Dark Melee/Shield Defense is pretty popular when IO'd to the gills, but I'm not sure if that's what you meant. It also achieves some of its best feats by using additional mobs for fuel. With enough recharge, Katana/Super Reflexes can put out some very high DPS without requiring additional mobs, and is certainly survivable. You don't have either the primary or secondary on your list of toons, so that might be a good choice for a change of pace as well. Fire Melee/Super Reflexes might be good as well, at a lower level of recharge, and thus a lower budget.
Although Regeneration is a strong single-target secondary, I think it lags a little behind on survivability without Katana or Broadsword. But those aren't good because Divine Avalanche and Parry cut into your DPS. So I wouldn't go with Regen unless the time spent to take down those single targets isn't a big factor.
"That's because Werner can't do maths." - BunnyAnomaly
"Four hours in, and I was no longer making mistakes, no longer detoggling. I was a machine." - Werner
Videos of Other Stupid Scrapper Tricks
My personal choice is Katana/Fire. You're losing 20% recharge compared to Katana/SR, but the damage aura and Fiery Embrace more than make up for it. Granted, if you go for super high DPS the survivability won't be there, but that's why purple insps exist.
I used to plan a 170ish DPS, very high defense build on my own Katana/Fire... then I noticed I could get the DPS over 270 with max recharge and procs. If I ever get the toon to 50, I know which route I'll take...
In fact, this thread just made me want to level it. Thanks. 
For anything below AV level, my vote goes to Broadsword/Dark Armor.
When fighting most enemy groups you can basically ignore minions while you focus on LTs and Bosses. The minions stagger around stunned from Oppressive Gloom while taking damage from Death Shroud. By the time you finish with the LTs and Bosses they will all be either dead or close enough to drop with a single attack.
For AVs, anything SD or SR is pretty solid, except Spines.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Dechs Kaison See, it's gems like these that make me check Claws' post history every once in a while to make sure I haven't missed anything good lately. |
From what I've seen or played, DM, FM or BS.
[ QUOTE ]
For anything below AV level, my vote goes to Broadsword/Dark Armor.
[/ QUOTE ]
Actually, I think I misread the question and thought this was about AV's. This statement is correct, broadsword puts out a hurt on one target at a time. It's not fast, but 2 hits = dead is fun.
I actually kind of like the fact that it's slow. I don't plan on speccing mine for too much recharge, because I like the feel the set has of methodically hacking your way through a crowd.
The gaps in my attack chain help me conserve endurance too 
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Dechs Kaison See, it's gems like these that make me check Claws' post history every once in a while to make sure I haven't missed anything good lately. |
FM, Claws, broadsword are my guesses, anyhoo.
For secondaries, really depends on how many opponents you intend to face. If you want to speed it up and aren't going to see more than 2-3 non AV's at a time, Fire Armor is #1 by a mile.
(Plus, BU + FE + HS = pure awesome)
DM/ sr or sd, FM/ sr or sd, and last on a really high-end build db/sr-- just out of fun. Having a minimalist attack chain that isnt to clunky (I hate long animations) is just good fun 
, especially with stacked Achilles' heel and fury of the gladiator (sweeping strike). Practical for AV's? Not the way I built it, but that wasnt my intention.
Miss Arc #147491: Rise of Bedlam
AKA Iron Smoke @Champion Server
Broad Sword. Its not fast but so what. How fast do you need to be when just about every attack takes chunks out of the health? And the draw back and "smack" animation of head splitter followed by someone's body bouncing off the ground is epic. Let's not forget when it hits more then one!
"All problems can be solved by throwing enough scrappers at it."
@Riez on Virtue, Protector, Champion, and Exalted server.
Mostly I am just looking for a character that can dish out high single target DPS and survive.
My DM/Regen is "OK" at this but he does seem to lack a bit when there are no minions around for SD to feed off of.
Assuming that the character will be used for taking out EBs and AVs then which sets would work best?
DM/SD is the "flavor of the month" but as I understand it needs about a billion inf in IOs to be optimal and if you are just soloing an AV with no minions around the DPS tends to fall off considerably.
I have never played Katana/SR so I cannot say much about this combination except I have heard bad things about redraw times with the weapon sets which have tended to keep me away from them. If that isn't an issue then I may try this one out.
I assume that any of the Defense secondaries need for you to carry around a lot of green inspirations to deal with the occasional lucky streak on the oppnents tohit rolls?
[ QUOTE ]
Broad Sword. Its not fast but so what. How fast do you need to be when just about every attack takes chunks out of the health?
[/ QUOTE ]
Faster than it currently is. Mind you, my Broad Sword/Shield Defense has been my favorite solo leveler, and should only be better on a team. Actually, I should go finish his leveling. He's at like 49.95 right now because I got really sleepy before hitting 50.
"That's because Werner can't do maths." - BunnyAnomaly
"Four hours in, and I was no longer making mistakes, no longer detoggling. I was a machine." - Werner
Videos of Other Stupid Scrapper Tricks
[ QUOTE ]
FM, Claws, broadsword are my guesses, anyhoo.
For secondaries, really depends on how many opponents you intend to face. If you want to speed it up and aren't going to see more than 2-3 non AV's at a time, Fire Armor is #1 by a mile.
