Yes it is possible, it will be expensive, purples don't help you softcap.
There should be plenty of shield guides around as to how to do it.
It's true. This game is NOT rocket surgery. - BillZBubba
As Minotaur says, purples aren't for softcapping. I don't think any purple sets give defensive bonuses. And there are certainly guides out there.
Softcapping, or nearly softcapping, by the mid to late 30s is certainly possible. Basically, if you six-slot your attacks with sets that provide defensive bonuses, you're going to be in good shape. If you can work Weave into your build, it will help, or you can go the Maneuvers/Tactics route from Leadership. I prefer the latter, as I like to six slot Tactics with the Gaussian set, but everyone has their own preferences.
Here are some of the sets you want to look at:
Multi-Strike -- Cheap, and usually in pretty good supply. Gives 1.875% melee, and 1.875% AOE, but the other bonuses it gives are only so-so.
Obliteration -- Much pricier than multi-strike, but also better all around. High recharge value makes it a good set for Shield Charge.
Scirocco's Dervish -- Another option for your AOEs. Gives it's AOE defense bonus with only 5 slots.
Gaussian's Fire Control -- Whether you put it in Build Up or Tactics or Focused Accuracy, the 2.5% bonus to all three positionals is huge, and the other bonuses it gives are very good. You want a set of these.
Mako's Bite -- Gets you Ranged Def, which is a little harder to find in sets than AOE or Melee.
Blessings of the Zephyr -- Slap a set of 3 of these in Combat Jumping, and another set in Super Jump and you're well on your way to capping Ranged and AOE.
Other sets, if you have the slots:
Performance Shifter -- in Stamina
Numina's -- In Health.
Edit: Forgot to mention Touch of Death. Useful if you need more Melee defense.
Another Edit: And of course, you want a Steadfast Protection Res/Def IO. Not too pricey anymore, and +3% def to all three positions. Shields has lots of convenient places to put it, too.
Lots of people might have more specific recommendations, or go about it in different ways, but these are some of the tools you have to work with.
Quote:
No purple sets available to scrappers will assist in softcapping. Coercive Persuasion gives 5% +def(ranged) with the 6 pieces. Soulbound Allegiance and Apocalypse give 5% +def(psi) with 6 pieces, but 5% +def(psi) is about as useful to softcapping as 45% +def(electrolytic).
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Originally Posted by Geveo
As Minotaur says, purples aren't for softcapping. I don't think any purple sets give defensive bonuses. And there are certainly guides out there.
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I don't suppose I could see a link to a guide how to do this? Because I am still running shy on slots needed to Soft Cap my defenses all the way until 50...
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OK, I couldn't get this thread out of my head.
I thought I'd draw up a level 40 DM/SD build that was softcapped for all three positions, just for the heck of it. I'm no expert on DM, so if the power choices and slotting are less than ideal, well, you get what you pay for. I also haven't used Mids planner for years, so I kind of stumbled through that, but I *think* I've figured out how to link a build.
I'm sure others could do better, but I at least wanted to show that it was possible. If I was really going to play this toon, I'd do some juggling, only run one set of Zephyrs, and only bother to cap my Melee, leaving the other two somewhere in the low 40s until I had the slots to beef up Maneuvers and/or CJ enough to put them at or near the cap. But the challenge was to soft cap, and so I left it this way, un-optimal as it may be.
Mids shows this as:
45.3 Melee
47.8 Ranged
45.3 AOE
though I have the enhancements set as 50s (didn't mess with Mids defaults) so real values may come in a tiny bit lower. So sue me. 
