Werner
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Posts
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Joined
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Quote:As I recall, for the most part, yeah. But when you start as good as Regen started, it's kind of nowhere but down. MoG was a nice buff, though.Originally Posted by ArchGemini
So has Regen simply just been downhill from launch, and a small bump with the MoG changes? -
There are going to be newer and better builds, but here's what I had back in I12/I13 for AV soloing as a possible starting point. If I were upgrading, I'd probably at least stick in the PvP 3% defense and 3% resistance uniques and find room for Shadow Maul and hopefully Physical Perfection. It was SPECIFICALLY for AV soloing, so an AoE was an extravagance, but it's pretty lame doing regular play without an AoE. Endurance is sustainable, that being a requirement of AV fights with no inspirations. Hmmm, I'd also go Hurdle instead of Swift and use Ninja Running as my travel power. You should probably consider three Nucleolus and three Golgi in Siphon Life. Most people will want the extra damage more than the extra recharge and a few hit points.
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Quote:Yeah, I'm certainly not saying they don't burn a lot of endurance. They do. Just like any other attack. So you'll probably need some decent endurance reduction. Just like any other attack. And they have the down side of burning endurance when you aren't fighting, slowing your between-fight recovery. But they have the up side of not taking any activation time during a fight.Originally Posted by Santorican
Werner! Now I have to go rework my build! Again
Gah: Yeah can't do that, adding in a set of Obliteration into Quills adds another .2 end/s use on my Spines/Dark and the poor guy is already sucking wind after a few groups lol -
Quote:Your L32 Electric/Shield isn't going to fall apart as she levels. She's already wonderful by your own admission, and she's going to get better and better. Just because you CAN spend billions on a build doesn't mean you MUST spend billions, or your build will suck, and all the minions in the game will laugh at you and spit on your corpse. You're imagining things.Originally Posted by McCharraigin
The players wanted Shields, the players voted for Shields, and what we got is a powerset for the very rich.
I am sorry , but I am very bitter about this. There is not much that makes me bitter, but this does because I don't have billions to pour into one toon. . .and I do want to play a Shield scrapper. I have an Elec/Shield at level 32, she is doing wonderful now, but reading the forums, and hearing about the need for billions of influence I am expecting her to fall apart any day now....and that is not a nice feeling.
You can make a killer Shields build on the influence you earn while simply playing the game from 1-50. OK, it won't keep up with the Joneses with their 10 billion influence builds, but it'll sure handle most anything the game throws at you. Shield Defense compares just fine to any other secondary I've leveled, and I level on the cheap. I don't get where this whole Shields sucks with SOs idea is coming from. Sometimes I feel like I'm playing a different game than other people.
Yes, top end Shield Defense is a rich person's game. Top end ANYTHING is a rich person's game. -
Quote:There's a game other than Scrappers? What's it like?Originally Posted by Cyber_naut
That's why when I hear people crying for SD nerfs, it just sounds ridiculous to me, but maybe these people are focusing only on the scrapper at and not the game as a whole.
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Quote:Eh, it doesn't terrify me. It's not that Willpower can achieve more than other secondaries, though obviously it can in some situations since not all secondaries are the same. But it will achieve it with less user input, and in many cases, no user input at all. It's a toggle on and go secondary. It's for people who want to pay attention to all the damage they're doing instead of the damage they're taking.Originally Posted by Selenir
It terrifies me that this is possible... do you need to be IO'd with solid purples to get this absurd level of invincibility, or can you get it with SOs or a non-purple IO build?
Me, I prefer a more active secondary in general, but I've played a lot of Willpower too. -
Broad Sword would be better for surviving Architect Entertainment content, where you get a lot of to-hit buffs, pets and other things that can blow through "mere" soft capped defense. Broad Sword would give you the ability to go quite a bit over soft cap. I don't play much AE, so it's a non-issue for me.
