Reactive Core vs. Reactive Radial

Like Bruising, the Reactive debuff procs are (IIRC) supposed to bypass the Purple patch -- because they actually make the target the caster of the debuff. Unfortunately, and by the same token, they don't stack beyond 4x even with a full League of people all spamming the same proc. (Just as Bruising doesn't stack even with multiple Tankers.)

Still, I would go (and have gone) with the DoT over the -RES debuff. It's just more helpful in more situations. Personally, I wouldn't even bother with the Tier 4. Because the procs don't stack with each other in team situations, and because -10% RES is generally insignificant in non-teaming situations, I figure any encounter in which I'm likely to miss the RES debuff will already have the RES debuff covered from other sources.

Destiny seems to be the only truly compelling T4 option for me. YMMV.

Originally Posted by Iggy_Kamakaze Nice build

I myself am going the Core route on my Tanker.

Also, Judgement, I find, is quite compelling.

I actually had a friend confirm this, he was having trouble on his MM pets receiving his reactive buff. When the GM responded to him about the bug, he was told that the buff *should* be affecting them (which it wasn't... oddly), and more importantly, it should stack up to six times.

Originally Posted by Iggy_Kamakaze I hate to be the bringer of bad news... but Willpower sucks!!! you're better off rolling a regen

This strikes me as an odd perspective in this forum, where we often agonize over a few DPS solo damage output.

Edit: It seems to me that there are a lot of variables that will affect which version works out to more DPS. How high your previous DPS was, and how many attacks/time you use to get there (because that affects how often you will apply the DoT). If you are on the low end of DPS the DoT is almost certainly a win. If you are high DPS and have sufficiently fast-activating powers, it seems to me that the -DR could come out ahead. For mowing standard mobs down, the DoT is almost certainly the better choice. However, I have to say I rarely optimize at this level for anything except hard targets.

Unless you're the only one there.

I haven't crunched the numbers, but the last estimate I heard was that the DoT itself adds 40+ DPS assuming you attack at a reasonably fast rate. 40 DPS is 10% of 400. There aren't a whole lot of builds that can muster 400 DPS. Maybe with the Lore pets we'll see more builds in that stratosphere.

The DoT helps against everything from minions to Arch-Villains. It provides, at a glance, more additional DPS than the RES proc is likely to give any single build. That's all I was saying.

If you wanna go for the Very Rare to get some -RES on top of the DoT, then that's great. It's good to have long-term goals. I'm not gonna bother unless I have nothing else to spend components on.

Originally Posted by Iggy_Kamakaze Nice build

Resistance debuffs are not "resisted" except by having resistance. The mechanics work out so that if you debuff something with -10% resistance, you will do 10% more damage than if it wasn't debuffed.

Let's say an AV has 50% resistance. You debuff 10%. His resistance lowers that to 5%. He now has 45% resistance. You will do 10% more damage now that he has 45% resistance instead of 50%.

The resistance debuff cap is 300%. My Cold/Sonic defender can maintain debuffs between 100% and 150% resistance. The Reactive Interface proc becomes a drop in the bucket on teams when fighting AVs. I think all of the Interface procs are underpowered due to the cap per critter, instead of cap per player mechanic. They don't really seem to have as much of an impact as the Alpha slot did, but I could be wrong.

Hey, different strokes for different folks. Judgment doesn't seem to gain anything particularly interesting at Tier 4 to me. You're basically looking at a little extra damage (up to ~1/3rd more, 20% of the time), or a 25% chance for this-or-that proc. In the case of Void (which is probably the most mechanically complementary of Tankers), you get an increase in the target cap from 24 to 32, which is nice, but how often that distinction will make a practical difference is an open question.

I am perhaps biased because the first character I'm running through the Trials is a Mind/Fire Dominator -- who is neither desperate for AoE damage, nor particularly interested in a stun proc. For theme reasons, I'm giving her Pyronic, which is for my purposes maxed out at Rare (Partial Radial -- 32 targets, 40 ft radius).

Then you have Lore, which at Tier 3 gives you a Boss-tier pet and a support lieutenant, and an Incarnate level shift. Tier 4 gives you ... either a heavier-damage lieutenant or an invincible support lieutenant? Meh, they're still only available for 5 minutes out of every 15, and as the forums demonstrate, a lot of people find the Praetorian-themed pets conceptually problematic.

The tier 4 of Reactive, for all that I've downplayed the RES debuff in this thread, at least gives you a consistent upgrade over tier 3. Whether that upgrade is noticeable through most content is another question, and I suppose some people (those who like soloing AVs, for instance) will find it a compelling option. If I get another couple of lucky drops, Reactive Radial Flawless will likely be my first priority after Destiny.

And then there's Destiny, for which the tier 4 is the difference between 3/4ths uptime and ~100% uptime, and the difference between a 30 ft radius and a 60 ft radius (that's four times the floor coverage). Or, the radius stays the same (60 ft), and your uptime goes from 1/2 to 100%.

To say that T4 Destiny is the most immediately obvious and noticeably beneficial upgrade of the bunch is an understatement. Happily, I've already lucked out on a Very Rare reward table, so now it's just a matter of grinding the threads for Rebirth Radial Epiphany.

Then, it's time to start on my Tank, for all that anyone cares about my own personal plans. Just thought I'd throw in the long-winded reasoning behind what I said earlier. YMMV.

Originally Posted by Iggy_Kamakaze Nice build

I'm going for the tier 4!

-10% Resist might not be much, but that's an additional 10% to add on to my 40% (two -20% procs) or even just 10% -Resist I might not have on another scrapper.