On the Sheild side of things,
skip Grant Cover and One With the shield.
You will want to supplement you survivability with the Fighting pool.
And leave AAO till later in the build.
True Grit should be mainly slotted for health, and pickup the steadfast unique early.
Don't skip Phalanx fighting, but don't waste slots on it.
And choose either Flight or leaping for your travel power for the extra def from CJ or Hover.
Why you may ask?
Because your goal for Shield Defense is to reach the defense soft-cap (45%) which isn't easy, so every little bit helps.
As a set it also gives you some extra resistance (Deflection), and HP buffs (True Grit) and both of these will serve you well early on.
And it also has the most AWESOME attack in the whole game - Shield Charge.
Your final finished chain probably won't include shadow punch, but for leveling, I think it should. Skipping it will just make you miserable in the early game.
Start out with SP, Smite, siphon life and shadow maul.
Slot up SL as best you can. It's a solid attack, and it's a big chunk of your survival.
Active defence, true grit, and battle agility are all I needed to suppliment deflection. I didn't need tough/weave at all. With Siphon life chugging away it would have been superfluous. In the late game, with more powers, endurance and slots, take it if you feel you really need it...
I did need to use sands of mu as a chain filler untill I got slotted. Not often, but it came up. With boxing I might have been marginally more efficient, but... meh...
Here's a guestimate of how things were slotted early, or at least close.
Basically, slot your attacks well first (I usually go 4 or 5 slots in attacks before I even think about defences) and again, make sure siphon life has the freshest enhancements you can afford. It needs to hit.
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/
[u]Click this DataLink to open the build![u]
Level 29 Magic Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Dark Melee
Secondary Power Set: Shield Defense
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Speed
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Shadow Punch -- Empty(A), Empty(3), Empty(5), Empty(15), Empty(17)
Level 1: Deflection -- Empty(A), Empty(23), Empty(25)
Level 2: Smite -- Empty(A), Empty(3), Empty(5), Empty(13), Empty(21)
Level 4: Shadow Maul -- Empty(A), Empty(7), Empty(7), Empty(17), Empty(19)
Level 6: True Grit -- Empty(A), Empty(25)
Level 8: Siphon Life -- Empty(A), Empty(9), Empty(9), Empty(13), Empty(15), Empty(19)
Level 10: Active Defense -- Empty(A), Empty(11), Empty(11)
Level 12: Hurdle -- Empty(A)
Level 14: Combat Jumping -- Empty(A)
Level 16: Battle Agility -- Empty(A), Empty(23)
Level 18: Health -- Empty(A)
Level 20: Stamina -- Empty(A), Empty(21)
Level 22: Against All Odds -- Empty(A)
Level 24: Super Jump -- Empty(A)
Level 26: Soul Drain -- Empty(A)
Level 28: Phalanx Fighting -- Empty(A)
Level 30: Hasten -- Empty(A)
Level 32: [Empty]
Level 35: [Empty]
Level 38: [Empty]
Level 41: [Empty]
Level 44: [Empty]
Level 47: [Empty]
Level 49: [Empty]
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Critical Hit
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I think my last powers before 32 were soul drain, phalanx fighting and hasten, but I can't recall the slotting...
Don't worry about respeccing out of SP untill you have midnight grasp... and even then wait.
There's an extra slot in Active defence. Better to be solid on recharge early than have gaps with lower level enhancements. You're going to respec anyway.
The cake is a lie! The cake is a lie!
[ QUOTE ]
skip Grant Cover
[/ QUOTE ]
I would agree to everything except this. It's your only form of protection against defense debuffs. Even if you're a soloist, I wouldn't skip this.
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
skip Grant Cover
[/ QUOTE ]
I would agree to everything except this. It's your only form of protection against defense debuffs. Even if you're a soloist, I wouldn't skip this.
[/ QUOTE ]
Actually, no. Active Defense and Battle Agility both contribute defense debuff resistance.
Even better, the Def debuff resistance given by Active Defense can double stack, and most likely will if you devote more than one slot to it.
Spirit Chasers suggested power pick guide is an Awesome guide though, and pretty much the order I'd pick the powers in if I rolled a DM/SD tomorrow,
With one little niggle, -
* get Phalanx Fighting BEFORE Against All Odds, *
Remember, AAO is a taunt power, my Shield scrapper regularly rips the aggro from tanks with it, especially willpower tanks, so make sure you're using both SOs and have as much def as possible before picking it up, or you will die.
It goes without saying that the next two powers you'll want are MG and Shield charge, but following those (and maybe Dark Consumption) I'd seriously advocate the fighting pool.
Tough will double the smash/lethal res you already get from Deflection,.
Weaves extra 7% def is huge on what is a Defense based set.
And then comes the tricky question of IOs . . .
I wouldn't consider it necessary for leveling. It's a much better end game power than it usually gets credit for (damn romans) but it's not as important as say... hasten.
The cake is a lie! The cake is a lie!
[ QUOTE ]
Weaves extra 7% def is huge on what is a Defense based set.
[/ QUOTE ]
Weave doesn't grant an extra 7% defense. The base contribution is 3.75% and defense enhancements follow the same lower scale as resistance which red zone soft caps the enhancement benefit at 60%. This means that, at best, you'll get 6% +def(all) out of Weave.