Broad Sword is a better choice for survivability while leveling, with or without IOs. Without IOs, it'll always be more survivable. But even with IOs, it'll likely be more survivable for the bulk of the game. Fire/Shield is "strong enough", though, at least for my definition of strong enough for leveling.
I've leveled both to 50. I had a little more fun leveling my Broad Sword/Shield, but I'm probably going to IO out my Fire/Shield instead for the massive damage. I already have enough survival machines. -
Quote:Interesting. I knew Fire was better than the others, but I didn't know that Quills was worse:Originally Posted by pinrail
Just for those as naive as I recently was---this can't be said of the very special Quills, which is an endurance drainer.
Quills: 10.3 damage per two seconds, 0.52 EPS, 9.9 DPE
Still, Quills is more endurance efficient than normal PBAoEs:
Death Shroud: 12.5 damage per two seconds, 0.52 EPS, 12.0 DPE
Lightning Field: 12.5 damage per two seconds, 0.52 EPS, 12.0 DPE
Blazing Aura: 13.8 damage per two seconds, 0.52 DPS, 13.3 DPE
Spine Burst: 82 damage, 15.2 endurance, 5.4 DPE
So I didn't know the specifics, but I'll give the same advice. Don't slot any more endurance in Quills than you would in other attacks. It's already very endurance efficient.
Fire Sword Circle: 126.7 damage, 18.5 endurance, 6.8 DPE
The Lotus Drops: 91.3 damage, 13 endurance, 7.0 DPE -
I'll just give the same opinion as others - I don't think you need Aid Self. If your DM/SR couldn't survive without Aid Self, I suspect you may be doing something wrong. On the other hand, I haven't solo'd multiple AVs on my DM/SR, so maybe I'm the one that's doing something wrong. I forget who, but someone once upon a time sent me a Willpower build with Aid Self. On the surface, it sounded ridiculous to me, but when I added up all the numbers, I'll be damned if it didn't have very impressive survivability. Even when you already have a ton of healing, more healing still helps.
I mean duh, yes, of course, Aid Self IS a benefit. For any given toon, ADDING Aid Self will make it more survivable. But there's an opportunity cost there. What are you skipping? Obviously you don't want to skip Hasten, because you want perma-ish Soul Drain and the top attack chain. You're going to want Tough and Weave. Hmmmm, I guess what you'd be dropping is Fitness, and relying on perma-Hastened Dark Consumption and Conserve Power, plus a little bit from Physical Perfection. Yeah, OK, maybe that would work. Maybe you're onto something. Hmmm. Yeah, it sounds almost impossible to pull off, but as you say, maybe one of the build fu masters can do it. And wouldn't it be cool if someone CAN come up with a practical build that meets your criteria? -
Yep, every ten seconds, so you can do the math from there. Worth it if you're already slotted out for damage, and you're chasing after every last bit of damage you can get. Otherwise a waste of slots.
As for general slotting, I don't put two endurance reducers in a damage aura any more than I put two endurance reducers in a typical attack. Damage auras are already endurance efficient. When going for sets, it's worth keeping endurance reduction in mind, of course. In my Katana/Dark build, though, I ended up with an Eradication set, which only has 15% endurance reduction. I needed the set bonuses more than I needed additional endurance efficiency in that attack. Obliterations are also good, but have the same lack of endurance reduction. Anyway, just slot it like any other attack, I'd say. -
I think I've had more typical purple luck, with the normal rule of one purple every few thousand bad guys applying to me. My last toon was particularly lucky, getting two purple drops before 50, one of them particularly valuable. Random drops are random, I guess.
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Quote:Originally Posted by Nemu_
Just following the rules, and the rules don't say anything about travel or stamina.
I win! That's panda law!
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No reason to confine yourself to Broad Sword/Shield here. That thread was more about end game builds, and it sounds like you're interested in a leveling build, which is often a different animal.
You don't need up front influence. You make enough influence while leveling that you don't have to stick with SOs. Check the market value of your drops before vendoring them. Many things are worth a lot more on the market than they are to a vendor.
