For Honor! For Glory! Issue 13 Guide to Shields

{+}~`*{S H I E L D S}*`~{+}
For Honor! For Glory!

Shield Defense and its Rise to Power - Scrapper Edition

Standing as one of the only definitive guides on Shield Defense as of 02/05/09, this guide will incorporate founding information about the Issue 13 Secondary, its strife and rise to power among the Melee sets. Incorporated we will discuss the history of the set, how it came to where it is now, and where it will go with the advent of future heroes.

Back History

Shields were initially designed, as I understood it, with a slightly different principle in mind. Or at least that’s easily how it could have been inferred for anyone who managed to Beta Test the early stages of their design. In Issue 13 Beta the secondary wasn’t quite like we see it on the Live Servers today. So lets step back a bit in time and take a general look at how the set performed back then, so we may better appreciate some of its deficiencies today.

In Beta the set was given a glossy image of being “Spartan” in nature. Anyone who’s read the Frank Miller (Graphic) Novel or seen the movie “300” may understand this as its heavily depicted in that particular story. Spartans using their shields to defend not only themselves but the man next to him. Within the Shield Secondary you can see this concept in powers like Phalanx Fighting and Grant Cover (both of which we’ll cover more about their specifics later along with any other powers mentioned).

The powers in the set as a whole seemed mechanically apt for what they were intended, but there were many caveat holes in its performance that (despite initial development belief) was not up to par with many of the other secondaries available to Melee Players. The original design was meant for players on multiple teams with multiple Shield Secondaries to function together and rely on their power in this manner, however in a single solo setting it was determined that the powers were too endurance heavy and imbalanced towards effectiveness versus level selection and abilities.

In its initial settings, the set as a whole was very endurance heavy and a heavy contributor to many people feeling the set was un-playable even with Stamina due to the costs incurred on your blue bar for playing (even with endurance reduction across the board). Along with the misshapen aspect of endurance costs, there were also concerns about selection of powers at certain levels and their setups in regards to survival. There are even some debates still raging about a few of the final turnouts. One of those being the inclusion of two primary mitigation sources in the same power (Deflection: Defense and Resistance). While on one side it can be seen that inclusions of necessary tools to the build were necessary, it could also been seen as difficult to include everything necessary without A.) Making it look like Super Reflexes, and B.) Making the design make sense for what you were getting. They couldn’t just slap Resistance into Against All Odds and call it good.

So where does that leave us today with Shields? Much better off in comparison. Through many (read: many) pages of discussion about the set, Castle made adjustments upon adjustments and came back with a more appeasing setup for the secondary that functioned both on a Team setting as well as functioning for Solo Players as well. The set (as a whole) is not more manageable in the endurance department (particular post Stamina as you may find with many sets these days) as well as setting up is survivability in a manner that it can be taken advantage of properly.

The Road Ahead
Now that we know where we came from, the next question is: Where are we going?
Simple, I’m going to home for a cup of tea and you can sit there pondering the quantum mechanics of a fusion generator.

Okay so that obviously isn’t going to work out to well so I’ll pave the path for us a bit here. /e Drink in hand lets find out what we can really do to break the system with this new secondary. While I’m initially building this guide to the tune of Scrapper, it could easily be referenced in reverse (and slight modification to later game development) to better entail functions for Tankers as well. Brutes, due to a slightly different style of play, may be able to merge the concepts together and get the same or similar results. At some point I may possibly come back and extend this to the other Melee’s as well for interest of completeness.

So what do we have for a secondary? Obviously we’re carrying around a shield of some despairing size and weight that we can use to save our hides from various assaults. But within that, what else can we do with our magnificent shield? No, you can’t throw it Cap, but we can sure do some other fancy stuff with it. As we go over the powers and their choices, keep in mind a few things: Invention Sets Change Everything. Actually that’s just really one thing to keep in mind with a very vast array of causalities in the wake of it. So any initial forethought in our upcoming discussion will be off Generic IO/SO Slotting with revelations on Sets later. I show these Generic Starts as the base you want to work for and sustain or improve with the addition of sets. Bringing yourself below this mark and you’ll be more hurting yourself than really helping.

Shield Defense

Deflection: Toggle: Self +Def(Melee, 11.3% Base), +Res(Lethal, Smashing, 11.3% Base). Straight forward bread and butter no-choice first tier power. Good thing we actually need this one. Deflection starts out pretty average and gives you two options for continued success. I will say this though: No matter how hard you try you will not supplement resistances (currently) well enough to warrant a Resist based path-selection with this set. Stick to Defense first, ride it to Glory.

Generic Slotting: One (1) Endurance Reduction, Three (3) Defense Buff.
End Result: 0.15 end/sec with 17.8% Defense (Melee).
Note: You may find yourself with slots to spare in the later levels on a Generic Build. In that situation, toss two slots extra onto Deflection for Two (2) Resistance to get you up to 16.8% S/L.

Battle Agility: Toggle: Self +Def(Ranged, AoE, Base 11.3%), +Res(Defense Debuff).
Another Bread and Butter power, and realistically should be the next toggle you get your hands on be level four or six. There are a few people who have attempted to run without this power until power level 20 under the assumption that it’ll save on your endurance bar, and while it marginally will, its your primary doing most of the damage to the blue, so go ahead and pick this up, drop some endurance reduction in it and ride it till post 20 when you can start seriously slotting it. Don’t skip your defense, its all you’ve got!

Generic Slotting: One (1) Endurance Reduction, Three (3) Defense Buff.
End Result: 0.15 e/s with 17.8% Defense (Range, AoE).

True Grit: Auto: Self +Res (Cold, Energy, Fire, Negative, Tocix, Base 11.3%), +Max Health (Base 10%).
This one may not seem like a necessary power at first, but benefits you as a whole regardless. The Max Health raise is enough to warrant picking it up to make the hits that do get through your defenses end up giving you a little more breathing room with added hit points. Transversely higher hit points result in more HP per Second being Regenerated as a result. So consider it like a boost to your overall regenerative abilities. I don’t suggest picking it up early though, this power can wait until 22-24 when you don’t really have anything much better to overlap it with yet, and in combination with Health you probably picked up by 16-18, starts compounding its usefulness.

Generic Slotting: Three (3) Heal, Three (3 Resistance Buff
End Result: 17.8% Resist, 19.9% HP
Note: Holding off on the resistance slotting until later in the build is more effective to managing your previous slots early.

Active Defense: Self Res (Disorient, Hold, Immobilize, Sleep, Fear, Confuse, Repel, Knock, Defense Debuff).
Your Mez Protection for the build. Unfotunetly is a click, but seems to be the pattern with defensive based sets (ie: SR). While the recharge is long and the duration just as accommodating, you may find that even when its down you can still avoid a good surplus of effects in the game simply because they never hit you in the first place. Either way, a few slot of recharge get this permanent; and this is actually a power you want to overlap from time to time because it stacks its Debuff Resistance.

