Guide to Dual Blade/Willpower Scrappers i11.5
By
Bonnes,
Posted on: 2008-03-07 10:15 in Player Guides
I've only read to the end of the DB section so far, but two things stand out to me.
One is that you use the name Sweep when you're probably referring to Attack Vitals, as in "Now that you have Sweeping Strike (you did take this at 26, right?) you can start mowing through groups of enemies efficiently by using the Blinding Feint -> Sweep combo attack chain," in the description of Sweeping Strike. Just comb through it again and I'm sure you'll resolve them.
The other thing is your treatment of the Empower and Weaken combos. You might not have had them whilst playing through the low levels, but in a guide you should still address them. It seems like you've just ignored them here.
You can get more feedback about them from the Scrapper boards, but I can go ahead and tell you here that the two combos make life a whole lot easier in the early levels. Empower is rarely used by anyone after they have SOs, but in the early game the To-Hit and damage boosts are incredibly useful. Even more important than those, though, is the -Def in Weaken. BF -> Weaken is an absolute god-send in the pre-SO levels, allowing you to reliably hit those things you've debuffed, sparing you much of the whiff-fest that are the TO/DO levels. Also, later on, Weaken's To-Hit debuff becomes very useful to Defense-based sets. Generally speaking, it's better mitigation for Defense-based sets than Sweep is, though Sweep is better for Resistance and Regeneration sets.
Anyway, a valiant first effort! Take care of those two things and it'll be an even stronger guide.
's doesn't make things plural.
Thank you for the feedback! I have updated it accordingly.
You do have a great point about the Empower and Weaken combos, I just didn't have enough information on them to make a reliable estimation. Of course, it wouldn't be a very good guide unless I covered everything.
I will most likely roll another DB to about 18 or so and get some experience with it.
Also, if anyone has any information about these two combos that they'd like to share, I will credit you in the guide appropriately!
Guide to DB/WP Scrappers i11.5
Nice job. I've got my own DB/WP up to 48, and my observations are much like yours up to this point. A few additions. . .:
--like you, I never took the first attack for DB and therefore only got the Attack Vitals and Sweep combos. Both are seriously effective in dealing damage and providing soft control--I have never been inclined since acquiring them to go back and try to get the other two combos.
--I've never played a Spines scrapper, so I'm not used to dealing massive AoE death, but I've been very pleased with the DB set's ability to do AoE damage without suffering much on single target damage;
--having Indomitable Will available at 10 means that hunting CoT becomes a painless exercise, and that tasty, tasty magical salvage tends to fall into your lap in very lucrative amounts without much debt to go along with it. By 13, you can start going after Tsoo as well.
--Strength of Will is a situational power, but it certainly comes in handy when you're wandering around Peregrine Island and see a big crowd of purple minions, or a pair of +4 Nemesis bosses, and your inspirations are small and mostly red and yellow. The end recovery is overkill for most fights, but if you're running Focused Accuracy *and* all your toggles *and* spamming combos with Hasten running, you will occasionally find that blue bar dropping inexorably even with a Miracle Unique slotted (I picked up Conserve Power at 47 for those occasions when Strength of Will is recharging).
--I'll be picking up Resurgence as a quality of life power at 49: I tried out Laser Beam Eyes as a pulling mechanism for huge spawns, but didn't like it. If I need to pull or slow down a runner, I still have my Nemesis staff (not an option for new arrivals here, of course).
Again, nice work.
[ QUOTE ]
Also, if anyone has any information about these two combos that they'd like to share, I will credit you in the guide appropriately!
[/ QUOTE ]
Dual Blades Combo Numbers Guide
I didn't make that guide, and DO NOT take credit for anything in it.
Here are my experiences with Weaken and Empower as a lv 50 DB/WP Scrapper. Please keep in mind that I skipped Power Slice until lv 30, and relied on combos entirely for my damage:
Especially in the low-levels, Weaken is a solid opening combo. It makes enemies miss more often, and keeps enemies from dodging you. If you're a SR Scrapper, then being able to place a 10% ToHit debuff on everything in range is a pretty sweet deal. Being a WP Scrapper, though, I rarely used it after getting SOs until the mid-30s, when my attacks began to miss more often. At that point I used it liberally against enemies with high Lethal defense until I got Focused Accuracy at level 41.
I rarely used Empower until I got Vengeful Slice. The extra 10% damage boost on top of Blinding Feint's 37.5% buff turned Vengeful Slice into a powerful finishing attack. At that point I would use Weaken-Empower-Vengeful Slice as an attack chain, aiming Vengeful Slice at lieutenants or bosses while Weaken wittled down minions. That chain served me well until I hit lv 26 and gained the Attack Vitals Combo, and it kept on being useful until I managed to finish slotting up Sweeping Strike. Nowadays, I only occaisionally use Empower at the start of combat to boost my DPS a bit.
Hope that helps!
Too many alts to list.
Nice guide - lots of good information in there.
I've played a DB/WP to 50 (Jenny Revolution), so I have some comments to add.
I would like to echo what was said by subsequent posters - Weaken and Empower are Very helpful to get through the first 20-25 levels. Especially if you are going to task force or come up against AVs - the Weaken is very noticeable. I respeced out of Nimble Slash later on, but in the beginning it was necessary for those combos. My current attack chain is Blinding Feint, Sweep Combo, Attack Vitals combo. With no recharge enhancements, it recycles easily in time.
It is worth investing in IOs that proc for Knockdown. Kinetic Combat is a relatively cheap melee set with "+ 20% chance of Knockdown". It fits on Nimble slash, Ablating Strike, Blinding Feint and (redundantly) on Vengeful Slice. VS, 1000 Cuts and the Sweep Combo also knockdown. Most of the time I am fighting +2 to +3 Lieuts and Bosses, they Hardly get up. The only problem is that VS often becomes Knockback, so I lose my cone, but still, Knockdown is Awesome on DBs.
Herding with DB/WP is pretty easy. On Unyielding, you can collect 10-12 minions and sometimes a boss, corner them, and let RTTC keep aggro and your Combos will do the work. Hitting three or four with 1000 Cuts to start Sweep, and then watching 10 "Sweeps" rise up the screen is very satisfying. RTTC keeps you alive, and herding into your AOEs minimizes Endurance loss, unless you are herding Carnies, and there everyone has endurance probs. With SOW, I Often herd for our team if there is no tank, or if the tank is too slow and cautious....
I also skipped the Taunt and Self Rez. No comment on them.
I agree with the Body Mastery Epic, and Focused Accuracy is awesome, but LBEs and the other one put away your swords, and you have to redraw. So I avoided them. And I have found Conserve Power Totally necessary at the higher levels. The Only problem that I have is detoggling from Endurance loss, usually to Dark Ring Mistresses or Sappers. Conserve Power is great for that. I took Haste so that Conserve Power would recharge faster, and I use SOW to speed recovery. With Stamina, Quick Recovery, SOW, Conserve Power and a Lot of Recovery Set Bonuses, I can afford to run all my toggles, including Focused Accuracy. Endurance is critical, and Detoggling is Bad. Most of the time your recovery will be about 3.5/sec. Any improvement is good.
