dont bother with it, it got a serious bashing with the nerf stick and isnt worth the slot now, it used to have the tohit of rage now it has less tohit than tactics (and less than the +tohit kismet IO that you can drop into a defence power for no additional end cost), sure it has some +acc in it but you can easily rack up incidental + acc bonuses from even an average IO build.
Start watching your combat log, if you are hitting 95% chance to hit mobs then you just dont need anything else as there is always a 5% chance to miss.
I recently hit 50 with my BS/SD, and I've been very happy with her. End hasn't been a serious problem, even with two leadership toggles running, so I'm not sure what exactly is the cause of your woes. Some thoughts:
If you want to ensure that you're hitting everything while solo, a single Kismet +6% to hit proc might give you enough of a boost to hit just about anything except stuff like CoT, who have dark blasts and to hit debuffs.
To really guarantee yourself the cap on your hit chances against almost everything, take the leadership pool and Tactics. It's way cheaper on the End usage than FA, and gives a buff that's just as good, except in a few specific circumstances. It's also a great place to 6-slot Gaussian IOs, for all the nice bonuses, particularly the +2.5% to Ranged, AOE and Melee attacks. Also, Maneuvers is a useful power to get you that little bit closer to the defense cap.
Are you using generic IOs or SOs, or are you using IO sets? IO sets will go a long way to improving your survivability, both because you'll get more mileage out of the enhancements themselves, the set bonuses can also push you closer to the defense caps, and cut down on your consumption of green inspirations. If you're on a budget, look at Relatively inexpensive sets like Multi-Strike. If cost is not a concern, Sets like Obliteration and Mako's Bite are very useful.
You really don't want to jettison Build Up. Combined with AAO and Shield Charge, it lets you drop entire spawns in one crash. If Endurance is a problem for you, I don't think losing Build Up will help you... Build Up shortens your fights, and longer fights consume more End.
My build has Leadership, Fitness, Medicine, and Leaping for the power pools, and the only Epic power I took was conserve energy. Unless I'm fighting something with End drain like Carnies or Malta, I never need it, but it's great when I do need it.
Don't know if any of this will help, but those were my thoughts after reading your post. Ymmv
These replies do provide some great insight.
Thank you.
Currently on Virtue:
Jinrazuo - Crab Spider
RWZ All-Pylon Solo Run
<QR> Agreed with above, perfect for six slotting gaussians, also end slotting chops the end/s in half, and when used in conjunction with a never ending cycle of Conserve Power --> OwtS, you shouldn't have end issues.
I enjoy hitting +4 mobs consistently, and really you should absolutely never give up build up, can you really imagine NOT hitting it before shield charge?
....
So,
1.)learn to cycle OwtS and CP to keep near constant endurance gain
2.)Slot FA with Gaussians when possible (for def), but until then, slot end reduction.
3.)Toggle off if having end issues when not fighting either high defense or higher level mobs.
It is a worthwhile pick, but since it pushes the limit it can require intelligent usage and planning, if you don't want to worry about it, don't get it, and if you don't plan with IO sets in mind, that takes some priority away as well.
"Fascinating. I'm not bored at all, I swear." -Kikuchiyo
So I was gonna go with the popular choice of tough and weave but I'm not sure if I wan't to do that. I always preferred maneuvers and tactics because they're more team friendly. Also if I do that, there isn't a wasted ability like there would be if I took tough and weave (kick).
In terms of the medicine pool, would you take aid other or stimulant?
Currently on Virtue:
Jinrazuo - Crab Spider
RWZ All-Pylon Solo Run
With Tough/Weave though, you'll be looking at ~30% resistance to smashing/lethal, which on top of softcapped defense is nothing to sneeze at.
I take Aid Other from Medicine, because every now and then you have to insure the survival of a hostage you're escorting to the door. Some of them are real Leroys, and very difficult to cover. Aid Other gives you a better chance to keep them alive.