Here's my leveling build, or as close as I could figure from memory and my current build. Ignore slot levels. Health was overslotted at the very end to make room for the Numina and Miracle uniques. Don't do that while leveling. The IO levels are actual, and therefore indicate approximately when things were slotted, since I was shooting for the highest level IOs I could get. However, I took whatever I could get cheaply. I wasn't a stickler for getting the best.
The focus in this build was tanking rather than damage output. I was team tank. The build had some minor endurance problems, and had to use the level 40+ toggles (Tactics, Assault, Grant Cover) situationally. It can run a nearly gapless chain of Fire Sword -> Scorch -> Cremate -> Scorch, which isn't bad for leveling, even if it won't set any DPS records while soloing a Pylon.
Technically, I took a ten million influence gift from one of my other characters when starting. But I had more than ten million influence from maybe the mid 20s on, so this is basically affordable for what you'll likely earn while you level. Since you can earn millions per hour on a level 50, saving up while leveling isn't necessary - you're better off blowing it on stuff you can use.
This could be turned into a cheapo end game build pretty easily by grabbing a few more sets to get defense those last few percentage points to 45%. Not a great build, by any means, but perfectly serviceable if you want to avoid respecs. I never did a respec on this build, which is something I typically do, so this one can level as is without any of that "before 35/after 35" kind of stuff.
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.621
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Level 50 Magic Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Fiery Melee
Secondary Power Set: Shield Defense
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Body Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Scorch -- F'dSmite-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), F'dSmite-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(3), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(3), S'ngH'mkr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(5), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(5), T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(7)
Level 1: Deflection -- S'dpty-Def(A), S'dpty-Def/EndRdx(19), S'dpty-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(21), DefBuff(21), ResDam-I(23), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx(23)
Level 2: Fire Sword -- F'dSmite-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), F'dSmite-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(7), F'dSmite-Dmg/EndRdx(9), S'ngH'mkr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(9), S'ngH'mkr-Dmg/EndRdx(13), T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(13)
Level 4: Cremate -- F'dSmite-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), F'dSmite-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(15), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(15), S'ngH'mkr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(17), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(17), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(19)
Level 6: Battle Agility -- S'dpty-Def(A), S'dpty-Def/EndRdx(25), S'dpty-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(25), GftotA-Def/EndRdx(27)
Level 8: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 10: Active Defense -- RechRdx(A), RechRdx(11), RechRdx(11)
Level 12: Combat Jumping -- Ksmt-ToHit+(A), DefBuff(27), DefBuff(29), DefBuff(39)
Level 14: True Grit -- Heal(A), Heal(48), Heal(48), ResDam(48), ResDam(50), ResDam(50)
Level 16: Health -- Heal(A), Heal(29), Heal(34), Heal(34), Heal(37)
Level 18: Against All Odds -- EndRdx(A)
Level 20: Stamina -- P'Shift-EndMod(A), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(42), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc(42), EndMod(43)
Level 22: Phalanx Fighting -- DefBuff(A)
Level 24: Boxing -- Empty(A)
Level 26: Tough -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx(39), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(39), TtmC'tng-ResDam(40)
Level 28: Weave -- S'dpty-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(A), S'dpty-Def(40), S'dpty-Def/EndRdx(40), GftotA-Def/EndRdx(42)
Level 30: Fire Sword Circle -- M'Strk-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(A), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(31), M'Strk-Acc/Dmg(31), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx(31), M'Strk-Acc/EndRdx(33), M'Strk-Dmg/Rchg(33)
Level 32: Build Up -- RechRdx(A), RechRdx(33), RechRdx(34)
Level 35: Shield Charge -- M'Strk-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(A), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(36), M'Strk-Acc/Dmg(36), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx(36), M'Strk-Acc/EndRdx(37), M'Strk-Dmg/Rchg(37)
Level 38: Maneuvers -- S'dpty-Def/EndRdx(A), S'dpty-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(43), S'dpty-Def(43), GftotA-Def/EndRdx(45)
Level 41: Tactics -- GSFC-Rchg/EndRdx(A), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(45), GSFC-ToHit/EndRdx(45), GSFC-ToHit(46), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg(46), GSFC-Build%(46)
Level 44: Grant Cover -- EndRdx(A)
Level 47: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 49: Conserve Power -- RechRdx(A), RechRdx(50)
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Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Critical Hit
Level 4: Ninja Run
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Yeah, I don't think they "can" remove the fear effect now. In practice, without an immobilize to go with it, the damage seems small enough that the main reason I take and use it is as mitigation. Not saying I'll complain about a change, as the mitigation isn't an integral part of any of my builds. But I do agree that it makes it a violation of the cottage rule to remove it.
