Quote:
It depends on what you're giving up. If it's a choice between 29% +def with excellent damage and 40% +def with excellent damage and they both cost the same, you'd be stupid to go without the 40% +def version. Normally, it's a question of cost since you'll generally have the same degree of damage, so the more important question is how much you want to spend (and why are you stopping at 40%? 45% would be much better because it's functionally double the survivability of 40%).|
Originally Posted by EU_Damz
Currently building my AR/NRG blaster to be a pure ranged killing machine. At the moment my ranged def for him is roughly 29% but i know i can squeeze another 10% or more into him, my question is . . . . . is 29% OK for pve and worth investing into other sets or will going for 40% ranged def be the better option?
[picked the elec mastery since i want to have capped resis against EBs while also having low risk of being hit in first place] |
29% +def will do you fine for most content. If you really want to be a beast though, you'd best aim high.
We'd need to see more of your build to see what you'd be sacrificing in exchange for the extra defense. As is, you'd be able to pop some insps for the really nasty encounters, but higher is always nice. There are other bonuses that you'd want as well though, like recharge, so the opportunity cost may be a bit too steep for your liking; if so, just try to get up to 32% or so, where a small luck would take you up to 45%.
Rule number six of an empathy defender is NEVER underestimate a blaster's ability to die. I don't care if he has CM, Fort, both RAs, bubbles (both FF and Sonic), and is fighting next to a Storm defender with hurricane on. If there is a way to die in that situation, the blaster will find it.
Quote:
Ar/dev really doesn't need high ranged defense. Time, trip mines, and control are your friends. You want to build your killing field and then bring the enemies into it keep them knocking around until they are done. If you try to play like other blasters you will be badly handicapped by your lack of aim and build up. |
Originally Posted by EU_Damz
Currently building my AR/NRG blaster to be a pure ranged killing machine. At the moment my ranged def for him is roughly 29% but i know i can squeeze another 10% or more into him, my question is . . . . . is 29% OK for pve and worth investing into other sets or will going for 40% ranged def be the better option?
[picked the elec mastery since i want to have capped resis against EBs while also having low risk of being hit in first place] |
That being said here is a build with capped ranged defense, 31% global recharge bonus and 66% accuracy.
Code:
| Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;1400;694;1388;HEX;| |78DAA594CB4F135114C66FA1B594B6948A5028A5B408052C2D74E723D1F84043020| |941E34A6D8632964926A56907232B89D1B871ADA0C1577C2E7CBF62FC4FF42F1075| |E97353CF39DF6D75EF04BE5FE7DEEFCCF97A73A633670F05945ADDA75CC183B651A| |DE60F903A66C5336314AD82F22AA5627A293F67948AE642767FB56A2CDB4E7ECE3A| |6D9B91FAE6D1E57279A9E2648F180B45D3A986A74A8B66C52C39D9FA87C0ECD2929| |D9D368DB2552AE2E6B0E594CC6AD58F1BDB2A2E3A61F93C553A6355AD79CBB69C95| |C864D92A64276DB3E054AC8261E767A4E14A37451BA5FF2155BF6A1EB541C8A9A61| |BC04D81FB16705BB0E58EE0DCBF55575CB27355D0B206AC0B5AAF01D70529F2BB74| |950BBD02E81540AF36F46A43AF76F45A256DD655CD8FE541ED4F045B9F02CF04DB9| |E032F045D74F61E695673793E34C9D247C130AD79F13CB7F7A5B4E87A25E87E0DBC| |1144DF0A46487DDAEE833D0A7B0CF618EC71D8F94CFDB02B7F549622D42D8825571| |0510611650BED841052856A74292FAD8475ECF0A0940F022DB4D3A1773A12D801D2| |A49D3A612712C691308E8409244C20A18F1E14D10F8A20CE0EC4394F6B3DFAA47BE| |EE2B0EE09461F00F78187A87A24B840FE5EFD257AE3D2628CB44F27EA43A20C128D| |23D13812E5902843DAAFEDFDB027604FC29E843D09FB45D2016D1FF8DAC4ADB67F0| |13E039B82CC27C1A5C694D73C4398BA14A62E85A94B61EA863175C398BA351AB911| |5D35F20DDFF7BB60EC07F013F825C8FC16AC53555A9F6D9A0FB94FE5F6D29DBB59F| |9E9D8B37A0AB238F6711CFB26FD844CE89D899C4C6F2E2D88B91BAF19FDF17C4CBB| |EBEF10ADF8A47CD6DD78AB944B4CC9BFA6FFBADE05EAED7D73ADA4C75866598EB39| |C6039C9728AC560996729B0D4DE37AA433B39D02E96DD2C7B582EB3C9CBAF8A9F25| |C01264696309B1B4B374B074B1445936586A7F00C36510E0| |-------------------------------------------------------------------|
If you're going for ranged defense, every little bit counts. A lot. Read up on it here.
