New Dawn

Info like that can be found from clicking Menu then Help in game. It will have tabs offering useful info about ya toons.

SR and invuln toggles are basically the same in end cost however as an Invuln your more likely to be end drained or effected by anyother secondary effects but benefit from resists and extra hp. i think go with concept but id rather play SRs. Invulns are prolly better in PVP mind you and in PVE generally less squishy in a way that time is bought for defenders to aid you better. If its a samurai your making then Invuln is probably best.

There are tanks without it. Id hate my Inv/SS without it and I am someone who likes builds that can go without it. I think the more AoE you are the easier it is and also defenders and controllers can easily be seeing to it anyway. My firetank has healing flames and consume and no fitness pool. My icetank has icepatch and absorption (so less needed although currently has it) and my stonetank has it cos she is stone melee which is fast on burning end in no time and like /ss is rather single target. Id much rather more end recovery rates between fights (less downtime) on an Invuln without being too picky about buffers. Invulns dont resist end drain and you can expect that versus many mobs especially at higher level. Mace is rather AoE so in with a better chance than Energy imo but both have disorients which can totally prevent one or two sappers from popping you. Who ya team with counts anyway, imo we all are the results of our teams.

That was with no one touching the gens at all? Need to know if they fixed it to save the bother of trying next time.

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I'm finding my Level 14 Trick Arrows/Archery Defender to be surprisingly incapable.

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Trick Arrow/Archery only really works well with a team. I've got a level 50 and its slow to solo a mission and somethings are just impossible as it has a low damage output.

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I find that with any defender. I love trick arrow, it offers good debuffs overtime with no anchor involved and i am rather more optimistic about its potential than most people. I would love a early fix cos its a new set that needs more faith from others but it looks like its a case of the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

OMG Kitty u got a reply from Castle

I wouldnt say liquefy is the greatest power but its had more well spent mileage than that repulsion.

Heals in vengeance can be moved into liquefy and become tohit debuffs and is prolly a nice little opener on AVs.

Dark armour or stone armour..oh wait..any!

I like what tanks are actually about and thats preventing the more vulnerable from getting hit. Its not just about taking damage off of the team its about taking the debuffs and controls off of them as well leaving the rest of the team to be at their strongest...in theory!

Cos sadly often in many teams alot of people wont stand far back when ya need to give a herdpoint and will attack before any tank may of possibly been ready and would of planted very fast as a result that could of been simply from being in the line of cone attack fire and in the area of aoe fire upon tank and that very nice tight herd that makes the team at the most efficient is blown to pieces by a aoe knockback opener leaving other people either singletargetting or hitting less than they should be with their aoes or debuffs.

As my trick archer i have seen some tanks fighting "what they thought they could merely handle" cos i dont heal leaving me the AoE debuffer to pick up the rest of the aggro..unlike most tanks, controllers if there is one can more easily miss so tanks with bottle would add something.

Tanking for some people can be very annoying. If ya know as a tank that you and your team are in a tight/bad situation that can be quickly and easily rendered safer from people falling back or standing back one thing ya dont have time to tell people is why your asking them to get back. A possible situation is say pulling all the inner circle at once with everyone being stupid standing in the most dangerous of players with you say unprotected enough from GWs hold and your all just waiting for all the best effects from all the AVs to be stacked. If ya lucky you look cool and have fun but if ya think like me then you dont want to risk the team for a chance to "look" good and tell them all to bugger off. Tanks with bottle but more common sense than bottle and lack of showmanship work well for me.

Go make a fire/fire tank, a damaging one, one that blitzes mobs rather than has extra shields to take the damage that wouldnt be there had ya blitzed them. What grind?

/energy melee is a late bloomer in fun stakes imo like hell late you could keep going but i think its actually a grind.

/superstrength is almost as bad when ya get footstomp as an invuln is when ya start to be more competitive in the xp/time rates.