Fair Call Umbral,
but math aside, I'm yet to see a softcap build that doesn't use Weave.
And Spirit chaser, you already had Hasten in that build you sneaky dog . . .
I -really- appreciate all of the input guys. 
I'll get to work on implementing this build. Shield Defense looks very interesting.
Yup, hasten yes, grant cover...
Later.
I think weave is great and all, just that other things might be a lot more important for a leveling build.
The cake is a lie! The cake is a lie!
I have a softcapped DM/SD without Weave. Admittedly it's not softcapped to AE damage, but that's because I prioritized regeneration over that. It also has Grant Cover, which not only gives you defense and recharge resistance, it also gives your nearby teammates massive +def (for a scrapper) AND defense and recharge resistance. I know of no other power that does that, there might be one but it's very rare.
[ QUOTE ]
I'm yet to see a softcap build that doesn't use Weave.
[/ QUOTE ]
The build I'm currently working on. I'm still missing Gladiator's Armor +3% def which is supposed to go into the fifth Deflection slot but other than that I'm pretty much done.
Regards,
--Cattan
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[ QUOTE ]
Fair Call Umbral,
but math aside, I'm yet to see a softcap build that doesn't use Weave.
[/ QUOTE ]Here's another. No PVP IO. It's more common than you realize, I think.
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DM/Sheild is easy leveling, shadow punch, smite and spihon life are the only attacks you will ever need
just remember when looking at defence numbers that the +def you get from phalanx fighting is 3.75% solo
heres mine, powers taken in order, easy leveling all the way up.
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: Dark Melee
Secondary Power Set: Shield Defense
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Body Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Shadow Punch -- T'Death-Acc/Dmg(A), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx(7), T'Death-Dmg/Rchg(9), T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(9), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(11), T'Death-Dam%(11)
Level 1: Deflection -- LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(3), DefBuff-I(3), ResDam-I(5), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(5), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx(7)
Level 2: Smite -- T'Death-Acc/Dmg(A), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx(42), T'Death-Dmg/Rchg(43), T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(43), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(43), T'Death-Dam%(45)
Level 4: True Grit -- ResDam-I(A), ResDam-I(45), Heal-I(45), Heal-I(46), S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(46)
Level 6: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(46), RechRdx-I(48)
Level 8: Siphon Life -- Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(39), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg(39), Dmg-I(39), Heal-I(40), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(50)
Level 10: Active Defense -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(40)
Level 12: Battle Agility -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(13), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(13), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(17), RedFtn-Def(17), RedFtn-EndRdx(19)
Level 14: Super Speed -- Zephyr-Travel(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(15), Zephyr-ResKB(15)
Level 16: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 18: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A), Mrcl-Rcvry+(19)
Level 20: Stamina -- P'Shift-EndMod(A), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(21), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(21), P'Shift-Acc/Rchg(25), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc(25), P'Shift-End%(40)
Level 22: Against All Odds -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(23), EndRdx-I(23)
Level 24: Phalanx Fighting -- DefBuff-I(A)
Level 26: Soul Drain -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(27), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(27), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(31), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34), Oblit-%Dam(37)
Level 28: Combat Jumping -- Zephyr-Travel(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(29), Zephyr-ResKB(29)
Level 30: Super Jump -- Zephyr-Travel(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(31), Zephyr-ResKB(31)
Level 32: Grant Cover -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(33), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(33), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(33), RedFtn-Def(34), RedFtn-EndRdx(34)
Level 35: Shield Charge -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(36), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(36), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(36), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(37), Oblit-%Dam(37)
Level 38: One with the Shield -- ResDam-I(A)
Level 41: Conserve Power -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(42), RechRdx-I(42)
Level 44: Boxing -- Acc-I(A)
Level 47: Tough -- HO:Ribo(A), HO:Ribo(48), HO:Ribo(48)
Level 49: Weave -- HO:Enzym(A), HO:Enzym(50), HO:Enzym(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Clrty-Stlth(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Critical Hit
Thanks for the input guys. Having a ton of fun (albeit slow, as the GF wants to duo her tank with the new guy, so that's the only time I get to play him :P).
The only issue I've run into thus far (Currently lvl 9) is endurance. The build, thus far, seems a bit end heavy.
My DM/SD is final lvl 50 and I buildt him for AV killer as to the name of the hero, I would ask what you entend to do kill AV, grp, farm to get a better understanding of the build advice you should be getting.
Well, I'm not a power gamer, by any means, and as such I have a total of 40 million influence across my toons, so I obviously won't be getting decked out with fancy IOs anytime soon. :P
I don't have any certain goal in particular at the moment. I do tend to solo alot, as I often play at work, so that is a big thing.
Thanks a ton for all of the help thus far guys, and I apologize for the double post. I've been following the build presented earlier in the thread with good success thus far. I was wondering if anyone would have any slotting suggestions? I'm looking at DO/SO/Invention slotting...
Evening everyone!
So I just recently returned to CoX and now that I've played my old DM/Regen build (Prior to the IH change) I've decided to try something new. I love DM, so I was wanting to stick with that, but possibly try Shield Defense as it looks nifty.
Does anyone have any suggestions on a good build for leveling?
Thanks in advance!