Syntax42
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Posts
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Joined
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What pools are you referring to? Standard power pools? Epic pools?
IO set builds can make most characters perform MUCH better than those who only use SO's.
If you are having trouble tanking most AVs, you probably need more defense, which is usually obtained through a combination of IO sets and pool powers. There are plenty of Willpower builds on these forums. Changing the melee set to Axe is usually easy - just move the IO sets to the appropriate powers.
Without knowing your goals and budget, it may be hard to suggest a build for you. Also, you may be able to afford a better build than you think if you are not already taking advantage of the easiest ways to make INF. -
Quote:There are guides in the stickies and plenty of builds to be found with the search feature.Originally Posted by John_Printemps
Ditto-ing this for emphasis, and adding that instead of criticizing someone for offering support, or striking down those who request it, look to other avenues to support them. In the situation of someone seeking build advice and direction, why not offer instruction on how to find a guide, or, in fact link to one: http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=127128 There's been a comprehensive (and still legitimate) guide available on Shield Defense since early '09.
It is my belief that if you invest time and effort into something, it will be more rewarding to you in the end. If you just hand someone a level 50 character with a build, they probably won't have much fun with CoH and will likely quit soon. If someone takes the time to learn how to make their own build, they are more likely to keep playing. -
You could fit more global recharge in the build if you aim for 32.5% defenses instead. More global recharge usually equals more DPS. That puts you one small purple inspiration from the soft cap, and usually you won't need it.
If you are going for melee defense instead of S/L through Divine Avalanche, Kinetic Combats are not a good choice. Mako sets would get you there with less slots used.
You probably don't need as many attacks as you have. Work out an attack chain. The top DPS ones usually only use 3 attacks, but require perma-Hasten levels of recharge. A lower DPS chain might use 4 attacks. The attack at the top of the list is usually the lowest single target DPS attack available, so definitely skip it.
Do you need Teleport, or was it just to fill the last power slot? A real travel power would be better. Teleport is slow without range enhancements. -
Why do you have so much psionic defense? It is a rare damage type.
If you want to farm, get 45% fire defense and only farm fire damage critters in AE.
If you want to be good for general teaming, 32.5% defense to S/L and E/N, or melee/ranged/AoE is the easiest way to be protected in almost all content. I have posted builds for both in the past. I don't feel like digging them up, but you could probably find them with the search function. -
There are some AVs that you really need a tanker for, plus not every blaster is running around soft capped. In PUGs, you won't find as many tanking Blasters.
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Quote:It looks like an entire build to me, not a frame for one. That build was basically handing him the fish instead of teaching him to fish.Originally Posted by John_Printemps
What want nice was your retort to their own use of time. Someone came asking for help because they got lost in build madness, if anyone decides to lend a hand its their prerogative to do so. Besides, its not like they handed over a pile of gold, just a working frame.
Builds are far from madness. They just take time to understand why certain sets are better in certain situations and certain powers. Mids' does a very nice job at summarizing the data so we can see changes in real-time. Learning to use the tools that pretty much everyone uses to make builds is important if you don't want these forums to be cluttered with posts asking for builds. It could end up like the South Park episode that makes fun of homeless people asking for change. If you give them change, more of them show up and the original problem is never really solved. Learning to work and support yourself is sort of like learning to make builds in this game.
Also, the OP could have simply searched for a build. -
It must have been the Vanguard -50 max end debuff that was causing me to run out of end so fast. I still say it is an overpowered debuff because the only counter to it is very limited, considering you can only use it 5 times before needing a trip to RWZ to get a new one. The Vanguard do have some electric auras that drain endurance on top of that. The Rikti elite bosses drain endurance, along with the Arachnos.
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Try looking at some Shield Defense builds on the Brute and Scrapper forums to see how they reached the soft cap. The melee set is not quite as important because you can usually transfer the IO sets to most melee sets' powers.
Here is my DM/SD Scrapper build to get you started. It uses a Gladiator's 3% defense IO (worth 2-3 billion) so I'm not sure if it will be in your budget.
