Q: Scrap as a Tank or Tank as a Scrapper?


all_hell

 

Posted

Question: Is it easier to boost the damage of a tanker to near scrapper levels or to boost the survivability of a scrapper to near tanker levels?

In other words, as far as boosts go (IO Sets, Incarnate abilities, etc. but *not* relying on other players for buffs) is it easier to scrap as a tank or tank as a scrapper?

Thanks.

Robin


--If we can have huge sig images, why can we have only five lines of text?
--...faceplanting like a Defender pulling an AV (Nalrok_AthZim)
Quote:
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...I have the patience of a coffee-fueled flea...

 

Posted

Doing either of those things is borderline impossible - a scrapper will always be far less tough than a tank with a build of similar quality (at least in terms of defensive numbers, but more on that in a sec), and a tanker significantly less damaging. However, it is very possible to get scrapper survivability high enough that, functionally, anything that will kill you is cheating (unresistable damage, massive debuffs, etc) and being as tough as a tank wouldn't save you anyway.

So, in that sense, go scrapper. However, scrappers have a much harder time tanking, because they lack the aggro management tools. If you want to hold aggro for a team but do high damage, have you considered a brute?


 

Posted

Some scrapper secondaries can get plenty tough enough to handle the durability portion of tanking... but there's only a few with strong taunt auras that can handle the aggro portion and even then they're not as good at it.

I've played Invuln and Shield as tanks and as scrappers, both of them to 50 and both of them tanking for teams. While the scrappers can pinch hit for a tank provided the team is good they have a MUCH harder time picking up the pieces when things go bad and both of those sets have excellent taunt auras to hold aggro.

Now if what you want is high damage with high survivability then the choice is to roll a Scrapper... with good use of IO's you can boost the scrapper's durability by a considerable margin while there's very little you can do to boost the tanker's damage. If on the other hand you want to actually Tank and manage aggro then roll a tanker... they're simply better at it.


COH has just been murdered by NCSoft. http://www.change.org/petitions/ncso...city-of-heroes

 

Posted

As CMA has said but with one more point: HPs. Tanks have the highest HP cap and not all secondary scrapper sets can self-cap HPs easily without sacrificing elsewhere. So some scrappers can easily reach soft-capped defense but cannot reach the same HPs nor can they get to the tanker's resistance cap of 90%. It's only a matter of time given unlimited, challenging foes and the same defense sets, that a solo tank will live longer than a solo scrapper, but that scrapper will most likely have defeated more foes. Challenging being the key.


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Hopeling View Post
However, scrappers have a much harder time tanking, because they lack the aggro management tools. If you want to hold aggro for a team but do high damage, have you considered a brute?
Shield Scrappers don't[shouldn't] have any aggro issues. Against all Odds is super glue. Other than shield scrappers though, then yes Brutes will hold aggro better than any non-shield scrapper and just as well as a shield scrapper with their damage auras. Then on top of their damage auras aggro Brutes have a far superior taunt and punchvoke and roughly do the same amount of damage as scrappers, depending on powersets.





As for OP's question about tank v brute v scrapper as a tank, survivability is entirely relative. You only need as much survivability as enemies can damage you. For pretty much everything in the game scrappers and brutes do that just fine, the exceptions as Hopeling mentioned being if it would kill you, it would probably be the same case for an actual tank, but where these situations occur, they are also typically avoidable.

The way I look at it is, the only reason you should play a tank is if you have some sort of character concept going for it otherwise, numerically tanks just plain and simple can't keep up competitively with scrappers and brutes. Will they get the job done? Yes, of course. But that doesn't change the fact that you have the same effective damage mitigation as a scrapper or brute, with less damage when built properly.