Most of your gametime on the toon could be post 40, I have played a couple of my for 50s double the amount of time it took to get them there. My mate on his stonetank loves his stonetank now but it took till 45+ when he woke up to certain things (late developer ) and now there is almost any excuse to get him on it.

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His name is Beloved of Apollo and looks hot and also very talented

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Apollo is a guy....the plot thickens aww bless ya!

Liquefy is kind of equal to EMP arrow in trick archery in my book and i slot mine 3 tohit debuffs 3 rechg as an alpha them instead, get people out of the sinking ship and lower all acc power and is from experience more worth it than repulsion.

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Keeping LR busy really isnt that hard (using the corner pull), taking his and his EB's damage nonstop, thats the challenge I lost the battle when eventualy he had 10 EB's out and all came in melee range. But with just 2-4 EB and LR a granite shouldnt have that big problems taking the damage. Downside for ice, with the acc tower i got a feeling he hits straight through any defence.

Good point on shannon, i did some searching and i believe i was wrong that Taunt seem to have a Tohit check versus AV(its gauntlet that has a -20% acc tohit check). If some, i gonna change my slotting to 2 IO recharge (84%) and a IO taunt (42%).

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The thing that teams seem to do is say split up with one tanking LR with a dedicated defender and all the rest going for the gens and only thinking of the gens but some of those in the mix going for the gens could possibly also be debuffing LR for acc and dam etc which would be largely wasted otherwise. Order of gens is needed as well and yellow or red gens need to go down first. Last time i did it we didnt even do the gens cos as long as the gens arent touched you can pull LR far away from them and he wont tp back when ya fight him. We pulled him back to the boat for the most ample range. He couldnt be buffed by the gens from there and doesnt tp back. Taunt control is absolutely key in controlling many when needed especially into the debuff zones imo cos if ya debuffer gets aggro then its lights out and then perhaps the heals etc dont meet the damage and its more lights out all round. My mates stonetank taunt is 3 IO recharge and 2 IO taunt and he wont go less than that ever. Usually by being the total utter aggro magnet and everyone being positionally correct to have damage and also very importantly "debuffs and controls" away and off of the team "enough" you up your survivability more and extra slots in taunt are most certainly without a single, solitary doubt in my mind better than end slots in armours.

In STFs i dont really want to use nukes, shivans or vengeance. I dont believe you should have to and I find it strange that people dont add the time spent in warburg or bloody bay to the time in STF.

@Hammerfall, Kheldian antagonise is weak but this is tanker section and as tanks we cant get them so i could only guess he may have presence pool taunt in his build.

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Nothing made me happier tonight than being out of endurance and almost out of life and bouncing back to almost full on both by just switching on those two powers at the right moment.

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I like not having every toon the same and having to think my way past a problem as its what keeps toons very different, challenging and spices things up abit. Living on the edge makes a toon fun for me. The erps rate of dark consumption can be made higher than stamina but with one flaw and that is it has to hit but with Soul drain being what it is I wont worry about missing too much and once I am 50 Soul transfer will be another source of endurance.

You dont need acc in taunt in RV or STF versus AVs unless its that presence pool rubbish ;p and for granite tanks i have found 3 rechg 3 taunt (with SOs or nowadays IOs but i think perhaps 2taunt,2rechg,2 range IOs could work) as the best PVE set up as then you have lil more time to play and are that much more flexible especially when it comes to types of defenders you can work with well.

1 stormie and 1 granite + 6 blappers could = STF win imo

You throw in an extra attack, give taunt for nothing and then theyd require more balance changes to other AT sets.

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can you have elude on perma? been trying to get a build that does but since 1 of the issues i can't get it

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60 Seconds downtime with IOs. So you can use it 1 minute after when it drops. Which is pretty fast.

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*Rushes of to make a Dark Melee SR*

...6 months later all you ever see is dark melee/sr.

now why would i say that?

Dark consumption is 2 acc 3 rechg 1 end mod.