Code:| Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;1406;704;1408;HEX;| |78DA65935B6F125110C767D9C516CA1D7A2FA5500A05CA52D444634C4C144D3425A| |9A9FA5A5738968D48374B5BDB27AB7E037DA89757ADFA31FC1AFA09BCB4FAAE1567| |670E588500BF7366FF67CE7F66CFA96E577C00BB1740095C6A1AEDF6EA4ACD362C4| |BD8EEAAB166D6A295CDFB567B43D8331573CBF937B6C400008C7765AB55D11442AF| |18F63D1E267A4F2AE2AE68B585BED23045B3DE9D86AFB61AC216AD0DBD3BF02DAFA| |F37F5256158666BCD4B93154B887AB01BAF0BBBDD302D3FCDAF986B8D0D14862F5B| |664DBFB85EDF59AD1A8EC39D31F495C19FED18A44FC70DB7116570198C3B04ADC6A| |8134E145C0EBC7E9C29B44A8361859E8408836730A8A930B8407AEF2846E330847A| |85F52E85F55ED6FBA4DE870A552AD434ADF531029C69048DBAA5C0CD29023142685| |205F0C0260A0664250367396B4832D2659C72C5CEF33416511D777EDCDB23537BCE| |F1A391FF98C2D443523354A02C63FF6016057EDE5EF17FA42E4D7C422C4200C341A| |ABE03C12489C3280ECB6C612E6682FB3125FB11C445515640F4081C9B0F70D13075| |BDE31EFEEC7242535F08D35F19DF1807849943440C145C35CABEB4D187B4C7CC2EE| |31121F998F184B08DF271B9C9F84F2A23F98B307BC4F8CDE8204A9006EC601142E8| |7652BA9DE412554C149725C65338C8427A9A9124ECA02021DF5782CF5A4630F81C6| |6F81C66F9E465B9CD61DC2925CB49B1952CFBCBB1DB1CDBCC75081A6E32275DCC71| |A3F3DCE8BC6CF40D2C605EDA987F4D8BF26F080BFB8CB78C7784E27BC23EDA28C88| |20B7B14BA8989749948FF80A108945E825369698F507EC578CE784188F89D23C289| |164FAA7404B4DE95C42F7E60E978C443BB2D6BF2026248215142EBDDC98E2704CE8| |BA1F181B777F7408972D187C763018E7DFF1B53946BF48A8AB71039F8E13D767BB9| |D8E23342E9A9CB112CF639CEF745CA7D91D37D91537D91EB68B82C8BFA039C80DCC| |3| |-------------------------------------------------------------------|
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Almost every purple set provides some F/C resistance. I find that to be very unnecessary and I don't know what the devs were thinking by not making that more diverse than F/C. That said, you can adjust the build to remove some F/C resistance sets if you plan on using the Cardiac Alpha like I did. I don't see any sets that I would change, except maybe Multi-Strike, though. The only thing you could really do is frankenslot Mud Pots.
Someone pointed out that a Gift of the Ancients gives slightly more run speed bonus than a 3rd IO in Swift.
The Kinetic Combat set is not needed. You are just over the soft cap without it. A Hecatomb or Crushing Impact set would help get Rage perma'ed so you don't get the defense crash. You may also need to change the first enhancement in Rage to end/recharge. -
This wasn't much of a challenge. Instead, it was a "lets see how many overpowered debuffs and endurance drains you can survive" mission. The amount of to-hit necessary to overcome the debuffs they throw on you is not possible to obtain on a solo player. Only Electric Armor has capped endurance drain resistance, and even then, they will likely still run out of endurance with the insane amount of draining critters you put in there.
It was basically an exercise in popping all the inspirations in your tray, fighting until you can't hit anything, dying, and repeating. Someone with pets or confusion would have a much easier time watching the AI fight itself. To my knowledge, no solo player without pets has all the tools needed to beat this challenge without dying. -
I think the powered armor should give resistance, not defense. It should be the Scrapper version of Stone Armor (lower resistances of course), but fast instead of slow. Also a run speed + recharge power like Lightning Reflexes would be appropriate.
