magikwand
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Posts
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Joined
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This thread is OP!
Not...
Seriously, I have seen some pretty poor players sitting behind the wheels of some the prior mentioned "power builds" and they are just plain inadequate.
An "OP" power selection doth not a good player make.
It is a shame that I can't ever go out and make a fire/kin troller or SS/WP brute for myself and be taken seriously in the game. 7/10 times I run across these builds in the game, the person piloting the toon is a complete nut-job with no clue how to play efficiently. I suggest you pay attention to the mechanics of the game, read build guides, listen to veteran players, and get a feel of the game for yourself. -
Looks like i16 is here! This brings us one step closer to GR!!!
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So what are you saying exactly? That the other ATs are inferior to scrappers or that scrappers are in need of a nerf? Or both? I think scrappers are great, and serve their purpose, but a well played toon is great regardless of AT. Scrappers are great at providing some damage and being largely independent, but there are some things they can't do. Like providing meaningful debuffs or controls for a team.
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I don't see anyone bashing the idea. This is a forum and we are here to exchange ideas. Things would be fairly stale if we all just agreed about everything ever posted.
On that note, I am not sure if the OP is serious or kidding, but I think the storm armor set or rad armor seems more likely and interesting than this. -
If you did this, I would actually play stone armor. I can never forgive the appearance of this power, and I find that alone almost worse than the various penalties associated with it. I say make the changes! Maybe there can be a huge option that would take up one costume slot for those who still want to have the classic granite look. Sort of like the VEAT thing. And before you start ******** about having that take up one whole costume slot, people, remember that you can't see any of your costumes while in granite anyway
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You are smart to build for defense and recharge- healing flames being up often is vital to your success. Just as important is making sure you're cutting down on the enemy's chances of hitting you. It is fairly easy to build for both. I also find it very helpful to carry a full complement of purples at all times. FA has decent resists, it just needs a defensive boost every now and then.
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This post brought to you by Perfect Zinger, Proving words CAN hurt! I love it.
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It is a little more difficult to convince some players of the merits that either set has, but I personally love dark miasma. It has so many useful tools and it a really strong set. To add to that, it is hard to do it wrong. I don't have quite as much love for storm, however. I admit, this is probably a result of just teaming with too many poor storm summoners. I have not played storm, but I have taken a dark miasma to 50 and I loved the ride. On that note, I am a little cautious of inviting unknown stormies to my teams typically. In the wrong hands, a storm summoner can be quite hazardous to a team's welfare. If i know the person sitting behind the stormie, or if a friend can vouch for them, I have no qualms.
To answer the original question- yes, they are both powerful sets. As someone else said: why worry about healing damage when you don't have to worry about taking it in the first place. -
Well, it isn't power sink, but I will sometimes toss out a Consume to grab attention on my /FA. It isn't my choice for initial aggro, but it does work well for grabbing additional attention. Hell, it even does a little bit of damage, so I will sometimes end up finishing a mob or two all while replenishing some endurance.
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I have a DB/Inv that I break out every now and then myself. She is a real blast to play. Rock solid resists and respectable defense on that toon is just plain fun. Personally, I like the combo system. I only have sweep and attack vitals as I find empower to be pretty worthless as I am constantly empowered being a brute and all.
I personally cringe at the thought of malefactoring down, so that is something I never consider when respeccing or building a character. -
I have never seen such a build guide. Seems unconventional- I like it.
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Quote:So you are saying that Deth is a bad brute for taking taunt on some alts? I hardly find that 1 power selection like taunt can make or break any set up. It is a choice of playstyle or concept, but I have seen poor tanks with taunt and poor tanks without taunt. I have seen great brutes with it, and great brutes without it. Just because you have it doesn't mean you intend to tank as a brute.Originally Posted by Kepaaaaaaaaaaaaa
You're a bad brute or a bad tank.
I never take taunt on my brutes. I've never had it be a particularly big deal. It turns out that constantly cycling massive AOE attacks keeps enemies on you as a brute. How does this work? No one knows.
I think I've had one person, ever, look at me at the beginning of a pug and comment how it was odd that I didn't have taunt. I was the only brute on a boss farm. Sometimes I'd miss aggro on a single enemy, but then I'd just shoot another AOE. No one died or came close, of course.
