Hey again, Tulzar, good to see your familiar but different guide again! It was your guide (and Tpull's) that turned my MA/SR from a total wuss to a wrecking machine back in the I4 days.
I just want to personally thank you for all the good info you gave, as it's done me good on my main all the way up until now.
Anyhow, I just have one caveat to add to your guide:
For non /Regen types, adding 1 endurance reducer to every attack (except maybe light ones like Thunder Kick/pool attacks) is very useful, especially if you're running a lot of toggles.
For my /SR I find Stamina to be very useful (almost necessary in fact), and would think it'd be close to the same for /INV and particularly /DA.
And for people who think that Air Superiority is too clumsy looking for a "Martial Arts" attack, Boxing is a good replacement for Thunder Kick, imho. Great when used with Brawl to give yourself the appearance of actually having upper-body involvement in the fight.
edit: An interesting thing to note is that Crippling Axe Kick does about 83% of the damage of Crane Kick now. If you don't like the knockback in Crane, or dislike the Slow animation time of Eagle's Claw, CAK is a good replacement for either (although I personally prefer Crane and Eagle to it as Crane knockbacks up to bosses and Eagle's Claw has a 60% chance to disoreint up to LT's as well as that 10% extra chance to crit) due to it's new high-damage.
The people that especially hate the knockback of Crane should more than anyone else now consider CAK instead of it now, as it's good damage.
Anyhow, I tested a build without a light, quick attack (Boxing/Air Superiority/Thunder Kick) but with Storm/Crane/CAK/Dragon/Eagle's in the Training Room, and having 3 slow-ish animation heavy hitters seems highly redundant (especially vs minions) and I was aching for a quick attack to finish off those slivers of health left on most of the enemies I was fighting after I hit 'em with a heavy attack, and with hasten on, I had waay too much overlap between the 3 heavy hitters, given that I also had quickness from /SR.
Arc Salvo: Okay hold one sec guys, we can't just rush in blindly vs these Nemesis, they've got these ranged aoe's tha-
Teammate1(charging in): Shut up, Arc Salvo, you lame*$% Viewtiful Joe wannabe! What do you know?!
Teammate2(also charging): yeah, ST#& arc salvo u PWR RANGR U!
Arc Salvo: *sigh*
Thanks for the words of support! Between reading all the other great guides out there and reading all the positive replies I get for mine, I am repeatedly inspired to write another one. In fact, I've already gotten well underway on a Stalker guide for my main character in CoV, so look for that in the coming hours.
As far as your mention of Stamina and endurance reduction enhancements for attacks, this is part of the reason I decided to change the way I approach my enhancement suggestions. I used to break down my preferred way to slot each power, but I decided to instead only recommend some basics and leave the rest up to the reader to decide based on his/her secondary, pool powers, and playstyle. This way every MA Scrapper that reads my guide doesn't look the exact same (so to speak).
Personally I don't see why so many people complain about Crane Kick knocking back enemies. I think it's fun! I love kicking a guy in the gut and then stomping him while he's down.
Thanks for giving your own experience with the set; it helps to hear alternative points of view. I'm sure many people who visit this thread seeking pointers will skim the posts and may get something from your post that wasn't mentioned in mine. 
Sure thing! Glad I could contribute. I seriously had a really bad build prior to reading your guide. Flurry, Crippling Axe Kick(when it did thunder kick damage), 4-slotted brawl and 1 acc 2 dmg 1 endredux 1 status effect (if the power had any) slotting (back when 1 acc 5 damage was possible) levels of bad.
Needless to say, your guide helped a LOT.
Arc Salvo: Okay hold one sec guys, we can't just rush in blindly vs these Nemesis, they've got these ranged aoe's tha-
Teammate1(charging in): Shut up, Arc Salvo, you lame*$% Viewtiful Joe wannabe! What do you know?!
Teammate2(also charging): yeah, ST#& arc salvo u PWR RANGR U!
Arc Salvo: *sigh*
I would no longer skip Crippling Axe Kick for PvP - A single power that does decent damage, slows, immobilizes, AND has a -fly component is pretty damn useful.
