Elec/Shield appears to be a FoTM right now. Personally, I'd go Dark or Super Strength.
It is viable, but most people plan a specific build to soft-cap their positional defense.
My SS/SD is an absolute monster. Damn hard to kill, and high damage output. I have a perma Dom fire psi Dominator that cost 4 times as much and considering how often he dies, the SS/SD probably outperforms it. Certainly against boss enemies the Brute outperforms.
I just like the fact he only cost 5-600 million for a really sweet build. 5-600 million is not that hard to earn if you learn to play the markets. The 2 billion to build a perma dom with all the whistles and bells is...
VIRTUE:[*]Komissar - Inv/EM Tank50[*]Mother Board - Elect/Nrg Blapptroller50 (DWEF)[*]2 Serve - Emp/Rad Def50 [*]Omega Sanction - Spines/EA Stalk44
FREEDOM:[*]Rocket Grrl - FF/Nrg Def50[*]Colde Fusion - Ice/Rad Corr50[*]Parallel - Fire/Rad Corr46 (eFRADs)
I will say though as a postscript that I was unhappy, very unhappy with my Shields until I had all the bonuses from IOs. He died too easily with just the basic defenses from invention IOs. So you really need to think in terms of the extra defense and resists from the IOsets and shoot for soft capping, etc.
So a well slotted one is a monster, without the IOset bonuses, not so much.
Lastly though, the shields look damn cool.
VIRTUE:[*]Komissar - Inv/EM Tank50[*]Mother Board - Elect/Nrg Blapptroller50 (DWEF)[*]2 Serve - Emp/Rad Def50 [*]Omega Sanction - Spines/EA Stalk44
FREEDOM:[*]Rocket Grrl - FF/Nrg Def50[*]Colde Fusion - Ice/Rad Corr50[*]Parallel - Fire/Rad Corr46 (eFRADs)
SD is probably the set that has the largest performance spectrum of any set in the game. at level 50 with SO level performance it's pretty squishy. Level 50 IO'd out to the soft-cap with lots of recharge and it's probably one of, if not the strongest melee secondary.
When playing solo, prior to tacking on IO set bonuses, you're only getting in the mid-20% range for positional Defense (not counting if you take CJ, Hover, Maneuvers, or some other Defense-granting power to supplement Shield Defense's buffs).
If you're fighting on the hardest level, it can get dicey without popping insps on occasion. Otherwise, the combinatinon of additional HP, Defense, Resistance and damage output in SD is good for most normal solo play (i.e., you're not going to herd up five spawns and survive without popping either a purp or two before hand or a couple of greens along the way).
On teams it can be relatively easy to stay alive without softcapping.
I took the time playing my Elec/SD (a VG mate asked another mate and I to build similar toons, and while I'm not normally an FoTM player, I have to say, the combo is pretty sick) to raise the inf to get him soft-capped to melee, and almost soft-capped for ranged/AoE. Its pretty darn nice... and quite uber feeling.
I've been away from the game for about a year, and I noticed there's been a new powerset added since I last played, namely Shield Defense. It looks pretty cool but it doesn't seem like the Brute Guides have been updated so I just wanna ask what's the verdict on SD? Is it viable? Is it worth leveling?