Soldier of Fortune - An AR/Traps Corruptor Guide

Rubber_Dog · 03-31-2006 09:54 AM

Soldier of Fortune An Assault Rifle/Traps Corruptor Guide

OVERVIEW

What this combination of powersets can do:

1) Single Target Damage (Burst, Slug, Sniper Rifle)
2) AOE Damage (Buckshot, M30 Grenade, Flamethrower, Ignite, Full Auto, Trip Mine, Time Bomb)
3) Debuff (Beanbag, Web Grenade, Caltrops, Acid Mortar, Poison Trap, Seeker Drones)
4) Buff (Triage Beacon, Force Field Generator)

This guide is based on the concept that it is important for a player to recognize what their powersets are best suited to accomplish and then slotting and building to achieve that ideal.

I will not offer recommendations on slotting as that is really based on player style.

In the case of an AR/Traps Corruptor the strength of the combined powersets are best suited to cause AOE damage while Buffing and Debuffing actively and passively.

The strength of the AR/Traps combination is then reinforced by the fact that you also have three solid single target damage attacks including a sniper power.

There are many who will argue that Burst is not a solid attack and I will address those concerns later in the guide.

SOME OF THE NOT SO GOOD STUFF

It should be noted that the life of a Soldier of Fortune is not always rosy and there are several issues that exist with the AR/Trap combination. I will list some of those here:

1) Lethal Damage galore in these powers. Lethal is one of those powers that are resisted more and more as the game goes on and in the PvP environment as well. This is not a solid PvP choice so if you see a lot of that in your future another power set combination may be a better choice for you.

2) Unless you invest in Hasten and slot a bit for recharge some of the Traps powers will take a bit of time to recharge thus preventing their use in every battle. So if you want to have your powers up and ready to go all the time another power set combination may be better for you.

3) There is no direct heal and no direct shield power in this group so you will not be doing a lot of individual buffing which is a plus in my eyes but the potential exists that you will not be a highly visible team contributor if those teammates are not aware of the small things (read: passive power contributions). In other words the support powers you provide are not flashy and so if you want Green Flames shooting out of yourwellshooting out of anywherethen another power set combination may be a better choice for you

4) The Traps set can be sort of like Castle Building in Real Time Strategy (RTS) games. The set can revolve around the idea that you can set up a safe haven from which to operate. You can set up your Beacon, Acid Mortar, Drop some Caltrops, Lay down the Poison trap, etc all in a defined area and prior to engaging the enemy if you wishhowever this particular style of play while very effective solo can be much less effective on teamsthe enemy is dying much more quickly and many of your teammates may be on the move so they may not be reaping any benefit whatsoever of your powers or moving in and out of their beneficial range. Playing the set like you are Castle Building is not a requirement but if that is the thing you like to do and you are the type of player who would become agitated that EVERYONE IS NOT STAYING SAFE BY MY SIDE!! then another power set combination may be a better choice for you.

ACTIVE and PASSIVE POWERS

One of the best things about the AR/Traps corruptor is the fact that you have both active and passive powers in the Traps set that can help the team. The Passive powers here are the Force Field Generator and the Triage Beacon. You set them up and they are doing their jobyou dont have to think about them at allyet you are reaping their benefit.

A word about the Triage Beacon. This power is one that many people advise can be skipped in the Traps set and while I understand the rationale behind that thinking this power does have its benefits. When properly slotted the Triage Beacon is providing what is basically a Super-Health power (without the sleep resistance). Everyone who is within the rather wide range of this power will recover approximately 5% of their hit points every 2 seconds. There is no doubt that this power will not prevent the Alpha Strike death or the too much Agro and I am a squishy deathbut there is no denying that recovery of 5% of my hit points every 2 seconds is, for lack of a better term, Good. Positioning of this power is very important and often this power should be put into use not at the very onset of the battle but once things are rollingand the melee area is defined. The range of the Beacon is large enough that it can be placed at a strategic point between the Melee folks and the Ranged folks and both with benefit.

One might also consider Acid Mortar, Seeker Drones and Poison Trap as Passive powers (as well as Caltrops, Trip Mine and Time Bomb) but I do not because they do require a bit more thought due to placement, agro management and the like.

In my opinion those are hybrid active/passive powers.

Once you make your decision on where to lay them down then they can do their thing but in the meantime you have to think about the best place to put them into use.

