Two_Dollar_Bill
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Posts
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Joined
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I'm afraid I don't have a Night Widow and so I can't offer much in the way of specific build advice. However, you are more likely to get Night Widow players to look at the build if you post it in the Soldiers of Arachnos forum.
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My Necro/Dark Mastermind uses a full set of Lockdown. Does this make fluffy a hold spamming crowd control machine? No, not really, but I wanted the ranged and AoE defense bonuses.
My Dark/Dark Defender uses Cloud Senses for the recharge and defense bonuses, which is probably the more practical choice, in spite of being a level 30 set. To-hit debuffs and high defenses are an effective combo that I try to maximize with Dark Miasma. -
Leadership Pool. Soldiers of Arachnos get high bonuses from all Leadership powers; better than Defenders in some cases. Maneuvers, in particular, is an easy +5% to all positional defenses, which will allow you to remove some of that wasteful slotting for defense bonuses (you should never need to slot an Accuracy/Recharge IO in Stamina). Assault is an additional 15% damage bonus for your entire team; well worth taking with two end cost reduction IOs.
What is your attacks chain? You mentioned using Arctic Breath, Venom Grenade, Bile Spray and Suppression. What about Wide Area Web Grenade, Frag Grenade and School of Sharks? Will you really be using all SEVEN AoE attacks on top of the single-target attacks and Arm Lash?
I recommend you identify any attacks that you really don't need, and then drop them. If you require School of Sharks as a prerequisite but don't really plan to use it, unslot it and leave it off your hotbar. You don't need Enfeebled Operations for melee defense if you take Maneuvers.
Losing a couple attacks and removing some slots that were only giving you defense bonuses should allow you to slot all of your major attacks with at least 5 IOs, sufficient to give you 6.25% recharge bonuses from Decimation or Positron's Blast.
With Crab Spider Armor Upgrade and Fortification, Crabs are essentially immune to crowd control other than knockback. You can remove the Impervious Skin and Aegis status protection IOs. Since you are skipping movement powers, I recommend the Steadfast Protection knockback protection IO. You can also remove slot #3 from Hasten. It's mostly eaten by enhancement diversification anyway, and it won't help your recharge as much as getting some 6.25% bonuses from sets will. -
It sounds like you're already on the right track. Post your bad build on the forums and tell people what you want it to do. Get advice and make revisions. There are guides and example builds for most character types, but many are obsolete due to changes in recent issues, so direct input on your build is best.
As far as enhancements go, I haven't bothered with TOs, DOs or SOs since Issue 8. I always hated the way they had to be constantly replaced and updated or they'd quit working and leave you helpless. It's far worse today since you can level up so much faster. As soon as I can start crafting IOs (as early as level 7) I never look back. -
I know, the rules say that Force Field is my primary power set... but the whole reason this character exists is so I can spend more quality time blasting things with Beam Rifle... listening to those funny noises it makes and seeing things disintegrate.
I've tried other archetypes and other power sets to pair with Beam Rifle, but they all require me to spend time in combat doing non-beam-rifley things like debuffing foes or summoning Acid Mortars. I've decided that Force Field is the way to go, because it asks so little of my time and it's easy to get high defenses.
This is a S/L Defense build using Scorpion Shield and entirely too many toggles. A couple of strategically placed PvP IOs are the only purples. I slotted my powers with an eye towards extra hit points... because time spent face-planted is time that cannot be used shooting things. I took Summon Disruptor instead of Lancer Shot because seven rifle attacks seems to be about the limit of what I can keep straight on my hotbars.
I have a feeling that my primary problem will be endurance, largely due to running so many toggles. There are some things that I could break up to get some endurance cost reduction. I'm curious to know if anyone has this sort of character and if they have any pointers to offer.