Dawnslayer on Virtue.
Good guide I just respecced into a similar build after reading it.
Great info. I had an unsatisfying MA/rgn build that I used the I7 freespec to fix. I had taken CAK without testing it first. It may be a great power, but I don't PvP and the animation annoys me. I read this guide, copied to test, and rebuilt with TK, SK, CK and Air Sup as my attacks at level 20. I'm having a lot more fun and no longer mind playing this guy. Before, I played him because I kept thinking that maybe my next power selection level or getting to SOs would make him fun. I may pick up CAK at a higher level, but I'm more likely to select Cobra Strike. I'll have to test at a higher level to decide, but I like my MA more as a controller than as a blapper. Anyway, thanks for the details - this really helped me plan a test build and end up with a character I enjoy now, even before getting SOs.
RagManX
"if the market were religion Fulmens would be Moses and you'd be L. Ron Hubbard. " --Nethergoat to eryq2
The economy is not broken. The players are
Please note that Martial Arts attacks only have 105% accuracy, not 110%.
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I would no longer skip Crippling Axe Kick for PvP - A single power that does decent damage, slows, immobilizes, AND has a -fly component is pretty damn useful.
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Exactly my thoughts. After reading a bunch of guides over the months, I decided to test out all the powers for myself, just to see what they're like.
Crippling Axe Kick worried me, because the description says it does minor damage, but without any damage enhancements, it does as much damage as two-slotted Thunder Kick!
My new attack strategy will be to CAK a foe, then Cobra strike him, so he's stunned and cannot do the Drunken Run Away.
Very useful guide, thanks much for taking the time to type and post it.
This guide is magnificent. I plan on getting my MA/regen to 50 very soon, and I have followed this guide (for the most part) up to where I am so far. However, I noticed in the sample build revive was not taken, yet MoG was. Personally, I took revive and skipped MoG. To me, MoG is more like a last resort run away power, and as a scrapper you shouldn't be doing much running away. I also noticed the guide has no information on epic powers. If you could update it with info on epic powers this guide would be even better! I give it two thumbs up.
I wonder if there's an updated version of this that includes IO discussion?
Probably not....I don't think this build has been updated in a while.
I love this guide
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I love this guide
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Haha yep...My first toon was MA/Regen, ended up being my first 50, had so much fun on him and followed most of this build
So, any thoughts on IOs?
I've got a fast leveling MA/WP that is about as much fun to play as scrappers can be (my least favorite hero AT, controllers being my preferred AT)
I'm not quite ready to slot IOs yet, but I'm starting to think about it.
I suppose if you go for bonuses, a lot of it depends on your secondary also.
MA/WP is pretty well balanced, has zero endurance issues (Quick Recovery + Stamina, same as Regen)
Given that fact, I think that I will not pursue set bonuses on this build, I will instead try and get the most out of my slots by mixing sets. My goal is to get the equivalent of 2 Acc, 3 DMG and sufficient recharges to have a smooth attack chain. Acc is important as I solo on invincible and don;t plan on taking Body Mastery (taking weapon for concept)
The nice thing with having secondary effects on the powers is that you can slot from more sets, for example an Acc/Rchg from the stun set.
I'll probably pick up a few +Health bonuses in the process which help with WP's regen.
I wouldn't mind some +movement speed and +recharge
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I would no longer skip Crippling Axe Kick for PvP - A single power that does decent damage, slows, immobilizes, AND has a -fly component is pretty damn useful.
[/ QUOTE ]
Exactly my thoughts. After reading a bunch of guides over the months, I decided to test out all the powers for myself, just to see what they're like.
Crippling Axe Kick worried me, because the description says it does minor damage, but without any damage enhancements, it does as much damage as two-slotted Thunder Kick!
My new attack strategy will be to CAK a foe, then Cobra strike him, so he's stunned and cannot do the Drunken Run Away.
