Opinions on Scrapper Combos

Hi, I currently have a lvl50 INV/SS Tanker that is IOed out, and a older EM/ELA Brute also 50 that is IOed out.
I don't play the brute much anymore though I still play the tanker most of the time.
I'm looking to make a scrapper that has similar levels of survivability to the INV tank, but with more damage and no rage crashes.
So I settled on either EM/SD or TW/EA.
Having played with mids a bit to compare the two only with SOs slotted just to get a base comparison, EA seems to come out much further ahead defense wise. I'm kind of leaving towards EA, but I've heard good things about AAO and the LR/SC combo.

Basically I have a few questions that I hope someone would be able to help me out with;

How easy is to to get SD def softcapped to all 3 positions?
Is positional defense as reliable as typed defense? (I've read there are some abilities that don't have a position tag at all.)

Any other suggestions about either the two combinations or variations or even other scrapper combos would be very much appreciated.

SD is fairly easy to soft cap, but quite a bit harder to get the the Incarnate Cap, unless you drop some other performance areas, or load up on leadership/stealth etc. Also the extra resist/hp in Shield can help mitigate NOT getting to that cap too..

I think PosDef is seen to be at least as good as TypDef in most case. Yes some attacks have no position, but they are usually Psi..which EA wont get a typed def to anyway.

Both combos will be very fun and solid. I think the TW may come out ahead about on ST attacks, if that will sell it to you.

Oh Hopeling makes a good point about webnades etc. I do nothice getting hit with them quite a bit more on my ea versus my shield.

Mucking around with Mids, I managed to make a soft-capped SD, I probably haven't done it the most efficient way, but I only have 19 slots left.

Also thanks Hopeling for the tip about the 3% def from gladiator's.
Normally I don't even look at the pvp or purple sets because they are too expensive, but I guess the enhancement converters have brought prices down.

I'm still leaning towards EA though, mostly due to having higher defense values from its abilities and not having to give over half the slots in my build to get softcapped. I can live with a psi-hole, I've had it on the tanker, its probably going to be worse on a scrapper, but with some luck the bigger damage will make up for it, also what fun is the game if you don't have any chance of faceplanting.

What drew me to EA initially, was that the powerset did most of the defense for you, throw in the +recharge aura and energy drain. Compared to AAO and SC, just doesn't feel it compares, I'm probably totally undervaluing the benefit of +dmg on a scrapper though.

AAO is nice; Shield Charge is amazing. But then, having a heal without needing Aid Self or Rebirth is nice, too, and EA has excellent endurance tools.

I strongly doubt you'll be disappointed with either set.

I think I'm going to go with TW/EA for now, if I don't like that, I'll definitely be making a SD of some sort, probably EM.

Thanks for your input, sorry If I was a bit stubborn.

Have you considered going TW/SR, TW/Electric, or TW/Dark?

There's not really anything wrong exactly with TW/EA. I just don't see a great deal of synergy there. The three combos I'm suggesting have a much greater synergy IMO.

TW/SR should be fairly easy to incarnate softcap to all three positions. It has the added bonus of not requiring you to put away your weapon once you've toggled up (except, perhaps, to use Aid Self) which works well with TW because of the momentum mechanic. The downside to this combination is that you won't have much in the way of resistances or heals. Taking Aid Self (especially with the coming pool changes, which will make the prereqs more useful) and Tough will help with this issue somewhat. The scaling resists in SR probably won't save you when they kick in, but they will give you enough time to pop a green or get an Aid Self off.

TW/Electric is conceptually similar to EA, but a superior pairing. While EA and TW both provide extra defense, the only stacking you can get from them is Smashing. That's not a particularly useful damage type to have high defense to. Elec provides solid layered protection. It has high resists and a strong heal, as well as endurance management tools for the end hog that is TW. The magic of the pairing comes from TW allowing you to easily softcap melee defense. All of that together means a pretty sturdy character. One final bonus is the damage aura, which will be able to finish off enemies for "free" after your AoEs have been fired off.

TW/Dark has similar benefits to Electric, but is even more survivable I'd argue. It has a control aura in the form of either Oppressive Gloom or Cloak of Fear (I'd suggest Oppressive Gloom). It has the sickeningly powerful Dark Regeneration (don't forget your Theft of Essence proc). Most importantly, it has high resistances (though, disappointingly, low Energy resistance). Of course, the caveat with this combination is that in order to use all the powerful tools you need endurance, and a lot of it. With a well planned build and/or incarnate powers you won't have to worry at all. Prior to that point, you'll need a lot of blues.

