A Dark Melee/SR would be pretty indestructible with softcapped defs and DDR plus the heal in Siphon Life. Or a DM/Shields (more expensive), there are numerous threads about dm/shields.
/invul comes to mind also, it's the only secondary ('armor') you can reliably hold aggro besides shields, but invul would have the psi hole.
Kat/WP is an easy ride even with SOs and can solo anything but GMs with IOs (same as dark/sr and shields). Dark melee lacks AoE damage tho.
Looking at the 3 or 4 first pages of this forum you can find numerous builds with various primaries/secondaries that can deal with anything in the game.
For Max Survivability it'd probably be something like DM/WP or Kat/WP softcapped with a pile of HP and Regen.
Runner up would be a high defense DM/Inv
The best mix of incredible survivability and incredible damage output. DM/Shields. This is the one I'd likely go with because the best defense is still a good offense.
Also, soft capped SR seems (to me) way too squishy after playing a softcapped shields. 
I wouldn't even put it near the top if you are not worried about price.
My Katana/Dark Armor Scrapper is my toughest Scrapper by a wide margin in the majority of situations (see sig and vids) - until hit with enough defense debuffs. Go Dark Melee/Invulnerability if you want to be really, really impressive against smashing/lethal enemies. Katana/Willpower is also extremely survivable against most things with the right build.
"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
My vote is for soft-capped DM/Shields or DM/SR.
There is no Psi hole like in /Invul, and DM's self-heal in Siphon Life allows you to skip Aid Self and increase survivability.
Your requirements don't indicate a concern with damage, which is why I listed /SR in addition to /Shields. DM/SR does excellent damage, and both can soft-cap with 95% DDR, but if you have unlimited funds, /Shields will also greatly increase your damage output with AAO, give you more AoE with Shield Charge, and more HP with True Grit. Also, /Shields has a Taunt Aura in AAO, so if you decide that you want to Tank, you could.
My Katana/Dark Armor is way more survivable than my Dark Melee/Super Reflexes. Most of the time, anyway. Defense debuffs are kryptonite on it, and the DM/SR sails through those with no problem at all. Both are very, very solid though. I suppose if I had to go on a mission, knowing NOTHING, I'd bring the DM/SR for the most reliable survivability of what I have in my stable.
"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
How bad is that DA gonna get hit by the BotZ nerf, wern?
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I dunno about Werner's Kat/DA, but my BS/DA is getting nailed pretty hard by it. |
Originally Posted by Cyber_naut
How bad is that DA gonna get hit by the BotZ nerf, wern?
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He'll still be stupid hard to kill, but he won't be the deity that he is right now.
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Originally Posted by Dechs Kaison See, it's gems like these that make me check Claws' post history every once in a while to make sure I haven't missed anything good lately. |
Reposting from the other thread, still voting for DM/SD.
Start from DM/SR survivability, which is already high as anyone who played one can tell you.
Add about 260hp, 17% S/L/F/C/E/N res, a T9 on a fast recharge that can boost HP and res further, an AoE KD that also happens to do huge damage (SC), an aura debuffing damage (granted, it's not a lot against +lvl foes, but it's still a little plus), and complete protection to mez effects.
Then also consider you'll deal better damage, and killing speed directly relates to survivability.
Finally, you can round it up with Energy Torrent, which admittedly isn't something specific to DM/Shield, but stacks fantastically with it anyway - unless you're already hit the point where it's overkill, which might be true for weak factions even on +4/x8.
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Well, no one has said it yet, so I'll go ahead and toss Elec in there. Yes, yes, yes, I hear you all now, but the OP said he wants the best "armor". If you have the unlimited Inf to really pimp it out, an elec armor toon can give you decent resists to everything except toxic (no Invul psi hole), and you can pretty easily slot it out to get some stupid high defense as well, it's just going to cost a fortune.
Dark/Shields is the best for PvE without question
Fire/Regen is the best for PvP
Virtue: @Santorican
Dark/Shield Build Thread
I went with katana/invulnerability. thx for the input
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Why is that? I never played a SR to L50, so I have no highend experience with it. But recently I had to choose a new project and made some builds for comparision. On paper the DM/SR seems to be unkillable. (I didn't pick the */SR but rolled a classic Claws/Regen instead, even though I have played both powersets before in other combinations - probably not as survivable but something that should be a lot of fun. |
Originally Posted by Werner
My Katana/Dark Armor is way more survivable than my Dark Melee/Super Reflexes. Most of the time, anyway.
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I took energy torrent on my DM/SD and put a forcefeedback proc in it and let me tell you, this helps immensely to keep hasten, SC and SD up regularly even when taking into account the proc's suppression times. In fact I use it more frequently for the proc and mob opener then I do to supplement added aoe, though its does decent dmg after I've soul drained a mob.
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Originally Posted by Nihilii
Finally, you can round it up with Energy Torrent, which admittedly isn't something specific to DM/Shield, but stacks fantastically with it anyway - unless you're already hit the point where it's overkill, which might be true for weak factions even on +4/x8.
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Basically it depends on how you built your character. The only real problem is for those with a relatively finished build needing to make the switch. On every Dark Armor character I have, the redesigned builds are actually stronger defensively than they would have been with BotZ. |
Originally Posted by Cyber_naut
How bad is that DA gonna get hit by the BotZ nerf, wern?
