Clever scrapper idea, do the powersets work?
By
ArcticFahx,
Posted on: 2009-06-04 06:23 in Scrappers
Well I'd say either BS/WP or BS/SD, WP doesn't get you stuck in the Shield scrappers, but still leaves quite a few options open. I have to wonder how many Fighters used dual blades or swords that you'd be interested in.
For slotting, I always 5-6 slot my attacks, then 3-4 slot my defenses later depending on what they are. I think someone mentioned doing a 2:1 ratio of Primary-to-Secondary, and Secondary-to-Pool, with the obvious exceptions.
@Mojo-
Proud Member of Fusion Force.
Any sword primary works with WP. Any primary works well with WP for that matter. It's a great well-rounded secondary. There's also Katana; which works nicely to compliment WP (the same way broad sword does).
As for which get priority; I usually go for a little more offense early on and try to limit the toggles that you take in the secondary until you get Stamina. For Willpower definitely take the first 4 powers as early as you can; you'll eventually want to take all the powers except Resurgence.
All scrapper combinations are very good, including the onces you've suggested. DB/WP is very strong and lots of fun.
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Do you usually pick up defensive or offensive powers first? Which ones get slot priority?
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Because Will Power has Fast Healing and Quick Recovery, the Fitness pool can be delayed (or skipped entirely but I don't recommend that). This allows you to take DB and WP powers pretty much as the become available. I believe the average scrapper will slot for Acc and end in their attacks first. Fill in your mitigation powers as you go, adding damage to your attacks every chance you get.
Playing a scrapper is about balancing damage output with survivability, you need to pay attention to both. If you are new to scrappers, Will Power is the easiest to start because the damage to mitigation balance is the most intuitive.
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Baby Scrappers level up by their attacks, slot accordingly. Defenses are generally weak until SOs, so plan to slot them in time for SO levels.
WP is regarded as a fine set for novice Scrappers, easy to use, strong, and well-rounded, with an endurance power. It's also a good pairing with DB -- no redraw from clicky powers, and requires minimal attention while you're managing combos.
My suggestion would have been to look at the custom models available for the powersets to see what you feel would give the most appropriate range of looks, but you've already done that, if I'm reading your post right.
This idea may have been done before, but I haven't heard of it. Looks like you're off to a solid start!
edit: there were no replies when I started this post 
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
Pretty much any primary is a strong primary so DB/ BS/ Kat/ will all work well for you.
/WP is also strong through all levels and mates well with any primary but it does excel with Kat/ or BS/ at very high end play because you can softcap to all but ranged smashing. It's also VERY recommended for new scrappers because it's pretty easy to play and also has Quick Recovery. Combined with Stamina pretty much any endurance woes you might suffer are history! 
/SD on the other hand is a real mixed bag for new scrappers.
At high end gameplay with a bit of cash poured into it, well, it's awesome. Leveling you may find yourself frustrated. Don't get me wrong, it's a very fun set and performs well enough but you will want to approach with a bit more caution.
Thing is, with concept in mind. I like /SD for what you're doing. Scraps of Time would just have one more big customizable piece to bring his theme out. A tech sword would look even cooler with a fancy tech shield glowing on your off hand! So many awesome looks you could do!
There were no replies when I started this post either! 
For the curious ones out there, here's the ideas so far:
Egyptian: Either two khopesh, or a khopesh and a sheild with the eye of horus or something like that.
Samurai: I just got the vet reward costume pieces. Katana and wakazashi, but no real shield works with this one.
Ninja: Another one that doesn't work with shield, obviously using a ninja blade with tanto or a pair of sais. I really like it, I just feel that ninja is overused...
English Gentleman: Rapier and main gauche, complete with top hat and monocle. Again, no shield really works here.
French Musketeer: Would be same weapons as above, again no shield, but can't find a decent way to make the costume.
Knight: Easy and works with either shield or dual blades, but better with shield. I just don't like the medieval knight costume. Cape would make it better.
Angry Scotsman: One of my favorites, if only the kilts were plaid. Barbaric looking, flamberge and shield or ... I'm not sure for the dual blades.
Future Fighter: As was said before, tech sword and energy shield, or the unlockable talsorian blades.
Spartan/Roman: Spartan if I use a shield (He's not from Sparta if he doesn't.), Roman if it's two gladius (think Russel Crowe). This will be close to the last costume because of ITF being a requirement for the costume pieces and weapons. I know it's a roman costume, but they borrowed everything from the greeks anyway.
Where to now?
Check out all my guides and fiction pieces on my blog.
The MFing Warshade | The Last Rule of Tanking | The Got Dam Mastermind
Everything Dark Armor | The Softcap
don'T attempt to read tHis mEssaGe, And believe Me, it is not a codE.