I've invested a bunch in Scirocco's Dervish IOs on all the PBAOEs. I use Touch of Lady Grey on Ablating Strike, Adjusted Targeting on Blinding Feint and Focused Accuracy, Force Feedback for the Recharge Proc, some Kinetic Combat Knockdown procs on all melee attacks, and some pounding Slugfest Disorient Procs. I am working on building influence for Healing and Resist Damage IO sets. Lots of Regen, Recovery and Accuracy bonuses. I haven't figured out how to slot RTTC properly, so I am going with Healing and To Hit Debuff IOs and the Dark Watchers Despair Recharge Proc. debuff. Advice there?
I want to add something about the sound effects/graphics - DB is Awesome for this - honestly, I have had more fun playing this toon than any other, just because it looks and sounds like you are a True Ripper. I even like the 1000 Cuts animation. As long as you stay toggled, this is a tremendously fun build.
The weaken combination is highly useful all the way to level 50 as a mitigation tool, primarily for the -to-hit debuff. Also, as previously mentioned, the defense debuff helps a LOT in getting earlier combos to land.
My own thoughts about weaken-
with certain sets, such as invulnerability, weaken is definitely something you want all the way to 50. This is also true of defense-based sets because it will give you an amazing amount of mitigation (5% to an SR scrapper could cut down a third of the damage they take, easily)
Ironically, however, it doesn't actually synergize well with willpower. The amount of -to hit coupled with willpower's low defense doesn't add a whole lot to mitigation. The same with 'pure granite' stone tankers and brutes, invulnerability scrappers, electric armor brutes, and dark armor scrappers/stalkers/brutes, fire brutes/tankers, and regen stalkers and scrappers.
But where the power comes in, is with sets that have a secondary damage effect. many people are not aware of just how frequently a damage aura will miss, but after a big 'weakened' appears above your enemies' heads, they seem to take SIGNIFICANTLY more damage from damage auras.
Dual Blades is also not really a 'chainsaw' set. Because you have a lot of very useful attacks, and the animations are not very quick, you would probably get more effect, in the long run, from adding another damage into sweeping strike than you would from slotting chance for psionic damage and chance for smashing damage into nimble slash.
Not to disparage chainspam builds, I run one myself, but usually they are best to use on powersets where you don't have to heavily slot a multitude of attacks to get a full chain, and can build full attack chains out of the fastest strikes, such as claws, dark melee, and katana.
[ QUOTE ]
Blinding Feint, Sweep Combo, Attack Vitals combo.
[/ QUOTE ]
Same here. I may swap the order to put BF before AT, as 1000's cone usually hits something.. At the last minute, I opted out of Body mastery, just to play around with weapons. I'm finding caltrops to be a bizarre yet effective way to save my skin if I jump into trouble- toss a patch, and by the time the enemies decide to refocus on me, rttc and whatnot have healed quite a bit, and I've managed to pick off enough critters to make the fight survivable. Also nice when herding, and you pick up a few too many. Run around the corner, drop the patch, and be amazed by half the spawn running back around the corner while you even things up. Not to mention the knockdowns keeping the mob planted in the caltrops for an extended stay.
I really should stop padding my solo invince missions.
Lots of great commentary on DB so far, I love it!
As I imagined, Empower and Weaken are somewhat divisive issues, however good points have been made for both sides. I will update this guide and repost it at some point, since I no longer have access to edit it, however I would like to address some comments made first.
As far as Body Mastery goes, laser beam eyes and energy torrent are strictly fun powers, with very limited utility. I did want laser beam eyes at least once, just to say that I had them though =D Of course, focused accuracy is amazing, with a whopping 20% tohit buff out of the gate. That caps you against even con minions. I originally used it for killing rikti drones on Invincible missions, but I became addicted and slotted it up for everyday use. Also, this is a good place to get an easy damage bonus from slotting Adjusted Targeting, which is relatively cheap right now. Someone mentioned conserve power, which I can recommend as well. You will be netting endurance on a typical fight running all of your toggles, including FA. I recently specced into Tough and Weave and I didnt have room for it, although I may try again in a future build. Conserve power is also a lifesaver on protracted fights with Mu and other electric based enemies.
Many have mentioned the defense debuff of weaken playing a role in mitigation. This is a valid point, because as I mentioned earlier, the sum of these two powersets is more than their parts. Especially at earlier levels, every little bit helps. This isnt enough to convince me to take Nimble Slash, but a case can definitely be made for it, even more so if you build to respec.
Now, my thoughts on using both Sweep and Attack Vitals in your attack chain. Before you are respectably slotted later on, you will find that continuous use of Sweep and Attack Vitals in the same chain will lay the hurt on your endurance bar, even with stamina. Sweep is not endurance efficient by nature, and for good reason. It has a lot of mitigation components to it, and it uses the two highest endurance attacks in the set, along with being an AoE. After playing around with a few different attack chains, I settled on BF -> AV combo -> 1k cuts. This provided a large amount of damage in a short amount of time, and by the time 1k cuts is done animating, youll be ready to start the chain all over again, and that is without any recharge reduction. The other reason is that I dont have power slice fully slotted due to build limitations, so it isnt fully operational, so to speak.
I view Sweep as a great mitigation tool, and a good damage tool when in large groups, or herding your own overstuffed Invincible missions =P. In typical Invincible missions, damager per endurance is not optimal.
Now, the addendum to the guide. I want to add some info that will help people considering the Weaken and Empower combos, as well as provide some better build advice, especially for the 1-20 bracket.
Guide Errata:
Weaken and Empower advice from Mr_Wumpums:
[ QUOTE ]
Here are my experiences with Weaken and Empower as a lv 50 DB/WP Scrapper. Please keep in mind that I skipped Power Slice until lv 30, and relied on combos entirely for my damage:
Especially in the low-levels, Weaken is a solid opening combo. It makes enemies miss more often, and keeps enemies from dodging you. If you're a SR Scrapper, then being able to place a 10% ToHit debuff on everything in range is a pretty sweet deal. Being a WP Scrapper, though, I rarely used it after getting SOs until the mid-30s, when my attacks began to miss more often. At that point I used it liberally against enemies with high Lethal defense until I got Focused Accuracy at level 41.
I rarely used Empower until I got Vengeful Slice. The extra 10% damage boost on top of Blinding Feint's 37.5% buff turned Vengeful Slice into a powerful finishing attack. At that point I would use Weaken-Empower-Vengeful Slice as an attack chain, aiming Vengeful Slice at lieutenants or bosses while Weaken wittled down minions. That chain served me well until I hit lv 26 and gained the Attack Vitals Combo, and it kept on being useful until I managed to finish slotting up Sweeping Strike. Nowadays, I only occaisionally use Empower at the start of combat to boost my DPS a bit.
Hope that helps!
