City of Heroes: Live Forum Archive

Need help with budget Broadsword/Shield Defense Build

Akantor

By Akantor,
Posted on: 2010-05-31 22:41 in Scrappers

 

Posted

Hey folks, I've recently hit level 41 with my BS/SD scrapper and I have sort of hit a wall on how to slot my character.
My most immediate goal at the moment is to get him to hit all positional softcap so I could still effectively solo while LFTing.
The main problem is my budget. I currently have around 13 mil in my pocket, and through pure dumb luck I've been blessed with some fantastic recipes like Gambler's +recharge and Miracle's +recovery, but I opted to build them instead of selling them, since I figured I may eventually have to buy them anyway.
I hadn't put much priority into slotting for +melee defense because parry could easily cover that, and I originally picked flight over jump for concept but it has proven itself quite reliable on several occasions, so I'm sticking with it.

I used mainly Fury Flechette's cheap Fire/Shield build as reference, but with BS and FM being two very different power sets (namely, there aren't any attacks from BS that I'd like to drop for Maneuver), I've become lost how to continue building my character.
If I could get some feedback on how to softcap this character with relatively affordable sets, I'd truly appreciate it.



Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.707
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Blade Archon: Level 42 Technology Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Broad Sword
Secondary Power Set: Shield Defense
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Body Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Hack

  • (A) Pounding Slugfest - Accuracy/Damage
  • (3) Pounding Slugfest - Damage/Endurance
  • (7) Bruising Blow - Damage/Recharge
  • (11) Bruising Blow - Damage/Endurance
  • (13) Smashing Haymaker - Accuracy/Damage
  • (13) Smashing Haymaker - Damage/Endurance
Level 1: Deflection
  • (A) Gift of the Ancients - Defense/Endurance
  • (3) Gift of the Ancients - Defense/Recharge
  • (15) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%
  • (15) Defense Buff IO
  • (17) Endurance Reduction IO
  • (23) Endurance Reduction IO
Level 2: Battle Agility
  • (A) Red Fortune - Defense/Endurance
  • (5) Red Fortune - Defense/Recharge
  • (17) Red Fortune - Endurance/Recharge
  • (23) Red Fortune - Defense/Endurance/Recharge
  • (25) Red Fortune - Defense
  • (25) Red Fortune - Endurance
Level 4: Slice
  • (A) Eradication - Damage
  • (5) Eradication - Accuracy/Recharge
  • (27) Eradication - Damage/Recharge
  • (27) Eradication - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
  • (31) Eradication - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
  • (31) Eradication - Chance for Energy Damage
Level 6: True Grit
  • (A) Miracle - Heal/Endurance
  • (7) Miracle - Heal/Recharge
Level 8: Parry
  • (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
  • (9) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
  • (9) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Recharge
  • (31) Accuracy IO
  • (34) Accuracy IO
  • (36) Accuracy IO
Level 10: Active Defense
  • (A) Recharge Reduction IO
  • (11) Recharge Reduction IO
Level 12: Hover
  • (A) Gift of the Ancients - Defense/Endurance
  • (29) Gift of the Ancients - Defense/Recharge
Level 14: Fly
  • (A) Flight Speed IO
  • (29) Flight Speed IO
Level 16: Swift
  • (A) Run Speed IO
Level 18: Health
  • (A) Miracle - Heal/Endurance
  • (19) Miracle - Endurance/Recharge
  • (19) Miracle - +Recovery
Level 20: Stamina
  • (A) Endurance Modification IO
  • (21) Endurance Modification IO
  • (21) Endurance Modification IO
Level 22: Against All Odds
  • (A) Endurance Reduction IO
Level 24: Whirling Sword
  • (A) Accuracy IO
Level 26: Disembowel
  • (A) Mako's Bite - Accuracy/Damage
  • (39) Mako's Bite - Damage/Endurance
  • (39) Mako's Bite - Damage/Recharge
  • (39) Mako's Bite - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge
  • (40) Mako's Bite - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
  • (40) Mako's Bite - Chance of Damage(Lethal)
Level 28: Phalanx Fighting
  • (A) Defense Buff IO
Level 30: Build Up
  • (A) Adjusted Targeting - To Hit Buff/Recharge
  • (37) Adjusted Targeting - To Hit Buff/Endurance
Level 32: Head Splitter
  • (A) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Damage
  • (33) Scirocco's Dervish - Damage/Recharge
  • (33) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Recharge
  • (33) Multi Strike - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
  • (34) Multi Strike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
  • (34) Cleaving Blow - Damage/Endurance
Level 35: Shield Charge
  • (A) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Damage
  • (36) Scirocco's Dervish - Damage/Endurance
  • (36) Scirocco's Dervish - Damage/Recharge
  • (37) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Recharge
  • (37) Multi Strike - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
  • (40) Multi Strike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
Level 38: Boxing
  • (A) Empty
Level 41: Focused Accuracy
  • (A) Endurance Reduction IO
Level 44: [Empty]
Level 47: [Empty]
Level 49: [Empty]
------------
Level 1: Brawl
  • (A) Empty
Level 1: Sprint
  • (A) Empty
Level 2: Rest
  • (A) Empty
Level 1: Critical Hit
Level 6: Ninja Run

