need some help with first scrapper

Dude.... Punctuation. Seriously.


That said, of your preferences, I'd recommend an Elec/Inv scrap.

Elec has nice tools (Thunderstrike and Lightning Rod are both awesome), while Invuln will thrive in the crowds you will want for your AOE heavy primary to chew up.

The abundant knockdown in Elec will help a TON with Invuln's early squishiness, too. As a pro-tip, I'd recommend Air Superiority as a pool pick, for a quick single target that adds yet more knockdown to the party. You Will Like It.

Once you get Invincibility and Dull Pain well-slotted, that combo will rock your socks off.

Go have fun!

Of these, I'd go FM/Invul for what you stated.

I'm throwing /Regen out of the mix as per Cyber-naut's logic. /Regen is very active and requires good timing to make it as survivable as Invuln/ is inherently. /Regen also scales with +Recharge, which is expensive, and the use of it's various clicks lowers DPS. If you're new to scrapping, I'd go with a less active secondary for your first scrapper so that you can become one with your 'Scrapperlock'.

DM/Invul is going to be the most survivable due to Siphon Life and excellent at ST damage, but lacking in AoE, which is more valuable when teaming.

Elec/ is very AoE-centered and lacks in ST damage compared with DM/ or FM/, which you may find frustrating when soloing.

FM/ gets Fire Sword Circle, which is excellent AoE, and does excellent ST damage as well even without needing a ton of +Recharge. There's no mitigation in FM/, but Invuln/ does well at surviving, especially when you add in Tough and bulk up some Defense with pool powers and set bonuses.

I know this is a bit off topic, but... you're finding it rough going on a level 35 Broad Sword/Shield??? Did you skip Parry? Quoting myself from another thread, here's a very basic plan for an unkillable Shield character on mostly SOs. With Parry, a single hit will put this build over the melee soft cap. About your only problem should be hitting the seriously uplevel enemies you can survive. For that, I recommend a Kismet Unique and frankenslotting your attacks.

For the OP, if you want solo tanking with no fear of dying, go Dark/Invuln. I do think Fire/Invuln would be fun, though. And really, any/any makes a good scrapper.

Yeppers, I don't have tough and/or weave yet and considering how much I've endurance problems, even with attacks slotted with one endurance reducer and with stamina, I doubt I will be picking them soon. Probably not at all since I don't quite have room for three powers in my build until epics and I figure then I've other powers for mitigation, and most of the "game" is then behind anyways. Oh and yes, I do use parry.

I also use flight as a travel power so no combat jumping. I do have phalanx fighting and use inspirations extensively.

I think there's a slight problem if you have to dig into pools so heavily to make a survivable build... though I suppose that's not what you are saying. However I plan on dropping one defense to parry as it's mostly melee attacks that are a problem (Cimerorans, Rikti swordmen, Skyfalls etc), and also "autohit" auras that critters like Spectral Daemon Lords have. When those hit they hurt a lot.

Also, when facing larger groups even a small chance for attack to get through is problematic. I like to run my scrappers with +1 to level and +2 to team size which is certainly nothing out of ordinary. Depending on the luck I may faceplant 1-3 times in a mission or usually not at all. Still, it's very much dependant on luck which can be annoying.

Shield charge helps because it's rather easy to kill minions and even LTs when you have bonus from "against all odds" and build up. Currently it appears my defense is hovering around 20% and, unless Mid's is wrong, changing deflection and battle agility from 2 defense to 3 adds 1% to that. Add parry to mix and the melee defense is around 35%.

Anyhow. This is besides the point anyways. I know you can soft cap defenses with right builds but then you have to actually focus on building the character. I wouldn't pick shield as the first scrapper for that reason. I'd pick /willpower, /dark armor, or /invul for the first scrapper because then you don't have to worry as much about pools - or /regen if willpower is not an option because I feel /regen provides more pleasant experience than, say, invulnerability, from the very start.

I would say Fire/Regen, Regen got alot of Self healing powers, as well as no problem with Endurance. Fire Melee is heavy in damage and have some good Dot Damage effect, Also Elec Melee has alot of Aoe Attacks and it's kind of fun to play.

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

Originally Posted by Dispari Yeah, I like Blasters too.

Well, while not my main point, that kind of IS something I'm saying. Pools exist, and the game forces you to take at least six pool powers. The game MUST be balanced with pool powers in mind, or it won't be balanced. Therefore, no secondary is going to stand entirely on its own, because each is balanced around the expectation that you will use power pools to your advantage. That can make Shield Defense seem weak if you aren't doing this, since it's the expectation made when balancing.

OK, fair enough. You are, of course, completely correct. To get great survivability, you really have to focus on your build and do things that a lot of people simply don't know to do or won't do. You need to be conservative in your picks from your primary, pick up all the right pool powers, slot things a particular way, perhaps purchase a very specific IO (Steadfast Protection unique) and frankenslot your attacks to get the endurance to power it all (if you don't want to rest a lot). So yes, something like Willpower is better for a first time Scrapper unless they're following a cookie cutter build that gets them what they need when they need it, and are willing to accept compromises in other areas (like variety of attacks and perhaps concept).

I guess my main point was that Shield Defense doesn't have to be squishy, even when you're on a budget. You don't need expensive IOs. The survivability problems you're having can be avoided if you do a few specific things to avoid them. You might have good reason not to do those things, but it's a choice to pursue other things instead of survivability.

I think my Fire/Shield died less than ten times leveling 1-50, and about half of those would have been easily prevented had I taken my head out of my *** earlier and just three-slotted Active Defense instead of putting my foot down and trying to force myself to get good at clicking it in time. And no, I wasn't being a wimp in regards to what I fought. I don't remember my exact settings, but I played small team tank from 1-50. By the mid 30s, as I recall, the main question to answer was "how purple is too purple?" In the 40s, I was street sweeping up to +5 groups in Peregrine, with bosses. All of this was on a build bought with the influence I earned as I leveled. Shield Defense can be extremely solid on a budget. Shield Defense can be an extremely solid leveling build. You just have to build it a specific way.

But you're still right. I'd normally steer a first-time Scrapper towards something like Willpower. Willpower is easier to play, easier to get right, and gives up nothing in top end survivability. In this case, Willpower wasn't in the list, but Dark Melee/Invulnerability should be a very good choice. Dark Melee will provide the endurance and healing, and Invulnerability should handle the rest. It's a very nice combination. You give up AoE, but that just slows you down a little, as opposed to making you face plant, or burning out your endurance, or other things that people dislike a lot. I've heard complaints about the long road to get Invincibility. It's not a Scrapper, but I have a level 26 Dark Melee/Invulnerability Brute. I DO hate the long road to Invincibility there, but Brutes want aggro a lot more than Scrappers. Plus I'm the team tank, which is difficult when you hate Confront and don't have a Taunt aura. If you aren't Brute tanking, I'd think Invulnerability would be fine even while leveling up to Invincibility. Heck, it's even been fine for me. My teammates can handle SOME aggro bleed, and I've just accepted that as tank, damage is not my primary role, so taking slightly longer to build fury doesn't really affect team performance.