[/ QUOTE ]
Builds:
1-20
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.30
http://www.honourableunited.org.uk/mhd.php
Level 19 Magic Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Dual Blades
Secondary Power Set: Willpower
Power Pool: Leaping
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Nimble Slash -- (A)
Level 1: High Pain Tolerance -- (A)
Level 2: Ablating Strike -- (A)
Level 4: Mind Over Body -- (A)
Level 6: Typhoon's Edge -- (A)
Level 8: Blinding Feint -- (A)
Level 10: Indomitable Will -- (A)
Level 12: Combat Jumping -- (A)
Level 14: Super Jump -- (A)
Level 16: Rise to the Challenge -- (A)
Level 18: Vengful Slice -- (A)
Level 20: Quick Recovery -- (A)
Level 22: [Empty]
Level 24: [Empty]
Level 26: [Empty]
Level 28: [Empty]
Level 30: [Empty]
Level 32: [Empty]
Level 35: [Empty]
Level 38: [Empty]
Level 41: [Empty]
Level 44: [Empty]
Level 47: [Empty]
Level 49: [Empty]
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- (A)
Level 1: Sprint -- (A)
Level 2: Rest -- (A)
Level 1: Critical Hit
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This build will get your up and running quickly, while giving you access to the first two combos as soon as they are available. I recommend the jumping pool (queue the groans) because of combat jumping and the convenience of vertical travel.
Levels 1-6:
Here you are filling out your first combo, weaken, and your first toggle which will give you resistance to common damage types, especially at the early levels. Some people jump right out of the character editor and directly into the sewers for their first levels, in which case it doesnt really matter what you do. If you opt to solo, I would recommend slotting pure accuracy TOs, since DB does not get the accuracy bonus that other drawn weapons receive. Knock out your initial contacts and head to KR as soon as you hit 5, skipping the hollows for now. Once you have your jetpack and your first combo at level 6, your next stop can be the hollows, or if you hate the place, continue working scanner missions in KR and the subsequent contact missions.
Levels 7-14
Once you have a decent amount of accuracy (3 slots for TOs), youll start to get into a groove. Upon hitting 8, youll have access to your second combo and between Blinding Feint and liberal use of the Empower combo, you should be able to dial back the accuracy enhancements and start replacing them with damage or endurance reduction to taste. Level 10 hails the start of your long career of slicing baddies without fear of ever being mezzed. Up to this point, you havent really fought a whole lot of villain groups that knock back excessively, so if you are new to the game, you wont fully appreciate the knockback resistance inherent in this power, but take my word for it, you want this at level 10 and you will never turn it off again. Ever. Next up, 12 and 14 which are your travel requirements. I usually take SJ, however, you could really take whatever you want. My only word of caution is to skip the attack powers in the travel pools. Flurry and Jump Kick really need no explanation, they are just terrible. An argument can be made for Air Superiority, as it does nice damage, can crit, and includes the coveted knockdown that makes DB so great. On paper it sounds great, however, by the time you hit 32, youll have more attacks than you know what to do with, and it will always be better to use your blades. Also, whether or not this has any impact on gameplay I cant say, but it does cause you to redraw your weapons, and that takes some of the magic out of it for me. Once I hit 10 or so, I typically hit Steel Canyon for scanner and contact missions, and to get my free level 15 accuracy IO.
Levels 15-20
Heres where things start to get interesting. At 16, you receive one of the heavy hitters from WP, Rise to the Challenge. This gem will serve you well throughout the rest of the game, and it is practically a requirement at 16. Slotting health should be prioritized over the tohit debuff, as that will have the greatest impact. If you have some slots to spare later on, you can drop one of the new tohit debuff sets in there for one of the nice bonuses. Level 18 opens up your first major attack. It is a part of my most used combo and has an excellent animation along with very nice damage. Level 20 gives you stamina+ in the form of Quick Recovery. Now that youre 20, you are well on your way to becoming a slicing machine of death. Everything after this just focuses on improving the foundation youve laid as well as increasing your damage output extensively. For these levels, I usually hit faultline, at which point you will be very happy you picked SJ as your travel power, or very angry you picked SS as your travel power. I love the Tremblor (sp?) story arc, and the finale is one of the best Ive seen.
Once you get the hang of DB, youll start to cruise through the levels and youll be 20 before you know it. If I had to label DB/WP, Id say its mostly an early blooming combination, so it really helps make the initial levels go by quickly.
Im working on an IO build for level 50, and will most likely be posting that in the updated version of this guide when I get around to it. Thanks again for all the comments!
Guide to DB/WP Scrappers i11.5
That 1-20 build is the exact same one that my DB scrapper went with. IT certainlt got everything that was needed, but post-lv 20 is when things get hairy due to all the things you need to add to make an effective DB/WP scrapper. Most important for lv 22 would probably be to either grab Fast Healing or start on the Fitness pool. I personally went for Fast Healing right off the bat because the WP lack of fire/cold/energy/negative energy damage was starting to seriously hurt me, even with RttC. Afterwards I went for Fitness powers as I could while acquiring Heightened Senses and Sweeping Strike. I remember feeling kind of frustrated in the 20's due to the number of available powers I wanted to acquire immediately while being on the "one power per every two levels" budget. 
Into the 30s, I started to really slow down due to enemy lethal defenses/resistances. It was rough going until I acquired Thousand Cuts, which gave me access to the beauty that is Sweep Combo. Accuracy was still a problem, but being able to knock a bunch of enemies in your attack radius onto their backs was a great way to keep them from attacking, making survival less difficult. At level 35, when I was able to really lay into slotting all of my powers to their fullest, I finally started thinking of my scrapper as complete, and started rounding off the rough edges to make it closer to being perfect.
The 40s were icing. I still strongly suggest acquiring Focused Accuracy and Conserve power because those two powers go a long way towards fixing all of DB's endurance and accuracy problems, but I ended up with some wiggle room to grab a couple of fun powers that I feel help personalize my DB/WP scrapper.
Too many alts to list.
I like that level 20 build but I would tweak it just slightly.
Level 1: Nimble Slash
Level 1: High Pain Tolerance
Level 2: Ablating Strike
Level 4: Fast Healing
Level 6: Typhoon's Edge
Level 8: Blinding Feint
Level 10: Mind Over Body
Level 12: Combat Jumping
Level 14: Super Jump
Level 16: Rise to the Challenge
Level 18: Vengeful Slice
Level 20: Quick Recovery
Level 22: Indomitable Will
It's hard to keep toggles on sub-level 20 and on most characters I've rolled, I generally don't have to worry TOO MUCH about the stuff Indomitable Will blocks until afterward. So it makes more sense to take Indom Will at level 22 and fast healing early, instead of the other way around.
I got a scrapper to level 24, the build worked okay but I think I would've switched Indomitable Will with where I put Mind Over Body. Mind Over Body turned out to not be so great for the endurance cost until you get SO's. While CC wasn't common it was often enough to make me wish I had taken it instead.
This is what I'm going to do until I respec at level 32. I skip over Heightened Senses.