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr_Body View Post
As CMA has said but with one more point: HPs. Tanks have the highest HP cap and not all secondary scrapper sets can self-cap HPs easily without sacrificing elsewhere. So some scrappers can easily reach soft-capped defense but cannot reach the same HPs nor can they get to the tanker's resistance cap of 90%. It's only a matter of time given unlimited, challenging foes and the same defense sets, that a solo tank will live longer than a solo scrapper, but that scrapper will most likely have defeated more foes. Challenging being the key.
No situation in this game calls for 3000-3500 hp. If you have ~2000 HP (approx the amount of hp a typical IO'd shield scrapper or brute with a non hp boosting secondary will have) then you are set for anything in this game. Tanker HP is a nice thing to have, and can be fun to say, "hey, I've got 3500 hp" but it pretty much ends there at the end of the day, the results will be more or less the same even if you had 1000 less hp.

And a solo tank will not necessarily live longer than a solo scrapper. Once you reach an effective immortality line your scrapper can live as long as the tank.


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by DreadShinobi View Post
No situation in this game calls for 3000-3500 hp. If you have ~2000 HP (approx the amount of hp a typical IO'd shield scrapper or brute with a non hp boosting secondary will have) then you are set for anything in this game. Tanker HP is a nice thing to have, and can be fun to say, "hey, I've got 3500 hp" but it pretty much ends there at the end of the day, the results will be more or less the same even if you had 1000 less hp.

And a solo tank will not necessarily live longer than a solo scrapper. Once you reach an effective immortality line your scrapper can live as long as the tank.
3500 hit points is very nice when you're taking unresistable damage... say, hamidon.

But yeah, for most situations in this game a really well-built scrapper is effectively as survivable as a tank or brute.

Invulnerability and Shield Defense both have very strong taunt auras, so either makes for a good psuedo-tank if you cap your defenses.

Tanks are never going to approach scrapper-like damage, but some sets are at least not annoyingly damage-weak.



my lil RWZ Challenge vid

 

Posted

Since you mentioned without outside buffs, I'd argue it's easier for a Scrapper to come close to Tanker level mitigation than it is for a Tanker to get to Scrapper level damage.

As far as teaming goes though, it's considerably more difficult for a Scrapper to hold aggro without using certain secondary sets (Shield or Invuln, and to a much lesser extent Willpower) or dipping into the Presence pool.

Numbers wise, Tankers have a cap of 90% resistances, while Scrappers have a 75% cap. They both can reach the 45% defense softcap, though Tankers will do this slightly easier - it also depends on what set you play. Scrappers have a damage cap of 500%, while Tankers have a 400% damage cap. As expected, Scrappers have the highest initial damage values of the 4 melee ATs, and can crit, but have lower initial defensive values. Tankers have bruising in their first secondary power, which is a 20% resistance debuff, which translates into an indirect 20% damage buff.

If you're willing to take a peek outside of the two, Brutes may be what you're looking for. They have lower initial defense and offense stats, but can get very competitive in terms of damage, and share the Tanker caps (except their damage cap, which is the highest of every AT at 775%). Brutes have a single-target only version of gauntlet, but it works in any damage auras they might have, making them quite effective at holding aggro.


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Organica View Post
3500 hit points is very nice when you're taking unresistable damage... say, hamidon.
Tanking Hamidon is more about supplying the maintank with +regen from AB/RA/Painbringers/Rebirth etc and EoEs than the actual build of the one who is tanking it, as long as they're not on an SO build with no accolades. Also of worthy note, scrappers do have a higher regen cap than tanks and brutes. I've seen tanks, brutes and scrappers tank hamidon all equally well and tbh the only reason brutes and scrappers don't do it more is because it gives the people who do bring tankers to the raid something useful to do and the scrappers and brutes can instead help with dpsing the yellows where they will be most effective.


 

Posted

Except that usually there are so few tanks that my brute usually winds up taunting yellows anyway.

My point was that there are *some* (very few) situations where having more hit points is nice. Which is better than the *no situations* that you stated.

But it's not enough of a difference to make me want to play a tank. My invul brute can pretty much tank anything.



my lil RWZ Challenge vid

 

Posted

Brute it is, then. I already have an iScrap but since he's Regen I don't get much of a kick out of playing him.

For my own reasons, I will not be using SD as my secondary. Other than that, any recommendations on a Brute secondary which is easy to buff up via IO sets and Incarnate powers into the stratosphere?

