My first character, back at the beginning of the game, was an MA/SR...and happily I still play that character. I've lived thru all the ups and downs of both MA and SR and am pleased to say that for me, aside from the days of perma-elude god-like DEF, the current state of MA/SR is the best it's ever been and I've been enjoying a new found appreciation for my original character who I had left to gather dust for quite a while as I played various other alts. It's like reconnecting with an old friend. 
As to MA specifically:
Eagles Claw now procs a very short duration critical hit %% buff. Basically if you queue up another attack while EC is going thru its animation, that next attack's crit chance is increased. I don't recall the exact bonus off hand, but my MA does seem to crit pretty often on whatever follows EC (usually CAK or Dragon's Tail situationally).
Cobra Strike and Crippling Axe Kick both got retooled to be primary attacks rather than the status effect imposers they were previously relegated to and are now worth taking.
Also, not a "buff" per se, but MA got more than its fair share of love back when they were doing alternative animations and there is a very nice set of punch based animations, so you can make a puncher scrapper now using MA. Unfortunately, Dragon's Tail is still the same spinny leg sweep so its not 100%, and IIRC Thunder Kick didn't get a punch animation either (but I skip TK so I can't really remember). Concept wise, I really appreciate this aspect of MA.
In particular, CS was made a rather high-damage attack with no degradation in its stun. It's now a spectacular power. It would be present in a lot of if not all decent MA attack chains, and used thus it will regularly stun bosses.
CaK's animation time was sped up and its damage was improved.
And, as mentioned, Eagle's Claw was given a buff that increases chances for all other powers to critical for a couple of seconds after EC hits.
Blue
American Steele: 50 BS/Inv
Nightfall: 50 DDD
Sable Slayer: 50 DM/Rgn
Fortune's Shadow: 50 Dark/Psi
WinterStrike: 47 Ice/Dev
Quantum Well: 43 Inv/EM
Twilit Destiny: 43 MA/DA
Red
Shadowslip: 50 DDC
Final Rest: 50 MA/Rgn
Abyssal Frost: 50 Ice/Dark
Golden Ember: 50 SM/FA
Quote:
+33%. That's quite...huge. But ya gotta follow EC immediately, as it expires very fast.|
Originally Posted by KillerShrike
As to MA specifically:
Eagles Claw now procs a very short duration critical hit %% buff. Basically if you queue up another attack while EC is going thru its animation, that next attack's crit chance is increased. I don't recall the exact bonus off hand |
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by KillerShrike
Cobra Strike and Crippling Axe Kick both got retooled to be primary attacks
|
Note that Eagle's Claw doesn't just set up the big crit bonus; it still does good damage and has a higher crit chance of its own. The only complaint people have about it is the animation (time and/or how it looks). A lot of times now I find myself using EC to set up the crit bonus, only to find EC outright kills the target without needing the follow-up attack.
If we are to die, let us die like men. -- Patrick Cleburne
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The rule is that they must be loved. --Jayne Fynes-Clinton, Death of an Abandoned Dog
Thanks, this is some great info, and is exactly what I was looking for!
Quote:
I have the same experience as KS and he stated my feelings exactly. And with Alpha Slot you can really add some mustard to your attack chain by taking muscalature. I am core slotted and just housed Chimera in record time. |
Originally Posted by KillerShrike
My first character, back at the beginning of the game, was an MA/SR...and happily I still play that character. I've lived thru all the ups and downs of both MA and SR and am pleased to say that for me, aside from the days of perma-elude god-like DEF, the current state of MA/SR is the best it's ever been and I've been enjoying a new found appreciation for my original character who I had left to gather dust for quite a while as I played various other alts. It's like reconnecting with an old friend.
As to MA specifically: Eagles Claw now procs a very short duration critical hit %% buff. Basically if you queue up another attack while EC is going thru its animation, that next attack's crit chance is increased. I don't recall the exact bonus off hand, but my MA does seem to crit pretty often on whatever follows EC (usually CAK or Dragon's Tail situationally). Cobra Strike and Crippling Axe Kick both got retooled to be primary attacks rather than the status effect imposers they were previously relegated to and are now worth taking. Also, not a "buff" per se, but MA got more than its fair share of love back when they were doing alternative animations and there is a very nice set of punch based animations, so you can make a puncher scrapper now using MA. Unfortunately, Dragon's Tail is still the same spinny leg sweep so its not 100%, and IIRC Thunder Kick didn't get a punch animation either (but I skip TK so I can't really remember). Concept wise, I really appreciate this aspect of MA. |
I am greedy and would like to see SR get a bump in something or a heal perhaps to offset everyone being able to soft cap so many other /sets, but again just being greedy. KS is right no better time than to be a MA/SR
American-Dynamo 50 MA/SR: Freedom
2 RWZ challenges, 4 AV's solo'ed no temps, no insp
Someone mentioned a recent MA buff in another thread. Is this documented or described somewhere?
I am coming back to CoH and decided to stop playing Brutes and start playing Scrappers again. Between my own expereicnces and discussions on the boards back-in-the-day, I was a little warry of trying MA again until I heard there might have been a buff.
I had a MA/Regen as my first real CoH char I played, and was thinking of trying MA again, but maybe with a diff secondary to mix things up.