Level 1: Nimble Slash
Level 1: High Pain Tolerance
Level 2: Ablating Strike
Level 4: Fast Healing
Level 6: Typhoon's Edge
Level 8: Blinding Feint
Level 10: Indomitable Will
Level 12: Combat Jumping
Level 14: Super Jump
Level 16: Rise to the Challenge
Level 18: Vengeful Slice
Level 20: Quick Recovery
Level 22: Mind Over Body
Level 24: Hurdle
Level 26: Sweeping Strike
Level 28: Health
Level 30: Stamina
Man i love my DB/WP character (Skull Khan), his story is awesome, his costume is sweet. Theirs just one little problem, that red headed step child of a power set called Dual Blades. I mean its like maybe 2 out of every ten attacks hits at his current lvl of 20. I feel like im playing wiffle ball with the mobs. The accuracy of this set, which several have already commented on is just appaling. I can't complete the combos if i can't hit the damn mobs. I have never had to slot an attack for accuracy just to hit even con mbos on a regular basis 
Just thought I would pass along something that I find helpful for running my DB scrapper.
I use the keymapping function in options to run my powers using the numpad numbers. That way I move with my left hand and attack with my right. I have arranged my attacks in this setup -
1 Nimble Slash
2 Ablating Strike
3 Blinding Feint
4 One Thousand Cuts
5 Power Slice
6 Typhoon's Edge
7 (open for whatever you like)
8 Vengeful Slice
9 Sweeping Strike
This puts my combos in the patterns of 1-2-3, 1-2-6 (and since 1 & 2 recharge fast I can alternate between the two), 4-5-6, and 2-8-9 (which is easier than it sounds at first blush).
Hope this is useful for someone. I really love it. Though I admit it is easier to use if you've run a cash register at some time in your life. 
"Home is where, when you have to go there, they have to let you in."
I need a LOT of help with slotting for your levelling build please. I see your slotting reccomendations, but not your reccomendations of what level to add slots to what powers, if you see what I mean.
Thanks for making the only db/wp guide, it's much appreciated!
can anyone help explain what the rest of the combination actually do? i cant seem to find the info anywhere.
Nice guide and thank you for it.
A question I have is: Is it worth 5 or 6 slotting Blinding Feint? And if so, do you fill it our later than earlier? Since the DMG is light, and it's used to buff ACC and DMG, is it worth slotting past 3 or 4 slots (I'm thinking 2 ACC and 2 RechRdx), especially early on?
I, like others, would love to see your Mid's build fully slotted.
Ah, I see you took Nimble Slash as the first power. Good call. Power Slice isn't needed until after you pick up One Thousand Cuts at 32, for the Sweep Combo.
My Build
[u]Zolara[u]
This is how Zolara, my Level 50 Dual Blades/Willpower Scrapper, was built. This is not a Respec build, so it can, and will, take you from 1 to 50. It took me there in just over 3 months.
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.4006
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Zolara: Level 50 Natural Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Dual Blades
Secondary Power Set: Willpower
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Teleportation
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Nimble Slash -- Acc(A), Dmg(3), Dmg(11), Dmg(31), Acc(40)
Level 1: High Pain Tolerance -- Heal(A), Heal(3), Heal(7), ResDam(33), ResDam(36), ResDam(37)
Level 2: Ablating Strike -- Acc(A), Dmg(7), Dmg(11), Dmg(34), Acc(40)
Level 4: Fast Healing -- Heal(A), Heal(5), Heal(5)
Level 6: Typhoon's Edge -- Acc(A), Dmg(9), Dmg(13), Dmg(34), Acc(40)
Level 8: Blinding Feint -- Acc(A), Dmg(9), Dmg(23), Acc(34)
Level 10: Indomitable Will -- DefBuff(A), DefBuff(13), DefBuff(23), EndRdx(46), EndRdx(50), EndRdx(50)
Level 12: Combat Jumping -- DefBuff(A)
Level 14: Super Jump -- Jump(A), Jump(15), Jump(15)
Level 16: Rise to the Challenge -- Heal(A), Heal(17), Heal(17), EndRdx(37), EndRdx(45), EndRdx(45)
Level 18: Vengeful Slice -- Acc(A), Dmg(19), Dmg(19), Dmg(42), Acc(43)
Level 20: Quick Recovery -- EndMod(A), EndMod(21), EndMod(21)
Level 22: Hurdle -- Jump(A), Jump(37), Jump(39)
Level 24: Health -- Heal(A), Heal(25), Heal(25)
Level 26: Sweeping Strike -- Acc(A), Dmg(27), Dmg(27)
Level 28: Heightened Senses -- DefBuff(A), DefBuff(29), DefBuff(29), EndRdx(45), EndRdx(46), EndRdx(46)
Level 30: Stamina -- EndMod(A), EndMod(31), EndMod(31)
Level 32: One Thousand Cuts -- Acc(A), Dmg(33), Dmg(33), Dmg(43), Acc(48)
Level 35: Power Slice -- Acc(A), Dmg(36), Dmg(36), Dmg(43), Acc(48)
Level 38: Mind Over Body -- ResDam(A), ResDam(39), ResDam(39)
Level 41: Strength of Will -- ResDam(A), ResDam(42), ResDam(42)
Level 44: Hasten -- RechRdx(A), RechRdx(48), RechRdx(50)
Level 47: Super Speed -- Run(A)
Level 49: Recall Friend -- EndRdx(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Dmg(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Run(A)
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx(A)
Level 1: Critical Hit
<font class="small">Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>| Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build |
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Biggest Troll on the forums? I'll give you a hint:
Would any of you mind posting an IO build with sets rather than common io's?
thanks
Might wanna check out this thread....
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=122960
Welcome to my guide to Dual Blades / Willpower as a scrapper. This is my first guide, so any feedback or corrections will be greatly appreciated. I have to warn you that this guide is rather long, and contains a great deal of subjective analysis that you may or may not agree with. I have played this combination to 50, and I have a lot of personal insight on solo and team play since I do both extensively, but I am nowhere near the fountain of knowledge that others are on this board.
I will try to temper a lot of my subjective analysis with hard numbers from wherever I can get them (Mids, online hero planner, people flaming me for inaccuracies etc.). Ill include as much information on each power as possible, though the focus of this guide is to recount my experience as a Dual Blades/Willpower scrapper.
First a little background, which you can skip by merely scrolling down to the next paragraph. Ive played CoX on and off since it first started, but never seriously. My highest level character to this point was a 34 ELM/ELA brute, which I enjoyed immensely. I finally came back recently and started fresh with my brother and decided to seriously push to 50. Im not a melee kind of guy typically, however my goal here was not to develop a character I would love and cherish forever. I just wanted to hit 50 and either start a ranged/support villain, or get to work on a warshade. What better class to cruise to 50 with than a scrapper?
Now, lets take a look at the primary and secondary that weve chosen. Being that DB and WP were both dropped on the same issue, one would assume that they both share some type of synergy. One could argue both ways, but my take on it is basically this. Consider that most of your survivability in WP is regen. Mixed with the cone and PBAoE knockdown feature of DB, you have the ability to maximize your regen ability by preventing enemies from hitting you. One could also argue other sets have more synergy, like DM with a self heal, but WP is such a solid set that any synergy you get from your primary is just icing on the cake.
DB is a lethal based set that has several attacks which are used in certain combinations of three. Initiating the first attack in a combo will start the chain, and the next attack (if you have it) will have a yellow circle around it, indicating that it comes next in the combo. If you are able to follow this chain, without missing, the third attack will gain an additional affect of some sort, as a result of a successful execution.
