Call Me Awesome

It's one of several "super booster packs" available in the NCSoft Store, each has different add ons to the game and they're $10 each ($9.95 actually, but I call that $10). Buying and applying a booster pack to your account grants all your characters the perks in the pack, each one is different. Costume pieces, additional, usually minor, powers and so forth.

Well, I made the mistake of rolling my Peacebringer up as an 8' tall character; I found that a lot of missions were a huge pain because of that. Any cave mission was an irritation because of the character's size.

YMMV, but I really didn't care for the character's size, unfortunately by the time the problem really sank in to me the character was in his 20's so I just stuck with it and coped. He ended up as my 2nd level 50 character but once the Science pack with the super tailor was released I shrank him down to about 6'6".

If you have the Science booster pack then you can always change your character model so you could try it and see what your experiences are, I found anything much taller than 6'6" irritating in confined maps.

You'll loose the considerably greater regen of Health that way, but you're right, it is an option. When I was originally leveling Gortak, my BS/Regen, I started to have to think a little about endurance about the time I got Disembowel; picking up Stamina at 30 totally eliminated any concerns.

Gor was a fun character to play most of the way to 50, I rolled him up as a kind of Conan type character and had a bunch of macros for him, things like "Come back stupid $target, Gor not through talking with you!" and "Gor not talk good, Gor let Sword do talking". I'd pull those type of comments out from time to time on teams.

Well, you can outfit to the defense soft cap for under 50 million using my guide (linked in my sig)... that will give you lots of inf left to pay for extras that don't directly impact your defense. Extras like possibly a Numina unique and the like

Hasten's useful sure, and I had it until the last respec. I was looking to maximize my defense on that build however so I didn't have room for it anymore. That's why the Weave & Maneuvers, although admittedly Maneuvers could be dropped without affecting things much.

About Conserve Power... that BS/Regen has been 50 for almost 4 1/2 years now and in that time I've never had CP; I've also never found any need for it. Even on SO/HO enhancements prior to issue 9 I could attack non-stop for over 5 minutes before running low on end and I had zero endred slotting at the time; since IO's and getting basically free endred slotting in attacks my end bar never moves unless I'm facing Malta or Carnies with their end drains. CP is pretty much a waste on a Regen if you're taking QR & Stamina.

There's some logic to Physical Perfection but you're looking at a minor increase in regen, something you already have a ton of. I doubt you'd be able to really tell the difference.

The datalinks seem to die frequently, it worked when I posted the build. I've added the data chunk to the earlier post.

Here's the build as it currently sits; there's room for a few improvements still but it works pretty well. Keep in mind that this IS a level 50 respec build and it was moderately expensive... although the power order is pretty close to how I'd do a leveling build. It sacrifices an APP to build defenses so there's no ranged attack. On the other hand, as a Regen it has no difficulty at all running the toggles and attacking full bore for extended periods of time.

Eventually I'd think about swapping in a few Numina's for the regen & HP bonuses; right now this is actually my second build. It would have taken too much work and too many respecs to clear the 50+ Hami-O's on the main build. (The character was 50 in issue 5, and I was raiding Hami 3 times a week from issue 4 until issue 9. HO's I have in abundance)

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.601
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Gortak: Level 50 Science Scrapper
Primary Power Set: Broad Sword
Secondary Power Set: Regeneration
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leadership