Generic Slotting: Two (2) Recharge Reduction.
End Result: 109.1s (200), Duration 120/s.
Note: Membrane Hami-O’ slotted into this power does increase the Defense Debuff Resistance provided by this power.

Against All Odds: Toggle: Self +Damage, Foe -Damage.
The Golden Fleece in this set is AAO. It provides a nice chunk of immediate damage bonus on you and stacks up to ten mobs in range for up to 81.3% Damage Bonus. Significant Impact on Any Primary you team this with, and also why I suggest getting it the moment its available. It only requires a single endurance reducer to run. Although the power can take taunt enhancements in the late game if you’d like the chance to be more tanker-minded with the power. If you fear endurance woes from 16 to 20 (and Stamina), then you could (I guess…) put True Grit at 16/18 and take this post 20/22.

Generic Slotting: One (1) Endurance Reduction

Phalanx Fighting: Auto: Self Special +Def(Melee, Ranged, AoE).
There are some unique qualities to this power, and one of those is necessary for the performance option on a Generic Build. It would behoove any player to take this on any build however since it gives 3.75% defense to all three positions. While enhancements don’t support that base value, its still significant enough to warrant its selection. When in terms of a Generic or Team-Centric Build, each additional team mate (up to three) in range gets 2.25% extra defense, and this scales. So while an IO build may not slot into this, a Generic or Team Build can for those times its available and warrant plenty of extra defense for little effort. This is one of the “Spartan Powers” as I call it.

Generic Slotting: Three (3) Defense Buff
End Result: (Saturated to Three) 10.7% Team Provided Defense (Melee, Ranged, AoE) with an additional base 3.75% (Melee, Ranged, AoE) Static.

Grant Cover: PBAoE Toggle: Team(but not self) +Def(All but Psionic), Team +Res(Defense Debuff, Recharge Debuff).
This may be one of the only powers I say is optionable in the set, although still has much value, and is the second of two “Spartan Powers” in the secondary. Out of the box it’s a pretty cheap toggle and doesn’t require much work, although its only lasting merit is either if you team consistently and the team buff is warranted, or if you required the Debuff Resistance it provides. The only time where it may be significant is end game fun (AV Challenges and the Likes) where its effects are deemed necessary. If the power provided more (even if just to team members) I might find more value in this power, but otherwise its purely an option.

Generic Slotting: One (1) Endurance Reducer OR One (1) Defense Buff.

Shield Charge: PBAoE Superior Damage(Smashing), Foe Knockdown; Self Teleport.
This power is packed with so much awesome sauce you can’t find anymore of it on store shelves. Yes, it is an attack, in your secondary which is almost un heard of. There have been damage auras before, but not a straight forward attack, with a teleport even! This is the Lightning Rod variant for Scrappers currently. While it has a heavy recharge, its pretty easy to get it into the 30-45 Second window so that you can functionally use it once every mob or two, which more than makes up for its recharge considering the heavy (read: heavy) damage it does, especially when saturated with AAO and Build Up/Soul Drain. There are some folk who find the recharge too long, but for the class of damage this power has, even with Generic Slotting and Hasten its up every 33 Seconds. For a power that can nearly wipe out an entire spawn in one hit, that’s exceptionally good. And just to cover it, yes, they added one hit of DoT at the end of the damage trail to make sure it does “One Shot”.

Generic Slotting: One (1) Accuracy, Two (2) Damage, Three (3) Recharge Reduction

One With The Shield: Self +Res(Disorient, Sleep, Hold, Immobilize, Repel, Knock, All Damage but Psi), +Recovery, +Max HP
This is your Tier Nine, your Crème De La Crop…you get the idea. The unfortunate but notable part is it’s a lot like Strength of Will in a sense from the Willpower set. 360/s Recharge, 120/s Duration, 20% HP, 0.50e/s Recovery, 22.5% Resistance. Not enhancable for Recharge, but all other aspects are. All in all you’ll find it a pretty rounded power, albeit one that some IO Set Builds find they can do without (although I’d still suggest finding a way to keep it, which in all cases, is possible). With the right slotting over your build, and the inclusion of Tough, you can hit this and sky rocket upwards of 70% Resistance to Smashing/Lethal.

Generic Slotting: Three (3) Resistance Buff

Power Pools and You

Ah, Power Pools, those lovely little “extras” you can waste so many power choices on. We, however, shall not be wasting! Even if you took your entire primary and secondary and ancillary powers, you still would end up with at least two power pool choices you would have to take in order to achieve (ie: train to) level 50. So since we’re already going to skip at least one, if not two or three powers from our primary, and possibly one or two from our secondary, we have plenty of debating room on what to throw on the side to supplement our abilities.

I’ll take us through a quick skim over each of the pool choices. Since we’re looking for stuff that primarily assists us, I wont go into details about each pool as many of them have pretty straight forward in-game descriptions and…there really isn’t much to the imagination for what they do.

Fighting - Good
Fitness - Very Good
Flight - Useful, Situational, Preference (Good)
Concealment - Fair, Limited, Almost Bad
Leadership - Good
Leaping - Useful, Situational, Preference (Good)
Speed - Useful, Situational, Preference, (Less Value than Flight/Leaping)
Teleportation - Situational, Only Useful in IO Sets
Presence - Bad
Medicine - Very Good, Pending Primary

So what’s all that mean if I break it down further? Quite a bit actually. Starting with the Fighting Pool you have Tough and Weave, primarily Weave that we’d be after since it provides a significant amount of +Def(All) for a fairly okay endurance cost (when compared to Maneuvers, Weave is far better, but requires more to achieve; don’t discount Maneuvers as unusable though, some circumstances its all you need to reach the soft cap and can be obtained with only one power selection). If you can afford the three power selections, Tough and Weave are good to have, supplement existing powers in Shields well, and if you can afford the endurance costs, worth having.

Moving on down the line we have Fitness. You almost have to have this for Stamina, and Health supplements True Grit pretty nicely. Swift or Hurdle is your choice (although your travel route may influence this if you take one). Speaking of Travels, you have Flight, Leaping, Teleportation, Speed. Preference has a lot to work with here, but when you consider IO’s, Teleportation has the most awkward uses, Leaping and Flight have the most use. Checking into IO sets you can really go either direction, Combat Jumping and Hover just have the most merit for their ability to use the “General Travel” IO Zephyr Set, and the extra Defense they provide. Past that, there’s Hasten, which nearly any build can find use of +Recharge.