Ok so you have your passive powers out and working you put some thought into where you want to lay the hybrid powers down and now it is time to go activemmmmblasting. time to pull out the Gigantic Rifle of Deathwhich amazingly never needs reloading or cleaning and will disappear into umm your back apparently when not in use. The Assault Rifle powers details are available for review in the blaster forums so I will not rehash them hereexcept to say thiswhen you have a group of enemies that are either desperately trying to run out of the caltrops, puking their guts out from poison trap and/or stuck in place with the Web Grenade and you open up with Full Auto, Flamethrower, Ignite, and any of your single attack powers and then end it with a good dose of Buckshotwell it is very satisfying

Regarding Buckshot and the M30 Grenade Launcher as has been said before you may not need both. I have Buckshot because I like the resulting position of the mobs better than what happens when M30 knocks them all over the place and to be honest I usually use it only as a Defensive get away from my castle power or when I have a good group lined up and they are close to death.

This brings us to Scourge, which is the reason I mentioned Burst earlier and why I dont think that is a wasted power. If you have an enemy that is getting down a bit on health you have the perfect ender to his sad lifeBurst4 ticks of damage suddenly becomes 8 ticks with scourge and Violadead bad guy. The same can be said of Buckshotafter you have whittled down the health with your other more potent attack and suddenly you lay Buckshot into a group then you have actually dealt quite a bit of damageplus most of them are going to be getting back up and therefore not shooting at you.

THE TRAPS POWERSET

A quick summary of some of the Traps set powersno numbers here just some basic info about the power and its use from my experience.

Web Grenade - You have to take iteasy to forget you have itgreat to take down flyerssituational power but very useful when neededNo Choice but to take it.

Caltrops - Ahhhh Sweet, Sweet Caltropshow I love thee so. Get em. Slot em Love them.- Highly Recommended!

Triage Beacon - Some dont like or need this power and I can see that but I like it so you make your own decision on it. Up to youI like it so I will say Recommended.

Acid Mortar This power will Tank for you and increase the damage you doNuff said. Recommended.

Force Field Generator A must have powerMez protectionvery noticeable difference in damage and how often Mezd when this power goes down in the middle of a battle. Highly Recommended!

Poison Trap Again a situation powermuch more useful to me on an 8 man team with a lot of mobs than in a small team or solo settingCan Save your Bacon if played correctlyusefulrecommendedwell maybemy thoughts are it can be skipped or slotted for full use but not in between (I have it and use it). Up to you.

Seeker Drones Great power in a Team situationBasically you are saving the Brute from taking the Alpha strike with this power. SoloIm not so in love with itdraws agro, which I would rather do with a bullet to the noggin from my Sniper Rifle. Recommended.

Trip Mine The better of the two bombsmy thoughts are you can do a lot of damage as is but if you really like doing damagego for it. Up to you.

Time Bomb Huh! Can I get that thing where I attach a bomb to some poor sod like a mastermind does instead. not recommended.

RECOMMENDED POWER POOL CHOICES
There are many that are solid add on powers. Medicine in case you want to add an active heal to your repertoireStealth and Grant Invisibility is a must so you can cloak your Force Field Generator and hide yourself so every Yo-Yo and his brother doesnt shoot at you while you are placing bombs and other evil devices at their feetSuper Jump so you can get Acrobatics and avoid being knocked back out of the castle you have built.TP is good to move some of your items (Acid Mortar) around.Hasten will aid your recharge timers on some of the longer recharging items.your choice really but the utility of the sets in general allow for a wide range of choices.

BEST TEAMATES FOR THIS POWER SET COMBINATION

For Survivability: Thermal Corruptor or another Corruptor with an active heal
For Fun: Anyone with SB, AM or any other power that causes your power to cycle more quickly

SUMMARY

The Assault Rifle/Traps Corruptor is a solid power set combination. It is not flashy and may seem not very Super Villainy to some people so there are going to be those who just would simply not consider it. It is however a very satisfying set to play simply due to the utility you can offer to a team. You will not be getting the Nice Heals message in the team window but you will have a great time and if the team has another Corruptor on it with active heals the team will rock. When a Traps Corruptor is the only Corruptor on the team there can be issues but when another player has an active heal then you will be amazed at how smoothly things goThis is the power set that fills in all the small little niches that otherwise may cause issuesYou need some controlGot thatYou need some HealingGot That. You need some Mez Resistance. Got that. Oh you need some serious damage dealing. Got that too.