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.959
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Beam FF 120725A: Level 50 Technology Defender
Primary Power Set: Force Field
Secondary Power Set: Beam Rifle
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Teleportation
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Deflection Shield -- LkGmblr-Def(A), LkGmblr-Rchg+(3)
Level 1: Single Shot -- SDefendersB-Acc/Dmg(A), SDefendersB-Dmg/Rchg(5), SDefendersB-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(5), Dev'n-Acc/Dmg(7), Dev'n-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(11), Dev'n-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(11)
Level 2: Charged Shot -- SDefendersB-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(A), SDefendersB-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(7), SDefendersB-Rchg/Heal%(9), Dev'n-Acc/Dmg(9), Dev'n-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(13), Dev'n-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(13)
Level 4: Cutting Beam -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(15), Posi-Dmg/Rng(15), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(17), Posi-Dam%(17), Range-I(19)
Level 6: Fly -- Srng-Fly(A), Srng-EndRdx(19), Srng-EndRdx/Fly(21)
Level 8: Recall Friend -- Zephyr-ResKB(A)
Level 10: Disintegrate -- Dev'n-Acc/Dmg(A), Dev'n-Dmg/Rchg(23), Dev'n-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(23), Dev'n-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(25)
Level 12: Dispersion Bubble -- LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(25), LkGmblr-Rchg+(27), EndRdx-I(29)
Level 14: Insulation Shield -- LkGmblr-Def(A), LkGmblr-Rchg+(29)
Level 16: Aim -- Rec'dRet-Pcptn(A), RechRdx-I(31)
Level 18: Repulsion Field -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(31)
Level 20: Maneuvers -- LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(33), LkGmblr-Rchg+(33), EndRdx-I(34)
Level 22: Tactics -- GSFC-ToHit(A), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg(34), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(34), GSFC-Rchg/EndRdx(36), GSFC-ToHit/EndRdx(36), GSFC-Build%(36)
Level 24: Boxing -- Acc-I(A)
Level 26: Tough -- GA-3defTpProc(A), S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(31), TtmC'tng-EndRdx(37), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx(37), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(37)
Level 28: Weave -- LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(39), LkGmblr-Rchg+(40)
Level 30: Penetrating Ray -- Dev'n-Dmg/EndRdx(A), Dev'n-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(40), Dev'n-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(42), ExtrmM-Acc/ActRdx/Rng(42), ExtrmM-Dmg/ActRdx/Rchg(42), ExtrmM-Acc/Rng/Rchg(43)
Level 32: Repulsion Bomb -- Acc-I(A)
Level 35: Piercing Beam -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(39), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(40), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(43), Posi-Dam%(45)
Level 38: Overcharge -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dam%(39), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(46), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(46), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(46)
Level 41: Scorpion Shield -- LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(43), LkGmblr-Def(45), Ksmt-ToHit+(50)
Level 44: Focused Accuracy -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(45)
Level 47: Summon Disruptor -- ExRmnt-Acc/Rchg(A), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg(48), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(48), ExRmnt-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(48), RechRdx-I(50)
Level 49: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(50)
Level 1: Brawl -- Acc-I(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- QckFt-EndRdx/RunSpd(A)
Level 1: Vigilance
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Flight-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Mrcl-Rcvry+(A), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(21), Panac-Heal/+End(27)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- P'Shift-EndMod(A), P'Shift-End%(3), EndMod-I(33)
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Kinetics is an active set with lots of attacks, and just getting off your standard assortment of (de)buffs at the start of a fight will consume precious time that you could have been using to blast away with your beam rifle.
The Beam Rifle set also demands a lot of your attention. You need to choose your targets carefully and fire off combinations of attacks for best effect. And then there's the previously-mentioned redraw if you switch back and forth.
In general, I think Beam Rifle and Kinetics have poor synergy. Of course I have heard people say they really like Beam Rifle / Trick Arrow, which sounds like a nightmare to me, so your mileage may vary.
The main thing that bothers me about your build is slotting Lancer Shot with Razzle Dazzle. Wasting one of your most powerful attacks with a level 30 stun set is a high price to pay for 1.25% S/L defense. Two-slotting Aim with Rectified Reticle is worth 1.88% S/L, which would allow you to slot Lancer Shot like a real attack.
One of the weaknesses of Beam Rifle is its limited selection of AoE attacks. Cutting Beam is the one AoE that you can use every fight, and skipping it means that your AoE damage will be limited to disintegration spread and Overcharge. It's a judgement call. Both of your power sets are short on easily skippable junk powers. -
Heal Proc
Someone did mention the low proc chance for Entropic Chaos in the proc revision thread. I have not heard anything specific about what might be done with it. If they make the proc too good, it will create characters that are nigh-indestructable due to insane levels of proc-generated regen, so I wouldn't anticipate the revised proc being terribly impressive.
