Crab advice?

Sine I made it to lvl 16 in a day I think I need to start thinking about what to do with my Crab at lvl 24. (btw loving it so far especially in big teams).

Now, there are so many powers to choose from that I am overwhelmed and lost. I am wondering if someone could tell me a little about which powers shine and which aren't so good. I would love to see someone else's build even.

Do you take many wolf spider powers? Heavy Burst is cool.

I am thinking of skipping travel powers and pretty much all pools except fitness. I will rely on Ninja Run beefed up by Swift and Hurdle.

Whatever you can please tell me about Crabs would be appreciated.

An assortment of thoughts and opinions, from a combination of my own experience and what I've observed in others:

Your main strength is as an AoE machine, with a side order of defenses and team buffs.

Take Tactical Training Maneuvers asap.

The other Tactical Trainings are worth it too, but less of a priority.

Take Fortification. Resists to stack with your defense, and good mez protection.

Hasten is worth a look, depending what else you're taking (if you're taking Serum + both pets + Omega Maneuver, that's a fair few long recharge powers that'll benefit from it).

Wolf Spider Armor is largely redundant on a Crab - take Crab Spider Armor Upgrade instead (not as well as). The mez protection will almost never be necessary given how much you already get from Crab Armor Upgrade (basically the same but better -mez) and Fortification (the two combined get me through Romulus' rez stun), which just leaves 2-3% resists to 3 damage types. May be worth taking if you have a specific IO set/special plan, but otherwise skip.

Combat Training: Offensive can be nice early on, but doesn't matter so much in the long run.

I gather Heavy Burst is well worth taking, but I didn't take it myself (purely for aesthetic reasons). I'd take Suppression first, but it's another AoE option if you want it.

Fighting pool can be good to make a sturdier/tankier Crab, though Crab's are quite tight builds so you'll probably have to make sacrifices elsewhere - an option to consider, but not a must-take. Serum's nice for that too.

The pets provide a nice single target dps boost, especially for soloing. Spiderlings is fairly easy to perma (esp. with Hasten). Call Reinforcements would be pricier, but are pretty nice pets all the same.

Mental Training is a nice passive buff.

I skipped a travel power on my crab (and my bane and night widow) and have no problems - and that was before Ninja Run.

Here's the build I use atm, which works well against anything, really. It also has a good base to IO off of. And yes, I did take both passive armours, and I'll tell you why;

Slot the -KB IOs. The single most hear-tearingly annoying thing to run into on a Crab Spider is KB. Why they left it out of fortification is anyones guess, but there you go. It also gives you something to slap a +Def IO into.

while you can take Heavy Burst for even moar AoE, you dont really need it. Once you start rocking the grenades and suppresion, stuff dies so fast as it is. That and Longfang is a very punishing attack.

Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.703
http://www.cohplanner.com/

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Krimzon Commander: Level 50 Natural Arachnos Soldier
Primary Power Set: Crab Spider Soldier
Secondary Power Set: Crab Spider Training
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Speed

