Scrapper guides for semi noobs?

I played for a couple of years solid ages ago but have just came back after a long long time away, so everything is new to me again including IO's, sets and probably lots more.

I've been reading the forums since yesterday trying to find builds that are newb friendly and not full of IO sets and acronyms for things that were never in the game when i played but i'm coming up with nowt tbh.

I've started an FM/SD scrapper as both sets are completely new to me on the scrapper side, i once had a Dreck fire tanker but hey, not quite the same The only other 50 scrappers i have from back then are DM/regen & Spines/Regen, so again completely different.

I just realised i'm driveling on a bit so i'll get to the point, i need pointed to newer player friendly guides for these sets or some advice on the main do's and dont's when building it, bearing in mind that i probably only have around 60mil spread between toons, there were none of these new fangled recipes etc to sell before so i'll probably have to make do with plain IO's until i can get to farming up some cash to start working on sets, and learning about 'em. I can probably muddle through, but it's nice to have something by those with more experience to read too.

This thread has a lot of really good advice for Shield Scrappers. I'd check it out if you have not already. Yes most are set up for Dark Melee, but you can still get some feel for what to do and not to do on Shield Defense.

http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=192252

I had a gander at that one yesterday, but again it's completely confusing for someone new to most of the mechanics that have been introduced since about 2 years after the game launched. The builds in threads such as that are aimed at those with billions to spare and have the slightest clue what most of the acronyms mean, i fall into neither of those categories.

It all used to be so simple, whack an end red and 3 defense/resist/heal/whatever in and be done with it, still how i imagine it is for new players and those returning after so long away like myself. That thread and none others that i can find that aren't from years ago only caters to those that have a lot of experience and cash for the current systems, with every enhancement being laid out in sets.

Well, this isn't a guide, but here's my leveling build. If you ignore the Hamios (Hamidon Origin enhancements in Active Defense) that I slapped in at 47, and the Numina I slapped in at 49, it was all funded on the influence the character made. Oh, and the Kismet and the Steadfast Protection - I have a bunch of those sitting in my base and use them on every character. Mind you, since I got two purple drops while leveling (purple = ultra rare invention origin enhancements or recipes, which tend to go for a huge sum of influence), I could have funded everything on what the character made, but I wanted to hold onto them for later instead of selling them.

I pretty much ignored training origin enhancements, then went DOs, then SOs. Some time in the 30's I frankenslotted my single-target attacks (the mixture of various set IOs in them is called frankenslotting). The intent was to get a (near) seamless attack chain of Cremate -> Scorch -> Fire Sword -> Scorch, and to reduce the endurance enough to run it without burning out of blue. It's hardly the best DPS chain out there, but it served very well as a leveling chain. Blue WAS still a bit of a problem, though. Not insurmountable, but a problem. Tactics, Assault and Grant Cover were all used situationally rather than being left on. I continued frankenslotting other powers through the rest of the game. All the different levels in the build demonstrate that I was just buying whatever I could get both cheaply and NOW.

I don't guarantee these are the exact levels I took my powers, and completely ignore the level it says I put the enhancement slots in. I don't generally plan my leveling builds. I just figure out what I need and when I need it while I level. So I'm doing this from how my build looks today and from memory, and I didn't bother trying to guess on enhancement slot levels. As I recall, I tended to go for survivability before offense because I was playing team tank. Normally, I'd go for offense first, like shifting Build Up and Fire Sword Circle earlier, and not spending so many slots on defensive powers. Offense still seemed more than sufficient, though.

Health was overslotted at the end to make room for the Numina and Miracle uniques. But my low bids haven't snagged me a Miracle yet, so it's still overslotted.

Tanking actually went pretty well with this build. He was in the low 30s for his defensive values fairly early, so a single small purple inspiration could get him to the soft cap (45%), making him nearly invincible. At this point, his defense is ALMOST high enough without a purple inspiration. A little more influence spent would cover it, but at this point, I'm planning an uber build rather than just trying to cover a few holes.