(i like to use this running into more mobs before i am tohit debuffed and alphas neednt exist neither cos i can flyby taunt them and make them come to me one by one but sometimes use it on last 3 with a yellow)

Dark regeneration is 2 acc 2 rechg 2 end red.(why i herd 10 cos its bound to hit half of em and give a great heal)

I choose to fight numbers so i am bound to hit half of them and it all adds up and after not playing my dark dark for a bit i have had times where i have gone into first mob and got defeated but its cos i am a little out of practise

Trick is in the whole build, timing and movement imo many a time i (and this is quite typical of me) i herd fast, lose almost all health, dark regen, clean up (then run into next lot possibly on low end so dark consumption) herd fast, be at almost no health, regen, clean up and this when soloing is a typical picture if i stopped to text at anytime in the fight i am dead.

In teams things can go almost too well with no hitches to having your leech moments taken away from you so if ya can get ahead, get ahead.

I was hastened till i realise i couldnt ever quite give it its 3 slotting and given the effect soul drain had against mobs that i am used to either teamed or what i work to when solo (we all have a best level for best xp rate when solo) i stopped needing it so much and got rid of it but haste helps alot and i prolly put it back when i can afford its slotting.

There maybe some rest moments in ya game but if ya go use the rest button now you will find its superb regen and recovery in almost no time at all. My elec elec has been a complete pain for needing it.

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you dont really need a self heal power on a SR scrapper.

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(Unless you are plan to play on heroic from lv1-50) you soooooo do!!!!

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I did from 1-50 and didn't have a self heal. Nor did I have Divine Avalanche, and I never had very many problems, and I wasn't on heroic very much at all. Hardly even touched it.

so no.. you soooooo don't!!!!

It's a matter of choice

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But why make things harder on purpose? I want the xp and I want it quick!!

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I find out what setting actually gives me the best xp/time and go with that for 5 levels before checking again when not on a story content toon and if on a story content toon I'll get to 45 and pretty much just stay on invincible as outlevelling arcs is impossible.

I dont have an endred on any toggle as it lowers the endurance of my build whilst in the attack chain by too little to be worth the slots. I do have an end red in almost every attack except the AoEs where the multihit damage potential per endurance point is so good it pays to recharge it more.

Your looking at your builds endurance needs prior to stamina atm and prior to SOs which will change a lot. Stamina is almost the equivalent of an end slot in every attack. Some people especially pvpers do stamina, end slot toggles and recharge all attacks for high burstness. That gives them a sprinters build whereas a end slot in every attack plus stamina gives a more of a long haul build.

SOs and stamina will change your eps. On an SR aid self is beneficial and second to that weave and third to that tough as its only S/L. Id advise on just aid self as its generally enough.

About that boat load of psi damage coming up.. Id get taunt to properly challenge the psi AVs.

Id slot it like i would anyother attack personally, just keep it perma. Versus single targets ya best chain would prolly be follow up, focus, strike and slash so Id get that and have other attacks for their situationalness.

All attacks 2 acc 3 dam but toggles still end slotted = 5 attack chains to a end bar.

All attacks 2 acc 3 dam 1 end and toggles not even end slotted = 8 attacks to an end bar.

I know which example Id rather have, unless you really want to pvp in which rechgs maybe are needed in one or 2 attacks to get the best burst build up attack chain possible.

I think ya need to read the numbers and not simply look at pretty pictures so learn to use the attack chain planner. Oh wait thats suckerpunchs planner which tells ya very little.

Here is an example from using a kat/sr as a model.

This is using 4 of the main katana attacks none of which are slotted for anything. Without recharge involved in the slotting except for haste these could create an attack chain as it is below. These are the most damaging attacks and Divine avalanche is used for extra defence in good time. This attack chain is cyclable. The build has base end recovery and stamina 3 slotted giving a total end recovery of 2.49 EPS.