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Channelgun -- Dmg-I(A), Acc-I(3)
Level 1: Wolf Spider Armor -- ResDam-I(A), S'fstPrt-ResKB(5)
Level 2: Longfang -- Dmg-I(A), Dmg-I(3), Dmg-I(7), Acc-I(15), Acc-I(37), EndRdx-I(37)
Level 4: Crab Spider Armor Upgrade -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), S'fstPrt-ResKB(5)
Level 6: Combat Training: Defensive -- DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(7)
Level 8: Suppression -- Dmg-I(A), Dmg-I(9), Dmg-I(9), Acc-I(15), Acc-I(40), EndRdx-I(40)
Level 10: Tactical Training: Maneuvers -- DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(11), DefBuff-I(11), EndRdx-I(13), EndRdx-I(34), EndRdx-I(46)
Level 12: Venom Grenade -- Dmg-I(A), Dmg-I(13), Acc-I(48), Acc-I(50), EndRdx-I(50)
Level 14: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 16: Health -- Heal-I(A), Heal-I(17), Heal-I(17)
Level 18: Frag Grenade -- Dmg-I(A), Dmg-I(19), Dmg-I(19), Acc-I(23), Acc-I(23), EndRdx-I(40)
Level 20: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(21), EndMod-I(21)
Level 22: Mental Training -- Run-I(A)
Level 24: Fortification -- ResDam-I(A), ResDam-I(25), ResDam-I(25), EndRdx-I(31), EndRdx-I(42), EndRdx-I(43)
Level 26: Tactical Training: Leadership -- ToHit-I(A), ToHit-I(27), ToHit-I(27), EndRdx-I(31), EndRdx-I(43), EndRdx-I(43)
Level 28: Serum -- Heal-I(A), Heal-I(29), Heal-I(29), RechRdx-I(37), RechRdx-I(42), RechRdx-I(48)
Level 30: Tactical Training: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(31)
Level 32: Omega Maneuver -- Dmg-I(A), Dmg-I(33), Dmg-I(33), Acc-I(33), RechRdx-I(34), RechRdx-I(34)
Level 35: Summon Spiderlings -- Dmg-I(A), Acc-I(36), RechRdx-I(36), RechRdx-I(36)
Level 38: Call Reinforcements -- Dmg-I(A), Acc-I(39), RechRdx-I(39), RechRdx-I(39)
Level 41: Aim -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(42)
Level 44: Slice -- Dmg-I(A), Dmg-I(45), Dmg-I(45), Acc-I(45), Acc-I(46), EndRdx-I(46)
Level 47: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(48)
Level 49: Combat Training: Offensive -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Acc-I(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 1: Conditioning
Level 0: Ninja Run
------------



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Quote:

Originally Posted by Zwillinger GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain_Photon NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.

Fwiw, I find a single -kb IO enough for the vast majority of PvE encounters. And of the handful of enemy powers that a single -kb IO isn't enough for, I find that 2 usually isn't enough either (e.g. Fake Nemesis force bolt). I genuinely can't remember the last time mine was knocked back, and I don't think it happened once before I reached 50.

I have a -KB and the +3% def IOs in Crab Spider Armor Upgrade on mine.

Some miscellaneous advice... I'll try to avoid repeating common advice and stick with my unconventional opinions:

Think about having a Bane 2nd build while you level. I waited until 50 to make a really nice Bane 2nd build but I wish I'd had it while leveling. It's a nice option to switch to a power set with very good stealth and very strong ST attacks, for those missions with a hero or just if you are trying to speed through a run of paper missions. I think you can put together a useful bane build for cheap; with a 2nd build you can focus on its strengths instead of overall balance.

Crabs have endurance issues. Be careful how many leadership toggles you take. My 50 crab has 8 toggles, it really sucks when he runs out of end, but I've fixed that problem now with a few tweaks to the build and it almost never happens any more.

The best crab powers are Fortification and TT: Maneuvers. Everyone sings praises of TT:M and it is awesome (ANY SoA that does not take it right away is dumb), but I think Fort is one of the best defensive toggles for any AT. Crab defensive powers are very good generally, including Tough and Weave. Crab builds are always tight but you won't regret taking Tough and Weave if you can fit them in. Well-slotted, TT:M + pool Manuevers + Weave puts you near 30% defense to all positions (40% ranged with CT: D), and Fort + Tough gets you close to 50% S/L resists.

You won't have access to any power to protect you from def debuffs, so going over the soft cap by 10-15% is a good plan.

Mental Training is nice while leveling, but once you're at 40 or so and dropping in IO sets, keep an open mind about whether you really need the 20% recharge. Your attack chain may not need it. I don't have it on my Bane but I do on my Crab. The best patron pool AoEs have a 32s recharge, so you'll want +recharge if you're relying on one of those. Bile Spray and Ball Lightning are both excellent - Bile Spray synergizes with VG to give more overall damage, but BL has a very fast animation time.

Like many crabs, I've never had a travel power and never felt like I needed one. With MT and Swift and Sprint and Ninja Run and some IO set +run bonuses, I run over 60mph.

