Critique request - BS/SD

I sorted out my build and got some numbers where I feel good about them. I'm just wondering if any of you can provide some feedback or pointers on where to refine this build.

As for objectives, i'm looking at solo x8 missions and general Trial survivability. Hover is a mule as it puts me too high on end cost for my comfort. Afterburner is negotiable.

Thanks for your time!

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please post data chunks

Updated with data chunk.

This is what I came up with. I've been tinkering with this on a brute, and found that as much as Tough/Weave rock I couldn't justify taking three powers and another two toggles was just too tough on endurance drain with the high cost of the BS attacks. I've been trying to eliminate it, and this is as close as I've come.

You're within .3 of capping melee/ranged and capped on AOE. Endurance drain is a very manageable .86/s with a 3.41s recovery. I don't like Hover here, due to cone positioning, but it allows you to flesh out the single target attack chain with Air Superiority. If redraw bothers you, take Parry there, damage is comparable even if the secondary effect isn't as good in the late game. That would allow you to switch over to Combat Jump and Super Jump, but you lose the -Recharge IO in Afterburner.

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I actually don't find endurance to be a problem after the Cardiac even at .9 end usage.

If you stack enough recharge like you're suggesting it makes the Broadsword optimal attack chain more of a reality so Air Superiority wouldn't be seeing any action.

At this point, Hover is more formality, I build my builds without City Traveler or the latest updates in mind because that's how I've been doing it all along. But I don't use it often and i don't need it so I'm starting to look at other options for those slots.

I was thinking Aid Other/Aid Self like you choose.

Well, i'm more attached to Hover and Afterburner than I thought. I do use them. And they function nicely for mules when stacking for recharge.

I tweaked and revised and decided that the Steadfast in OOtS was both expensive and unnecessary. I moved a slot from Conserve Power (which I never use anyways) and six slot Build Up with Gaussian's. That puts my positional defenses at 46/47/48 and my recovery just past 3/s.

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.952
http://www.cohplanner.com/

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Second Saga: Level 50 Natural Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Broad Sword
Secondary Power Set: Shield Defense
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Body Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Hack -- Mako-Acc/Dmg(A), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(5), Mako-Dam%(7), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx(17), Mako-Dmg/Rchg(19), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(19)
Level 1: Deflection -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(3), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(3), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(5), RedFtn-Def(34), RedFtn-EndRdx(39)
Level 2: Slice -- Sciroc-Acc/Dmg(A), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx(13), Sciroc-Dmg/Rchg(13), Sciroc-Acc/Rchg(15), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(15), Sciroc-Dam%(17)
Level 4: Battle Agility -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(7), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(9), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(9), RedFtn-Def(39), RedFtn-EndRdx(40)
Level 6: Fly -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 8: True Grit -- TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx(A), TtmC'tng-ResDam/Rchg(11), TtmC'tng-EndRdx/Rchg(11), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(21), TtmC'tng-ResDam(31), TtmC'tng-EndRdx(43)
Level 10: Active Defense -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(40)
Level 12: Maneuvers -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(23), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(23), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(25), RedFtn-Def(25), RedFtn-EndRdx(27)
Level 14: Hover -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 16: Against All Odds -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 18: Whirling Sword -- M'Strk-Acc/Dmg(A), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx(40), M'Strk-Dmg/Rchg(42), M'Strk-Acc/EndRdx(42), M'Strk-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(42), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(50)
Level 20: Phalanx Fighting -- LkGmblr-Def(A), LkGmblr-Rchg+(21)
Level 22: Build Up -- GSFC-ToHit(A), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg(43), GSFC-Build%(43), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(46), GSFC-Rchg/EndRdx(50), GSFC-ToHit/EndRdx(50)
Level 24: Kick -- Empty(A)
Level 26: Disembowel -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg(A), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx(27), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg(29), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(29), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(31), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(31)
Level 28: Grant Cover -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 30: Tough -- Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(A), Aegis-ResDam/Rchg(45), Aegis-EndRdx/Rchg(45), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(46), Aegis-ResDam(46)
Level 32: Head Splitter -- M'Strk-Acc/Dmg(A), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx(33), M'Strk-Dmg/Rchg(33), M'Strk-Acc/EndRdx(33), M'Strk-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(34), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34)
Level 35: Shield Charge -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(36), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(36), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(36), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(37), Oblit-%Dam(37)
Level 38: Weave -- LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(48), LkGmblr-Def(48), LkGmblr-Rchg+(48)
Level 41: Conserve Power -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 44: Physical Perfection -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(45)
Level 47: Afterburner -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 49: One with the Shield -- Heal-I(A)
Level 50: Cardiac Radial Boost
------------
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(37), P'Shift-End%(39)
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Critical Hit
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run

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FYI, you know you have Phalanx Fighting set to 1 instead of 0 right? That pushing your numbers high, I'm showing 43.5/44.7/45 which are still respectable.

