Teeth

Hahaha, nice "EvP" banter. Hilarious.


Incidentally...

Thank you, this was very handy. (I made a spreadsheet out of it, actually.)

Thank you, this answers my questions as well.

I got this today after crashing in a loading screen. I won't worry about it unless it happens again, but I'm curious how common errors with that suggested resolution method are seen.

Psyonico: I usually die by being too aggressive with Irradiate. It's a rare event, but I get bored from time to time when my team is well-buffed, so I don't always play intelligently. (Also, since it has been a while since I played this character, I sometimes forget that I'm the only person visible on the team, which leads to some issues with me pulling entire spawns that were meant for full teams. That would have corrected itself by the time I got Soul Transfer, of course.)

Anyway, based on feedback (and experience), I've made changes.

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Thank you all, this was helpful to me. I'm thinking Dark/Elec right now, mostly just because Dark is rarer than Claws and Elec is rarer than Will; the discussion here has convinced me that both builds would suit my playstyle.

OK, I'm going to back up a bit and give some justifications. That might help.

Why Dark/Elec:
+ Lightning Reflexes goes nicely with Dark's need for recharge
+ The survivability of Dark helps to shore up the relative weakness of Elec
+ Lightning Aura should help with AoE slightly (unless I slot for End Drain, which I may)
+ I'm good at lining up the melee cone from Shadow Maul, which helps with AoE matters
+ It appears that this build may be better for big targets (e.g. AV's) than Claw/Will
+ There's so much endurance help in Elec that I can probably skip Dark Consumption

Why not Dark/Will:
+ This appears to me to sacrifice damage potential for tankiness, and I'm already worried about Dark's damage potential in comparison to Claws

Why Claw/Will:
+ Claws seems to be a bit more powerful than Dark, both AoE and single target, on its own
+ Will has the reputation of "best survival," to make up for the lack of Dark's mitigation
+ <3<3<3 self rez powers and the Rularuu claws ( )

Why not Claw/Elec:
+ Lack of apparent synergy--not only do I appear to lose out on survival potential, but the offense-oriented bits of Elec are useless here (the recharge and aura are both trivial for Claws once it has IO's)


Why I'm still confused:
+ Claws isn't defenseless; knockdown/back is actually quite nice if used well
+ Claws has that obscene single-target chain (Focus/Follow-Up/Slash/Air-Sup/[repeat])...
+ ... But that previous list item may still be weaker than Dark's single-target chain post-32...
+ ...Unless the impotence of Soul Drain against AV's undermines me too much
+ Even with Dark, I honestly don't know whether or not Elec will be very durable

I'm looking to make a new Scrapper, and I've pretty much decided between Claw/Will and Dark/Elec. Assuming a mid-priced build (e.g. no purples, no LotG+Rech, no Numina's unique, etc.), how do these compare to each other?

Neither look like they'll have endurance problems, and both look somewhere in the middle of both damage spectra (AoE and single target) as well as survivability. However, I have no experience with any of the four sets.

Opinions? Which does better damage, which survives better, etc.?

Many IO choices are, indeed, due to cost. This toon is not my primary money sink.

Concealment is being used as much for the small defense bonus to allies as for personal sneakiness, though you may have a point with the SS thing, especially if I keep full Teleport in the build (as it already has its +Stealth). That said, for sacrifice powers, Teleport is an option now that Ninja Run is out. ( <3<3<3 Ninja Run.)

I'm still on the fence about Cosmic Burst, but even with more Damage slotting I'd be lacking in my attack chain.

My experience with Tactics is that it's not usually worth it; I already grant some Perception and Accuracy, I debuff Defense fairly well when I want to, and most people are slotted to be able to hit on their own anyway.

People do die, especially when I'm held, the only support character on a large team, and/or part of an incompetent pick-up group, but you're right that I can usually just keep them alive. That's why I'm on the fence about the power.

Soul Transfer is not optional in the build; I really like Self-Rez powers, even when I don't use them much. It's a matter of preference.

I'm currently working on an Empathy/RadBlast whose ability to do damage is hilariously pathetic, even by Emp Defender standards--I have Neutrino, Irradiate, and Cosmic Burst, and that's all I was ever planning to take for attacks, and my slotting is weak on CB because I used a Stun set. There are times, however, that I'd like another attack or two, so I'm thinking of dropping Vengeance from my planned build (it's level 49 and I'm only 34 right now).

I have absolutely no experience with actually using Veng, though.