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you'll eventually want to take all the powers except Resurgence.
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Why the hate for self rez powers? I mean, even with how nutzoid us scrappers can get we still die once in a while. And when that happens we don't always have a handy medic available to get us back on our feet. Nor do we always have an awaken (or dare use it). As such self rez powers can be handy.
"The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern. Every class is unfit to govern." Lord Acton
Madam Enigma's History
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English Gentleman: Rapier and main gauche, complete with top hat and monocle. Again, no shield really works here.
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Bucklers were used in duels sometimes. In addition the lantern shield was a weapon designed with dueling in mind.
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Angry Scotsman: One of my favorites, if only the kilts were plaid. Barbaric looking, flamberge and shield or ... I'm not sure for the dual blades.
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For this pick a shield that looks like a round wooden shield that covers the entire torso.
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Spartan/Roman: Spartan if I use a shield (He's not from Sparta if he doesn't.), Roman if it's two gladius (think Russel Crowe). This will be close to the last costume because of ITF being a requirement for the costume pieces and weapons. I know it's a roman costume, but they borrowed everything from the greeks anyway.
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The movie not withstanding, ignore the two gladius idea. No roman soldier would be caught dead without his shield. Correction, they WOULD be caught without the shield. Their tower shields were an integral part of their warfare. When they stood shield to shield you saw a solid wall of metal coming your way. They would then stab around the shield with the gladius. That's what the blade is designed for.
"The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern. Every class is unfit to govern." Lord Acton
Madam Enigma's History
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Angry Scotsman: One of my favorites, if only the kilts were plaid. Barbaric looking, flamberge and shield or ... I'm not sure for the dual blades.
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Longsword and Main Gauche would be my choices for Dual Blades.
The Scrappers' Guide to Dark Melee | Kheldian Binds and Strategies
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The movie not withstanding, ignore the two gladius idea. No roman soldier would be caught dead without his shield. Correction, they WOULD be caught without the shield. Their tower shields were an integral part of their warfare. When they stood shield to shield you saw a solid wall of metal coming your way. They would then stab around the shield with the gladius. That's what the blade is designed for.
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No Roman soldier would go without his shield, but then the Russel Crowe movie was called "Gladiator." Gladiators were the pioneers of dual blades, and could get away with it because the Gladiatoral games were the professional wrestling of their day. So instead of a Roman soldier, a Roman gladiator theme could maybe suffice for Dual Blades, especially since gladiators were all kinds of crazy, fantastical armor that can be (somewhat) duplicated using costume parts that don't have to be unlocked - especially if the OP has the Valkyrie set.
Before that set existed, though, I saw alot of people using the "Masks with hair" option with the Roman pattern and the tall mohawk to (kind of) simulate a helmet.
The Scrappers' Guide to Dark Melee | Kheldian Binds and Strategies
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you'll eventually want to take all the powers except Resurgence.
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Why the hate for self rez powers? I mean, even with how nutzoid us scrappers can get we still die once in a while. And when that happens we don't always have a handy medic available to get us back on our feet. Nor do we always have an awaken (or dare use it). As such self rez powers can be handy.
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I'm not a fan of Self-Rez powers. In my experience, the majority of times my scrappers go down, it's because I got overwhelmed by too many mobs. In most those scenarios, I'm still surrounded by said mobs, so using a self rez will likely result in my immediate face plant.
It's not so much that self rez powers don't have their uses, because they can come in handy. It's more an issue of opportunity costs, given the choice between another power that might prevent my death and a power that will rez me, I'll go for the preventative one.
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If you want to go strictly historical, I would recommend BS/SD. Dual wielding blades in real world historical warfare was, generally speaking, a bad idea. The shield is just that important. However, if you are set on Dual Blades then the Gladiator, Swashbuckler and possibly Samurai would work well, also possibly a Norse berserker (who historically wore shields for the most part, but they're crazy enough that some of them no doubt went without). The Samurai for the most part just used their katana, with the shorter wakizashi being a tool for Seppuku, but Musashi Miyamoto became famous for his dual wielding technique and he was quite successful with it indeed.
As far as shields go, the Swashbuckler would fit perfectly well with a buckler, it was used in duels well into the Renaissance. If you have the Valkyrie set, its blade has a basket hilt that fits the look, though its blade is a bit short for a sabre.
The Knight should be sword/shield, no doubt about it. A kite shield with some sort of bright heraldry on it would look fitting.
The Samurai didn't use shields, Katana would be ideal but Dual Blades would work for a deviant Samurai, as described above.
Use a bronze khopesh and shield for the Egyptian.
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also possibly a Norse berserker (who historically wore shields for the most part, but they're crazy enough that some of them no doubt went without).
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I think I could pull off some kind viking look. I'd have a lot of fun with macros.