Going back to Maneuvers and the Leadership Pool, as mentioned Maneuvers has its benefits, as well as Assault and Tactics, depending the route you take with Shields, the additional powers may not have as much usefulness. Although in a PvP Scenario you may be looking for those additional powers and have to find other ways to work around getting boosted defense. Beyond that there is the Medicine Pool, which is a great boon to Shields since it doesn’t have a self heal in its array of powers. Aid Self is key and should be picked up to help supplement your health if you plan on taking your Shield into more difficult tasks like AV Soloing where the self heal is nearly required. The only time I might not otherwise suggest it is with Dark Melee Primary and Siphon Life.

Presence and Concealment I almost wont even mention, there’s no value there. The only useful power between the two is Grant Invisibility if you have a team oriented build and Grant Cover and Maneuvers to boost team defense.

Putting It Together

So now that we have a general understanding of the powers within the set, we can look forward at actually putting the whole thing together. I’ve mentioned a lot of “Generic Slotting”, but what does it look like as a whole? That’s the easy part, because I’ve already done most of that work for you. Below is an included Data Chunk for a program called Mid’s Hero Designer. IF you’re not familiar with it, or just haven’t found where to pick it up at yet, go ahead and grab it from that URL Link and then import the below code into the program (Copy the Code then go to Mids > Import/Export > Import from Forum Post).

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For those familiar with Mid’s, You can see where everything lead to, along with some Pool selections to round out the build. With a saturated Phalanx Fighting the build actually goes over the Defense Soft Cap making it pretty powerful over all, albeit at an expense. IO Sets make this process a lot more manageable, and that’s where we’ll dive into next to see what those effects are going to have. I will however also include a second Generic Build that isn’t quite soft capped, but pushes the limits of Enhancement Diversification in some areas in order to include Hasten into the mixture. In both builds Broadsword was just used as a filler primary so that I could flesh out the secondary and its stats to relay Shields.

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Part Two

[u]CoX.iso - New Age in City Of Invention Set Origins[u]

Invention Enhancements and Set Bonuses changed the face of City of Heroes/Villains forever. They (read: Developers) opened a crazy can of worms on the place that everyone’s been snapping at like crazy since it happened. Man is it fun. So what does that mean for our Previous Shields? Lots. Super Reflexes has a lot of crazy status for being easy to bring to the Defense Soft Cap, but that doesn’t mean Shields can’t do it too!

I have mentioned it a couple of times in the guide so far, and you may be asking “What is the Defense Soft Cap? The soft cap is when your defense reaches or exceeds 45% to a particular status (in our case Melee, Ranged and AoE Positional Defense). You have Type and Positional Defense. Typed are things like Smashing and Lethal, Positional is literal to position type, Melee, Ranged, Area of Effect. Once you reach 45% to a specific term the chance for a critter to hit you runs down to 5% on standard outside of other buffs the critter may have or deal. At this point your survivability sky rockets. While 44% is good too, you’ll find there’s still a significant impact from 44 to 45%; even more so if you say you spent many levels at 25% and the further you get to 45% the higher your survivability rises.

If you took a look at the Generic Build from before, trying to soft cap without IO Sets is pretty hard (and albeit near impossible without Phalanx Fighting saturated). That’s where the Sets actually come into play, it makes things significantly easier, although it will take a time and influence investment in the game to gather the necessary pieces to achieve this. The more familiar you are with Inventions and Sets, the smoother this’ll be to use because there’s not real way to sugar coat the rough edges on this without making a whole new guide to explaining Inventions (which someone actually already did! Just hunt it down in the guides section).

There are a significant amount of sources you can pull +Def Bonuses from but the vastness of it all is too much to try and break down in one sitting since you’d have to account for level, bonus, source, where it can be slotted, etc. So in that sense It’ll be a lot easier to break down into simply posting basic builds that focus on Soft Capping in some form that can be nit picked.

This is a Fire/Shield Build, Soft Capped to Melee and Ranged, but not AoE, does have Aid Self:

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This one is Soft Capped, but does not include Aid Self:

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Martial Arts/Shield, over soft cap, no aid self.

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Generic Soft Cap Broadsword/Shield, No Aid Self:

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Generic Soft Cap Dark Melee/Shield

<font class="small">Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>| Copy &amp; Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build |
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A lot of those builds you’ll notice have similarities. It is possible to set up Shields so that you can plug in a primary and fill the holes in defense with sets from that primary without missing a beat. This does not, however, discount the fact that they may not be at a performance level. Consider them slightly-costly entry level soft cap builds.

To answer the questions ahead of time, yes the builds can get better. A lot better in fact with enough time invested into them. Broad Sword/Shield seems to be at the top of the class though, and is also the build I’ve spent the most time focusing on improving (although I have many more actual saved variants of Dark Melee/Shield trying to optimize it without loosing Conceptual Fly). Originally I was under the opinion that the build just didn’t deserve to be shared. I had spent a lot of time mulling over it and perfecting it. I wanted to be greedy about it, and some folks know where I’m coming from with that.

I did consider it though, I don’t have any expectations to actually build a BS/Shield any longer. The idea really intrigued me, really felt it would be fun and saved the build with the intentions of running it myself. Although in the end I’m sticking with the DM/Shield I ran instead (and I think enjoying exclusively more than I would have a BS/Shield). Only one other person has actually seen (and indirectly commented on) the build without divulging any of its secrets. He may be okay with knowing that I’m opening it to the public and he can stop hiding it, heh.

Perfect Mix of 45.57% Defense Melee, Ranged, AoE. 29% S/L Resist (Pre OwtS). 335% Regeneration, 135.7% HP, 193% Recovery (3.23/s), 0.84/s End Burn, all before Accolades; +67.5% Recharge, +6% To-Hit, +66% Accuracy, +33.4% Damage Also includes Aid Self. Build is fully functional in both Solo and Team Situation, has been pushed to performance in as many places as possible. The build does have some preferential options in it as well. It makes a power-choice sacrifice, and this is a willing choice to keep it maximized. If you want to focus it entirely on single target, Shield Charge can be Swapped with Parry for little difference in the over all build; second option is for those who don’t like Shield Charge, can be swapped for the lesser Whirling Sword for the same set and no build change. No, it doesn’t get any better than this, and that is straight forward honesty, no egotism.

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There is also the DM/Shield that I have running amuck that I feel (overall) performs better with more potential for damage (Saturated Soul Drain and AAO is incredibly superior to any damage Broad Sword could dream of). AAO Saturated, Built Up Head Splitter can do nearly 1,000 points of damage (pre critical), but you only have 10 Seconds for that level of power (and only one chance to fire HS)…and so can Midnight Grasp in a fully saturated AAO and a much longer lasting Soul Drain. 700 Point Shield Charge is just unbelievable-especially if you can manage to pull the second one off before Soul Drain wares off.

