Ultimate Sustainable Single Target Attack Chain

OK, so I've heard all about lawnmowers and survivability.

But apart from a skilled brute in the right circumstances (assuming even they can do it reliably solo) is there any one who can sustain a single target attack chain that's near the damage cap while solo? Not that I can handle playing a brute like that.

Or baring that what ranks up there? Sustainable, not just a high burst, no faking. If there's AoE collateral that's fine, but no bonus points.

I can figure that a dark melee scrapper with the right secondary is up there, or maybe an ice/energy blaster with some major recharge. Maybe a defender with some sonic, though it takes a bit to work up on that when you're going through multiple foes, they can pack a whollop on an AV.

I'm just saying that if I didn't care about AoEs or secondary effects and I wanted to kill something dead, what would I want?

I suppose a PvPer might ask this question, but they want burst and slow and have a bunch of other things to worry about. So I think this doesn't belong over there.

dm/shield or fm/shield scrapper seem to be the top dogs right now.

Oopps, my bad. Didn't know you were going for anything. I've no clue what the non-melee ATs can dish out. If you count regen debuffs, dam-res debuffs, etc, I'm sure that some squishies out there can reach much higher "effective" dps levels.

Both fire/fire/mace and mace app Banes can reach single target damage potential that eclipses the next closest competitors.

If your goal is to take out tough single targets like AV's then I've yet to see anything that can do it as quickly as a perma PA ill/cold/ice.

I think what he is asking for is non stop attack damage, no down time, no burst, just hithithithithithit(or zapzapzapzapzap).

That said, probably what Bill said... DM/SD or FM/SD.

I figured DM would be there, I'm not sure why SD is as a secondary. I always thought of FM as AoE-ish, but then maybe it's just more-than-one-category uber. So what is it about SD that makes it an ideal secondary for Single Target damage, I know Shield Charge is nifty, but I think of it as AoE nifty.

The truth is, when I'm soloing, I don't like to play lawnmower. I like crackin' a head at a time. I just like how the game feels that way. This is an AoE game, but most of my toons don't take or slot major AoE powers until after my first respec and then I play them only in teams.

I slot hard for recharge in s heavy hitting Single Target attach chain. I like that play (and mis perma hasten... which I hear you can get again if you invest major cash and are willing to slot the sets to do it). Sometimes I wonder if some of the smaller attacks don't actually add more over time, but I'm not enough of a number cruncher to know.

So anyway, these days, instead of stepping up the "# of equivalent heroes" I want nasty baddies in small numbers to fight mano y mano. So I thought I'd ask what the tool for the job is.

Ill/Cold sounds interesting, I'd have to look into that. I deleted my lvl 50 Ill controller when ED came out and ruined Perma-PA, but I've heard (again if you have the cash and are willing to slot the slots) you can get it back.

All these claims of Perma-anything-that-isn't-perma-with-IOs seems like much work, compromise on other slotting possibilities and big bucks.

Kinda bummed through that it's Ill/controller or a scrapper though. It would be nice to be surprised by another AT.

Shield's AAO buffs damage per enemy in range up to 10 enemies. In order to acheive the top tier DPS from the combos using /SD, you have to get cannon fodder and keep it around you in order to keep that damage buff up.

DM's issue is that soul drain kills off fodder after a while.

Can you direct me toward a build or a thread that helps explain Ill/Cold's super-awesomeness in more detail, please?

Im pretty sure a fire/elec (epic doesnt really matter) blaster does the most Single-target (sustained) DPS.... it was over 310.

Coming in second is a fire/fire dom methinks.....

but that's just raw DPS, and assuming they survive long enough to do it.

as for "effective" DPS providing buffs/debuffs/etc, I ~think~ it's either rad/son def or ill/rad troller....?

This sounds about what I've expected. I'm feeling a bit of a disconnect though on all the talk of soft-caps and permas which are just way out of my price range, too expensive, too much work and come way too late in the game. Sure I'll play a lvl 50 for the badges and a bit of cash for myself or prestige for the SG, but usually it's on to another main with a set I haven't played yet. After awhile the lvl 50s start to stack up and are prohibitively expensive to fiddle with. I usually franken-slot and grab a few inexpensive sets for a tidy boost when I can.

DM is, I presupposed, what I expected. I'm a little disappointed in fire (that is balance-disappointed), since it rules AoE it seems unbalanced that it's so close on ST as well. After being gone quite a while and coming back, I'm a little disillusioned that there's still such great inequities. However, a balanced game isn't really a rational goal anyway. A fun game is, which has to be balanced enough not to stop the fun, but doesn't really need to be more balanced than that.

In the end I don't care much what the color of the name of the mob is. But I do like to feel like a superhero and I also like to feel like I can get taken out if I don't pay attention and keep on my game (and have a little luck). There's that suspension of disbelief. I need at least a couple fights a mission where I might go down, otherwise I'm bored.

I was thinking that ST approach would run a bit hotter, particularly if I could do it without being a scrapper.

I'm wondering if a range/defense (to give mostly mez, but not complete mez protection) defender with decent damage isn't a good way to go. Or a controller who uses his own mez/pet as mez protection.

I love watching my wife's energy/devices blaster solo to 50 doing all the soloable content. But I couldn't go that slow, so I was hoping ST magnitude might turn up the speed while keeping a nice risk level.

OP, my vote goes for fire/elec blaster. IMO killing really fast is the best defense.

I suggest looking at claws for sustainable DPS. Pair it with something like Super Reflexes, and the already fast recharges are even faster. Plus the end costs are some of the lowest, with some of the fastest animations for most attacks.