One thing I've always noticed with every character I've ever played: while the primary set is important to how the toon is played, the secondary set goes a lot further towards how much fun it is to play. I have no idea why that is for me, but it's true every time with every AT.

It sounds like the majority would recommend secondaries with dmg auras. I can sure get behind that. That would mean DA, ElecA, FA, and SA. SA drops dmg and rech into the toilet so that's out. DA bothers me a ton since it actually offers more resist to psy than to dark and I figure a defensive set should always be best against it's own type. That implies ElecA or FA but I'm open to any suggestions except SD (which can't be used with the primary I plan to take).

What do you all think?

Thanks again for all the advice.

Robin


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Quote:
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Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by CoyoteShaman View Post
It sounds like the majority would recommend secondaries with dmg auras. I can sure get behind that. That would mean DA, ElecA, FA, and SA. SA drops dmg and rech into the toilet so that's out. DA bothers me a ton since it actually offers more resist to psy than to dark and I figure a defensive set should always be best against it's own type. That implies ElecA or FA but I'm open to any suggestions except SD (which can't be used with the primary I plan to take).
My current 2 Brutes are SS/Fire and TW/Elec. Both are obviously dps monsters, but both can tank pretty much anything. I would however say you would like /elec more (just judging from your posts, and that you really want to tank). Fiery Aura can be built to be very durable but at times it can be eaten alive depending on what you're fighting.

Elec armor has 90% resistance to energy damage, which is the 3rd most common damage type in the game, right after smashing and lethal. It also sports some moderate psy resistance, and combined with the energy res makes elec armor one of the best defensive sets for incarnate trials.

When building /elec get it to 45% s/l defense. You can either go straight 45% s/l defense or go 40% s/l defense+barrier or 32.5% s/l defense+lucks or 27.5% s/l defense+lucks+barrier. I went 45% s/l defense without lucks or barrier and am very happy with it that way. It also frees up your destiny slot for something else (I took Rebirth for standard use and Clarion for UGT and occasionally MoM trials)

After softcapping S/L defense you will want to get Energize perma (30 seconds) which means a fair chunk of recharge. After perma energize and softcap s/l you can get some more procs into your build or try and squeeze more HP into it. Either way at this point you should have a very good elec brute on your hands.


 

Posted

It never ceases to amaze me that people using +res sets still get softcapped +def. Could you give me some advice on how to manage that? Inf is really no barrier any more since I can always still use my Fire/Fire tank as a wallet until this brute gets where she needs to be.

I do use Mids but I guess I'm just not very good at builds.


--If we can have huge sig images, why can we have only five lines of text?
--...faceplanting like a Defender pulling an AV (Nalrok_AthZim)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Techbot Alpha View Post
...I have the patience of a coffee-fueled flea...

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by CoyoteShaman View Post
It never ceases to amaze me that people using +res sets still get softcapped +def. Could you give me some advice on how to manage that? Inf is really no barrier any more since I can always still use my Fire/Fire tank as a wallet until this brute gets where she needs to be.

I do use Mids but I guess I'm just not very good at builds.
Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.953
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Level 50 Magic Brute
Primary Power Set: Titan Weapons
Secondary Power Set: Electric Armor
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Energy Mastery

