Unthing

[ QUOTE ]

21.4% RES to Psionic damage (an invul's worst enemy)

[/ QUOTE ]
I'd say it was defence debuffs myself.

[ QUOTE ]
Comments, critisism, help, etc all appreaciated

[/ QUOTE ]
Is it worth putting a second slot in Combat Jumping, that way you can get a set bonus off it ( and a tiny bit of extra defence which might help ). I'm not sure where you would get the slot from though.

It's a shame that the AoE and Melee defence don't stack, most of the time this will be less than your typed defences.

If you are going to use this as reference, I'll include my opinion of Fire Blast. The OP didn't want it.

Fire Blast is IMO the best AoE primary. The combination of Fire Breath and Fireball is awesome, both are above average damage and can cover a very large area. This is backed up by the situational Rain of Fire, a good scatter power when used solo and good when combined with a controller's AoE holds/immobs or something similar that will keep them in the area. From a single target point of view it is not great, Flares is a bit of a waste of space as it has a long animation and low damage, Fire Blast is fairly good and Blaze is very good, but with just the 2 of them you aren't really chaining attacks.

One thing that I failed to do the first time I made a blaster was to get Aim and Build Up as soon as possible. These are IMO the most important things to do with a blaster. They make so much difference, especially at the lower levels ( pre SO ).

Sonic and Ice are both good sets. Sonic has a very good secondary effect, -res, which is good with a damaging secondary, as well as being reasonably damaging in it's own right. Ice is the best single target for speed and raw damage, it also has 2 holds which is great for solo.

Energy is a very average blast set, it's single target attacks are fairly slow and at least one of its AoEs are annoying to teams. It's main advantage is the power ordering.

Elec is possibly the second best ( after Fire ) for useful team AoE, having 2 solid AoE powers, but it's secondary effect is fairly ineffective and unlike Fire it's single target powers are poor.

Archery is reasonably okay, better than average because of the nuke and Blazing Arrow. It has the advantages of low end cost, high accuracy and most attacks being available early. It does have redraw though and mostly does lethal damage.

Assault rifle is great for AoE, but mainly does lethal damage and does not have Aim.

For secondaries

/Elec is meant to be good for blapping too, better or as good as /Energy. It depends which of the other powers you want, the self buffs of energy or the more controlly elec.

/Energy has build up early, it is mainly melee and self buffs. For raw damage, it is probably better at low levels that /Elec, worse at mid levels and the same at high.

/Fire is the AoE damage king. With 4 PbAoEs, 2 of them being toggles, it is great for close up spawn damage. However it provides no control, so you need tankers/controllers to be at full effectiveness.

/Devices is buffs and control at low-mid level, fiddly AoE damage at high, it has no Build Up, which is pretty bad. Targetting Drone is an okay replacement, but no good for burst damage. I wouldn't go there, but I already have one.

/Ice is control and debuffery. Personally I wouldn't go there, I expect it may be reasonably good solo though as it give you some protection.

For a real team damage build, but could be hard to play , go Elec/Fire, a get in close and melt them build. Solo it would be tough though.
For a blappy build go Ice or Sonic for a primary and Energy or Elec for a secondary.

[ QUOTE ]

I know a lot of people are talking about perma Hasten, but I think with almost any alt you attempt to get it with you'll be sacrificing on powers and slots in the rest of your build. I've got enough recharge for perma DP (I think) which was my main goal, as then I could completely slot for Regen and ignore the +max HP Bonuses as I'll already be at the HP Cap with my Accolades and the small bonus in HP I got from my Katana Set Bonuses. I’ve only got 3 proper attacks but with the recharge slotted in them, Hasten, and set bonus recharge, I should be able to cycle them nicely.

[/ QUOTE ]

By my calculations you have a 36 second downtime for Hasten. This gives a worst case 7 second Dull Pain downtime ( when Hasten's downtime coincides with Dull Pain, ie most of the time ).

[ QUOTE ]

Here's some tips to help you :

- Turn on your toggles. They do more than shiny effects.
- Use your inspirations. They do more than take spots in your tray.
- Work with your team. They do more than boost the mob spawn count.

[/ QUOTE ]

Inspirations are very important, once in the 40s I quickly found that for AVs, especially Psi ones, having enough of the right inspirations with you is the key to surviving even in a team with low support ( blaster/scrapper heavy ). Generally defence and health ones are the most useful.