I have two beefs with DB. First, ya, its lethal damage. Sure, this isnt game breaking. I was running RWZ mishes solo on invincible without ever breaking a sweat. I was, however, screaming obscenities at the rikti drones until I got Focused Accuracy, because trying to hit +3 drones short of constantly rolling with three or four yellows is just painful. But I digress. Lethal damage is not fun, but by itself, I dont have any problems with it. The problem is that when you factor in the somewhat lackluster damage overall, it really starts to take its toll, especially when you have to spend a bit longer than the next scrapper chipping away at a boss. Dont be expecting 1,000 cuts to be doing anything outside of single digit ticks until you can get it respectably slotted, or you become content with fighting even cons. Incidentally, I find the name 1,000 cuts remarkably accurate, and somewhat of a cruel irony.
Second beef, and probably the most annoying to me, is that if you miss any attack in a combo, the chain is broken. Unless you limit yourself to heroic, you will find yourself missing many combos until you find ways to shore up your accuracy. In my opinion, accuracy is very important to getting the most out of this primary. Combos really help offset the mediocre damage, and missing them constantly will have you wondering why you picked DB in the first place. That being said, this is a game mechanic that you have to deal with no matter what, its just kind of annoying that it negates the whole combo aspect.
Now that we have the bad out of the way, lets take a look at why DB is a solid, fun set to play. I think they did a great job on the animations for this set. My brother plays a claws/invul scrapper and we switched up for a mission just for fun. The difference for him between claws and DB was huge. You really feel like your tearing up bad guys with this set, and that alone was one of the big draws for me. Another nice thing about DB is the amount of knockdown you get with the set. Id like to make the distinction between knockdown and knockback and say that Im glad DB doesnt employ the latter (unless you are fighting trivial enemies). This allows for continued combo chaining while maintaining enemy placement, which will be important when you learn to maximize your cone damage. It also helps immensely with your survivability. If you are fighting a heavy hitter, maximizing the time they spend on their back will allow the regen aspect of WP to do its job.
Ive already touched on combos but Ill expand a bit on the benefits they give. At this point, I must confess to something. I never took the first attack power from dual blades. This means that I never had access to the first two combos of the four that are available. I cannot offer any advice on these two combos, so if anyone would like to enlighten me with tales of their usefulness, or uselessness, I would gladly incorporate them into this guide, credited properly. Some people say take them early and respec out of them, some people still use them well after level 32, and some dont take them at all (like me). From what I know about those two combos, I dont imagine they would have made much of a difference for me, but again, I have no firsthand experience.
The last two combos provide additional damage as well as some mitigation in the knockdown category.
Attack Vitals
This combo is achieved by the following sequence of attacks: Ablating Strike -> Vengeful Slice -> Sweeping Strike
After completing this chain, anything caught in the cone of Sweeping Strike will suffer additional lethal damage over time. This is the staple combo in DB in my humble opinion, and one that you will be using as much as possible. Since this is a cone, following up with 1,000 cuts will ensure stuff dies. Since Sweeping Strike comes a bit later in the set (level 26) youll have to adjust your strategy to include effective use of melee cones. Using melee cones effectively doesnt just mean figuring out how to line up baddies in your death zone. Sometimes you have to make a tactical decision and finish your combo with what you have instead of wasting time trying to get the full spawn packed in your cone.
I hate melee cones. There, I feel better getting that off my chest. The reason I hate melee cones is that a lot of times you will fall into the trap of trying to get just one more baddie in your cone, so that you feel like youre using it to its greatest potential. The reason this sucks for a DB is that you will most likely lose your combo string if you take too long to fire off your cone. Ive seen this comment regarding melee cones on the boards before and Ill use it here; treat your cones as single target attacks until you get used to using them. No sense in wasting a combo just to get that last minion in range.
Sweep
This combo is the result of the following sequence of attacks: 1,000 cuts -> Power Slice -> Typhoons Edge
Once you get Typhoons edge, youll notice that it does two ticks of moderate lethal damage. When used as a part of the Sweep combo, it will do one additional tick of moderate lethal damage, while knocking down everything caught in the PBAoE.
This combo looks great, plain and simple. It is also quite effective as a form of soft control, although you wont find yourself using it continuously due to the high endurance cost inherent in this combo. The quirk about this combo is that it starts out with a cone attack and ends with a PBAoE, which can be awkward to position unless you are buried in a sea of enemies. I recommend using this heavily during team play, if nothing else than for the shock and awe value. I would be careful on teams where you are the highest level character, since the knockdown properties of your powers tend to become knockback when used against trivial enemies, as I mentioned earlier. I used this more religiously when I first got it, but now I use it more as a situational power when I feel I need the extra mitigation.
At this point, you might be feeling like you can give a spines/dark scrapper a run for his AoE money, given your two cones and PBAoE combo. Dont. Sweep is a great mitigation tool, and should be viewed as such, because you wont be mowing through 8-man spawns solo with it. Your real strength is your high single target/cone damage. You will join other scrappers in singling out the hardest targets and destroying them head-on. God help anyone that gets in your way.
Lets take a brief look at our patron Willpower, and the blessings she imparts to her followers.
First, well cover what WP is and what WP is not.
WP is a sort of renaissance-man secondary. It does many things well, but nothing particularly outstanding. WP contains aspects of most every other scrapper secondary, which works surprisingly well when taken as a whole. Sure, the resistance is mediocre, the defense is nothing to write home about, and the regen isnt going to convert any /regen diehards, but the sum is more than its parts. In my experience, I rank the effectiveness of each aspect as defense being the least effective, with resistance being a little better, and regen probably being the best asset to this secondary. They all play an important role in your survival, but I would prioritize slots accordingly.
Most people who have played WP have nothing but praise for the set, and I will be doling out plenty of praise for it myself in the powers section, however I would like to point out a couple things that I dont like about it.
First off, WP is very toggle heavy. There are four toggles that you will be running just from WP alone, along with other toggles you will want to help shore up the weaker spots of WP. Early on in your career, youll want to slot end reduction over resistance/defense where applicable. The only exception I see is making sure you have heals slotted into Rise to the Challenge, and even that is really up to your playstyle. It does help offset this hefty endurance requirement by providing you with Quick Recovery, however this will be of little consolation when you realize that chaining combos while running all of your toggles will make short work of a fully slotted QR. This is where the Fitness pool comes into play.
A note on the Fitness pool
I hope you werent looking to roll up a DB/WP thinking you could escape it. OK, maybe you can, but Ive run builds with and without Stamina, and Im sorry, but I just prefer the constant stream of carnage that Stamina allows for. Some have made this point concerning /regen and I think it applies here as well, and that is Health and Stamina both synergize with the natural regeneration and recovery of the set. While it isnt necessary, it provides a lot of benefit for the investment. Health helps bolster your regen capabilities, which alone is enough of a reason to snag the Fitness pool. Since youre in here for Health, you might as well get Stamina and never have endurance issues again. It is ultimately up to you, but I dont see any other power choices presenting the return on investment that the Fitness pool does for WP.
The second beef I have with WP is the weak powers you get later on in the set. Yes, Im looking at you Resurgence and Strength of Will. Now, before you get your panties in a bunch, let me explain.
