Mace/Shield build critique
Well... I messed with it a little. Mine has slightly lower ranged defense, I think, but much higher melee. I kept your power picks the same, but you'll have Hasten recharging more often. I also took out the defense buff SO in Phalanx and replaced it with a LotG +recharge, because that seems more efficient to me, but you can always change that back if you feel the defense added by teammates will be significant.
Also, I left a slot empty on tough in case you want to bankrupt yourself to buy the Gladiator's Armor +3% to all defense PvP IO
Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Level 50 Natural Brute
Primary Power Set: War Mace
Secondary Power Set: Shield Defense
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Speed
Villain Profile:
Level 1: Pulverize -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(3), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(11), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(19)
Level 1: Deflection -- HO:Enzym(A), HO:Enzym(5), HO:Enzym(13), HO:Enzym(15), ResDam-I(40), ResDam-I(48)
Level 2: Jawbreaker -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(3), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(7), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(17)
Level 4: True Grit -- Numna-Heal/EndRdx(A), Numna-Heal(5), RctvArm-ResDam(19), RctvArm-ResDam/Rchg(43), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(46), S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(46)
Level 6: Battle Agility -- HO:Enzym(A), HO:Enzym(7), HO:Enzym(13), HO:Enzym(17)
Level 8: Clobber -- T'Death-Acc/Dmg(A), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx(9), T'Death-Dmg/Rchg(9), T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(15), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(40), T'Death-Dam%(40)
Level 10: Active Defense -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(11)
Level 12: Combat Jumping -- HO:Enzym(A), HO:Enzym(25), HO:Enzym(39)
Level 14: Super Jump -- Jump-I(A)
Level 16: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 18: Health -- Mrcl-Rcvry+(A)
Level 20: Stamina -- P'Shift-EndMod(A), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(21), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(21), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc(43), P'Shift-Acc/Rchg(43), P'Shift-End%(46)
Level 22: Build Up -- GSFC-ToHit/Rchg(A), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(23), GSFC-Rchg/EndRdx(23), GSFC-ToHit/EndRdx(25), GSFC-Build%(39), GSFC-ToHit(39)
Level 24: Phalanx Fighting -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 26: Shatter -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(27), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(27), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(31), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34), Oblit-%Dam(50)
Level 28: Whirling Mace -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(29), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(29), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(31), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(31), Oblit-%Dam(34)
Level 30: Against All Odds -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 32: Crowd Control -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(33), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(33), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34), Oblit-%Dam(37)
Level 35: Shield Charge -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(36), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(36), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(36), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(37), Oblit-%Dam(37)
Level 38: Boxing -- Acc-I(A)
Level 41: Tough -- Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(A), Aegis-ResDam/Rchg(42), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(42), Aegis-ResDam(42), Aegis-Psi/Status(48), Empty(48)
Level 44: Weave -- HO:Enzym(A), HO:Enzym(45), HO:Enzym(45), HO:Enzym(45)
Level 47: Grant Cover -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 49: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(50), RechRdx-I(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Fury
Thanks for the input Musashi!
Money isn't too big a deal for me. This toon is already 50 and I just feel like I still have some holes. I'm definitely going to take your advice and slot the LotG +Recharge and see if I can't "break the bank" and get the Gladiator's Armor +3% to all defense PvP IO
Just wish I had a self heal for when the random number generator decides I need to be hit with 50% of the alphas thrown at me and I'm on a PUG where I don't know the skill level of my support
***Herder pops 3 consecutive Greens***
Well... I was tempted to suggest you drop Hasten and Grant Cover in order to fit Aid Self in...
I've got a Lv 41 Shield/War Mace tanker, and I don't really feel the need for Hasten on him. And since your build isn't really going for perma-hasten anyway...
But I can see where it's nice to have Shield Charge up just that much more often.