Villain Profile:
------------
Level 1: Crushing Blow KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(5), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(23), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(25)
Level 1: Charged Armor Aegis-ResDam(A), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(43), Aegis-ResDam/Rchg(43)
Level 2: Titan Sweep Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(3), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(3), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(5), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(11), Oblit-%Dam(11)
Level 4: Conductive Shield Aegis-ResDam(A), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(42), Aegis-ResDam/Rchg(42)
Level 6: Build Momentum Rec'dRet-ToHit/Rchg(A), Rec'dRet-ToHit(7), RechRdx-I(7)
Level 8: Follow Through Hectmb-Dmg/Rchg(A), Hectmb-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(9), Hectmb-Acc/Rchg(9), Hectmb-Dmg/EndRdx(17), Hectmb-Dam%(23)
Level 10: Static Shield S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A)
Level 12: Lightning Field Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(13), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(13), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(15), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(15), Oblit-%Dam(17)
Level 14: Super Speed Zephyr-ResKB(A)
Level 16: Hasten RechRdx-I(A)
Level 18: Rend Armor Achilles-ResDeb%(A), KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(19), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(19), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(21), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(21)
Level 20: Lightning Reflexes Run-I(A)
Level 22: Grounded GA-3defTpProc(A)
Level 24: Combat Jumping LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 26: Whirling Smash Armgdn-Dmg/Rchg(A), Armgdn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(27), Armgdn-Acc/Rchg(27), Armgdn-Dmg/EndRdx(29), Armgdn-Dam%(29), FrcFbk-Rechg%(31)
Level 28: Energize Dct'dW-Heal(A), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(42), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx(46), Dct'dW-Rchg(48), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(50)
Level 30: Taunt Mocking-Taunt(A), Mocking-Taunt/Rchg(31), Mocking-Taunt/Rchg/Rng(31), Mocking-Acc/Rchg(34), Mocking-Taunt/Rng(36), Mocking-Rchg(36)
Level 32: Arc of Destruction Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(33), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(33), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34), Oblit-%Dam(34)
Level 35: Power Sink Mocking-Taunt(A), Mocking-Taunt/Rchg/Rng(37), Mocking-Taunt/Rchg(37), Mocking-Acc/Rchg(39), Mocking-Taunt/Rng(39), Mocking-Rchg(39)
Level 38: Superior Conditioning P'Shift-End%(A), P'Shift-EndMod(40), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(40), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc(40)
Level 41: Boxing KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(43), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(45), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(45)
Level 44: Tough HO:Ribo(A)
Level 47: Weave LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(48), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(48)
Level 49: Maneuvers LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(50), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(50)
Level 0: Born In Battle
Level 0: High Pain Threshold
Level 0: Invader
Level 0: Marshal
Level 50: Spiritual Core Paragon
------------
Level 2: Swift Run-I(A)
Level 2: Health Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A)
Level 2: Hurdle Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Stamina P'Shift-End%(A), P'Shift-EndMod(25), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(36), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc(37)
Level 1: Brawl KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(45), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(46), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(46)
Level 1: Fury
Level 1: Sprint Clrty-Stlth(A)
Level 2: Rest Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 1: Momentum
------------
Set Bonus Totals:
9% DamageBuff(Smashing)
9% DamageBuff(Lethal)
9% DamageBuff(Fire)
9% DamageBuff(Cold)
9% DamageBuff(Energy)
9% DamageBuff(Negative)
9% DamageBuff(Toxic)
9% DamageBuff(Psionic)
33.5% Defense(Smashing)
33.5% Defense(Lethal)
18.5% Defense(Fire)
18.5% Defense(Cold)
6% Defense(Energy)
6% Defense(Negative)
6% Defense(Psionic)
28.19% Defense(Melee)
6% Defense(Ranged)
12.25% Defense(AoE)
3.6% Max End
4% Enhancement(Heal)
57% Enhancement(Accuracy)
77.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
10% FlySpeed
179.9 HP (12%) HitPoints
10% JumpHeight
10% JumpSpeed
Knockback (Mag -4)
Knockup (Mag -4)
MezResist(Held) 5.5%
MezResist(Immobilize) 11%
MezResist(Stun) 6.6%
MezResist(Terrorized) 2.2%
13% (0.22 End/sec) Recovery
20% (1.25 HP/sec) Regeneration
6.3% Resistance(Fire)
6.3% Resistance(Cold)
20% RunSpeed






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|-------------------------------------------------------------------|


 

Posted

Go with a brute. Brutes properly built have the same caps to resists/defenses/hp at tankers and while they have a lower base damage than scrappers are quite comparable with a full fury bar. Unbuffed/IO'ed a Brute is like a Tanker who can't hold aggro as well who does a little more damage. Well buffed and/or IO'ed a Brute IS a tanker who can scrap.

