Will Power and Regeneration a great with SOs. I haven't tried Shield Defense long enough to be sure how it fairs and SR does pretty well with SO's but is very late blooming. If I had to make a scrapper starting from fresh I'd probably say make a Katana/Regeneration or Dark Melee/Regeneration.
Virtue: @Santorican
Dark/Shield Build Thread
My Broad Sword/Shield Defense did great with SOs, and I'm guessing that Dark Melee/Shield Defense would be OK. But I'd probably suggest Dark Melee/Willpower. I think it'll help you easily get back into the swing of things.
Regen is still good with SOs, particularly with Katana or Broad Sword, but it gets best with tons of recharge, and recharge gets really expensive.
"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
Hmm, I think I'll go for DM/WP. WP seems like it won't be too jarringly different from Regen aside from the lack of panic buttons, but DM's healing can offset that.
As much as I hate to ask, does anyone have any sample builds? It's been so long that I really don't remember how to slot effectively and I'm not really sure how I'll need to approach endurance issues considering how many options DM/WP would have.
Some good suggestions already.
WP is great with just SOs. In fact, out of all the secondaries, it probably benefits the least from IOs, though capped smash/lethal defense on top of WP's resistances and regen is sexy.
DM works pretty well with secondaries w/o a self heal. So SR and shield defense works well with it.
Another option is to grab a sword primary, either broadsword and/or katana and grab a defense based secondary (SR, Shield Defense, even WP) and grab parry (or divine avalanche) to stack melee/lethal defense.
I've found Willpower to be surprisingly different from Regen, despite the surface similarities. Regen seems to me to be the most active secondary, and Willpower the least active (just toggle up and go).
"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
Spines/Willpower. Have both QR and Stamina, take Fighting pool and Caltrops. This will become financially self-sufficient very easily, is very fast and easy to level, and is my character of choice for farming MA missions or working the Roman wall.
<《 New Colchis / Guides / Mission Architect 》>
"At what point do we say, 'You're mucking with our myths'?" - Harlan Ellison
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My highest level character is a level 30 Claws/Regen and I gave the meager inf I had away when I left, so I am essentially starting fresh.
With that being said, what are some combinations that won't make me rip my hair out if I can only afford SOs?
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Learn the market and solo as much as you can stand since that will help increase your earning rate as well. Once you hit 32, start crafting level 35 common IOs since you won't have to sub those out. Really, you already have a level 30 Claws/regen and the best way to earn influ is to still rock out with your highest guy unless you have somebody somewhat close that solos faster. My Claws/regen is 47 and sporting nothing but common IOs and I have yet to meet a EB that makes me go, "Ok, I can't get past that one." Also, depending on what TF badges you have, you might want to go back and do some lower level TFs so you can horde up some influ without gaining exp. The badges that help get the TF Commander accolade are always nice as well. Depending on what server you play on, other players(waves) might be willing to help you out to get going again.
Now, if you hate playing Claws/regen, then that's different, but really any build you like to play works. For me most of my influ is made via the market these days anyway. Most of the influ I get from doing missions doesn't really happen until the level 45+ range. At that point it's hard not to let it rain in since level 50 common IO recipes sell for so much at stores. You can either take the Claws/regen and hammer out those 15 levels, or grab a new guy and hammer out 45 levels. I know what I would pick. 
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I'm a returning player who left the game sometime shortly after Issue 7 or so. I've been trying to bring myself up to speed again by lurking the forums, but many posts I see refer to so-and-so build being powerful if you have a zillion inf to sink into it.
My highest level character is a level 30 Claws/Regen and I gave the meager inf I had away when I left, so I am essentially starting fresh.
With that being said, what are some combinations that won't make me rip my hair out if I can only afford SOs?
I'd like to use either DM, DB, or claws as a primary since I have an irrational hatred of Build Up, but I'm honestly at a loss for secondaries... Back when I played, you were either Regen, DA, or possibly SR. Now, I don't even see mention of Regen in any posts and there's WP and SD to consider now.
Any help would be appreciated.
