Moonlighter
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Posts
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Let me add my voice to the opinion that you'd be better off with a Brute, at least with that particular combo.
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I'd just be happy to have the top tier attack have a cool animation like Katana.
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If you can reach infinite endurance with PP and can forego CP then that's one less animation cycle where you aren't doing damage.
As an aside, the strength of Focused Accuracy isn't the perception bonus, although that's nice, it's the massive ToHit Reduction Resistance which Tactics lacks. -
Quote:I just Shield Charge them onto their butts if I start cascading down.Originally Posted by Shadey_NA
But for those moments when you are surrounded by Roman or DE dropping stones all over, it's the difference between being a hero and the faceplant kid. My Shield/Dark tank felt invincible until he ran into those situations. Then I found the HO trick and all is well in the world again.
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Quote:Fire, absolutely. It can reach those levels and then gets the DoT on top of it, and it's damage isn't S/L. Katana would be equivalent if not for the -Res in it's defense reduction attacks, which inexplicably the devs disallowed for Martial Arts. Otherwise MA is competitive, with the advantage of having good chains at much lower recharge levels. Claws will suffer from PvP ED on damage much worse than MA since its base damage is low and it relies on stacking it's damage buff power. Unless Follow Up is somehow immune to the PvP ED and I somehow missed that?Originally Posted by Arcanaville
But that's outside of RV, with the full benefit of full strength damage enhancement and buffs. That will drop substantially in RV due to DR. Assuming you're getting something like say 250%-300% total damage buff (i.e. +150% to +200% above base damage including slotting) on your attacks DR will reduce that to 215% - 240% total damage enhancement. You're going to lose about fifteen to twenty percent of your damage due to DR on or around those levels of damage buff. My guess is you'll probably be around 200 dps in an equivalent situation in RV. That's not "low" in the absolute sense, but its low relative to what you can do with other primaries besides MA. I'm pretty sure Claws, Katana, and especially Fire can do better (well, I know Fire does better because I specifically tested and used it).
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Quote:I'm getting around 250 DPS (to the Rikti pylon, assuming I am doing the math correctly) with no lore pets. But that's with the boost from /Shield. That's why I ask. I realize, though, the the smashing resists are pretty brutal.Originally Posted by Arcanaville
Comparatively speaking, it does. And here every little bit helps. If you are around the 170 dps that MA seems to do with good chains then against a +2 AV, which you can get with Alpha and an ultimate, your damage is down to about 135 dps not counting resistances. That is only 35 dps above the 100 dps regen rate of a level 54 AV. Even very small increases in damage above that rate are noticeable because you are operating so close to the regen rate. Fire Melee is a whole lot faster because of that.
The Lore pets can make that moot, though. They aren't affected by DR, and even something like tactics can radically increase their damage output due to their base 50% chance to hit. -
Quote:Cloak of Fear can act like a poor taunt aura substitute since enemies will cower rather than run if you slot it up.Originally Posted by Celidya
Doing 1500 tickets/1min30 on my Spines/Dark, however the mobs running away depend a lot on the map. Not sure exactly why, but i suspect mobs with an antimezz toggle tend to run less... who knows why. On outdoor normal maps and on some AE farms they run everywhere, on the one i made (not even trying it) they didn't seem to run a lot. Anyway they die so fast it's not a big deal.
And i love my scrapper(s) too much to ever bother making a brute, my spines/dark happens to be my main character all around, as well as my best farmer
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I wouldn't farm on a scrapper without a taunt aura.
That leaves /Shield, /Invuln, and /WP.
Shield provides the only secondary with additional AoE support, but with an AoE primary Invuln and WP are fine as well. -
PS: I'd try something with Parry; maybe Katana/Elec.
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Why do you say MA puts out low damage? All smashing, yes that's an issue. But raw damage hasn't been for me at least.
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I would love to have a channel for trial activity that's spammed in the RWZ so people can make trials without having to try to hop from RWZ instance to RWZ instance.
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After clicking on the servers for hours, having trouble logging in, and then sitting in the queue I missed out on the two names I wanted most:
Moonlighter (my global) and Halloween Jack.
I got some other names I didn't want as badly. I really wanted to get my global name, however, and was frustrated that the server extension pushed the live so long that I spent almost 5 hours watching the forums and occasionally clicking the server list to make sure I got it only to have it taken.
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Quote:This. I would laugh if the scrolling server list didn't work because the test server only has two servers on it. But I can't currently find any way to click on the last two servers on the list.Originally Posted by Nuclea
Might be a bit hard since Exalted is at the bottom of the server list for me. And when I release the scroll bar it just jumps back up to the top
Of course now that I said that the server list changed order and now I can't access Justice or Virtue, one of which is my home server. -
Quote:I will say these things.Originally Posted by ClawsandEffect
This.
Saying brutes are unequivocally, indisputably better in any and all situations is misinformation. There are plenty of situations in which a scrapper would be the better choice. In any situation that has overwhelming AoE from the rest of the team, the scrapper would be better, simply because nothing is going to live long enough to allow the brute to build any fury at all. And there are others.