[/ QUOTE ]
ahh, i've never been able to pvp with the build my MA/regen has right now. It doesn't have cobra strike, but it does have CAK, perhaps I could respec and drop out of dragon's tail for cobras strike? I don't know, I'd have to find out more about PvPing with MA scrappers, I don't know squat, but I really wanna try it out
Slot the Force Feedback Chance for +RCHRG into Dragon's Tail.
"Sometimes you have to roll the Hard Six." -- Adama
Teabagging Ms. Liberty - http://kk-comics.com/allmmproject/rsf21.jpg
Part 1: Introduction
I started my Martial Arts Scrapper around late May after the game went live, and got him to 50 in early November of the same year. Up until his mid-40s I played him casually, mostly soloing and duoing with a friend of mine, who played as Fury. His main character was a Blaster, and we meshed well. I'm not a power leveler, though I dont shy away from easy XP every once in a while. I'm a fan of min/maxxing my builds, though Im just as happy playing a more varied character. I played a Scrapper solo, even through the times when people said it was near impossible to get a Scrapper to 40 without help. I made this character before Regeneration was FotM, and back when Martial Arts was the worst set. Way back when Martial Arts was less popular than Dark Armor. What can I say? I like a challenge. I've been through every change, every Regeneration nerf, Enhancement Diversification, and gotten through it all unscathed. I suffered my fair share of deaths, but I average only about 1 per level, as I learn from my mistakes. I remember never seeing a Martial Arts guide back when I was just starting out, so most of my experience is through trial and error (though I made extensive use of the test server). I looked at the list of guides in the Scrapper forum (at the time I released the first version of this guide) and noticed that MA was lacking, so I decided to write an extensive guide on what I have learned through my experiences. Why am I telling you all this? To give you a look at the methodology I use when playing, so you can get an idea of where I am coming from when you read this guide.
So you may be asking yourself, "What is Martial Arts good for?"
Well, a few facts are in order to answer this question...
1. MA Scrappers are mammals.
2. MA Scrappers fight ALL the time.
3. The purpose of the MA Scrapper is to flip out and kill people.
In all honesty, though, Martial Arts can be approached in several ways. One way is to go all offense with damaging attacks. In this way, MA Scrappers are just another flavor of melee damage that all Scrappers can deliver. Specifically, with all of our one-hit attacks that do respectable damage, we have a reputation of being the 'boss-killers'. I would say I'm very good at taking out bosses and lieutenants before they get a chance to do any real harm to my party. MA is also efficient when soloing, since the groups of mobs I face in missions are small enough that using AoEs aren't optimal anyway (at least before the difficulty slider is factored in). Its also great to be able to two-hit a pesky mob like Sappers, or at least Crane Kick them onto their butts before they can do anything. Another approach is to use your status effect powers to shape the battlefield to your liking. Cobra Strike has a 100% chance to disorient enemies (unless they're resistant), and stuns lieutenants with ease. Add to that your Eagle's Claw and/or Thunder Kick and you can stun bosses. You could also make a combination of the two approaches, though the most effective approach is to go all-out offensive in my experience.
Part 2: Powers
Martial Arts is different than other Scrapper sets in that we only have one attack that isn't a single-target attack, and that's Dragon's Tail, our melee AoE. As such, the rest of our offensive powers make up for it with high damage, low recharge time, and cheap endurance cost. This is what gives us the moniker of 'boss-killers'. The only downside to all this damage is that everything we dish out is Smashing damage, which is the most commonly resisted damage type in the game. Another boon to MA, though, is that we have an inherent +10% accuracy bonus. This is great for those who are anal-retentive about always hitting his/her foe. I tend to 2-slot my attacks for accuracy, but with MA, I only need 1. One Single Origin accuracy enhancement of 33%, plus the inherent 10% is enough to reach the cap for hitting +1 minions.
Before I list the powers, I will describe the format they will be presented in. After the power's name will be a series of smiley faces. This is my score for the power. It's a 5-point system, with 1 smiley being a useless power and 5 being absolutely crucial. Following the name will be a list of statistics. These can be largely ignored if you're not a number cruncher and just want to pick fun powers to use; my desriptions should be explanatory enough for casual gamers to get the jest of them. I also recommend slotting for the powers, but I'll leave some of the slots empty so you can make your own contributions.
