According to mids, the long animation time coupled with the longer recharge really diminishes the average damage per animation second that Shout does. Shout, Scream, and Shriek are all very close to each other in terms of damage, but Shout has the extra detriment of only having a 40' range and it's near 3 second animation is probably going to leave you prone to getting into bad situations.
I would say stick with the attack chain you have and ignore Shout. The very slight damage increase isn't really worth it.
Edit: Damage procs will cause Scream and Shriek to do better damage than Shout as well.
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Originally Posted by Warkupo
According to mids, the long animation time coupled with the longer recharge really diminishes the average damage per animation second that Shout does. Shout, Scream, and Shriek are all very close to each other in terms of damage, but Shout has the extra detriment of only having a 40' range and it's near 3 second animation is probably going to leave you prone to getting into bad situations.
I would say stick with the attack chain you have and ignore Shout. The very slight damage increase isn't really worth it. |
With the changes coming to blast sets, that range may be getting increased, but the animation time almost certainly won't be reduced. FWIW
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The range is definitely getting increased, they've confirmed that much. |
Originally Posted by Madadh
With the changes coming to blast sets, that range may be getting increased, but the animation time almost certainly won't be reduced. FWIW
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I wouldn't bet on the animation time not getting reduced. Since Sonic doesn't have a snipe power, they're looking for a way to improve it. Reducing Shout's cast time would be the easiest way to immediately improve the set's damage output.
If you look at Shout, fully half of it's cast time is spent sort of crouched over like you're out of breath. They could remove that delay and end the cast time as soon as the projectile leaves without too much trouble.
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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. |
As is stands right now, Shout costs the most endurance and takes the longest to animate of all the 10s "heavy hitters". It's in need of a buff besides the boost in range. Some kind of mez or a faster animation would not be out of place.
Didn't know about all of that. Thanks Madadh and ClawsandEffect.
What you want to do is replace howl with shout when you're against a single target. So shriek, scream, shriek, shout.
Unfortunately I don't have the slots to support that strategy. 
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But I thought you- ooohhh. I misunderstood. Sounds like you're already doing what's best then.
I really only use it to finish off targets after I know I've stacked up a nice juicy dose of -Resists on them.
I believe it actually hurts your DPS to work it into your chain, as the animation time limits the amount of -Res stacks you can achieve on a single target. I fill my gaps with Howl, as mentioned above.
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I put Shout at the end of my chain. It hits like a truck if you have some -res stacked on your target already. |
Originally Posted by Primantiss
I really only use it to finish off targets after I know I've stacked up a nice juicy dose of -Resists on them.
I believe it actually hurts your DPS to work it into your chain, as the animation time limits the amount of -Res stacks you can achieve on a single target. I fill my gaps with Howl, as mentioned above. |
Not great for DPS, but it's nice burst damage.
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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. |
IIRC, the best attack chain is Shriek->Scream repeat.
Your character does not have capped defense. Depending on your AT the cap is between 175% - 225%. Your defense is not teal in the combat window, it can go higher. STOP SAYING IT IS CAPPED! The correct term is Soft Cap.
I enjoy playing in Mids. I specialize in Melee Characters, other AT's usually bore me.
It is, but the amount of recharge you need in order for that to surpass shriek-scream-shriek-shout is probably outside of realistic ranges. As good as shriek and scream are, it's really hard to overcome the loss that comes with the gap after shriek and before scream.
Many of my defenders tend to use Electricity Mastery Electric Fence in the chain slotted to push into ED territory for damage plus damage procs plus 1 or 2 hold procs combined with making the target stay put (immobilized) to be pounded on ... good stuff.
Doomguide
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Do note Shout has a 10s duration on its -res. Shriek is 5s and Scream 7s. Shout still has the worst animation time to -res duration ratio, but not by as much as you might believe at a quick glance.|
Originally Posted by Primantiss
I really only use it to finish off targets after I know I've stacked up a nice juicy dose of -Resists on them.
I believe it actually hurts your DPS to work it into your chain, as the animation time limits the amount of -Res stacks you can achieve on a single target. I fill my gaps with Howl, as mentioned above. |
Shout gets a bad reputation for its long animation but in my calculations I don't see Shriek->Scream outperforming the "standard" chain, outside of specific situations, and in my testing I have never been in those situations.
(Of course, I'm not necessarily a good example. A /sonic doing itrials, for example, would likely hit the recharge cap often and in that situation not only the Sh->Sc chain would be better but it would also allow for more mobility to avoid eventual AoE patches of death).