So while I'd prefer the damage be bumped and the fear removed, I think something like Muon Neutrino's suggestion to front load the damage is more likely in practice. So you don't remove the fear, and you can still use the power primarily for mitigation, but then you could also largely ignore the fear if you're just after damage. I don't see them adding knockdown, though, Dr. Evil. In a FIRE power? Fire's secondary effect is FIRE (more damage). -
Quote:Well, if it's against terms of service, it hardly matters that sharing is generally a good thing.Originally Posted by Bocus_King
what lol? Not likely me and my friend share our accounts, we share all 3 of em. You know what they teach in kinergarten, sharing. Sometimes one of us is broke why would they want to ban us for such a thing?
But I'm reading the terms of service now, since I assumed it would be disallowed, and I'm not seeing it strictly laid out like that. Instead, I see this:
"You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password and you are responsible for any harm resulting from your disclosure or allowing the disclosure of your password or use by any person of your password to gain access to your Account and Account ID."
Sounds like it's fine for you to share your password, as long as you understand that they will hold you personally responsible for anything that is subsequently done with your account.
I could easily have missed something, though. I merely skimmed. -
Quote:Uh... I'll refer you to your SECOND comment. Diminishing returns. ED. If we six slot with the set, we get 1% smashing/lethal resistance. Woo. Adding just common IOs, the first gives you 1.2%, the second another 0.7%, and the third 0.5%. Every little bit helps, but from where did you want to pull those slots? This isn't some "Oh my god! You aren't slotting your smashing/lethal resistance! What's WRONG with you?" situation. We're deeply into the realm of small gains, compromises, and trade offs. I suspect there are better places to spend even a single slot than further enhancing Mind Over Body, let alone three slots.Originally Posted by Firefist Ace
1) SIX SLOT MIND OVER BODY FOR CHRIST SAKE! It's your s/l dam reduct and you should have that fully slotted!
Diminishing returns are a good thing to remember, yes. For Rise to the Challenge, the fourth IO is worth 4 hit points per second of regeneration. Hey, it's not huge, but I suspect it's better than... wait, you're not even looking at the most recent build, are you? There are only four IOs in it. Sounds like you're looking at a build with six? Wait, there aren't ANY builds in this thread with six. Did you really want to remove TWO IOs from the most recent build that only has four? You'll lose 25 hit points and 11.3 hit points per second of regeneration. Not a good idea, if that's what you meant.Quote:Originally Posted by Firefist Ace
2) Health gets massive diminishing returns after about 4 +health IO's put on it so take two slots off of it.
Edit: GAH! OK, I think we're both getting confused. I got confused between Health and Rise to the Challenge. I think you got confused between Health and Fast Healing. OK, looking at what you probably meant, Fast Healing, on the build before your post, yes, I think it could stand to lose a slot. Two is too many, though. Anyway, it's been reslotted in the latest build.