<font class="small">Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>| Copy &amp; Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build |
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[u]Supplementing The World With Shields[u]

In the end we’ve gone a long ways into the Shield Secondary, an overview is in hand to cover anything I felt I may have missed along with a general cover to things that needed to be pointed out again.

Key Aspects to Shield: It can easily be soft capped, the only problem the build ever faces is defense debuff that you can find in several of its powers and multiple ways to insure you can fit that in if necessary. Defense benefit’s a lot from a self heal for the attacks that do manage to get through. That makes Aid Self a wise power choice for the heavier tasks like AV Soloing and the Rikti War Zone Challenge. Dark Melee comes with Siphon Life that can suffice as a partial heal in your attack chain, with the amount of times it’ll be triggered it more than makes up for what Aid Self could have provided without interrupting your attack chain. Aid Self is not required though, I do want to say that. It is a supplemental power; regular teaming game play may not notice or need the effects of Aid Self, and the power can be passed.

Broadsword and Dark Melee are the top end of the spectrum for Damage against Tools and overall Performance (BS with Parry and Damage, DM with Siphon Life and Soul Drain and its -To-Hit component in the attacks that bode well to assisting defense even further). Martial Arts does not (regrettably) have too significant an impact of unity with Shields, but does not disqualify it from performance. Shields could easily work well with Martial Arts (Knock Effects in particular) it just doesn’t have any outright claims of unity. Fire Melee is in the same boat as Martial Arts. It does a lot of damage, even more with AAO in the package, but it lacks any secondary effects and is at more mercy to what can surpass Shields defense that something like Parry can help supplement in Broadsword (which even BS has Knock Effects and -Def in a few attacks).

Twelve pages later, you guys (and gals) can’t say I never gave you anything So go, prosper, take your shield in hand and challenge the world the battle! If there are any other inclusions someone would like to see, let me know and I can make a supplement (probably). I think I otherwise covered everything as a whole, primary focus on Shields itself with the inclusion of Primaries and their work relation together.
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An absolutely brilliantly written and infomative guide! thank you for posting it.

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Excellent guide!! One of the best I have read in a long time. Thank you for writing it.

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Have to agree with others, one of the best guides. You really worked hard on this, and it shows. I was able to finish my Shield tank thanks to some of your suggestions. Superb job.

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I'm impressed also. It's extremely nice to, for once, see a guide that not just says something can be done, but REAL details on how to do it. The opposite has been a real problem with the handful of other guides I've read

Outstanding job

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Hi there!
Great guide!
I went through your Fiery/Shield build with aid self and made a few adjustments for my build.

I am a bit disappointed I couldn't fit one with the shield into my build, but I was able to softcap everything. I did change true grit to more res than heal.

It's different. Just another build to consider..

I also slotted Deflection to get you a bit more resistance but it's importance is to place steadfast MUCH earlier in the build.

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/

[u]Click this DataLink to open the build![u]

Level 50 Magic Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Fiery Melee
Secondary Power Set: Shield Defense
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Medicine
Ancillary Pool: Body Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Fire Sword -- T'Death-Acc/Dmg:40(A), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx:40(3), T'Death-Dmg/Rchg:40(5), T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:40(7), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:40(17), T'Death-Dam%:40(19)
Level 1: Deflection -- S'dpty-Def/EndRdx:35(A), S'dpty-Def:35(9), S'dpty-Def/Rchg:35(9), S'dpty-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:35(11), S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+:30(13), ResDam-I:35(43)
Level 2: Cremate -- T'Death-Acc/Dmg:40(A), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx:40(3), T'Death-Dmg/Rchg:40(5), T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:40(7), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:40(17), T'Death-Dam%:40(19)
Level 4: Battle Agility -- S'dpty-EndRdx:40(A), S'dpty-Def:40(13), S'dpty-Def/EndRdx:40(23), S'dpty-Def/Rchg:35(23), S'dpty-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:35(31)
Level 6: Hurdle -- Jump-I:50(A)
Level 8: Build Up -- RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:35(39)
Level 10: Active Defense -- RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:35(11)
Level 12: Hover -- Zephyr-Travel:35(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx:35(37), Zephyr-ResKB:35(39)
Level 14: Fly -- Zephyr-Travel:50(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx:50(15), Zephyr-ResKB:50(15)
Level 16: Against All Odds -- EndRdx-I:50(A)
Level 18: Health -- RgnTis-Heal/EndRdx:30(A), RgnTis-Regen+:30(42)
Level 20: Stamina -- P'Shift-End%:50(A), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc:50(21), P'Shift-EndMod:50(21), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg:50(42), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc/Rchg:50(43), P'Shift-Acc/Rchg:50(48)
Level 22: Phalanx Fighting -- DefBuff-I:50(A)
Level 24: True Grit -- ResDam-I:35(A), ResDam-I:35(25), Heal-I:35(25)
Level 26: Incinerate -- T'Death-Acc/Dmg:40(A), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx:40(27), T'Death-Dmg/Rchg:40(27), T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:40(34), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:40(40), T'Death-Dam%:40(40)
Level 28: Fire Sword Circle -- Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(A), Oblit-%Dam:50(29), Oblit-Dmg:50(29), Oblit-Acc/Rchg:50(39), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg:50(40), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(42)
Level 30: Combat Jumping -- Zephyr-Travel:50(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx:50(31), Zephyr-ResKB:50(31)
Level 32: Greater Fire Sword -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg:50(A), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx:50(33), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg:50(33), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(33), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(34), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(34)
Level 35: Shield Charge -- Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(A), Oblit-Dmg:50(36), Oblit-Acc/Rchg:50(36), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg:50(36), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(37), Oblit-%Dam:50(37)
Level 38: Super Jump -- Zephyr-Travel:35(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx:35(43), Zephyr-ResKB:35(46)
Level 41: Aid Other -- Mrcl-Rcvry+:40(A)
Level 44: Focused Accuracy -- GSFC-ToHit:35(A), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg:35(45), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx:35(45), GSFC-ToHit/EndRdx:35(45), GSFC-Rchg/EndRdx:35(46), GSFC-Build%:35(46)
Level 47: Aid Self -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+:50(A), Numna-Heal:50(48), Numna-Heal/EndRdx:50(48), Numna-EndRdx/Rchg:50(50), Numna-Heal/Rchg:50(50), Numna-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg:50(50)
Level 49: Grant Cover -- HO:Ribo(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Clrty-Stlth:50(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Critical Hit
------------
[u]Set Bonus Totals:[u]<ul type="square">[*]18.5% DamageBuff(Smashing)[*]18.5% DamageBuff(Lethal)[*]18.5% DamageBuff(Fire)[*]18.5% DamageBuff(Cold)[*]18.5% DamageBuff(Energy)[*]18.5% DamageBuff(Negative)[*]18.5% DamageBuff(Toxic)[*]18.5% DamageBuff(Psionic)[*]13.6% Defense(Smashing)[*]13.6% Defense(Lethal)[*]12.7% Defense(Fire)[*]12.7% Defense(Cold)[*]12.4% Defense(Energy)[*]12.4% Defense(Negative)[*]3% Defense(Psionic)[*]24.3% Defense(Melee)[*]21.8% Defense(Ranged)[*]22.4% Defense(AoE)[*]6% Enhancement(Heal)[*]15% Enhancement(RechargeTime)[*]31% Enhancement(Accuracy)[*]10% FlySpeed[*]170.7 HP (12.7%) HitPoints[*]10% JumpHeight[*]10% JumpSpeed[*]Knockback (Mag -16)[*]Knockup (Mag -16)[*]MezResist(Held) 11.6%[*]MezResist(Immobilize) 10.5%[*]MezResist(Stun) 4.4%[*]5% (0.08 End/sec) Recovery[*]20% (1.12 HP/sec) Regeneration[*]2.5% Resistance(Psionic)[*]14% RunSpeed[/list]


