Katana Invul or SR

Thanks to Werner I have this desire to start up a Katana Scrapper.

I enjoy grouping and if we cant find a tank type would like to sub this role to get the group moving.

If I went Invul instead of SR would this hurt my damage by a noticeable amount. I am only familiar with Invul on my tanker so not sure if SR can hold the agro or if it really even matters.

When I cant easily find a group I would like to be able to solo without the pain of it taking forever. I find on my tanker 38 if I cant find a group; I get discouraged and log off and start looking at the next character to build. So this time around I want to think about me first.

I enjoy grouping
log off if I cant find a group
leave the group if it is KB crazy
Enjoy leading the charge if others are unwilling/unable
Would like to try stupid scrapper tricks one day
solo/tank AVs


Thanks.

Either one will work very well. Both will allow you to solo AVs, and both can lead a charge. My vote between the two goes to Katana/Invuln because...

If you have the money to invest, Invuln can provide you with better survivability in the majority of encounters thanks to layering defense and resistance with a great heal/+HP tool. SR doesn't really offer anything to boost your damage, with the possible exception of Quickness, which is a recharge buff and protection from slows. You can compensate with IO bonuses.

As an added bonus, Invuln is better at holding aggro thanks to Invincibility. SR Scrappers don't have a way to hold aggro outside of their primaries or pool powers. Then again, it's not too hard at all to get something's attention when you're carving its face like a holiday turkey.

Now, if you don't have a lot of money then SR will definitely be easier to enhance to its peak. A few sets and boom, you're soft capped. A few more and you'll have enough recharge to run Katana's top chain.

I played both and love both, but for style and sturdiness Invuln wins in my book. It thrives in the thick of a fight, and only gets stronger when faced with multiple opponents. I really don't think you could go wrong with either one though.

My Kat/Inv is definately a fun, giggle-fest of a set, and w/out question a real serious driving force of any team she's on. Generally capable of saving any squishy having agro problems or to rush in and get everyones attention real quick. Excellent all around toon, and
extremely valuable on any team she's been on so far.

Personally however, I think my MA/SR is a better solo toon then my Kat/Inv by a long shot, just in speed alone. She can stay in a fight, run from spawn to spawn to spawn to spawn SOO much more effeciently and w/out any delay then the Kat can by a long shot. Just in terms of speed through a mission alone, she out does every single one of my other toons.
Im not saying she's necessarily better for the way that you play or anyone else, but if you're going to be factoring solo play along w/your team play like you mentioned, thats something to consider.

But in terms of fun factor, they're both the same, both are just milk thru the nose kinda fun for different reasons and I find myself giggling alot for the different things they're capable of pulling off in their areas of expertise.

I also think that if you have more Inf to spend, go with Invulnerability. You'll have more things to fall back on when something does go through the Defense. Dull Pain can heal you for more than 3/4ths of your HP as well as put you at the HP cap. You can also get Resistance for the most common damage types Smashing and Lethal, up to 70% or so. 5% away from the Scrapper Resist cap.

With enough Inf, it is possible to get the Defense softcap on all damage types except for Psi/Toxic with one foe in Melee range.

Having the strong taunt in Invulnerability is also very nice. I love it.

If you want to do any tanking at all, take Invulnerability. Super Reflexes won't hold any aggro.

While there's no damage buff in Super Reflexes, end game damage output probably WILL favor Super Reflexes. With Super Reflexes, you can soft cap without Divine Avalanche, so you can take advantage of Quickness and boost your recharge to run the top DPS chain. Might be able to fit in both AoEs more easily. With Invulnerability, I'd probably be using Divine Avalanche for lethal defense, and accepting a ranged/AoE smashing hole in my defenses. I'd want recharge, but not to the extent that Super Reflexes has it. You wouldn't be running the top change. So yeah, it would hurt your damage. Probably not hugely, but some, likely noticeably (if you were running the two back to back).

Either should group fine, solo fine, lead the charge fine, do stupid scrapper tricks, and solo AVs, as long as you have an appropriate build for the task.

I think it basically boils down to whether you have the time and motivation to get expensive IO sets or not.

If you do, pick /Invuln. With big investments it will be more survivable than /SR while being able to put out comparable DPS. I don't know how the Incarnate slots will affect this, but I'd guess they'll skew it into /Invuln's favour when talking about large investments in IOs. Invuln could be easier to level up thanks to its very high S/L mitigation, but Kat/SR will have access to Melee soft cap early on.

/SR is a better choice if you are only going to get fewer IOs. Kat/SR can easily soft cap Melee defense from lvl 8 which should make you close to immortal in melee combat. It is also very easy to get soft capped against all positional attack vectors.

Both will be good choices.

What would be the attack chain for Kat/Inv?

GC > GD > GC > SD if you want top DPS. I use this on my Kat/Inv with a ~0.2 second gap when Hasten is up.

GC > GD > GC > SD > GC > DA for a combination of survivability and DPS. You'll have a bit lower DPS but one application of DA going at all times unless it misses.

The first chain could be a bit difficult to get gapless on a Kat/Inv, but we don't know how the Incarnate slots will change this. Second chain is easy with IOs.

EDIT: Edited the 2nd attack chain to what it should've been. Thanks Werner!

thanks everyone.

I think I will try the Invul for now simply for the fact that I could help fill the tank gap while leveling.

Have fun! It's going to be a great ride.

Just a minor correction: GC > GD > GC > SD > GC > DA
And for your survivability chain: DA > GC > GD > GC > DA > GC > SD > GC

You'll notice the three chains mentioned are all very similar. They all have Gambler's Cut every other attack (making it an ideal home for an Achilles' Heel proc, and a purple proc if you can afford it). They all use Golden Dragonfly and Soaring Dragon. Then it's just a matter of how often you use Divine Avalanche. So if you have the recharge for the DPS chain, you can switch to either of the other two as the situation requires. I like that flexibility.

Update:

Got my Katana/invul to 29 last night. I have to admit it is much tougher that what I thought it would be.

I have a lot to go to get my tanking up to anything that can be called "tanking" in a group.

The damage is very awesome though. I got my Soaring Dragon a couple of levels ago and that has really changed the way the class feels.

Long way to go but wanted to pop in and say thanks. Searching the forums like a mad man now looking at builds.

I got a few builds in my guide (link in sig).

I'll update it once I19 hits and probably post some cheap builds as well. Even if your budget isn't as high as I had it, you should get an idea of what bonuses you want and which sets provide them.

Hehehe, damn iphone's auto correction.

Quick question. I was watching some videos and noticed you can monitor certain stats. Right now I have the whole window open and have to scroll up and down to look between my defense and resist powers.

Can someone point me in the right direction to select the ones I want to see.

Thanks.