast equivalent has no such derating, but given just how much this damn thing costs, I figure I should double or even quadruple check.

    Thanks for any info!
  24. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Berzerker_NA View Post
    I would think the best combination would be elec/kinetic melee, since you can fire your attacks off faster if you take the speed power from elec, enabling you to stack up kinetic -damage debuffs/+damage buffs. Elec is all resistance, no defense, so I don't think pairing it with /dark would ever be any fun.
    I'd suggest this is not going to be the case for a number of reasons.

    First off, the Siphon Life self heal in DM's attack chain is going to add regen to any set, and that's actually quite a big deal.

    Secondly, even without a defence secondary, DM can stack a meaningful number of fears/debuffs on one particularly troublesome foe (toxic tarantula poisoning your tea? Bane spider executioner tearing you down?) and electric is often most concerned with that one boss in a spawn that you simply cannot handle at all.

    Thirdly, and I don't have personal experience with this, many suggest that to make ele/ tankier, the best and most cost effective way is to stack up S/L and Energy/Neg up to the soft caps. In cases where you've done that, or come close, DM's debuffs will make a difference for other types, or get you over the edge for the main ones, or help compensate for some def debuffs which you won't be resisting.

    Personally I've gone the resistance stacking route for my ele, as much to proove a point as anything else and while high general resists and capped SL resists are tremendously good at some things, debuffs, toxic and hardcore mez can really ruin my day. I've been continuously adding +mez resist with every respec, and it's still an issue. I think, watching the debuffs fall off, that I'm close... and once the top tear cardiac core paragon is available, I'll be able to maintain my SL cap, and slot enough mez resist (plus the level shift will help) to avoid that problem most of the time. I'm also going to try respeccing out of the fire APP and into soul mastery to save a slot for tactics, which should help with the -tohit... we'll see.

    Even then, many other debuffs and toxic will still cut me down to size in many cases. Were I a DM, I would have much better options to deal with them. In any case I'll let everyone know how it went eventually.
  25. What I'd like to see most is more of a toggle effect than an animation, as such I'm not sure it should be here, nonetheless:

    I'd love to have a "plasma" option for electric armor visuals. One need only look at Malta Attacks for inspiration, replace the cracling zaps with a hum.

    In order to comply with the "animation" part of this thread I'll suggest that the same stylistic options be available to electric assault/melee/etc. animation effects.