If one is worth slotting, why aren't two, three, or even five worth slotting? If it isn't worth slotting the second, why is it worth slotting the first? There aren't any diminishing returns on Blessing of the Zephyr bonuses until you cap your bonuses with five of them. In fact, the more defense you have, the more each bit of defense helps, so in a sense, each Blessing of the Zephyr set is better than the last. But as with the previous question, there are no Blessing of the Zephyr sets in the most recent build, and only one set in the original build. So what are you looking at? Or was this just general advice, in case someone was CONSIDERING doing this?Quote:Originally Posted by Firefist Ace
3) I know some people will disagree with this but three slotting TWO travel powers after BotZ nerf isn't worth it. -
Quote:I seem to earn maybe 50-100 million just playing the game on the 1-50 journey most times. At 50, it's pretty easy to pull in a few million per hour just playing the game and marketing anything good that drops. It shouldn't be hard for anyone to afford a 100 million build, even if they've been unlucky, as long as they enjoy playing the game on their 50s. And if they don't like playing the game on their 50s, why IO out?Originally Posted by Tenzhi
100M? I might have half that between all 27 of my characters on Virtue.
I suppose if someone can buy F-117s on a regular basis, Ferraris seem eminently affordable.
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The Gaussian proc works in Tactics. Once in a blue moon. For a few seconds. Seriously, it makes a pretty small difference. You get the Gaussian proc because you're completing the Gaussian set for defense, not because you're trying to boost your DPS. I'm pretty sure that the proc only buffs you, not the whole team, but I'm not 100% confident.
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Quote:Well, I doubt you're actually calling for nerfs there, either. But if anyone else is confused about how a squishy solos a giant monster, it's something very specific, -regen. Other than staying alive yourself, the main problem with killing giant monsters, pylons and AVs is that they are giant bags of hit points regenerating at an astounding rate. For some reason, numbers are escaping me now, but it's something like 360 hit points per second on a giant monster, 130 something on a pylon, and 90 something on an AV.Originally Posted by Cyber_naut
The funniest part of this debate is that so many here are calling for nerfs to lvl 50 fully io'd out scrappers, who are supposed to be the best solo toon in the game, yet whenever we have some of these tests/trials, there's always a rogue squishy, an at that is supposed to be weak solo, bragging about doing solo things better/faster than scrappers, and in some cases, doing things solo that scrappers can't even begin to do, like soloing gm's. If you're really nerf happy and so concerned about balance, shouldn't we start there?
So if you happen to have a power that can shut down a giant monster's regeneration, you essentially get 360 DPS for free, for that one power.
But how useful is -regen overall? Well, it's great against giant monsters. It's good against pylons and AVs. And... uh... that's about it? There are probably other things in game regenerating fast enough for that to make a difference, but they're few and far between. That 360 DPS isn't "real" DPS, then, like a Scrapper puts out. It's EXTREMELY situational DPS. It just so happens that those situations where it contributes the most are the situations that most impress people.
Kind of like a Shield Defense surrounded by Rikti Monkeys tearing apart a Rikti Pylon. It's a very specific, very rare situation, Which I think is the point.
I'm not saying Shield Defense isn't uber - it is. But it's not AS good as a quick glance at the Pylon soloing times might lead you to believe. -
Quote:Ya know, I KNEW that, and still said it wrong. Sorry about that.Originally Posted by Iggy_Kamakaze
Actually... took down the Pylon first then finished off the rest
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Quote:It was easy to misread that part of the thread, or at least it was for me, since the bulk of the thread to that point wasn't about auras. Yes, you were talking about damage auras not being as amazing as that high DPS run makes them appear, but my FIRST reaction was exactly the same as Cyber naut, and I had to talk myself down by backing up and reading more carefully. Since you were clear in your writing, I'm not sure much could be done about it to make it easier on the reader. Just saying I understand where Cyber naut's comment came from.Originally Posted by Frosticus
You just moved the goalpost, first you were talking about how good a damage aura is toward damage output and now you are talking about complete single target chains or something, of which the strongest /shield is still ahead of the strongest /aura toon.