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---

50s:
White Valkyrie - BS/Regen Scrap
Fear of Silence - Ninja/Dark MM
Corporate Zombie - Necro/Poison MM
Ardent Cataclysm - Stone/Fire Tank
Angelic Heart - Peacebringer
Maelstrom - Elec/Elec Brute
Novastar - Energy/Fire Blaster

I'm glad so many people are happy with this and finding use in it, that makes it all worth the effort!


Novastar, why don't you take a look at this:

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---

Lookin good there.
I still think I'd move Steadfast to the deflection slot instead. The +3 resistance showing up at level 13 is nice.

It's how I managed to get my shield tanker to over 30% defense by level 25.

Other than that, it looks like a great level 50 build.
I'd still be interested to know if it's a big loss to do without grant cover's defense debuff protection.

As someone who hasn't played too much with defense based stuff (at least not without added resistances (inv)), I'm not sure how the loss of GC would do.. For instance some place like Cimm.. That could be dangerous.. And at least to my understanding shields has a lower def-debuff resistance than SR.. Hence my concerns..

---

50s:
White Valkyrie - BS/Regen Scrap
Fear of Silence - Ninja/Dark MM
Corporate Zombie - Necro/Poison MM
Ardent Cataclysm - Stone/Fire Tank
Angelic Heart - Peacebringer
Maelstrom - Elec/Elec Brute
Novastar - Energy/Fire Blaster

Great job! I've been looking for a good concept to get behind for my Shields toon after deleting a half dozen scrappers and tanks. Maybe Dark/Shield will work for me. I'll review your builds and play around in the creator. It'll be great to have a roadmap to work with.

Thanks for the guide.

---

[ QUOTE ]
Lookin good there.
I still think I'd move Steadfast to the deflection slot instead. The +3 resistance showing up at level 13 is nice.

It's how I managed to get my shield tanker to over 30% defense by level 25.

Other than that, it looks like a great level 50 build.
I'd still be interested to know if it's a big loss to do without grant cover's defense debuff protection.

As someone who hasn't played too much with defense based stuff (at least not without added resistances (inv)), I'm not sure how the loss of GC would do.. For instance some place like Cimm.. That could be dangerous.. And at least to my understanding shields has a lower def-debuff resistance than SR.. Hence my concerns..



[/ QUOTE ]


You might slot it in Deflection early on, but respec it to a more reasonable place, there's no reason to keep it in Deflection and waste a perfectly good slot.

Past that with Grant Cover, no, haven't found a need for it (yet). Its really only 13.8% boost, its much more reliable to get Active Defense to stack on itself and rely on that and Battle Agility to get you around 45%

---

Awesome guide! I'll definitely be consulting it as I level up my Fire/Shield Scrapper.

Question though: when I open up your proposed Fire/Shield (the one with Aid Self) build in Mid's, the damage numbers seem out of whack. The global totals in the "Totals from Sets" window are at about 25%, but in the "Totals for Self" window, the bonus is at upwards of 80% (sorry for the inexactness, but I'm at work atm and don't have access). Taking into account AaO with 1 mob in range, that's still not enough for the discrepancy. And I made sure that Build Up is toggled off. Is there some sort of synergy in the build choices that I'm not seeing that ramps the damage up so high?

---

Fading Eclipse (L50 Ill/Rad)
Chosen of War (L22 Inv/Axe)
Fulcrum Eclipse (L24 Kin/Rad)
Available Light (Something/Something Blaster)
and a cast of thousands!

[ QUOTE ]
Awesome guide! I'll definitely be consulting it as I level up my Fire/Shield Scrapper.

Question though: when I open up your proposed Fire/Shield (the one with Aid Self) build in Mid's, the damage numbers seem out of whack. The global totals in the "Totals from Sets" window are at about 25%, but in the "Totals for Self" window, the bonus is at upwards of 80% (sorry for the inexactness, but I'm at work atm and don't have access). Taking into account AaO with 1 mob in range, that's still not enough for the discrepancy. And I made sure that Build Up is toggled off. Is there some sort of synergy in the build choices that I'm not seeing that ramps the damage up so high?

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm not sure what exactly you may be looking at, but I can at least cover all the known damage-sources in the build.

AAO: 19.4% from one enemy in range
IO Bonuses: 24%
Build Up: 100%
Chance for Build Up Proc in Focused Accuracy: 100%

Those are the only sources of +damage in the build, nothing for 80%, and no way to total out anywhere near 80% without raising the mob count for AAO to about 6/7 mobs (77-84% range). Make sure you have AAO set to one, Focused Accuracy and Build Up turned off, and you should be seeing 43.4% +Dam for Self in the Totals for Self window.

---

Supplement to the Original Guide!
The Topic I posted about this in the Scrapper Forums brought up many questions there that I would like to transfer in form over here so they are preserved with the guide and not pruned after a couple months.

[ QUOTE ]
Nicro: On a more related topic, I was looking at your last BS/SD build and was curious what your experience with defense debuffers has been?

[/ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Daolong: Just a quick question... Your BS guide has a pretty big recharge gap between headsplitters...

Are you filling that gap with slice for single targets?

[/ QUOTE ]

To Dao:
Which build were you looking at, I think there's nearly four BS/SD Builds in that guide. The very last one is the important one that originally had Hack, Parry, HS, and Disembowel in the attack chain in some order (I'd have to look again to be sure). In that "Final Build", Shield Charge would have to be sacrificed for Parry on a Single-Target AV Build, otherwise there's not really anything in the rest of the game you wont find a minor gap too difficult to accommodate between attacks.