Hover is awesome for crabs. If you use it you won't have to worry about capping your melee def - not that that's hard. You can enhance MT and Swift for flight speed.

I no longer have frag grenade at 50 but I leveled with it. My unconventional advice on FG is: it has a microscopic 10' radius and a huge end cost, so the notion that "it's an essential part of your attack chain" is hogwash. I think of it as a ST KB attack. A full Kinetic Crash set enhances damage by 68%. That's a great cheap set (including KB prot - the cheapest KB prot you can get!), and you sacrifice at most 10-11% overall damage to make FG a pretty good KB tool. Without slotting it for KB, it's just a mediocre tiny AoE attack that floors your endurance. With Hover, you can turn the KB into KD.

I was going for a +recharge pets build until the mid-40's, then I skipped the pets in a respec and I've never missed them. I won't deny that your ST damage suffers, but once I had Ball Lightning 6-slotted, my AoE attack chain killed minions & LTs so fast I hardly cared. Crabs shine on teams and a crab in the 40's should be teaming, where you should be focusing on maximizing your AoEs and leave ST damage to everyone else.

But of course you should try the pets for yourself. I have multiple high-level MMs and I generally dislike uncontrolled pets, though not all equally; I like Dark Servant and Fire Imps, hate Fly Trap, and am on the fence about most of the rest. The Spiderlings are meh, and the Disruptor Bots seem a bit squishy to me even with both maneuvers running. My main complaint about the pets is that I'm trying to do AoE damage and the pets run all over the place and draw aggro and make it tough to herd.

I leveled with Serum and even kept it in my first 50 respec, but once I softcapped my defenses and got over 50% S/L resists, I found I was using Serum maybe once a week, so I dumped it. It was mainly there as an answer to the question, "what power can I take at 49 that would be good with 1 or 2 slots?" My new answer is Wolf Spider Armor, but I don't feel strongly about that; they're both slightly useful.

My Crab is my toughest toon and my best inf-earner and farmer redside, though my only other 50 villains are MMs. He's a blast to play, hovering at high speeds with a 5-AoE attack chain (VG-BL-Supp-Static Discharge-EFences) and incredibly tough. Ideal for slow or fast ITFs - he can solo the cysts, though not super fast because the ST damage ain't great. My Bane build can take out a cyst in about 8-9 attacks, but he can't handle it alone because of all the stacked def debuff from the Dark Dwarf melee attacks. With the hovercrab I just ignore the Dwarfs.

Thanks heaps guys.

I am having trouble with my lvl 21 Spider but looking forward to this getting better at lvl 24 mainly because of Fortification.

Your advice is excellent.

Thinking about things like the soft-cap.

I have a build to go with now and I will take Fortification and Tough and Wolf Armor and Crab Armor. Am i going to hit the soft-cap?

Also, I will take either Wolf Armor or Crab Armor at lvl 49 so which is better for lvl 1?

ty!

Wolf Spider Armor and Crab Spider Armor Upgrade provide the same resistances, however, Crab Spider Armor Upgrade provides a better magnitude protection versus Stun, Sleep, Immobilize, Held, Confused, and Terrorized effects.

Take Crab Spider Armor Upgrade at 1, and if you really feel the need to, take Wolf Spider at 49. Frankly, if you need more Smashing/Lethal resistance, you're going to get far better results taking Tough and slotting it rather then adding Wolf Spider Armor at any level.

Thanks everyone. I think I now know enough for a build. First step of course is lvl 24 to become a Crab! (I am lvl 23 so its just a matter of time)

ty again.

Love it! Got lvl 25 and having tons of fun.

About slotting the power "Combat Training: Offensive" I thought this would be a slot for to-hit enhancements but it takes Accuracy enhancements. However, in the power descriptions I see no benefit from the two Accuracy I slotted.

Is this a place that just wont use an enhancement?

ty!

EDIT: i found it! It now is a 1.13 accuracy bonus and without the enhancement it would only be 1.10 i think.

Again, this character is fun. Next I make a Bane build.