Okay. Here's my attempt. He's a speedster scraptroller.

Archetype: Scrapper
Primary Powers - Melee : Martial Arts ( barely )
Secondary Powers - Support : Super Reflexes

01 : Focused Fighting defbuf(01) defbuf(3) defbuf(3) endred(37)
01 : Thunder Kick acc(01) endred(11) disdur(13) disdur(15) endred(15) recred(17)
02 : Focused Senses defbuf(02) defbuf(5) defbuf(5) endred(17)
04 : Agile defbuf(04) defbuf(33) defbuf(39)
06 : Flurry acc(06) acc(7) disdur(7) disdur(9) recred(9) endred(13)
08 : Provoke acc(08) acc(39) recred(40) recred(43) tntdur(45) tntdur(45)
10 : Practiced Brawler recred(10) recred(11)
12 : Swift runspd(12) runspd(46) runspd(50)
14 : Super Speed runspd(14)
16 : Health hel(16)
18 : Intimidate acc(18) acc(19) ferdur(19) ferdur(21) recred(21) recred(23)
20 : Stamina endrec(20) endrec(23) endrec(25)
22 : Whirlwind endred(22) endred(25) endred(27)
24 : Invoke Panic acc(24) acc(27) recred(29) recred(29) ferdur(31) ferdur(31)
26 : Jump Kick acc(26) dam(33) dam(34) dam(34) recred(34) endred(36)
28 : Quickness runspd(28) runspd(48) runspd(50)
30 : Hasten recred(30) recred(31) recred(33)
32 : Lucky defbuf(32) defbuf(37) defbuf(39)
35 : Evasion defbuf(35) defbuf(36) defbuf(36) endred(37)
38 : Elude recred(38) recred(40) recred(40) runspd(42) runspd(43) runspd(43)
41 : Dodge defbuf(41) defbuf(42) defbuf(42)
44 : Warriors Challenge tntdur(44) recred(45) tntdur(46) recred(46)
47 : Conserve Power recred(47) recred(48) recred(48)
49 : Challenge tntdur(49)

I haven't the slotting quite right. However this is as gimped as I could face making a build. S/he still should be able to do somethings, but less effectively than a controller.

* First 2 attacks ( Flurry and Thunder Kick ) slotted for disorient, for extra control. There are only 3 attacks, Jump Kick is the big hitter.
* Has both fear powers for soft control, these are both inefficient use of slots, bang for buckwise.
* Whirlwind early on for annoying tankers. No wussing out and getting it at 50. This will be an end nightmare ( from my experience of using it on a scrapper ). I didn't put knockback in there, somehow I couldn't face being that nasty.
* More taunt powers than you can shake a stick at, because they are available. Importantly they are also slotted well.
* Reasonable from a defensive point of view. I had to get some powers.
* Fast, with swift and quickness, however maybe I should have slotted them up earlier.
* Elude slotted for runspeed for those extra quick moments.

Is this build meant to be gimped for gimpedness sake or just one to make your wife-to-be have fun?

The suggested powers imply that you should probably be a speedster... I like Super Reflexes as a speedster but scrappers do too much damage for this challenge, although you could just have powerpool attack powers.

I'm thinking that something controllery or defendery is probably best, probably with one of the buff sets ( rather than debuff ). I suspect empathy is probably 'best' for low damage, so stone/empathy perhaps? Empathy also has the advantage of Fortitude, so you can make your wife-to-be shine especially if she plays a scrapper.

[ QUOTE ]
Take Body Mastery and love it.
Focused Accuracy is great, and so is Conserve Power. Laser Beam Eyes can be handy as you have no ranged attacks.

[/ QUOTE ]
I have energy torrent on Unthing rather than Laser Beam Eyes. It is a lovely power, despite the knockback.

It looks like you are thinking of Invulnerability as a resistance set. It fares much better as a defence set. Think of the S/L resistance as a nice little bonus ( that makes the Rikti's nastiest attacks, the big swords, only tickle ) and play to Invs main strength, Invincibility.

My inv tank is my toughest, against pretty much anything that doesn't have defence debuffs.

Gratz!

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I tried to read that 7 times.. but serious i dont know what you're talking about

[/ QUOTE ]

Amongst 7 controllers a tank is almost only useful for keeping fish.

[/ QUOTE ]

That is not true. Tanks are good for posing too.

