Opinions on KM/SD?

I think it's time for a new Scrapper and I noticed that while I have a SS/SD Brute and a SD/SS Tank, I don't have any */SD Scrappers, which seems like a shame considering how much I like the set.

With that in mind, I decided to take a look at the Primaries that I could pair with it. Fire/ looks promising because of the big damage numbers, but I always told myself I was going to pair Fire with /SR so I think I'll hold off on that one. DM is a favourite, for many reasons, but I've got 2 DM/FAs (1 Scrapper, 1 Brute) and a FA/DM Tank and am all DMed out for now. Looking through the rest, Kinetic Melee really stood out at me because of the seeming synergy. With AAO and the attacks from KM, I'd be stacking a bit of -Dam while adding to my damage, and Shield Charge seems to make up for some of the AoE I'm lacking.

Has anyone played this combo? How has it worked out for you? Any recommendations? (And don't worry, I'm no stranger to the Empowerment Station and early frakenslotting to make /SD more fun to play at the lower levels.)

I have a 50 km/sd and I love it. I would put it in between dark and fire for single target damage. My build is only a cheap one atm (no purples or pvp procs) but it's currently one of my most played toons. I've heard people say they don't like the set due to low damage and long animations but the animations are fairly quick and the damage is comparable to ss, it's just that the damage is at the end of the animations making it 'feel' slow.

Shouldn't it outperform Dark Melee? Or is the DM single-target chain of Smite-MG-Smite-SL just that good?

I would have thought power siphon and the optimal KM chain would push KM/SD ahead of DM/SD.

I've done no calculations on Kinetic Melee, so I know nothing. But I'd have expected it to be higher in the pylon thread by now if it was going to be a Dark Melee beater. But it wouldn't surprise me if in many situations it does outperform Dark Melee.

Kinetic/Shield should in theory out perform Dark/Shield in ST DPS. It also acts as a nice damage debuffer and to throw another hat trick in the ring most AVs do not resist damage debuffing so while it may not have the same level of survivability as Dark does it does pretty well. I'm still toying with the idea of making one but I already have a shield character and I might be making a GM solo-er here soon with a controller.

I'm going to play the price is right and guess some where around 60%! Did I go over Bob?

Purely anicdotally, DM/Shield margenally out performs KM/Shield when surrounded by 9 or greater foes. I can more predictably get a higher damage buff with soul drain with 9-10 foes + AAO. However, this solo takes some time as far as positioning, and teamed forget it: your fodder will be whiped out so fast by the burst damage do-ers. It will take time for you to get Power Siphon to whre u want it for Shield charge - longer than Soul Drain. And in midst of a volitile mechanic like AAO - you're really splitting hairs. With KM or DM/shields your best manuver would be: jump in, power up, kill the hard targets fast, sheild charge the rest. Good luck explaining that to a team. Fire is nice because you can get a significant damage boost w/o foes (which is the case for building KM/fire, but survivablility is sacraficed). Good luck in what ever you choose; they are all fun. Do whats fun first. Sheild does interfere with animations, but that's beside the point.

Edit: the -dam mechanic really isnt that helpful on scrappers to me; the numbers are just too low. Tankers it's much better and, IIRC, not resisted by any baddies (AV's too). I much prefer the Heal in Siphon Life

Helpful is relative and subjective to me a 30% damage debuff is significantly helpful in lowering damage output and increasing survivability.

I must admit I thought the "this effect" description ment only the damage buff. I didnt know it also included the -dam. That plus the -dam from AAO would be quite helpful, especially on a single target.

Source: http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showt...=236028&page=2

My Pairing was with /sr, wasnt hit that much.