Resurgence comes at level 35. At this point, I am already a moderately well slotted killing machine decimating pretty much every villain group on Invincible. Lets add some perspective. I skipped this power at 35, and have not died solo or in a group since. I have died in a rikti raid, but Ive only ever done one of those on my way to 50. Hopefully youve been following me so far. You wont need Resurgence if youve been slotting properly. Hell, you dont even have to play a certain way to avoid dying, WP provides you with plenty of leeway to make sure you have time to react to bad situations. I cant speak for PvP, because I dont do it, so maybe an argument can be made there.
Strength of Will, ah where to begin. I wont get into the numbers here, as I will cover that aspect under the powers section, but let me give you an idea of the affect this has on a typical battle.
Zero.
Now that I have your attention, lets expound on that zero for a minute. SoW gives you a moderate boost to resistance across the board, including Psionic. It also gives you pretty good protection to the usual forms of mez, capped off with a nice, 30% increase to recovery. This was an experimental power that was created outside of the recharge reduction rules. This power doesnt take recharge reduction enhancements. In fact, it only takes endurance reduction (emphasis on the reduction here) and resistance enhancements. Since this power costs about two endurance to activate, that leaves us with resistance as the only meaningful enhancement we can place.
This tier nine ability breaks with the traditional design of other scrapper tier nines in more ways than one. The real issue is that it doesnt provide any meaningful increase in anything to make it worth the power or slot investment. At this point (if you have stamina), you have so much recovery already that you dont need the extra 30% this provides for two minutes. This is just a hair better than an unslotted Stamina. Still .meh. Additionally, while the extra resistance is nice, it doesnt change the outcome of anything. If you were going to die as a WP scrapper, it would most likely be due to extreme measures that would require more than SoW has to offer. The only other perk SoW has to offer is the status protection it provides, which wont do you much good in normal situations as you are already have status protection vs. everything. This would only be useful in an extreme instance where you had multiple high level mezzers focusing on you and stacking the same type of mez. This actually happened to me once, while on a rikti raid in RWZ. I had five rikti magi focus mez me. The advantage to SoW is that you can use it while mezzed and retain mez resistance allowing you to get your other toggles back up. Oh wait .I just basically described what a break free does, didnt I. The jack-of-all-trades concept doesnt work so well for SoW, because you already do these things so well, you most likely wont notice the difference once you get it.
I think its a good idea to get to the power descriptions now, since this is starting to turn into a mini-novel/TLDR guide.
Dual Blades
My typical slotting recommendation for any attack is three damage, two accuracy, and one endurance reduction. Once you feel you have enough accuracy from either IOs or Focused Accuracy, you can switch out one Accuracy with another Endurance reduction or Recharge reduction. Recharge reduction doesnt have as great of an effect for DB since it is already a fast recharging set, although if you were to slot any power for recharge, I would go with Blinding Feint. I like to have this attack ready for every attack chain I start. If you are heavy on cash, you can start slotting sets early, but using this slotting will be more than sufficient for everyday use.
You may think my end reduction slotting is overkill, but I place a high premium on zero downtime, which is one of WPs greatest appeals to me. You can thank me later when you start fighting Sappers, Mu, and certain electric based EBs.
Nimble Slash
Endurance cost: 4.37
Recharge: 3 seconds
Damage: 52.5
Notes: This is a quick two shot that does a little damage, and is used in both the Weaken and Empower combos. I had used this power on test before i11 went live, and I didnt much care for it. I didnt realize at the time that this was the staple for the first two combos (ya I know, reading power descriptions FTW), so you will want to take this early if you are planning on making use of the first two combos.
Power Slice
Endurance cost: 6.03
Recharge: 5 seconds
Damage: 72.5
Notes: The second of your first two choices at level one, this attack is used in the Sweep combo, which you wont be able to complete until level 32. That being said, you will want to grab this power early as it does decent damage and will help fill in your attack chain at early levels, especially if you decide to forego the first two combos by skipping Nimble Slash. Later on it will be replaced by a more solid attack chain; however, considering that it is used in the Sweep combo, it remains useful more or less all the way to 50.
Ablating Strike
Endurance cost: 6.86
Recharge: 6 seconds
Damage: 82.6
Notes: This is a great attack that you get early and will be a part of the workhorse you will use later on to mince baddies. The animation is pretty quick and it does great damage, slightly more than Power Slice. In addition to this, it also inflicts a small defense debuff on the target to the tune of about 7.5%. This makes it an excellent candidate for an opening attack as it gives you a slightly better chance of connecting each subsequent hit in a combo. The only attack better than this one for opening an attack chain is Blinding Feint. This attack is used in three of the four combos available, further adding to its desirability. No matter how you build your attack chain, this one is a must.
Typhoons Edge
Endurance cost: 11.9
Recharge: 12 seconds
Damage: 71.3
Notes: Ah, the PBAoE of the set. It comes pretty early, perhaps a bit too early as it comes with a hefty endurance cost and doesnt really shine until used in a combo that becomes available much later in the set. Regardless of these minor issues, it is still a solid attack that you will want to work in when you can, since it is the only form of true AoE that you get in this set. This is the final attack in the Weaken and Sweep chain, though you wont have access to the latter until level 32 (I dont know if Ive pounded that into your head enough yet).
Blinding Feint
Endurance cost: 7.8
Recharge: 12 seconds
Damage: 50.1
Notes: One of my favorite powers of the set, you take both of your blades and plunge them deep into your foe, resulting in a damage and tohit buff. The damage is decent, but the gem here is the fast animation coupled with the 10% tohit buff and 37.5% damage buff, making it the best opening attack for any attack chain or combo. Later on (level 26), your attack chain should be Blinding Feint followed by the Attack Vitals combo. The buffs from Blinding Feint plus the extra defense debuff from Ablating Strike will help you hit your Sweep combo consistently. Once you get 1,000 cuts, youll have a full attack chain that is capable of destroying anything you manage to cram into that cone short of the more resilient Lt.s and bosses.
Confront
Taunt (i.e. You son of a motherless goat!)
Notes: I never took this, mostly because the only time I was ever doing anything remotely tank-like in a group was when I was taking the alpha, which I might add, is not something WP is best suited for. Rise to the Challenge has a minor taunt component to it, which will usually keep enough baddies on you without getting overwhelmed on large teams.
That being said, I have no experience with taunts, so if you were considering it I might recommend looking up additional information about it.
Vengeful Slice
Endurance cost: 8.52
Recharge: 8 seconds
Damage: 102.6
Notes: From this point forward, you will have three high damaging attacks to look forward to, this one being the first. The animation is great, in keeping with the dual blades slice-happy theme. It is also the third most damaging attack of the set which includes a knockdown component at the end, great for juggling bosses! This attack is also part of the Attack Vitals combo, which will be the staple of your damage once you get it filled out. Do not delay this power, take it at 18.
