Titan Weapons: A Long Ramble About a Short Process (with a build)
According to an NPC named Mitchel, I have spent a total of 60 hours on patrol. Also, here is a screenshot: 
OMG. Def sweep, AoD, whirl, regular sweep. Everything is dead but those 2 guys with a little life. What do you do? Anything at this point is a waste of endurance. Suckage. I am thinking just drag them to the next spawn.
edit: I have been known to there doing nothing to let death aura kill them.
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Hew in drag baby
Hey thanks for posting this...I tried this build out and I'm really liking it allot.
Interesting, I was expecting build critiques more than adopters, but OK 
I'm also quite pleased with how the build is working out. Trials indeed have not made me rethink my defenses, especially with Barrier and Archmage to fall back on. I'm running through story arcs at +0/x8 with AVs on for kicks, and so far haven't encountered one I cannot defeat.
Quote:
This is a problem I see. I have been playing a TW brute and feel this issue is about teh only thing holding back the set. Look at every other melee (and ranged) damage set..and they ALL have a fast-ish attack, single target, that you can easily use to take out that last guy on 5 hp in a mob. Obviously you dont want to use your heavy hitters and aoes on him.|
Originally Posted by OneFrigidWitch
OMG. Def sweep, AoD, whirl, regular sweep. Everything is dead but those 2 guys with a little life. What do you do? Anything at this point is a waste of endurance. Suckage. I am thinking just drag them to the next spawn.
edit: I have been known to there doing nothing to let death aura kill them. |
But..with TW, doing that is IMPOSSIBLE without momentum. No attack you have can be called fast. Note I am not counting using brawl/box..that isnt part of the set. I read somewhere that epic blasts will cause redraw, so you cant do that either.
The choice becomes...using a slooow non-MO attack to kill that bad guy, then having MO, while you bolt to the next spawn, usually to find MO is gone and you have to build it up all over again.
I think the set needs a new attack...like a Shove, where you just shirt front the target with your weapon held across your chest. SImple, fast, low damage. BUT..it is always fast, always. The trade off is that is doesnt grant Momentum, ever. That way, you could use it on the almost dead minion, quickly finishing him off (and for low end usage too) and then amble over to the next spawn to smash it.
Quote:
Interface (w/dmg proc) says that this isn't going to be a problem. Epic primary is epic. |
Originally Posted by MisterD
I think the set needs a new attack...like a Shove, where you just shirt front the target with your weapon held across your chest. SImple, fast, low damage. BUT..it is always fast, always. The trade off is that is doesnt grant Momentum, ever. That way, you could use it on the almost dead minion, quickly finishing him off (and for low end usage too) and then amble over to the next spawn to smash it.
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Even before 50, the "sliver of heath" problem isn't that big of a deal.
I've actually kept Brawl in my power tray just for that little sliver of health. I have to admit it's simultaneously hilarious and depressing to go through a complete Momentum combo of pure epic whuparse...and then finish it off with a light pommel-smack.
De minimis non curat Lex Luthor.
I just tab to a more healthful opponent and let my aura of death (slotted with a full oblit set) take care of the job. However, I do admit this sliver of health thing drives me crazy too.
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Hew in drag baby
I don't find the sliver of health thing to be an issue, frankly. It's mildly annoying, but it only takes about one second extra to start an attack without Momentum. I'd much rather have an unusually difficult time dealing with a single enemy at low health, than have a difficult time dealing with many enemies at high health, as some attack sets do.
If you do find it to be an issue, and the enemy has too much health for Brawl, there's always Envenomed Dagger (does decent damage and casts quickly) or epic blasts. Either causes redraw, but if it's the last guy, who cares, you can draw your weapon on the way to the next group.
So as some of you may possibly have noticed, I have been in a lot of Titan Weapons threads for the last week, expounding its virtues (awesomeness chief among them) and sharing my thoughts (that it's awesome). When not posting about how awesome TW is (very awesome, if you're wondering), I was experiencing how awesome TW is, mostly on my TW/WP scrapper, who as of just before maintenance this morning, is level 50, less than 7 days real time after he was created. My path to 50 included:
It also has about the same DPA as Crushing Blow with Momentum, and pulls ahead with procs/Interface. I wouldn't be surprised to see this, or possibly Titan Sweep instead, push CB out of some single-target attack chains. CB still has value as the fastest attack for starting Momentum, though, along with its better DPE.
4 DfB runs, for the temp powers, taking me to level 14
All 4 Faultline arcs, as well as Roy Cooling, Stephanie Peebles, Levantera's first arc, Maria Jenkins, and the Midnigher arc
Both parts of Posi
Sister Psyche
Citadel
Numina
Moonfire
Katie Hannon
ITF
Lots of tips, radio missions, and Borea missions to fill gaps
Earning the Atlas Medallion, Portal Jockey, and Geas of the Kind Ones accolades, and nearly completing the others
I used several of the XP boosters I've received from paragon rewards at strategic points in the process ("strategic" in this context means "I want my next power faster"), but on the other hand I failed to make full use of my Experienced power, with 3 charges left when I hit 50 - I was saving them for the last 10-15 levels when five bubbles is worth the most, but the 2-hour recharge then prevented me from using them quickly enough. Once the servers come back up I'm going to search for a civilian whose name starts with M to find out exactly how much play time it took me.