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Quote:That wasn't very nice. Making a build or working with one in Mids' helps someone understand their power sets better, and make builds on their own. Its the "give a man a fish" or "teach a man to fish" principle.Originally Posted by _Pine_
Not the best build in the world, spent less than 5 minutes on it. But it should give you a base line.
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Brutes actually have Scrapper-like numbers. Their armor sets are on a scale that is more comparable to Scrappers. The only number I know of that Brutes share with Tankers is their resistance cap at 90%, but most Brute sets can't reach it. For comparison, Deflection's base (unenhanced) defense on a Brute is 11.25%. For the Tanker, it is 15%. For the Scrapper, it is 11.25%, just like the Brute. You might get more help on the Scrapper forums than the Tanker forums, unless you're posting about Stone Armor or Energy Aura.
To simplify it, Brutes are basically Scrappers with slightly lower damage and slightly higher HPs. They can survive slightly better than Scrappers, but the margin is so small that in most cases it is insignificant. Brutes also get better taunting so they can hold aggro as well as Tankers.
Why did you post your build? Are you looking for advice on improving it? It falls far short of the soft cap (45%) on Ranged and AoE defense, but there are a lot of things you could do to bring your defenses up. If you were posting a Shield Tanker build, I could tell you to slot your toggles + CJ + Weave, add a Steadfast 3% defense, and Gaussians set, and that would put you at the soft cap. Unfortunately, Brutes don't get nearly the same amount of buff values from their armor sets. -
Quote:If you post a build with your goals and restrictions, I'm sure people on these forums can help you make it better.Originally Posted by Dante
I've been remiss in saying thank you for this thread, especially for the build suggestions, I'm very impressed.
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Making a build from scratch can take 30-60 minutes. If you're not willing to do that, or compensate someone for their time, why would anyone give you a build? There are other builds on these forums. Do a search, or use a build that is not MA primary and adapt it to make it work for you. Post your build here and we can see about improving it for you.
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Musculature is not a good choice for any AT, except maybe in rare circumstances where you mostly need the increase to effects other than damage. This is mostly because the damage bonus is added to all of your other damage bonuses, including enhancements.
OP: Are you completely set on Invulnerability? I think Willpower might also work with your minotaur theme. Willpower would be better in situations where S/L is not the primary damage type, like in incarnate content. I'm just throwing that out there so you can consider other sets. -
Quote:Read up on Enhancement Diversification and the Alpha Slot.Originally Posted by Bohmfalk
Does anyone know how I can figure out how much the 15% from Spiritual that doesn't ignore ED would give to hasten, if I have it 1-slotted with rech? I got a build together with 125 rech, so that plus hasten's 70, plus the 42.4 from the 1 IO, plus the 30% non-effected by ED from Spiritual, gives me 267.4%, so that puts me at 7.6% away from perma hasten, depending on how much that last 15% gives me.
If Hasten only has one IO in it, the 15% that is affected by ED won't get you to the point of diminishing returns. It is applied and calculated before other bonuses. 15% + 42.4% = 57.4%
See the ED link for calculating manually if you do reach ED diminishing returns. Alternatively, the latest version of Mids' shows correct values and allows you to select different Alpha enhancements. -
Super Sidekicking doesn't put everyone at the same level. It puts people at or above the mission owner's (or team leader when no mission is set) level to the level of the mission owner. People below the mission owner's level are set one level below the mission owner.
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Your build looks fine at first glance. Just make sure MG recharages fast enough to run the Smite -> MG -> Smite -> Siphon Life attack chain.
Edit: I noticed you have a lot of extra accuracy in some powers. You don't need more than 50% accuracy enhancement for anything but Soul Drain. The goal is to have Soul Drain up permanently because it has the potential to give you a 95% chance to hit vs +4's with one target hit by Soul Drain.