 

Posted

Slot IO's based on the powers' main strengths. Health should only have Heal enhancement--End/Rech?--just going to limit it's potential(The Miracle is unique is perfectly good there). True Grit is a better home for your Steadfast Unique; Stick to Defense in Deflection(as you wish to reach soft cap, Resistance is a lesser concern).

Cut back on the Frankenslotting--most of the +defense set bonuses are granted from complete 5-6 slotted sets(Mako's Bite & Red Fortune for Ranged; Touch of Death & Obliteration for Melee; Scirrocco's Dervish for AoE). Crushing Impact may lack +def, but I'd recommend it instead of Bruising Blow and Smashing Haymaker.

Defense from power pools is quite low for scrappers. Lose the defense IO's in Hover and get Blessing of the Zephyr. Despite it's recent reduction in numbers, it's a bigger boost than what you can get from directly enhancing Hover's defense. Put BotZ in Fly too. (Understandable if you cannot get the Knockback piece of BotZ, 2 parts of the set will still grants you +Ranged)

Focused Accuracy and Against All Odds should probably have 2 end reducers each(maybe even 3 for FA, it's an End hog). It might be worth your while to choose Conserve Power before FA; Shield can drain a lot of endurance.

Build Up is an awesome opportunity to slot a full Gaussian's set(+2.5% def to all positional).

Whirling Sword could use some love. If nothing else, it's a great place for Obliteration(and +3.75 Melee for the full set) I'd also recommend Obliteration for Shield Charge.

There's my two cents. (and probably some pocket fluff)

The plastic tips at the end of shoelaces are called aglets. Their true purpose is sinister.
--The Question, JLU

 

Posted

Flight always presents a challenge to shield builds because hover is somewhat problematic. While hover gives a good defensive bonus, it's not very fast. I hate fighting while hovering because my toon can never quite chase down that runner. However, we all have our idiosyncracies when it comes to build.

The next challenge was to keep the build under budget. You have some great pieces that you manage to get, and the challenge was to build something that took advantage of what you had but keep the other pieces cheap.

Below is the build that I put together based on these constraints. One thing you'll notice right off is that melee is *NOT* soft capped. I took advantage of having parry in the build and melee defense sits at 34% without parry and 49% with just one application. The other two positions sit at the soft cap *without* needing to turn on hover (45.7% range and 45.1% AoE). I felt that this was an important consideration since it would allow you the flexibility of being able chase down foes without having hover on and still be at the soft cap for two positions.

Other stats for the build are:
3.29 end/sec recovery, 199% regen, 30.4% smash/lethal resists, 22.5% global recharge. Definitely not terrible for a cheap build.

