Q's for Martial Arts masters

Hey fellow Scrappers. I'm looking to roll up a new toon for Going Rogue. I've settled on Martial Arts as the primary but I've never played the set before so I'm in need of some guidance. I read through Spider_Teo's guide but I have a few questions.

1) Is the all Smashing damage a serious problem at higher levels? I know the damage type is commonly resisted but I've never played a toon that uses purely Smashing damage. I'm considering slotting Touch of Death procs to offset the issue if it's really noticeable but they're pricey since you need the complete set to get the melee Defense bonus.

2) Should I skip Crippling Axe Kick? I've read that the power's commonly skipped by MA users due to its quirks but I've never had the chance to try it out.

3) What's the most synergistic secondary? I've got a feeling that Dark Armor would be preferable for Oppressive Gloom but I'm not sure. My concept for this toon is a shapeshifter so I've got a lotta leeway in terms of what works.

4) How well does MA fare against very hard targets? By definition I'm a casual gamer. In CoX terms I'm a little bit more. I'm not looking to solo AVs or take on a pylon but I like knowing that if an Elite Boss pops up in a mission I don't necessarily need to scour the team window.

I appreciate any advice you guys can give. I started with Scrappers and I'm looking to get back into the groove of the AT.

You can certainly take on EBs just fine with MA, and if you build it right, you could take on AVs (though it sounds like you don't care about that... nor do I, heh). My MA Scrapper soloed through all the EBs in the game, though of course the ones with Tier 9s are more annoying.

I personally love my MA/Regen. I grabbed Air Superiority, and that with the Stuns in MA are nice mitigation if I need it (no redraw to worry about, either). But it'd work fine with other powersets, too.

For damage, a lot of high level mobs have resists to a lot of damage, including Smashing, so you will run into that. Current Praetorian robots are a little weak to Smashing, I think (or they don't resist it), so it's not all stacked against you. Anyway, I picked up procs while slotting my attacks well and that helps, so I would recommend doing it (though it's a good idea for most characters when you can do it as well).

I personally enjoy Eagle's Claw a lot (it's hard for me to not like leaping into the air and kicking a guy's face in, hehe), but believe CAK now has better DPS. However, Cobra Strike + Eagle's Claw can nicely stun bosses with annoying auras and/or damage (or on their own for lts or minions). EC also has a 15% chance to crit, which is higher than most attacks, including CAK (if I'm looking at the numbers right). So there are pros and cons to both.

My very first Scrapper was MA/Regen ... My theory on attacks is MORE is always better than less and I have them all along with Air Superiority. When I got to Epics I took Body Mastery which added Focused Accuracy and now even my Vet reward Sands of Mu is effective and in my attack chain. I am not one to spend Billions IOing out a characetr but she does have generic 50 level Ios in most slots and can handle ANY EB. If it gives you any more incentive to try.. I tend to like trying different powersets but I have TWO MA/Regen scrappers at level 50 now and the second has Dimensional Warder after soloing all of those Praetorians as Elite Bosses.

It may not be the most DPS scrapper out there but it will definately hold its own solo or on a team and i like the animations. Enjoy your new addition and have fun! :-D

CAK has -fly
CK has a chance for knock.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shadow Ravenwolf My favorite combo is Faceplant/DebtCap with the TeamWipe Ancillary

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Originally Posted by Dispari Yeah, I like Blasters too.

I have found (and posted in the pylon thread) that I had higher dps with EC than with CAK, 166 to 161, with a high recharge buildbut that is just me. My recharge was high 117 without hasten.

One of the main drawbacks with MA if you don't take SD is that you only have one AoE, so if you like to participate in farms it can be a little boring.

Like others have said you should handle EB's with no problem. MA has a hard time with some of the tougher AV's (at least in my experience), but I can handle Chimera, Manticore, Mako, etc with not much problem.

I run MA/SR, get soft capped, run tough for some resistance and you should have a fine toon

Thanks for all the replies so far guys. I've decided that I definitely wanna go for MA/WP. Now I'm torn between whether to roll the combo as a Scrapper or Stalker

What's really got me divided are the differences between the sets. Both the Scrapper and Stalker versions have things that I want. The Scrapper MA has Dragon's Tail, a nice AoE and source of soft control in an otherwise single target set. Stalker WP has a click self heal in Reconstruction and invisibility. But on the other hand the Scrapper version has Quick Recovery which would allow me to skip Stamina.

I think it all started when someone came up with a theoretical Kat/WP build that Werner plugged into his survivability spreadsheet and came up with this really good number.

Then Iggy put it into practice and soloed an ITF and did other cool stuff. I'm pretty sure it was his original build that Werner analyzed, but I'm not 100%.

Quite a few FotM's come from someone posting a vid or screenshots of something cool or OP'ed.

Like all scrappers, any primary and secondary will work well together and be fun and should have not issues leveling as scrappers are probably the easiest AT to get to 50 with since you can solo and team easily. With MA, I would focus on the extra AOE attacks to supplement the lack of AOE that comes with MA. So Shield Defense is my top choice unless you are going to pvp (then regen). MA/Regen can actually pvp decently.

Simple way to take down bug mobs with MA/SD is to run into mob and let AAO damage buff get up there. Focus Chi and Dragon's tail followed by shield charge to same spot to keep damage buff high and then eagle claw the boss or finish who is standing. Two knockdown attacks will not KB, but will put everyone including the bosses on their butts.

Shield Charge does decent damage, so even with single target fights that are long, I may consider dropping a shield charge here and there. MA is really about single target, and I love the animations as well as the feel of the gameplay with it, but the lack of AOE can be bothersome at times. Of course, if you were about AOE only, I would go Fire/SD or Elec/SD. I created the former, and my Fire/SD easily wipes mobs faster, but also solos ritki pylons faster too.

Forget about the whole stun stacking thing with dark melee. It looks cool, but team with a half-decent troller and you don't need to focus on that. A scrapper's job is many, but damage is one of the primary roles, so just decide if you want to be a single target specialist or an AOE nightmare and go from there.

WP is always a good choice too for an all around balanced toon, but I just wanted a bit more AOE, so I had to go shield and that shield AOE is da shiznut son.