If you must know though it is much easier to boost the following in order with IOs

Smashing/Lethal Defense to softcap

Positional Defense (Melee/Ranged/AoE)

Damage

Resists

Getting a scrapper softcapped to s/l will make you feel tough but you'll still die to things with defense debuffs or damage without smash or lethal in it.

+Damage will never make a tanker feel like a scrapper but will make you feel less gimpy with the punches.

Resist slotting is a losing battle in my experience.


 

Posted

Okay, that build is majorly sweet. I expect I can get most or all of those sets with the primary I'm going to be using so I should be good to modify that. Thanks a ton!

Robin

EDIT: Using the Agility incarnate Alpha throws the defense over softcap and pushes end recovery well above necessary. It might be overkill, actually. I might have to just go with Musculature to push out even more damage.


--If we can have huge sig images, why can we have only five lines of text?
--...faceplanting like a Defender pulling an AV (Nalrok_AthZim)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Techbot Alpha View Post
...I have the patience of a coffee-fueled flea...

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by CoyoteShaman View Post
Brute it is, then. I already have an iScrap but since he's Regen I don't get much of a kick out of playing him.

For my own reasons, I will not be using SD as my secondary. Other than that, any recommendations on a Brute secondary which is easy to buff up via IO sets and Incarnate powers into the stratosphere?

One thing I've always noticed with every character I've ever played: while the primary set is important to how the toon is played, the secondary set goes a lot further towards how much fun it is to play. I have no idea why that is for me, but it's true every time with every AT.

It sounds like the majority would recommend secondaries with dmg auras. I can sure get behind that. That would mean DA, ElecA, FA, and SA. SA drops dmg and rech into the toilet so that's out. DA bothers me a ton since it actually offers more resist to psy than to dark and I figure a defensive set should always be best against it's own type. That implies ElecA or FA but I'm open to any suggestions except SD (which can't be used with the primary I plan to take).

What do you all think?

Thanks again for all the advice.

Robin
I dunno, maybe it's just me, but I'd use a scrapper or brute to scrap with and a tanker to tank with. Go figure.

That being said, a damage aura is not your only taunt choice here. Doesn't Rise to the Challenge still have a taunt component? Try the WillPower set, and see if it makes a difference.


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by NekoNeko View Post
That being said, a damage aura is not your only taunt choice here. Doesn't Rise to the Challenge still have a taunt component? Try the WillPower set, and see if it makes a difference.
Every brute secondary, and every tanker primary, has a taunt aura, although some are stronger than others. RttC's is one of the weakest.


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by CoyoteShaman View Post
Using the Agility incarnate Alpha throws the defense over softcap and pushes end recovery well above necessary. It might be overkill, actually. I might have to just go with Musculature to push out even more damage.
Musculature isn't as nice on a brute as it is on a scrapper. The extra little bit you get out of it will barely be noticeable when you've got fury built up.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Dechs Kaison
See, it's gems like these that make me check Claws' post history every once in a while to make sure I haven't missed anything good lately.

 

Posted

control-f "brute" => 39 hits


q a'ed


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by CoyoteShaman View Post
Okay, that build is majorly sweet. I expect I can get most or all of those sets with the primary I'm going to be using so I should be good to modify that. Thanks a ton!

Robin

EDIT: Using the Agility incarnate Alpha throws the defense over softcap and pushes end recovery well above necessary. It might be overkill, actually. I might have to just go with Musculature to push out even more damage.
yw.

As Claws said, Musculature isn't very good for brutes because of their low base damage and fury. And for elec armor I prefer Spiritual over Agility because it offers slightly more recharge and also gives you +healing for energize and health. The +def and endmod from agility is very nice but I already have softcap and my endurance is stable as long as I have a couple enemies to powersink off of.

Also what primary were you going to go, since you keep mentioning it


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Enyalios View Post
Go with a brute. Brutes properly built have the same caps to resists/defenses/hp at tankers and while they have a lower base damage than scrappers are quite comparable with a full fury bar. Unbuffed/IO'ed a Brute is like a Tanker who can't hold aggro as well who does a little more damage. Well buffed and/or IO'ed a Brute IS a tanker who can scrap.
A Brute can hold aggro just as well as a tanker and Brutes do more than "a little more damage" than tankers.