If you're married to Hasten, you could drop Jawbreaker instead. I mean, with Hasten you have a pretty tight attack chain anyway, and you'd only drop a few percent in melee defense to do it, and Aid Self would help make up for that quite a bit.
Wait... That wouldn't help because you're at 4 pools. Damn that limit. Yeah, you'd have to drop Hasten.
Some strange builds in this thread.
Defence softcap is 45% so going over that by a large amount is kinda pointless. Both builds have terrible end management and will probably run dry of end in under 30 seconds just doing single target rotations.
Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Level 50 Natural Brute
Primary Power Set: War Mace
Secondary Power Set: Shield Defense
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Speed
Ancillary Pool: Mu Mastery
Villain Profile:
Level 1: Pulverize -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Deflection -- GftotA-Def(A), GftotA-Def/EndRdx(3), GftotA-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(5), GftotA-Def/Rchg(7), S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(27)
Level 2: Jawbreaker -- T'Death-Acc/Dmg(A), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx(3), T'Death-Dmg/Rchg(5), T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(7), T'Death-Dam%(9), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(42)
Level 4: Battle Agility -- GftotA-Def(A), GftotA-Def/EndRdx(25), GftotA-Def/Rchg(27), GftotA-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(46)
Level 6: Combat Jumping -- Zephyr-Travel(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(9), Zephyr-ResKB(43)
Level 8: Clobber -- T'Death-Acc/Dmg(A), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx(11), T'Death-Dmg/Rchg(11), T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(13), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(13), T'Death-Dam%(21)
Level 10: Active Defense -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 12: True Grit -- Numna-Heal(A), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(15), ImpArm-ResDam/Rchg(17), ImpArm-ResDam(19), ImpArm-ResPsi(21), ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx(25)
Level 14: Super Jump -- Zephyr-Travel(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(15), Zephyr-ResKB(17)
Level 16: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 18: Whirling Mace -- Erad-Dmg(A), Erad-Acc/Rchg(19), Erad-Dmg/Rchg(31), Erad-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(34), Erad-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(39), Erad-%Dam(43)
Level 20: Health -- Mrcl-Rcvry+(A)
Level 22: Stamina -- P'Shift-End%(A), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc(23), P'Shift-EndMod(23), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(29), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(37)
Level 24: Phalanx Fighting -- Ksmt-ToHit+(A)
Level 26: Shatter -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(29), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(31), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(40), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(42), EndRdx-I(42)
Level 28: Boxing -- Empty(A)
Level 30: Tough -- ImpArm-ResDam(A), ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx(31), ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(40), ImpArm-EndRdx/Rchg(40)
Level 32: Crowd Control -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(33), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(33), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34), FrcFbk-Rechg%(34)
Level 35: Shield Charge -- Oblit-%Dam(A), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(36), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(36), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(36), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(37), Oblit-Dmg(37)
Level 38: Weave -- GftotA-Def(A), GftotA-Def/EndRdx(39), GftotA-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(39), GftotA-EndRdx/Rchg(43)
Level 41: Against All Odds -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 44: Mu Lightning -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(45), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(45), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(45), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(46), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(46)
Level 47: Build Up -- GSFC-ToHit(A), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg(48), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(48), GSFC-Rchg/EndRdx(48), GSFC-ToHit/EndRdx(50), GSFC-Build%(50)
Level 49: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Fury
Phalanx fighting provides 3.75% personal +def as base which will softcap range and melee def. AoE is about 1% short (but AoE isn't as important as the other two). Net end return of 2.71 combined with End in Shatter means a fully sustainable single target rotation. Warmace is, IMHO, the strongest all round melee set for Brutes. Its got killer ST and AoE damage, its main weakness is its massive end use. Counter that and your golden.
Note that there is a Kismet +hit unique in Phalanx Fighting which puts all melee strikes to 150-170% accuracy.
The +recharge proc is a no brainer in crowd control since is basically Footstomp with 180 (instead of 360) but with more damage and 12 second CD.
