Have i made the wrong choices?

Greetings, most powerful and ancient forum posters!

I have just started playing the game and made a scrapper.

Dark melee and Fire aura is what i chose for my first toon.

While reading through several guides/Faqs/forum posts etcetc. I noticed an utter lack of info on my chosen combo.

Not that im really interested in min-maxing everything and squeezing the highest damage numbers possible out of my character, I AM interested in a general smoothness of play.

I'd hate to find out in the latter levels that i really messed up on choice of powers to begin with, forcing me to reroll to another toon.

In short, can anyone of you forum alumni shed some light on the Dark melee / fire aura combo?

Many thanks,

Rao the almost Magnificent

You will have TWO self heals, a end recovery power, a damage aura, a small build up from the secondary and Soul Drain from the primary.

You made a great and very fun choice when you chose DM/FA.

Nothing wrong with that combo at all Rao.

/Fire is not the most survivable secondary out there but it is fine for regular gameplay. Lot's of extra damage is always good. /Fire falls behind a bit in the high end AV soloer arena but if that's not a concern to you then put your fears aside.

DM/Fire is very fun!

Thanks a bunch for the ultra fast and most of all reassuring replies!

Can't wait to get home and play some more.

Keep in mind that even if you do mess up you can do a respec mission which will allow you to choose the powers all over again. You cannot change your primary and secondary, but you can reselect every power you have taken and the enhancements as well. You dont have to reroll the character.

Enjoy your dark/firey goodness....

I have a DM/Fire,
and I can tell you it is a blast to play.
Its got everything.
High single target damage, a damage aura, a cone attack, Burn (for damage and mitigation) it scatters bad guys like roaches which is Fun and can give you time to heal.
It is kind of like regen in that your surviveability centers around your heals more than your resists.
Its very active, very fun and puts out a ton of damage.
I suggest (at least in the early levels) you take Air Superiority.
It is a really effective form of mitigation.
Used properly it can keep you in a fight while every one else faceplants.
It is a great tool to use while you slot your resists and heals.
another thing siphon life does wikkid damage while healing you so dont neglect to slot it.

You can never make a wrong choice after selecting the "Scrapper" button!!!!
Some might think the only way to make a wrong choice is NOT to select the Scrapper button! (or as I refer it.. the instant "AWESOME" button!)

Welcome to the game.... DM/Fire is a fine choice... you can go as far as you want with great success. Some of the discussions we have here in this forums that comparing powersets and builds at high high end scenarios are very unrepresentative of the game in general. Frequently, we're literally talking about the difference between being able to solo or not solo less then 10 NPCs in the whole game.

Good luck and have fun. Come back and share your expriences. We love hearing about someone else falling in love with the game for the first time.

I would suggest downloading Mid's and playing around with a build and posting it up. Make sure to specify what you want out of it.

DM Fire sounds like a great combo. team with a good tank and you wont even get hit while outputting tons of damage.

Just remember, Dark has a great secondary effect, -acc, make sure have all the mobs covered.

Maybe Umbral will come along and post a couple of builds. He does some good stuff. Don't worry about endgame stuff right now. enjoy the game as it was originally intended. Then you can explore IOs. Basically you will want to get level 25 or 35 generic IOs to get you through. sets can come later.

What server are you on? I wouldn't mind crafting you some IOs to get you going.

DM/Fire is incredible. Absolutely incredible, just so much fun to play. You will be constantly clicking things and adjusting your play as you mow down hordes upon hordes of enemies. It's really interactive and very devastating.

I've got a levle 50 DM/Fire and I love her to bits. And even with a weird build she just kicks butt. Her top end performance against hard targets isn't as good as some of my other scrappers, but she performs admirably when in a sea of enemies.

Sit back and enjoy the ride. Brace yourself for when you hit 30 and beyond, because that's when the turbo really kicks in.

Here's a top tier IO build that I made (and recently tweaked to make the endurance problem a bit less problematic, especially against a single target). It should be pretty amazing on both the AoE and ST damage front simply because of Soul Drain feeding Blazing Aura and DC/Consume coming up every minute for additional AoE beatery (which you'll probably want to use at every opportunity since I eschewed Stamina for more +rech). It'll definitely be a decent farmer and might be able to take out a few AVs (too lazy to calculate end sustainability on a single target atm, but it should be fine, especially if you turn off Blazing Aura).

