Electric Melee: Scrapper, Brute, or Tanker?
By
ClawsandEffect,
Posted on: 2010-05-07 17:18 in Archetypes and Powers General Discussion
Stalkers 
- the others lack ST damage. I shelved my 50 ELM Brute because of that.
But from what you asked, of course brute and scrapper will deal more damage than Tankers. ELM works a bit better for scrappers because Lightning Rod has a lower damage cap than Brutes' damage cap, but it's no incredibly big difference imo.
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First questions what secondary do you want to use? That IMO would be one of the most important things to figure out.|
Originally Posted by Zero_Oblivion
Hi Everyone,
I'm interested in the cool looking AE Electric Melee powers and I've decided to build one. However, I'm not sure what kind of toon to make. Which would you say that ElM works well on? I'm not too familiar with Tankers or Scrappers. Any thoughts? Thanks! |
Also don't forget stalkers, the get all the same attacks as the other 3 (AS and placate replace lightning clap and taunt/confront).
Second question is red or blue side?
Overall I'd highly recommend either an Elm/Nin stalker or Elm/SD scrapper depending on side preference. Both play amazingly well.
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Originally Posted by Arcanaville
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Scrapper, they have higher damage mods and make beter use of the relatively low damage cap on L-Rod (400%)
The difference between a Scrapper and a Brute isn't going to be massive so if it's between them, go for whichever playstyle you prefer (unless you want shields as a secondary, then scrapper does pull ahead). Scrappers kill stuff and ignore everything else, brutes kill stuff and ignore everything else except their fury bar. 
Tanks are tanks. If you want to be focused on killing stuff with your lightning powers, they probably ain't for you. If you want to be tough as hell and focused on protecting your team while throwing out some lightning on the side, then go for the tank.
Stalker is an intersting one, as Lightning Rod doesn't break stealth, so you can follow up with an AS or Thunderstrike from hiding. But again, it really comes down to playstyle: all are perfectly valid.
Lightning Rod doesn't break stealth. It does however aggro the hell out of everything and they will respond in kind. So what ever follow up attack you want to crit, needs to be activated really fast and hope you have really good DEF to not get interrupted. That being said LR followed by CRIT'd Thunderstrike is truely amazing sight.
I concur, stalkers use Elec Melee the best. It is the only set that didn't have the aoe's gutted in porting it to them and it also has decent single target (burst) damage, which everyone else lacks with Elec.
They do less damage with L-rod than scrappers, but quite a bit more than everyone else. It also doesn't break hide so a TS follow up can crit. Pretty good stuff.
Otherwise I'd pick a scrapper. L-rod pretty much is the set, for which they are far far better than brutes with it.
Scrapper if used with Shield.
Stalker for pretty much anything else.
Thanks for the advice. I was surprised to see so many votes for Stalker. I thought they'd be a bit squishy for such an AE set. That isn't the case, I guess?
In a game where contacts sell stackable +12.5% defense buffs for 150 inf each that you can now mail to yourself and claim any time there's no such thing as a squishy defense set.
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They actually cost 2/3s less, 50 inf! A real bargain.
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Originally Posted by TheBruteSquad
In a game where contacts sell stackable +12.5% defense buffs for 150 inf each that you can now mail to yourself and claim any time there's no such thing as a squishy defense set.
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Note the recommended secondary: Ninjitsu|
Originally Posted by Zero_Oblivion
Thanks for the advice. I was surprised to see so many votes for Stalker. I thought they'd be a bit squishy for such an AE set. That isn't the case, I guess?
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Ninjitsu is a positional defense based set (like SR and Shield), that has a heal as part of the set (no need to take Aid Self).
If you get a Ninjitsu stalker to the softcap they can be just as hard to kill as an SR scrapper. They DO have lower HP, but there is an uninterruptible heal as part of the set, so if something smacks you, you can hit a heal before it gets lucky and smacks you again.
On top of that, Ninjitsu is a very loose build, 4 out of the 9 powers are skippable. Caltrops, Smoke Flash, Blinding Powder, and the Elude clone (I can never remember that power's name) can all be skipped without gimping the build.
Stalkers also have a better chance to land criticals than scrappers do, and get bonuses to that chance on teams. (I'm still kind of annoyed by that, but oh well) And, as you already know, they can force a critical by attacking while hidden.
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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. |
I'm convinced...I'm going to roll a ElecM/Ninja stalker. 
I've never played a Stalker, so it should be interesting.
I've gotten an elec/elec scrapper to 50, and am currently leveling an elec/elec brute. I love taking some damage from a mob, and taunting/damaging the mob with Lightning Field, and then hitting them with Lightning Rod. Mega damage. I can see why there are so many elec/shield brutes running around. I've made, but havn't played much with an elec/elec stalker. I'd have to say that electric melee is my favorite offensive melee set right behind super strength. Fun stuff. I'd say that you would probably like it with any AT, exept for tank. I like actually killing stuff, so tanking's not for me.
@Joshua.
I'll throw my vote in for Stalkers (esp. Elec/Nin stalkers), followed by scrappers. Lightning Rod + guaranteed crit Thunderstrike on a stalker is crazy-good AoE burst damage. Electric Melee is far and away the most AoE-centric set stalkers can use, both because of its natural AoE focus and because most other sets lose AoE power when converted to BU/AS/Placate while Electric only loses Thunderclap and Taunt. If you want to build a stalker that rips through hordes of enemies in PvE, Electric is probably your best bet, and if you want to build an Electric Melee powerhouse, Stalkers make an excellent platform for it.
Rule number six of an empathy defender is NEVER underestimate a blaster's ability to die. I don't care if he has CM, Fort, both RAs, bubbles (both FF and Sonic), and is fighting next to a Storm defender with hurricane on. If there is a way to die in that situation, the blaster will find it.
Thanks for all of the advice. Created my EleM/Ninja Stalker last night and levelled him to 6. Looking forward to getting to the big hitters.
I teamed with a lvl 50 elec/elec stalker today. He was awesome killing everything in sight. Now I must level my electric stalker.
@Joshua.
Build Up -> L.Rod -> critical with Thunderstrike -> Placate -> AS the boss
Win.
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Hi Everyone,
I'm interested in the cool looking AE Electric Melee powers and I've decided to build one. However, I'm not sure what kind of toon to make. Which would you say that ElM works well on? I'm not too familiar with Tankers or Scrappers. Any thoughts?
Thanks!