For those who are not familiar with the Brawl Index measurement popularly used on the forums, it is a way to compare each power's damage output to one another. It's based on how much damage a power does compared to Brawl, which has a baseline score of 1. For example, Thunder Kick's BI value is 2.3, which means it does 2.3x more damage than Brawl. Add 3 SO damage enhancements to TK (for a +95% boost to damage) and the Brawl Index goes up to over 4.
Thunder Kick
Recommended Slots: 1x accuracy; 3x damage
Endurance Cost: 5.2 endurance
Activation Time: 1.1 seconds
Recharge Time: 3 seconds
Brawl Index: 2.3 Smashing damage
Status: Disorient (minor) (foe)
This is going to be your basic attack that will fill out your attack cycle and keep you constantly kicking. It'll be doing the least damage of all your offensive attacks, but it's still better than nothing. It comes with a small chance to disorient foes (approx. 20%), but it doesn't have a high enough magnitude to make a dent on its own. Consider the stun to be a pleasant surprise, but don't expect to see it happen often. If you were so inclined, you could replace this attack with Air Superiority from the Flight Power Pool.
Storm Kick
Recommended Slots: 1x accuracy; 3x damage; 1x recharge rate
Endurance Cost: 7 endurance
Activation Time: 1 second
Recharge Time: 6 seconds
Brawl Index: 3.7 Smashing damage
Ah, I remember back in Issue 1 when this was the "Smell my foot!" power... The animation was a joke. It looked dumb and took forever and a half to animate. The Developers did MA good in Issue 2, though, and now SK is one of the cooler looking MA powers! It does slightly higher damage than TK, and has a smidgen more of an endurance cost. No status effect, but it doesn't need it. The recharge time has been lengthened in recent issues, which is why I recommend at least one recharge SO for it. It's a good attack. Get it, slot it, and love it.
Cobra Strike
Recommended Slots: 1x accuracy
Endurance Cost: 10 endurance
Activation Time: 2 seconds
Recharge Time: 20 seconds
Brawl Index: 0.7 Smashing damage
Status: Disorient (foe)
CS lands a high-magnitude disorient on enemies, and one application is enough to drunkify minions and lieutenants. CS plus a lucky Eagle's Claw will make bosses dizzy. The damage of this power, though, is laughable. Never slot it for damage. Heck, never slot it period. I picked it up at 41 because I had nothing else worth getting, and promptly respecced out of it and into the Concealment pool. It wasn't for me, but after hearing a lot of feedback about this power from other posters, many seem to enjoy it a lot more than I did. While I'm not a fan, tpull wrote some good stuff in defense of this power in Martial Arts / Super Reflexes - The Advanced Guide:
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Cobra Strike (CS) is skipped often, but it is actually very useful. Playing solo, and up against a boss and three minions? You can Disorient the boss and take out one or two pesky minions. That Tsoo sorcerer keeps healing your enemy? Lay him out with a CS and proceed to take out the enemy, or knock out the sorcerer; he can't teleport away while he's stunned. Same effect on Avalanche Shamans and the like. There will be a few levels where it doesn't help much, but when you reach 40+, it comes in handy again. If you can spare the slots, two Accuracy SOs and two Disorient SOs will really make this a good power.
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Focus Chi
Recommended Slots: 1x recharge rate
Endurance Cost: 5.2 endurance
Activation Time: 1.2 seconds
Recharge Time: 90 seconds
Duration: 10 seconds
Status: +62.5% accuracy; +100% damage (self)
Mmmm, precious Focus Chi, how I love thee. It's MA's version of Build Up. I personally have it 3-slotted for recharge and use it once or twice in big battles on average. It's a great power to have. Try to put any spare slots you have into this power, to a maximum of 3 to make it available every 45 seconds.