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Magic Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Dark Melee
Secondary Power Set: Fiery Aura
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Concealment
Ancillary Pool: Body Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Smite -- Mako-Acc/Dmg(A), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Mako-Dmg/Rchg(3), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(5), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(5), Mako-Dam%(7)
Level 1: Fire Shield -- ImpArm-ResDam(A), ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx(7), ImpArm-EndRdx/Rchg(9), ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(9)
Level 2: Shadow Maul -- Armgdn-Dmg/Rchg(A), Armgdn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(11), Armgdn-Acc/Rchg(11), Armgdn-Dmg/EndRdx(13), Armgdn-Dam%(13)
Level 4: Healing Flames -- Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx(A), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(15), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(15), Dct'dW-Heal(17), Dct'dW-Rchg(17)
Level 6: Blazing Aura -- Sciroc-Acc/Dmg(A), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx(19), Sciroc-Dmg/Rchg(19), Sciroc-Acc/Rchg(21), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(21), Sciroc-Dam%(23)
Level 8: Siphon Life -- T'Death-Acc/Dmg(A), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx(23), T'Death-Dmg/Rchg(25), T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(25), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(27), T'Death-Dam%(27)
Level 10: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), Zephyr-Travel(31), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(31), Zephyr-ResKB(31)
Level 12: Temperature Protection -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A)
Level 14: Super Jump -- Zephyr-Travel(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(29), Zephyr-ResKB(29)
Level 16: Plasma Shield -- ImpArm-ResDam(A), ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx(34), ImpArm-EndRdx/Rchg(34), ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(36)
Level 18: Dark Consumption -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(36), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(36), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(37), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(37), Oblit-%Dam(37)
Level 20: Consume -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(39), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(39), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(39), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(40), Oblit-%Dam(40)
Level 22: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(40), RechRdx-I(42)
Level 24: Boxing -- Stpfy-Acc/Rchg(A), Stpfy-EndRdx/Stun(46), Stpfy-Acc/EndRdx(48), Stpfy-Stun/Rng(50), Stpfy-Acc/Stun/Rchg(50), Stpfy-KB%(50)
Level 26: Soul Drain -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(42), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(42), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(43), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(43), Oblit-%Dam(43)
Level 28: Tough -- RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(A), RctvArm-ResDam/Rchg(45), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(45), RctvArm-ResDam(45)
Level 30: Weave -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(46)
Level 32: Midnight Grasp -- Hectmb-Dmg/Rchg(A), Hectmb-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), Hectmb-Acc/Rchg(33), Hectmb-Dmg/EndRdx(33), Hectmb-Dam%(34)
Level 35: Fiery Embrace -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(46)
Level 38: Super Speed -- Zephyr-Travel(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(48), Zephyr-ResKB(48)
Level 41: Grant Invisibility -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 44: Stealth -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 47: Rise of the Phoenix -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 49: Conserve Power -- RechRdx-I(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Critical Hit



Here's a decent leveling build (though you should probably ignore the assigned levels since I did the progression ignorant of that). Dark Consumption and Consume are way more powerful than Stamina except against single targets, which is why they're in the build first. It's got Shadow Punch for lower recharge attack string goodness. Acrobatics which means you don't have to buy a KB protection IO.

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Magic Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Dark Melee
Secondary Power Set: Fiery Aura
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fighting