Endurance
Purple sets like Apocalypse and Ragnarok don't give you very good endurance discounts. Gravitational Anchor is no prize either, and you left out the only IO of the set that grants any endurance discount. Since your build is set up to rapidly cycle powers with bad endurance efficiency, it does seem like you have doomed yourself to an endurance-friendly Alpha slot. Of course you could slot an End Cost Reduction IO instead of a proc in the 6th slot of these attacks. I'd rather have a power that works reliably for the whole fight than one that wears you out and produces an unreliable random bonus effect.
I think all high-recharge purple-set builds suffer from this problem, but fights are usually short enough that your endurance doesn't bottom out and you can recover rapidly between fights. My own Crab has fewer purple sets and lacks Hasten, so his more leisurely attack chain of lower-cost powers doesn't burn his endurance as rapidly.
Using fewer toggles
The defense bonuses from Weave and Maneuvers are what allow you to take purple sets. Without the toggles, you'll need to choose non-purple sets that contribute defense bonuses. Before you consider dropping your defensive toggles, you should try slotting your endurance-hungry toggles for better efficiency. You're paying 0.27 end/sec for Assault, and a whopping 0.31 end/sec for Maneuvers.
It can take a lot of set bonuses to make up for the loss of Maneuvers or Weave. And the toggles do improve your melee defense. While flying melee combatants are rare, even hover blasters have to fight in hallways where they can't gain any elevation and melee combat cannot be avoided. -
How Omega Maneuver works on a level 50 team:
1) Summon Omega Bomb near targets.
2) Shoot Venom Grenade at targets.
3) Watch as teammate uses incarnate Judgement power, annihilating the spawn, leaving behind a few half-dead bosses.
4) Watch as teammates finish off bosses and move on.
5) Omega Bomb explodes in an empty room, inflicting 0 damage.
Judgement is technically optional, since a team of incarnates can destroy a whole spawn in 3 seconds flat without it.
I'd say it all depends on your style of play. I find both Omega Maneuver and Spiderlings (which die very quickly to AoE attacks) mostly useless on teams. If you solo a lot, both could be very useful. Omega Maneuver can be very impressive if you have the leisure time for it to recharge and there's nobody around to ruin it. If it were me, the most useful of these powers would be Call Reinforcements.
If you really want pets, you could get Mace Mastery and summon the really big pet (Arachnobot Blaster), and it would only cost you a couple mule powers like Wolf Spider Armor or Combat Jumping* in order to trade in something you don't need (Frag Grenade?) for the best giant mechanical spider there is.
*Don't have Mids' at the moment but I'm assuming you don't require Combat Jumping to soft-cap. -
1. One character with T4s in every slot.
2. Four characters with lesser levels of incarnate powers, mostly just Alpha.
3. Zero characters created with incarnate stuff in mind.
4. Most of my characters, including 50s, will never see the inside of an incarnate trial.
From playing a lot of different MMOs, I generally hate these add-on end-game advancement systems that give your characters' powers which are unrelated to their real abilities, slowly transforming everyone into generic tankmages.
I run incarnate trials when and if they sound like fun, and I do enjoy most of them, but getting specific incarnate powers is never my actual goal.
My typical character uses level 30 IOs and likes to exemplar back to the levels where even ancillary power pools don't work. -
Recall Friend doesn't need endurance reduction, but it's a good spot for a Blessing of the Zephyr knockback resist IO.
If ultimate recharge is your goal, you can still fit in one more Luck of the Gambler if you take (for example) Afterburner instead of Consume. You can also still give Phantom Army more of its own recharge if you replace the Buildup proc with the Accuracy/Recharge IO in the same set. That should be enough to make Phantom Army officially, technically, barely "permanent".
I will offer the disclaimer that my own build did not go this crazy on recharge. I decided after a certain point that it was "good enough" and tried to work in better defenses and damage resistance. Phantom Army is great, but it is possible to sacrifice too much for recharge. -
I think you can squeeze a bit more defense out of it, and a tad more recharge. I think it's generally agreed that 4 points of knockback protection is as good as 8. TT:Maneuvers is such a good power, it's worth pushing its defense bonus into the red, while you don't need three slots in CT: Defensive at all.
