CAK has 11.6% better DPA than Thunder Kick and 67.5% better than Air Superiority. Air Superiority has the best single target mitigation in the game with it's 100% knockdown (it can keep anything not resistant to it flopping forever with the right recharge), but you give up a LOT of damage for it. I don't think it's worth it. It should only be taken if you really feel you need the mitigation.
What level are you? At low levels I'd probably take Thunder Kick to get a chain as early as possible. If you're already in your 20s or later I'd take CAK and frankenslot for recharge until you have a decent chain.
I just hit 20. Planning to try CAK at 22 and see what my chain feels like using it instead of Thunder Kick. However with a recharge more than twice as long I feel I'll have a decent gap in there somewhere, which is why I was considering the other two.
I don't really see how CAK is so much better than AS though. According to Mid's CAK does 112.9 base while AS does 65.7, but in the span of 8 seconds (CAK's base recharge time) I can pull off 2 AS's which means with CAK I'm doing 112.9 damage every 8 seconds, but with AS I'm doing 131.4.
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I just hit 20. Planning to try CAK at 22 and see what my chain feels like using it instead of Thunder Kick. However with a recharge more than twice as long I feel I'll have a decent gap in there somewhere, which is why I was considering the other two.
I don't really see how CAK is so much better than AS though. According to Mid's CAK does 112.9 base while AS does 65.7, but in the span of 8 seconds (CAK's base recharge time) I can pull off 2 AS's which means with CAK I'm doing 112.9 damage every 8 seconds, but with AS I'm doing 131.4.
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Yes, if you didn't have any other attacks. But with the CAK, you can trigger a different attack while CAK is recharging. The important number for DPS is not the amount of damage done per recharge time, but the damage done per activation time.
CAK recharges faster than Crane Kick (8 seconds vs 10 seconds).
I really like Thunder Kick -- the...directness of it, the sound effect, the blazing speed. There's always time to TK something! And then to use another kick on it! And then to TK it again, because it's still standing up, long after the other Scrappers have killed their guys and moved on!
All too often I found that stuff with even the tiniest sliver of life left survived my Thunder Kick, and I'd have to use a heavier kick, which would be way overkill and have finished the foe off by itself if I'd used it first.
So I switched to CAK and now I have three hard-hitting attacks OTHER THAN my tier 9 Eagle's Claw: Crippling, Storm, and Crane.
Incidentally, CAK's slow is handy against runners, making it easy to catch them -- I liked Crippling drug dealers on the street; they're worth extra influence and they always run.
So I'm a convert now. If I wasn't SR and hard-pressed for power picks, I'd probably still slip Thunder into my build, just because it looks cool and is fast, but I'm happy enough without it.
edit: CAK also makes a good substitute for Crane in those rare situations when you want to avoid knockback, like fighting near a ledge when yuo don't want to have to chase an enemy down the cliff. If he survives the rest of your attack chain, you can always Crane Kick him then.
If we are to die, let us die like men. -- Patrick Cleburne
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The rule is that they must be loved. --Jayne Fynes-Clinton, Death of an Abandoned Dog
So my 'for sure' attacks for my MA/SR scrapper are Storm Kick, Crane Kick, Dragon's Tail, and Eagle's Claw. I'm a bit undecided on the last one though. It's down to Thunder Kick, CAK, or AS.
Thunder Kick I like because it's all-around fast. It fires off fast, it recharges fast making it a staple in an attack chain, and it does ok damage though nothing close to what Chuck Norris could put out with a roundhouse to the face. It can also sometimes disorient a foe which can be nice to help mitigate a little damage.
CAK looks to be the 3rd strongest attack in the set right behind Crane Kick. According to Mid's it has an activation time of 1.6 seconds which is about how long Crane Kick takes to fire off as well, which isn't too bad. It can also immobilize/-spd/-fly. I don't really care about immobs or -spd though I guess it could be helpful for runners, but I've found that flying enemies are quite a nuisance, so this attack would be helpful in the department. My only gripe with the power is its decently long recharge (8s) which makes me doubt whether I'd be able to keep up an attack chain with it in my build.
AS I'm considering but it kinda feels weird to consider it seeing as fly is not my travel power. Personally though I am leaning the most towards this attack. It hits a little harder than Thunder Kick while still retaining a pretty quick recharge (4s), and also has the -fly component of CAK that I like as well. It seems the best all-around choice for what I want, but like I said it feels weird choosing this power when it's the only power I take in the flight pool, though I guess it would be equivalent to taking Hasten from the speed pool even if you don't plan to use SS as a travel power. /shrug
Anyway, thanks for any suggestions :P