No, it provides a base unenhanceable amount of 3.75% when you're alone. Mids reflects this when you set the slider to 0. If you set the slider to 1, you get the 3.75%, plus an enhanceable 2.25% for having another person near you.

Ah... that makes a profound amount of sense. Well, now I need to look at my numbers again. Oh, this is gonna suck.

Well, for one thing it lets you pull the LotG: Defense from Phalanx Fighting, since the base part you get when alone is not enhanceable. Using that slot to add back the Steadfast unique fixes the problem.

<sigh> Back to Steadfast. Ah, well at least it's cheaper than the LoTG's I need.

The Steadfast 3% runs, what, 30-40 million? Not only is that far cheaper than the LotG 7.5s, it's cheaper than the full set of Gaussian's you're using, and gives more defense. It's also cheaper than some of the other LotG pieces you're using, the Oblit quad, the Numina unique, and possibly even some of the uncommon sets you've got once you account for salvage and crafting costs, and gives more benefit than any of them. In bang per buck, the Steadfast 3% def is one of the best pieces you can find. I'm slightly puzzled why you seem to be trying to avoid it.

If you're going to use Fly and Afterburner, they should be slotted for speed imo (or possibly used to mule IOs - you could swap the slotting in Grant Cover and Afterburner for example). You won't be attacking while using them anyway, so endurance should not be an issue.

I think it's a little silly to slot and use Maneuvers, and then use Hover as a mule because of the end cost. Maneuvers costs twice as much as Hover and gives almost exactly the same defense. You could slot Hover instead, completely skip Maneuvers, and get an extra power slot to take Hasten or something.

You can put a Performance Shifter proc in Physical Perfection as well, it's much better there than a plain endmod. You might also consider a full set of Numina in True Grit, rather than the Titanium Coating (and then trade the Mako's set for a Touch of Death, or something). I prefer the +hp to the minor resistance, anyway. This also lets you use the slot in Health for a Miracle unique.

Simply turning Phalanx Fighting down to 0 and adding the Steadfast to OwtS puts you at 47.7 ranged defense, so you could afford to (for example) drop the Red Fortune set in Deflection, and instead mix some sets to get both res and def from it.

My issues with Steadfast are resolved. I was against it for some personal reason that I've forgotten.

In fact I bought one this weekend, between whatever trials I was enduring for my Incarnate powers.

I've played with Fly and Afterburner in both Mids and ingame and I can't see any increase to speed beyond their native bonuses. The Speed cap for fly is pretty low from what I've read.

Hover is there as a prereq to Afterburner and a mule for LoTG. I don't use it for defense and I don't care to. I'm much happier thematically with standing on the ground. The only time I do use it is for escaping caltrops-style powers and their low altitude doom.

I like Maneuvers because it brings something extra to the team, sharing is caring after all. But you're right, if I were up for hover scrapping, i'd drop Maneuvers for Hover and be one slot closer to Aid Self.

Two quick notes before I look at the build in more detail later.

1.) Aid Other/Aid Self is not needed. It causes redraw and is only marginally useful if you plan on exemping a lot. If you will be playing mostly at level 50 it's two wasted powers, especially if you are dropping the Fighting pool to take them as suggested above. You'll get the same usage out of Rebirth Destiny in many cases with much better performance from that power and without sacrificing anything to take it.

2.) The best attack chain for Broadsword, IIRC is Headsplitter --> Hack --> Disembowel --> Hack --> repeat. I could be wrong about that though. Once I start actually trying to tweak the build in Mids I'll be more or less confident in this statement.

@Rorn ---- Blue Baron ---- Guardian

Ok, I'm not coming up with enough edits to the original build you posted to warrant me rebuilding it. Something I'd like to suggest is dropping Hover to pick up Hasten and dropping the second slot from Phalanx Fighting so you can use it to have 2 Recharge IOs in Hasten.

That should allow you to run the attack chain I suggested fairly often, but it wouldn't quite be gapless - at least I don't think it would. Math is difficult for me at this hour.

It might also be worth putting Parry back in your build. You could drop Afterburner if you don't really want it, put Parry there and put the LotG that was in Hover into Parry. That way you can use Parry if you find your defense getting debuffed and on iTrials if someone misses you in their Barrier, which I find happens fairly often when I'm playing melee characters.

@Rorn ---- Blue Baron ---- Guardian