For me. I wanted a hard hitting mace character. I dig the thwack the mace makes and like the animations but a tanker was out of the question for me. Made mine well before scrappers were even considered to get it.
The Bane can dish out some serious ST damage, has nice team buffs plus debuffs (venon grenage, surveillance, and poisonous ray with -res proc), along with possibly 3 pets AND very stealthy. It's a mixed bag of goodness.
To my mind, the Bane is primarily a ST damage dealer. I know I can down a boss in 4 quick hits from Hidden if I use everything (Surveillance - Build Up - Shatter - Shatter Armour - Poisonous Ray with -res proc - Placate - Shatter) and that attack chain can pretty much continue throughout a fight for pretty awesome consistant DPS.
With a Bane being primarily for ST damage though, most would argue "Why not go Night Widow and have Mind Link, perma-softcapped melee defense and higher DPS?" to which I can pretty much only say that Banes can have a lot of pets which add their own damage, CC and can tank an alpha since summoning them doesn't break hidden.
And of course the usual team buffs a VEAT brings to the table too. A Soldier's in-built Maneuvers has higher defense than a Widow's!
I am the Blaster, I have filled the role of Tank, Controller and Defender
Sometimes all at once.
Union EU player! Pip pip, tally ho, top hats and tea etc etc
For me, my Bane build is there to give me a fun change of pace from my, overall, more versatile Huntsman build. Faster animations + range = a very safe, sleek killer.
That being said, it is hella fun, and delivers astounding ST damage, and competitive AOE dmg/debuff through Crowd Control/Venom 'nade/Web Envelope (for a guy with a mace, anyways). He feels like a covert striker, the CRUNCH is satisfying, and stacked leaderships let me team support with no effort.
My recent try on a pylon had it down between 6 and 7 minutes, which i was pretty pleased with. Had reactive T4 slotted.
50s:
Grimmloch, Tactically Delicious, Ugly Frankie, Operative Tracker, CryoFurnace, Professional Help, Silver Sphinx, Aries Knight, Tachyon Aegis, Jade Sphinx
Currently building:
Any one of half a dozen alts!
In one of these threads I explained that I wanted to play a Tanker but always deleted my tanks because I found their steady diet of melee attacks limiting and boring. I designed my Crab Spider to be a non-boring Tanker. He's tough and has melee attacks, but can also solve problems with ranged combat and pets.
You can design a Bane to do a variety of things, but I would design my own Bane as a non-boring Stalker. You can still play in the usual Stalker manner but you have so many other options that Stalkers lack.
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This is pretty much how I look at mine. I still do the Stalker thing and strike from Hide, Placate, all that. But I can also debuff with Venom Grenade and tag runners with Poisonous Ray. I've also got two killer pets that are great for soaking aggro, doing damage and provide CC that stacks with my own (Web Envelope FTW |
Originally Posted by Two_Dollar_Bill
You can design a Bane to do a variety of things, but I would design my own Bane as a non-boring Stalker. You can still play in the usual Stalker manner but you have so many other options that Stalkers lack.
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). So all in all I'd say the purpose of a Bane is multifaceted. Primarily its melee burst damage just like the Stalkers that inspired it. But the versatility that's a staple of EATs on both sides lets it do so much more on top of that.
Wanna play a Peacebringer? Don't believe the hype. Check out my guide and get the real truth:
PEACEBRINGERS SUCK!!! (Now fully up to date for i21+
)
Quote:
To crush my enemies, to see them driven before me, and to hear the lamentations of their women.
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Originally Posted by _Ail_
SO WHAT IS YOUR OPINION? What do you think the purpose of your bane is?
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"Champion (the Community Server... or GTFO) is like a small town where everyone knows each other's names, for better or worse." -kojirodensetsu.
"If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail." - Maslow's Hammer
For me the purpose of my Bane is soloing. I use the Huntsman build for teams, then switch to my Bane to run the tips I just got on that SF.
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Main reason to go bane over NW should really be all the -res that soldiers have access to, its a million times more useful than the slightly higher defense that NWs/Forts bring.