As I said before, it's not that EA doesn't work. It's a great set. I just think a different choice would give you more of what you were looking for.

@Rorn ---- Blue Baron ---- Guardian

soft-capping /SD isn't bad at all. I only have the steadfast +3% def and have it soft-capped. I also don't have a self heal, and don't notice it as much. I can usually run off from the group and solo a few mobs without any issues. My toons also aren't just swimming in influence, so I didn't spend a terrible amount of it to get there as well, but I was very frugal and patient about getting money (and good drops from AE Tickets!).

I will say that I recently played an ITF and the team started following me instead of the tank, and the only time I came close to death was at the beginning of the last mish with the /dark troller herding mobs to the top of the bridge for us to kill and I sat below 25% health for a while, but between the +regen procs and set bonuses, I never went down (I was surprised as well!). It's a FUN FUN FUN set to play and an AoE monster!

When you use a certain number of slots to soft cap, those slots aren't then completely unavailable to chase other goals - they're just constrained. Sets have multiple bonuses. Careful slotting allows you to therefore chase multiple bonuses at the same time. For instance, an Obliteration set gives you melee defese, but it also gives you recharge time, damage and accuracy, all of which are typically desirable, particularly the recharge time. So to make the best use of your slots, try to figure out which sets that boost defense ALSO give you the most of what else you want in the build. Of course you must also remain aware of enhancement values, such as the horrible endurance discount associated with Obliteration. Slot them in all of your AoEs on an AoE-heavy build, and you'll find yourself with an endurance problem in need of a solution.

I leveled an Electric/Shield, and barely remember it, I think because of how fast it went. My main impression was that it had great burst AoE, but at least with a leveling build, not much in the way of sustained AoE. But that worked great when I was duoing with a herding Tanker, and if you add enough recharge, you can wipe out maps really fast.

Like NurseDonna, my IO'd Fire/Shield doesn't have a heal. I DO notice the lack compared to my toons built for survivability, and it would be much better with a heal, but it's still very solid. I'd probably pick up Rebirth if I were incarnating him.

I hope you realize that even a top end Scrapper built for survivability isn't going to match your Invulnerability/Super Strength Tanker if your Tanker is reasonably-built. The survivability isn't particularly similar. However, Scrappers can have ENOUGH survivability for most content, while putting out noticeably more damage. If that's what you're after, you've probably come to the right place. You could also go with a Brute.

I'll admit to also being confused about "softcapped but only have 19 slots left."

Here's my broadsword/shield, softcapped to positionals, and I only used three slots in Deflection, three in Battle Agility, three in True Grit, two in Active Defense, four in Weave, and the inherent slot in Phalanx Fighting, Against All Odds and Grant Cover, for a total of only 18 slots dedicated to "defense" and only 10 (of my 67 total) slots "spent."

Meanwhile, Hack, Slice, Parry, Disembowel, Head Splitter, Shield Charge, and even Slash all got six-slotted for important damage-y stuff like accuracy, damage, recharge and end reduction, and Whirling Sword got five slots, which ALSO got me 11.25 melee, 7.5 ranged, and 6.89 AoE defense as a result.

http://www.cohplanner.com/mids/downl...28F2178D3ADDB3

(My electric/SD has three slots in Deflection, three in Battle Agility, two in Active Defense, four in True Grit, four in Weave, inherent slot in PF, AAO and GC for 19 slots used for "defense" and 11 slots "spent.")

I guess I'm trying to say that if you're spending all your slots on "defense" first to reach the softcap and THEN going back and worrying about slotting primaries, you're sort of doing it wrong -- try looking at the big picture to see what sort of defense you can get from three basic SO's in your secondary, look at three- or four- slotting those for IO set bonuses instead of SO's, and then shore up any gaps with IO set bonuses elsewhere.

Just as a point of order:

Electric/Shield is about to get a GIANT boost from PPM procs.

Gaussian's proc is going from appallingly bad to godlike, when slotted in Buildup.

This is a BIG BOOST to all melee nuke builds built for pulse damage, of which the most extreme is, of course, electric/shield.


Elec/sd was FOTM for a loooong time because it was just that awesome. The fix to shield charge took a bit of the shine off that lily, but this PPM change? SO buts it back.

Double Build Up on Lightning Rod, stacked on top of AAO?

YES PLEASE.


Can scappers and blasters pretty please have higher damage caps, oh mighty Dev's?