To get even cheaper - replace the non +recovery Miracles with just plain health IOs; replace parry with frankenslotted melee sets of your choice, keeping accuracy/damage high as possible; replace the Adjusted Targeting in build up with straight recharge IOs; replace the +end performance shifter with a straight end modification IO. The other IOs are needed for bonuses, so if you replace them, you'll lose positional defense.

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.707
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Cheap Flying BS-Shield: Level 50 Technology Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Broad Sword
Secondary Power Set: Shield Defense
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Body Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Hack -- Mako-Acc/Dmg(A), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Mako-Dmg/Rchg(3), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(17), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(31), Mako-Dam%(40)
Level 1: Deflection -- S'dpty-Def/Rchg(A), S'dpty-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(7), S'dpty-Def/EndRdx(19), S'dpty-Def(31), S'dpty-EndRdx(42), S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(46)
Level 2: Battle Agility -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(7), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(19), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(42), RedFtn-Def(45), RedFtn-EndRdx(46)
Level 4: Slice -- Erad-Dmg(A), Erad-Dmg/Rchg(5), Erad-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(5), Erad-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(17), M'Strk-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(39)
Level 6: True Grit -- H'zdH-Heal(A), H'zdH-Heal/Rchg(11), H'zdH-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(13), H'zdH-Heal/EndRdx(34), H'zdH-EndRdx/Rchg(45)
Level 8: Parry -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg(A), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(9), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg(9), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(13), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(15)
Level 10: Active Defense -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(11)
Level 12: Hover -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 14: Fly -- Zephyr-Travel(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(15)
Level 16: Swift -- Flight-I(A)
Level 18: Health -- Mrcl-Rcvry+(A), Mrcl-Heal(34), Mrcl-Heal/EndRdx(39)
Level 20: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), Efficacy-EndMod(21), Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg(21), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc(43)
Level 22: Whirling Sword -- M'Strk-Acc/Dmg(A), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx(23), M'Strk-Dmg/Rchg(23), M'Strk-Acc/EndRdx(25), M'Strk-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(25), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(40)
Level 24: Against All Odds -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 26: Disembowel -- Mako-Acc/Dmg(A), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx(27), Mako-Dmg/Rchg(27), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(29), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(31), Mako-Dam%(37)
Level 28: Build Up -- RechRdx-I(A), AdjTgt-Rchg(29), AdjTgt-ToHit/Rchg(39)
Level 30: Boxing -- Acc-I(A)
Level 32: Head Splitter -- Sciroc-Acc/Dmg(A), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx(33), Sciroc-Dmg/Rchg(33), Sciroc-Acc/Rchg(33), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(34)
Level 35: Shield Charge -- M'Strk-Acc/Dmg(A), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx(36), M'Strk-Dmg/Rchg(36), M'Strk-Acc/EndRdx(36), M'Strk-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(37), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(37)
Level 38: Tough -- Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(A), Aegis-ResDam/Rchg(40), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(43), Aegis-ResDam(43), Aegis-EndRdx/Rchg(46)
Level 41: Conserve Power -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(42)
Level 44: Physical Perfection -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(45), P'Shift-End%(50)
Level 47: Weave -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(48), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(48), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(48), RedFtn-Def(50), RedFtn-EndRdx(50)
Level 49: Phalanx Fighting -- DefBuff-I(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Acc-I(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 1: Critical Hit
Level 6: Ninja Run

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One last note. Check out my sig for an easy guide on how to invest that 13M to make more influence.

 

Posted

Alright, thanks for the feedback guys!

Main reason I picked up FA over CP is because for the most part I never have MUCH endur problems other than when fighting end-draining mobs. Plus I was soloing alot of Creys at the moment and I find it crucial that my parry doesn't get deflected. Plus I want to get physical perfection before tough and weave.

I never had much trouble chasing down guys because... well, they die pretty fast. Plus, I love how all the attack animations look different if you use it while you're hovering.
Hovering also saved me from trying to wade into the mob among tanks and other scraps, and makes speed boost more manageble.