Crane Kick
Recommended Slots: 1x accuracy; 3x damage; 1x recharge rate
Endurance Cost: 8.5 endurance
Activation Time: 2 seconds
Recharge Time: 8 seconds
Brawl Index: 5.4 Smashing damage
Status: Knockback (foe)
This is one of the defining powers for Martial Arts. A high damage, fast recharge, short animation attack? Sign me up! It's a satisfying kick to the gut with a good chance (60%) to knock foes on their butts about 5 feet away from impact. One of my favorite things to do in Peregrine Island is to jump up to building ledges where Crey Snipers are lurking, get in the right position, and give them a swift kick, sending them off the edge and out of sight. It's comical and I never get tired of doing it. I get a chuckle every time!
Warrior's Challenge
Recommended Slots: 1x taunt
Endurance Cost: 0 endurance
Activation Time: 2.7 seconds
Recharge Time: 3 seconds
Range: 70
Status: Taunt (foe)
I already have a few taunts. They're called Thunder Kick, Storm Kick, and Crane Kick. So yeah, you can skip this power. Unless you team with squishy friends a lot where it would be helpful, your power choice is better spent elsewhere. I personally had it, but that was at 41, and only because I duo with my Blaster friend who goes into his own form of Scrapper-lock, so I have to get multiple mobs off his back constantly. With my recent respec I dropped it from my build again. Oh, and it was nice to pull Lattices from Monster Island with it in Issue 2. Alas, the good 'ole days of soloing monsters in 3 minutes are gone... If you tank in groups more, you'll want it. If you solo more, you can go without.
Crippling Axe Kick
Recommended Slots: 1x accuracy; 3x damage
Endurance Cost: 5.2 endurance
Activation Time: 2.2 seconds
Recharge Time: 4 seconds
Brawl Index: 4.5 Smashing damage
Status: Immobilize (foe); Slow (foe)
CAK does more damage than TK and lands a low-magnitude immobilize on foes (or slows their movement speed if the mag isn't enough to immobilize them), but the animation is kind of slow. You could take this power instead of (or in addition to) TK, but your attack cycle will be a little wonky if you ask me. The damage is good, and the activation time was quickened in a recent patch, so this power went from being pointless to being a nice alternative choice. If you take TK, SK, CK, and EC, you don't really need it, because your attack chain will be pretty solid with those other 4 attacks. I have seen a few Scrappers running around with this attack in lieu of the more traditional choices I mentioned, and I have to say they did just as well. If you do pick it up, the only power I can safely suggest replacing with this one is Eagle's Claw. I'm going to quote tpull again on this one, since he makes some good points about this power despite my position on it:[ QUOTE ]
This secondary effect of the power can be used in tandem with the secondary disorient aspects of Thunder Kick, Cobra Strike, and Eagle's Claw. Add in Air Superiority from the Flight Power Pool, and you have a Scrapper designed to stun opponents, with as many Disorient Enhancements as you feel each power needs. Storm Kick can be skipped in this case, or a solo Scrapper might take CAK in place of Dragon's Tail. That said, this is a relatively rare build,
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Dragon's Tail
Recommended Slots: 1x accuracy; 3x damage; 1x endurance cost
Endurance Cost: 13 endurance
Activation Time: 1.7 seconds
Recharge Time: 14 seconds
Brawl Index: 2.8 Smashing damage
Status: Knockdown (foe)
This is the only power that affects more than 1 mob at a time. You'd think it would be an obvious choice, but it really depends on your build. Do you plan on soloing all the time? Do you have a specific character concept this clashes with? My experience with this power is that I went from level 1 to 38 without it, not really thinking it would help that much. It's got a high endurance cost and is situational. Then I respecced and picked it up (if you've been reading up to this point, you can guess that I used all of my respecs, hehe). This power changed me forever. I love it! I can jump into a group of mobs and pound on the lieutenants/bosses while occasionally DTing all the minions around me. Not only does it soften them up for later, but it also slows down their damage output by planting them on their butts (not sure on the percentage, but it's around 80%). Dragon's Tail does about the same damage as a Thunder Kick to every enemy in a 5' circle around you. It's nice to see 1 or 2 of them get hit with a critical hit, too. It isn't uncommon to finish off a boss and have 2 less minions to face solely from the help DT provides. Just be wary of the endurance cost.
