/WP Boss Strategies

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It was a simple question. What can wp do to off set extra damage that bosses do, and what I got was how could you have a problem with a boss.

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Yes we said that. But it is a relevant point, in the sense of letting you know that something is wrong, and that this isn't just something that we all go through. For instance, if someone complained about Super Reflexes survivability in the teens, we'd probably have gone, “Oh, yeah, that totally sucks on a Super Reflexes.” But if ALL you heard was “we don't have trouble”, then you missed a lot of other relevant points.

- “you might want to look at your build”
- “Beat [the boss] up first? Everything else around you should be there to fuel RttC.”
- “go after the boss or lieutenants first, leaving minions for Rise to the Challenge”
- “Make sure you're in the middle of the spawn“
- “purples”
- “you may want to adjust your build for a higher level of survivability”

And then when we learned you didn't have Rise to the Challenge, making advice on how best to use it a little premature:

- “you should have RttC... it is the best power of the set and will keep you alive.”
- “at 20 you get a power far superior to stamina. stamina can be pushed off”
- “by level 30 you should have all of the powers in your secondary”
- “recommend going boxing/tough/weave for 32/35/38”
- “Alphas will eventually be no problem because it takes too much to take you out quickly.”
- “QR is bigger than Stamina.”
- “RttC is retardedly awesome”

I believe there's plenty there to resolve your problems. If you didn't see all that, or consider it to be simply min/max advice, then I'm not sure what further to say.

(edit: And I suppose I see the point you might be making - from your perspective, we insulted you by saying we don't have problems with bosses. I'm guessing that's it, anyway. It wasn't my intent to insult you with that, but only to use it to explain that your problem should be solvable. Sorry if it was insulting. Perhaps I need to take my own advice and be more careful with word choices.)

A build might help...
maybe

Simple answer to the question in the OP. Willpower has little control over encounters. You don't get a click defense until 38 in Strength of Will, and that is something you want to use before you charge in.

I have couple other simple suggestions I find to be effective leveling new scrapper/brute/tanker's. Don't go hog wild slotting your attacks. This will set you up for ignoring your secondary which can lead to survivability issues especially for Willpower. Pick two solid attacks, and make sure they have a total of 4 slots before SO's. If you have a quick recharging low damage attack you can get by with 3 total slots there. Make sure you take those extra slots, and place them into High Pain Tolerance as the boosted hit points will be helpfully especially at SO's. Take, Rise to the Challenge at 16, and give it the 2 slots you get at 17. You can either go with 1 end reducer, 2 heals, or 3 heals at 22. Then if you still have slots place 2 into Fast Healing (yes take this early). Ta da! You now have some decent regeneration when facing multiple foes, and the foundations laid for SO's.

Look to Quick Recovery at 20, and you can hold off Mind Over Body by 22. If you focus enough on your secondary you should have by level 24; High Pain Tolerance, Fast Healing, Indomitable Will, Rise to the Challenge, Quick Recovery, and Mind Over Body. That's a pretty solid amount of defense for that level range, and I recommend to focus slots into the healing first. By the time you hit 28 take Heightened Senses, and you are pretty much done with the bulk of your secondary. Add some slots of Mind Over Body, and Heightened Senses as you can. Though I find after the regen I go back to my primary for slotting until I feel comfortable with it. Then I'll begin to polish off the secondary.

You'll still have plenty of room for enough attacks, a travel power, and the beginings of Fitness. Stamina is not an immediate choice due to Quick Recovery, and can be delayed into the 30's. To really cement your toughness think about the fighting pool post 40 as those powers further compliment your secondary.

That is how I have played 4 Willpower characters now, and I have never had an issue. I didn't have many issues with the first /WP I made, but since then I have refined my approach to the set. If you have a primary with little to no mitigation I can see some difficulties, but those should disappear by the late 20's early 30's.

Good Luck!

Yeah, as people have said... just do it. WP is incredibly simplistic in terms of strategy. But you may want to look at leaving minions for last -- RttC could use the boost if the Boss is THAT tought

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RttC is retardedly awesome (just like every scrapper level 16 power). People really need to actually learn the power sets.

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Shhh. Dont say that too loud. A nerf bat may be getting waved around. And to the OP, rttc is great. Respec and get it at 16 and get stamina later if you must. And getting advise from anyone who solos STF and or can do the scrapper challege while doing other things in RL at the same time is never a bad idea.

There's no need for a nerf bat. Willpower is easy to build and play, and is good at most everything. That's not the same thing as overpowered. It's nicely in balance with the other secondaries. I wouldn't be worried.

If alphas are a problem, the easiest solutions include liberal inspiration use and the Medicine pool.

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If alphas are a problem, the easiest solutions include liberal inspiration use and the Medicine pool.

[/ QUOTE ] If you have enough time to fire off aid self, alpha strikes aren't your problem.

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If alphas are a problem, the easiest solutions include liberal inspiration use and the Medicine pool.

[/ QUOTE ] If you have enough time to fire off aid self, alpha strikes aren't your problem.

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I don't get it.

Alpha's come in, health goes down, /WP has no self heal, take Medicine pool, fire off Aid Self...heal damage from alpha's.

Sounds about like a /Regen or /Invul after they take an alpha volley, but I guess I am stupid.

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If alphas are a problem, the easiest solutions include liberal inspiration use and the Medicine pool.

[/ QUOTE ] If you have enough time to fire off aid self, alpha strikes aren't your problem.

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I don't get it.

Alpha's come in, health goes down, /WP has no self heal, take Medicine pool, fire off Aid Self...heal damage from alpha's.

Sounds about like a /Regen or /Invul after they take an alpha volley, but I guess I am stupid.

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If you can fire off aid self that means you are not getting hit. Aid Self as a Interrupt Time of 1 sec so that mean you are not getting hit for 1 sec so that means alpha strikes shouldn't be your problem.

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It's probably just differing meanings of alpha strikes. If you take a huge bunch of hits in a few seconds and survive, I'd say you survived the alpha. If you're at low hit points and the NEXT batch of hits kill you, then I'd say you were killed by the beta strike, which is often cited as one of Willpower's weaknesses. So if we're using MY understanding of the situation, Aid Self lets you survive the beta strike, rather than the alpha strike, assuming you can get it off. Or you might consider that all the alpha strike, which also seems fair.

Personally, I'd just try to get enough mitigation (Tough, Weave, IOs, etc) so that you're not knocked that low from the alpha to begin with. Remember that self heals are based off your base hp, so Aid Self is of much less value to WP than it is to other sets. (I believe that respites are the same way. Purple insps are WP's best friend.)

Agreed. In theory, it seems like a self heal is just what Willpower needs. Not so much in practice due to various issues with Aid Self. Not that it's a BAD power to have, but just that often there are other alternatives that might be better.

DM :P