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.621
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Magic Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Fiery Melee
Secondary Power Set: Shield Defense
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Body Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Scorch -- F'dSmite-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:35(A), F'dSmite-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg:36(3), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:38(3), S'ngH'mkr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:35(5), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:32(5), T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:34(7)
Level 1: Deflection -- S'dpty-Def:40(A), S'dpty-Def/EndRdx:40(19), S'dpty-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:40(21), DefBuff(21), ResDam-I:50(23), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx:38(23)
Level 2: Fire Sword -- F'dSmite-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:35(A), F'dSmite-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg:34(7), F'dSmite-Dmg/EndRdx:37(9), S'ngH'mkr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:33(9), S'ngH'mkr-Dmg/EndRdx:35(13), T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:38(13)
Level 4: Cremate -- F'dSmite-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:36(A), F'dSmite-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg:34(15), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:36(15), S'ngH'mkr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:35(17), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:38(17), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:32(19)
Level 6: Battle Agility -- S'dpty-Def:35(A), S'dpty-Def/EndRdx:40(25), S'dpty-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:40(25), GftotA-Def/EndRdx:37(27)
Level 8: Hurdle -- Jump-I:35(A)
Level 10: Active Defense -- HO:Membr(A), HO:Membr(11), HO:Membr(11)
Level 12: Combat Jumping -- Ksmt-ToHit+:30(A), DefBuff(27), DefBuff(29), DefBuff(39)
Level 14: True Grit -- Heal(A), Heal(48), Heal(48), ResDam(48), ResDam(50), ResDam(50)
Level 16: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+:40(A), Heal(29), Heal(34), Heal(34), Heal(37)
Level 18: Against All Odds -- EndRdx(A)
Level 20: Stamina -- P'Shift-EndMod:50(A), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg:50(42), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc:50(42), EndMod(43)
Level 22: Phalanx Fighting -- DefBuff(A)
Level 24: Boxing -- Empty(A)
Level 26: Tough -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+:22(A), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx:38(39), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg:36(39), TtmC'tng-ResDam:41(40)
Level 28: Weave -- S'dpty-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:40(A), S'dpty-Def:38(40), S'dpty-Def/EndRdx:40(40), GftotA-Def/EndRdx:39(42)
Level 30: Fire Sword Circle -- M'Strk-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:34(A), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:36(31), M'Strk-Acc/Dmg:45(31), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx:44(31), M'Strk-Acc/EndRdx:45(33), M'Strk-Dmg/Rchg:43(33)
Level 32: Build Up -- RechRdx(A), RechRdx(33), RechRdx(34)
Level 35: Shield Charge -- M'Strk-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:38(A), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:43(36), M'Strk-Acc/Dmg:45(36), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx:45(36), M'Strk-Acc/EndRdx:45(37), M'Strk-Dmg/Rchg:44(37)
Level 38: Maneuvers -- S'dpty-Def/EndRdx:40(A), S'dpty-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:40(43), S'dpty-Def:38(43), GftotA-Def/EndRdx:35(45)
Level 41: Tactics -- GSFC-Rchg/EndRdx:47(A), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx:41(45), GSFC-ToHit/EndRdx:46(45), GSFC-ToHit:44(46), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg:40(46), GSFC-Build%:47(46)
Level 44: Grant Cover -- EndRdx(A)
Level 47: Assault -- EndRdx-I:45(A)
Level 49: Conserve Power -- RechRdx(A), RechRdx(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Critical Hit
Level 4: Ninja Run

| Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
|MxDz;1432;723;1446;HEX;|
|78DA9D535B6F1251109E5D16B6945D60A1F4DE028502A5B0B66F5A1F4CB49A98949|
|458D3B4896D83F4586808A5BB34D137132F89894F9AF8E69BD79F60FC6D8A33670E|
|C4E09B9BECF7ED993397EFCC9CAD3DDDB6009EDF022D7AA7D3F0FD93BDA6D7E8F58|
|417AC35CEDA4D3001607E683BA9898E10EEBDB6F09EF1777AB4B52D9E88AE2FDCBD|
|565B744E874BE77EB7253CD1EDBBC30FAB7E71D1C114FDAEF07D5EEC8846AFDD3DB|
|3D5CE59AB8FABD870EB54787EABDD73EEF6DA4DF7F6C529566EF87D54308BD2D6F0|
|7D411AE53308C221D20AE8074839D005D22A18BBD2689C23A52174849485491B495|
|3513A7E1421F11B88A634B99A3270650460BA82BC09D3658D72BD34551486695C2C|
|7420134EEC23E561828A65C0AAC93DEB482A7885510115153894DAA21C151572156|
|789F173E99E38964A232831C812034192B802B32C719625CE1B1A950C617693FDC0|
|2CC944368686D9A487B7F82093633C8D6111953EF20B690913F2D6A2E282620BD3D|
|9AA59F624DBAE8D738279738C4D2C13E35823B62F752FAA90EC18E71547B19C4347|
|C4033926DB2690934A6DF29D4E23597BCFF4415239C48E310C4EA96EA4947E0D836|
|7B8FF3033C00702689953E9E666F02305059E70A1AAD1448A2E52090CF45B507E0B|
|DCF5A22EFD8A3C8A359A4101DE98D43FEED0525F8E76F94A8E76B9875481E54BA47|
|5C8F87295F190CAF0DAA439F398D20E6BCD28CE2A766C1A28675EE9CBFB91BB92D1|
|39CE9CBB9494E7CC794FD6A1B6AD2ADDABACB4CCF2CB2CBF62C80B9544BF929A6CE|
|92B36D285CA179D4E5EF9865485EA279DF2553FEB145CFD2E5DE2A8695DF5785D0D|
|2881EC2A9B9B955AF6F0CE6FB0746D431D67D3F9EB8AA991801CC9CE3F96BA31FAD|
|9409396B431FA6B07E1F8E8A7FADFE787352C197E4077EF21419D609FE011C111C1|
|314183E031419360F073141DBB4EBA6E106C11DC2448A13E784B9E660421426011D|
|804518218419C2049304FF09160F007D68AE733|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|

Thanks for the help Werner, I'll probably not use sets at all leveling up other than the odd one here or there if i can get them cheaply, so i took your build and messed around in mids to try and come up with something using just plain IO's until i can be bothered farming inf, being away from the game for so long makes everything new and shiny so leveling this new FM/SD and just plain having fun is first on the to do list.