The amount of recharge required for Sh->Sc to be above Sh->Sc->Sh->Shout at all is prohibitive, solo - it will vary from build to build, but for example, with 220% damage, a purple proc in Shriek and one normal damage proc in all 3 attacks it's about 460%. Using the Shout chain, which requires so little recharge basic IO slotting will get you there, a build can be instead focused on getting global damage bonuses putting it back at the first place, or pursuing other unrelated goals; although obviously recharge directly helps damage with some primaries, but even then I'd just get recharge for the primary and not try to shoot for Sh->Sc.
Right, so I've been mulling over the numbers on my Time/Sonic defender, trying to figure out how best to order my blasts for optimum DPS - so far I've been using the old Shriek/Scream/Shriek/Howl chain, but I'm wondering if I might be better off reworking the build to use Shout instead of Scream (which I can do without any changes to his other powers' picks or slotting other than taking Recall Friend earlier). Unfortunately I'm not quite sure how to calculate those numbers to find out what attack chain really is empirically the best - advice?
Build follows, if it matters (overall I'm happy with it; he's practically indestructible, I'm just looking for a little insight on blasting strategy):
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.957
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Hour Thief: Level 50 Magic Defender
Primary Power Set: Time Manipulation
Secondary Power Set: Sonic Attack
Power Pool: Teleportation
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Power Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Time Crawl -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(3), RechRdx-I(3)
Level 1: Shriek -- Decim-Acc/Dmg(A), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(5), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(5), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(7), Decim-Build%(7), Dev'n-Hold%(9)
Level 2: Scream -- Decim-Acc/Dmg(A), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx(13), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(13), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(15), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(15)
Level 4: Temporal Mending -- Dct'dW-Heal(A), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(17), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(19), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx(36), Dct'dW-EndRdx/Rchg(36)
Level 6: Temporal Selection -- Numna-Heal/Rchg(A), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(19), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(21)
Level 8: Distortion Field -- NrncSD-Dam%(A), G'Wdw-Dam%(21), UbrkCons-Dam%(23), GladNet-Dam%(23), ImpSwft-Dam%(25), Lock-%Hold(37)
Level 10: Time's Juncture -- DarkWD-ToHitdeb/Rchg/EndRdx(A), DarkWD-ToHitDeb(11), DarkWD-Rchg/EndRdx(11), DarkWD-ToHitDeb/EndRdx(27), ImpSwft-Dam%(27)
Level 12: Time Stop -- BasGaze-Acc/Hold(A), BasGaze-Acc/Rchg(29), BasGaze-Rchg/Hold(29), BasGaze-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(31), Lock-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(31), Lock-%Hold(31)
Level 14: Howl -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(33), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(33), Posi-Dmg/Rng(33), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(34)
Level 16: Recall Friend -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 18: Farsight -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def/Rchg(34), LkGmblr-EndRdx/Rchg(34), LkGmblr-Def(36)
Level 20: Teleport -- Range-I(A)
Level 22: Long Range Teleport -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 24: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(25), RechRdx-I(37)
Level 26: Slowed Response -- AnWeak-Acc/Rchg(A), AnWeak-Acc/Rchg/EndRdx(37), AnWeak-Acc/DefDeb(39), LdyGrey-DefDeb/Rchg(46), Achilles-ResDeb%(39), AnWeak-DefDeb/EndRdx/Rchg(39)
Level 28: Boxing -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(40), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(40), KntkC'bat-Knock%(40)
Level 30: Tough -- RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(A), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(42), RctvArm-ResDam(42), RctvArm-EndRdx(42)
Level 32: Chrono Shift -- Efficacy-Acc/Rchg(A), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc(43), Efficacy-EndMod/EndRdx(43), Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg(43), Efficacy-EndMod(45), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(50)
Level 35: Weave -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(45), LkGmblr-Def(45)
Level 38: Power Build Up -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(50)
Level 41: Temp Invulnerability -- RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(A), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(46), RctvArm-ResDam(46), RctvArm-EndRdx(48), S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(48), S'fstPrt-ResKB(48)
Level 44: Conserve Power -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 47: Amplify -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 49: Maneuvers -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Mrcl-Rcvry+(A), Mrcl-Heal(9)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- P'Shift-End%(A), P'Shift-EndMod(17), EndMod-I(50)
Level 1: Brawl -- Dmg-I(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Vigilance
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 0: Portal Jockey
Level 0: The Atlas Medallion
Level 50: Agility Core Paragon
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