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Shadow Punch -- Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(3), Dmg-I(3), Dmg-I(5), RechRdx-I(5), RechRdx-I(7)
Level 1: Fire Shield -- ResDam-I(A), ResDam-I(7), ResDam-I(9), EndRdx-I(9), EndRdx-I(43)
Level 2: Smite -- Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(11), Dmg-I(11), Dmg-I(13), RechRdx-I(13), RechRdx-I(15)
Level 4: Shadow Maul -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(15), Dmg-I(17), Dmg-I(17), Dmg-I(19), RechRdx-I(50)
Level 6: Healing Flames -- Heal-I(A), Heal-I(19), Heal-I(21), RechRdx-I(21), RechRdx-I(23), RechRdx-I(23)
Level 8: Siphon Life -- Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(25), Dmg-I(25), Dmg-I(27), RechRdx-I(27), RechRdx-I(29)
Level 10: Combat Jumping -- DefBuff-I(A)
Level 12: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 14: Super Jump -- Jump-I(A)
Level 16: Plasma Shield -- ResDam-I(A), ResDam-I(29), ResDam-I(31), EndRdx-I(31), EndRdx-I(43)
Level 18: Dark Consumption -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(31), RechRdx-I(33), Acc-I(46)
Level 20: Consume -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(33), RechRdx-I(33), Acc-I(46)
Level 22: Acrobatics -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(46)
Level 24: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(34), RechRdx-I(34)
Level 26: Soul Drain -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(34), RechRdx-I(36), Acc-I(36)
Level 28: Blazing Aura -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(36), Dmg-I(37), Dmg-I(37), EndRdx-I(37), EndRdx-I(43)
Level 30: Health -- Heal-I(A)
Level 32: Midnight Grasp -- Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(39), Dmg-I(39), Dmg-I(39), RechRdx-I(40), RechRdx-I(40)
Level 35: Fiery Embrace -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(40), RechRdx-I(42)
Level 38: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(42), EndMod-I(42)
Level 41: Boxing -- Acc-I(A)
Level 44: Tough -- ResDam-I(A), ResDam-I(45), ResDam-I(45), EndRdx-I(45), EndRdx-I(50)
Level 47: Weave -- DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(48), DefBuff-I(48), EndRdx-I(48), EndRdx-I(50)
Level 49: Temperature Protection -- ResDam-I(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Critical Hit

Datalinks appear to be broken.

I know I'm abit late to post, but I've got a DM/fire Brute who is AWESOME. I'm willing to bet that DM/fire is just as good on a scrapper.

... man, now I want to make one of these.

I'll save it for Issue 16.

I'm considering rolling DM/FA in i16, too. Vibrant purple flames with the black DM fx would look pretty cool. Kind of like a Warshade, but on fire.

However, that'll have to take a backseat to revamping my MA/SR's build.

Since we're on the subject, what would one do to increase one's DM/FA's alpha strike-surviving capability? I already have Tough. Invest in defense? Worth it or no? Can you get enough defense to matter if you're on a budget?

Wow, it seems I've really stumbled on a great community here.
It has been awhile since I've read over a page with helpful, decent posts.

At the moment, at the mighty level 12, I put up my blazing aura and wade in.
By the time im getting close to endurance problems i shut the aura down again and finish off any remaining badguys. So far it is working like a charm, but im trying to slot blazing aura with endurance reduction thingies instead of damage to try and keep endurance cost low.

Recently I've noticed I made at least one 'mistake'. I've slotted brawl while everyone I have been talking to, kind of advises against it.

All in all it has been an awesome journey so far, even though im being lazy and taking police scanner missions mostly.
The contact missions had me travelling more than actually doing superheroics, so i kinda gave up on them at the moment. I do run some from time to time when i feel like it though.

Treat Blazing Aura as an attack, and one of your best attacks. It's basically an AoE that costs about the same endurance as your single target attacks for the amount of damage done. More specifically, on a low level character, I'd be shooting for something like two accuracy, two endurance and two damage. That's a lot of slots, which you probably don't have, but that's what I'd be working towards. Endurance and accuracy come first. On paper, you'd probably even be better off stopping attacking and letting Blazing Aura do the work when you're running out of endurance, but that's probably not as much fun.

And yeah, stop slotting Brawl. Your Fire attacks are MUCH better, and worth spending a power pick on. Some day you can respec and get those Brawl slots back, but I wouldn't make it a priority, particularly since you'll probably make other mistakes as well. I tend to do one big fix everything respec in the thirties.

Yeah, all the travel for the contacts can be quite annoying, particularly before you get a travel power. But if you've mostly been running police scanner missions, you probably have two temporary travel powers already. Speaking of which, I generally just use those until I'm in the thirties as well. A real travel power is better, but not so much better that I delay any yummy powers that are available in my primary, secondary and pools.