The Entropic Chaos self-heal proc has a ridiculously low chance to fire, and when it does fire it will frequently do nothing since your hit points will be full. I'm not a huge fan of the Achilles' Heel proc, but at least it fires 4x as much and it does do something for yourself and your teammates when it fires. You may want to re-think the whole proc thing for I24 when they all go procs-per-minute pro-rated for AoE.
Hasten was losing far too much to ED. If you want to use five enhancement boosters, apply them to Hasten to push it back into serious ED territory.
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I don't have Mids' at the moment and can't crunch numbers, but I do have an Illusion/Empath.
What is your attack chain? Illusion/Empathy is rather lacking in this regard, and it gets kind of boring standing around twiddling your thumbs with no attacks available and nobody in need of healing. I think it's best to take a real attack from an ancillary power pool to chain with Blind and Spectral Wounds. However, it's just possible <crosses fingers> that upcoming changes to the Presence pool might make pool powers a viable option for the attack-starved Controller.
What about ATO sets? Will of the Controller can give you a better recharge bonus than Basilisk's Gaze, and better enhancement values than a level 30 set to boot.
Deceive wants a Contagious Confusion proc! It's awesome.
You have a lot of slots in Health and Stamina for an Empath. Those slots could be better utilized elsewhere.
Regeneration Aura is a power of questionable utility these days, and probably the most skippable thing in Empathy. I'm tempted to say that Flash might be more fun and useful. Flash is a pretty questionable power too, but since you are making a recharge-oriented build, its terribly long recharge may be mitigated somewhat. -
My first 50 was an Illusion/Empathy Controller... an amazing combo back when you could have three Phantasms and hit them with Empathy buffs, but not especially impressive today. However, I do still like Illusion Control, and it's largely because I like pets.
Illusion CAN have great DPS but it's situational, and it's all because of that illusionary/imaginary damage. Since part of your damage heals back in a few seconds, you really need to concentrate on a single target and finish him before he heals. Well, your pets have other ideas. They like to randomly attack everyone in the room. So, when you're attacking a single target, your damage can be really excellent. But you can also throw your pets into a big crowd and feel like you're treading water as you watch your damage healing back.
Your own use of controls and your movement can help to direct their damage against specific targets, and you can pick off the wounded with Spectral Wounds.
Permanent Phantom Army is certainly desirable. If you have a secondary like Radiation or Time that gives you a recharge boost, go for it. If not, you'll have to decide for yourself how much of your build to sacrifice on the altar of recharge bonuses. I personally found that a short gap in my PA coverage was not really a problem. Spectral Terror and your own controls can keep things manageable if your Phantom Army disappears briefly. Even the Phantasm Decoy has a taunt to help distract your foes. -
The reason I don't like it, and I suspect this is widespread, is because it's worthless on teams.
Modern teams roll over their opponents so rapidly that by the time the bomb can explode, its potential targets are defeated, thrown from the area by knockback, or drawn away by stronger sources of aggro. I always pay close attention when I see some other Crab trying to use it, and the results are universally disappointing.
I don't see how the nuke fixes would change any of that. The delay that allows mobs to respond to the taunt is essential to the functioning of the power, but it's also that delay that makes it fail on teams. -
I've read everything I can find about the nuke changes and normalizations and I think it's safe to assume that VEAT nukes are not going to be affected any time soon.
Omega Maneuver, in particular, is such an odd power (psuedo-pet bomb) that giving it a shorter recharge time and small damage scale would not fix the reasons that most people dislike it, and fixing those issues would ruin what makes it an interesting power in the first place. -
This really is an apples-to-watermelons comparison. If it's all about the pets and you don't care what archetype you're playing... Crab Spiders can have six pets, the same as most Masterminds, and they offer a very different playing experience.
The trouble (?) with Masterminds is that your actual character is quite feeble and harmless... you wield power through your pets, and as your pets get killed your power is diminished. The Illusion controller doesn't have these issues. His attacks have real, noticable effects that can turn the tide of battle, and his Phantom Army can be thrown into any fight and survive. (Crab Spider pets are neither indestructable nor controllable, but the Crab has far greater personal firepower and toughness than either the Controller or Mastermind.) -
Nobody's going to hold it against you if you shoot at single targets with Venom Grenade or Frag Grenade. Well, unless you're going for the Cadaver Counter badge.... Attack chain is a matter of personal taste, but I've just reconciled myself with the fact that AoE is what Crabs are best at, and single target is secondary.