Both ATs are better in different situations. Actually, as far as balance between ATs is concerned, brutes and scrappers are VERY well balanced against each other. Neither is so much better than the other in a given area that the choice is simple. Any time I go to create a melee character, I weigh the advantages and disadvantage of each set as used by each AT.
If brutes being better were a "fact", I would have nothing BUT brutes. Since my brute/scrapper ratio is about 50/50 it's not so clearly a "fact" that brutes are better.
First, I don't play scrappers who don't have taunt auras anymore. Flat out the lack of a taunt aura is tremendously aggravating. I can't even tell you the annoyance of trying to finish my kill task for Freak Tanks on my MA/SR (I did that long ago in Crey's Folly when they were still worth XP to me) and have every... single... one run all over the map. I die a little inside every time I play my 50 Kat/Fire scrapper.
The extra hit points for Brutes is not something that is barely noticed. The difference is very noticeable. I think Regen Brutes, for example, will be so much better that scrappers that the extra damage won't be enough for me to stick with a scrapper Regen.
There are a lot of tasks where damage isn't the issue, it's extra survivability. In these instances the extra health and 90% resistant cap of the Brute is better than the extra damage. Particularly when you can make all the opponents use a damage type that is checked against your 90% stat. This also means that some of the tier 9 defenses are much better on a Brute and some buff situations on groups are much better with a Brute.
There are a lot of secondary damage sources that are affected by Fury and are flat out better on a Brute because of that.
On the other hand...
Shields, the best secondary in the game barring fire farms, is much better on a scrapper than a Brute. AAO makes too much of a difference, and the set has a damage aura. I'd be hard pressed to make a /SD Brute.
There are still tasks, like soloing GMs, where the damage will play a factor. If the scrapper can survive the situation then the damage output is needed.
If you can get the survival up to par on a scrapper and have a taunt aura why not go with the extra damage? -
Quote:I agree with this addendum to my post.Originally Posted by Draeth Darkstar
You should include some stipulations about sets with pseudopets or built-in damage buffs providing more benefit to Scrappers than Brutes, such as Elec Melee (Lightning Rod), Kin Melee (Power Siphon), Dark Melee (Soul Drain), Dual Blades (Blinding Feint), and Shield (Against All Odds and Shield Charge).
Damage buff powers are largely desaturated on Brutes because so much of their total damage comes from Fury, their base values are fairly low.
Pseudopets are strictly better on Scrappers because they have damage caps of 400%. I believe this even applies to Burn, but Fiery Aura being resist based doesn't do Scrappers any favors with that set.
At the very least you should include an "if you want to play Shield Defense, go Scrapper" line, because that one stacks both mechanics against the Brute. -
My suggestion, similar to the poster above, is skip the scrapper and make a Kat/Fire brute with freedom. I have a 50 Kat/Fire mostly IO'd out and it's pretty useless. Unless, that is, you like watching mobs running all over the map.
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The Brute's extra health is very noticeable. In most cases I'd go Brute. They level better, they are much more survivable, and in secondaries where their specialty resistance can max they are much better at farming.
Here's my F2P Scrapper or Brute decision tree: (I skipped the sword sets part since Brutes will get those now.)
~ Do you want to play Super-strength?
If yes, go Brute. If no:
~ Does you secondary have a taunt aura in it?
If no, go Brute. If yes:
~ Does you secondary have damage effects that would be boosted by Fury?
If yes, go Brute. If no:
Does your secondary have a specific resistance that caps out and can be abused in special AE farms, where as a Brute you can hit 90% resist?
If yes go Brute. If no:
~ Does your secondary have a lot of mitigation from healing or regen where the effect of your higher health is exaggerated?
If yes, go Brute. If no:
Will the Fury mechanic annoy me on this character?
If yes, go Scrapper. If no:
Will I be using the character in groups (possibly with tanks or multiple Brutes) that will steal my agro or move too slow to keep up fury?
If yes, go Scrapper. If no:
Do I mind having Gloom in my rotation?
If yes, go Scrapper. If no:
Will I be trying stupid scrapper tricks where the extra damage in my superior single target chain might make the difference in success?
If yes, go Scrapper. If no:
Go Brute because the high hit points is better than the small damage boost of the scrapper. -
Quote:I keep Hasten on auto and click range and power boost. In intense situations, yeah I have to keep it up. For 15+ defense? It's worth it. For groups there's no need as I am generally not pressed so it doesn't eat into my DPS in group or casual play.Originally Posted by PleaseRecycle
Okay Moonlighter, if you actually play that way you do know that you're the only one, right? Perma power boost has the following implications: You're spending about a fourteenth of your time animating a power that neither does damage nor contributes to damage. You have power boost on auto therefore hasten is not on auto. You have to refresh the power so frequently that any time you get momentarily mezzed or simply activate a power, you run the risk of having your defense lose a third of its value. I'd say it's an endurance sink but if you rely this heavily on it I assume you have it slotted for endurance as well as recharge.
What counts is of course that you make it work for your style of play, I just find it hard to relate to accepting those compromises. It'd certainly open up your build if nothing else! All I can say is I once tried a perma boost range build and that drove me insane within a few hours of play, and it's half as annoying as perma power boost.