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People were good without IO sets.
you don't need them to play the game
Characters!:
Pinny - Scrapper
Shadewing - Defender
@Pinny
Broadsword/Willpower and Katana/Willpower are both ridiculously great combos with nutty survivability with just SOs. The only two mobs that actually ever gave me trouble were Overseers (which I only really fought because I wanted the katana model) and Mu Guardians (because of EM Pulse).
dm/sr is cheap to soft cap with tough weave it is dirt cheap compared to most with some modest invest you can solo av's and DM did get buffs and if you get the money you can do even more once you do get the high end IO's
Pinnacle
Langar Thurs-Katana/SR 50; Hejtmane-DM/DA 50
Rogue Spear-Spines/DA 50; Hypnosis-Ill/Rad 50
Sir Thomas Theroux-DM/SR 50; Melted Copper-Fire/Shield 50
Byzantine Warrior-DB/ELA 50;Blade Tempo-50 DB/EA
If you play the game you will have no problem keeping your self full on DO's/SO's till 25 then start with standard IO's at lvl 25..
Just get SO's to fill what you cant get in IO's and slowly work on getting standard IO.. When your 50 you will have enough money saved up to start working on your IO sets..
That and running AE missions to level you can get all your enhancements for 0 infamy just use your tickets...
I keep SWEARING to do another sample character for semibroke, midlevel IO use.
In the meantime:
Spend less, get more with this:
https://boards.cityofheroes.com/showflat...&PHPSESSID=
Earn more with these:
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showflat....=1#Post11108689
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showflat....&PHPSESSID=
Note one big thing in that last guide: the difference betwen play time and wall-clock time. If you place a bid, log out, and come back the next afternoon, you've got like 18 hours of wall-clock time and zero minutes of playtime.
Oh, one general guide to the market that will help:
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showf...1#Post10399961
With the market: SPECIFICS change. Hamidon goo was 4 million, then it was 200K, then it was a million. Res/Def IO's went from 60K to several million. Uncommon salvage is no longer vendor trash. GENERAL RULES are pretty constant. Leave bids for a while and you can get bargains. Check the price of the recipe + ingredients + crafting versus the cost of the crafted item. There's usually more supply of the top-level recipe, but it usually costs a LOT more than any other level.
Mini-guides: Force Field Defenders, Blasters, Market Self-Defense, Frankenslotting.
So you think you're a hero, huh.
@Boltcutter in game.
[ QUOTE ]
Broadsword/Willpower and Katana/Willpower are both ridiculously great combos with nutty survivability with just SOs. The only two mobs that actually ever gave me trouble were Overseers (which I only really fought because I wanted the katana model) and Mu Guardians (because of EM Pulse).
[/ QUOTE ]I've found the following problem with regen: spike damage. I can handle maybe 12 crey tanks no worries. But one boss or the wrong batch of lieuts with heavy burst and I go splat faster than my heals can compensate. No amount of recharge matters. Defense and resist sets slow the rate of incoming damage, regen either soaks it or dies.
"Hmm, I guess I'm not as omniscient as I thought" -Gavin Runeblade.
I can be found, outside of paragon city here.
Thank you everyone at Paragon and on Virtue. When the lights go out in November, you'll find me on Razor Bunny.
Yeah, sucks you can't fight 15 mobs solo 
[ QUOTE ]
Broadsword/Willpower and Katana/Willpower are both ridiculously great combos with nutty survivability with just SOs. The only two mobs that actually ever gave me trouble were Overseers (which I only really fought because I wanted the katana model) and Mu Guardians (because of EM Pulse).
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I'll second this.
I've got a BS/WP at 50, and am just getting into IO sets.
He can tank decent sized groups so long as Parry is kept up with. You'll run into very, very little that will present a problem. The aforementioned Overseers are annoying. Also, Toxic damage can get to you, if you're not careful.
Other than that, toggle up and cut things down!
Simple. And all it takes is SOs.
[ QUOTE ]
I'm a returning player who left the game sometime shortly after Issue 7 or so. I've been trying to bring myself up to speed again by lurking the forums, but many posts I see refer to so-and-so build being powerful if you have a zillion inf to sink into it.
My highest level character is a level 30 Claws/Regen and I gave the meager inf I had away when I left, so I am essentially starting fresh.
With that being said, what are some combinations that won't make me rip my hair out if I can only afford SOs?