Eagle's Claw
Recommended Slots: 1x accuracy; 3x damage
Endurance Cost: 10 endurance
Activation Time: 3 seconds
Recharge Time: 10 seconds
Brawl Index: 6.3 Smashing damage
Status:
Ah, I got comments from new players who saw this all the time... This is a nice, flashy power. I love the backflip animation, especially since they shortened it in Issue 2. Some people still don't like the activation time, though, and as such the people who want to maximize DPS (damage-per-second) would skip it in favor of Hasten, but this technique is not possible to the same extent any more. I still like it. It's got an increased chance to critical hit (+15%), plus a good chance to disorient foes (60%). There's nothing like a Build Up-boosted final attack critical-hitting a boss! An even level boss loses nearly half of his/her life that way. Nothing compares...
Fitness
Martial Arts doesn't use too much endurance. To compare, we use less than Broad Sword, but more than Claws. If you're not picking any of the utility powers in the MA set, though, it shouldn't be terribly hard to find room to fit Stamina into your build.
Flight
Air Superiority is one of those things to think about. Sure, it breaks the whole 'all-kick' theme, but combined with Crane Kick and Dragon's Tail, you've almost got a Scraptroller attack style. I personally played this way up until I got Eagle's Claw, at which point I respecced out of AS (and recently respecced back into). Its just something to think about.
Speed
Ah, Hasten. Everybody picks it... or do they? Well, Claws Scrappers dont need it, and if you ask me, neither do MA scrappers. I did perfectly fine without Hasten, cycling TK, SK, CK and EC with nary a moment of downtime. Maybe once every 20 seconds I'll have a 1-second downtime, but that's ok for me. One thing to note, though, is that enemies using speed debuffs on me cripple my cycles and really hurt. If you do get Hasten, don't slot it at all and just use it when your speed gets debuffed.
Body Mastery
Focused Accuracy is a power worth considering. I run it with 3 endurance cost enhancements because it's expensive. It's even easier to manage with Stamina in your build. A word to the wise, though: don't take this and remove all of your accuracy enhancements from your attacks! Some people do this so they can put more damage in their attacks, but keep in mind that if you ever exemplar to below level 41, you'll lose the power and be down to the base +10% that Martial Arts bestows by default.
Part 3: Sample Build
I'm recreating this build to loosely match mine, but be able to stand on its own before reaching its prime. Keep in mind that while there are only 3 attacks for the first half of your character's life, you can always add more power pool attacks to supplement them, then respec out of it later by doing the Terra Volta trial (up to 3 times). Your Secondary power set will affect when and how you slot things, but since I'm a Regeneration Scrapper, that's what you'll see here.
[/b]01) -- Thunder Kick -- Acc(1)Dmg(3)Dmg(5)Dmg(7)Rechg(31)
01) -- Fast Healing -- Heal(1)Heal(34)Heal(34)
02) -- Storm Kick -- Acc(2)Dmg(3)Dmg(5)Dmg(7)Rechg(31)
04) -- Reconstruction -- Rechg(4)Rechg(13)Rechg(15)Heal(15)Heal(21)
06) -- Quick Recovery -- EndMod(6)EndMod(11)EndMod(13)
08) -- Crane Kick -- Acc(8)Dmg(9)Dmg(9)Dmg(11)Rechg(25)Rechg(31)
10) -- Dull Pain -- Rechg(10)Rechg(21)Rechg(23)Heal(23)Heal(25)Heal(48)
12) -- Combat Jumping -- EndRdx(12)
14) -- Super Jump -- EndRdx(14)
16) -- Integration -- EndRdx(16)EndRdx(17)Heal(17)Heal(19)Heal(19)
18) -- Focus Chi -- Rechg(18)Rechg(37)Rechg(37)
20) -- Swift -- Run(20)
22) -- Hurdle -- Jump(22)
24) -- Stamina -- EndMod(24)
26) -- Dragon's Tail -- Acc(26)Dmg(27)Dmg(27)Dmg(29)EndRdx(29)EndRdx(50)
28) -- Instant Healing -- Rechg(28)Rechg(39)Rechg(39)Heal(39)Heal(40)Heal(40)
30) -- Boxing -- Acc(30)