The playstyle is actually easier than a Regen scrapper (less clicks since I use +Range only when needed), especially a Regen scrapper that uses Shadowmeld and is cycling through 5 click defensives. Regen will lose far more DPS to clicks than hitting Powerboost every 15 seconds.
As for the momentarily mezzed, that's just a fact with Blasters. Either I can swap over to the anti-Rez incarnate power, or I have my pink pills hot keyed. Honestly dealing with mez in intense situations is just part of doing blaster stuff. If I don't want to deal I play my scrapper main.
I am surprised soft cap with Power Boost isn't standard blaster play. I assumed it was. Anything that kicks in 15% defense on demand and boosts stuns is so good. -
Quote:Um, what? No, please don't nerf Power Boost like that. Bad idea.Originally Posted by PleaseRecycle
The way to make the other ammo types worth using would be to give them damage bonuses as well, half as strong as fire's. Probably not going to happen.
Power boost seems like sort of a red herring in general these days, but especially in a blaster secondary. Back when total focus could stun a boss by itself power boost at least had that use. Now it seems like a waste of animation time. None of the primaries do enough debuff for it to be relevant and clearly you won't be using it in conjunction with drain psyche or shiver. Power build up, now there's a good power.
Hey devs, how about fold power boost into build up for blasters and give them a stealth clone in its place? C'mon, that's totally balanced.
Power Boost can be made perma. Build Up isn't even close to perma.
Power Boost is ridiculously good. It can be perma, and takes me from 33% defense to softcap. This allows me to concentrate on recharge instead of defense soft cap while using Scorpion Shield. In addition Aid Self goes from 39 to 51. The Bonesmasher stun goes from 9.5 to 17. Suppressive Fire goes from 9.5 to 17. All stuns are increased, making it ridiculously easy to keep bosses perma-stunned, in addition to soft capping S/L defense.
If I actually cap 45% S/L Defense the old fashioned way then Power Boost soft caps me to trial levels bringing me to 59% defense for trials.
It is probably the best Blaster secondary power in the game. Please don't nerf the power. There is little enough reason to play blasters; perma Power Boost is one thing that's unique to blasters. -
I've been experiencing similar issues on Virtue.
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Quote:Because many of the security hunting missions send you into group zones against enemies that you can't solo (kill CoT in Perez before you get status protection and they are found in groups of 10) or the enemies are scarce in the zone or subzone and you spend more time flying/jumping around looking for spawns or waiting on respawns than hunting. (Clocks in Steel, Council in Steel now that more than half of them are 5th which don't count, or 50 Malta in Peregrine.) I also hate the sub-zone specific hunting missions. That Fir Bolg didn't count because it ran over the invisible zone barrier? Really?Originally Posted by EvilGeko
I like hunting missions. Outside of the Peregrine ones, never understood the big distaste for them.
Hunting missions are fine if they redesigned them with the following rules:
~ Contacts that offer hunting missions should offer them as only one of the mission choices and not block you out of other missions.
~ If I don't want to do the security hunt mission from my Joe contact, then I definitely don't want the same mission to also jam Fred and Mary contacts. That just p***es me off.
~ Only choose enemy groups that appear with great frequency in the area.
~ Take away zone and subzone restrictions for defeating enemies.
~ If you update the spawns in the area for story reasons and replace most of the Council spawns with 5th, then update the hunting missions at the same time to include both or have lots of pure groups left to hunt.
~ Don't give solo arcs hunts in zones that spawn groups meant for larger groups of heroes/villains while I am still low level. -
I am surprised I can't find a thread on this so here goes...
Interface Slot Reactive
75% debuff, 25% fire -or- 75% fire, 25% debuff? -
My main was MA/SR until I rerolled MA/SD.
My problems with /SR.
~ No taunt aura. Anytime I want to fight larger groups everything runs, making missions take twice as long.
~ No boost to offensive power. Sorry, Quickness is enemic as an offensive boost.
~ Susceptible to one or two shots that leapfrog resistance.
You can, however, make a soft capped trial build which is kind of cool as an alternate build.
I made MA/SD and it plays exactly the same except it has lots more health, it has a taunt aura, it does 20%+ more damage, and it has Shield Charge which is awesome. -
Quote:Brutes have tauntvoke in their attacks as well as a taunt aura someplace in their secondaries.Originally Posted by Lord_Saigon
What makes me ever more puzzled is I thought damage auras were supposed to be the taunt auras, because on my KM/Elec brute nothing runs, And when I watch SS/Fire brutes, nothing runs (maybe they die before they get a chance too). I'm thinking it's the AT mixed with the things you've said. I long for the days of fury+quills+Blazing aura :-(
Wasn't Energy Aura the exception to the taunt aura design for Brutes before the recent changes? -
I believe (from what I've tested) that mobs have code that makes them flee when under the effects of a debuff. Not only do you not have a taunt aura, the the morale is even worse because of the slow debuff.
Until scrappers can get a taunt aura the sets without one are fairly useless.