Here's my medium budget build if you feel like taking the time to farm for a Gladiator's 3% defense:
Code:| Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;1406;704;1408;HEX;| |78DA65935B6F125110C767D9C516CA1D7A2FA5500A05CA52D444634C4C144D3425A| |9A9FA5A5738968D48374B5BDB27AB7E037DA89757ADFA31FC1AFA09BCB4FAAE1567| |670E588500BF7366FF67CE7F66CFA96E577C00BB1740095C6A1AEDF6EA4ACD362C4| |BD8EEAAB166D6A295CDFB567B43D8331573CBF937B6C400008C7765AB55D11442AF| |18F63D1E267A4F2AE2AE68B585BED23045B3DE9D86AFB61AC216AD0DBD3BF02DAFA| |F37F5256158666BCD4B93154B887AB01BAF0BBBDD302D3FCDAF986B8D0D14862F5B| |664DBFB85EDF59AD1A8EC39D31F495C19FED18A44FC70DB7116570198C3B04ADC6A| |8134E145C0EBC7E9C29B44A8361859E8408836730A8A930B8407AEF2846E330847A| |85F52E85F55ED6FBA4DE870A552AD434ADF531029C69048DBAA5C0CD29023142685| |205F0C0260A0664250367396B4832D2659C72C5CEF33416511D777EDCDB23537BCE| |F1A391FF98C2D443523354A02C63FF6016057EDE5EF17FA42E4D7C422C4200C341A| |ABE03C12489C3280ECB6C612E6682FB3125FB11C445515640F4081C9B0F70D13075| |BDE31EFEEC7242535F08D35F19DF1807849943440C145C35CABEB4D187B4C7CC2EE| |31121F998F184B08DF271B9C9F84F2A23F98B307BC4F8CDE8204A9006EC601142E8| |7652BA9DE412554C149725C65338C8427A9A9124ECA02021DF5782CF5A4630F81C6| |6F81C66F9E465B9CD61DC2925CB49B1952CFBCBB1DB1CDBCC75081A6E32275DCC71| |A3F3DCE8BC6CF40D2C605EDA987F4D8BF26F080BFB8CB78C7784E27BC23EDA28C88| |20B7B14BA8989749948FF80A108945E825369698F507EC578CE784188F89D23C289| |164FAA7404B4DE95C42F7E60E978C443BB2D6BF2026248215142EBDDC98E2704CE8| |BA1F181B777F7408972D187C763018E7DFF1B53946BF48A8AB71039F8E13D767BB9| |D8E23342E9A9CB112CF639CEF745CA7D91D37D91537D91EB68B82C8BFA039C80DCC| |3| |-------------------------------------------------------------------|
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Slotting your toggles + CJ + Weave + Steadfast 3% defense + a Gaussian's set should put you at the soft cap. That is the most efficient way to do it on a Shield Tanker, and it is pretty cheap. After getting those sets, it almost doesn't matter what you do with the rest of the slots. It is a good idea to get recharge bonuses for more damage and double-stacking Active Defense for DDR.
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Quote:Defense, to-hit, and accuracy are completely different. See Paragon Wiki's article on attack mechanics.Originally Posted by Psylenz
ToHit is of greater value especially in the new 50+ content because the base defense of +4s is over 60%.
Players have a 75% to-hit chance against equal level critters. That drops to 39% when fighting +4's. To-hit buffs add to that value. Accuracy buffs multiply that value after to-hit is added.
A defense buff, on the other hand, subtracts from your to-hit chance.
While the way you describe it results in the same calculated chance to hit things, it is inaccurate to call it base defense because you "miss" when you roll in that range on the hit calculation. If it were a bonus to defense, the combat log would say something like "deflected" or "dodged". Instead of a base defense bonus, it is actually a to-hit penalty. -
Scorch is the lowest DPS attack (excluding AoEs) in Fiery Melee. It is usually good to skip it so you can fit other powers in.
I would add Combat Jumping in place of Scorch (at an appropriate level, of course) and aim for 32.5% defense to all damage types except psionic, instead of trying to soft cap S/L. That would likely leave more room to slot for global recharge bonuses so you can run a better attack chain. You would also be 1 small inspiration away from soft capping to every damage type except psionic. Team buffs would get you there if you team with almost anyone who has defense buffs. In many situations, you would probably feel like 32.5% is enough to get by, as I do on my Spines/Fire Scrapper. Only the toughest situations call for being soft capped.
