Patron Powers: Black Scorpion Mace Mastery
By
Akuma_Mishima,
Posted on: 2006-05-01 24:51 in Developers' Corner
Kinda disappointed that these Mace Mastery powers for Black Scoripion aren't going to be melee-based. The concept for my brute would have been completely perfect for the set.
Incidently, I'm running an EN/EN brute. . .though I do like the thought of the DEF shield in Black Scorp, I might just go for more -END powers from the other Patron, Sirocco. *shrug*
I'm all twisted up inside.
Ok, I hit 44 on my brute and picked up Disruptor Blast (ranged targeted AoE, moderate smash/energy damage, knockback).
It looks pretty nice. Same mace (with a draw animation) as Web Envelope, firing a cool black/purple energy explosion. The activation time is slow like Web Envelope, which is really annoying. End cost 19, recharge 32 as advertised.
The bad news is that the damage appears to be exactly half of footstomp, and it only has a chance to do knockback, and it knocks *back*, not down (tested on +2 minions). Extremely disappointing.
Also, after using Web Envelope for a while I am unimpressed. The good points are that it doesn't need much slotting (I went up to 1 acc / 1 immob / 1 recharge just to test) and it's a decent throwaway pre-req power. The main bad feature is the animation time, which renders it useless for most of the PvE purposes I tried to use it for - stopping runners (they're 50 yards away by the time it hits), and immobilizing a group to let me get out of melee range for a breather (if I can survive 2 seconds of animation, I'm better off attacking for 2 seconds or using insps). I just can't find much to use it for.
So...time to find a new patron. Aside from being a whiny loser, Black Scorpion's brute powers suck.
I think a large part of why they didn't make any of the brute primaries weapon based was because the redraw was putting a damper on fury building (stone being the exception, but stone has really fast animations and seems to draw differently than the sword sets). This sounds like the same crappy deal for brutes. I wish they could just give it a quick draw animation and short activation, then everyone would be happy more or less.
Frosticus
Question for you brutes out there: how is the mace for Fury? Is the draw time bad? What powers do you recommend taking? Does the pet build Fury?
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Black Scorpion second story arc:
****SPOILERS**** and a warning
After completing the arc with Dr. Quatrexin and getting The Stinger badge, I was offered another arc - [censored] in the Armor. This arc involves kidnapping Dr. Aeon to make anti-ghost weapons for the Scorpion suit.
The final 2-part mission is bugged. The mission starts with Black Scorpion telling you to talk to an arbiter to set up a fake story and then kill Dr. Aeon. The arbiter doesn't believe the lame cover story and tells you to either stop Scorpion's insane plot or face the wrath of Recluse. The first door mission has you rescuing Dr. Aeon from Silver Mantis - but when I attacked Silver Mantis, Dr. Aeon just disappeared. Since rescuing him was an objective, I couldn't complete the mission. After that was cleared by a GM, I went on to the second - a timed mission to disarm some bombs and defeat Black Scorpion. Black Scorp spawned as an ambush after the last bomb, but defeating him didn't clear the mission - he only had 1 minion instead of 2, so I think one might have gotten lost. Had to get a GM to clear it with very little time to spare.
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Ugh. That branches off into a timed mission? Didn't say that anywhere in the game.
What happens after you beat up your nominal boss? Kind of curious why he lets you keep working for him.
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Black Scorpion's text at the start of his 45+ arc basically says "Lord Recluse has ordered me to continue working with you, but don't think I'll forget what happened".
So it kind of makes sense...eventually.
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So...time to find a new patron. Aside from being a whiny loser, Black Scorpion's brute powers suck.
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Actually, since most of the brute PPP's blow regardless of what patron you have, I'd go Black Scorpion and only get Web Envelope for PvP purposes. Nothing like nerfing half the travel powers in the game with a single power.
Dawnslayer on Virtue.
Finally made it to 41 on a sonic/rad corrupter and picked up Black Scorpion's shield. No hard numbers yet, but I did try it out on some NPCs.
Got "deflected" floating over my head a few times, but not everytime an attack missed or everytime I performed the dodging animation.
Combining the shield with radiation infection seemed to floor even and +1 level NPC accuracy.
I also tried to use it in PvP in Recluse's Victory. They're going to need to rename that place as I doubt Recluse will be victorious -- the heroes outnumbered the villains 26 to 2 and I was one of the two. I couldn't get 50 feet past the entrance without a dozen "heroes" pouncing on me with delight.
I'll play with it some more and give hard numbers later this week.
50s: Inv/SS PB Emp/Dark Grav/FF DM/Regen TA/A Sonic/Elec MA/Regen Fire/Kin Sonic/Rad Ice/Kin Crab Fire/Cold NW Merc/Dark Emp/Sonic Rad/Psy Emp/Ice WP/DB FA/SM
Overlord of Dream Team and Nightmare Squad
Tested Dominator/Poisonous Ray this weekend. Overall I'm very pleased with the power, especially compared to what I view as less useful powers in other sets (PBAoE End Drains for example). If anything I wish we got more powers like this that increase our rather small damage.