Still waiting for my Katana/Shield.Quote:Originally Posted by Nihilii
Shield hasn't access to DB (or Claws, or Katana). Granted, AaO would be comparatively less impressive for DB/Claws because of BF/FU, but on a Katana ? The 300 DPS barrier would be trivial to break.
*chuckle*
But no, I honestly don't think the 300 DPS barrier would be broken on a Katana/Shield, and at least not trivially.
My most recent (but still oldish) top end DPS comparisons in spreadsheets has Dark Melee/SR doing 5% better DPS than Katana/SR. That IS under fairly ideal circumstances (fully-saturated almost perma Soul Drain), but those are the circumstances we're setting up for Pylon soloing. I suppose the margin might be closer since you're going to have more of a Soul Drain gap with Shields. I'd also rather have the Katana/Shield for general play. It would do better DPS and better AoE in MOST circumstances. I just don't think it would be better than Dark/Shield in Pylon soloing contests. That's my useless (since we'll never see it) and not particularly well thought out prediction anyway. -
You can still do some very nice things on a budget. Frankenslotting has a similar cost to common IOs, but has a much higher benefit in some cases, particularly attacks. There ARE still some cheap sets out there that are worth having. There are some pieces that may seem expensive, but are well within reach of a 50, such as spending a few million on a Steadfast Protection or a Kismet unique, or whatever they're going for these days. Consider that a Steadfast Protection unique is BETTER than the PvP +3% defense unique that goes for billions, and it might occur to you what a bargain it is when you're paying a thousandth that price. Basically, you can make a very solid Scrapper on just the influence you've earned going from 1-50, even with something that everyone considers very expensive to do properly, like Shield Defense.
Even SOs don't suck. I was ALMOST able to solo an AV, no temps, no inspirations, on an SO-only version of my namesake Katana/Regen. I'm convinced that if I had the patience, I could get a success on either him or on my Dark Melee/Super Reflexes with an SO build.
Super Reflexes is particularly good on a budget. It is very cheap to hit the soft cap (you can do it on a practical build using only a single IO, so sets are just gravy), which gives you very, very good mitigation. My purpled-out Dark Melee/Super Reflexes won't have much better damage mitigation than you can have on a total budget build. -
Quote:Yeah, can you imagine how horrible Shield Defense would be if they removed the recharge completely? You'd have to spend your whole time spamming Shield Charge!Originally Posted by StratoNexus
I am not arguing against a buff to fiery aura.
However, I do not find it very compelling that some people are attempting to turn a short recharge timer into a negative. When they changed the recharge from 10s to 25s, I do not believe anyone was saying, "Thank God I no longer have to spend so much time animating Burn!"
Or would you complain that you have to spend so much more time animating SC if it had a 25s base recharge?
In this case, while I didn't read carefully, I believe the point being made was "this power does damage X over total cycle time Y, but requires you to spend Z% of your time to do so". In that case, yes, the higher percentage of time you spend on the power, the worse that power is. Reducing Shield Charge's recharge WOULD make the Z figure worse, but also make the X/Y figure so much better as to dwarf the change to Z. But for any fixed damage over time X/Y, it is better to spend as little time as possible on the attack (up to a point - you don't want a 10 billion damage attack that recharges once per century). Faster recharge is, in that sense, a problem (as your damage will be reduced to match the reduced recharge). -
Quote:I don't *think* so? But I'm old and my memory is slipping.Originally Posted by Windenergy21
ty for that clarification. Did it used to be a 10% chance though? Could have sworn it was.
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Quote:Resistance armors go well with the defense from Katana. Dark Armor is likely to be more survivable, but I haven't actually studied Electric or played around with builds, so take that evaluation with a grain of salt. Katana/Dark CAN be an endurance pain, but not so much if you're used to solving endurance problems. Mine was fine for leveling, and is fine IO'd out.Originally Posted by Psiphon
I've been considering making a resistance based armour (Electric or Dark) to use with Katana.
Any one know how the two would compare in regards to survivablilty and general performance?