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Hack -- Mako-Dam%:35(A), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx:35(3), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:35(3), Mako-Acc/Dmg:35(5), Mako-Dmg/Rchg:35(5), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg:35(7)
Level 1: Fast Healing -- Heal-I:35(A), Heal-I:35(42), Heal-I:35(43)
Level 2: Slice -- Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:35(A), Oblit-%Dam:35(7), Oblit-Dmg:35(9), Oblit-Acc/Rchg:35(9), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg:35(11), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:35(46)
Level 4: Quick Recovery -- EndMod-I:35(A), EndMod-I:35(11), EndMod-I:35(13)
Level 6: Reconstruction -- Dct'dW-Heal:35(A), Dct'dW-Rchg:35(13), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx:35(15), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg:35(15), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg:35(17)
Level 8: Parry -- DefBuff-I:35(A), DefBuff-I:35(17), HO:Nucle(19), HO:Nucle(19), HO:Nucle(21), RechRdx-I:35(21)
Level 10: Dull Pain -- Dct'dW-Heal:35(A), Dct'dW-Rchg:35(23), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx:35(23), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg:35(25), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg:35(25)
Level 12: Combat Jumping -- Zephyr-Travel:35(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx:35(46)
Level 14: Super Jump -- Zephyr-Travel:35(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx:35(43)
Level 16: Integration -- Heal-I:35(A), Heal-I:35(27), Heal-I:35(27)
Level 18: Whirling Sword -- Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:35(A), Oblit-%Dam:35(29), Oblit-Dmg:35(29), Oblit-Acc/Rchg:35(31), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg:35(31), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:35(31)
Level 20: Hurdle -- Jump-I:35(A)
Level 22: Health -- Heal-I:35(A), Heal-I:35(43)
Level 24: Build Up -- AdjTgt-Rchg:35(A), AdjTgt-ToHit/Rchg:35(33), RechRdx-I:35(33)
Level 26: Disembowel -- Mako-Dam%:35(A), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:35(33), Mako-Acc/Dmg:35(34), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx:35(34), Mako-Dmg/Rchg:35(34), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg:35(36)
Level 28: Instant Healing -- Dct'dW-Heal:35(A), Dct'dW-Rchg:35(36), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx:35(36), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg:35(37), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg:35(37)
Level 30: Stamina -- EndMod-I:35(A), EndMod-I:35(37), EndMod-I:35(39)
Level 32: Head Splitter -- M'Strk-Dmg/Rchg:35(A), M'Strk-Acc/EndRdx:35(39), M'Strk-Acc/Dmg:35(39), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx:35(40), M'Strk-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:35(40), M'Strk-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:35(40)
Level 35: Resilience -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+:30(A)
Level 38: Moment of Glory -- RechRdx-I:35(A), RechRdx-I:35(42), RechRdx-I:35(42)
Level 41: Boxing -- HO:Nucle(A)
Level 44: Tough -- Aegis-ResDam:35(A), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx:35(45), Aegis-ResDam/Rchg:35(45), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg:35(45), Aegis-EndRdx/Rchg:35(46)
Level 47: Weave -- GftotA-Def:35(A), GftotA-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:35(48), GftotA-Def/Rchg:35(48), GftotA-Def/EndRdx:35(48)
Level 49: Maneuvers -- GftotA-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:35(A), GftotA-Def:35(50), GftotA-Def/EndRdx:35(50), GftotA-Def/Rchg:35(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Critical Hit

Code:

| Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build |
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Edited to add the data chunk since the links seem to go bad at random.

Sounds like a bug to me, my male tankers and brute all use the correct Taunt emote and sound... I haven't played my female stone/EM tanker in over a year and I don't have any huge tanks.

This looks pretty solid; the only quibble is I'd probably have snagged EE at 2 and then Heavy Mallet at 4 but that's something that can be argued either way.

COT can be nasty to a lot of builds; for the most part the regen in Rooted should take care of most of the problem. I've never found the Demons to be particularly dangerous but the Spectrals are nasty with their -tohit... you'll have to count on your team to kill them as once they get your tohit debuffed into subterranean ranges you won't be able to hit them. You should be able to survive them decently and Taunt & Mud Pots should hold their attention.

I've leveled two Stone tankers to 50 and frankly I really never saw a lot of need for Crystal or Brimstone. Oh, one word of advise on the Stone Melee side, don't forget to get Fault soon, it provides a huge amount of mitigation. Knock everything on it's butt and you've a breather while they stand back up... and all the Minions will be stunned. I'd probably get Fault at 22 instead of Stone Skin, or at least by 24.

You won't find much use for Tough/Weave in a Granite build... Tough will do NOTHING for you at all since Granite with Stone Skin (with only 1 resist in SS) will cap your S/L at 90%. The added defense of Weave looks good on paper, but Granite + Rooted is already unkillable by anything up to and including a tower buffed Lord Recluse.

Hmm, the debuff resist may be a reason to get Crystal after all come to think of it, but is ~40% debuff resistance (with Rock) enough to make a real difference? Mobs that debuff your defense generally hit it so hard that 40% is fairly pointless.

Minerals does have some uses, primarily against a few all-Psi baddie missions in the 40's. Offhand I can think of maybe 8-10 missions in the entire game where Psi damage predominates. If you get hit by a perception debuff eating a yellow insp. solves the problem nicely.

I'd have a hard time stressing enough just how important Fault is to you; it's one of the best powers in the entire set.

Good call on skipping Build Up and Hurl Chunks... I mean Boulder.

In my experience if you're solo or on a small team (4 or fewer) you're probably ok tanking with only Rock Armor/Rooted/Stone Skin. With few exceptions most enemy groups aren't dangerous enough except in large numbers to need Granite.

The combo of Fault/Tremor works wonders for keeping a spawn on it's butt and with a little +recharge you can effectively keep them down permanently. My Stone Melee character is Invuln, but I don't have Hasten and only around 15% global recharge and that combo works nicely on him. Lead off with Fault, then hit a likely boss a time or two while the spawn gets back up then Tremor to knock them down again... rinse and repeat. That won't work in Granite of course, but it's a fantastic mitigater in Rock/Rooted/Stone Skin.

Stone Armor is about the only set I know of that really doesn't benefit much from IO bonuses for survivability; Granite Armor, Rooted & Stone Skin all slotted with SO's is plenty to tank nearly anything in the game; I ran my first STF with an SO'd Stone/Fire tank and had zero issues with Lord Recluse, even without any support from the team.