The soft cap is only meaningful if you're fighting even con enemies. Anything above your level will be hitting you more than 5% of the time if you're only soft capped.
AVs your level get a 50% boost, so if you want to tank AVs you basically want every scrap of defense you can get, well above 45%. The same goes for +4 or +5 bosses that everyone wants to farm nowadays.
The OP said his primary concern is PvE survivability, so I pushed his melee defense to as high a level as possible. I also disagree that AoE defense is the least important, because in my experience when tanking a big bad, you will be taking damage from melee primarily, but he will probably drop AoE attacks on you as well. Whereas ranged attacks will be the least common thing for you to worry about, and also the thing that generally does the least damage.
Max_Zero,
Thanks for taking the time to post that build. I am surprised that you stated the builds were wierd. If they are, that's my fault since Paladin was using my original power choices...which was great since I liked the choices I had made and he showed me a few things with the same build to wring out a few improvements.
I actually find your build strange in some of the power choices. 1st...that build doesn't even hit soft cap for any defense type...not very surviveable in my opinion. 2nd...Mu Lightning? Not sure where the benefit in that is? Hoping you see something there I am missing and can enlighten me
As for my Endurance, well...I'm almost ALWAYS with a /kin (not hard to find a couple LFT and have a few in the VG) and when I do find myself solo I'm smart enough to take some blues and keep combining as the mission progresses so I have a good amount. Honestly not too big a worry.
If my Defense is below Soft cap I'm DEAD! At that point it won't really matter if I have endurance
The soft cap is only meaningful if you're fighting even con enemies. Anything above your level will be hitting you more than 5% of the time if you're only soft capped.
AVs your level get a 50% boost, so if you want to tank AVs you basically want every scrap of defense you can get, well above 45%. The same goes for +4 or +5 bosses that everyone wants to farm nowadays. The OP said his primary concern is PvE survivability, so I pushed his melee defense to as high a level as possible. I also disagree that AoE defense is the least important, because in my experience when tanking a big bad, you will be taking damage from melee primarily, but he will probably drop AoE attacks on you as well. Whereas ranged attacks will be the least common thing for you to worry about, and also the thing that generally does the least damage. |
You might want to read about defense and how levels are incorporated into it.
As for range AoE is most definitely not the most dangerous. Many 'AoE' attacks are actually flagged as ranged and much of the most dangerous stuff (Ring Mistress, Sapper) are also ranged tagged. You can check for yourself at the Paragon wiki what kind of attacks enemies use.
Max_Zero,
Thanks for taking the time to post that build. I am surprised that you stated the builds were wierd. If they are, that's my fault since Paladin was using my original power choices...which was great since I liked the choices I had made and he showed me a few things with the same build to wring out a few improvements. I actually find your build strange in some of the power choices. 1st...that build doesn't even hit soft cap for any defense type...not very surviveable in my opinion. 2nd...Mu Lightning? Not sure where the benefit in that is? Hoping you see something there I am missing and can enlighten me As for my Endurance, well...I'm almost ALWAYS with a /kin (not hard to find a couple LFT and have a few in the VG) and when I do find myself solo I'm smart enough to take some blues and keep combining as the mission progresses so I have a good amount. Honestly not too big a worry. If my Defense is below Soft cap I'm DEAD! At that point it won't really matter if I have endurance |
As for end. What if no Blues drop? What if your fighting in a long boss fight and you run out of Blues?
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=185167
You might want to read about defense and how levels are incorporated into it. As for range AoE is most definitely not the most dangerous. Many 'AoE' attacks are actually flagged as ranged and much of the most dangerous stuff (Ring Mistress, Sapper) are also ranged tagged. You can check for yourself at the Paragon wiki what kind of attacks enemies use. |
I have played my brutes at lower than soft cap and at soft cap and over soft cap and at or over has always had better results. Just been my experience.
That was a GREAT thread!
