Addicted to melee, what's the cure?

Aside from melee, which I undoubtedly have the most of, I find I also like Controllers, or more recently, Dominators. The biggest 'draw' for me about melee is that I can ignore mez effects for the most part and just punch people in the face. Dominators have the ability, if played intelligently, to shut down enemies and then eviscerate them to bits, in melee even, so it tends to work out pretty well.

Blasters are also fun for the complete opposite reason: they kill things before it's a problem.

I'm a bit less attracted to corruptors, but I have those as well, and they tend to play like more defensive blasters. Everything else is probably too much of a support role for me to get too seriously into it.


Edit: BONUS ALTERNATE REPLY:

The cure for melee is MORE MELEE. WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR, GET IN THERE AND PUNCH SOMETHING IN THE FACE, SOLDIER! ARRARRRRARRARARARGH!

A Fire/Dark corrupter.

If you cannot take joy in the crushing of your enemy, driving them before you then perhaps the lamentations of their women will bring a smile.

If by level 20 you aren't happy with having run at 0x8 since level 12 - then there is no pleasing you

You could always just make the greatest build ever in the history of time, and roll a Storm-Energy Defender...

Addition to melee? I'd prescribe 'knock-' of all variety, but particularly of the '-back' flavor, frankenslotted to get full advantage of the power plus more 'knock-'.

Be it Ice Slick, Thunder Storm, Tornado, Force Bolt, Hand Clap, Psionic Tornado, Telekinetic Thrust or just plain old Crane Kick...you must knock things to bejeebus and back as far as you can as often as you can.

Only then will you understand melee's true purpose and be freed of its sheltered nature.

So says Leo the Sage

Stalker version of claws will break any melee addiction.

Or make an AE map with nothing but Tsoo Sorcerers alternating Hurricane and Chill of the Night.

I was like you, my recent alt list was full of melee mans and melee womans. And then I rolled a mind/psi dom.

DFB to 14 so you get a nice set of controls and attacks, then go to town Charlie Brown. Lock 'em down and blast 'em 'til they fall down. Its glorious.

Indeed, Doms still will satisfy you need for the SMASHITY-SMASH Smash but! The AT gives you a taste of the Controller/Blapper Side of things...making you curious about non Melee or Pseudo-Melee sets.

For me its a bit of the reverse, i don't particularly like melee ATs as i tend to loose all orientation once im in the thick of things(caves with big teams...) and inevitably fall off a cliff, or get stuck on some objects, or add that group way over there ... scrapperlock is really too nice a term for me.

That being said i really like the mezzprotection and survivability that melee chars get, so i kinda come from the polar opposite but head in the same direction. Anyway those where my impressions:


1. MM. The BG modus of the pets makes you feel tough, and sets like /FF or /Traps offer mezz protection. It was good, but keeping the pets under control is like herding cats. Also even a tiny error can get all your pets nuked by an AE(yeah i fell off a cliff and the FF gen followed me leaving my pets with murdered defenses...).

Though i dislike the slippery slope of it, if something goes wrong your reduced to a helpless bystander. Not at all like a melee who can pop a couple of inspirations and go to town.


2. Kheldians. I admit i don't get em. They gain alot for being on a team, but to me it felt like i gave only very little back. Unless you count KB. I like their toughness, but didn't care much for their attacks and lack of mezz protection outside dwarf.

Im still playing these regularly, trying to level them up ... i just wish the forms and ranged attacks outside nova would be more meaningful and less frustrating(i like KB on squishies because it helps them, not on tanky ATs though).


3. Domi's. Very fun, very strong. Im really happy with the damage, though you do need to actively manage your defenses. On the other hand, missing 3 holds in a row on a boss can get really old really fast, with no other char i felt so much at the mercy of the rnd post level 20. Permadom can give you nice mezz resists, but most of the time those are not even needed since you have everything under control anyway.

Its an awesome AT performing well solo and in a team, and the few times the rnd hates you can be covered by inspirations easily.


4. VEAT. Its hard to describe how well rounded these feel(imho you really notice that this is the last AT the devs made), or how well they perform in about any situation either solo or in a team. They also have the advantage that if you do not like the ranged aspect you can just respec(or dualspec) to melee instead. And even if you relapse and play them "only" as a melee, their team buffs will still allow you to bring something else to the team that your other melee chars can't offer.



Personally i liked the VEAT the most so far(fortunata is beating out domis for me due to the team buffs) in my quest for a durable ranged AT, and i see alot of potential with the kheldians ... once i figure them out that is.

Huntsman VEAT is a nice blend of sturdy melee (take bayonet) and ranged.

Plant/Fire/Fire dom is the dom that plays like a Brute. Seriously.

Either the MF Warshade or that other Mastermind that isn't really anything special but is called GD Mastermind for no particular reason.

Energy/Energy/Power Blaster. Knockback is fun once you realize it keeps you from dying and makes you feel powerful.

My gateway from Melee into other sets was simpleL I rolled up a Fire/Kin corrupter.

Why? Because what attracted me to melee was that I could make the bad guys fall down, and I liked getting in there with the pack. Also, I'm a -very- fast paced player when I'm fully paying attention to the game (which sometimes doesn't happen, I'll admit), and having a character equally fast-paced made redside content a blast.

In practical terms, it's because you get to do the things you liked best about melee (Make the baddies fall down ded) combined with loads of support buffs that you should keep up when not blasting. In the early came, that isn't a problem. Transfusion and Siphon Power, then shoot stuff.

By the late game, however, you'll have learned all the most important things about playing a ranged/support toon: Positioning, proper targeting, watching allies for heal/recovery as needed, noticing when buffs are wearing off, and when to run like sin after everything goes bad.

You also have a never-ending supply of endurance after getting Transfusion, sky-high damage from your own buffs paired with Scourge (Rain of Fire is amazing for Corrupters), and built-in travel powers in the form of Siphon Speed and Inertial reduction, which gives the equivalent of Super Speed and Super Jump that are actually not suppressed in combat. Many, many Kins ignore these powers, but I love how much they add to gameplay. Slot IOs to softcap S/L/E and then boost Recharge. It's all you need, especially with Clarion Destiny to give mez protection.


A Fire/Time Corrupter will ultimately have less damage, but WAY more control than a Fire/Kin. Slows, debuffs, holds, as well as buffs to your own recharge, recovery, regeneration and defense. My Fire/Time Corr is softcapped against most everything and fires off constant controls and attacks. When he does take some small amount of damage, he can heal it easily. Way fun combination, but lacks the insane damage and speed of a Fire/Kin.

I usually play tanks and scraps, but my favorite hero (and first 50)is a Demon/Dark MM. I also am enjoying a plant/fire. Just some ideas there to try.