I was not a big fan of the hoverblaster plan, so I support your decision to jump!
I love Suppression and would give up Longfang or Frag Grenade for it in a heartbeat. The long animation comes with a gigantic AoE, especially with Cardiac Alpha and that Range IO I mentioned.
Frenzy can do a lot of damage, but if I only had one melee attack it would be Arm Lash, for defeating those hard targets that survive the AoE barrage. You can always use Venom Grenade and Frag Grenade as melee attacks on packed enemies.
4 points of knockback resistance is approximately as good as 8, and fine for most purposes. You need 12 if you want to avoid being thrown around by Fake Nemeses, but some incarnate trial foes can still toss you.
(I see my response is already obsolete! Too lazy to re-write it though!) -
Quote:I play a melee Crab and I never have to chase down runners. I shoot them in the back. This is one of the reasons I enjoy playing my tank-like Crab Spider more than I enjoy playing real Tankers. As hybrids, they can seemlessly combine both styles of combat... a benefit that is lost if you treat them as hoverblasters.Originally Posted by Gallifrey
As with my Fortunata, I don't want to melee. Chasing mobs is annoying.
Therefore I'll use ranged attacks only, but this time with more AoE flavor while flying
If you prefer to solo, have high +Recharge, and slot it for a bit of range so that your pets don't mess it up, it can be a very powerful alpha strike.Quote:Originally Posted by Gallifrey
People seem to argue about the usefulness of Omega Maneuver, but I've seen it in action (used by another person) and I find it funny and want it
Since the toxic proc is global, you can slot it in a filler attack like Channelgun and get the same effect without diluting Suppression, which is one of you best attacks. I use the final slot in Suppression for a 50+5 range IO. Range IS damage with cone attacks as long as it means you can catch extra targets within the area of effect. As a hoverblaster, you also need all the extra range you can get for it, because it is your shortest-ranged attack and it will determine your maximum combat range/altitude.Quote:Originally Posted by Gallifrey
The empty slot in Suppression is reserved for the "global toxic damage" proc from the upcoming second ATIO set.
The empty slot in Frag Granade is reserved for the Summer Event KB to KD proc.
While I can understand the reasoning behind frankenslotting Call Reinforcements with three Call to Arms and three Expedient Reinforcements, I wouldn't do it. Better to use four slots of Expedient Reinforcements and take the 6.25% +Recharge, which will benefit every power, including both pet summons.Quote:Originally Posted by Gallifrey
So, please comment
I would drop the Damage/Endurance IO from Omega Maneuver and keep the Damage/Range. Anything that gets near the bomb before it explodes can pull aggro away from it and ruin it, and your own pets are the biggest culprits. Any extra bit of range enhancement you can give it will make it easier and more fun to use.
I hate to see Tough so neglected and underslotted. When you rely on your defense soft-caps for survival you become very brittle. You can be laughing at your puny antagonists one minute, and find yourself face-down on the street the next, wondering what happened. Damage Resistance determines how fast you die in a cascading defense failure, and if you have time to pop that Good Luck inspiration or not. Fortification is already well slotted but Tough would really benefit from one slot of actual damage resistance. I'd probably steal that 6th slot from Summon Spiderlings....
Actually, I think of the builds currently on page one, only your build from Defense Cap Perma Pets Crab -Agility cheat comes close. Still, it can be done without breaking the bank. Trilby posted a softcap and perma-pets build in Ready to IO my crab, and I posted one in Please Critique My Crab! that qualifies if you move one IO. (Edit: Nightfire9's build from that first thread also hits all the positional soft-caps and has perma-pets.)Quote:Originally Posted by plainguy
I'm pretty sure you can be fully positional capped and still be perma pets. There is a build some where further down on these forums. It is probably on this first page since it doesn't really roll that much. -
I'm pretty sure that Westin Phipps is actually a real person and HE came up with the whole limited/exclusive Twitter code thing so that he could crush our spirits and leave us downtrodden due to our lack of Kirby spots.
Call me unoriginal, but I also have to vote for Phipps. Although he doesn't actually run around kicking puppies, he sees that it gets done, and he takes such obvious joy in it.
Do entities like Mot or Rularuu even have a conscience or the ability to tell good from evil? Phipps does, which makes him all the worse.
