Resist sets viable without IO defense stacking?

So I've been kind of itching to play a spines character and was thinking about probably a scrapper with an armor set that has a damage aura just to double up and see how that goes. I have little experience with the resist sets however, and they just don't seem to offer the kind of survivability you would get with a defense set.

I just wanted to see if they are viable on their own for mid level play at a reasonable solo pace. I guess I would consider that to be +0/x4 or greater. Will I have to start stacking IOs with defense bonuses to get any kind of reasonable play experience?

All those sets have a self rez power for a reason .

Resist sets such as Fire, Dark, and Electric are completely playable without stacking defense. They all get a source of healing and other tools to help you out. The trick is learning how to use ALL your tools, both active and passive, to mitigate incoming damage. For example, Dark has a funky but powerful heal and a way to stun minions.

I actually ran a Spines/Fire back before IOs, and had quite a good time. Tough and Weave helped, along with maxing out the heal and recharge on Healing Flames. You're also less vulnerable to defense debuffs and enemies with high to-hit than defense sets are.

Also, don't forget that there are some very easy ways to increase the survivability of any build with minimal investment. Slot the Steadfast Protection +3% defense, take good power pool powers like Combat Jumping and Hasten, and combine unneeded inspirations into purples that give you defense.

In fact, inspirations are so cheap at the hospital, there's no reason not to fill up your entire tray with purples, reds, and whatever else you need before heading out for a couple missions.

As you can see from my post in this section, I have been disappointed with Dark Armor. I might be into a bit of overkill, but I am resorting to Def I/O slotting as a result of my experiences. YMMV.

At the other end of things, I have found Electric Armor to be very good. A small amount of defense (Combat Jumping, etc.) helps, but the set is good as is. Fire is very good as well, and comes with a Heal that makes the difference.

Now I saw the comment about self-Rez powers. I admit I use that as an attack on lvl-49 Dark/Fire. The damage out is so sweet that I occasionally die on purpose just to deliver retribution. Usually, my health is down fairly low, and I've used most of my good attacks. So, why not? I don't fear debt badges.

That's my two cents. Good luck!




Stormistress

I played both my Fire/Fire tank to about level 35 and my Spines/Dark scrapper to 50 without any defense from IOs (I did grab CJ and Tough/Weave for both of them, just because they're good powers) and they did fine solo (my scrapper even tanked ITFs and LGTFs without slotting for defense, but I had decent support). Adding a bit of defense to their builds, though (not a ton, I didn't even try for the softcap) made them feel even tougher, to the point of sillyness. So, the resist sets are viable without defense, but adding a bit of defense without worrying too much about chasing it will make them even better.

I'm currently playing a ElA/TW tank that really doesn't really need the defense, ElA feels pretty unkillable already... but I'm adding some defense anyway (and with Defensive Sweep, melee and smashing are easy to take to the softcap and above for extra toughness if needed - but I hardly ever remember to use it because it's not needed for most stuff).

I have an elec/elec tanker that I was running at x8 dif since the early 20s on and, until I got to 50, the only set IOs I used were the healing procs and a stun proc in it's PBAoE. I know it's not a scrapper but, if an elec tanker can do that then an elec scrapper should have no trouble running at x4 without having to slot for defense.