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The Samurai for the most part just used their katana, with the shorter wakizashi being a tool for Seppuku, but Musashi Miyamoto became famous for his dual wielding technique and he was quite successful with it indeed.
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Yes he is, and I know that the wakazashi goes in the right hand, and actually does all the work.
How about some kind of celtic warrior? I know he'd probably be better with an axe though...
Where to now?
Check out all my guides and fiction pieces on my blog.
The MFing Warshade | The Last Rule of Tanking | The Got Dam Mastermind
Everything Dark Armor | The Softcap
don'T attempt to read tHis mEssaGe, And believe Me, it is not a codE.
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If you want to go strictly historical, I would recommend BS/SD. Dual wielding blades in real world historical warfare was, generally speaking, a bad idea. The shield is just that important. However, if you are set on Dual Blades then the Gladiator, Swashbuckler and possibly Samurai would work well, also possibly a Norse berserker (who historically wore shields for the most part, but they're crazy enough that some of them no doubt went without). The Samurai for the most part just used their katana, with the shorter wakizashi being a tool for Seppuku, but Musashi Miyamoto became famous for his dual wielding technique and he was quite successful with it indeed.
As far as shields go, the Swashbuckler would fit perfectly well with a buckler, it was used in duels well into the Renaissance. If you have the Valkyrie set, its blade has a basket hilt that fits the look, though its blade is a bit short for a sabre.
The Knight should be sword/shield, no doubt about it. A kite shield with some sort of bright heraldry on it would look fitting.
The Samurai didn't use shields, Katana would be ideal but Dual Blades would work for a deviant Samurai, as described above.
Use a bronze khopesh and shield for the Egyptian.
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While gladiators did duel wield, it was mainly with trident and net. When using a sword they still fought with just one weapon. As for the gladiator idea, use the gladiatorial shoulder armor which leaves the chest bare. While a gladiator had armor, there was barely any of it. They also used slings and cesta. That's a spiked gauntlet by the way. Gladiators didn't really carry shields because the spectators wanted a bloodbath. That's not to say they never carried one though.
Samurai would be served well by katana or dual wielding. And that's right, they didn't carry shields.
For egyptain I'm not sure if they have a shield that would fit. When they had shields they were simple ones made of leather.
"The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern. Every class is unfit to govern." Lord Acton
Madam Enigma's History
My vote goes on BS/SD just for the sake of it. Easily get the (obvious) Knight, Roman, Tech Looks, if the Samurai Armor is available to you then you could, technically, use a shield with it under the remnants that lower ranked soldiers in the Korean, Chinese and Japanese Armies (at some point) all carried shields of some fashion. While Samurai's themselves didn't to free both hands for complete mobility and had an armor otherwise designed to do just what the shield was for...that's besides the point and most people probably wouldn't speak against it.
That would cover at least four of five possible costume slots. Last one could tossup between Viking/Celtic based on preference in heritage.
Dual Blades just doesn't seem as fun for the idea 
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Originally Posted by Arcanaville
Warning: crazy space limit reached. Please delete some crazy and try again. |
So the ninja idea is pretty much way overused, so how about this:
Two sais. I make him green skinned, red bandana, red belt... you see where this is going... some type of padded armor...
Nahhh, I just can't do that.
I'm not looking for perfect historical accuracy, which I know will get me some grief. "You know, they didn't actually do that..." I just want it to look cool and be fun while trying to touch on a wide variety of styles. Also, I think of it this way: He's going to be "natural," but he'll still stand above the crowd. An excess in skill would allow him to discard the traditional requirement of a shield to engage in dual wielding combat.
I really like all the costume ideas, and if the knight costume pieces looked any better and there was a buckler, then I would be doing shields. I also really like the animations of the dual blades.
I love the Egyptian, and he looks great with double khopesh. That's one.
English duelist looks good too. Gives that elegant feel with the rapier and dagger or main gauche/droite. Still not sure exactly what to do with that. It'll let me act like the pompous stereotype as well. Two for sure. (I know, I know, I'm a culturally inept American fed by too much TV. Go on. Say it.)
The samurai/ninja... just doesn't feel original enough. I'm thinking some kind of martial artist with a pair of sai or katana/wakazashi/tanto. Slot three?
I'd like to have a barbaric looking one too, so either celtic or gladiator will fit in slot four.
I've got to have the futuristic one in here too. That brings me up to five.
The only questionable one here is my number three. Here's an alternate idea for that: Elf? Use the fantasy blades and be all woodland hero-y. Hey, it's as "natural origin" as the futuristic fighter.
Where to now?
Check out all my guides and fiction pieces on my blog.
The MFing Warshade | The Last Rule of Tanking | The Got Dam Mastermind
Everything Dark Armor | The Softcap
don'T attempt to read tHis mEssaGe, And believe Me, it is not a codE.
