EvilGeko

My Arachnos Soldier only has Ninja run....and Swift/Mental Training. That plus a jet pack is faster than my younger flyers.

RAID BOSS!!!

Grats Positron! Things are even grayer and give less exp now!

I've been taking a break from CoH, while awaiting for GR info. This is VERY exciting! I'm hoping to see CoH break away from the standard raiding grind.


As for WarWitch: CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Ownership is a fluid concept. You might not "own" the digital money, but you might have a right to use it which has a real life value notwithstanding any various agreements you might have made.

It's not an easy issue. These digital worlds have Terms of Service written to try and deal with this issue, but the more that companies engender a sense of ownership in these items, the more that they will have to deal with issues like this.

For example, SOE allows direct selling of characters and such on their (pretty fun) F2P game Free Realms. The claim that they own everything on the servers would seem to ring hollow to me. I would love to see how an appellate court would deal with the issue.

This.

Please note, that even soloing AVs or TFs doesn't require the heights of power that people are often talking about on these boards. The Scrapper boards take min-maxing to the extreme sometimes. But I think everyone here recognizes that EVERY Scrapper is a powerhouse.

Like others have said, I would go with Smashing/Lethal defense. Particularly because you're dealing with an Electric Armor. My reasoning goes a bit beyond the good advice already presented:

1) It's VERY easy to get Sm, Le defense with little to no sacrifice. The Kinetic Combat set (which can be expensive) gives you the 3.75% bonus with only four enhancers from the set. This allows you to fill out your attacks with other sets or procs while getting a great set bonus.

2) As others have stated, Sm, Le has been estimated to represent over half of most damage, but also consider that many other damage types like Ice and even the energies have a Sm/Le component. This allows you to capture a goodly amount of attacks from all quarters.

This.

Didn't have anything else to say, but I wanted to let you know we appreciate your service.

Winner!

Both are great, but at different things. The DM/SR will be basically unkillable once built correctly, but the lack of AoE would make the baby Scrapper cry.

Claws is more DPS both ST (I think) and AoE (I know), but lacks the tools (like a built in self-heal) which will make the DM more sturdy.

I've suggested this combo on and off for the last few years. If I were making such an AT, I would give it the following AT attributes:

Name: Guardian
Melee Damage = 1.05
Ranged Damage = 1.05 (wouldn't get used much but still)
Melee/Ranged Buff = 1.0
HP = Brute level

Inherent: Steel-Mind = -2 Mez (all) Protection per member of the team, including PC (so -16 Mez protection in a full team)

This is a generally a great strategy, but I find on my DM/EA, that because of Dark Melee (and Soul Mastery's) -to-hit, that I don't need to be very much over the soft-cap for most things.

I'm softcapped to Sm, Le, Eng and have Fire and Cold in the 40% range and the character plays very well for me. Psi and Toxic sucks, but then that's the nature of the beast with EA. Can't wait to betray to Hero side!

That's not Scrapperlock. That's just fighting. Important for both ATs Brutes and Scrappers, but not Scrapperlock.

Scrapperlock is when you suddenly realize your group is dead, and you didn't realize because you were busy killing everything around you.

Scrapperlock is when the silly team is planning and talking about what to do, while you're three rooms ahead unaware that you don't have a team behind you.

Scrapperlock is a state. If you're thinking about what you're doing, you're not in Scrapperlock. This is why folks who compare it to maintaining Fury are dead wrong and I doubt they've ever really experienced Scrapperlock. Scrapperlock is actually scary when you come out of it sometimes. I've literally been standing over a lot of dead mobs and suddenly realized I have no idea how the last 3-5 mins. went down. I've come out of Scrapperlock and looked over at the chat bar to messages of the team telling me to run.

Brutes can be in Scrapperlock, but worrying about Fury is an impediment to achieving Scrapperlock. I love both ATs and I am sure neither has much to worry about. They play very differently. My current favorite Scrapper my Fire/Shield is frightening. The equivalent Brute would not be as good. However, my DM/EA Brute is a monster in another way. I won't be giving up either AT and I doubt I'll be the only one.

I agree with you, but Bill's point is true. TF/SFs are for the most part NOT team content in difficulty. Soloing AVs is trivial for many builds and that's the worst that most TF/SFs throw at you.

I am in favor of making some team content, because honestly, I'm lazy and need a reason to team. I enjoy teaming, but will not unless I need to. Yes, that's a failing of mine. I think the best way to 'fix' this problem such as it is, is to make TFs mechanically impossible to solo.

Not via cheese like simultaneous clickies. But perhaps by tasks that simply cannot be accomplished by a single player. Hami, RWZ raids, STF/LRSF all seem to qualify. More of that, less of the Manticore snoozefests that folks do solo for a challenge.

Question for the group. Is anyone known to be able to solo the Katie Hannon TF? I can't imagine it would be impossible, but it seems like a +3 Mary would be a PITA of the highest order.

Blaster != squishy AT in the right hands. Hell, after the defiance changes, I question whether Blasters even qualify as squishies at all. Tied for 4th in HP. Limited ability to act through status effects. And absolutely frightening melee attacks.

My Ice/Energy Blaster spends far more time in melee range than ranged. I wouldn't give up my beloved melee attacks to waste time playing with KB. Better, my friend, to build for a bit of defensive power and A LOT of offensive power and beat down a boss. Because dead is the best secondary effect of them all!

This is advanced gaming 504 (graduate program!), and it delights me to have to explain it...

Anyone with Air Superiority can do the same without all the carry-on negative effects of KB.

KB can be used as mitigation. Nothing that removes a mob from a Blasters' melee attacks can be properly called "effective" IMO. Proven means it's no longer in dispute. People of good will can come to different conclusions. We have here.

There's no need to characterize your reasonable opinions as fact. They lend them no greater weight in anyone's eyes. People who agree with you, agree with you. As has been stated, this is mostly just folks wasting time during work on a message board. Nobody is going to win. But I'll keep arguing with you, because this is fun.

You have a strange view of the word "proof". In the first instance, I didn't state an absolute. I stated that I could see some instances where KB is useful. Second, I don't see how you can say that with either of the characters you mention, that KB is your most effective secondary effect. Indeed, the two characters you mention have secondary effects on other powers that are substantially better to use in this instance.

With an Energy/Energy, I personally believe that the stuns are more effective because it keeps the mob in range of the extremely strong melee attacks of the Blaster. By needlessly pushing the boss away you're giving up Bone Smasher, Energy Punch and Total Focus. Personally, I would use Stun + Total Focus. Yes, you might take a hit, but you'll be just as safe after the stun stacks and you won't be giving up significant damage.

As for your Mind Dom, I really don't see why you're using KB, when you have Levitate. KnockUp again keeps the mob in range of your stronger melee attacks and gives your Dom the breathing space, to stack a hold or confuse. (Assuming you aren't in Domination).

This. There are a few situations I can think of where KB or other forms of moving mobs are very useful, but for the most part, KB is a "fun" effect.