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The appeal of BotZ for Dark Armor was primarily the advantage of obtaining KB protection and defense out of the same set for so few slots. This more or less pushed you into the positional defense category. Truth is, though small, Dark Armor's native defense values (CoD, Hover/CJ, and Weave) were equally effective as positional or typed. Since BotZ has lost it's appeal, I'm finding typed defense builds considerably stronger.
In the specific case of Kat/DA (or BS/DA for that matter), this is actually more true since Divine Avalanche (or Parry) was both Melee and Lethal. While players tended to focus on the Melee part, switching to S/L can be equally effective when paired with E/N.
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I have two sets, so in a sense, not bad, only a few percent. But as we all know, dropping a few percent BELOW the soft cap is BAD. I'm also getting hit whenever they decide to nerf Miracle the same way they nerfed Numina. I'll need to figure something out. Figure I can trade some stuff that isn't as critical for the critical stuff. But I'm waiting until I17 actually comes out and everything's actually nerfed and Mids' is updated and so on. And I'll enjoy what I have while I have it.
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Originally Posted by Cyber_naut
How bad is that DA gonna get hit by the BotZ nerf, wern?
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"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
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soft-capped defense|
Originally Posted by Myriad
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48% average resists (weighted by frequency of damage type)
1766 hit points (would be 1833 with task force commander)
22 HP/sec regeneration
Dark Regeneration (full heal) recharges in 12.7 seconds
Nothing hits me. If it hits me, it does half damage. Passive regeneration tops me up and handles singular big hits. Dark Regeneration puts me back at full when there are multiple big hits in a row like when an AV gets lucky. Basically, you have less than 15 seconds to kill me through soft-capped defense and 50% damage resistance. That's pretty difficult to do. It even handles most minor defense debuffs without incident since my melee and lethal defense are 55%+.
So unless there are big time defense debuffs, it stomps all over my Dark Melee/Super Reflexes. Same defense, much better resists, better heal, similar hit points, similar regeneration.
Feels awful fragile against the big time defense debuffers, though.
"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
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Aw christ, what's the nerf to the numina and miracle uniques?
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Originally Posted by Werner
I have two sets, so in a sense, not bad, only a few percent. But as we all know, dropping a few percent BELOW the soft cap is BAD. I'm also getting hit whenever they decide to nerf Miracle the same way they nerfed Numina. I'll need to figure something out. Figure I can trade some stuff that isn't as critical for the critical stuff. But I'm waiting until I17 actually comes out and everything's actually nerfed and Mids' is updated and so on. And I'll enjoy what I have while I have it.
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Ya, DA is a BEAST when it's pimped out. In groups (even with just 2 or 3 enemies), the heal alone makes you pretty invincible - pretty much a full heal every... i think i had mine recharging in 13 seconds lol.
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Originally Posted by Werner
soft-capped defense
48% average resists (weighted by frequency of damage type) 1766 hit points (would be 1833 with task force commander) 22 HP/sec regeneration Dark Regeneration (full heal) recharges in 12.7 seconds Nothing hits me. If it hits me, it does half damage. Passive regeneration tops me up and handles singular big hits. Dark Regeneration puts me back at full when there are multiple big hits in a row like when an AV gets lucky. Basically, you have less than 15 seconds to kill me through soft-capped defense and 50% damage resistance. That's pretty difficult to do. It even handles most minor defense debuffs without incident since my melee and lethal defense are 55%+. So unless there are big time defense debuffs, it stomps all over my Dark Melee/Super Reflexes. Same defense, much better resists, better heal, similar hit points, similar regeneration. Feels awful fragile against the big time defense debuffers, though. |
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The Numinas has already been fixed. The Miracle, among others, has yet to be fixed. They are making their effects unenhanceable. So, for example, slotting the Miracle unique in PP will be the same as slotting it in Health. It will make achieving sustinable endurance a good deal more difficult for some of the top-end builds.
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Originally Posted by Cyber_naut
Aw christ, what's the nerf to the numina and miracle uniques?
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Ugh!
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Originally Posted by Gaidin
The Numinas has already been fixed. The Miracle, among others, has yet to be fixed. They are making their effects unenhanceable. So, for example, slotting the Miracle unique in PP will be the same as slotting it in Health. It will make achieving sustinable endurance a good deal more difficult for some of the top-end builds.
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Virtue: @Santorican
Dark/Shield Build Thread
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Yup and here is castle talking about it.
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Originally Posted by Gaidin
The Numinas has already been fixed. The Miracle, among others, has yet to be fixed. They are making their effects unenhanceable. So, for example, slotting the Miracle unique in PP will be the same as slotting it in Health. It will make achieving sustinable endurance a good deal more difficult for some of the top-end builds.
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"All right, they're on our left, they're on our right, they're in front of us, they're behind us...they can't get away this time"- Chesty Puller US Marine Corps
I am trying to push a concept as far as it can go. I want to build a scrapper with the best overall armors. I will be willing to invest a lot (a whole lot) in I/Os to make this happen.
I do not want him for tanking. I am willing to sacrifice damage to create a better armor, if needed.
I am interested if any primaries have synergy with this, like katana's Divine Avalanche or Dark Melee's heal.
The idea is just to build a scrapper with the best possible armor. Period.