Sweeping Strike
Endurance cost: 11.1
Recharge: 11 seconds
Damage: 122.3
Notes: I know I said I hate melee cones, and I do, but I love this power. It is very quick to animate and does great damage. It is also the finishing move for my favorite combo, Attack Vitals. I mostly treat this as a single target attack, although if I manage to get a couple minions in there, bonus. Now that you have Sweeping Strike (you did take this at 26, right?) you can start mowing through groups of enemies efficiently by using the Blinding Feint -> Sweep combo attack chain. You may have to cycle this combo a few times on bosses, especially if you cranked your difficulty up, but it gets the job done and you look good while doing it.
One Thousand Cuts
Endurance cost: 15.3
Recharge: 16 seconds
Damage: 147.6
Notes: OK, lets get the bad stuff out of the way first. This power takes forever to animate, you look like a dork while doing it, and the damage when you first get it will feel more like One Thousand Paper Cuts. It has the highest endurance cost of any comparable Scrapper attack from other primary sets and the damage is on the low side.
There, now that we got that out of the way, lets take a look at why you are taking this at level 32. First off, you are a DB scrapper now and whether you like it or not, this is your ultimate attack. Second, it is the most damaging attack of the set, though you may not fully realize this until you see it crit for the first time. It is the opening attack to the sweep combination, which will be a very useful mitigation tool later on, especially when you are chin deep in baddies. It also has a knockdown component to it that happens at the end. This is goes well with your other knockdown attacks that can be used to keep your regen going when fighting those heavy hitters. This is also a melee cone, so you have the ability to multiply the damage a couple times if you can get other baddies in it. Using this and sweeping strike will most times be enough to defeat +3 minions. Now, unless you play on large teams a lot, it is best to treat this as a single target attack until you get used to lining up baddies. I just want to emphasize (for the last time, I promise) that you shouldnt waste too much time getting the optimal amount of enemies in your cones. This will slow you down, and with a properly built DB/WP, you will constantly be moving at a fast pace, leaving a wake of dead (or arrested, if you prefer) villains.
Willpower
High Pain Tolerance
Resistance: 5.63% to all
HP: +20%
Notes: The first power that you are forced to take in WP, although it is a good one. This auto-power boosts your max HP as well as providing the groundwork for your resistances. Prioritize slotting heal over resistance in this one. You could probably get away with just slotting the health aspect if you are tight on slots.
Mind Over Body
Resistance: 16.9% Smashing, Lethal 15% Psionic
Endurance: 0.21/s
Notes: Your first toggle that carries the typical smashing and lethal resistance. But wait, theres more! For a limited time only, youll get a smattering of Psi resistance as well! In my opinion, Psi defense > Psi resistance, because taking the hit means youll suffer the recharge penalty associated with Psi attacks, and this can hose your combos. Still youll be laughing off the tickle of Psi attacks while the non-WPs are running for cover. The resistance here isnt amazing, but the inclusion of Psi resistance makes this power well worth it. Take and slot early for the ubiquitous smashing and lethal damage at all levels, and enjoy the bonus of Psi resistance later on when it becomes important.
Additional thoughts: Ive often wondered if Psi resistance works like mez resistance, in that it shortens the time your recharge rate is affected by Psi attacks. Is there a recharge debuff resistance in this game? I dont think Ive seen it anywhere but it makes sense (to me at least). Maybe someone with more experience can shed some light on this?
Fast Healing
Regen: 75%
Notes: This is the second auto-power of the three in WP, and it allows you to start building on the regen aspect of WP. I pushed this power off until 35 on my scrapper, but I would have been better served fitting it in sooner than that. I would recommend getting this a bit sooner than 35, since it will be the foundation of your regen along with RttC. Slot it up for heals when you can.
Another note about this power, I think it has a resist regen debuff built into it, though Im not 100% positive on this, maybe someone can confirm?
Indomitable Will
Mez Protection: Sleep, Stun, Fear, Knockback, Hold, Repel, and Confuse
Defense: 7.5% to Psionic
Endurance: 0.21/s
Notes: This one is just a *little* too over the top. Not that Im complaining though. This bad boy gives you ironclad mez protection, with a big cherry on top known as Psi defense. I know what youre thinking right. What is the drawback? Well .nothing that I can think of. I mean, it is a toggle, so it can be dropped, but you likely wont encounter anything that can drop it short of a half-dozen EB rikti magi focus mezzing you. Or Ghost Widow. I really dont see any problem with this mez protection and Im sure most other secondary sets would kill for this one. Now, the Psi defense isnt out of this world amazing, and for good reason, but I would still slot it and get every last bit of defense out of it that you can, and then augment it with IOs and +def all powers. I love Psi defense, what can I say.
Additional Thoughts: This has Fear protection! Something I really wished I had on my /ELA Brute!!
Rise to the Challenge
Regen: 125% (with one foe in range)
ToHit: -3.75% PBAoE
Endurance: 0.21/s
Notes: Ah, another excellent power that you will love and always have toggled on. This power gives you a boost to regen for each foe in range up to ten, with the first foe giving you the greatest bonus and the tenth foe giving you the least. Mids tells me that the total bonus to regen with ten foes in range is 350%, although it shows the regen increase as linear, so Im not sure how accurate that is. The tohit debuff may not seem like a lot, but it stacks with your limited defenses to provide a respectable wiff rate for your opponents. Remember that some baddies have insane Accuracy/ToHit bonuses, and when you find these guys youll be thankful that WP isnt just a one-trick pony. Get this at level 16 and slot for heal and endurance reduction. Youre still four levels from QR, so you may prioritize endurance reduction over heal, either way is fine.
Quick Recovery
Recovery: 30%
Notes: What can I say, this is WPs Stamina+. Fully slotted you will enjoy a healthy endurance recovery, however you will still have to watch the blue bar while running all of your toggles and chaining combos unless you opt for the Fitness pool (which I highly recommend).
Heightened Senses
Defense: 2.48% Smashing, Lethal 9.75% Energy, Negative, Fire, Cold
Endurance: 0.21/s
Notes: Your main defense toggle, take it and slot accordingly. What? Only 2.48% vs. smashing/lethal? Yup. Pathetic, but Ill take what I can get. Besides, the other defenses are what you are really concerned with here. I will say that as a WP scrapper, the only foes that really give me trouble are the heavy elemental bosses. Your ability to take the elemental hits is a bit anemic, since you dont have any substantial resists or defenses to these damage types. You are really relying on your regen at this point. Suffice it to say that you should probably avoid being the first one to jump into an 8-man spawn filled with elemental bosses. Anyways, take it, slot it, and enjoy it, as this is the last piece you need to fill out your well-rounded WP scrapper.
Additional Thoughts: This also includes +perception. It seems like all the minor (major, for some people) annoyances of the game are addressed in WP. Invisible arachnos, psi damage, fear, -regen, end usage the list goes on. Im not sure if that means anything, but it is interesting nonetheless.
