I return in search of damage my Scrapper brethren

I have returned after quite a long hiatus in search of a new melee god.

My fire/shield had all the AoE damage I could want with very respectable single target dps (268 dps or so, and could still use some boosters/ATIO sets nowadays).

My DM/Elec broot has felt a little weak dps/end wise, but only has a t3 spiritual (though End is still TERRIBLE...may need more than a few tweaks) but is still nigh invincible in most settings.

Now I look for something else to either create and level, or slot if I've got it.

I'm looking for pure ST DPS to take down the biggest targets I can (as my Fire/Shield and SS/Fire broot give me all the AoE I could want), and the survivability to do it to boot.

I'm not anti any set, and there isn't something particular that stands out that I NEED to play, so offer suggestions away.


Edit: Also, this time I'd like something completely self sustaining, dm/ and /shield don't really provide that for me with soul drain and AAO

Oh really...? That sounds quite neat, I've got an EM/Nin from long ago and an Elec/WP from less long ago, but wouldn't mind a stalker either.

This character could be a stalker or broot instead if that's what it needs to be, but I returned to the scrapper forums as they felt more like home

Hmmm...maybe I'll make a 2nd build for my SS/Fire then...it can be survivable enough with res, s/l softcap, and crazy rech...

If I do that it still leaves me a whole new melee toon I could roll up if I want though...

kinetic melee/energy armor. I have one as a brute and have been told it is much better on scrappers because of power siphon recharging on critical hits.

I really enjoy mine, but I HATE the mechanic of power siphon.

Ice Ember

I haven't played /EA very high, so that is definitely an intriguing option, and shield having to leverage AAO doesn't make me want to roll another (for this scenario, love the set).

KM and StJ are two I also haven't played very high or at all respectively which could be nice.

That's what the word on the street is, but how much higher is it? Is it worth the loss in survivability to gain that much raw damage, because it is easier to build for the former IMO...

For single target damage, I've been pretty impressed with a dm/fire/soul brute. It also seems a rare combo, you won't run into many.

I'm gonna have to echo some of the sentiments for trying out a Stalker. I have a STJ/EA Stalker (EA recently got overhauled) that is totally berserker with ST damage. Like ClawsandEffect said, the ATIO Proc for Stalkers will fire every time in AS so you can open every fight with BU>AS>Crushing Uppercut. That also puts your combo level at 2 and with a guaranteed crit from CU, you're going to utterly destroy anything short of an EB in a matter of seconds.

AS itself on STJ has an activation time of 1 second (unless they have since changed it) when being used outside of hide and cannot be interrupted. That change has put Stalkers firmly on or near the top of the ST DPS charts. KM's AS has an activation time of 0.67 seconds, which is so fast you can barely blink before it fires off, and with every Stalker attack having the potential to add a 33% chance to crit, up to a 99% chance, you can get those AS crits popping off constantly and follow them up with guaranteed crits from your big hitters immediately afterwards.

Crabstermind 6 pets all proccing degen t4 radial with -40% res and +30 damage = alot of ST DPS

On my almost finished crabstermind i hit 606DPS a few days ago on a pylon test #justsaying

I don't agree with the sentiment KM is better on stalkers. BU's activation time is consistently ignored - yet, 1.17s spent doing absolutely no damage nor applying any potential debuff effects for a 9 seconds +80% damage buff starts getting less and less significant as your build improves (as global damage, procs or interface get into play). It's still generally a buff, but not quite as large as looking at it in a vacuum might imply.

Unless they changed something since one month ago when I last played stalkers, the hide proc goes off roughly half of the time too if you got any kind of decent recharge rather than all the time. AS base recharge is 15 seconds, yes, but you'd have fairly weak DPS if you only used it that often, it's the best attack stalkers have access to. One use every 6 or 7 seconds is more common in any respectable chain.

That is all in the assumption we're talking about real world DPS, which is what the OP seems to imply as he mentions taking down hard targets rather than just pylons. I have no doubt KM stalkers can pull out bigger numbers again immobilized targets, but I'd question whether those higher numbers would stick, assuming the same player behind the wheel and good builds, fighting AVs that will start to move if you lack an aggro aura, not only forcing the player to chase but also turning an optimized attack chain with specific power use for specific results within a certain timeframe into something much harder to pull off consistently.

KA/EA stalker sounds really cool with those buffs/ATIO...

Black - I've got one at 35 I should probably level more...they seem so neat

Nihilii - as far as I've been told the chain is BU-AS-CS-SB-BB so you're getting double BU on AS and CS...

Santorican - stalkers have always been unkillable in PvP

Give WM/EA a try. It's gone from being one of the crappiest combos out there to an extremely good one. Mine's still low level at the moment, but on paper, a purpled out WM/EA is on par with my purpled out fire/sr and my dark/shield.