dave_p
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Posts
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Joined
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Quote:Oh, for Regen you can stick w/*/Kin for the increased recharge (which = more survivability for Regen) or again */Cold for more def. A high def Regen should be well nigh unkillable. Really can't go wrong w/either. */Son's good too, obviously, but I like Sleet more than DF + Siphon, and prefer the Cold shields, esp since you don't need the big bubble or Clarity as Regen. Then again, Regen doesn't really need Heat Loss as much either.Originally Posted by Windenergy21
As I partially missed, its a fire/regen, not fire/fire fyi. -
The def flavor of choice for blasters, defenders & controllers have been ranged for a while. All my aforementioned high lvls were capped or near. W/the BotZ nerf, that's a lot harder to achieve, but still doable, though I think increasingly not worthwhile.
S/L's great--most of my resist-based melee toons shoot for that too, but if I have no reason to close into melee, say w/a Fire/Ice blaster, I'm gonna go for ranged every time. Lots of pure psi, en, etc damage types out there. -
Quote:You did not my reference to a "simple filter", correct? How do you know there isn't a 3rd party service that's critical to some network or video device?Originally Posted by Memphis_Bill
You did note the "Hide all microsoft services" step, correct?
Bottom line, if you're not familiar with Windows Services, you should tread very lightly. The new faq only tells people to disable a single service by ATI, and through the proper Services.msc, not msconfig. Much better. -
Why cap S/L? Go for ranged def. Still possible, even w/the BotZ nerf, esp w/a Fire/Cold and all the hold/slow powers. Thunderstrikes, Lockdowns, Pacings. BTW, I did manage to cap ranged on my Fire/Ice build, but it was at the sacrifice of Rain of Fire, which I wasn't too happy with. I might do it on a dual build, but for the most part, I'd rather have more offense w/like high 30's def, that I can cap w/a small purple.
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Code:Not bothering to fix the formatting. DPA bakes in Arcanatime.
Energy Blast Dam Act Rech End DPE DPA ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Power Bolt 62.56 1 4 5.2 12.03 52.66 Power Blast 102.60 1.67 8 8.528 12.03 55.52 Energy Torrent 60.06 1.07 12 11.856 5.07 45.50 Power Burst 132.63 2 10 10.4 12.75 59.10 Sniper Blast 172.67 4.33 12 14.352 12.03 38.47 Power Push 16.76 1.1 8 8.528 1.97 12.70 Explosive Blast 56.31 1.67 16 15.184 3.71 30.47 Nova 304.98 3 360 20.8 14.66 96.27
Energy Blast is middle of the road ST damage and actually decent AoE, but only on paper. In reality, because of scatter, the ET+EB combo can't be performed reliably and it sinks to the low end. ET by itself w/a 45.5 DPA is very good for a cone. By comparison, Fire Breath is only 37.81. Of course Fireball is 66.31. Fistful of Arrows is also comparable at 43.13, but has a lower recharge making it easier to spam (and no KB either).
ST-wise, the T1 & 2 are standardized for DPA/DPE, but the T3 heavy Burst is sadly slow animating. Blaze, TK Blast, BIB & Blazing Arrow all knock it out of the park. Still, better than Shout and sets that don't even have a T3 blast.
Nova's teh uber. Even tho Inferno & Blizzard do more (and Blizzard is DoT), Nova will always be my Favorite. Nuke. Evah!
So yeah, damage wise, Energy is middle of the pack. What you think of the KB is entirely up to you. My own personal stance is, En is great solo, good duo, okay 3-4 sized team, teh sux on big teams. -
Wow, impressive response time. Kudos to the TV.
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Spines/Dark is considered one of the premier farming combos. It's anything but weak, but you have to IO the hell out of it to get to awesome status. I remember when I first got both damage auras working, w/all my armors turned on + CJ, my end recovery was exactly 0! A highly functional Spines/Dark build needs stuff like the Numi & Miracle uniques.