I also agree that many of the Vigilante-to-Villain missions are seriously evil. -
If you have a set of wickedly bladed mechanical cyborg limbs equipped with blaster cannons, and you can't kill people with them, you have failed to grasp one of the basic fun features of playing a Crab Spider. As such, I have little interest in this sort of build. However, I recommend you ask Linea_Alba about that +4/x8 ITF-soloing build, which is a HuntsCrab. Granite Agent also uses this sort of build.
The only thing in this build that I would classify as a glaring mistake (other than the lack of real Crab attacks!) is using Single Shot as a mule for defense bonuses. Single Shot can do respectable single-target damage if slotted like a real attack. You wouldn't need Shield Breaker for AoE defense if you moved a couple slots of Aegis from Crab Spider Armor Upgrade to Fortification and changed Tough to Aegis. That would drop you a bit below melee soft-cap. Since you have no melee attacks, who cares? On the other hand, if you DO want to engage in melee, drop Omega Maneuver (or WAWG) and take Bayonet slotted with Touch of Death to get your melee defense back above 45%. -
The good news is, your Channelgun is correctly slotted for Issue 24. Since procs will all be switching to a procs-per-minute standard, spamming teir-1 filler attacks will no-longer be the uber proc-delivery system that it is today.
Increasing single-target damage without using pets or giving up AoE damage or soft-capped defenses....
Option 1 - If you're not already using enhancement boosters, wait until they're on sale, buy a ton of them, and make all your favorite IOs +5. You can squeeze a few percentage points of performance out of a lot of different things, and you don't have to change your build at all.
Option 2 - Drop Longfang and take Assault. Put all the enhancement slots you don't need in Assault and put them in Tough. You lose an attack you never use anyway, gain 15% damage to both single target and AoE damage, and gain Smashing and Lethal resistance that will protect you from defense debuffs and lucky shots from AVs. If you are bothered by melee defense hovering dangerously close to 45%, there are ways you can slot Tough to increase melee defense.
Option 3 - Do both of the above.
It may not appeal to you since it involves giving up AoE Attacks, but my own Crab's solution to both psi vulnerability AND single-target damage is to take Mace Mastery. You simply identify the source of the psi damage and beat it over the head with your mace until it stops attacking. Both problems solved! And Shatter Armor works great on non-psionic opponents too. -
I had quit CoH to save money to buy a house, but Steam lured me back when they had Going Rogue on sale for $5. Later on the NCSoft Launcher came along and the Steam engine seemed to have been removed from the loop, though my screenshots still go to a Steam directory....
Anyway, I do like Steam. -
All of my characters have Recall Friend, and they use it to assemble pokey teammates, or recover those that wander away from the team and get defeated. There could be some tactical applications, like teleporting a hapless Spiderling into aggro range of a group in order to take an alpha strike... but I never use it that way.
Both my Crab and Bane have it one-slotted with a Blessing of Zephyr -4 Knockback IO, though it can also accept the Winter's Gift slow resistance IO.
For the ranged Bane Spider or Huntman (SMG attacks) pets can add significant DPS. For the Stalker-like "Executioner" Bane, they are not as useful.
Web Cocoon doesn't seem like an extremely useful power, though some people seem to take it as an excuse to slot Unbreakable Constraint. My own Bane Spider did have it in an earlier build, but every time I used it I thought to myself "Wouldn't it have been more productive to just use a damaging attack?" as it slowed down my DPS. -
The thing that made the reactor room so challenging in the old days was that the waves kept coming whether you were ready for them or not. You'd still be battling the last wave's bosses around the reactor core when a whole new wave arrived. Now the biggest risk is that people won't come back from AFK in time for the next wave.
My suggestion would be to have the defeat of one wave spawn the next one. The waves would not stack with each other, so the party of free players who are doing it for the respecs will not get swamped. The party of Incarnates who are doing it for Notice of the Well can fast-forward through the snooze-inducing gaps. -
My own Beam/Devices Corruptor is still not high enough level to have all his IOs assembled, and he's intended for teams, not AV soloing. Mine does go for positional defense, however I do think you've sacrificed too much chasing Melee defense. Ranged defense and essential, and AoE is good, but why not simply hover to avoid melee and slot your powers to be useful in their intended roles? I agree with Wyatt Earp that giving up the AoE damage of Cutting Beam is a bad idea.