My only issue with Poisonous Ray is the different values of its resistance debuff in PVE and PVP. In PVP it increases my damage by <18%, but in PVE it increases my damage by 25%-31% (hard to find even con mobs that don't resist smashing for the test).
So, Poisonous Ray debuffs less in PVP than PVE, but other resist debuffs like Sonic Siphon actually debuff more in PVP than PVE (43% PVP, 22ish% PVE).
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Tested Dominator/Poisonous Ray this weekend. Overall I'm very pleased with the power, especially compared to what I view as less useful powers in other sets (PBAoE End Drains for example). If anything I wish we got more powers like this that increase our rather small damage.
My only issue with Poisonous Ray is the different values of its resistance debuff in PVE and PVP. In PVP it increases my damage by <18%, but in PVE it increases my damage by 25%-31% (hard to find even con mobs that don't resist smashing for the test).
So, Poisonous Ray debuffs less in PVP than PVE, but other resist debuffs like Sonic Siphon actually debuff more in PVP than PVE (43% PVP, 22ish% PVE).
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Agreed.
My apologies for posting just based on the numbers, but I really don't have time to try out all of the PPPs in less than a month.
This is a review of Black Scorpion for Dominators
Poisonous Ray is interesting because it's a debuff which Dominators don't typically have access to. Whether it's worthwhile will really depend on the strength and duration of the debuff, so I can't assess it.
Scorpion Shield is a welcome addition, since Dominators don't have access to decent armours otherwise. I hear that it's pretty good resistance.
Disruptor Blast seems marginal. It's damage is disappointing, less than some of the secondary attacks available 25 levels earlier. Its damage is 33 at level 40, (vs even con?), compared with Frost Breath doing 40 against +1s at level 36, and Psychic Scream which does 30 against +2s at level 40. Ranged AoE knockback seems like a bad idea for a Dominator, it scatters the enemies making other AoEs less useful and drastically reduces the effectiveness of AoE controls. It also has the potential to generate a significant amount of aggro, which is a problem for Dominators. The 32 second recharge seems a bit long, although with the associated risks it probably wouldn't be useful more often than that.
I find non-perma pets to be an interesting idea, although there are many things I would rather have. I can always get a steady supply of Shivans anyway. Considering the fact that Domination is not always available, they could make a Dominator's effectiveness more consistent. This will really depend on the particular pets.
Has anyone been able to deduce the actual defense numbers from Scorpion Shield?
Dominators don't need mitigation from their secondaries. Even if they did, there's ice (slows), psi (-recharge), and fire and elec (death).
-Talen_Lee commenting on Energy Assault's Utility
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Has anyone been able to deduce the actual defense numbers from Scorpion Shield?
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Curious myself...
I did a little testing on scorpion's shield last night. It was a small sample, so it's not definative. I was a level 41 sonic/rad corrupter.
My enemy was a Bane Mace Aracnos, minion, level 42. With no toggles running, he hit me 15 of 20 times, or 75% accuracy
With only the shield running with a single end reduction enhancement, I was hit 6 of 20 times, or 30% accuracy. This would indicate that the base defense is 20% as minions have a base tohit of 50%
With shield and radiation infection with a level 40 tohit debuff and 2 end reducers, I was hit 1 of 20 times, or 5% accuracy.
All of the hits were for toxic damage. I'm not sure what kinds of attacks or how many different attacks these bane mace guys have, but it was toxic damage each time.
I also think I may have solved the riddle of the end use of the shields being listed as "1" on the plaque. While running nothing but the shield, I clicked on my endurance bar and it said 99/100. I clicked it again and it said 100/100. I did that several times. The bar never clicked below 99. Could it be that since the bar only works in whole numbers and not fractions that the devs reported what the graphical interface would show? Meaning that they reported the shield used "1" because it is rounded up on the bar as one. That's my theory and I'm sticking with it until I hear a better one.
I will run more shield tests and let you know my results. If anyone is willing to help me test in the arena against different damage types, I would really appreciate it. I am on between 8:00 pm and midnight Eastern, but I switch between live and test. Send me a PM or look for me online in test as Atomic Flea1.
50s: Inv/SS PB Emp/Dark Grav/FF DM/Regen TA/A Sonic/Elec MA/Regen Fire/Kin Sonic/Rad Ice/Kin Crab Fire/Cold NW Merc/Dark Emp/Sonic Rad/Psy Emp/Ice WP/DB FA/SM
Overlord of Dream Team and Nightmare Squad
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I did a little testing on scorpion's shield last night. It was a small sample, so it's not definative. I was a level 41 sonic/rad corrupter.
My enemy was a Bane Mace Aracnos, minion, level 42. With no toggles running, he hit me 15 of 20 times, or 75% accuracy
With only the shield running with a single end reduction enhancement, I was hit 6 of 20 times, or 30% accuracy. This would indicate that the base defense is 20% as minions have a base tohit of 50%
With shield and radiation infection with a level 40 tohit debuff and 2 end reducers, I was hit 1 of 20 times, or 5% accuracy.
