SS/Fire brute - Seeking input on a S/L capped, non-purple/PVP, non-farm build
By
A Man In Black,
Posted on: 2011-05-30 20:23 in Brutes
My build was designed around my play style. I had tons of INF sitting around and I am fairly experienced at the game. I can see how it can feel too squishy for some people. It was designed to maximize DPS while relying on teammates and inspirations to survive. The next patch should make it much easier to get defense buffs from teammates because bubble buffs (Force Field, Cold Domination, Sonic, etc.) will be AoE instead of single-target. If you are still set on more defense, I will offer my advice.
Reaching 45% defense means you give up a lot of potential recharge bonuses. By doing so, you limit your DPS and will likely have to run a poor attack chain. I would suggest aiming for 32.5% instead so you can soft-cap with one small inspiration and still have a decent amount of recharge bonus. A tray full of inspirations will last you a LONG time, especially if you combine 3 when your tray fills up.
Your builds did a good job of squeezing in the recharge while reaching 45% S/L defense. The only thing I don't like about them is the lack of E/N defense. A lot of attacks at 50 are pure energy damage, especially in Incarnate content. I don't like feeling invincible against some things, then extremely squishy against others. I suppose that is a playstyle choice you would have to make.
Quote:
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the DPS build and intend to keep it. Even de-purpled, it's absolutely great for making things die as quickly as possible. In fact, that's why I'm set on more defense; this is my other build, for when I'd like to be able to tank or able to use insps for other tasks. I've built to 32.5%, and I don't feel that that's tough enough to justify giving up a full Gloom attack chain and the other benefits of having more +rech. I have run 45% def, and do feel that it's worth it; I just can't find a S/L softcap build I'm 100% happy with, so I was looking for some fresh input.|
Originally Posted by Syntax42
My build was designed around my play style. I had tons of INF sitting around and I am fairly experienced at the game. I can see how it can feel too squishy for some people. It was designed to maximize DPS while relying on teammates and inspirations to survive. The next patch should make it much easier to get defense buffs from teammates because bubble buffs (Force Field, Cold Domination, Sonic, etc.) will be AoE instead of single-target. If you are still set on more defense, I will offer my advice.
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On the subject of attack chains, if I go Mu and fit in ~55-60% +rech, I can comfortably run Mu Lightning - Haymaker - KO Blow - Mu Lightning - Haymaker - Burn. I'm happy with this as an attack chain, but I'm torn, because it means not using Dark Obliteration, which is absolutely great.
I use two attack chains. One is for AoE and the other for single targets. The single-target chain is the same as you just mentioned except I use Gloom in place of Mu Lightning. For AoE damage, I use Foot Stomp, Burn, and Dark Obliteration, then KO Blow a boss. The AoE attacks recharge while KO Blow is animating, so sometimes I just pause instead of using KO blow if there are no boss targets.
Absent purple IOs, it seems like it'd be impossible to get an S/L-capped high-recharge SS/Fire build without running into endurance problems. It's not too hard to get any two of those, but the third is impossible. I don't even know if purples would solve the issue. Endurance issues make characters unplayable for me, so I would likely let recharge slide a little for improved defense and endurance. I'd trade away defense on a farmer, but for PVE I want a safer, more sustainable build.
My no-purple PVE SS/Fire build uses Cardiac Partial Core Alpha, 32.7% S/L/E/N, and Soul Mastery. All it needs is a single small purp or Darkest Night to softcap vs. S/L/E/N (use both and F/C is taken care of, too). It has 2074hp after accolades, which helps survivability, and three -KB IOs help keep him on his feet. Global recharge is only 36.25%, but I slot pretty heavily for recharge and Footstomp uses the FF proc. I left Hasten out, since I couldn't make it permanent and I wanted to avoid adding another endurance crash. All I have to do is toggle up, set Rage to auto, and go smash stuff.
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I stoles ideas liberally from streetlight's build and pondered both his and Syntax's advice, and came up with a version at 40% SL, 25% ENE, 58.8% +rech, and clearing 1.66 end a second after toggles. I think that's about as much as I can hope for without cutting into the heart of the build or dramatically changing my objectives, and the loss of 5% SL def seems tolerable on paper, between Dark Obliteration and Barrier Destiny (which I've already got at T3).
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evil_tim's 3pc Fury of the Gladiator slotting in Foot Stomp would get my KB protection up even more, at the cost of some +rech. I'm of two minds about the tradeoff, and I'm not sure what those IOs go for.
Level 32: Foot Stomp C'ngBlow-Dmg/EndRdx(A), C'ngBlow-Dmg/Rchg(33), FotG-Dam/End/Rech(33), FotG-Acc/End/Rech(33), FotG-Acc/Dmg/End/Rech(34), FrcFbk-Rechg%(40)
I've been playing SS/Fire with a DPS-focused build (a purple-less version of Syntax42's DPS build), but I've decided I'd like something a bit better-rounded, particularly defensively. Trouble is, I can't find anything I'm quite happy with.
I've decided that I definitely want softcapped S/L defense, as much +rech as I can practically fit in the build thereafter, and sustainable endurance for longer fights. I haven't had any luck fitting in 12 KB prot, a reasonable ST attack chain, some endmod in Consume (for hard targets), some E/NE defense, a FFB proc in Footstomp, and ROTP.
Purples and expensive PVP IOs are currently out of my budget. I can afford the cheaper purple sets, but I've yet to find a good place to fit them in.
Here are my current tries at it: