In general, positional defense is superior to typed. There are a couple of holes in positional defense, some psi based attacks like dominate (unless they've changed it) and I think one toxic based attack.
SS/WP can end up with very respectable positional defense with slightly more than moderate investment in IOs without any build sacrifices.
Personally, I just slotted Maco's in my melee attacks and called it good. With over 50% resistance to smashing/lethal and stupidly good regen from Rise to the Challenge, everything this side of an AV in melee is largely ignorable, and I'm running around 25-30% defense to ranged/energy/negative energy so that's pretty well covered (I might have some trouble with fire melee or ice melee specialists, but other than CoTs, I can recall running across any since the 30's or so.)
Occasional and alternating use of Strength of Will and Demonic, maybe popping a Luck inspiration or 2 and it's basically all good.
Of course that all PvE. PvP with diminishing returns, global resistance buffs, and the other stuff is beyond my ken.
OK, that's about what I figured. I was looking at possibly Touch of Death instead of Mako's, since most melee attacks have the Smashing component, and both melee and smash are pretty well covered by HPT, Fast Healing, RttC, and Tough.
Oh, and I'd never take this build into PvP; it's a strictly PvE character.
the problem here is that wp starts with 0 positional for you to build on, but quite a lot of typed.
it's actually easier to build up the typed than the positional, even if you have weave and combat jumping.
also keep in mind you dont really need all that much of it. you also get decent resists and very very high regen.
you'll actually get more mileage out of frankenslotting your attacks with 3 mako's and 3 crushing impact (for max hp) than putting a full 6 of mako's or touch of death.
Good info on the frankenslotting, much obliged. I get that WP has the typed def built into it, but there don't seem to many decent bonuses to build on that. Am I overlooking really obvious sets?
well you dont really need to build up the smashing/lethal defense, as you can get a good amount of resistance to that in wp
energy/neg energy defense can be beefed up a bit using 3 and 4 slot resistance sets in tough and mind over body as well as other places.
since i'm stone i really havent bothered to build for it. it takes uncommon enemy types to take me down (minions and lt's who are immune to knockdown and stun - and a lot of them at a time). i've got 30% defense to everything but toxic/smash/lethal which are in their teens. if the poo hits the fan, a single luck is usually enough for me to start to recover
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Am I overlooking really obvious sets?
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Might be overlooking Kinetic Combat (3.75% S/L for 4 slots). It's hella expensive nowadays since there are a lot fewer options for typed defense.
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Am I overlooking really obvious sets?
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Might be overlooking Kinetic Combat (3.75% S/L for 4 slots). It's hella expensive nowadays since there are a lot fewer options for typed defense.
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not just expensive, but very rare. there is maybe one on the ah for any level ever couple of days
Aegis and Eradication are both good sets for typed defense.
Personally, I had more success with IO set bonuses to typed defenses, since WP has no positional defense to build upon. I have a SS/WP and a EM/WP brute, and both have 41% Def to S/L and 32% Def to E/N. Note that many ranged and AoE attacks have a Smashing or Lethal component, so the 41% S/L defense guards fairly well against all positions - which means fewer status effects/slows/etc can hit me from range too. In melee, I'm softcapped against attacks with a S/L component due to the debuff in Rise to the Challenge, unless fighting an AV with debuff resistance.
Certain powerset are better off with positional bonuses since they either start with Positional (like /SR) or an equal amount of both (like /Dark).
Consider 4-5 sets of Kinetic Combat 4-slotted (depending on primary of the */WP brute and the attacks you choose), plus Reactive Armor 4 or 5 slotted and Eradication 3-slotted in every possible power. Kinetic Combat includes some nice 1.5% HP bonuses.
Add Combat Jumping, Tough, and Weave for even more durability. Ancillary pool attacks give you options to slot a good immobilize set (Enf Operation) and even debuff enemy ToHit/Dmg (Soul Mastery). Accolades for more HP are of course very helpful, and the Demonic accolade stacks perfectly with typed defense for emergencies.