To Nicro:
Post Soft-Cap (especially if you can get a point or two above 45% or more), its been pretty manageable with just overlapped Active Defense and Battle Agility, and that's even been while running around in Cimerora. The only time Debuffs became a problem were when I was below 40% Defense and I would find myself floored pretty quickly. Although something else I've been noticing (For DM/SD) that Soul Drain+Shield Charge, that duration that the mob is on their backs I can often wipe out several foes from single shots, and I'm sure that could be applied in sense to Broadsword.

It may seem strange to say "Charge in and start knocking things around to survive", but with the amount of damage boosts that you can maintain as a Shield Player is incredible enough that you can really run in, knock a few on their backs and build up into single shots on a few. Thinking on it, that's probably a straight forward mitigation tactic I should've mentioned in the Guide.

[ QUOTE ]
Daolong:
Hmm... thats what I thought (I was talking about the final build btw).

So just to make this clear... On a single target AV build you would have to swap out shield charge for parry?

Seams like if you did that you would want to swap out the set of titaniums in tough for something else, or at least move spots to deflection or OWTS for more resistance.

Hmm... That gives me some things to think about.

Very well done guide btw.

[/ QUOTE ]

No, you wouldn't really. The thing about Parry is that its not for Defense, its a supplement. I think the best way to explain it might be to call it the Gambler's Cut of BS/SD. It recharges incredibly fast for a quick spot of damage for just a second or two of animation. Its really the fastest attack in the whole primary, and works great for filling in a small gap to keep damage continuous. It just so happens to also comes with an incredible boost to your Defense in the process. Double Stacked it can get you pretty far into Melee/Lethal Defenses, its to supplement your build, not replace parts of it. If Parry (for any reason) misses, you suddenly become vulnerable for however long it takes to recover from that down side, that makes it somewhat unreliable as a primary form of defense when there's alternatives to keep them there.

Pulling up the build and actually swapping Parry in for a second here to get an example of its abilities on just a quick burst attack. It (in the build) recharges at 1.46 Seconds. Its Arcanatime is 1.462, left on Que you could cycle Parry "infinitely" in the build (until you eventually run out of endurance in some odd hour it would take to burn down 110 endurance at a loss of .2 every 1.5 seconds). While that doesn't make the "but I could replace with parry" arguement any better against myself, the point is its fast, its supplemental and it gets you even greater defense in melee for AV's that DO debuff. If it weren't for a ~.50 second different in the attack chain, parry wouldn't be there at all.

Quote Werner:
Actually, earlier iterations of John's build had both Parry and Shield Charge, and most of the rest of what the current build has. So no, you wouldn't HAVE to swap out Shield Charge for Parry in an AV build. You can have both.



Yup, there was one iteration prior to the one I deemed final that has less overall regen, recovery, recharge and accuracy. Not substantial, but there is a difference (mostly in the Regen department of nearly 50%).

In fact, here it is:
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---

Continuing Supplement, Post from Dispari:
[ QUOTE ]
Hai.

I looked over your guide and figure you did a pretty good job. I've been thinking of making one for myself. I've played two Shield characters to level 50 (one scrapper, one brute), with a pactmate, so between us we have over 200 levels of Shield experience. Since you wrote a good guide I won't go over everything, but let me point out a few things I personally disagree with or think need elaboration.

Quote:
True Grit:I don’t suggest picking it up early though, this power can wait until 22-24 when you don’t really have anything much better to overlap it with yet


This comment seems odd to me, and in fact I would recommend taking True Grit much earlier, like around level 4 when it unlocks, or up to 12 if you have important stuff before then. On the Shield thread Castle made, several of us fought to have it way earlier in the set (it originally came at 35 for scrappers) because it's the only real means of non-DEF based protection you have.

Shields has the lowest DEF numbers for toggles of any of the DEF based sets. Lower than SR, Ninjitsu, Earth Armor, and Energy Armor. And you don't get Phalanx until at least 20. It has very low defense debuff resistance, and there's an overabundance of -DEF foes at the low level (pretty much all gangs up until 20 have guns). As such, you end up playing an easily debuffed DEF character with very low defense until higher levels. Personally, I'd recommend taking True Grit as early as possible if you want any sort of durability. True Grit gives you a bit more resistance and a very helpful health boost.

Quote:
Holding off on the resistance slotting until later in the build is more effective to managing your previous slots early.


This is funny to me because you say the health is the important thing to slot for (which I agree with) but in One With the Shield you recommend ignoring that component entirely. OWtS has twice the health boost as True Grit, while the RES (besides S/L) is the same. For a Scrapper that's a difference of about 265 HP. For a Tank, over 370.

Quote:
Against All Odds:
If you fear endurance woes from 16 to 20 (and Stamina), then you could (I guess…) put True Grit at 16/18 and take this post 20/22.


This is close to what I did (besides having TG at 4 as mentioned above). I had enough endurance issues between having two toggles and my primary, so I waited to take AAO until 22, after Stamina was fully slotted and I had access to SOs/good IOs.

Quote:
Phalanx Fighting:
Generic Slotting: Three (3) Defense Buff


This is one point where I heavily disagree. This sounds great in theory, but in practice it's a bad idea for just about ANY build to rely on the team-buff portion of this power.

From a slot vs reward standpoint, let's look at what the power does. It gives an unenhanceable 3.75% to start off with, regardless of what's going on, and another 2.25% per ally in range, which can be enhanced. The base slot puts that at 2.82%. Further enhancing it brings it to 3.37% and then 3.57% for the second and third slots respectively. That's a boost of 0.57% DEF for the base slot, 0.55% DEF for the second slot, and 0.2% DEF for the third slot. You can multiply those boosts by up to three for max performance, but the boost provided isn't really worth the slots.

While the base 3.75% is very worthwhile, the team-buff can be almost completely ignored. In practice, it's impossible to rely on the boost given by it. The range on the power is only 8 feet, which is basically locking shoulders with allies. There are very few situations where you'll be this close to another ally reliably, much less three other allies, even in a melee-oriented team.

To give you an idea of what I mean, my pactmate and I are both /Shield on both our scrapper and brute builds, and even though we stick close for Grant Cover (which has a range of 15 feet), it's nearly impossible for us to stay within range for Phalanx all the time. It literally only takes two steps before we're out of range of eachother and lose the bonus. If we're both attacking the same enemy, this works out, but the instant one of us moves even a little bit to hit another enemy, that bonus is lost. Not to mention those slots offer NOTHING for soloing.

Between Shield Charge, lining up cones, and gathering enemies for AAO boost, it's too hard to rely on a boost from Phalanx for having allies nearby. If anything, take the power for the 3.75% and consider the other amount a "nice boost" when it does occur, but it's by no means something you can rely on. Even between me and my pactmate, we step far enough away from eachother to not have Phalanx any time we're advertising, discussing, or monitoring our defenses because it's not something to be relied upon.