The advice you've gotten from some others looks sound to me; since I've only played one blaster to 50, an Archery/EM, and haven't ever rolled up an Ice blaster I don't consider myself qualified to give more than generalities. I generally play Tanks, Scrappers & Controllers... I know them far better than Blasters.

I don't recommend dropping Slice & Whirling Sword; they'll give you good service all the way to 50. Single target you have well covered with Hack, Disembowel and Headsplitter; Parry is just way too useful for the extra defense and Slice and Whirling Sword are your AOE potential.

Both of my Broadsword scrappers have and use the following attacks at 50:

• Hack
• Slice
• Parry
• Whirling Sword
• Disembowel
• Headsplitter

I know that Headsplitter is technically another AOE but it's such a narrow cone that I almost never use it as one... if I happen to get an extra mob in it it's just a bonus. Build Up, Whirling and Slice will take most of the starch out of a group of minions; focus on the boss/LT and simply add Slice & Whirling into your chain... by the time the boss/LT's are down the minions will be long dead.

On my current BS/Regen build I've ended up with 45% melee defense, 28% ranged and 20% AOE on top of ~560% full time regen giving me roughly 50 hit points per second of regen with Dull Pain active.

You should focus on bonuses that best help your particular character and it's powers. For example, a character with a lot of defense generally gets the most use out of bonuses that boost defense, the closer it gets to 45% the more effective it is. A character who depends on long recharge powers such as an Illusion Controller maximizing the uptime of Phantom Army may on the other hand find recharge bonuses most useful.

There's no firm rule on what "each AT should focus on", it all depends on what bonuses will best complement a character's particular powers and playstyle. An Empath defender has different needs than a Kinetic defender or a Radiation defender; just because they're all the same AT doesn't mean they need the same things.

What character are you playing that you wanted to know about? That's what we'd need to know in order to offer you useful advise. A Broadsword/Regen scrapper has dramatically different needs than a Spine/Invulnerability yet they're both scrappers. A Fire/Radiation controller likewise has much different needs than an Earth/Radiation even though they share the same secondary.

Ah, I stand corrected.

One of the images of the video card is a 3/4 rear/top view, it looks like the top view of the card in the system. Anyway, it was the only card on their site that comes close and that red top insert is fairly distinctive.

<edit>

Just looked again, we have this image from the system
And this image from the Sapphire card

Just did some checking, the video card appears to be a Sapphire with, it appears, 1GB DDR3. (It appears to match the picture anyway) The Newegg reviews seem to be fairly favorable... I've never used that brand though. Newegg prices it at $180

I haven't bought a pre-assembled PC in so many years I'm not sure of the players, but you'd have a hard time finding a better company to buy from than Newegg. That's where I've bought about 90% of my computer parts over the last 10 years and they're extremely reliable.

I'd probably look for a machine intended for Gaming. I'd want at least 4GB of RAM and a decent video card, check out the thread on graphics cards for the upcoming Ultra Mode for thoughts there.

Defensive/Resistance toggles are generally a fire and forget; typically you turn them on when you log in and then leave them run. Deflection provides Melee defense and Smash/Lethal resistance while Battle Agility provides Ranged & AOE defense so they protect you from different things. Attacks are generally flagged as being Melee attacks (punches, kicks and so forth), Ranged attacks (blasts, gunfire and anything from range) and AOE attacks (Area of Effect, attacks that can hit more than one character. Things like Fire Ball and the like)

Because of this Deflection protects from punches, kicks and the like but doesn't protect you from a mob tossing energy blasts at you from 20' away. Likewise Battle Agility protects from those attacks but doesn't help you against punches & kicks. Once your build matures you'll be running both shields plus other toggles as well to maximize your survivability.

HOWEVER, I'm going to guess that your brute is still low level? Pre-20 and Stamina? In that case endurance will be an issue for you... I generally don't get the Ranged/AOE shield until level 22 and deal with the Melee shield only until then. The reasoning is that as a Brute you'll be fighting mostly Melee mobs and before Stamina endurance is tight, particularly with a brute constantly chasing Fury.

My suggestion for the early levels would be to slot endurance reduction in your shield and mainly slot accuracy and endurance reduction in your attacks. If it were me I'd probably start a SS/Shield brute something like this:

1. Punch & Deflection
2. Haymaker
4. True Grit
6. Hurdle (Fitness pool)
8. Knock Out Blow
10. Active Defense (eventually 3 slot for recharge)
12. Combat Jumping
14. Super Jump
16. Against All Odds (endurance reduction, one is probably enough)
18. Health (Fitness Pool)
20. Stamina, 3 slot for Endurance Modification.
22. Battle Agility

I'd toss it into Stamina and forget it, it'll have a chance to fire every 10 seconds so on average it'll fire once per minute. I believe mathematically it's very slightly better than a 3rd end mod IO in Stamina, if you have slots it can go into a 4th slot.

Works fine for me, I just double checked it. I'd suspect it's a browser issue or possibly your firewall. Firefox 3.5.5 here.