Inv/Fire or SD/Fire?

I'd like some opinions between these...


I plan to team and AE alot. I don't really like to solo in any MMO.

Does /Fire have alot of AOE?



When I played this game months ago I had a SS/WP Brute, so I want to try to stay away from a similar playstyle.

Fire is the best AoE secondary set for tankers, and does very good damage. Its AoE superiority starts early, with Combustion at level 4.

The tradeoff is essentially zero control and thus no mitigation. This can be partially reversed by choice of pool powers (Air Superiority is something I'd recommend).

Shields and Invuln are both pretty good. Shields has its signature power, a quite strong attack in Shield Charge: that attack makes the set. Apart from that, it's a positional defense set --- no holes, but given the current state of the game, slotting defense bonuses as a priority is not what I'd choose to prioritize.

Invuln is one of the strongest sets for pure survival after Granite, with none of its drawbacks. It is also a fairly free to build set; most of the passive powers can be postponed until the late game without gimping yourself, and they don't eat slots like the Shield powers do either.

<《 New Colchis / Guides / Mission Architect 》>
"At what point do we say, 'You're mucking with our myths'?" - Harlan Ellison

I've seen your "first 20 Invul levels" guide, and it's awesome. I definitely intend to follow it.



However, now I'm considering waiting for Inv/Elec Melee.



I apologize for the topic. Maybe it'll help someone else deciding.

Inv/Fire is a solid combo, but will suck end like a mother until you can start IOing it. This is the big reason I quit playing mine, it was way down on my list of toons to start pouring cash into.

Shield/Fire, from what I have seen, and my experience with SD, should be just crazy as far as AoE destruction.

Inv/Elec would be decent, but end heavy as well. AoE damage will be ok, single target damage lackluster. This is from experience with /Elec on redside.

SD/Elec will be, unless they gimp the hell out of it some way, a sick combo. My gf has a Elec/SD brute and burns through mobs. The combination of Shield Charge and Lightning Rod is nice to see, and if you like he teleport type attacks, you will be in heaven. Against All Odds boosts the damage of Elec Melee to a point were it is really solid.

Fire in general isn't so bad on end, but AoE attacks are generally a lot more End heavy than the single target attacks. And Fire has two of them, Combustion and Fire Sword Circle. Plus a good bunch of toggles from Invulnerable.

I have a level 41 Invuln / fire build too .. I'll post it when I get home from work.
But, I have balanced it on group play, so less focus on damage and more focus on aggro and defense.
Which means many of my powers have End reducs in them, so they don't drop in the middle of all.
With Stamina, I have still lots of end so far.

Currently, he's just started getting into the Pyre pool, where he'll get FireBall and Melt Armor.
Maybe they'll draw some more end, I dunno.

Also, to note, only standard IO's so far, no sets.
So it should be a good comparison to an SO build.


On a sidenote though, I was very disappointed in the AoE aspect of incinerate, it doesn't work very well with a Tanker. I just consider it a single target attack. And Burning Patch is simply annoying, so I didn't take it.

As promised, my miserable build so far :
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1,401
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Anker Steadfast - Level 41: Level 42 Technology Tanker
Primary Power Set: Invulnerability
Secondary Power Set: Fiery Melee
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Pyre Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Temp Invulnerability -- ResDam-I(A), ResDam-I(3), ResDam-I(3), EndRdx-I(15), EndRdx-I(25), EndRdx-I(31)
Level 1: Scorch -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 2: Fire Sword -- Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(5), EndRdx-I(7), EndRdx-I(17)
Level 4: Combustion -- Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(5), EndRdx-I(7), EndRdx-I(17)
Level 6: Combat Jumping -- DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(39), DefBuff-I(39)
Level 8: Unyielding -- ResDam-I(A), ResDam-I(9), ResDam-I(9), EndRdx-I(15), EndRdx-I(25)
Level 10: Taunt -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(11), RechRdx-I(11)
Level 12: Dull Pain -- Heal-I(A), Heal-I(13), Heal-I(13), RechRdx-I(33), RechRdx-I(33), RechRdx-I(33)
Level 14: Super Jump -- Jump-I(A)
Level 16: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 18: Invincibility -- DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(19), DefBuff-I(19), EndRdx-I(21), EndRdx-I(21)
Level 20: Health -- Heal-I(A)
Level 22: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(23), EndMod-I(23)
Level 24: Boxing -- Dmg-I(A)
Level 26: Tough -- ResDam-I(A), ResDam-I(27), ResDam-I(27), EndRdx-I(34), EndRdx-I(36)
Level 28: Fire Sword Circle -- Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(29), Dmg-I(29), Dmg-I(37), EndRdx-I(37), EndRdx-I(37)
Level 30: Weave -- DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(31), DefBuff-I(31), EndRdx-I(40)
Level 32: Resist Physical Damage -- ResDam-I(A), ResDam-I(34), ResDam-I(34)
Level 35: Tough Hide -- DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(36), DefBuff-I(36)
Level 38: Incinerate -- Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(39), Dmg-I(40), EndRdx-I(40)
Level 41: Char -- Acc-I(A)
Level 44: [Empty]
Level 47: [Empty]
Level 49: [Empty]
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Gauntlet