I'd like to use either DM, DB, or claws as a primary since I have an irrational hatred of Build Up, but I'm honestly at a loss for secondaries... Back when I played, you were either Regen, DA, or possibly SR. Now, I don't even see mention of Regen in any posts and there's WP and SD to consider now.
Any help would be appreciated.
[/ QUOTE ]
Play a few AE missions.
Spend tickets on 41-50 common salvage (or 20-40 arcane common salvage; alchemical silver). Sell for 100K each, more or less.
Buy level 25-35 IO's when you hit the right level for ~100-200k each. Never replace till 50.
/shrug
Just wanted to drop a quick thank you to everyone.
Got my DM/WP to level twenty and fitted with DO's from tickets. Now that I have Quick Recovery, things are looking much brighter (I had forgotten how terrible the late teens were on the endurance bar). I've also got a meager 1.5m inf in the bank from toying around with Wentworth's.
I am scrapping happily.
If you want more quick, easy Inf. then just turn in your AE tickets for Rare salvage.
Check the market before picking which ones to get but many pieces sell in WW for 800k-1mil inf.
Although IF you have the time and patence you will get a better average return on taking the random common salvage (again check the market daily to know which ones are hot) and posting the hotter common pieces you get up for 40k-100k each.
They won't sell as fast (maybe a few hours to a week) but the overall ticket to infuence ratio should be higher.
~540 tix for ~850K inf (rare salvage)
~8 tix for ~30k inf (common salvage + high sell price + patience)
Inf is 'cheap' right now.
Random bronze rolls can also produce you quite a nice chunk of change, on occasion. They're relatively cheap (as far as tickets goes) and more than make up their worth when you get Doctored Wounds/Numinas/Crushing Impacts/etc.
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Random bronze rolls can also produce you quite a nice chunk of change, on occasion. They're relatively cheap (as far as tickets goes) and more than make up their worth when you get Doctored Wounds/Numinas/Crushing Impacts/etc.
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And don't forget the other goodies you get from Bronze Rolls. Both Karma and Steadfast Knockback Protection, Steadfast defense to all, Kismet Accuracy, Regen Tissue Plus Recovery, and my Blaster even got a Performance Shifter Endurance Proc in a roll.....which surprised me because I did not know that particular Performance Shifter was included in the roll 
I stared at the screen, blinked, blinked, a second time, then let out such a loud whoop that I woke up the cat who was snoozing next to the keyboard
Now, I find I might be becoming a ticketaholic
So don't wait for heroes, do it yourself
You've got the power
winners are losers
who got up and gave it just one more try
***Dennis DeYoung
Seriously most sets are very nice without IOs anyway.
It's just that IOs help fill some gaps better.
Seriously though, there are only three IOs I ever get prior to hitting 50 - The Performance Shifter Proc, The Kismet Unique, The Steadfast Unique. And they're all pretty cheap at low levels, and the last two are in the bronze recipe pool at AE (even cheaper with merits)
everything else is entirely optional when you hit 50.
I will say though, don't pick Shields, it's expensive to lift it from just okay to godly. likewise Dark Armor is only okay with a few good IOs thrown in (has End issues and the KB hole)
Meanwhile WP, Regen, Inv & SR are all very nice and have no gaps straight out of the box.
And all the primaries are good. Though FM, DM & Claws could be better options for their well-rounded mix of powers (and the exotic damage type for the first two which helps them shine in the later game)
Seriously though, I don't think you could go too wrong, they're all good.
I'm a returning player who left the game sometime shortly after Issue 7 or so. I've been trying to bring myself up to speed again by lurking the forums, but many posts I see refer to so-and-so build being powerful if you have a zillion inf to sink into it.
My highest level character is a level 30 Claws/Regen and I gave the meager inf I had away when I left, so I am essentially starting fresh.
With that being said, what are some combinations that won't make me rip my hair out if I can only afford SOs?
I'd like to use either DM, DB, or claws as a primary since I have an irrational hatred of Build Up, but I'm honestly at a loss for secondaries... Back when I played, you were either Regen, DA, or possibly SR. Now, I don't even see mention of Regen in any posts and there's WP and SD to consider now.
Any help would be appreciated.