Can I get some fighting advice to be a better scrapper?

Im running my first scrapper and he's a level 16 Dark Melee/ Willpower and so far its really fun. Im used to playing trollers so with this scrapper I feel really powerful and strong.

However playing a Dark Melee scrapper is totally different from any defender or trollers I've played, so I'd like some advice on the best ways to play when I jump into a mob. So I can be better solo and on a team.
Sometimes when I attack I second guess what Im doing wondering if theres a stronger/faster combo I can use.

Here are my powers so far:
Dark melee: Smite, Shadow Maul, Touch of Fear
Willpower: High Pain Tolerance, Mind over Body, Fast Healing, Rise to the Challenge.
Veteran powers: Sands of Mu, Blackwand.

Id like some advice on the best combos when jumping into a mob of say 3-5 enemies.

btw I only pve, I dont pvp.

thanks

o'kay, first off, GET Indomitable Will ... it's your mez protection

with that said...

DM is a Single Target beast...
the best DPS attack chain you could want in it is
Smite>Siphon Life>Smite>Midnight Grasp>repeat...,
... i like to leap into the middle of the MOBs as i'm aiming down on the bigest and get surrounded for Soul Drain and then just tear everything apart...

i never really liked the shadow maul or sands of mu or flurry too much as it just seemed to lock you into animation for too long, some people luv 'em, and take time to position themselves for best effect from them... to each their own,

i've found that SD followed by DC can be fairly decent for AoE purposes with adding in an anchilery aoe power to can work nicely, but aoe is not its strong-suit, it is capable of most anything with health recovery, endurance recovery, soft control, debuffs, ect...

being a WP is a'bit odd in that with RttC, the more enemies you have on you / the safer you are ... play to this and take out the enemies in a group from toughest to weakest, all the more fuel for RttC, SD, and DC ...

most scrappers view the taunt and self rez powers as the most skipable, ... self rez's are fairly pointless as a wakie will do the same thing (some exceptions will be DA and FA tier 9's as they provide other potent effects) and taunting is mostly a waste for a scrapper as it takes time away from doing what scrappers do best which is eliminateing the threat outright,...

all in all, the best advice i can give is just HAVE FUN

Sort of a counter-view here from a Shadow Maul-lover. If you don't have much experience with melee cones, I recommend targeting the farthest away of a closely grouped set of critters, and positioning yourself so that at least one beastie is between you and it. This method makes it much easier to visualize what is likely to get caught up in your cone. Shadow Maul is your second most damaging attack, it can nail multiple foes, and it is available from level 2. Its worth the trouble to master.

Other than that, DM is all about footwork - mainly positioning your Shadow Maul cone and your Soul Drain radius. Towards that end, I recommend taking swift and combat jumping to make your footwork easier and better.

Finally, recognize that Siphon Life packs a punch and resist the urge to only use it if your health is down. Slotted correctly (and there is a good thread on the topic that was active today in the Scrappers forum), it should be part of your normal attack chain, and not necessarily situational only.

The best advice I can think of is - as has been said - pick up Siphon Life and slot it as an attack (for now, anyways - see the "Slotting Siphon Life" thread farther down). And don't be afraid of Shadow Punch in the early levels. I know it's DM's weakest attack, but it also packs a hefty toHit debuff for a relatively small cost, and it stacks nicely with other powers and with itself.

Not to mention it's a great damage proc mule.

Powers aside, though, some general scrapping advice:

Jump the spawn. When you're on a team, and you're racing the tanker into battle, get into the habit of selecting a guy in the back of the spawn. Put him on follow and when you get to the front of the spawn, jump! You'll overshoot slightly, and come cruising back in from the opposite side from your team. If there's no tanker, this serves to turn all of the mobs around so that their backs are to the squishies, giving them one more second of breathing room, since anyone affected by a blaster's aoe's will then have to turn around to attack, and will be facing that blaster's single target attack in the face when he does. If there's a tanker, well, they won't turn, but you look cool.

More importantly, though - is the fact that the blasters will likely target the front of the spawn with their aoe's and knockback blasts, and you won't have to go chasing your prey down.

Another good tip is that when things go south - and they will - remember not to get locked down on one target. Start hitting tab and running around. Not randomly, though - don't jump out of range of your RTTC's AoE, and make sure you break line of sight with the ranged attackers (like council marksmen).