Hasten could definitely be slotted better. Try to get 3 recharges in it if you can.
Indomitable Will could be slotted better. You don't need the Karma knockback protection. You have knockback protection built-in to Indomitable Will.
Health and Stamina should be slotted before Physical Perfection because they have higher base values.
Positron's Blast is best when taken to 5 slots for the recharge bonus.
You probably don't need Rectified Reticle's perception bonus (20%) because you have a lot more perception from Heightened Senses (60%) and Focused Accuracy (another 60%).
Sets that add more melee defense than S/L should be avoided until you are out of other options. This includes Obliteration and Touch of Death. Gaussian's is mostly for positional defense characters. It adds 3.75% defense (1.25% S/L + 1.25% F/C + 1.25% E/N) for 6 slots, and F/C is a rare damage type at 50. Effectively, you gain 2.5% defense for 6 slots.
If you leave F/C below 32.5% don't worry about it.
Edit: Pine posted while I was typing my response. That build looks nice, but Shadow Meld seems like overkill, especially with the expensive Membranes in it. Again, I would drop the defense to 32.5% in favor of getting more recharge bonuses. That would cut a lot of the cost out of the build by eliminating the need for the Gladiator's 3% defense. Without enhancing defense in Shadow Meld, it would still send you WAY past the soft cap and save you some purple inspirations. -
Empathy is still the primary healing set in the game. If you play with people who don't have expensive IO set builds and take a lot of damage, you will be the person who keeps the team from falling apart. If you play with people who have good builds and play well, they may take very little damage, leaving you bored or even giving you time to attack things. Even then, your buffs will be very useful.
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I hope you don't think healing will keep you alive in this game. This isn't like other MMOs where you can just heal and keep anyone from dying. You need passive mitigation as well, especially on a low-HP Defender. Fortitude is about a 22.5% buff to defense, but that will only get you halfway to the soft-cap (45% defense). As the game gets harder in higher levels, you may find it challenging to stay alive with Empathy, especially if you try to run missions at x8.
Invention sets and pool powers can help you reach the soft cap. However, the majority of the good invention sets are hard to obtain before level 50 due to the cost.
Cold Domination, Force Field, and Traps offer defense buffs. Force Field gives more defense than the others, but lacks other powers that teams would want, like debuffs.
Radiation Emission has a very nice to-hit debuff that is centered around one enemy. It is equivalent to a defense buff, but you have to make sure the enemies don't move out of it. Radiation Emission has a heal and some very nice debuffs and a nice buff: Accelerate Metabolism.
Dark Miasma has a damage debuff and to-hit debuff that is laid on the floor. Again, enemies have to stay in it.
Sonic Resonance gives nice resistance buffs, but stacking defense to the soft cap is usually more effective than having a little defense and a little resistance.
While Empathy is a nice set, healing is not the best form of mitigation in the game. Two Empaths paired together may level easily in the beginning, but it may get too hard to duo in the 30's and 40's. At 50, good teams want resistance debuffs more than anything. If you're busy healing, you won't be attacking. If you're busy attacking, you won't be healing. A primary power set that does its job while you attack would make you more effective overall.
In my experience, teams that advertise for healers frequently struggle due to not having defense or good mitigation from damage. They rely too much on the Empath to keep them alive. My SG leader has been blamed for party wipes, when it is really the team leader's fault for not recruiting enough of the right kind of support classes. Teams should be looking for mitigation first, then heals. Good teams get debuffs as well. Changing one of your duo's primary set would make your pair even more attractive to a good team. -
It looks fine if your goal was to make an inexpensive build. The only thing I would change is the defense IO in Phalanx Fighting. It has a 3.75% unenhanceable defense component that is always on, and it grants some defense for allies nearby that is enhanceable. A Kismet 6% to-hit goes nicely in Phalanx Fighting and shouldn't break your budget. I can't remember seeing it in builds other than Shield Defense, so it isn't a high demand IO even though it gives a nice bonus.