Super Reflexes vs Willpower

Can someone illuminate me on their experience with Willpower? I'm considering a kat/wp scrapper after I complete my bs/sr. I'm concerned that Willpower will feel stiff, tough but easier to hit. Potentially softer in some fields as it lacks considerable defense to smashing/lethal.

The recovery aspects would further lead me to believe it's like a halfway set between SR, Regen and invulnerability.

So really, any feedback or assistance would be appreciated.

/WP was an easy ride from 1-48, where my BS/WP is sitting while I'm leveling my DM/Shielder. It's layered mitigation plus and end management power make it exceptionally easy to like. Prior to getting boosted +Def from IOs, it can be overwhelmed in certain situations, but the scaling +regen in RttC works extremely well for spawn jumping, and allows you to focus on EBs/Bosses/Lts while keeping survivability high through leaving the minions alive. This will be even more survivable since you'll be using DA. Also, it's a fire and forget set without a self-heal like /SR, so using /WP shouldn't affect your playstyle much.

/WP benefits from stacking typed Def instead of the positional Def you're used to from /SR, so you're going to be looking at some different set bonuses to achieve the Def you're going to be looking for, but /WP is exceptionally strong and easily capable of AV/Pylon soloing.

Katana/anything will not feel stiff, as with Katana you should spam the heck out of Divine Avalanche to get your melee and lethal def past the cap. Only ranged exotic damage will eat at you. Carry a few def and acc insp to pop before bad craziness and your team will see you for the god you are.

Now, building off that, WP will get your healing faster than you can get from IO set bonuses. You get a second Stamina in Quick Response, and actually QR is better. They both happen at 20. You'll get the S/L resistance you'd expect. I think my cheapo plan has it around 50%. My ENFC def is around 36% with S/L 21%. It looks hokey, but works quite well with the ridiculous melee/L you can generate off your katana.

SR, and I'm planning on making one but have not done so before, is about positional defense. I love defense based things. Plus SR has lots of auto. Or lots of useful auto. If you slot it right, you'll never get hit, ever [5% in theory]. But it's the katana's DA that will do the lion's share of the work through your career.

I picked /wp because I never wanted to worry about end problems again. I run seven toggles at level 39 and even attacking as fast as possible, I always come out of a fight with full end and health. Or, I faceplant due to the Mu, Spectral Demon Lord [I think], or Shamen.

Make sure to monitor your melee def, if one of those enemies is around it might drop from 60% [yes, 15% over cap] to -30% in one second. In that case, RUN! Well, actually no, you'll die.

WP paired with Katana won't disappoint

So then it comes down to powers. Is Kat/WP a combination that mandates Divine Avalanche? Or can I focus on powers that kill?

I've come to enjoy scrapping with /SR as feel I can reasonably tackle any foe some with more attention to my inspirations than others. I don't fear Psychic attacks or large packs.

I'm looking for something I can reasonably hit x4 and x6 missions in, that doesn't falter to a particular foe or weakness.

Assuming you're going to invest some influence into your Kat/WP you won't use DA much when your build is done. I wouldn't drop it, though. There are some situations where DA gives you a chance of stopping cascading defense failure (against large spawns of Cimerorians for example). Plus it makes leveling easier and gives you the feeling of invincibility earlier.

Katana/Willpower will probably make you wonder how come your green bar or blue bar never move in any meaningful way.

I'm not sure what you mean by stiff. Yes, you'll be tough but easier to hit, though with stacked Divine Avalanche, a whole lot will miss you. That which gets through will be resisted and then healed.

While Divine Avalanche isn't technically mandated, I would absolutely take it, at the very least while leveling. It's still a decent attack. Not a great attack, but not completely sucky. Slot it as an attack and go to town. And if it were me, I'd keep it in my attack chain, probably even in a completely IO'd build, but it depends on the build. I haven't fiddled with Willpower for a while.

Without much (or any) recharge, DA rather helpfully fills in the holes in your attack chain that result in a normal Katana build. There's nothing wrong with capping yourself to melee, either. A Scrapper can't do much damage if they're dead.

When leveling, DA is an ASAP. If you're not getting DA [or Parry in BS] don't bother taking Katana.

And, as others have said, once you are capped, there's no reason to have a tool that, starting at level...I think 10...can get you to the cap on melee/lethal.

I have a quote I kept [I keep lots of crap.] This is what made me make a katana/wp.

Willpower is godly.

You can outheal most attacks, and you also have some defense and resistances to help soften blows.

Whereas with Super Reflexes, you're pretty much stuck with either dodging an attack or being hit for 100% of the damage, with no way to heal yourself outside of Aid Self

So, the more I consider it, I like the idea of Willpower over Super Reflexes. But I keep crossing the same questions when trying to plan a build.

SR pursues the soft cap. What does Willpower chase? Is it good right out of the box or should I be investing into Tough/Weave? Do I need to stack more defensive options like Combat Jumping or Hover? Do I slot RttC for healing, acc debuff or both?

I did a sample build, assuming Ninja Run for travel. But without a clearer picture I'm unsure of how to pursue those last four picks.

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My katana/wp is all about ENFC defense, and S/L resistance.

Some low level ST melee and pounding slugfest both provide 1.25% to E/N. I think it's Erad that gives 3% to the same. You need to get your resistance powers slotted with three Aegis to get your F/C. I can't remember the others, and I think it's increased perception...I can't remember the names of the powers, one that gives ENFC def.

S/L resistance is out of the box.

I would drop Sting of the Wasp and Flashing Steel but take Divine Avalanche. You should also drop Resurgence (it's not very good). Drop Swift and take Hurdle instead (much better if you plan to go with Ninja Run). Take Tough and Weave (and Boxing or Kick) from the Fighting pool, Combat Jumping from the Leaping pool if you want to max defense (after slotting CJ will provide ~3% defense) or Hasten if you want to go for max recharge and think about switching Assault with Tactics. That leaves you with two more powers to pick. If you want easy mode you could take Conserve Power and Physical Perfection which should be more than enough to go non stop even with just SOs. However, at this point I would suggest to think about IO slotting and use the last two power picks to fill gaps.

RttC is ok with minimal slotting. Don't bother to slot it for ToHitDebuff, it's not worth it. I'd add two slots to it (for 3 slots in total) and put 3 Miracle or 3 Numina there (no uniques in this power). Don't bother with +Regen much. Fast Healing + Health + RttC already covers this with conventional slotting. Try to go for +HP instead (HPT will help very much here). Add as much +Recharge as you need for your attack chain and put everything else in defense and maybe a bit in +Resistance.