59% Softcap Confirmation?

Is this number from people's first experiences with the trials, or is this after attaining the additional level shifts?

I have several builds in limbo, and before I specifically put a Lambda team together just to test this, I thought I would see if anyone can actually confirm if the trial encounter enemies do have a specific +14% to hit.

it's there, but you don't have to build for it. I've taken my arch/dev blaster on both trials multiple times with 43% range defense and no level shifts at all and have done fine with him. extra level shifts will make things easier, though. mainly because you won't get hit as hard and do more damage to mobs.

so yes, there's is technically a new softcap in the trials, but i don't believe it should alter how you build defense toons. if anything, get the 45% and slot up more +hp/regen/rech (which is my personal standard for slotting defense based toons)

The 59% softcap comes from the fact that the mobs in the incarnate trial were checked out with the Surveillance power to have a 64% base to-hit, compared to the usual NPC 50% base to-hit.

They don't, apparently, have an actual to-hit buffing power on them, but a higher starting value. If they were to get tohit buffed they'd get even more, in short.

I have little doubt that this is because the ease with which people are soft-capping and its prevalence among all characters is considered a balance issue in end-game play. That said, I don't think it's a big deal to have to 'incarnate softcap' on your own, even if you're a defense-based character. You won't be alone, and just like before inventions and soft-capping existed, support teammates will be able to make sure you're able to handle the aggro and tank for the team. A secondary thing to consider is that the large number of bosses faced in the trials have a higher to-hit floor than normal. The advice not to rely on softcapping alone if you want to main tank is a pretty good idea, in my opinion. Adding resistance or recharge instead of, or in addition to, extra defense might be what you really need.

Also, the incarnate powers themselves offer some additional, alternate survivability options in the Destiny tree. Less so in the Interface tree, which is proc-based.

I've mostly been trialing with a night widow, and despite the lack of being 'properly incarnate softcapped all of the time' I haven't had a serious issue with survivability once I got some practice with the encounters. At the end of the day, stats are not a good substitute for experience in them.

On most teams there are lots of defense buffs, so if you're normal-softcapped on your own you'll almost always be trial-softcapped in a group.

I think building for solo mitigation this way may be folly. Here is why. In addition to the 64% base toHit of critters in the iTrials, there are numerous Praetorian critters which have or provide significant toHit buffs. For example, the some of the summoned Orbs grant allies +toHit. Siege's 9CUs have a compounding toHit buff as well as damage buff. Now, both of those are able to be managed through how the league plays - if you manage those critters, their toHit buffs may never meaningfully come into play. However, that seems a bit at odds with your philosophy, as you're probably going to need to rely on the league for something like 9CU management.

Carrying a few purple inspirations and using one when you get separated from the team and their defense buffs is far more practical than building for 59% defense, anyway.

My widow's able to solo all of the crates/chambers on the 2nd phase of lamba without being incarnate softcapped on her own (she's at 55 melee/50 ranged/50 AOE defense). It's not always clean and easy, I'm not doing it without using insps, aid self, and occasionally elude or demonic, but I can do it if I have to.

Like say if I have those incompetent teammates who run off on their own to die instead of hugging the buff-widow like they should already be trained to by all those great SOAs who take all their leadership toggles and mind link and use them to help their teams... oh wait, that's my fantasy world

Seriously, though. Between insps, tier 9s, destiny, and demonic you should be able to take a nice chunk out of the phase 2 of lambda even before you're level shifted fully. Once you are level shifted fully you should be cruisin'. The key for me really was practice and experience. Knowing to take down the battle orbs is one help, knowing that the psychics can use drain psyche and that the victorias and ACUs do a pbaoe end drain/-recovery on death, is another.

I am playing with a kat/SR and so far trials were not so hard on me except a few runs where there was a slow number of people playing and the strategy needs to change according to that.

Though I realised something even outside of trials. I previously had %46 ranged and %47 melee and aoe and a defensedebuff of %95 and it was enough when I made some changes in the build to put hecatomb in and lowered melee and aoe to 45.7 and put ranged to %48 however things started to hit more frequently.

Now if it was only in trials I wouldn't mind but it also happened in normal game play and I find myself getting much more closer to defeat than before despite having better resistance and regen. I also keep monitor up to track my defenses and such so I know its not because mobs put defense debuff on me either. I found myself using more insp than before compared to when my build had previous defenses, lower resistance and regen so I think the soft cap may have changed in game as well.

One last thing I am considering as an option is switching my super speed (since I have ninja run already Super Speed is only there for decoration at the moment) with Elude. True Elude causes a crash down and such but it stays for 3 minute and with barrier I can prevent total defeat when it crash down untill I toggle back which gives me a better survivability in a trial than pure barrier itself. And with Elude I can lower my defense down to %40(or %35 if I really squeeze it) and can still not to rely on elude with small mobs.

I think softcapped characters have gotten far too used to being the ones everyone is jealous of because they can just go afk in large mobs more or less indefinitely.

Seems like the devs are evening the playing field in the trials a bit. Your scrapper or brute isn't going to be able to just run off and do whatever while the rest of the team gets slaughtered. If you do that....it will be YOU getting slaughtered instead.

It's not so much a matter of they want to make you weaker, as it is they want to emphasize teamwork over solo glory. It's a team effort, not an opportunity for you to make people wish they'd rolled what you're playing instead.