32) -- Crippling Axe Kick -- Acc(32)Dmg(33)Dmg(33)Dmg(33)Rechg(34)Slow(46)
35) -- Tough -- EndRdx(35)EndRdx(36)DmgRes(36)DmgRes(36)DmgRes(37)
38) -- Moment Of Glory -- Rechg(38)Rechg(40)Rechg(42)DmgRes(43)DmgRes(43)DmgRes(43)
41) -- Conserve Power -- Rechg(41)Rechg(42)Rechg(42)
44) -- Focused Accuracy -- EndRdx(44)EndRdx(45)EndRdx(45)TH_Buf(45)TH_Buf(46)TH_Buf(46)
47) -- Cobra Strike -- Acc(47)DisDur(48)DisDur(48)
49) -- Resilience -- DmgRes(49)DmgRes(50)DmgRes(50)
Part 4: Arena
I have played PvP extensively and have come to conclusions about some of the powers (thanks in part to the free anniversary respec). I'll make a list of everything I made note of, along with a new rating for 2 powers that should be considered separately for PvP use. We are single target beasts. This puts us at somewhat of an advantage in 1v1 fights, where we are at our best. Warrior's Challenge means one less temporary power to lug around, and can be helpful in team battles. The Presence power pool can give you crowd control with fear effects. The Concealment power pool can give you terrain advantage and the ability to sneak up on an opponent (great for smacking a Controller upside the head with, hehe).
Cobra Strike
Recommended Slots: 1x accuracy
This power is now infinitely more useful. If your enemy has an annoying toggle up, one fist to the face can bring their whole world crashing down. You can get a similar effect with Brawl, yes, but with Cobra Strike, they can't immediately retreat and put their toggles back up. A one-two combo of Brawl and CS works well, too. Watch that pesky Invuln tank's life start to plummet! I really love this power in PvP. Its still great with just 1 slot, as the default disorient length is long enough for you to kill anyone.
Crippling Axe Kick
Recommended Slots: 1x accuracy; 2x slow movement
CAK now has lots more potential. If your enemy just won't stay still long enough for you to kill them (don't ya hate when they don't cooperate?), kicking them with this power can put the ball back in your court. It will also keep Blasters, Controllers, and Defenders from getting out of your range. Since the slow portion is rarely resistible with toggles and such, even someone protected from Immobilize is still susceptible to this attack, which increases its value to me. Slot a few Slow enhancements in it and your enemies will fear you.
Part 5: Closing
I hope this guide can help aspiring Scrappers, if only to give you an idea of what Martial Arts is like. I had fun playing my Scrapper up to level 50, and wish others to have as much fun as I did. The guide was fun to write, and if I think of anything else, I'll be sure to add it (edit: which I have)! But now I think this guide is complete. Barring any changes in the game in future Issues, this will be the final version of my Martial Arts guide (edit: there have been some heavy changes, and the guide has had some even heavier ones). After the success of previous versions, and all the private messages I got, though, Ive felt inspired to possibly write other guides on other power sets I have become familiar with. My thanks go out to everyone who helped with this guide, which includes (but is not limited to) Fury, Aeroth, and the many members of Evolution, the best SG on Guardian! Feel free to add comments, as I appreciate any and all feedback. If you find any errors with the numbers I gave, please, please, please let me know! I strive to make this guide as accurate as possible! You can reach me via private message on either the forums or in the game. My Global Chat handle is @Tulzar, and you can also drop me an e-mail in CoH or at transient1024@gmail.com.
Now go flip out and kill stuff!
~Works Cited
MARTIAL ARTS - EXTENSIVE/REGENERATION GUIDE v3.1 by RisingPhoenix, 02-05-05
Martial Arts / Super Reflexes - The Advanced Guide by tpull, 03-07-05
CoH/CoV Character Builder by Sherkhan (Sherk Silver), 01-07-06