No, seriously, that's totally the reason I pick Aid Other over Stimulant.
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So I was gonna go with the popular choice of tough and weave but I'm not sure if I wan't to do that. I always preferred maneuvers and tactics because they're more team friendly. Also if I do that, there isn't a wasted ability like there would be if I took tough and weave (kick).
In terms of the medicine pool, would you take aid other or stimulant?
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Passing up Tough/Weave was a tough call for my /SD, and I'm not convinced it was the right one, for reasons others have pointed out. But like you, I *like* Maneuvers and Tactics, and runing both combined use about the same endurance as Focused Accuracy. Also, it took some doing, but using IO sets I did manage to cap my defenses without Weave. Tough is the power I most wish I had from the fighting set, but I haven't been able to justify dropping two other powers just to get it.
This is Madam Enigma first of all... On a trial account atm till I have the money to renew my main account. Later I'll likely get architect edition for the 2nd account.
Anyway, my 2 influence on FA. It's nice to have in PvP, but otherwise I personally rarely turn it on. Some mobs I will, such as with rikti drones, but really that's a rare exception. Madam Enigma is a claw/sr scrapper though so your millage may very. It's interesting to note that I've only 'recently' started slotting IO sets. Even with using SO's I was finding one acc in each attack was generally enough to hit 95% hit rate on most foes. Since I tend to run on the 4rd difficulty, that is even more the case.
Why not Ruthless/whatever the hero side is called (I forget)? Because I find that twice the enemies at +1 level gives more xp/inf then +2 mobs normal spawn size. Yes, I know. It's blasphemy. But consider the facts. You can drop two or three times as many +1 mobs usually as you could in the same length of time for +2 mobs. This is in part because not only is it easier to hit, but you do more damage vs the +1. Remember, all your powers are less effective on +2 mobs. That means less accuracy, less damage, less mez effect... Overall you get 1.5 times as much xp on the 4th difficulty as you do on the 5th one.
And teaming of course exasperates the difference. A full 8 man team on the highest difficulty is fighting +4 mobs, and double the normal amount.
A full team on the 4th difficulty might be facing +3 mobs, and quadrupedal the normal amount. Which team will get more xp/hour?
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So I was gonna go with the popular choice of tough and weave but I'm not sure if I wan't to do that. I always preferred maneuvers and tactics because they're more team friendly. Also if I do that, there isn't a wasted ability like there would be if I took tough and weave (kick).
In terms of the medicine pool, would you take aid other or stimulant?
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Tactics is now better than FA but maneuvers is a terrible power for scrappers, it costs more than weave to run and gives a pooptastic 3.5% defence, combat jump gives 3% and costs a fraction of the end cost or slot a steadfast +3% def for no end cost. As for being team friendly, being a scrapper means you are giving out amongst the lowest values of leadership as they run differently depending on the AT, sacrificing your survivability to give meagre buffs to team mates is not a way I would like to go. Dont get me wrong, I have leaderships on a couple of scrappers but thats because I had the room and endurance to drop them in but I dont think SD does or should have the room (just finished mine) You will get far more value from tough and weave (which cost less to run than leadership toggles) as they are stacking on mitigation that you already have.
Let buff ATs buff, you should focus on punching faces.
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Let buff ATs buff, you should focus on punching faces.
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Aye. And this is why I choose tough/weave instead of aid other/aid self.
Be well, people of CoH.
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So I was gonna go with the popular choice of tough and weave but I'm not sure if I wan't to do that. I always preferred maneuvers and tactics because they're more team friendly. Also if I do that, there isn't a wasted ability like there would be if I took tough and weave (kick).
In terms of the medicine pool, would you take aid other or stimulant?