[ QUOTE ]
I'm assuming after the thread hi-jacking, it never went back on topic.

...

Of course, with the rest of the powers in that build, there's already 66% Acc and 65% Rchg so that should suffice.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think the OP didn't have +66% Acc and Rech so looks like this thread is still off topic

[ QUOTE ]
Thanks for the discussion btw - I'm really bored with my work right now and this far more interesting!

[/ QUOTE ]

Me too. Also I've not played much I9 so I'm hoping to learn something.

[ QUOTE ]

For reference this is similar to my live build for my Kat/SR scrapper used in the examples.

I believe that due to set bonuses she is more powerful than any combination of powers or enhancements in PvE (ignore, if you will, the fighting vs medicine argument for this, also I would use a different build for PvP).

She has worked well from, and will exemp to 32 and above. For example she has nearly 42% ranged defense at level 32, which is unobtainable without set bonuses or severly gimping your build with all the power pool +defenses.

Feel free to see the difference between level 35 and level 50 IO's - I think it's pretty tiny compared to the many millions in crafting cost alone.


[/ QUOTE ]

Sorry I haven't got Mids at work ( naughty me ). Please could you summarise the total set benefits?

[ QUOTE ]
Mepardon. Ice Tanks are best at grabbing aggro.

[/ QUOTE ]
I'd say Ice/Fire tanks are best at grabbing aggro. Ice/ and /Fire seem about the same to me, with enough recharge in the 2 /Fire PbAoEs.

Edit: Or at least Ice/SS and Inv/Fire seem similar if the Ice/SS didn't use Perma-Rage.

I guess it depends what you play the game for.

For me personally, playing to 50 ( or 47 ) and then slotting IOs seems a complete waste of effort. This is because the fun ( for me ) is the journey, not the destination.

I think I have played Golden Golem for less than 60 hours since he got to 50. Unthing I have probably played for less than 25. I suspect I will be using Unthing as a cash cow to fund alts for some time though.

As for set bonuses versus power effects, some set bonuses are worth having for some builds, such as regen. Many seem to me to be fairly worthless though ( immob resistance on a melee toon ?!? ).

[ QUOTE ]
Ice Tanks do it best

[/ QUOTE ]

I disagree. I'm not sure it is that simple. I have 3 tanks at reasonable level. Ice/SS, Inv/Fire and Fire/Fire. I play all differently, partly because of the secondary. I do agree that Ice has the best aura in Chilling Embrace but that isn't the be all and end all of aggro.

Of the 3, the Inv/Fire is the probably the toughest, but has to worry a little about certain mobs ( ranged energy/elemntal ), but once they are close he is safe. Against S/L enemies he just laughs.. He is also the best aggro magnet, mainly because of Combustion and well slotted taunt. He works best at herding spawns.

The Ice/SS is the most scranky, mainly because I run perma-Rage and the SS powerset is so fun. He puts out the most damage ( even AoE I think, thanks to Icicles ). Still, I have not compromised on slotting shields to be offensive, just on getting powerpools. Because of Rage crashes, timing is important. This can cause some problems, but usually I have enough notice to taunt prior to the crash. One thing I have noticed is that Ice is a very balanced set, only really having to worry about fire damage.

The Fire/Fire is the least effective. This is for a number of reasons, partly because his build is not 'complete' ( he's in his early 30s ) and partly because of some power choices based around looks. I'm sure if I respecced him I could make a much more reliable tanker, I just don't want to.

Cool, that sounds wise.

I guess it should also be the one I slot first too.

I was doing my calculations with level 25-30ish ones. Level 50 makes a large difference in slotting.

I have a Claws/SR scrapper at 27. I've got the next few power levels reserved for the passives, Agile and Lucky. I already have Dodge ( at 26 ).

Which is the better of the 2, Lucky or Agile?

In my opinion Follow Up shouldn't exactly be slotted like other attacks. It needs more ACC and recharge so it can be double stacked more often.

IIRC my slotting so far for my level 27 Claws/SR is something like this

Focussed Smite : Acc/Dam/Rech ( 16% each )
Focussed Smite : Acc/End/Rech ( 16% each )
Bruising Blow : Acc/Dam ( 21% each )
Bruising Blow : Dam/Rech ( 21% each )
Invention : Rech ( 33% )
Single Origin : End red ( 33% )

Bonus wise I get
Acc 53%
Dam 58%
Rech 86%
End 49%
+1% recovery
+ immob res.