My Spines/Dark is around 33 atm sitting at around 30% S/L def w/Dark Regen up every 13s or so. I run solo at -1/x8 and just barely survive most fights, unless I just chew a purp ahead of time (always combine for purps) which makes the fight much, much easier. Lots of fun and very profitable (not even farming, just running my missions at -1/x8).
Of course, things get nastier w/like Romans or other -def mobs, but 53% S/L resists and a sub 10s Dark Regen should keep you alive long enough to kill most things around you.
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How IO'ed out is the Fire/Fire scrapper? If he's pretty durable on his own, go Fire/Kin and don't look back. The occasional heal (and Transfusion's a fantastic melee heal) will be all he'll need for survival. Just add more offense and a good AoE immob (so things don't run away from the scrapper, esp if he uses Burn). Fire > Plant for more overall damage.
If the scrapper needs more help taking on, say, +0/x6 spawns, I'd consider */Cold. Great defenses, pretty much infinite end w/Heat Loss (esp combined w/Consume), and good debuffs for fast killing. Primary, again, Fire's prolly best, but Plant would give you more control.
Honestly, though, any controller combo will be able to pair well w/a Fire/Fire scrapper. The above would just be able to go through missions and whatnot a bit faster. -
Quote:You should be very, very careful disabling services in Windows, and you should never, ever do it in msconfig. You should use the Control Panel->Administrative Tools->Services (at least in XP, dunno about Vista or 7, but I suspect it's similar?). And then, you should only disable services you *know* you don't need. Disabling all after a simple filter can cause all sorts of problems.
2. Type "MSCONFIG" without the quotes, and click "OK." This should open the System Configuration Utility.
3. Go to the "Startup" tab and click the "Disable All" button.
4. Next go to "Services" tab and check the "Hide All Microsoft Services" check box, then click the "Disable All" button.
That's some irresponsible advice by NCSoft. -
A well built/slotted DA should do okay against Romans. You have ~70% S/L resists and a fantastic heal. Even w/o DDR, a high S/L def will give you some respite in the beginning of fights, and your def will climb back up in between fights. */Ice should still help w/mitigation by slowing down incoming attacks, even if they're not flopping or being held as easily. I'll take my Dark/Mace through some Cim missions later and see how it fares (haven't done an ITF w/him yet), but I find it difficult to imagine having a lot of trouble w/just x3 when I've tanked x8 ITFs w/my Fire w/identical S/L numbers and an inferior heal (tho Burn sometimes helps).
Note, if you don't have Tough, you're obviously going to be in a lot more pain going against Romans. But then, I'd include that in my definition of "well built". YMMV. -
Quote:Well, obviously any time we use smarter tactics than the computer, we're taking advantage of the limited AI, thus cheating. *shrugs*Originally Posted by BrandX
7ft melee range and 5ft melee range.
Isn't this kinda like boxing? Where the boxer with the longer reach is consider to have an advantage in the fight?
Back to the OP, this reminds me of when I first beat Infernal w/my Fire/Rad, way before IOs, before imps were nerfed, before ED even. I can't remember if this was when he was like fully immune (90%?) to fire or merely 50% like he is now. It was a 30 min epic battle, mostly whittling him away w/smashing damage and running him in circles while my Imps refreshed, trying to eke out a bit of end for heals and generally staying alive. 30 min, but never boring--best AV fight I ever had. Gratz to Hejtmane for the accomplishment. -
Quote:Go +4/x8 Vanguard.Originally Posted by IamLink
Do +4/x8 Cimerorans next!.
Romans are actually easier on my Fire tank than my Dark. Both of their S/L def cap go away fast, but Burn actually helps me catch my breath. -
Yeah, I knew the radius was pitifully small. That's disappointing to hear, tho not particularly surprising. I still might do it as a purp mule and test it out.
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You know, I've been PuG'ing a bit more than lately these last few days and have a bit of a fresh perspective on this. Actually, two.