Below is a rather expensive pure ranger build has above soft capped ranged defense at 46.3% (which should help a bit vs. higher conned opponents). Only weakness as I see it, is that I found no room for Hasten which will lower your DPS somewhat, but global recharge is quite good at +68.8% and you should have relatively seamless ST chains (compensate with AoEs). Of course, with a ranged AR blaster, AoE is where it's all at - and with FA recharging in only 23 secs you're gonna leave behind more casings than a Council stike team! 
Your blaster would be a tough nail to crack with extremely high ranged defense, high resistance when needed and multiple mezzes (some are immune to stun but suceptible to holds and vice versa). You'd have a bit of team support as well through Maneuvers. Hope you like.
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1,401
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
EU_Damz: Level 50 Magic Blaster
Primary Power Set: Assault Rifle
Secondary Power Set: Energy Manipulation
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Electrical Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Burst -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(3), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(5), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(5), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(7)
Level 1: Power Thrust -- ExStrk-Dmg/KB(A), ExStrk-Acc/KB(7), ExStrk-Dam%(9)
Level 2: Slug -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(9), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(11), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(11), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(13), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(13)
Level 4: Build Up -- GSFC-ToHit(A), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg(15), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(15), GSFC-Rchg/EndRdx(17), GSFC-ToHit/EndRdx(17), GSFC-Build%(19)
Level 6: Buckshot -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(19), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(21), Posi-Dmg/Rng(21), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(23)
Level 8: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), Zephyr-Travel(23), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(25)
Level 10: M30 Grenade -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(25), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(27), Posi-Dmg/Rng(27), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(29)
Level 12: Beanbag -- Stpfy-Acc/Rchg(A), Stpfy-EndRdx/Stun(29), Stpfy-Acc/EndRdx(31), Stpfy-Stun/Rng(31), Stpfy-Acc/Stun/Rchg(31), Stpfy-KB%(50)
Level 14: Super Jump -- Zephyr-Travel(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(33)
Level 16: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 18: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A)
Level 20: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(33), EndMod-I(34)
Level 22: Flamethrower -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(34), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(34), Posi-Dmg/Rng(36), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(36)
Level 24: Hover -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), Zephyr-Travel(33), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(36)
Level 26: Conserve Power -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(37)
Level 28: Ignite -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(37), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(37), Posi-Dmg/Rng(39), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(39)
Level 30: Fly -- Zephyr-Travel(A), Zephyr-ResKB(39)
Level 32: Full Auto -- Ragnrk-Dmg(A), Ragnrk-Dmg/Rchg(40), Ragnrk-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(40), Ragnrk-Acc/Rchg(40), Ragnrk-Dmg/EndRdx(42)
Level 35: Boost Range -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 38: Maneuvers -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(42), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(42), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(43), RedFtn-Def(43), RedFtn-EndRdx(43)
Level 41: Shocking Bolt -- Lock-Acc/Hold(A), Lock-Acc/Rchg(45), Lock-Rchg/Hold(45), Lock-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(45), Lock-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(46), Lock-%Hold(46)
Level 44: Charged Armor -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), HO:Ribo(46)
