Katana/Regen and the new difficulty settings. What are the limits?
I only feel qualified to comment on the IO sets question.
I would start that immediately for a lvl 34.
Usually start in the mid 20's, myself.
I've done a Rikti War Zone challenge against +6s with Katana/Regen. That's three bosses plus a handful of lieutenants and minions, all without temporary powers, inspirations, pulling, running, and so on. Linky. I tried +7s back at the time, but they tore me apart. Once you go above +5, things start getting really ugly really quickly.
So the answer is yes, Katana/Regen is capable of the same sort of insane feats as other combinations. It probably isn't the BEST combination for large mobs of seriously uplevel enemies, but it'll do just fine.
I usually wait until 50 to start on sets, but it really depends. I don't exemplar much at all, so I don't care if I lose half my power when I do. If you plan to exemplar, you might want mostly level 35 sets, for instance, in which case you could start slotting out your final build at 32.
Yes, Hasten is pretty much a requirement on a Regen. I don't personally have it, partially because I wanted my build to show that alternate approaches could still be viable, but you'll be better off with it, and I'll probably add it in on my next respec.
"That's because Werner can't do maths." - BunnyAnomaly
"Four hours in, and I was no longer making mistakes, no longer detoggling. I was a machine." - Werner
Videos of Other Stupid Scrapper Tricks
I see... I must be underestimating what I'll be capable of later on then! It's comforting to know Kat/Regen's got the potential though.
Regarding IO's, isn't it possible to have two builds now? What I might do is have one build that's strictly for high level stuff, IO'd to the gils with an entire build dedicated to max level 50 effectiveness and then the other build will be focused on SO's, two travel powers, more effectiveness at lower levels. More of a "for fun" build than a serious one.
I'm also guessing Tough and probably Weave would be part of such a build? I kinda wonder how much inf I'm looking at here for a perma DP setup, though I certainly aspire to take this Scrapper to some crazy levels. (If ANY of my characters manage to get a full purple set, it's gonna be her.)
Yep, you can have two builds, so if you wanted a top level power build and an exemplaring build, that would be fine. Just remember you need to buy everything separately for both, but of course if you just use SOs and the like, your exemplaring build will be very cheap.
Still, level 35 IOs aren't MUCH less powerful than level 50 IOs. I'd just go with one build myself.
I'd definitely pick up Tough and Weave on your all out power build.
And yeah, the influence is the bad news. Recharge, which is what Regen really wants, is one of the priciest things out there. And defense doesn't come particularly cheap either. You're probably looking at over a billion influence for a top tier build. Maybe two billion.
"That's because Werner can't do maths." - BunnyAnomaly
"Four hours in, and I was no longer making mistakes, no longer detoggling. I was a machine." - Werner
Videos of Other Stupid Scrapper Tricks
Having played katana/regen to 50, fire/SR to 50, broadsword/regen to 50 and MA/Invul to 45 (so far), I can definitely say that katana/regen is a great combo, probably my best scrapper, but it does benefit a lot from a good IO build.
I've tried the rikti challenge once and I didn't survive it, but I think if I gave it several tries I could manage it. My katana/regen is built for defense and no recharge -- I don't have Hasten either, but mostly that's served to show me why it would be a good idea to have it. ^_^ When I16 rolls around I'll probably do a respec and maybe swap out some of my defense for hasten and more recharge. I'm still debating it. At the moment I'm near 40% defense on AoE and Ranged and usually soft-capped on Melee thanks to Divine Avalanche... I'm sort of loathe to remove any of that lovely defense even if I know it will ultimately make me better. 
my lil RWZ Challenge vid
I've been testing my Kat/Regen with the new settings and have been doing pretty well in even-level missions set for 6 with no bosses. I'm probably gonna kick it up a few notches to see what the upper limit for my build is.
@Demobot
Also on Steam
Kinda wonder, what's the general opinion on Resilience for a Kat/Regen Scrapper? I can't think of what else I'd take in its place, but I'm not sure the extra s/l resist is enough to warrent a power choice... of course, I figure any resistance at all has to help somewhat.
My opinion is that it is worth having, but not worth going out of your way for. Kind of something to pick when you don't have better options, and to just leave with the default slot unless you have slots you don't know what to do with. One advantage people state for it is that you don't need a break free after a wakie, but I don't die often enough for that to make a difference to me.
"That's because Werner can't do maths." - BunnyAnomaly
"Four hours in, and I was no longer making mistakes, no longer detoggling. I was a machine." - Werner
Videos of Other Stupid Scrapper Tricks
Lemme preface this by saying I just came back to CoX because of Issue 16 and the new difficulty settings, though power customization is nice too.
My main Scrapper, and arguably my main character by this point is a level 34 Katana/Regeneration Scrapper, and it's easily been one of the most fun and powerful characters I've played. Taking her for a spin on the test server, I seemed to be able to do alright against a 4-man spawned even level Freakshow mission, yet I can't help but feel like I should be able to go further than that...
Stories of Scrappers handling seas of +2's and more have me wondering one simple question though, can Katana/Regen hit that kind of power? I know /Regen tends to cope really poorly with burst damage, and is generally bettered suited to duelist-style situations rather than mob fights, but it seems like it should be possible... truthfully, this is the furthest I've ever managed to get a Scrapper, so I'm not really sure how much my power is gonna increase from 34 to 50, or when IO sets enter the picture, but I'm a little worried that Kat/Regen is never going to be able to solo that many enemies at one time even with the awesome that is Divine Avalanche.
So I was wondering if there were any other Kat/Regen scrappers here who have managed to pull off those kinds of odds before? Or other kinds of Regen Scrappers really, though Kat or BS would seem the most relevant.
Oh and while I'm talking about the subject, about how long should I wait before I start looking into IO sets and the like? Untill 50? My knowledge of actual IO builds is pretty limited, but I know I'm gonna wanna shoot for heavy recharge for Perma dull Pain... I presume that would make Hasten a requirement too?