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Originally Posted by CBeet
With a Bane being primarily for ST damage though, most would argue "Why not go Night Widow and have Mind Link, perma-softcapped melee defense and higher DPS?" to which I can pretty much only say that Banes can have a lot of pets which add their own damage, CC and can tank an alpha since summoning them doesn't break hidden.
And of course the usual team buffs a VEAT brings to the table too. A Soldier's in-built Maneuvers has higher defense than a Widow's! |
Quote:
I bring in my Bane when someone asks for help with a tough opponent. I have other strong characters, but somehow that one has the feel of "Are you bullying this kid? Well, let's see how you like it."
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Originally Posted by _Ail_
What do you think the purpose of your bane is?
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'I don't like the look of it at all,' said the King: 'however, it may kiss my hand if it likes.'
'I'd rather not,' the Cat remarked.
'Don't be impertinent,' said the King, 'and don't look at me like that!' He got behind Alice as he spoke.
'A cat may look at a king,' said Alice.
Any EAT is for whatever you need it for. The wide degree of variability is the entire point of being Epic. Now there's a down side in that someone can't just tell by your archetype what you're actually capable of doing but I think the theory is that the person behind the toon has enough experience to figure out how to be effective at whatever it is that they do.
Things I hate: Anime. PvP. Lying MMO Developers. Outleveling content. Manga. ED. Comic Store Employees. Anime.
Bane is probably the most "Stalkerish" of the two (Night Widow being the other). Bane has better stealth than Night Widow.
I think if you compare Bane with other branches, you may feel that Bane is a bit lacking. Lacking but NOT WEAK. All four branches are well above "average" IMO. Bane's only limitation is "activation time". If you play NW and then switch to Bane, you would feel like Bane is like 2x slower. lol
Bane is a great replacement for Stalker fans who don't like Stalker's trick-one-pony. Bane's damage potential is higher especially with team buffs and debuffs. In fact, none of my stalker can solo a pylon yet! I don't really build for it but it isn't easy to solo pylon with a Stalker. I have soloed pylon with Bane and it's my first toon that does it.
So what's the purpose of Bane? I say a good candidate for replacing Stalker. :P Bane has access to many tools including hold. Oh, and I believe Bane is the best pvp of the four branches. They have nerfed Fort to the ground (defense and control powers are very weak in pvp now).
What's left is to normalize all Assassin Strikes and improve Stalker's old sets (Claw, MA and EM)! You don't need to bring back the missing PbAoE attack. You just need to make the existing ones better! For example, make Slice a WIDER and LONGER cone.
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Yeah, my current build has 2xtactics plus +perception IO as well as a +stealth IO and it does okayish in random battling in RV. Keep in mind that I am strictly casual as far as pvp goes so take this endorsement with a grain of salt.|
Originally Posted by Jibikao
Oh, and I believe Bane is the best pvp of the four branches. They have nerfed Fort to the ground (defense and control powers are very weak in pvp now).
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When banes were first introduced, I had the most success hunting stalkers in Warburg, but my current build doesn't really level restrict that well to Warburg any more and it hasn't been a priority building for it.
"Hi, my name is Ail. I make people sick."
A partial selection from my 50's on Freedom: Ail = Ice/Traps, Luck = Street Justice/Super Reflexes Stalker, Mist = Bane, Pixy = Trick Arrow/Archery, Pure = Gravity/Energy, Smoke = Fire/Fire Dominator
Quote:
So SoA can really see Stalkers? How easy can you see them with all those +perception? I heard that SoA has the highest perception? |
Originally Posted by _Ail_
Yeah, my current build has 2xtactics plus +perception IO as well as a +stealth IO and it does okayish in random battling in RV. Keep in mind that I am strictly casual as far as pvp goes so take this endorsement with a grain of salt.
When banes were first introduced, I had the most success hunting stalkers in Warburg, but my current build doesn't really level restrict that well to Warburg any more and it hasn't been a priority building for it. |
Well, I am not sure how good Bane is in comparison to other ATs but I know Night Widow is pretty crappy, Fort got nerfed bad and Crab is like the worst. I've only done a small pvp match with my other friends using Bane and I remember at that time one of them is Crab. Crab does like no damage in pvp.