Level 47: Sniper Rifle -- Mantic-Acc/Dmg(A), Mantic-Dmg/EndRdx(48), Mantic-Acc/ActRdx/Rng(48), Mantic-Dmg/ActRdx/Rchg(48), Mantic-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(50)
Level 49: Surge of Power -- TtmC'tng-ResDam/Rchg(A), Aegis-ResDam/Rchg(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Dmg-I(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Clrty-Stlth(A)
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 1: Defiance
Quote:
You're wrong unless you're refering to the additional +tohit that enemies 6 levels or higher than you get (which is a bit more than "higher conned"). The only time that having defense above the softcap contributes is either when you're hit by a defense debuff (so that it acts as a buffer to keep you at or above the softcap) or when the entity attacking you has tohit buffs (which directly counteract defense on a scale of 1:1). The only time that level difference directly plays into this is when you're fighting a target that is of sufficiently high level that it gets automatic +tohit against you. Sufficiently high level is +6 or higher, at which point the entity gets an extra 5% +tohit against you for each level above the 5th that it's already above you. Combined with the fact that they're already packing a natural accuracy of 1.5*rankAcc, that little bit of def above isn't really going to do much.
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Originally Posted by Seraphael
Above soft cap should help a bit when fighting higher conned opponents.
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Thanks for clearing that up, Umbral. To clarify further, having above soft capped defenses won't even help vs. bosses, EBs and AVs (which all have higher accuracy than minions)? Even with soft capped defenses, my blaster seems to fare a lot better just using a small purple when faced with a full spawn of +3 bosses...
Defense above the soft cap helps in *exactly* two situations: when the enemies have greater than the normal 50% tohit, and when your defense is debuffed. Modifiers due to level difference (of less than +6, anyway) and enemy rank are *accuracy* modifiers, not tohit modifers, so defense above 45% has no extra effect.
Basically, the math is:
final hit chance = accuracy * clamp(base tohit + tohit buffs - defense).
The clamp() function limits the result of the expression inside the brackets to a minimum of 5% and a maximum of 95%. Almost all enemies have a base tohit of 50% and no tohit buffs, so 45% defense will reduce the expression inside the brackets to the 5% minimum. After that, there may be accuracy bonuses applied due to level difference and enemy rank, but these apply outside the clamp function and thus aren't affected by any extra defense you might have. +3 bosses will hit a defense soft capped character more often than +0 minions will, but it'll still be a small chance. However, popping a purple won't have any effect, since the inner part of the expression has already been reduced to the 5% minimum.
What you may be seeing with the packs of +3 bosses, though, is defense debuffing. If they are of a type that has guns/etc, then popping a purple will give you a nice cushion allowing you to take a couple debuffs without dropping below 45%. Builds with only ~45% and no/little debuff resistance are vulnerable to what is referred to as 'cascading defense failure', where the first hit debuffs your defense, allowing more hits, which debuff it further, and soon enough you're staring at -20% defense.
@MuonNeutrino
Student, Gamer, Altaholic, and future Astronomer.
This is what it means to be a tank!
Very enlightening indeed. Thank you very much.
So is it minions at the same level and up to +5 levels only have a 50% chance to hit you?
Sorry Nvm, found it on Paragonwiki, I think.
"Yes, winning all the time can be boring."
-Knight_Chill
"It's amazing how well you can put up with endurance issues if you hide them under a large enough pile of bodies."
-Spiritchaser speaking on Dom Revamp
Currently building my AR/NRG blaster to be a pure ranged killing machine. At the moment my ranged def for him is roughly 29% but i know i can squeeze another 10% or more into him, my question is . . . . . is 29% OK for pve and worth investing into other sets or will going for 40% ranged def be the better option?
[picked the elec mastery since i want to have capped resis against EBs while also having low risk of being hit in first place]
@Damz Find me on the global channel Union Chat. One of the best "chat channels" ingame!