Whatever you do have a good time doing it

Uh Oh. my phone is ringingmust be another request for this Soldier of Fortune to go out and do some damage

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Positron can't take a leak without blowing up a city block.

Captain Mako

Borea · 03-31-2006 10:15 AM

I'd like to agree about Acid Mortar being a semi-tank. I play a /Traps Mastermind, but with Recall Friend to position the mortar, I've had it taek the alpha from two closely-grouped spawns for a team of six and only drop to half. It has insane amounts of health and draws lots of aggro away from team members. The resist debuff is pretty awesome too.

salex_bryan · 04-10-2006 11:22 PM

I have a lvl 40 ar/traps, do you have a guide in what would be a good way of repec my build?

Daemodand · 07-15-2006 04:40 AM

What a great guide!

The Frankengun may be even more useful Villain-side due to the superior nature of Scourge compared to the near-useless Defiance.

I'm a fan of gadgety heroes/villains, so I think I'll add AR/Traps to my alt collection.

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_Teqnikal_ · 07-22-2006 03:59 AM

Nice guide, but AFAIK you, nor anyone else, can grant invis on the FF gen. However, they may have changed that recently. If you plan on updating this guide you may want to put in some reccomended slotting. I've herd some people say more than one res debuff in acid mortar is a waste.

Nerf unto others as you would have them nerf unto you.
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Screwyrabbit · 08-07-2006 08:23 PM

I'm new to AR / Traps (only lvl 9) but I did some reading and figured this build might work well (PvE only). Any constructive thoughts are appreciated

---------------------------------------------
Exported from Ver: 1.7.6.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder
---------------------------------------------
Name: Mike Diamond
Level: 50
Archetype: Corruptor
Primary: Assault Rifle
Secondary: Traps
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Slug==> Acc(1)Acc(3)Dmg(5)Dmg(9)Dmg(15)
01) --> Web Grenade==> Acc(1)Acc(43)
02) --> Buckshot==> Acc(2)Acc(3)Dmg(5)Dmg(13)Dmg(15)
04) --> Burst==> Acc(4)Acc(7)Dmg(7)Dmg(9)Dmg(25)
06) --> Caltrops==> Rechg(6)Slow(13)Slow(29)
08) --> Swift==> Run(8)
10) --> Acid Mortar==> Rechg(10)Rechg(11)Rechg(11)
12) --> Hover==> Fly(12)Fly(40)Fly(40)
14) --> Fly==> Fly(14)Fly(37)Fly(40)
16) --> Force Field Generator==> DefBuf(16)DefBuf(17)DefBuf(17)
18) --> Flamethrower==> Acc(18)Acc(19)Dmg(19)Dmg(21)Dmg(21)EndRdx(37)
20) --> Health==> Heal(20)
22) --> Stamina==> EndMod(22)EndMod(23)EndMod(23)
24) --> Poison Trap==> Rechg(24)Hold(25)Hold(27)Hold(29)
26) --> Ignite==> Dmg(27)Dmg(31)Dmg(33)
28) --> Seeker Drones==> Rechg(28)TH_DeBuf(31)TH_DeBuf(31)TH_DeBuf(33)Acc(43)Rechg(46)
30) --> Triage Beacon==> Heal(30)Heal(36)Heal(36)Rechg(43)Rechg(46)Rechg(46)
32) --> Full Auto==> Acc(32)Acc(33)Dmg(34)Dmg(34)Dmg(34)Rechg(42)
35) --> Hasten==> Rechg(35)Rechg(36)Rechg(37)
38) --> Beanbag==> Acc(38)Acc(39)DisDur(39)DisDur(39)
41) --> Scorpion Shield==> DefBuf(41)DefBuf(42)DefBuf(42)
44) --> Web Envelope==> Acc(44)Acc(45)Immob(45)Immob(45)
47) --> Web Cocoon==> Acc(47)Acc(48)Hold(48)Hold(48)
49) --> Sniper Rifle==> Acc(49)Dmg(50)Dmg(50)Dmg(50)
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Sprint==> Empty(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Empty(1)
01) --> Scourge==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Empty(2)
---------------------------------------------

Chill_Out · 08-14-2006 04:31 PM

Great ideas in this guide. As a Merc/Traps MM, I have grant invis, and I can never get my FFG invised, however... has this changed recently?