And yeah, I got confused at work and thought I had that Burn patch thingy .. it happens.
As for Incinerate, I think COH disagree's with you.

The AOE it's showing is the taunt effect, or Gauntlet, of the attack. All tanker attacks show an AOE taunt effect in the detailed information.

Incinerate is most assuredly a single target attack, it will only do damage to one target. As with all tanker attacks it does taunt the mobs close by the one you actually hit, but do damage is applied to the taunt effect.

Incinerate only accepts melee damage IO sets (and taunt sets), it does not accept PBAOE sets or Targeted AOE sets.

It's true that AoE attacks will have better end/damage ratio's once there's enough targets.
But they will still drain your end faster, over time, if you can spam them.
This might explain why he saw it as an end hog.

On the upside though, they give lotsa aggro.

I think they are well worth it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Call Me Awesome The AOE it's showing is the taunt effect, or Gauntlet, of the attack. All tanker attacks show an AOE taunt effect in the detailed information.

Gah .. you are right ... how emberassing!

I'm no expert on Tanker FM, but on the build you posted you've waaay overslotted your Invul toggles for end reduction. With SOs, TI and UY don't need more than one End Red slot, and I consider putting even one in Invinc to be optional.

In general, I consider 'standard slotting' for tank attacks to be 1xAcc, 1xEndRed, 1xRchg, 3xDam, though you can of course vary that to taste. IMO, your current slotting is overslotted on end red, underslotted on damage, and could use some recharge in your longer-recharging attacks. Remember, defeating a foe with fewer, more damaging attacks is an endurance saver too!

IME, I have found Invul to be relatively easy to manage, endurance-wise, and FA isn't a particularly heavy end user AFAIK. I'd recommend starting with one end red per attack, and if you find yourself frequently running out of endurance you can add more to your most endurance-heavy attacks. Two or three-slotting end red in a normal shield toggle--as opposed to a high end damage aura--has a very small return on investment and is not usually recommended.

It's been my experience that the Amount of damage I do is largely irellevant if the blasters can unload fully.
That's why I have so much End Reduction in my build, so I keep going between throng of MOBs to the next Throng of MOBs with no downtime at all.

Basically, I enter the map -> Endless slaughter - I exit the map
No pauses, straight up killing.

I have considered respeccing eventually, and put less end reduc in it.
But that will also be dependant on how many slots the different IO sets will need later on.

As for the Recharge, I thought so as well to begin with, but I can pretty much run a constant chain already, AoE - Taunt - Aoe - Taunt, with a single target attack in here and there. And considering I will get FireBall and Melt Armor too, I don't think Recharge is a problem.

Again, I aim for aggro on as many foes as possibly, not going for Damage as such.

In my opinion my Tankers 3 most important areas are :
- Self Survival
- Aggro
- Team Survival

The irony of it all, offcourse, is that I also have a Fire Blaster, which is always impatiently waiting for it's next AoE attack to recharge .. sespite Recharge reductions and Hasten.

Hmm, unless you're just standing there using Taunt, using your attacks is an important part of controlling aggro.

And keep in mind that it doesn't take any more endurance to hit a foe with a fully slotted, damaging attack that it does a poorly slotted one. You just get better results and contribute more to your team.