First, as the tank: I tanked a sorta crappy team on an AV hunt. 2 rads on the team, plenty of damage, but for some reason mobs weren't melting away as usual, which meant I had to manage the aggro a LOT more than usual (AVs took forever too, as in I could've soloed them w/my F/Rad faster). Also a Kheld w/lots of KB causing adds and thus deaths. I realized what some of the posters are saying--on mediocre teams, Taunt helps. It doesn't fix all, cuz at X8, you're already pushing the aggro-cap, and aggroing 2 groups (or more!) means you have all sorts of aggro bleed no matter how much you spam Taunt, which goes back to my earliest point--every toon must learn to manage their own aggro. Still, I concede, on crappy teams, Taunt is almost necessary. Happily, I rarely run on crappy teams.
Then I was on an all-damage (5 scrappers, 2 tanks, 1 blaster) ITF and the Rom fight would've been really, really hard if I didn't have Taunt. Yes, I used Taunt--as I said before, about 1/2 my tanks have Taunt, and I use it when warranted. That situation warranted it. Actually, the single biggest tool that whole TF was Burn--I'm guessing the cysts, the computer & all AV fights would've taken 2x as long w/o me spamming Burn. It also kept me alive since the Romans were debuffing my (usually capped) def to the groud (yes, S/L def-capped Fire tank ftw, cuz god knows the Invul tank was useless). FWIW, we still finished the ITF in <1hr, tho w/even a smidgen of debuff support, we would've done it in 1/2 the time.
Here's the flip side tho--when I'm not playing the tank, esp on one of my controllers or defenders, I'm always wanting the tank to push the pace. Another PuG where I'm playing my Plant/Cold controller w/a decent group, but where the tanks were playing timid and the group as a whole wanted to do things the "right" way, i.e. stick together, tank goes in first, maybe pull the hard rooms, etc. Except there was zero need. We had 3 controllers and at least one of the other controllers knew what he was doing. I had all the melee at or near the def cap and every crowd was locked down fast after aggro. All I needed the tank(s) to do was run in and grab the alpha--I'd have the crowd 95% locked down 2s after, and dying very fast 10s after. That's me alone, and I had 2 more controllers backing me up. Oh and blasters to melt the mobs even faster. Hell, we split up a few times and whichever group I ended up with was still mowing through x8 spawns like butter.
(Edit to add: I know some ppl will point out that this might be because I'm playing a controller, but I assure you my perspective doesn't change much when playing a defender or blaster. When playing a scrapper, I don't much care what anyone else is doing since I'm too busy killing things. Also, yes, I concede this is far more true of higher lvl play (35+) than lower.)
So that's my 2nd perspective from a support toon--I don't need the tanks to Taunt for me. Hell, the last thing I want is to see a tank Taunt from range and grab 5 paltry mobs, possibly cause scatter. Yes, proper tanks w/Taunt won't do that, but really, once they've run into the spawn, I could care less what they do; as long as they're taking the alpha, those mobs are going down *fast*. On special occasions (STFs, broken ITFs, etc), sure, it's good to know the tank has Taunt, but for most of the game, it's not even close to necessary *for my toons*. I realize not everyone plays this way, and I see why a lot of ppl almost require tanks (for themselves or teammates) to have Taunt. I do wished they could see what the other side looks like, cuz I'll tell you it's a lot more fast paced, more rewarding and plain fun.
Anyway, that's really all I have to say on this topic, now and forever. Peace, and happy gaming. -
W/the BotZ changes coming, I'm going to retire my AV-soloing build (well, mostly) and turn him into more of a typical, (PB)AoE build and was thinking of stacking WoC w/the usual CC + HF combo. I know WoC mostly sucks, but can be made almost useful w/the Coercive purp proc. Anyone try this before? How's it work out?
Here's a build I more or less threw together. Prolly needs a lot more fine tuning, esp for end management, tho a +1.37 recovery is sorta manageable. I'm really gonna miss my ranged def-cap, tho w/RI, it's more than survivable.
