Is there a bad combo?

I've been doing the newbie player altoholic thing. Whenever I make a toon, people ask what primary/secondary I picked, and then tell me that it's solid, and fairly often say that people with that build and good enhancements can solo AVs/GMs.

So, I guess that's beginner's luck. I guess that leads to the question:

Are there any primary/secondary combos that are just plain not particularly viable for some reason? Or any primary/secondary power sets that just suck for a given archetype? I'm curious about this, because I think I'd pick up more about game mechanics from looking at what doesn't work than what does, simply because so far as I can tell, nearly everything works.

There's no such thing as a bad combo, just a bad player.

Sure, some combo's fail to have natural synergy with one another, however, this does not make them "bad". I like to think of them as an opportunity.

Yeah, can't think of a 'bad' combo off the top of my head.

Kinetics/Energy Blast is a solid example of bad synergy with a knockback-filled blast set paired with a melee-centric primary. Even so, the character can function well once you grasp when to use your attacks.

In the scrapper forum we settled on that MA/fire was probably the worst scrapper. MA/Inv was a close second. I have a 50 MA/Inv and she doesn't suck at all, but does feel slow.

Any combo you make can work, you'll just have to learn it's weaknesses and don't do those.

Someone today asked, "What can beat a Fire/Kin?" Though I think they meant which can farm better, and we KNOW there are no posts on that. But as far as mano a mano, lots could beat the holy fire/kin. You don't really PvP those.

Which makes me think of another thing...PvP is totally different than PvE. What might rock in PvE might suck in PvP. I would say and vice versa, but I'm not sure that's true, but it would be a totally different build. In PvP travel powers are defense/offense.

The only answer is "In what situation?"

If, for some reason, I was looking for an "ultimate teammate-hitpoint-replacement healing type," a BS/SR scrapper would be.... er... far from optimal.

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There are no bad combos, but you can still ruin any combo with poor power choices.

I would say there is a difference between "great combo" and "not so good" one. Bad combo sounds like the two sets don't work at all but this game is very well designed to the point that you can't find a combo that doesn't work.

Having said that, some sets are just hard to play and may even lead to headaches. Some love them for the "theme" and some people like me just don't want to mess with the problems. One example I can give is Ninja/Trick Arrow Mastermind. That combo has great theme but trick arrow has the worst ability to protect melee pets as most of the controls from Trick Arrows are immb, slow or knockdowns. Those don't help much if your pets actually perform better at closer range. I can't see myself levelling a high lvl Ninja/TA but I've seen high lvl ones. They like it for the theme or for the challenge.

It's your game. Your choice.

If you want "uncommon" combos for the challenge, I can give you some on the villain side:

Dominator: Ice control + Thorny Assault. You rarely see this combo. Gravity/Thorny is rare too.

Brute: Anything /Energy Aura, although I've seen some Fiery/EA. You may want to go with an odd primary set like Axe/Aura?

Mastermind: Ninja/TA is challenging but in terms of rare, I have yet to see a Necro/TA!!! How do you light Oil Slick Arrow with Necro/TA? I probably would nominate Necro/TA as the "worst" combo. lol

After some serious thoughts..

Necro/TA could the WORST combo in this game!!! Am I wrong?

TA excels in immb/slow/knockdows from Oil Slick Arrow but which necro pet can light OSA?? You have to rely on your inherent attack with energy damage? But what if you pick Natural and only have throw knife? You'll need to get a Patron attack that can light Oil?

It's hard enough to keep those zombies alive but they perform poorly if they don't go in. I can see Robot/TA and Merc/TA with better synergy.

I can't think of one great synergy between Necro/TA.

BS/SR is ... slightly ... weak compared to other things/SR and BS/other things.

I would be wary of trying a Dark Armor stalker or brute. (Stalker for the AOE mez and other stuff that breaks stealth; brute for the enormous end consumption that Dark Armor is known for.) For the record I love DA on a scrapper or tank.

AR/TA/Mace corr. Oh god, the redraw

One combo I found lacking was a Stone/Fire Brute.The End costs were horrific (even with slotting, Stamina and Consume they were rough) and the whole character felt too clunky and unwieldly to ever work properly.


Mind you depending on what sort of buffs Fiery Aura might get in i18 it may become worthwhile.

A partially soft-capped DA stalker is actually quite good.

DA Stalkers have some fun toys that are useful on a team.

Frankly, the main combinations to avoid are attack sets with weapons, paired with other sets that are active during combat. TA/FF is fine, since you don't activate FF powers too much during combat, but TA/Kinetics or TA/Dark would probably be a pain.

Trick Arrow/Psi Blast comes to mind - no way to light the oil slick if you chose the wrong origins.