Golden Dragonfly Act 2 End 11.856
Divine Avalanche Act 2.17 End 4.368
Lotus Drops Act 2 End 13.0
Soaring Dragon Act 2 End 9.36
Divine Avalanche Act 2 End 4.368
Total Action time 10.17 End 42.952

EPS of attack chain is equal to 42.952/10.17 = 4.22

(note it is actually slightly less than that due to tiny recharge of one attack).

Final EPS = EPS - Recovery EPS = 4.22 - 2.49
Final EPS = 1.73

Toggles unslotted for endurance are as follows

Focused Fighting = 0.239 EPS
Focused Senses = 0.239 EPS
Evasion = 0.239 EPS

Total EPS of all toggles= 0.717

Before i even carry on you can already see that the attack chains EPS of 4.22 is clearly higher than the toggles EPS. So which is worth slotting first?

Lets say you only have 4 end slots to put anywhere, this could be one per attack or 4 across 3 toggles. You could say as Dr Rock has said put more on the attack you use most and in this attack chains case its Divine Avalanche but Divine Avalanche ideally would have ample def and acc for survivabilities purposes. So lets say Divine Avalanche is slotted 2 acc 1 end and 3 def. So we'll stick to one end slot per attack.

We get this with attacks slotted for end and toggles unslotted:

Golden Dragonfly Act 2 End 8.68
Divine Avalanche Act 2.17 End 3.2
Lotus Drops Act 2 End 9.51
Soaring Dragon Act 2 End 6.85
Divine Avalanche Act 2 End 3.2
Total Action time 10.17 End 31.44

EPS of attack chain is equal to 31.44/10.17 = 3.09
Final EPS = Attack chain EPS - Recovery EPS + toggle EPS
Final EPS = 3.09 - 2.49 + 0.717
Final EPS = 1.31 (is in fact 1.27 using herobuilder)
Final EPS = 1.73

and you can cover a fight duration of 78 seconds and can cycle the chain nearly 8 times over.

Now this next one is slotting toggles first and attacks second.

Golden Dragonfly Act 2 End 11.856
Divine Avalanche Act 2.17 End 4.368
Lotus Drops Act 2 End 13.0
Soaring Dragon Act 2 End 9.36
Divine Avalanche Act 2 End 4.368
Total Action time 10.17 End 42.952

EPS of attack chain is equal to 42.952/10.17 = 4.22

Toggles slotted for endurance are as follows

Focused Fighting = 0.17 EPS
Focused Senses = 0.17 EPS
Evasion = 0.14 EPS
Total EPS = 0.48

Final EPS = Attack chain EPS - Recovery EPS + toggle EPS
Final EPS = 4.22 - 2.49 + 0.48
Final EPS = 2.21 (is in fact 2.38 using herobuilder)
Final EPS = 2.21

You can cycle the attack chain 4 times over covering a fight duration of just 42 seconds.

So attacks unslotted for end and toggles slotted for end in this case your EPS whilst fighting is 2.38 (using herobuilder) and attacks slotted for end and toggles unslotted for end your EPS whilst fighting is 1.73. The difference between slotting the attacks first and the toggles first is 3 attack chain cycles in this scenario.

If you have a long recharge attack of 100 seconds of an end cost of 10 points and a short recharge attack of 4 seconds with an end cost of 10 points then obviously the one thats a 4 second recharge will get used more and should take priority in slotting.

The bit about each end redux offering an equal amount of extra chance to use a single attack is correct however you need to compare the attack chain EPS with the toggle EPS and if i can afford an end slot on an attack (for some reasons i may not want to) i will before adding any to a toggle. Each end redux added to a toggle isnt really adding anything in terms of how much more i get to use an attack.

And i wont bother doing one for MA cos it wont differ. I done all this ages ago btw so just a copy and paste job.

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2. On my lvl 50 /invuln I dont have resist energies or resist elements at all. He seems more survivable with aid self.

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He is actually more survivable with aid self.

The difference in end cost of being an SR to being a Invuln is insignificant but by playing an invuln your more likely to be hit by end drain powers.