It will keep the initiative with you, as the mob will have to turn to follow you, thus breaking the rhythm of their attacks and giving you time to regen/recover/heal. It will also allow you to spread toHit debuffs around, both through your attacks and RTTC's area, and it will force ranged units into melee where you can debuff their hit points directly. Mobility=survival when the rest of the team wipes.

Another thing to remember is utilize Touch of Fear on something that might cause you trouble. Even if you're beating on it and it gets to fight back, the hefty tohit debuff is nice. Personally, I love to use it on those dang Council marksman and then go to work on his friends.

This is just a matter of personal preference, but I never even considered taking Touch of Fear. I just thought, "Why spend an attack making something scared when I can use that attack to bash it's face in?"

I respeced out of it Shadow Maul...I just groaned any time it missed and I stood there for three seconds swinging at air. Also, I found that it wasn't that great against AV's.

When I run the Posi TF and my Level 50 Dark/Willpower Scrapper is Exemped down to level 15, my attack chain is Shadow Punch-Smite-Siphon Life with some small amount of downtime or a Vet attack thrown in.

Also, I slotted Siphon Life as a straight attack and have not regretted it at all.

Just throwin' my two cents in.

I grew up on street fighter 2. E honda's 1000 hand slap and chun li's kicks where my favorite so shadow maul is a must have for me. Jump in a mob, soul drain, DC (if you have it), then shadow maul the most clustered area of the mob.

I had ToF on my DM/WP for a few levels. I got it to deal with them hard stabbing Red Cap Bosses (thanks for that tip, BrandX) then did a respec when I noticed I didn't need to use it a lot. The same with DC (didn't need it).

It all depends on your playstyle for what tactics are best. I've gotten lazy on my DM/WP now and won't run all over the place finding things to kill. So, I hit the epic pool for some range action. Fire off a shot to the middle of a mob, then go around a corner to make them all come to me. Actually, I found that herding tactic the easiest way to line the mob up in the shadow maul cone. The downside of that is the chance that you won't get as many in soul drain range.

Personally I HATE touch of fear, get smite siphon life and most of the other attacks, jump in the middle, drain l;ife and then smack'em around.

For lvl 16 you have way too many defense powers and not enough attack powers. By 16 I like to have at least a 4 attack chain. Shadow Maul, smite, siphon Life, and (power pool attack, boxing, Air Sup) of your choice.(or you can leave TOF for this slot since you have some vet attacks.)

Take Siphon Life Asap, it does great dmg and gives heal.

Always take your mez protection when its available.

So get to a trainer activate your alternate build and repick some powers. You should start seeing an improvement in survivability and attack power real soon.

Personally I like to go for my defensive powers first, but I've found that with Willpower, it's really only with a combination of all your defensive options (E.G. high level) that you really start to shine.

There's been a lot of good advice in this article already so I'll just touch on a few points I've picked up.

My current main is a DM/SR scrap. I have Shadow Maul but I don't use it in my main attack chain, but rather use it when the opprotunity to hit multiple targets arises. In the early levels, though, whatever is up is your attack chain. I wouldn't be afraid to use it. It's decent enough that using it on a single target isn't a waste.

Powers from DM that you will need to get without a doubt: Smite, Siphon life, Soul Drain, Midnight Grasp.

I personally like shadow punch as well.

You may not need dark consumption as a WP scrapper, since you'll have both Quick Recovery and Stamina (Assuming you're taking both... personally I would). That will have to be a choice you make with experience.

The only thing I would skip in Willpower is the self rez, for reasons stated above.

And since I've totally forgotten the topic... FIGHTING AS A SCRAPPER!

As a DM/WP, you're going to start your fights by pissing off as many people as you can. Take Soul Drain the second you can, and open your fights with it. It will train enemies on you, fueling your RttC, and also keeping them within striking distance. As you go up in levels, you'll probably start to find an attack chain you're comfortable with. While WP is usually a 'fire and forget' set, always have your insp tray open, and keep a few purples and greens in it. If a group looks nasty, pop a purple. If your health goes red or yellow and you're still fighting a large group, it might be time to pop a green.

The last thing to remember about WP is that Strength of Will is a PRE-EMPTIVE power. Popping it after you've engaged a group will not save you. That said, pop it as soon as it comes up and you'll be a veritable buzzsaw with no need to stop.