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Tactics is now better than FA but maneuvers is a terrible power for scrappers, it costs more than weave to run and gives a pooptastic 3.5% defence, combat jump gives 3% and costs a fraction of the end cost or slot a steadfast +3% def for no end cost. As for being team friendly, being a scrapper means you are giving out amongst the lowest values of leadership as they run differently depending on the AT, sacrificing your survivability to give meagre buffs to team mates is not a way I would like to go. Dont get me wrong, I have leaderships on a couple of scrappers but thats because I had the room and endurance to drop them in but I dont think SD does or should have the room (just finished mine) You will get far more value from tough and weave (which cost less to run than leadership toggles) as they are stacking on mitigation that you already have.
Let buff ATs buff, you should focus on punching faces.
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The only time I've picked up Maneuvers on a scrapper is the case of my Kat/WP. I had 1 power pick free and tons of endurance, and my defenses were at 41.7% without. Why not softcap and give me another slot for the 5th LotG, I always say.
Edit: Then again, I'll be tweaking my build very soon since I just came back and realized there's another +3% defense IO.
@Mojo-
Proud Member of Fusion Force.
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The only time I've picked up Maneuvers on a scrapper is the case of my Kat/WP. I had 1 power pick free and tons of endurance, and my defenses were at 41.7% without. Why not softcap and give me another slot for the 5th LotG, I always say.
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Same for me. I've only picked up Maneuvers on a melee when I'm just shy of softcapping X def, and it allows me another LotG rech (and assorted set bonuses). Hardly my first pick, but it's sometimes the right choice depending on the rest of your build.
An Offensive Guide to Ice Melee
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Tactics is now better than FA but maneuvers is a terrible power for scrappers, it costs more than weave to run and gives a pooptastic 3.5% defence, combat jump gives 3% and costs a fraction of the end cost or slot a steadfast +3% def for no end cost.
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Much of this is true, but most of the powers you compare it to aren't mutually exclusive with Maneuvers. I have maneuvers AND a steadfast +3 AND combat jumping. I haven't shelled out 300 Million for the PvP +3 Def IO, so every little bit toward the def cap helps.
More importantly, I'm taking that pool anyway, so I can get Tactics, which when slotted with Gaussian becomes a defense power itself. I'd rather have Maneuvers and Tactics both running than FA at the same end cost.
Basically, with Stamina and Leaping that only leaves two power pools, so the choice comes down to two of the three from Leadership, Medicine, or Fighting. I don't want to give up the acc boost from Tactics, and running both FA and Weave costs way more end than Tactics/Man.
So while maneuvers may not stack up to those other powers one-on-one, it's a false comparison. Its advantage is that it's a pick that gets me to something else I need, and does something useful to boot.
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Tactics is now better than FA but maneuvers is a terrible power for scrappers, it costs more than weave to run and gives a pooptastic 3.5% defence, combat jump gives 3% and costs a fraction of the end cost or slot a steadfast +3% def for no end cost.
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Much of this is true, but most of the powers you compare it to aren't mutually exclusive with Maneuvers. I have maneuvers AND a steadfast +3 AND combat jumping. I haven't shelled out 300 Million for the PvP +3 Def IO, so every little bit toward the def cap helps.
More importantly, I'm taking that pool anyway, so I can get Tactics, which when slotted with Gaussian becomes a defense power itself. I'd rather have Maneuvers and Tactics both running than FA at the same end cost.
Basically, with Stamina and Leaping that only leaves two power pools, so the choice comes down to two of the three from Leadership, Medicine, or Fighting. I don't want to give up the acc boost from Tactics, and running both FA and Weave costs way more end than Tactics/Man.
So while maneuvers may not stack up to those other powers one-on-one, it's a false comparison. Its advantage is that it's a pick that gets me to something else I need, and does something useful to boot.
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tactics and maneuvers would not be as useful as boxing/kick, tough and weave IMO. Yes its one dead pick to get them but you get much more defence, resistence and therefor mitigation (and closer to def cap). You want to slot gaussians so much, throw it in build up. When using powers like tactics as a mule for IOs think about how much accuracy you can dial out of IO builds making tactics pretty irrelecant, my spines/da (which is purpled) has a 95% chance to hit whilst standing in a lvl 52 COTs mages chill of the night.