My Bane could really put some hurt on Corruptor with Surveilance, BU, critical and web. The match was pretty uneven since two of us are lvl 50 and the other two are not 50. I see the potential in Bane pvp but not the other 3 branches.
What's left is to normalize all Assassin Strikes and improve Stalker's old sets (Claw, MA and EM)! You don't need to bring back the missing PbAoE attack. You just need to make the existing ones better! For example, make Slice a WIDER and LONGER cone.
Quote:
Real numbers puts my bane's perception at 1268.30 ft where the base is 500 ft. Stalker hide is what 500 ft pvp (same as bane) and stealth IO at 300 ft and stealth itself is (might be wrong here) 389 ft or something?|
Originally Posted by Jibikao
So SoA can really see Stalkers? How easy can you see them with all those +perception? I heard that SoA has the highest perception?
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It is good enough to give you the advantage at least. I think if you were serious about it warburg is your best bet and make sure to have all of the tactics, etc., at a low enough level and to take web cocoon.
I am sure others can offer better pvp advice than I... Keep in mind that my pvp experience is strictly just jumping in to a pvp zone and seeing what happens. That said, I have had more success with my bane than any of my other ATs.
"Hi, my name is Ail. I make people sick."
A partial selection from my 50's on Freedom: Ail = Ice/Traps, Luck = Street Justice/Super Reflexes Stalker, Mist = Bane, Pixy = Trick Arrow/Archery, Pure = Gravity/Energy, Smoke = Fire/Fire Dominator
Quote:
Hey, I like that, it's pretty much how I felt when a VG mate asked for my help with taking out Numina.
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Originally Posted by Aneko
I bring in my Bane when someone asks for help with a tough opponent. I have other strong characters, but somehow that one has the feel of "Are you bullying this kid? Well, let's see how you like it."
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"Yes, winning all the time can be boring."
-Knight_Chill
"It's amazing how well you can put up with endurance issues if you hide them under a large enough pile of bodies."
-Spiritchaser speaking on Dom Revamp
Here is my Bane build, and this is one of my favorite toons to play. Great defense, great ST dam, Debuffs, Pets, Really whats not to like about a Bane. Crowd Control when stealthed is soo much fun to see 
Code:
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Hi all,
I posted some of this in another thread (the build in particular) but I wanted a new thread for the question.
Bane's seem to be unloved by many people. I have routinely been in teams where people say, "Go crab! They are the best," or words to that effect.
So what is the purpose of a bane? To my mind, their purpose is: (1) Very good single target DPS; together with (2) Very good team leadership buffs.
I think that they perform very well in these goals. I just did a Rikti Pylon test today (no inspirations, no pets (incarnate or otherwise), no temp powers, but yes other incarnate abilities) and got a time of about 15 minutes. Yes, I realize this doesn't compare to the other brag-results statements in the Rikti Pylon thread I just looked at, but it really isn't that bad. My attack chain for the pylon also wasn't very scientific...it mainly consisted of whacking whatever attack seemed to be open at the moment. Also consider that unlike a scrapper your 2xLeadership buffs will be helping the team a great deal.
See below for my build. You could substitute other stuff for the excess run and jump speeds. I really like zipping through morality missions and having a "natural" character without a travel power, so I like them. For similar thematic reasons I didn't take hasten (no glowing hands on a natural character) and stuck to mace melee attacks with the exception of surveillance. One could obviously modify these if you wanted a more unnatural build.
On the bright side, my bane's pulverize probably does as much damage as your banes shatter, so :P
I see bane builds with AOEs like bile spray or whatever and I just don't see the point. I have about a ton of other character that AOE better than a bane ever will, and trying to chase after that doesn't seem like it is going to go anywhere. I think banes are awesome for:
(1) Morality missions in small teams. Zip through them with the high movement speed and whack things with high damage. Use high defense to cheap through them in various ways, like escorting hostages even if being attacked.