(Plus, BU + FE + HS = pure awesome)
[/ QUOTE ]
Claws slotted up with procs gets pretty nasty in the damage levels for sure, the old buzz saw concept I guess, but requiring much less recharge than a DM.
FU-focus-slash-strike is pretty easy on the +recharge to chain, and I have 7 damage procs in total 2 of them purples with a chance to fire off in that combination.
@Catwhoorg "Rule of Three - Finale" Arc# 1984
@Mr Falkland Islands"A Nation Goes Rogue" Arc# 2369 "Toasters and Pop Tarts" Arc#116617
[ QUOTE ]
I have never played Katana/SR so I cannot say much about this combination except I have heard bad things about redraw times with the weapon sets which have tended to keep me away from them. If that isn't an issue then I may try this one out.
[/ QUOTE ]
Not an issue.
Redraw times with the weapons sets are only an issue when you have a lot of powers that make you put your weapon away, such as with the Regen secondary. And that hasn't kept my Katana/Regen from being my favorite toon. Super Reflexes only has Practiced Brawler. Basically, you'll spend a fraction of a second every couple of minutes fiddling with your weapon. It'll make a fraction of a percentage point difference in your DPS. With Katana/Super Reflexes, redraw is a non-issue numbers wise, so the only issue would be if it annoys you despite that.
[ QUOTE ]
I assume that any of the Defense secondaries need for you to carry around a lot of green inspirations to deal with the occasional lucky streak on the oppnents tohit rolls?
[/ QUOTE ]
With the defense secondaries, you actually carry around a lot of purples, at least while leveling. You won't be at the soft cap until you IO out, but one or two purples will get you there, so are an instant god mode. You'll still want a few greens for when you get unlucky.
With Katana/Super Reflexes specifically, you'd probably use Divine Avalanche while leveling to get yourself to the melee soft cap. I'd probably carry a balanced mixture of inspirations at that point, as you won't often need anything specific.
"That's because Werner can't do maths." - BunnyAnomaly
"Four hours in, and I was no longer making mistakes, no longer detoggling. I was a machine." - Werner
Videos of Other Stupid Scrapper Tricks
So would you drop DA once you had leveled to 50 for a better DPS chain and IOs to softcap Melee Def?
Or is there some reason to keep it past 50?
[ QUOTE ]
So would you drop DA once you had leveled to 50 for a better DPS chain and IOs to softcap Melee Def?
Or is there some reason to keep it past 50?
[/ QUOTE ]
I would probably drop it. However, either it or Elude would be useful if you run a lot of AE missions, as a lot of the custom bad guys seem to have to-hit buffs. So it might depend on how often you ran AE content.
"That's because Werner can't do maths." - BunnyAnomaly
"Four hours in, and I was no longer making mistakes, no longer detoggling. I was a machine." - Werner
Videos of Other Stupid Scrapper Tricks
Fiery Melee/Fiery Aura.
Max DPS for Scrappers, but not exactly the strongest survivability.
A bit of a side-track, but doesn't Claws seem to have the best of both worlds right now? I was surprised that even with just SOs I can chain FU - Eviscerate - Spin without a gap (as long as hasten's up).
And when facing bosses/AVs Claws seems to be the set prefered for the job as well.
Granted that Spines is still the best for AoE because of the extra cone in Throw Spines and a damage aura, Spine Burst also has a bigger range than Spin, but I don't see them gelding as well as that simple chain mentioned above, not to mention the perma 75% damage from double stacked FU opposed to the 100% every 30 odd seconds.
Makes me think a claws/dark or fire would be something to try, though I like my characters tough as nails, to be the ones still up even after the tank has gone down and neither fire or dark (seem to) fill that purpose.
FM/FA has the best burst damage in the game, it is also one of the higher DPS/DPE/DPA for both ST and AOE ... but is probablly not what you'll want for AV solo'in
[ QUOTE ]
FM/FA has the best burst damage in the game, it is also one of the higher DPS/DPE/DPA for both ST and AOE ... but is probablly not what you'll want for AV solo'in
[/ QUOTE ]
Unless, you know, you can get your S/L softcap. Of course, you'll fall flat against some AVs.
An Offensive Guide to Ice Melee
I'm not sure you can reach the S/L softcap on a FM/FA without making sacrifices that would make you fall behind some other builds in DPS.
Oh, absolutely, but it wasn't *that* bad. My build's at home, but I think the biggest sacrifice I had to make was Hasten, cuz I needed Maneuvers for the last few points. You'd likely be better off sitting at 41~42% and have Hasten, but I was on a mission. 
An Offensive Guide to Ice Melee
[ QUOTE ]
Oh, absolutely, but it wasn't *that* bad. My build's at home, but I think the biggest sacrifice I had to make was Hasten, cuz I needed Maneuvers for the last few points. You'd likely be better off sitting at 41~42% and have Hasten, but I was on a mission.
[/ QUOTE ]
I be curious to see FM/FA softcapped to all from a pure concept perspective. It's going to be rather crippling and rather expensive I imagine, if it's even possible. The only builds without +def in the secondary I've been able to softcap to all are Kat/* and BS/* because Parry/DA allow them to focus exclusively on ranged and AoE defense only. I'm not even sure it's actually possible to create a sustainable, playable Scrapper softcapped to all exclusively from pool powers and set bonuses.
MA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just curious as to what people's opinions are as to what is the best scrapper primary/secondary combination for taking down one opponent at a time.