I see you didn't take greater fire sword, why is that? I struggle at 23 so far without an extra attack and i cant see shield charge helping too much as it's cooldown is quite long, perhaps i'm missing out by not having scorch? It's damage seems crappy for a whole power pick though.

I seem to have been given a bunch of respecs with these new veteran rewards too so i guess i can experiment a little once the toon is a bit higher.

Not sure if this will work for leveling, but here's what i came up with (not sure what epic pool i'll take tbh.

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.621
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Scotsmania: Level 50 Magic Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Fiery Melee
Secondary Power Set: Shield Defense
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Body Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Fire Sword -- Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(3), Dmg-I(3), Dmg-I(7), EndRdx-I(15), RechRdx-I(31)
Level 1: Deflection -- EndRdx-I(A), DefBuff-I(5), DefBuff-I(5), DefBuff-I(7), ResDam-I(15), ResDam-I(29)
Level 2: Battle Agility -- EndRdx-I(A), DefBuff-I(9), DefBuff-I(9), DefBuff-I(23)
Level 4: Cremate -- Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(13), Dmg-I(13), Dmg-I(27), EndRdx-I(29), RechRdx-I(31)
Level 6: True Grit -- ResDam-I(A), ResDam-I(11), ResDam-I(17), Heal-I(17), Heal-I(23), Heal-I(46)
Level 8: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 10: Active Defense -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(11)
Level 12: Combat Jumping -- DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(40), DefBuff-I(43)
Level 14: Health -- Heal-I(A), Heal-I(46), Heal-I(48)
Level 16: Against All Odds -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 18: Fire Sword Circle -- Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(19), Dmg-I(19), Dmg-I(25), EndRdx-I(25), RechRdx-I(27)
Level 20: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(21), EndMod-I(21), EndMod(50)
Level 22: Phalanx Fighting -- DefBuff-I(A)
Level 24: Boxing -- Empty(A)
Level 26: Tough -- EndRdx-I(A), ResDam-I(42), ResDam-I(42), ResDam-I(42), Empty(43)
Level 28: Weave -- EndRdx-I(A), DefBuff-I(31), DefBuff-I(33), DefBuff-I(33), Empty(50)
Level 30: Maneuvers -- EndRdx-I(A), DefBuff-I(33), DefBuff-I(34), DefBuff-I(34)
Level 32: Greater Fire Sword -- Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(34), Dmg-I(37), Dmg-I(40), EndRdx-I(40), RechRdx-I(48)
Level 35: Shield Charge -- Acc-I(A), Dmg-I(36), Dmg-I(36), Dmg-I(36), EndRdx-I(37), RechRdx-I(37)
Level 38: Tactics -- EndRdx-I(A), ToHit-I(39), ToHit-I(39), ToHit-I(39)
Level 41: Conserve Power -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(46), Empty(48)
Level 44: Physical Perfection -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(45), EndMod-I(45), Heal-I(45), Heal-I(50)
Level 47: [Empty] -- Empty(A)
Level 49: [Empty] -- Empty(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Critical Hit
Level 2: Ninja Run

Ok.. i didn't really read the OP... just going on the title alone. But, I find this video helps if you're wondering exactly what to do with your scrapper...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lC8o0VKWBAE

Guide to Scrapping: Tab, F, kill, repeat.

Thanks for the link, but i have no need of that, i already have 2 50 scrappers from back when i used to play. FM wasn't in the game for scrappers and SD wasn't in the game full stop, neither were IO's, sets etc hence the confusion after reading post after post full of unknown acronyms for builds i couldn't possibly afford.

Deliverance- Keep in mind that not all set IOs are expensive. The ones with the best set bonuses are, but if you ignore the set bonuses, you can get good "value" out of multi-aspect IOs. Look for cheap IO recipes on Wentworth's that enhance the attributes you want (acc,damage,recharge,end redux). Bear in mind that ED is still in play so you may end up against the cap on some aspects if you're not careful. I was able to increase my Wolf Spider Huntsman's ability quite a bit just by going for cheap IO sets in his attacks (I want to say I dropped ~10 million infamy on it). This was villain-side, so the hero market may be different. This is the "frankenslotting" that Werner mentions and can be a fairly decent upgrade.

I believe the conventional wisdom is you can start to do this around level 20-25. I didn't do it until level 40 on my Huntsman (I'm poor as well ) - but after seeing how cheap some of the recipes and salvage are, I kind of wish I had done it earlier.