All of the hits were for toxic damage. I'm not sure what kinds of attacks or how many different attacks these bane mace guys have, but it was toxic damage each time.
I also think I may have solved the riddle of the end use of the shields being listed as "1" on the plaque. While running nothing but the shield, I clicked on my endurance bar and it said 99/100. I clicked it again and it said 100/100. I did that several times. The bar never clicked below 99. Could it be that since the bar only works in whole numbers and not fractions that the devs reported what the graphical interface would show? Meaning that they reported the shield used "1" because it is rounded up on the bar as one. That's my theory and I'm sticking with it until I hear a better one.
I will run more shield tests and let you know my results. If anyone is willing to help me test in the arena against different damage types, I would really appreciate it. I am on between 8:00 pm and midnight Eastern, but I switch between live and test. Send me a PM or look for me online in test as Atomic Flea1.
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Castle said specifically that all the Shield end costs are .16 end/sec (one unit).
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My enemy was a Bane Mace Aracnos, minion, level 42. With no toggles running, he hit me 15 of 20 times, or 75% accuracy
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This seems off. As you mention, minions have a bth of 50%, and in this case there should have been a slight acc bonus for him being +1.
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All of the hits were for toxic damage. I'm not sure what kinds of attacks or how many different attacks these bane mace guys have, but it was toxic damage each time.
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There is no such thing as defense to toxic damage. (That is why the FF shields get res vs. toxic, not defense as they have to other damage types). If there was no other component to the attack (e.g. smash/lethal/energy), the scorpion shield should not have come into play at all.
I'll see if I can find you tonight and help test this if possible.
Got my brute to 47 and picked up Summon Blaster.
Send out the bot signal!
Arachnobot incoming
Arachnobot landed
Good boy, now go kill something!
The bot is pet rank. It has a ranged blast, ranged cone, web grenade, and a melee attack. I haven't really tested it extensively in combat but I wouldn't expect it to survive against a boss or anything. It's better than nothing, but not up very often.
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So...time to find a new patron. Aside from being a whiny loser, Black Scorpion's brute powers suck.
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Actually, since most of the brute PPP's blow regardless of what patron you have, I'd go Black Scorpion and only get Web Envelope for PvP purposes. Nothing like nerfing half the travel powers in the game with a single power.
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Fear the nerf bat 
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Finally made it to 41 on a sonic/rad corrupter and picked up Black Scorpion's shield. No hard numbers yet, but I did try it out on some NPCs.
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Could you, or anyone else who got it, post some screenshots of how the shield looks.
May sound funny to some, but that is indeed a factor for me if I pick a power or not as well, stats aside.
Thanks.
From what I understand, it looks similar to Temp Invuln, with the patron's glowing symbol superimposed and fading in and out.
I believe there's a screenshot of Shark Skin from Mako's set over in that thread.
Thanks for the images! My mind/psi dom had no chance for pets until now... I can't wait to take him out for a spin in I7.
You wont have the pet out often...lol
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This seems off. As you mention, minions have a bth of 50%, and in this case there should have been a slight acc bonus for him being +1.
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There is no such thing as defense to toxic damage. (That is why the FF shields get res vs. toxic, not defense as they have to other damage types). If there was no other component to the attack (e.g. smash/lethal/energy), the scorpion shield should not have come into play at all.
I'll see if I can find you tonight and help test this if possible.
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As to the first part, I may have had an unlucky streak. It's hard to say with a low sample size of 20. I also had to run away, heal, and come back, so maybe I miscounted. I've made worse mistakes than that before. 
As to the second part (toxic damage), I also thought this was strange as the text description of the power indicates resistance to toxic and not defense. At first I thought I was evading smash/lethal attacks and that whenever he shot off his toxic attack it hit me. And that would make sense that with only the shield on I would get hit by toxic attacks. Or it could be a bug. Or it could be a text error. Or I could be crazy. At any rate, it deserves further testing, and I appreciate your offer to assist. I didn't make it to test last night, but I will be there tonight around 9pm eastern.
PS. I believe the luck line of inspirations provide defense to everything.
50s: Inv/SS PB Emp/Dark Grav/FF DM/Regen TA/A Sonic/Elec MA/Regen Fire/Kin Sonic/Rad Ice/Kin Crab Fire/Cold NW Merc/Dark Emp/Sonic Rad/Psy Emp/Ice WP/DB FA/SM
Overlord of Dream Team and Nightmare Squad
FYI: Melee AT Patron Power Pool Ranged attacks which cause damage will be changed to using the Melee damage scale.
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FYI: Melee AT Patron Power Pool Ranged attacks which cause damage will be changed to using the Melee damage scale.
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HOT!
just started the mace mastery set, and picked web envelope. Since i'm a bot MM, my pets are constantly knocking back enemies, and i was hoping that the web gernade would prevent enemies from being knocked back, nope. that is my one issue with it so far.
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