(2) (For larger teams) Providing high ST dps for AV-like encounters while still buffing the entire team quite a bit with the leadership buffs.
SO WHAT IS YOUR OPINION? What do you think the purpose of your bane is? It is okay to disagree with me or to say things like, "It has no purpose except to have a fun costume," or "I love AOEing with bile spray," or "I think banes should take more pets and build for +recharge instead of +damage," or whatever else you like. I just wanted to get a conversation started about banes.
Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.952
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Mist: Level 50 Natural Arachnos Soldier
Primary Power Set: Bane Spider Soldier
Secondary Power Set: Bane Spider Training
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Medicine
Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery
Villain Profile:
Level 1: Bash -- T'Death-Acc/Dmg(A), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx(3), T'Death-Dmg/Rchg(3), T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(5), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(5), T'Death-Dam%(7)
Level 1: Wolf Spider Armor -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A)
Level 2: Combat Training: Defensive -- DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(7)
Level 4: Bane Spider Armor Upgrade -- ResDam-I(A)
Level 6: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(13)
Level 8: Build Up -- GSFC-ToHit(A), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg(13), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(15), GSFC-Rchg/EndRdx(15), GSFC-ToHit/EndRdx(17), GSFC-Build%(17)
Level 10: Tactical Training: Maneuvers -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(19), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(19), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(21), RedFtn-Def(21), RedFtn-EndRdx(23)
Level 12: Maneuvers -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(23), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(25), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(25), RedFtn-Def(27), RedFtn-EndRdx(27)
Level 14: Combat Jumping -- ULeap-Jump(A), ULeap-Stlth(29)
Level 16: Tactical Training: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(29)
Level 18: Pulverize -- T'Death-Acc/Dmg(A), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx(31), T'Death-Dmg/Rchg(31), T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(31), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(33), T'Death-Dam%(33)
Level 20: Shatter -- T'Death-Acc/Dmg(A), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx(33), T'Death-Dmg/Rchg(34), T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(34), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34), T'Death-Dam%(36)
Level 22: Mental Training -- Run-I(A), Run-I(36)
Level 24: Cloaking Device -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(36), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(37), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(37), RedFtn-Def(37), RedFtn-EndRdx(39)
Level 26: Placate -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 28: Surveillance -- AnWeak-DefDeb/EndRdx/Rchg(A), AnWeak-Acc/DefDeb(39), AnWeak-Acc/Rchg(39), AnWeak-Acc/Rchg/EndRdx(40)
Level 30: Tactical Training: Leadership -- AdjTgt-ToHit/EndRdx(A), AdjTgt-ToHit(40), Rec'dRet-Pcptn(40), Rec'dRet-ToHit/Rchg(42), EndRdx-I(42)
Level 32: Crowd Control -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(42), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(43), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(43), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(43), Oblit-%Dam(45)
Level 35: Aid Other -- Heal-I(A)
Level 38: Aid Self -- Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx(A), Dct'dW-EndRdx/Rchg(45), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(45), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(46), Dct'dW-Heal(46)
Level 41: Web Envelope -- Acc-I(A)
Level 44: Shatter Armor -- T'Death-Acc/Dmg(A), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx(46), T'Death-Dmg/Rchg(48), T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(48), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(48), T'Death-Dam%(50)
Level 47: Tactics -- AdjTgt-ToHit/EndRdx(A), AdjTgt-ToHit(50), EndRdx-I(50)
Level 49: Combat Training: Offensive -- Acc-I(A)
Level 50: Musculature Core Paragon
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Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Conditioning
Level 1: Sprint -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A), Run-I(9)
Level 2: Health -- Mrcl-Rcvry+(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A), Jump-I(9)
Level 2: Stamina -- P'Shift-End%(A), P'Shift-EndMod(11), EndMod-I(11)
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"Hi, my name is Ail. I make people sick."
A partial selection from my 50's on Freedom: Ail = Ice/Traps, Luck = Street Justice/Super Reflexes Stalker, Mist = Bane, Pixy = Trick Arrow/Archery, Pure = Gravity/Energy, Smoke = Fire/Fire Dominator