In my post I didn't activate Phalanx defence because Mids puts the wrong value in. Phalanx adds 3.75% to all 3 positional at all times. I wrote that in my post. Mu Lightning is a decent attack in a chain but its mainly for the set bonuses (Thunderstrike is very good for range defense).
As for end. What if no Blues drop? What if your fighting in a long boss fight and you run out of Blues? |
I didn't know Mid's numbers for Phalanx Fighting were wrong....CRAP!
It's pretty easy to fix Phalanx in mids... Just go into the database editor and change the minimum scaling number to zero.
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=185167
You might want to read about defense and how levels are incorporated into it. As for range AoE is most definitely not the most dangerous. Many 'AoE' attacks are actually flagged as ranged and much of the most dangerous stuff (Ring Mistress, Sapper) are also ranged tagged. You can check for yourself at the Paragon wiki what kind of attacks enemies use. |
Gang,
Would love some help maxing this build....anywhere anyone can suggest improvement would be most helpful!
I am concentrating on PvE survivability...
Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Level 50 Natural Brute
Primary Power Set: War Mace
Secondary Power Set: Shield Defense
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Speed
Villain Profile:
------------
Level 1: Pulverize KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(3), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(11), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(19), KntkC'bat-Knock%(48)
Level 1: Deflection RedFtn-Def/Rchg(A), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(5), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(13), RedFtn-EndRdx(15), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(25), RedFtn-Def(43)
Level 2: Jawbreaker T'Death-Acc/Dmg(A), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx(3), T'Death-Dmg/Rchg(7), T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(17), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(39), T'Death-Dam%(40)
Level 4: True Grit Numna-Heal/EndRdx(A), Numna-Heal(5), RctvArm-ResDam(19), RctvArm-ResDam/Rchg(43), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(46), S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(46)
Level 6: Battle Agility RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(A), RedFtn-EndRdx(7), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(13), RedFtn-Def(17), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(25), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(43)
Level 8: Clobber T'Death-Acc/Dmg(A), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx(9), T'Death-Dmg/Rchg(9), T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(15), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(40), T'Death-Dam%(40)
Level 10: Active Defense RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(11)
Level 12: Combat Jumping Winter-RunSpd/Jump/Fly/Rng/EndRdx(A)
Level 14: Super Jump Jump-I(A)
Level 16: Swift Run-I(A)
Level 18: Health Mrcl-Rcvry+(A)
Level 20: Stamina P'Shift-EndMod(A), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(21), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(21), P'Shift-End%(50)
Level 22: Build Up GSFC-ToHit/Rchg(A), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(23), GSFC-Rchg/EndRdx(23), GSFC-Build%(39), GSFC-ToHit(39), GSFC-ToHit/EndRdx(50)
Level 24: Phalanx Fighting DefBuff(A)
Level 26: Shatter Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(27), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(27), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(31), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34), Oblit-%Dam(50)
Level 28: Whirling Mace M'Strk-Acc/Dmg(A), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx(29), M'Strk-Dmg/Rchg(29), M'Strk-Acc/EndRdx(31), M'Strk-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(31), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34)
Level 30: Against All Odds EndRdx-I(A)
Level 32: Crowd Control Sciroc-Acc/Dmg(A), Sciroc-Dmg/Rchg(33), Sciroc-Acc/Rchg(33), Sciroc-Dam%(33), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx(34), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(37)
Level 35: Shield Charge Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(36), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(36), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(36), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(37), Oblit-%Dam(37)
Level 38: Boxing Acc-I(A)
Level 41: Tough Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(A), Aegis-ResDam/Rchg(42), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(42), Aegis-ResDam(42), Aegis-Psi/Status(48)
Level 44: Weave RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(45), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(45), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(45), RedFtn-Def(46), RedFtn-EndRdx(48)
Level 47: Grant Cover EndRdx-I(A)
Level 49: Hasten RechRdx-I(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest Empty(A)
Level 1: Fury
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Thanks for the help and constrructive feedback!!