Resurgance
Self Rez
Heal: 75%
Endurance: 50 (not 50%)
Damage Buff: 35%
ToHit Buff: 30%
Recharge: 300 seconds
Notes: Yay, the first skippable power Pop this and get a decent damage and tohit buff for 90 seconds. After this, you have a sort of mini-crash with debuffed damage and accuracy. Great. As far as self-rez powers go, this one is pretty good. If you are pre-disposed to self-rez powers, youll probably take this regardless of what Ive already said. If you are on the fence, I would recommend taking a good long look at your journey to 35 so far and ask yourself how many times you could have really used a self-rez. I didnt even need one hand for this. Now, if you do have a number of situations where you think you could have used this, I would instead recommend re-evaluating your slotting especially in your secondary and see if you can make some improvements there first. I promise you, WP will treat you well if you build to its strengths. If you are determined to take this power, drop a recharge reduction in it and call it a day.
Strength of Will
Resistance: 18.8% Smashing, Lethal 9.38% Energy, Negative, Fire, Cold, Psionic, Toxic
Recovery: 30%
Mez Protection: Knockback, Hold, Immobilize, Stun, Sleep
Endurance: 2.6
Duration: 120 seconds
Recharge: 300 seconds (static)
Notes: Yay, another skippable power sadly, this is a hollow victory as this could really be great if it were tweaked just a little bit. Ive already been over the reasons I dont like this mediocre tier-9, so I wont rehash any of that. It isnt totally useless; it just doesnt hold the magic of a tier-9 that turns defeat into victory. If you get it, you might as well set it to auto-cast as you wont even notice the end crash and it just adds some more padding to the already very safe WP secondary. Honestly, my real issue is that there is no danger or excitement when you play WP. It is very measured and affords the user a moderate amount of leeway for mistakes. This kind of exemplifies that mentality in my mind.
If I could change something about this power, I would say drop the unnecessary recovery and increase the elemental resistance it offers. That is really the only weakness of WP and even then, only when you overwhelm yourself with +2 to +3 bosses. As I mentioned earlier, this power keeps with the good at everything mentality of WP, and that is its greatest weakness. You are already good at everything, and this just makes you redundantly good, instead of great.
Notes on slotting
Slotting the primary is pretty easy, and I follow the same formula for most every power. The secondary is a bit different, and Ive tried to give slotting hints throughout the secondary power section. Really, I stick with one IOs worth of endurance reduction in shields while hitting the ED cap for defense/resistance/heal where possible. Your defense and resistance toggles are a good place to grab some nice set bonuses, like Red Fortune and Luck of the Gambler, so I would slowly work towards those when you can.
Slotting sets in your attacks is a little more complicated, since the decent sets tend to be exorbitantly priced. If you have money to burn, Crushing Impact is the premo single target set in my opinion. It has a lot of the triple stat IOs which are a great way to maximize your investment. On that same note, I am not a fan of Makos Bite. Overpriced and damage procs are highly unnecessary to a solid DB build.
My Build
Here is my current build. I have a respec and Im tempted to go with tough/weave for high level content. You may notice that Ive included both WP abilities that Ive decried earlier in this guide. Even though I dont particularly care for them, I didnt have anything better to get at the time. I may replace them with tough/weave, or some team oriented skills. Also, I mentioned that I took Fast Healing at 35, which is pretty late, considering the power is available at level four. If you can fit it in before then, I would recommend doing so, but it isnt game breaking if you wait until 35. So, without further ado:
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.30
http://www.honourableunited.org.uk/mhd.php
My Awesome DB/WP Scrapper: Level 48 Technology Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Dual Blades
Secondary Power Set: Willpower
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fitness
Ancillary Pool: Body Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Power Slice -- (A)
Level 1: High Pain Tolerance -- (A)
Level 2: Ablating Strike -- (A)
Level 4: Mind Over Body -- (A)
Level 6: Typhoon's Edge -- (A)
Level 8: Blinding Feint -- (A)
Level 10: Indomitable Will -- (A)
Level 12: Combat Jumping -- (A)
Level 14: Super Jump -- (A)
Level 16: Rise to the Challenge -- (A)
Level 18: Vengful Slice -- (A)
Level 20: Quick Recovery -- (A)
Level 22: Hurdle -- (A)
Level 24: Health -- (A)
Level 26: Sweeping Strike -- (A)
Level 28: Heightened Senses -- (A)
Level 30: Stamina -- (A)
Level 32: One Thousand Cuts -- (A)
Level 35: Fast Healing -- (A)
Level 38: Strength of Will -- (A)
Level 41: Focused Accuracy -- (A)
Level 44: Laser Beam Eyes -- (A)
Level 47: Resurgence -- (A)
Level 49: Energy Torrent -- (A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- (A)
Level 1: Sprint -- (A)
Level 2: Rest -- (A)
Level 1: Critical Hit
<font class="small">Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>| Copy & Paste this data chunk into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|MHDz;1570;427;572;|
>-KE4^U*PS`4_3_8.^P%)KWY:%/\-\=04!`4_5UFW(HU+6V'#,*>W:0?N['7^0+2EIS><W)S<I-[J^M
RG;79BZZ;O#37<"7FL[5^;Q>/!_-AG_5V;\JBW!WMT[;.JDK7CCYDQ6)59&^ZL:]Y453EEZ[MG=GK6I
O6WNNLRLW.;O+6Z*:Q-Z79ZJSX]-RFR'?[UJ[*M^/B(6M:71_GL\CV#[CO=(I.2S@)-T`77(*%,_L[/
[)LR@/.YQ9H?H[S9:>9\!+YQ'UBRB<NY9`_M4#GIX$_Z"Q,#4*@X$Y!M\! Q#R#=0$QTT3&'MQD311+D
\$8E4:2H8'X-XI0%M63<*8A3%E23R:%D/Q4RR.%K1YRRP"E+W2JDI"RH*?>#(H<:GKK?"7'*19##^ Z`
Y$E2(J#OGB4($=T]PIR"KB*`>(K9`ZR'B0*$<3W8KU*CH[S=<[(">9W_POA#\0H>,\^/^9X@L@_>_!7
TU>-K_*=>%TMT!Q;HVC0,8(X0SE`JC$493C#*$HW9<5`P^P/=^XI?BG3!1"-,S5!%"0,@0<H283$F$F
%?%",4`Y[-O7CSZ]0``
|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
</pre><hr />
You can easily take this from 1 to 50 without respeccing, if you wanted to. My first build was basically the same, except I had SS instead of the Fitness pool. This also isnt a min/max build, though Ive found it to serve me quite well. You may want to play around with this build to fit in the first attack so you have access to the first two combos. I dont ever play to respec at a later date, however, in the case of DB, I could see some people wanting to do that.
Conclusion
Well, when I started this guide, I had no idea it was going to turn out so huge. I hope you found some information here that will help you build your DB/WP. In my experience, DP/WP (or dibwip as I affectionately call it) is a great set with solid damage and great survivability that is also a great deal of fun to play. I didnt even think to change my difficulty up until the early 30s and was surprised at how easily I could solo invincible with this character. DB/WP develops pretty well at most every part of the game, so there arent many times that you feel like your character sucks. If you can get past the flailing idiocy that is 1,000 cuts, I think youll love it.
This is my first guide, although Ive read hundreds of them on these boards and they have served me greatly, so I wanted to give a little back. If you have any comments, flames, suggestions, or constructive criticism, I would love to hear from you.
Thanks for reading, now get out there and stab things!!
Guide to DB/WP Scrappers i11.5