How much of your character's life will be spent at level 50, dependant on sapping mobs? If you're looking to do complete saps, go Elec/Elec.
@Mechaniker
Official Old Angry German Guy of CoV.
My Characters: http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=247787
Agreed, go E^3 for sure. You are much more effective at sapping mobs with power sink in conjunction with short circuit.
Not to mention /elec is more thematic, and gives you shocking grasp to stack holds with tesla cage on bosses, and higher ST DPS than /energy gives in general.
You'll be much happier as an E^3 trust me. Its just so awesome 
.
Also don't forget that enemies resistances to end drain scale up as you are fighting higher level enemies.
So that 100% end drain to an even level enemy, is only, meh not doing the math right now but not 100% versus the normal +2 to +3s you'll most likely be fighting.
Whereas:
Short circuit + power sink base = 70%
Moderately slotted, well i have like 85% on my SC and 50%ish damage slotted with IOs. Power sink might be full though, so lets say about 130% end drain.
Can't remember the exact equations but i'm fairly certain thats draining +2s fully (does in practice but trying to speak numbers here lol)
If it doesnt to +3s, then ball lightning may finish them off, or put them at 1 attack and then that's the end of them.
Plasmic's Guide to Sonic/Mental
Plasmic's Guide to Regeneration
Plasmic Fire - 50 Fire/Rad Victory Server
"Are the 2.8% end left enough for the critters to still attack you"
Yes. Critters need less end than you can see to hack you in two pieces.
The mobs are notified when you make the to hit roll which is immediately after you begin the animation.
If the mobs are a type that hit hard quickly you may be dead before you finish the animation and drain any thing.
Even on slow acting mobs they queue an attack as soon as they are notified and that attack will still resolve when their animation completes since the almost non-existant end cost is paid at the beginning of the attack. This means you will suffer the results of the alpha even if the mob is subsequently mezzed or drained. The only way to avoid the alpha is to defeat the mob before the animation completes which will prevent the damage from being applied.
In the case of DoTs like bullets from a hellion gunner if he is undefeated when the first tick is applied all the ticks will be applied even if he drops several seconds before the last tick fires. All mobs and mob DoTs work this way.
-Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. - Albert Einstein.
-I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use. - Galileo Galilei
-When injustice becomes law, resistance becomes duty. - Thomas Jefferson
Short Circuit is an automatic -recovery debuff. That debuff is enhanced with slotting and Power Boost. At -97 percent at best you'll be brawled by LTs/Bosses.
My Elec/Nrg has 3 Very Rares and 3 Perf Shifters for 88 percent enhanced drain (66ish drain, then +28ish from Power Boost for 94 percent total). I count Ball Lightning (7 percent base + 5.6 from PB for 12.6) to finish the drain on even level mobs.
Tesla Cage is also an automatic -recovery power.
It depends on if you want to just drain, or if you want power boost to help with other powers (stuns in the melees, hold durations, fly/run speeds, drains, to hit buffs, etc.).
Either elec/nrg or elec/elec works.
Remember: This is even debuffing. If you're fighting +1s you'll have to earn it a little more. You could do it with elec/nrg in past issues but with ED/Power Boost nerfs over time elec/elec is a better instadrainer with SC/Power Sink vs. higher levels.
Thank you, City of Heroes, for giving me a superhero social network combined with amazingly smooth game play. Petitions signed with realistic expectations.
[ QUOTE ]
The mobs are notified when you make the to hit roll which is immediately after you begin the animation.
If the mobs are a type that hit hard quickly you may be dead before you finish the animation and drain any thing.
Even on slow acting mobs they queue an attack as soon as they are notified and that attack will still resolve when their animation completes since the almost non-existant end cost is paid at the beginning of the attack. This means you will suffer the results of the alpha even if the mob is subsequently mezzed or drained. The only way to avoid the alpha is to defeat the mob before the animation completes which will prevent the damage from being applied.
In the case of DoTs like bullets from a hellion gunner if he is undefeated when the first tick is applied all the ticks will be applied even if he drops several seconds before the last tick fires. All mobs and mob DoTs work this way.
[/ QUOTE ]
Of course some issues like this on teams can be helped some, but it would help a lot of theyd change the freaking animation for short circuit XD.
They need to change i to the "rain" animation that freezing rain and rain of fire etc use. Its a 2.03s animation instead of 3 seconds, and the damage/drain is applied at the beginning of that animation, not at the end of it like in its current form.