What this all means is that in the last week, I have logged more time playing TW in a shorter time than almost any other person alive, so I figure one of two things must be true:
1) I will soon die of Titan Weapon poisoning, or
2) I am in a state of Titanic Nirvana and have unprecedented understanding of hitting people with large objects
so I will assume 2) and share some of my zen-like insights. Here they are:
This is an incredibly powerful set. It probably doesn't have the very best single-target DPS of any set, nor the best AoE, nor the best burst, nor the best control, nor the best defensive power. But it is very high on the list in all of those things, and I think in overall performance it might be the strongest melee set I have ever seen. Yet it also has weaknesses that many other sets do not, like a severe sensitivity to tohit debuffs, and the much-hyped endurance costs, and when there's one minion left at half health and your Momentum just expired.
Whirling Smash is often referred to as a Foot Stomp clone, but I don't think that's a fair comparison. Whirling Smash animates twice as fast and recharges in six seconds less
Lastly, here is the build I am planning to respec into once I can log in. I used Battle Axe as a placeholder, and mapped the powers like this:
Chop -> Crushing Blow
Gash -> Follow Through
Build Up -> Build Momentum
Swoop -> Rend Armor (the empty slot is for an Achilles Heel proc, but I can't put that in Battle Axe)
Whirling Axe -> Whirling Smash
Cleave -> Titan Sweep
Pendulum -> Arc of Destruction (I'm not certain of the FotG proc, might just use a rech/end IO instead)
As you can see, this is a spare-no-expense build, even including several enhancement boosters, because this is a remake of my oldest and favoritest character, who is also my namesake, with the powersets he always should have had, but that didn't exist when he was first created.
I originally planned a build with even higher defense, but I'm not sure I even need it, because I've been running with defense in the 20s-30s on +1/x8 while leveling and rarely even had to use any insp that wasn't red. I may revise my opinion after running some trials.
The Kinetic Combat sets in Boxing and Brawl have the triple instead of the cheaper knockdown proc because I bought them in the Black Friday sale, and (cleverly, I thought at the time) only bought 4 pieces instead of full sets.
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.952
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Hopeling: Level 50 Magic Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Battle Axe
Secondary Power Set: Willpower
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Speed
Ancillary Pool: Body Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Chop -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(9), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(9), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(11), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(11)
Level 1: High Pain Tolerance -- Numna-Heal/EndRdx(A), Numna-Heal(37), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(39), Heal-I(39), S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(40)
Level 2: Cleave -- Erad-Dmg/Rchg(A), Erad-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(3), Erad-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(3), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(5), M'Strk-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(7)
Level 4: Mind Over Body -- RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(A), RctvArm-ResDam/Rchg(5), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(36), RctvArm-ResDam(37)
Level 6: Build Up -- Rec'dRet-ToHit(A), Rec'dRet-ToHit/Rchg(13), RechRdx-I(15), RechRdx-I(15)
Level 8: Gash -- Hectmb-Dmg/Rchg(A), Hectmb-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(13), Hectmb-Acc/Rchg(17), Hectmb-Dmg/EndRdx(17), Hectmb-Dam%(21), Mako-Dam%(21)
Level 10: Indomitable Will -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), Ksmt-ToHit+(37)
Level 12: Super Jump -- Jump-I(A)
Level 14: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 16: Rise to the Challenge -- Numna-Heal/EndRdx(A), Numna-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(46), Numna-Heal(46), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx(46)
Level 18: Swoop -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(19), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(19), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(23), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(25), Empty(25)
Level 20: Quick Recovery -- P'Shift-EndMod(A), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(40), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc(40), P'Shift-End%(42)
Level 22: Boxing -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(50), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(50), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(50)
Level 24: Tough -- RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(A), RctvArm-ResDam/Rchg(43), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(43), RctvArm-ResDam(45)
Level 26: Whirling Axe -- Armgdn-Dmg/Rchg(A), Armgdn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(27), Armgdn-Acc/Rchg(27), Armgdn-Dmg/EndRdx(29), Armgdn-Dam%(29), FrcFbk-Rechg%(48)
Level 28: Heightened Senses -- LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(31), LkGmblr-Def(31), LkGmblr-Rchg+(31)
Level 30: Weave -- LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(34), LkGmblr-Def(36), LkGmblr-Rchg+(36)
Level 32: Pendulum -- Erad-Dmg/Rchg(A), Erad-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), Erad-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(33), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(33), M'Strk-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(34), FotG-ResDeb%(34)
Level 35: Conserve Power -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(48)
Level 38: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(39)
Level 41: Physical Perfection -- P'Shift-End%(A)
Level 44: Fast Healing -- Numna-Heal/EndRdx(A), Numna-Heal/Rchg(45), Numna-Heal(45)
Level 47: Strength of Will -- GA-3defTpProc(A)
Level 49: Focused Accuracy -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 0: Freedom Phalanx Reserve
Level 0: Portal Jockey
Level 0: Task Force Commander
Level 0: The Atlas Medallion
Level 50: Musculature Core Paragon
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Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Mrcl-Rcvry+(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- P'Shift-EndMod(A), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(42), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc(42), P'Shift-End%(43)
Level 1: Brawl -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(7), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(23), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(48)
Level 1: Critical Hit
Level 1: Sprint -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run
If you've managed to read through my entire ramble and still cared enough to look over my build, critiques are welcome