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.621
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Thermogenic: Level 50 Science Controller
Primary Power Set: Fire Control
Secondary Power Set: Radiation Emission
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Psionic Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Char -- UbrkCons-Dam%(A), UbrkCons-Hold(3), UbrkCons-Acc/Hold/Rchg(3), UbrkCons-Hold/Rchg(5), UbrkCons-Acc/Rchg(5)
Level 1: Radiant Aura -- Numna-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Numna-Heal/Rchg(9), Numna-Heal/EndRdx(23)
Level 2: Radiation Infection -- HO:Enzym(A), HO:Enzym(7), HO:Enzym(9)
Level 4: Accelerate Metabolism -- Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg(A), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(7), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(11), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(13)
Level 6: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 8: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 10: Fire Cages -- GravAnch-Hold%(A), Ragnrk-Knock%(11), Ragnrk-Acc/Rchg(17), Ragnrk-Dmg/EndRdx(23), Ragnrk-Dmg/Rchg(37), Ragnrk-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(40)
Level 12: Flashfire -- Stpfy-Acc/Rchg(A), Stpfy-Acc/Stun/Rchg(13), Stpfy-KB%(31), Stpfy-EndRdx/Stun(34), Stpfy-Acc/EndRdx(36), Stpfy-Stun/Rng(37)
Level 14: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(15), RechRdx-I(15)
Level 16: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A), Mrcl-Rcvry+(17)
Level 18: Cinders -- Lock-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(A), Lock-Rchg/Hold(19), Lock-Acc/Hold(19), Lock-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(25), Lock-Acc/Rchg(27), Lock-%Hold(27)
Level 20: Stamina -- P'Shift-EndMod(A), P'Shift-End%(21), EndMod-I(21)
Level 22: Super Speed -- HO:Micro(A)
Level 24: Enervating Field -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(25)
Level 26: Lingering Radiation -- TmpRdns-EndRdx/Rchg/Slow(A), TmpRdns-Acc/EndRdx(43)
Level 28: Choking Cloud -- BasGaze-Acc/Hold(A), BasGaze-Slow%(29), BasGaze-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(29), BasGaze-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(31), G'Wdw-EndRdx/Hold(31), UbrkCons-EndRdx/Hold(46)
Level 30: Hot Feet -- Sciroc-Acc/Dmg(A), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx(34), Sciroc-Dmg/Rchg(34), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(42), Sciroc-Dam%(43), M'Strk-Acc/EndRdx(43)
Level 32: Fire Imps -- BldM'dt-Acc/Dmg(A), BldM'dt-Dmg(33), BldM'dt-Acc/EndRdx(33), BldM'dt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(33), BldM'dt-Dmg/EndRdx(37), BldM'dt-Acc(46)
Level 35: Maneuvers -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(36), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(36)
Level 38: EM Pulse -- Lock-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(A), Lock-Rchg/Hold(39), Lock-Acc/Hold(39), Lock-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(39), Lock-Acc/Rchg(40), Lock-%Hold(40)
Level 41: Indomitable Will -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), RechRdx-I(42), RechRdx-I(42)
Level 44: Mental Blast -- Apoc-Dmg/Rchg(A), Apoc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(45), Apoc-Acc/Rchg(45), Apoc-Dmg/EndRdx(45), Apoc-Dam%(46)
Level 47: World of Confusion -- CoPers-Conf%(A), CoPers-Conf/EndRdx(48), CoPers-Conf(48), CoPers-Acc/Conf/Rchg(48), CoPers-Acc/Rchg(50)
Level 49: Mind Over Body -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), S'fstPrt-ResDam/EndRdx(50), S'fstPrt-ResKB(50)
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Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- ULeap-Stlth(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Containment
Level 0: Ninja Run
| Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build |
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Jacob's Ladder has a tiny arc and short, unehanceable range. You can hit 2 w/a bit of maneuvering, but more it difficult, tho if you're good at lining up Sands, you can sometimes manage it. All in all, I'd say skippable, though I have it on my ELM tank & scrapper.