If ya ever see a crate next to a wall with a thin gap between then a short run along the side of the crate (cos often many foes tend to follow exact path) and then positioning just into the gap should make the type of pull ya looking for to see the best stacking to look for. Then Id target the rear but in range one and use it. Often i just position myself about any 2 foes front to back and line them up. I am not looking for them to be next to eachother but more directly behind eachother.

Stamina free builds are about playing to get the most out of attacks and slotting for low eps during the attack chain and then making some end recovery between fights until ya really do need an end buff with just dark consumption (i used to have it hastened but I dont have haste now since soul drain) and use that on as many foes possible without being tohit debuffed to hell at the time. Death shroud is used as well cos its multihit and whilst i am done dropping 4 its already weakened the other 6. Fury increases the amount of damage you do per attack and thus makes it so that it takes less attacks per mob and thus save end. I also have taunt cos i am a leecher and if i need mobs to come with me or to me i need them to want to. In an extreme sense i liken much of the need for stamina no different to needing it cos some sonic defender has always put sonic repulsion on your dark brute every time ya get low on end then preventing you from leeching end. This is cos team dynamics either go for you or against you. If i am teamed i pretty much would like to run off ahead, quick herd, do a bit of damage, leech, then the team gets there and i go off again leaving them to finish, basically looking like a tank that dont stay to clean up and fury can sometimes be kept up quite nicely.

Powers like footstomp if hitting the full 10 does 4 times the damage to group than what knockout blow does in a slightly less action time. Say for example you have 8 ss brutes in one team then on a group of 10 mobs you can do the equivalent of 32 knockout blows in 2.23 seconds flat by everyone doing footstomp. It would be 32 knockout blows for the price of 8 knockout blows in endurance terms. Even if ya had a herdtime of 8 seconds the 2 second fight duration can still be worth it, alot of the time foes are close enough and maybe just need a little bit of coiling up.

Dark consumption would take the pain out of levelling my stamina less elec elec but aid self would so be wanted. Looking at my elec elec i think pure build + aid self till 20, then vet respec in stamina but keep aid self till powersink then perhaps respec out stamina. With Dark Elec id prolly get by without stamina but still would like aid self.

I try for pure builds for a challenge and to find the essences of them plus with many toons i like different worries.

Other taunt threads

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someone in my group last night said "I know a certain brute that desperatly needs stamina" (me, only lvl 9 atm). Then I said I was trying not to have stamina and explained what I was gonna do instead. Then he made the very excelent point that I'm still having to use 3 powers to keep my end going. Although I'm quite happy with that and now the only powers I won't have from the primary or secondary is taunt.

I do like shadow maul, I shall leave my judgment for when I join a big team with lots of mobs then .

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In teams you may find yourself doing more damage per endurance due to better chance of fury, mobs will be finished whilst your only at a certain ep, your also probably getting buffed. When i solo i herd 10 defeat 10 and in teams it has paid to run off ahead and grab mobs before other people get to them so ya do have a better chance for leeching. For my end not to run out my shadow maul has to hit more than one at a time. If in a duo then whoever the other person maybe they maybe actually making me do less damage per endpoint through not helping me make the right terms and if so make the fight duration last longer. Prior to SOs its actually not at all easy and SOs are 2 lvls past when most people get stamina. People tend to want stamina from the result of their TO or DO build and lack of most beneficial dynamics and not see the result from a SO build.

My staminaless elec/elec prior to SOs came out of every mob (still herd 10 defeat 10 when solo) looking like she had an unstoppable crash in most missions. She not only needed end but hp as well whereas my dark/dark would be full health and maybe low end (which is ok cos i can get it running into next group) but a combination of dark/elec would tell me that it is actually aid self that is a good idea. Her fight duration was fast but her downtime between was payback but elec/elec is tighter and gets good later anyway. /Elec is more painful to lvl than /Dark, on a respec itll be aid self thats the must take early.