In the Age of IO's, is SR obsolete?

The counter argument would be SR keeping a Red around to speed kill rate or just being able to use reds or greens to improve.

Funny I have been thinking the same thing throughout this thread.

What annoyed me was that while there is a LOT of +Psi Resistance kicking around (my first Invuln/SS Tanker build was designed purely to plug the Psi Resistance gap and got 40% Psi resistance...which is 10% MORE than her regular resistance levels) there is sweet bugger all way to build up the other resistances.

For Smashing/Lethal you can get tough...but there's nothing else after that and the +Resistance in the IO sets for anything other than Psi is laughable.

The devs bought it on themselves when they added a HUGE amount of +Def and +Rech to the sets and...well...not much else...

Now if I could build my Invuln/SS for 90% Smashing/Lethal resistance (which she does with just tough..so no change needed there) and say 70% Resistance to all but Psi then I would have gone that route.

As it is the only way for Invuln to increase their survivability is to go the typed defense softcap route (which I did on my second build).

So yes...it is namely the Devs fault for not really offering any other options other than +def and +Rech...

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't get what you're saying here. I thought that the system takes your highest stat into account when it comes to ranged vs positional. If I'm at 45% Melee/Ranged/AoE defense, doesn't that count Psionic damage, as well? And SR almost does this by itself... doesn't that make this not much of a "weakness?"

There's abilities that do psionic damage that are ONLY typed psychic. Everything in mind control, for example. Not particularly sure what else besides mind control is pure psychic type.

Self-reflection is the true path to enlightenment.

Some psionic attacks do not have a positional marker, meaning that it would only have to check against Psi Defense before it hits you, as having Melee/Ranged/AoE defense has no effect on the power's to-hit check.

OK, maybe I see what's going on here.

The point I thought I was arguing is that even on the cheap, late game Shield Defense survivability is very good as long as you build it right and make use of purple inspirations for extra-tough fights. It was a complete diversion from the original topic of the thread, and not, in my mind, about Super Reflexes at all.

The point I now think you are arguing is that on the cheap, late game Super Reflexes is at least as survivable as Shield Defense, as long as you build it right and use a similar number of inspirations (greens are good) for extra-tough fights.

These are not mutually-exclusive assertions. They're two different topics. So we're not even arguing with each other. We're just talking past each other.

I'll address your topic first. You're right! There, that was easy. Or at least I personally feel that late game Super Reflexes on the cheap and built right is at least as survivable as late game Shield Defense on the cheap and built right. I probably could even be convinced that it is more survivable if you were trying to make that additional point. SR should be sitting at the soft cap, even on the cheap, which is a gigantic lever with which to make good use of green inspirations to stay alive in horrible situations. Shield Defense is still a purple away from the soft cap, which is easily addressed for emergencies, but not on a continuous basis. Bigger load of inspirations for similar survivability = survival advantage for Super Reflexes. But that line of reasoning neglects damage output and its relationship to survivability. I believe Umbral is claiming a 25% survivability advantage from increased damage output on Shield Defense. Me, I've never included damage output in my survivability calculations because I want indefinite survivability, not 30 second or 60 second survivability. But 30 or 60 second survivability is probably more relevant to a discussion of late game play on well-made but cheap builds. Still, if you're teaming, the difference doesn't seem likely to be nearly so large as the proposed 25%, as your survivability probably depends more on the damage output of the whole team than of you personally. But if you're teaming, all bets are off, because team buffs are probably an even slipperier slope than inspiration use. And both team buffs and 30 to 60 second survivability are outside of my area of expertise, so I'll just shrug my shoulders for now.

Now back to my topic. What I'm claiming is that even on the cheap, late game Shield Defense survivability is very good as long as you build it right and make use of purple inspirations for emergencies. Built right, you'll have 32.5% defense or higher, even on the cheap, at least in the late game. That's one small purple from the soft cap. The difference between 32.5% and 45% defense is taking 2.5 times less damage. So when the chips are down, like in a double pull, a single purple should make it about as easy or easier than a normal spawn. And even 32.5% defense is quite a bit, and makes a noticeable difference in survivability. My point, basically, is that Shield Defense on the cheap isn't doomed to face planting regularly. It's actually quite good. There may be better Scrapper choices for cheap survivability (like arguably a soft-cap SR popping greens in emergencies), but Shield Defense even on the cheap is very solid with a reasonable build and reasonable use of inspirations.

Now, DO you think Shield Defense sucks even with a good late game build if that build is cheap? Or were we simply not on the same topic, as I suspect, and thus arguing over nothing? Or am I still way off base on what YOU were trying to say, and also thus arguing over nothing?

I've mostly only used cheap stuff and SOs for leveling, though at this point, I've stuck a bunch of Steadfasts, Kismets, Knockback Protections of several types, Miracle uniques, Numina uniques, and Performance Shifter procs in the base. Those are good for leveling. But really, most characters level with just a Steadfast and a Kismet. Frankenslotting in the mid 30s is fairly typical as well, generally to address endurance problems as I stack on the toggles. Total influence spent is probably in the 10-20 million range for my average leveling build, which is less than I earn while leveling.

That said, once you get the hang of it, making influence is easy. Just playing on your 50s gives you a lot of influence. Farming speeds that up a lot. And of course you can play the market, and the high end marketeers earn 2 billion or more per week.

The Market.

I have a level 29 scrapper that I haven't transferred any inf to from any other characters of mine, and she has 600 mill+ inf.

Except you can't use Claws with Shields?

A horrible mistake that we can only hope the devs will address soon.

They did with the new Faux-Claws set, Kinetic Melee.

>.>

<.<

It's ALMOST as good in every category ('cept AoE, I suppose), but not quite!