I think I have a bit too much end reduction in it, but i haven't finished yet.

Ideally Pounding slugfest would be better for me than Bruising Blow as I'd get regen instead of recovery, but that is in very high demand. As an SR regen is more useful ( I think ).

Before IOs I think I slotted it 2xACC, 3x Rech, 1xEnd. So basically I've lost a little bit of Acc and damage for a bit more end red and a fair amount of damage.

This is by no means an ideal slotting.


In an ideal world I'd go for something like this, to maximise all aspects rather than for set bonuses. I can get set bonuses in the more conventional powers.

Mako's bite: Acc/Dam/End/Rech ( 14 )
Pulverizing Fisticuffs: Acc/Dam/End/Rech ( 14 )
Focussed Smite: Acc/End/Rech ( 16 )
Focussed Smite: Acc/Dam/Rech ( 16 )
Pulverizing Fisticuffs: Acc/Dam/Rech ( 16 )
Bone Snap: Acc/Rech ( 21 )

ACC 99
DAM 61
Rech 99
End 44

Quite often tanks have only a few attacks until the higher levels. Most of the sets have decent attacks available at levels 28,35 and 38, so you haven't got there if you are at the early 20s.

For each attack you get, your endurance requirements will increase. Slotting end reducers will help that, slotting recharge or running Hasten will make it worse. If you are happy having slower recharges on your attacks then I think you should be able to manage without stamina. I've never tried it though, mainly because it is more demanding on slots than one with stamina.

Do you realise that slotting flight speed in swift is fairly pointless?

You'd get much better fly speed if you put a slot in Hover and a slot in Fly.

[ QUOTE ]

mmmmkay.... i check tank's builds when they join a team. if it's a stoney or invuln tank without taunt... i worry. to be honest, if it's a perma-GA tank full stop i worry... i've had too many bad experiances in the past with GA tanks who wouldnt know what aggro control was if it clubbed them to death with a 2x4

if it's a fire or ice tank without taunt i'm not really that arsed. tauntelss fire/ice require a different style of tanking, i.e. herd tanking.. but if the team takes that into account and lets them operate properly, they will be a more effective team tank than any perma-GA with two taunts could ever be.

[/ QUOTE ]
I'm confused... Inv tanks need to herd more than any other tank, without a nice group of minions to protect them they are toast against non S/L damage. Ice tanks gain a little too.

They are mostly bells and whistles as far as I can tell. Also IIRC the ranged attacks also don't have a gauntlet effect, just a single target taunt.

Energy
* Focussed Accuracy, which is nice but I'm not convinced it is worth the endurance.
* Conserve Power, good when up if you are having end problems.
* Laser Beam Eyes, looks good, not great damage IIRC though.
* Energy Torrent, nice cone wiht decent damage, but does Knockback.

Pyre
* Ring of Fire. Single target Immob.
* Char, a hold. Nice.
* Fire Blast. Moderate damage, short animation.
* Fire Ball. Decent damage AOE blast, good for extra aggro control.

Arctic.
* Block of Ice, a hold. Nice.
* Chilblain. Single target Immob.
* Ice Blast, highish damage single target ranged attack with quick animation. The best single target ranged attack a tanker can get.
* Ice Storm. Not sure how useful this is.

Earth
* Salt Crystals, AoE sleep.
* Stone Prison. Single target Immobolise.
* Fossilize, a hold. Nice.
* Stalagmites, AoE damage, small chance of disorient.

I can't see the attraction of Earth apart from theme. Pyre has the best AoE, Arctic has the best single target attack. Energy has some interesting utility powers but lacks a hold.

With 2 SOs it is just about equal, so if you are attacking you will be unprotected for a while.

With quickness and 2 SOs there is a margin of error, about 12 seconds, so it is safe.

With Hasten, no Quickness and 1 SO in PB, assuming you are having the 70 second Hasten downtime during the PB during, you have 8 seconds of overlap.

With Hasten, Quickness and 1 SO in PB, assuming you are having the 70 second Hasten downtime during the PB during, you have 32 seconds of overlap.

In fact with 1 SO, Quickness and 1 SO in PB, you would only need Hasten up for 20 seconds of the 120 seconds to be safe. I'm not sure that's reliable enough to remove the second slot from Practiced Brawler on my Scrapper though, especially as you can only have one power on autofire.