If anything, I'd keep this at the base slot and not waste more slots on it. In fact, on both my characters, I put a Kismet unique here for the ToHit bonus, which is far more useful than the minor defense bonus I'll get on the rare chance I'm leaning on a teammate.

Quote:
Grant Cover: PBAoE Toggle: Team(but not self) +Def(All but Psionic), Team +Res(Defense Debuff, Recharge Debuff).
This may be one of the only powers I say is optionable in the set, although still has much value, and is the second of two “Spartan Powers” in the secondary. Out of the box it’s a pretty cheap toggle and doesn’t require much work, although its only lasting merit is either if you team consistently and the team buff is warranted, or if you required the Debuff Resistance it provides. The only time where it may be significant is end game fun (AV Challenges and the Likes) where its effects are deemed necessary. If the power provided more (even if just to team members) I might find more value in this power, but otherwise its purely an option.

Generic Slotting: One (1) Endurance Reducer OR One (1) Defense Buff.


Even before the recent buff, I considered this a great power, but since the buff it's an amazing ability. Although most people skip or overlook this power, it has some very great bonuses for you and your teammates.

Most people look at this power and see that it doesn't offer any DEF to yourself and immediately decide it's not worth the endurance. But it adds an extra 13% DEF for my pactmate and I, and I can safely say that even if we weren't in a duo, I'd have it anyway.

I'll admit that I don't always run it while solo, but there are gangs and situations where I do. For the user, it grants defense debuff resistance and recharge debuff resistance. Since the buff, the RDR is 30% base, which can be enhanced by slotting recharge into the power. With a basic 5-slot Red Fortune, the RDR of the power will go up to 45% or more, which is more than Super Reflexes has. The DDR will also scale up over 13%, which is much-needed in Shields.

The best part is these bonuses apply to people in your team as well. So while it may not be a 16% DEF granting VEAT Maneuvers with a large radius, it is a 13% DEF granting power that also gives 30-45% RDR and up to 13% DDR. In a duo, this means you can actually hit 100% RDR (with Winter's Gift) and go over 80% DDR, hitting 95% when AD is double stacked.

In teams, this is an incredibly useful power, granting your allies a hefty chunk of recharge resistance, as well as (as far as I know) the only grantable DDR. So while it may not be as DEF potent numerically as Dispersion Bubble or TT:Maneuvers, it does grant some very useful buffs to your allies (and yourself). The DDR this power offers can be very useful against heavy debuff foes like rad robots and Romans. Squishies who have all their DEF granted to them will benefit from some DDR.

As such, I'd suggest that if you take this power, you devote at least a few slots to it. It can be useful on its own, but if you want to take it for your allies (or leveling partner), you'll want to at least give it a bit of a DEF kick (which will also up the DDR), if not shoot for a Red Fortune or LotG bonus.

To me, Grant Cover is one of the reasons to take Shield. It's a unique and interesting power, especially for a melee AT, which is much appreciated by teammates when you have it. I've gotten onto a lot of task forces just by having it (since a scrapper is a scrapper is a scrapper -- unless they can buff you), and I'm always sad when I see another Shielder who doesn't have it. But I do notice when they stand near me and thank me for the buffs.

Quote:
Shield Charge: PBAoE Superior Damage(Smashing), Foe Knockdown; Self Teleport.
This power is packed with so much awesome sauce you can’t find anymore of it on store shelves.


All I can say here is I totally agree. I've often offered the advice that if you're going to skip Shield Charge, you may as well make something else. With its numbers, its recharge matches BU, and it does damage equal to Broadsword's Disembowel. This power can literally one-shot orange minions by itself. Anyone who is worried about the numbers with Shield's survival (which I don't really agree with even before SC) can take comfort in the fact that you'll never have to actually take hits from minions as long as Shield Charge is available.

In fact, because of AAO, my pactmate and I are prone to herding tons of enemies and then just SCing at point-blank range in order to kill everything. With enough boost from AAO, this power can even drop lieutenants to a point where one more attack will kill them. Whether on my scrapper or brute, I'm never afraid to charge into a spawn for an alpha with SC due to the fact that it can kill minions outright and knocks everyone else down.

As far as the rest of the guide goes, there are a lot of different ways to build a character, and you've covered a lot of them. Personally, I don't have Aid Self OR Tough, but I know that certain builds/goals would want to work them in for various means. Shield is a great stomping set, built more for dishing out huge damage than anything. If you want a set that makes sure you never die, I'd still go for Willpower, but I have way more fun using a set that lets me be a fearless attacker who can also support my allies. After having played 100 levels of Shield on live and about 25 on test, I can safely say Shield is my favorite defense set.

As a final note, I'd say the two powers for me that really make the set are Shield Charge and Grant Cover. Those are the most unique and interesting powers in the set, as everything else is pretty standard. It's also funny to me that those two powers are the most often skipped by players. It's no wonder so many people think Shield is a sub-par set.

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And my response:
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Alright, I'm going to have to go get notepad and actually, uh, take notes through some of this to respond efficiently to everything. First off, Frostweaver: "VeryBadDay" was correct, I really did mean Gambler's Cut.

Moving to Dispari...this is where I needed notes, heh.

True Grit: I do understand where you're coming from, it was fought to be provided earlier, and for some may need that option (solo would be a could concern probably), in the environment I was in, I wasn't as impacted by defense related issues so much that inspirations couldn't help patch or manage. Really, its a suggestion to hold off until its really going to matter, 16 and onward. I will agree, 35 is far too late to receive the power when its something that can really benefit a lot sooner, but level 4-12 has far too much going on for most characters that taking this power isn't going to be as effective if you're giving up something you actually need. As I experienced it, I honestly never noticed the difference of having True Grit, slotted or not, for resistance, especially when focusing on defense right out of the gate. Considering it was the Solo Players who fought for the rights to have things adjusted, that would still go with "If solo, maybe more useful early on if you can fit it in". Looks like this will boil down to a supplement to the guide

As for Health, I don't think I mention it being important to slot, so much as important to have with True Grit. Increased Max Health, the Regen from Health has a lot more impact together. One with the Shield does have some additive effects passed its Resistance, but when it boils down to IO enhanced builds, the only part of OwtS that most people end up using it for is "oh crap" situations that the boost in Resistance supplements a possible failure in defense, or they're running low on endurance and its helps supplement that. A Tank I teamed with from 20+, once he got to 32, he did take the power and I can count on one hand the amount of times he's actually used OwtS to 50. If you plan on using it on a regular basis just because, then I might see purpose in slotting for more than resistance, but the average player is going to save it for other reasons and when it comes to IO builds, slots get rare. Even on Generic builds when there might be slots to spare, they probably wont go into a power that's on a timer you can't increase, for situations you probably wont be in often post 38. If I had an option of 3-Slotting Health with Heal IO's or 3-Slotting OwtS for Heal-IO's, they're going to end up in Health every time since it is consistently providing me with boosted regen whereas OwtS is only occasionally.