My SS/WP, for example:
Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/
[u]Click this DataLink to open the build![u]
Isle: Level 50 Magic Brute
Primary Power Set: Super Strength
Secondary Power Set: Willpower
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Speed
Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery
Villain Profile:
Level 1: Punch -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg:33(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx:34(3), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg:33(5), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:35(13), F'dSmite-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg:34(37)
Level 1: High Pain Tolerance -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+:17(A), Heal-I:45(25), Heal-I:45(34), ResDam-I:40(40), ResDam-I:45(42)
Level 2: Haymaker -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg:33(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx:34(3), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg:33(5), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:35(13), F'dSmite-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg:34(37)
Level 4: Fast Healing -- Heal-I:45(A), Heal-I:30(31)
Level 6: Boxing -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg:33(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx:34(7), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg:33(7), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:35(15), F'dSmite-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg:34(37)
Level 8: Knockout Blow -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg:33(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx:34(9), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg:33(9), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:35(11), S'ngH'mkr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:35(11), F'dSmite-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg:34(15)
Level 10: Indomitable Will -- DefBuff-I:45(A), DefBuff-I:40(40)
Level 12: Combat Jumping -- Ksmt-ToHit+:11(A)
Level 14: Mind Over Body -- RctvArm-ResDam:37(A), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx:35(23), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg:37(23), RctvArm-ResDam/Rchg:37(36)
Level 16: Rise to the Challenge -- Heal-I:25(A), Heal-I:25(17), Heal-I:25(17)
Level 18: Rage -- RechRdx-I:25(A), AdjTgt-ToHit/EndRdx/Rchg:30(19), AdjTgt-ToHit:30(19), AdjTgt-Rchg:30(25), AdjTgt-ToHit/Rchg:30(27), AdjTgt-EndRdx/Rchg:30(27)
Level 20: Quick Recovery -- EndMod-I:30(A), EndMod-I:30(21), EndMod-I:30(21)
Level 22: Super Jump -- Winter-ResSlow:18(A), Winter-RunSpd/Jump/Fly/Rng:37(46)
Level 24: Swift -- Run-I:25(A)
Level 26: Health -- Heal-I:45(A)
Level 28: Heightened Senses -- DefBuff-I:40(A), DefBuff-I:40(29), LkGmblr-Rchg+:25(29)
Level 30: Stamina -- EndMod-I:30(A), EndMod-I:30(31), EndMod-I:30(31)
Level 32: Foot Stomp -- Erad-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:30(A), Erad-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:28(33), Erad-Dmg/Rchg:28(33), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:35(33), Sciroc-Acc/Rchg:37(34), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx:37(34)
Level 35: Tough -- RctvArm-ResDam:37(A), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx:38(36), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg:37(36), RctvArm-ResDam/Rchg:37(40)
Level 38: Strength of Will -- RctvArm-ResDam:37(A), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx:35(39), RctvArm-ResDam/Rchg:37(39), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg:35(39)
Level 41: Weave -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx:38(A), DefBuff-I:45(42), S'dpty-Def/EndRdx:37(42)
Level 44: Soul Tentacles -- Enf'dOp-Acc/Immob/Rchg:38(A), Enf'dOp-EndRdx/Immob:38(45), Enf'dOp-Acc/EndRdx:38(45), Enf'dOp-Immob/Rng:38(45), Enf'dOp-Acc/Rchg:38(46), Enf'dOp-Acc/Immob:38(46)
Level 47: Dark Obliteration -- Det'tn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:39(A), Det'tn-Dmg/EndRdx:38(48), Det'tn-Dmg/Rchg:41(48), Det'tn-Acc/Dmg:38(48), Det'tn-Dmg/EndRdx/Rng:39(50), RechRdx-I:45(50)
Level 49: Hasten -- RechRdx-I:45(A), RechRdx-I:45(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg:34(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx:28(43), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg:33(43), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:30(43)
Level 1: Sprint -- EndRdx-I:30(A)
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I:25(A)
Level 1: Fury
I may replace Hasten with Darkest Night since the Soul APP was expanded.
Good luck.
that build has 120% less regen than my stone/wp, regens 20 less hp per second and has 200 less hp
then again i have 0 kinetic slotted, beucase i havent been able to buy any for three weeks.
it's similiar to the build iw as building for, until i fought those romans and a few ae missions with custom dual blade mobs - who just NEVER miss.
Positional would be really hard to build up. I say typed is the way to go. My main has around 30% defense to all typed except Sm/Le....but I have over 50% resist to Sm/Le, so it's all good. Don't forget Steadfast 3% defense to all types. It is your friend. Also, 3 Aegis gives 3.13% defense to fire and cold.
Good Luck!
Hey folks. I've got a low level SS/WP, and I wanted to make some plans for her future. I was wondering if anyone has some experience/advice which they could share re: the above topic. What are the pros and cons of trying to soft cap typed vs. positional on a WP Brute? i.e., is one much easier to reach than the other (it seems like positional, or at least 2/3 of the positions, would be easier, but I could be very, very wrong) ?
Pretty broad/vague question, but if someone could just point me in the general direction of not being an idiot, I'd be very grateful.
Thanks!