KM is a fun set. It's not an AOE monster no, but then most scrapper sets aren't anyways.
When people say lack luster AOE, I look at Dark Melee, Martial Arts, the swords have better AOE, but it's really not that much better than KM.
Melee are more single target focused for damage, where Blasters are more the AOE specialists...with obvious exception in both cases...so why people who want AOE don't just roll up Fire Melee, Spines or ELM if that's going to be their complaint. 
KM is well rounded. PBAOE? Check! Awesome Single Target? Check! Added Range Attack Bonus? Check!
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Considering the hefty recharge timers I can't see it as something you could easily do unless you tailor your content to fit it, as traveling from one mob to the other doesn't always take long enough for FE/PS to recharge. |
Originally Posted by John_Printemps
But, I don't... think you read the... rest of my post? It is quite literally possible for Power Siphon to be "Virtually Permanent." If I have "Perma-PS", then where am I ever not getting an awesome Fiery Embrace?
Even if there's down spikes in PS's usage, just as Arcanaville pointed out, you can easily time them out in between mobs. The only situation where it would effectively matter would be against a single target...which, again, you can end up with a virtually perma-PS in that situation, making the argument of getting a bad FE null and void. This isn't "Special Synergy," this is "Basic Game Play." Are you going to pop Fiery Embrace ten seconds before you rush the next mob, then hit Power Siphon and absolutely waste FE? No, not likely. |
Against a single target, the crit is 15% and it has 2-3 chances to pop before PS deactivates. Not something you can rely upon.
Mains (Freedom) @Auroxis
Auroxis - Emp/Rad/Power Defender Pylon Video Soloing an AV
Pelvic Thunder - SS/Elec/Mu Brute
Sorajin - Elec/Nin Stalker
Neuropain - Sonic/Mental/Elec Blaster
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This is probably true. I soloed the ITF with my DM/Shield before I had a single purple or PvP IO (incarnates...). I now can run it with no deaths in under an hour, and could do a +4 run in a little over twice that time (2:30ish).|
Originally Posted by PleaseRecycle
Rage crash?
Oh, and I have three scrappers that can easily solo the ITF, I suspect most people's scrappers could if they gave it a moment's thought. |
On Kinetic Melee, I like it. It works very well with certain sets, brings defense and offense and can pack a punch. Unlike my previous build, a KM/? character can maintain their offense without other foes. With my DM/SD, I have to constantly juggle foes when I fight AVs for max benefit. Minions will die too quickly just to soul drain, but 15 bosses and an AV will usually be too much for my defense.
When I ran my calculations, I predicted that a KM/Fire could hit 280+ dps. And that was before incarnates, and didn't take into account CS critting. On a high-level build it is possible to maintain PS most of the time. I'd estimate a max DPS of over 300 now, maybe 320-330ish. Very respectable, plus it is good against AVs because it reduces incoming damage (unlike virtually every other effect which just bounces off their insane resist). It is a fun mid-high level combo that could do some amazing things.
TW/Elec Optimization
one of the mid's programmers had posted this as unpublished info from the i21 patch
Kinetic Melee Repulsing Torrent damage raised from 0.8 to 1.1 (for all ATs)
does this make repulsing torrent.. less repulsive?
=-D
can it actually be used now?
This should put it on par with Shockwave, albeit with a slightly longer range and much smaller angle, which might make it easier to control... But then again, the KB isn't 100% and is higher magnitude, which I think is bad.
Roughly the same arguments should apply, in that if you can find corners and use KB efficiently, it might be worth it. Otherwise, the scatter might be hurtful to your damage over time.
Another consideration for KM (over Claws) is that Power Siphon is more demanding than Follow Up, as you have to attack almost consistently to keep those 5 stacks up, so moving around to position yourself for an efficient RT might hurt more than it would on a Claws that just have to use FU every few seconds.
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Concentrated Strike's chance to instantly recharge Power Siphon is 20%. CS's recharge is 20s base. The odds of PS being up when FE recharges, assuming a 90s recharge on FE, are not bad.
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Originally Posted by Auroxis
Against a single target, the crit is 15% and it has 2-3 chances to pop before PS deactivates. Not something you can rely upon.
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Kinetic Melee is turning out to be a much more solid set than I had anticipated. The single target damage is very good, if you can manage to keep up 4 or 5 siphon power stacks.
Even the AoE damage turns out to be respectable once you have enough recharge to get burst between 4-6 seconds.
I'm currently evaluating the effectivness of the set as a scrapper and a brute. Currently I feel that the set is more suited to a scrapper even though effectivness may not necessarily be higher than a brute. I think scrappers get more out of the damage ramp up of power siphon than brutes since brutes already have fury. Scrappers with a better base damage see a better improvement in damage, though I'm not sure how this works with crits. Does the crit only effect base damage?
Also, the added effect of siphon power refresh on concetrated strike give siphon power a signifcantly large up time than brutes.
I am currently pairing KM with Regen, but I believe that KM/SD would most likely be very effective for scrappers due to the damage increase of AAO. Add the damage boost from siphon power and I image that most attacks are going to be very effective.
Plus....I have to admit the animations are kind of cool.
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Standard crits are bonus base damage, and are fully affected by both enhancements and damage buffs. (This applies to most other crit-like mechanics, including Scourge and Containment.)
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Originally Posted by Gospel_NA
Does the crit only effect base damage?
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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
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Good to know. That means that when you crit the base damage doubles and then the damage bonus percentage is calculated on top of that. |
Originally Posted by UberGuy
Standard crits are bonus base damage, and are fully affected by both enhancements and damage buffs. (This applies to most other crit-like mechanics, including Scourge and Containment.)
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Heh, I might be going the wrong route with KM/Regen and should be doing KM/Shield instead.....sounds like an endurance nightmare to me.
To me it's been relegated to the "too ugly to play" pile along with Dual Blades, difference between the two is FM might actually be more to my playstyle in general.
The only thing that might make me play it in the end is that they wont let me have claws/shield so if I want another shield alt (already having fire, axe and DM) I might end up choosing KM
"Well, they found my diary today.
They were appropriately appalled
at the discovery of the eight victims
They're now putting it all together.
Women wrapped in silk
with one leg missing
Eight legs, one body, silk,
spider, brilliant!"
Quote:
Indeed, KM is a good option when comparing it to claws and still wanting the SD secondary.|
Originally Posted by Cynic
To me it's been relegated to the "too ugly to play" pile along with Dual Blades, difference between the two is FM might actually be more to my playstyle in general.
The only thing that might make me play it in the end is that they wont let me have claws/shield so if I want another shield alt (already having fire, axe and DM) I might end up choosing KM |
Whoever said that KM is a blend of energy melee and claws was extremely accurate in that observation.
So where are the uber i21 KM/EA builds??
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Awaiting a mids update, no doubt.
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Originally Posted by Granite Agent
So where are the uber i21 KM/EA builds??
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I'm not denying that FE is better when buffed by PS. The point I'm trying to make is that even if PS was perma, it wouldn't help make FE any better due to some special synergy, it would be better simply because you do more damage than others before FE comes into the equation.
Even if there's down spikes in PS's usage, just as Arcanaville pointed out, you can easily time them out in between mobs. The only situation where it would effectively matter would be against a single target...which, again, you can end up with a virtually perma-PS in that situation, making the argument of getting a bad FE null and void. This isn't "Special Synergy," this is "Basic Game Play." Are you going to pop Fiery Embrace ten seconds before you rush the next mob, then hit Power Siphon and absolutely waste FE? No, not likely.