Gaelic warriors typically fought semi naked, occasionally with blue body paint covering the the bare skin (especially the Pict).
Typical weapons were things traditionally used for hunting (sling, javelin, darts, bow) or things that also doubled as tools (axes). Some gaelic warriors would use a small oval shield and a short sword.
The kilts can take 2 colors and there is a "plaid" pattern on them but you won't be able to duplicate any of the actual tartan plaids.
-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
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Gaelic warriors typically fought semi naked, occasionally with blue body paint covering the the bare skin (especially the Pict).
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Wode is awesome stuff. Topical anesthetic and minor hallucinogen. What's more Scrappery than going into combat half naked, covered in blue, not feeling anything, and seeing all kinds of crazy stuff.
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The Samurai for the most part just used their katana, with the shorter wakizashi being a tool for Seppuku, but Musashi Miyamoto became famous for his dual wielding technique and he was quite successful with it indeed.
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Yes he is, and I know that the wakazashi goes in the right hand, and actually does all the work.
How about some kind of celtic warrior? I know he'd probably be better with an axe though...
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Musashi was left-handed, which is why he fought with the Katana in his left and the wakazashi in his right. A rightie should hold them the other way around.
My advice: Since you have a strong concept, look first through the various weapons available in the costume creator, and let that be your deciding factor. All three sword sets perform just fine. All the secondaries work just fine.
But you can't have shields with Katana or Dual Blades, so if you want shields, you have to go with Broadsword. But Broadsword doesn't have the fancy fencing swords that Dual Blades does. I don't think it even has a katana-looking blade. And check the wiki to see what unlockable weapons and shields there are!
LET THE COSTUME BE YOUR GUIDE!!!
Broadsword actually does have an unlockable Katana costume piece with the Tracer badge.
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Angry Scotsman: One of my favorites, if only the kilts were plaid. Barbaric looking, flamberge and shield or ... I'm not sure for the dual blades.
[/ QUOTE ]As someone who has a kilt on almost all of his male characters, they are plaid.
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Originally Posted by Back Alley Brawler
Did you just use "casual gamer" and "purpled-out warshade" in the same sentence?
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Broadsword actually does have an unlockable Katana costume piece with the Tracer badge.
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Lies! I refuse to acknowledge that travesty of a sword!
@Roderick
I just noticed that Dual Blades has an option for a Falcata, the short blade that curves towards the edge. This would be perfect for an early era Celtic type warrior, if you decide to go with that. You sound like you would personally prefer Dual Blades, so I would probably go with that and let the minor historical conflicts be damned, if that's what would make you happy with the character.
Both are very effective, it depends on what you want really. Broadsword has a lot of CRUNCH to it, slow attacks with huge orange numbers flying up and such, haven't tried Dual Blades but from others I've teamed with before who had it, it seems more finesse and stylish, very nice animations.
Hey, for anyone who cares, I went ahead and made both! I just couldn't decide and I liked too many of the costumes that only worked on one powerset.
Scraps of Time (DB/WP) and Scraps in Time (BS/SD). You can find me on the Pinnacle server running around without any extra costumes for now. As it stands, *** is an Egyptian with dual Khopesh, and SiT is a celtic warrior with kilt, battle paint, targe and flamberge.
I'd like to thank everyone again for the helpful advice and even some costume ideas.
Where to now?
Check out all my guides and fiction pieces on my blog.
The MFing Warshade | The Last Rule of Tanking | The Got Dam Mastermind
Everything Dark Armor | The Softcap
don'T attempt to read tHis mEssaGe, And believe Me, it is not a codE.
I had what I think is a clever idea for a scrapper, although I'm sure this has been done before anyway. But I haven't seen it done, so I didn't steal it. I haven't ever built a scrapper before because I haven't ever thought of a character I could enjoy playing.
The idea of the character is to use the weapon customization along with multiple costumes to simulate sword fighters of as many eras as I can. I want to call him "Scraps of Time." I know, I know, corny and punny is a bad combination. Either way, since they are all natural fighters, the sets that stood out to me as best fit were broadsword, dual blades, shield defense, and willpower.
So there's three possibilities: BS/SD, BS/WP, and DB/WP. I'm leaning most towards DB/WP. I think it gives me the most fun options in character design. Is this a good powerset combination? Is it recommended for a first time scrapper?
This is just a general scrapper question: Do you usually pick up defensive or offensive powers first? Which ones get slot priority?
Where to now?
Check out all my guides and fiction pieces on my blog.
The MFing Warshade | The Last Rule of Tanking | The Got Dam Mastermind
Everything Dark Armor | The Softcap
don'T attempt to read tHis mEssaGe, And believe Me, it is not a codE.