Quote:
If you must know though it is much easier to boost the following in order with IOs

Smashing/Lethal Defense to softcap

Positional Defense (Melee/Ranged/AoE)

Damage

Resists
You're forgetting recharge, which is a large part of IOing and will do alot for your damage output as well as survivability.

Quote:
Getting a scrapper softcapped to s/l will make you feel tough but you'll still die to things with defense debuffs or damage without smash or lethal in it.
Ok let's look at what softcapping to S/L means. It will give everything that has a smashing or lethal attack component a base 5% chance to hit you.

This means (off the top of my head, powersets the enemy groups commonly use)
-Weapon attacks (guns, swords, claws, etc)
-super strength or other punches, kicks, etc.
-energy melee
-energy blast
-dark melee sans midnight grasp
-ice blast
-sonic attack
-fire melee sans incinerate/scorch
-Radiation melee (though this debuffs defense)

What S/L will not protect you from that enemy groups will commonly use:
-Radiation Blast
-electric Blast
-psychic blast
-dark blast
-fire blast
-toxic damage
-many mezzes do not have a s/l subcomponent (freeze ray, dominate, blind, etc).
-cascading defense failure.

Now let's apply the awesomeness of electric armor to S/L softcapping's weaknesses.
-90% energy resistance removes the hole of radiation blast and electric blast completely. This is the best part.
-Psychic Blast will hurt, but you still can have 30-40% resistance to it, which is more than most can say. Really the only thing that specifically kills me from psy attacks is malaise in MoM trial who will promptly Blind me (his Blind is like mag 20), and then spectral wounds me with my static armor suppressed from blind, which can 2-3 shot me fairly easily.
-Dark Blast; typically found in Council/5th Column or praetorian shadows or CoT, can hurt but the enemy groups that it is found in are overall not that strong.
-fire blast; demons, I know I'm missing stuff, but demons are all I can think of right now, overall fire isn't that common for enemy groups
-toxic damage is rare
-mezzes aren't an issue, unless your name is malaise >, since you're a melee AT with a mez shield, this is mostly a point to bring up when softcapping to S/L for ranged ATs, Clarion has significantly reduced this hole.
-Cascading Defense failure - this is why layered mitigation is great. On a squishy this can be a big issue, but now let's look at what you have on an elec brute if your defense starts to fail:
*Good resists to all dmg, lethal and energy being the important ones here.
*Energize giving you a heal and regen
*Rebirth/Destiny/Ageless to deal with it
*Purple Insps to deal with it
*2000 hp to kill them before it matters.
*any mitigation from your primary such as knockdowns.

You talk about smashing/lethal defense like you will automatically die if you come across enemies that don't just use attacks with smashing/lethal components and this just simply is not true, but that also depends a little bit on build.

Of 2 blasters I have IO'd one was a fire/em with 0% defense and one was a fire/mm with 45% s/l defense, now unless I was specifically fighting S/L foes their survivability was roughly the same because if my Fire/MM was fighting, say, enemies with radiation blast I would be dieing super fast with nothing secondary to protect myself. However for my fire/kin corr, who has 45% s/l defense this issue is pretty miniscule since I have a huge heal that can cover most damage that gets through my softcapped S/L defense. Or my 2 brutes that have 45% s/l defense I have resists and heals and knockdowns to deal with enemies that don't use s/l damage.


 

Posted

Not to mention, on any resist set you can probably cap both smashing/lethal and energy/neg energy (I usually do), which covers even more territory.



my lil RWZ Challenge vid

 

Posted

Can't say here. It's still in Beta. What I will say is that both thematically and practically it's the best/most fun melee set I've I've ever played and it's quiet which is a very big thing for me. Most attack sets so far are so loud that I have to turn my sound down or off and that detracts from the rest of the game.

If you're not in the vip beta, let me say that the new melee set is going to knock your socks off.

Robin


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