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From a tanker's PoV, it's very annoying when you're the one sounding the retreat and no one clears out. It's even sometimes for good intentions--they see you fighting valiantly on and don't want to abandon you, but they don't realize, as the tank, you should be the last one out, and as long as they don't clear out, you can't.
BTW, +4 DE is pure masochism if you don't coordinate to take out the emnations ASAP. If that Stony was Ice or Shields (or just out of Granite), he wouldn't have survived much longer than the squishiest blaster unless everyone knows to take out the quartzes first. Similarly, your controllers will be somewhat useless until getting rid of the fungi. And yeah, the stupid cairns. -
Quote:Thank you sir, you are my hero (or villain, if you roll that way)!Originally Posted by Fulmens
Dave_P: your ignore list can be rebuilt, it's just much harder to find. But utterly worth it, for me. (Under user CP there is an "edit ignore list" feature.)
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This thread reminds me how much I miss the ignore list.
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Quote:Every power adds flexibility. What you give up for Taunt also takes away from your options. Maybe I'm forced to skip Fireball for Taunt--that's a whole lot of flexibility in being able to deal damage and gather (AoE) aggro, remotely. Or Weave, which takes away survival options. Every build has limitations; some are far worse than others. Where you put the lack of Taunt on that scale is entirely up to you.Originally Posted by New Dawn
Powers should individually add flexibility. Some form or another. Taunt adds flexibility in ways the aura can't and the aura adds flexibility in ways taunt doesn't. In having both your potentially making a more effective taunt controller and through redirection and replacement of fire a good battlefield dictator. Now if you can't see much point of one of them then maybe you never needed to, but that is in my experience one slim maybe. Most people in my opinion need better glasses as there was always the potential for a tanker to be better battlefield dictator with both than without one. However we can all choose to build how we want.
Wow, that's about the most ironic thing I've read in a while. Those most calling for inflexible builds ("must take Taunt!") are saying the rest of us need to widen our horizons (or put on better glasses, as you put it)? Might wanna try practicing what you preach. For me, I actually takeTaunt on about 1/2 my tanks and use them when appropriate (not nearly as often as some might think), so I at least can see from both sides of the divide. Oh, and it's usually those "other games" that require a tank to be taunt-bot. Again, don't leave your home w/o your healer either.Quote:The worse thing someone could do is expose their own limitations from saying taunt doesn't do anything and the second worse thing is to have only a couple of uses for it - that's still showing limitations. Alot of limits come from peoples definition of a Tanker in other games, not this game.
I think that'll be it for me on this thread. There's a reason why BBQ exists on this board. Memphis dry rub ftw. -
Nitpicks:
Quote:I'd put Ice on top w/o question. Shortest pulse and Icicle to stack. It's noticably better than Invinc, which is also fantastic. The shorter pulse helps a lot, esp w/the type of playstyle I've been encouraging.Originally Posted by Sarrate
Best
Shield / Against All Odds - Autohit, 1s pulse, 25% longer duration, debuff. (Also includes a damage buff which increases threat from attacks.)
Invulnerability / Invincibility - Autohit, 1s pulse, 25% longer duration.
Ice / Chilling Embrace - Autohit, 0.5s pulse, multiple debuffs. (Ice also has Icicles.)
Pots is also noticeably better than the 3 (you forgot Elec) pure-damage auras, because of its autohit slow, which I think is still a 2s pulse, but seems to grabs mobs a whole lot better/faster.Quote:Middle
Dark, Fire, Stone - Accuracy check, 2s pulse, damage. Some have debuffs / multiple auras.