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Level 40 Magic Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Dark Melee
Secondary Power Set: Shield Defense
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Leadership
Hero Profile:
------------
Level 1: Smite
(A) Mako's Bite - Accuracy/Damage
(3) Mako's Bite - Damage/Endurance
(3) Mako's Bite - Damage/Recharge
(7) Mako's Bite - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge
(9) Mako's Bite - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
(11) Mako's Bite - Chance of Damage(Lethal)
Level 1: Deflection
(A) Defense Buff IO
(23) Defense Buff IO
(25) Defense Buff IO
Level 2: Battle Agility
(A) Defense Buff IO
(23) Defense Buff IO
(31) Defense Buff IO
Level 4: Shadow Maul
(A) Obliteration - Damage
(5) Obliteration - Accuracy/Recharge
(5) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
(7) Obliteration - Chance for Smashing Damage
(9) Obliteration - Damage/Recharge
(11) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
Level 6: True Grit
(A) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%
Level 8: Siphon Life
(A) Kinetic Combat - Accuracy/Damage
(13) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance
(13) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Recharge
(15) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
(15) Healing IO
(17) Healing IO
Level 10: Active Defense
(A) Empty
(17) Empty
Level 12: Swift
(A) Empty
Level 14: Health
(A) Empty
Level 16: Combat Jumping
(A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range
(37) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range/Endurance
(40) Blessing of the Zephyr - Knockback Reduction (4 points)
Level 18: Dark Consumption
(A) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Damage
(19) Scirocco's Dervish - Damage/Endurance
(19) Scirocco's Dervish - Damage/Recharge
(21) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Recharge
(21) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
(25) Endurance Modification IO
Level 20: Stamina
(A) Empty
Level 22: Against All Odds
(A) Empty
Level 24: Phalanx Fighting
(A) Empty
Level 26: Soul Drain
(A) Multi Strike - Accuracy/Damage
(27) Multi Strike - Damage/Endurance
(27) Multi Strike - Damage/Recharge
(29) Multi Strike - Accuracy/Endurance
(29) Multi Strike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
(31) Multi Strike - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
Level 28: Super Jump
(A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range
(31) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range/Endurance
(34) Blessing of the Zephyr - Knockback Reduction (4 points)
Level 30: Maneuvers
(A) Defense Buff IO
Level 32: Midnight Grasp
(A) Mako's Bite - Accuracy/Damage
(33) Mako's Bite - Damage/Endurance
(33) Mako's Bite - Damage/Recharge
(33) Mako's Bite - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge
(34) Mako's Bite - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
(34) Mako's Bite - Chance of Damage(Lethal)
Level 35: Shield Charge
(A) Obliteration - Damage
(36) Obliteration - Accuracy/Recharge
(36) Obliteration - Damage/Recharge
(36) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
(37) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
(37) Obliteration - Chance for Smashing Damage
Level 38: Tactics
(A) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Recharge/Endurance
(39) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge/Endurance
(39) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge
(39) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff
(40) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Chance for Build Up
(40) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Endurance
Level 41: [Empty]
Level 44: [Empty]
Level 47: [Empty]
Level 49: [Empty]
------------
Level 1: Brawl
(A) Empty
Level 1: Sprint
(A) Empty
Level 2: Rest
(A) Empty
Level 1: Critical Hit
Don't forget Red Fortune and its +2.5% to ranged - It's nearly always in my softcap builds.
A couple of those and the Zephyrs, plus Gaussian and the Steadfast unique will get you a lot of the way on ranged, then the Obliterations and a Touch of Death will cover you a lot of the way on Melee.
Consider not softcapping to AoE if you feel too constrained - on my Brute I was able to get an awful lot of +rech +regen and +acc by accepting 35% AoE defense and just softcapping to melee and ranged.
Okay, here's a question for all the build masters out there...
I'm playing a DM/Shiled Scrapper. And I would like to soft cap his defense.
BUT - here are the limitations:
As I find I don't play my level 50 characters much, I don't want to hit the soft cap at level 50, I want to hit it BEFORE level 50.
As you can guess from that, I don't want to even consider Purple sets.
So! Is it possible to hit the soft cap on a DM/Shields, using only Uncommon or Rare IO Sets, by the mid 40s at the latest?
If so, how?
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