So: should my very buff-heavy Empath drop Vengeance?


Tentative Build:
Click this DataLink to open the build!

Thank you.

i16 Mid's is showing me that the new powers in the Ancillary and Patron pools do not count towards the two powers you must take to get the final power in the pool, e.g. Soul Tentacles + Darkest Night will not allow me to pick up Summon Widow.

I assume this is a bug, am I correct?

Someone told me that Independence Port is spawning a new type of critter, but I can't log on to verify, and I don't see anything on a forum search.

Is this true?

The page I refer to is here.

Am I the only one who thinks it looks very much as though Statesman is taking a leak behind the main text area, and glancing around to see if any of us are watching?

(Yeah, I see you there, States. You're not very sneaky~!)

It would appear that ParagonWiki got rid of its list of badges that you can use with the /settitle command. In the interest of me not having to enter the command 600 times every time I want to use an unusual badge, does anyone know where I can find a copy of that list, perhaps even an old one?

[ QUOTE ]
I know some of you may have more tech related questions (as to how the game runs on ATI video hardware)...

[/ QUOTE ]

I was thinking more like "how to run the game on ATI video hardware." The person who winds up with the machine should also be given the cell phone number of a tech support representative.

[ QUOTE ]
I solo Ruthless quiet easily without trip mines. Although with my playstyle, I do have a few rebutals to some powers and how you rated them.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thank you! You never get all the details of a power set with just one viewpoint. I really think that your post contributes to my guide well, I'm glad that you wrote it.

That out of the way, let's talk about the build:

On soloing Ruthless without trip mines: Yes, I did this all the time myself, Fire/Traps can certainly handle it (at least until you start hitting 1+ AV's in every gold and red story arc, bah!). Trip Mines are a very effective addition to your character, but they're also unreliable in many circumstances. Thus, like Poison Trap, you must learn to play without them. I still just skip using them entirely in many cases, as my pre-35 attack chain has become no less powerful.


[ QUOTE ]
(Aim)

[/ QUOTE ]

Aim is always good, especially when toe-bombing. My actual build is not the build I suggest; I'd generally advise people to take Aim much earlier than I am.


[ QUOTE ]
(Snipe)

[/ QUOTE ]

This is true. I never bothered with pulling bosses to me, though; setting an acid mortar at the extreme of its range and then burning the boss to ashes with my normal attack chain always worked well enough, as long as I had a couple of Respites on hand (and at 28, I got Aid Self and didn't need inspirations often any more). As I said, I'm impatient, this may not be good advice to everyone.


[ QUOTE ]
(Triage Beacon)

[/ QUOTE ]

If you say so. I've tried it, I was never in one place long enough to benefit from it (and I needed to free up power choices). Aid Other, with only its default slot, isn't a great heal, but I do use it to good effect at times, and Aid Self pretty much covers my personal healing. This is especially true on teams--horrible things happen to spawns that get distracted from the Fire/Traps, so the team usually stays moving.


[ QUOTE ]
(Acid Mortar)

[/ QUOTE ]

Have you actually tried this? Throwing down an Acid Mortar has, numerically, about the same effect as would every single person on your team being under the influence of Aim for the duration of the Mortar, except that Aim doesn't tank for you. I really disagree with putting off Acid Mortar.


[ QUOTE ]
...now I know what patron to get (Black Scorpion).

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, very yes. I was suggesting the Scorpion Shield based on second-hand reports when I wrote the guide, but now I have experience with it. It's not just for toe-bombing; being a Corruptor with around 35% defense against the three most common damage types in the game is amazing. You're not an Energy Aura Brute (mostly because you can easily be debuffed or deprived of one or both shields), but you're certainly a force to be reckoned with.

Edit made: Apparently, the accuracy numbers for Rain of Fire are misleading, and it is indeed advisable to slot the power for accuracy. I have made a note of this.

Hmm, I may have to try that.

Though, now that I have Scorpion Shield, I may not need it. Scorpion Shield really delivers.

I just don't look forward to lacking Flight in Grandville. X_X

I have heard rumors that Super Speed and a +Stealth IO will allow you to toe-bomb with Trip Mines with no setup, due to the stacked stealth effects. My own experience with Super Speed and +Stealth IO's suggests this to be unlikely to work, but I cannot access the Test server to check this out, so it's something to consider.

If anyone has experience with this, I'd be interested to hear about it.

Well, it's later than I9, but:

Blast and Burn: A Guide to Fire/Traps Corruptors (Issue 12)