Plasmic's Guide to Sonic/Mental
Plasmic's Guide to Regeneration
Plasmic Fire - 50 Fire/Rad Victory Server
Two things.
First, the way the return strike works, I believe, is not QUITE as described by Milady's Knight. If you miss, they know as soon as you start the attack (as mentioned). If you hit, however, they only know after the damage lands. Otherwise I'd pretty much die every time I stealthed in and started Nova.
Second:
TL/DR: You get +2s to 4-10% END with Power Boost, Short Circuit, Ball Lightning and a lot of slotting, and you might survive long enough to run them out of endurance. +1s and 0's will get only an alpha off. If that. It's not *quite* binary.
[ QUOTE ]
enemies resistances to end drain scale up as you are fighting higher level enemies
[/ QUOTE ]
Repeating this because it is important. 110% against an even-con would be 88% against a +2.
As mentioned by Rejolt, that 12% would be all the endurance they get for the next 10 seconds or so. Once upon a time Arcanaville calculated how much END it takes for an enemy to kill you. I saved that post... and it's monstrously complex.
If I'm reading it right, +2 minions with 12% of their END left (12 points) would hit 60% of the time, for 122% of "standard" damage, so a level 52 minion hitting a level 50 blaster with 12% of their END bar would do 73% of, umm, 17.21 damage per END point.
So they'd run out after doing 150 HP of damage to you, roughly.
A lieutenant would hit a little more (67.5%), hit a little harder (23 HP per End on a hit, times 1.22), and have 50% more Endurance left (they start with 150 End and end up with 18) So that lieut, if my math is right, is doing 341 HP before running out of endurance.
And a boss will probably kill you- more endurance, more damage per endurance, and a better chance to hit.
If you have a big spawn you will end up taking quite a lot of damage, anyway.
My "110% End Drain" number, before I do any more math, was a bad one. It's more than you can get from powerboosted SC alone, and less than you get from powerboosted Short Circuit/Ball Lightning. So assuming you do the "leap out and Lightning" trick, and pull it off, you would actually get 97.2% + 15% or 112.2%. So they have about 10% of their Endurance left instead of 12%. (more if they have any energy resistance.) And you could get *up to* another 7.5% through careful slotting of EndMod sets, leaving them around 5% end remaining.
I don't think anything changes in the badguy scaling from level 35 on, so if it works at 50 I believe it will work at 35.
(my recommended slotting for Ball Lightning would be something like two Acc/Endmod, one Endmod, three Damage. At level 35 that would get you around +82% End Drain . You would want to frankenslot Short Circuit for a ton of recharge, plus a little acc, plus a ton of End Drain and maybe a little damage if you can fit it.)
I'd recommend filling your "Friends" list with other elec blasters and /elec defenders and stomping 'em into wine that way.
Mini-guides: Force Field Defenders, Blasters, Market Self-Defense, Frankenslotting.
So you think you're a hero, huh.
@Boltcutter in game.
Thanks for the tips.
I finally went with an Elec/elec, planning to go Elec^3. She's only 23 atm, but already fun.
It's especially alot of fun with another Elec/Elec friend, as we can hold bosses and sap mobs with our 2 SC combined.
Hesitating between an Elec^3 and an Elec/EM/Elec Blap-troller, i need some precisions from experienced players in this subject.
Slotting 3 level 50 endmod IOs in Short Circuit, and activating Power Boost gives only a -97,2% end drain according to Mids, due to ED, and -199% recovery for 10 sec.
Are the 2.8% end left enough for the critters to still attack you ?
Otherwise, from Mids, if I 5-slot SC with level 50 end mod IOs, then the end drain is > 100% with Power Boost activated (5 level 50 end mod IOs + 1 Acc, could be a working slotting for this power). So one shoud be able to run stealth in the middle of a spawn, and totally drain them out of their end with one power, therefore avoiding the alpha and making them unable to attack. Anyone using this combo ? Does it really work well ? Or do the critters start to attack you once you start to cast SC and before 3 sec the animation ends ?
Being able to drain 100% endurance from a spawn in one click when you solo, does it justify to choose Elec/EM over Elec/Elec ?
What are the advantages of Elec/Elec over Elec/EM otherwise ?
If any experienced sapper has some tips to provide on this subject, thanks in advance