No arguments there,Quote:Worst
Willpower / Rise to the Challenge - Autohit, 1s pulse, debuff, exceptionally short (1.25s vs 13.5s)
As for the rest, we can argue specific cases all day, but bottom line, we simply view tanks a little differently. I truly believe your way works very well, and can respect your take on tanks; I play them a bit differently, but it works for me and my teams--even on PuG TFs, though I'll never run a PuG (Mo)STF. Really, that's all I care about. -
Currently, I have 2 crafted IOs, around lvl 25, both somewhat desirable recipes (Miracle Heal/End/Rech and a PBAoE Acc/Dam, I think) that I put up on sale redside for a reasonable price (under the last 5). They haven't moved in over a month. That would happen w/a sleep or snipe IO or recipe blue-side, but not w/IOs like that, I don't think. I'm hanging on to some mildly useful recipes, also in the low 20s that I'd like to sell for small amounts (well below 1M) to ppl who can use them, but not at the expense of tying up a slot for a month (hardly "reasonable" by anyone's standards, I think), so they'll likely get vendored/trashed. Seems a shame, but considering I can turn a minimum of a few hundred K per slot per day (and that's w/o even trying, really), there's no way I'm going to waste a slot on slow moving item (which, I'm not even trying to make money on, but figured someone could use them).
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Quote:No, it's not. Taunt hits 5. How exactly are you grabbing alpha on the other 12? And you get 17 mobs to dance around you best w/your aura, not with Taunt. Taunt can help (a lot in some cases), but it's not always necessary.Originally Posted by Blue_Centurion
Taunt is the best way to grab that alpha you just mentioned.
I know, I know, Taunt + aura is best, right? Sure, but aura by itself does just fine most of the time. And a good tank on a decent team should be ahead of the pack where there's no competing aggro aura to set up those tight groups during which time Taunt is an absolute waste of animation.
Look, if you're the type of tank that makes sure every last mob is cleaned up before jumping to the next group, and your team sucks at maintaining their own aggro control, yeah, by all means take & spam that Taunt. I'm sure you'll be the model tank for all mediocre players everywhere. Don't forget to recruit a healer while you're at it. -
Quote:This sorta goes back to my original point on this thread, which is to say, who cares? Brutes & scrappers should be able to absorb some aggro leak if they have aggro auras on. And this is simply a difference in our respective philosophies on what a tank should be. Some people think they should manage as close to 100% of the aggro as they can get. I'd prefer that they best help the team get through the challenge (mission, AV fight, etc), and to me, that merely means absorbing the alpha, keeping the damage dealers mostly free from trouble, and setting up groups for AoEs (while doing some damage of out own). Brute/scrapper auras peeling off aggro hinders little of that, esp if they also practice good aggro-management, i.e. kill that which you have aggroed (this applies to blasters too, but some would argue that this slows down their AoE rates).Originally Posted by Sarrate
I say powerful because auras/gauntlet are easily overriden by Brutes or Scrappers with taunt auras. Taunt, especially well slotted, can override those. (If the Brute/Scrapper is also Taunting/Confronting, though, forget about it. This is rare, though.)
If you're on a sucktastic team where the tank needs to sit in the middle of a pile while his Blazing Aura ticks off like 10 times... yeah, you might want Taunt for those kinda of teams. I'd rather team/play smarter and not rely on any single tool, other than my taunt aura, which I think is absolutely essential for a tank to do his job (where Taunt isn't). Other than our armors and/or mez protection, I think the taunt aura (damaging or otherwise) is the single most important tool for a tank to possess. Even if you think Taunt is an essential tanker tool, I can't see how it'd be more important than the aura. -
I know how the taunt aura mechanics work. Yes, the damage auras require a to hit (except Pots, which also has a slow auto-hit component). Still, most tanks will agree, the weakest aura is WP's RTTC, which is auto-hit. Even taking that weak-a**ed aura, try turning it off and use only Taunt in a x6~8 crowd, then turn it on and don't use Taunt, doing all else equally (punchvoking, etc). There's no way you acquire/manage aggro better w/just Taunt.
Again, against single mobs or small groups, Taunt can be better, but so can just punching them. If you have problems keeping the aggro of 2 or 3 mobs, you've got bigger issues than Taunt, or the lack thereof. AV/GM fights are a bit of an exception, though I've never had problems keeping their attention w/o Taunt (tho, of course, I cycle through it vs AV/GMs on my tanks w/Taunt).