In regards to Phalanx Fighting, I'm surprised you had such difficulty keeping it active. Ever since I picked it up I've been, without effort on teams, in range or at least one if not two others to boost off of, and I never slotted it on mine. Either way, that 3-Slot Suggestion was in the terms of Generic IO Slotting, you mentioned Kismet in yours so I think you may have missed that part from the beginning. On an IO-Build, three slotting it is unreliable, yes, but on a Generic Build, slotting it is the only way to get over the hump of 45%

Grant Cover

Quote:
I'll admit that I don't always run it while solo, but there are gangs and situations where I do. For the user, it grants defense debuff resistance and recharge debuff resistance. Since the buff, the RDR is 30% base, which can be enhanced by slotting recharge into the power. With a basic 5-slot Red Fortune, the RDR of the power will go up to 45% or more, which is more than Super Reflexes has. The DDR will also scale up over 13%, which is much-needed in Shields.



I do mention the factors of the Defense Debuff Resistance somewhere else, but you'll notice that (in particularly IO-Set Builds) that this power is either too costly to continuously run in addition to other selections already going, or otherwise cannot be fit into the build. In a Generic Build I did suggest and place it, but not in a Set-Build, it just doesn't work out as well. With Sets you're likely to start boosting your Recharge, which is where Active Defense starts coming into play. With a Membrane Hami-O in Active Defense and enough recharge to bring it to overlap (which you only need like 50-60% to only have 10-20 second difference before it double stacks). Between AD and Battle Agility you cover your Debuff Resists pretty significantly. Once you do that, the value of Grant Cover drops pretty vastly for many players. Selecting it just for your team mates isn't enough for most, and again, IO-Set Builds often wont find room for a power like this.

You may actually be one of the few rare people that take Grant Cover because it benefits other people. Not saying others are stingy or something, but often its not something you can fit in depending on your goals.

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Yeah, I had my numbers wrong; I didn't have Mids or the build in front of me.

And it looks like the problem was with Focused Accuracy and the Gaussian proc. I didn't realize having it toggled on would also toggle the +100% damage from the proc. Thanks for pointing that out!

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I'm not sure what exactly you may be looking at, but I can at least cover all the known damage-sources in the build.

AAO: 19.4% from one enemy in range
IO Bonuses: 24%
Build Up: 100%
Chance for Build Up Proc in Focused Accuracy: 100%

Those are the only sources of +damage in the build, nothing for 80%, and no way to total out anywhere near 80% without raising the mob count for AAO to about 6/7 mobs (77-84% range). Make sure you have AAO set to one, Focused Accuracy and Build Up turned off, and you should be seeing 43.4% +Dam for Self in the Totals for Self window.

[/ QUOTE ]

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Fading Eclipse (L50 Ill/Rad)
Chosen of War (L22 Inv/Axe)
Fulcrum Eclipse (L24 Kin/Rad)
Available Light (Something/Something Blaster)
and a cast of thousands!

Just had to chime and say "excellent guide!" Your info is spot on with what I've experienced (every shield power except One with the Shield, albiet primarily from a tanker perspective).

I also commend you for including basic and common IO slotting. I really appreciate this, as many recent guides have just discussed IO-set slotting, and, for me, anyway, my characters tend to spend more time slotted with other than IO sets.

Thanks.

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[ QUOTE ]
Just had to chime and say "excellent guide!" Your info is spot on with what I've experienced (every shield power except One with the Shield, albiet primarily from a tanker perspective).

I also commend you for including basic and common IO slotting. I really appreciate this, as many recent guides have just discussed IO-set slotting, and, for me, anyway, my characters tend to spend more time slotted with other than IO sets.

Thanks.

[/ QUOTE ]

I've always found from my own experience that there's going to be a large transitional period for any build (unless you have the influence up front) to go from SO/IO Generic Slotting into a gradually produced Set-Build. Knowing that I almost would feel foolish not to include that same suggestive transitional period in the guide, especially knowing that not everyone's going to go all out with their builds I shouldn't exclude helping them as well.

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John, can you take a look at my build? I'm looking to make it relatively cheap, thus the inclusion of lots of lower level IO's and no purples. I couldn't help throwing a Numinas +Regen/Recov in there, but I might drop it off.

Thanks very much for the guide. My DM/SD Scrapper is at 23 currently and a bunch of fun.

[u]Click this DataLink to open the build![u][/color]

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[ QUOTE ]
John, can you take a look at my build? I'm looking to make it relatively cheap, thus the inclusion of lots of lower level IO's and no purples. I couldn't help throwing a Numinas +Regen/Recov in there, but I might drop it off.

Thanks very much for the guide. My DM/SD Scrapper is at 23 currently and a bunch of fun.

[u]Click this DataLink to open the build![u][/color]

[/ QUOTE ]

If you're aiming for an expensive build, then I might suggest the build below. Instead of focusing on Regen (as it seems to attempted in yours), shoot to actually try and reach the Soft Cap for Defense, otherwise all that regen really isn't going to mean much in the long run if you're getting hit more often than it can compensate. This build should be fairly easily to obtain compared to others mentioned. Also favors less-sought after IO's for their less-glamourous benefits, but it can still help you reach the soft cap (close to it anyway, AoE Falls short). I don't like to include a Touch of Death set and try and say its inexpensive either, those have become difficult to get ahold of outside of Merits, possibly the same issue with Mako's Bite. Multi-Strikes should hopefully be simpler to find/afford. Numina's is the only real expensive item in the build, but I heavily suggest attempting to get one either way, if not a Miracle: +Recovery as well for Health since they both can have a good impact on the build.

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Thanks! I'll take a look at that. I'm moving pretty quick (should hit 32 today!), so I might take that build and scale the IO's back to the 35-38 range and see how it looks there.

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John_P, great stuff here... definitely one of the better guides... well written and great insights... I will definitely refer to this one while building my bs/sd herobot

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Really a great guide, thanks for writing that =)

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Hey John!

Here's what I ended up at for a final build. It's short some Numina's, but I don't feel like the investement is worth it on a toon I already spent waaaay more on that I was planning.

Thanks for the feedback you gave. It was helpful in planning my goals and giving me some set ideas.

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/

[u]Click this DataLink to open the build![u]

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I just read this and it is GREAT! Very comprehensive and super information. I don't actually have any shield scappers; I have a shield/em tank. Does the same information apply?

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SN0WJ0B: 50 ice/ice Blaster, InvulnerBull: 50 inv/ss Tanker, Death.Venom: 50 nec/poison MM
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