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I don't want to give up the acc boost from Tactics, and running both FA and Weave costs way more end than Tactics/Man.
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Just so you know Tough and Weave toggles cost LESS ENDURANCE than manuvers and tactics. The leadership toggles cost 17% more endurance than the fighting ones.
You want manuevers go for it, everyone should build to their own preferences and I love off the wall oddball builds, I have manuevers in my spines/da was taken as a lotg mule but I can even run it with my end recovery.
but we do agree that tactics is superior to FA 
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tactics and maneuvers would not be as useful as boxing/kick, tough and weave IMO. Yes its one dead pick to get them but you get much more defence, resistence and therefor mitigation (and closer to def cap). You want to slot gaussians so much, throw it in build up. When using powers like tactics as a mule for IOs think about how much accuracy you can dial out of IO builds making tactics pretty irrelecant, my spines/da (which is purpled) has a 95% chance to hit whilst standing in a lvl 52 COTs mages chill of the night.
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If you don't care about the To Hit bonus, then obviously Boxing/Tough/Weave is the better choice. But that's not relevant to this discussion, since the OP specifically stated that he wanted a To Hit bonus. And anyway, not every toon is purpled out -- for a lot of toons a To Hit boost is an important part of the build.
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I don't want to give up the acc boost from Tactics, and running both FA and Weave costs way more end than Tactics/Man.
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Just so you know Tough and Weave toggles cost LESS ENDURANCE than manuvers and tactics. The leadership toggles cost 17% more endurance than the fighting ones.
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Yes, of course they do, but that has very little to do with what I said. I said that Maneuvers + Tactics costs less endurance to run (a lot less) than Weave + Focused Accuracy.
And although it means giving up Tough, if the To Hit bonus is a priority (as was stated) you can get it for two fewer power picks by going the Maneuvers + Tactics route. You get less defense than with Weave + FA, but you pay less endurance for it, which doesn't make it a bad option in my book.
Tactics is way better than FA now. The only thing that FA has over tactics is to hit debuff resistance but that's more of an issue at lower-mid levels.
If you are building towards soft-cap ditch the medicine pool, and I would never, ever, ever ever ever ever ever drop build up for whatever reason.
If acquiring IO sets is not a possible solution for your scrapper's end issues, you might consider dipping into body mastery for conserve power, however.
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I don't want to give up the acc boost from Tactics, and running both FA and Weave costs way more end than Tactics/Man.
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Just so you know Tough and Weave toggles cost LESS ENDURANCE than manuvers and tactics. The leadership toggles cost 17% more endurance than the fighting ones.
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Yes, of course they do, but that has very little to do with what I said. I said that Maneuvers + Tactics costs less endurance to run (a lot less) than Weave + Focused Accuracy.
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My bad, I misread what you wrote, put my own expectations on what I expected you to have said and from there on in thats what I saw whenever I re-read it, the brain does that
I usually try to emphasize accuracy and to-hit on all of my previous characters because I hate missing, who doesnt? So when I started up my BS/SD scrapper, I realized that focused accuracy is one of the epic powers and I definitely planned on taking it.
As I am now at level 42 I am having second thoughts on it mainly because I'm discovering how endurance hungry my build is and Focused Accuracy has a pretty hefty endurance drain, .78/s, that I don't think it'll be feasible without of course sacrifing some dmg/recharge on my powers for another endurance reduction. So I'm now debating on skipping it and getting rid of another power (maybe build up) and picking up the medicine pool for aid-self.
I'm going for a PvE build and would like to solo if I have to. I noticed that when I solo I'm eating through a lot of blues and have to carry some greens to stay alive.
I'm unsure of what to do here and I have a few respecs to play around with so your thoughts would be well appreciated.
Currently on Virtue:
Jinrazuo - Crab Spider
RWZ All-Pylon Solo Run