Multiple builds and other SoA questions

It's easy to see why people tend to think of Bane Spiders as Stalkers, but it turns out that in practice, Stalkers are much better at being Stalkers than Banes are. Cloaking Device costs Endurance (whereas Hide does not), the stealth isn't as good, it suppresses for a longer period... and the Arachnos Mace attacks are going to be out-damaged by any Stalker out there--both from Hidden and not (even the critical hits do less damage). What I'm trying to say here is that while Bane Spiders do play using similar mechanics to Stalkers, they are definitely not Stalkers.

What Bane Spiders are is a sort of Corruptor/Stalker hybrid, and I believe this is by design. In the same way that the Kheldians can serve in each type of capacity as the other Hero archetypes, the SoAs can serve in the capacities of the Villain archetypes. Night Widow = Brute/Stalker, Fortunata = Dominator, Bane Spider = Corruptor/Stalker and Crab Spider = Corruptor/Mastermind. So what I'm trying to say here is that you should think of Banes not as Stalkers that have ranged attacks, but really more like melee Corruptors.

A pure Bane Spider is basically all the powers in Mace Mastery crammed onto the same character. It's got the Energy/Toxic variants of War Mace, some Energy Blast analogs, some Devices-esque toys and a ranged hold. I expect a lot of people who go Bane avoid the Wolf powers almost entirely due to redraw, but it's my opinion that doing so is a major disservice to a build. The three Grenades--Venom, Frag and Wide Area Web--are very potent in their own right and are not semi-gimpy like the Wolf attacks are. That immobilize lasts forever...

A pure Wolf Spider isn't leveraging any of the advantages of the other career tracks, yet both career tracks can leverage the advantages of the Wolf Spider. Make of that what you will, but my position is that there's not much of a reason outside of concept to refrain from taking powers from the Bane or Crab tracks.

It is my belief that Bane Spider Soldier was designed to synergize at least in part with the Wolf Spider attacks. In particular, Venom Grenade is -20% Resistance to all but Toxic, which is -40%. Couple that with Poisonous Ray (the strongest Toxic attack in the game) and you get some very hefty ticks of DoT on even tough targets like bosses. This is in addition the whole stealth/crit Stalker mechanic, so I hope I've inspired you to approach the class from a different angle.


I'm not sure what you're asking here. In my opinion, it's never worth making a full round trip just to remain full Hero or Villain under any circumstances; if you're just in it for Alignment Merits, you may as well stay Villain after unlocking the Patron sets. But that's neither here nor there...

If you're curious about the benefits of the Patron sets, there are certainly some good powers to pick for Arachnos Soldier.

* Shatter Armor works good on a Bane, since it's a high-damage attack like Shatter, but is also -Res -Def like Envenom from Poison.
* Summon Blaster is another pet that works well well with the Disruptors and Spiderlings, which is really the closest thing the game has to an Arachnobot Mastermind. You can take the Arachnos Lore for the Toxic Tarantula too to round out the set. (-:
* Arctic Breath, for Bane and Crab alike, is an AoE -Res -Def power that stacks with Venom Grenade and is a pretty good attack in its own right.
* You can follow up Venom Grenade and Arctic Breath with Bile Spray, which benefits from all that -Toxic Resistance.
* Mu Mastery has a bit of a reputation in the Brute crowd because of its prolific availability of AoE attacks: it has Ball Lightning, Static Discharge and Electrifying Fences, which alongside Venom Grenade can quickly stack up for some major AoE damage.
*Soul Mastery is nice on its own, though doesn't have much synergy with Soldier powers. Of interest is all the -ToHit it deals (Darkest Night in particular) which will stack with Combat Training: Defensive and Tactical Training: Maneuvers (and maybe Cloaking Device, albeit just a bit).


They don't benefit from anything in particular, though you may consider Flight if you have a lot of cone powers. None of the travel powers stand up and say "Pick me pick me!" for this archetype.


The Crab attacks are a sort of weapon-less state and will cause redraw if you need to pull out the rifle. However, Venom Grenade and Frag Grenade were provided in Crab Spider flavor with identical effects, which demonstrably could only have been for redraw purposes. Since those are the two powers you'd want most from the Wolf track, you generally don't have to worry about redraw on Crabs.

Crab is weapon-less, like Super Strength or Energy Blast. Using those powers will not require a weapon to draw, but they will de-draw any weapon that happens to be drawn.

The Wolf Spider's rifle is weapon-ful, so if it's not already drawn, you'll need to draw it.

For that reason, the Frag Grenade and Venom Grenade have alternate versions in Crab that you can use without drawing the rifle.


Just hide your Alignment tab and no one will know. (-:


Soldier gets kind of a sweet deal with Combat Training: Offensive and Tactical Training: Leadership. Accuracy's pretty well taken care of, so you can slot for other things. You can typically get away with slotting for damage and recharge, then using Cardiac to take care of Endurance.

I play mostly Stalker and I have a dedicated Bane/Soldier build (one is mostly melee mace and one is all gun shots).

A pure Bane build is a great Stalker. You have very good burst damage in critical Shatter + Surveillance and another heavy hitter in Shatter Armor.

Many people complain that Stalker has "no role" on a team because their Assassin Strike is slow and single target damage isn't valued as much. Well, that's where Bane shines. Bane offers good -resistance debuffs for the team and you can carry double Assault and double Maneuver for team buffs.

Bane's own aoe attacks actually suck pretty hard. They take at least 2s to activate. You should always take Venom Grenade because it's just so good.

Think of Bane as a semi-Stalker with good burst damage, debuff and team buffs and two good pets. :P It's a very flexible build. Stalker is a lot more restricted.

Now, Stalker is going through some changes. The new change will make sure Stalker does the best melee Burst and ST damage. This doesn't mean Bane is inferior because with Bane's debuff, Bane can offer the team even more damage.

PS: Stalker does have access to good aoe damage (electricity melee, patron aoe, etc) but not every stalker is an elec or spine.

If your goal is to make a Bane build with good mace attack, then yes, you definitely want to get Shatter Armor from Mace mastery. That attack makes Bane a lot more competitive.

In fact, I almost gave up my all-mace Bane build because I find Bane's activation too long. Almost everything he does takes 2s or more. But I respec my Bane and gave Shatter Armor a try, man, I fell in love with it. It was a perfect Stalker build for me 'cause I like burst damage and I also like adding good buffs/debuffs for the team.

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Cardiace is great for SoA because we carry so many leaderships, although there is a new one that also offers -endurance. You might want to check into that (I believe it has +healing too which isn't too useful on you).

If you switch between Crab/Huntsman attack, it will cause weapon redraw. My first Crab build only takes long-range attacks: Burst, Longfang and Channel Gun. I was a bit bored by it so later I respec him into more "tankish" build. I love using Armlash and Frenzy.