After a few groups I looked at his build and noticed he was a crab spider. He did not have his defensive leadership toggle or venom grenade. Maybe it's hypocritical to say, since I don't get taunt and all, but those seem like major omissions in a Crab build. I don't remember, but he either got replaced with a storm corruptor or I just left the slot in the group empty.
I think this discussion is becoming fairly circular and repetitive. (just like the end of that sentence... lol) -
I suggest you download mids and play around there and see what you can come up with on your own. However, I don't know if that is possible with Fiery aura. Resists are good there, but I don't know if they are that good.
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Stone armor is very durable, but I find the costs outweigh the benefits for my playstyle.
Aesthetically, I can't forgive stone armor. I would personally rather invest more into /inv or /wp and have similar results. Still, a /stone can be made quite sturdy. Unfortunately, you will spend a good amount of inf. bringing /stone up to the lvl of dmg and rech that most other sets have out of the box.
Pros
- durable
- durable
- durable
Cons
- ugly
- end heavy
- ugly
- won't shine 'til granite
- ugly
- slow/probable unhealthy codependence on SB
- recharge defecit
- and ugly -
Quote:I understand your reasoning, but why limit yourself to being a one trick (defense) pony when you can have strong resistances offered by /inv, /FA or /DA *and* have reliable cold shields to add to your defenses?Originally Posted by Minotaur
Actually I'd disagree with this, take a defence based scrapper (elec/shield would be even more awesome) and slot as an offensive powerhouse using the cold shields to cap you. A /fire scrapper would take considerable effort and slotting to get decent defences to get you close to the softcap with the shields (which add maybe 18% slotted out), although it can be done.
If you are prepared to invest a sizable sum, then /fire or /elec will rock, but otherwise go with a defence based one and slot for added offence/recharge.
I agree that taking a resist based set and going to a respectable amount of defense could be arduous task, but the work is very much worth it. I have a /FA with resists around 53%, defense around 25% positional, recharge at 137.5% for fast HF action, and she is still an offensive powerhouse. That said, if there is a cold, bubbler, or widow near (with leadership) I am essentially perma softcapped for defense and I still have strong resists to back me up in case any hits manage to land. I find that to be much more effective than taking a /SR, /EA, or even /SD with already respectable defense values and piling on more defense still.
To put it simply, I would rather have a thermal or sonic to duo with my /SR than a cold. -
I agree with Minotaur. If it isn't too late to re-roll or if you have additional slots, roll something resistance based. If you want something exotic, go dark armor or fiery aura. Both of these would benefit much more from the +def of your cold dom friend.
A lot of people do enjoy elec/fire for its AoE goodness, and again, you would be quite powerful from a low lvl with buffs from your friend.
To reiterate, Elec melee is very AoEcentric and weak in the Single target department, but it is still a strong set. -
Quote:I have your Whirlwind of Bullets right here: though I find the whole series of these videos to be great to watch, your Whirlwind of Bullets happens at about 1:25 into the video.Originally Posted by TheTaxi
[ QUOTE ]
What would the tier 9 in a dual pistols be? Dont get me wrong, Im gonna make me one the day it comes out (hopefully in beta). But I am just wondering what kind of "nova" you can get with dual pistols. It doesnt have to be "real", lord knows RoA isn't.
[/ QUOTE ]
Whirlwind of Bullets!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqeZqGB3hgg -
Quote:I fully agree. I don't know exactly if my fury has been at 100% or not, but I know I have been at the 750% dmg bonus cap. Therefore, I don't think this is a real issue.Originally Posted by Clouded
I personally don't have a problem with the current Fury generation and fury bar. That last thing Brutes want is for Castle to take a close look at them.
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I can't think of a set that doesn't require at least one or two toggles to be worthwhile. Why are you interested in such a beast? Is it a concept or are you concerned about endurance spending? If you take a look at WP, you will find that the endurance is rarely a problem and it is light as far as toggles are concerned. Most builds also allow for a good bit of flexibility too.
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Quote:I wholeheartedly disagree with your opinion regarding Dark, Ice, and Fire for tankers. Perhaps you haven't been around long enough to see that there are strengths in those primaries. You don't have to be stone, invuln, or wp to have value on a team or solo. I have seen fiery aura tanks outtank, outsurvive, outkill, and generally outplay stoners. In fact, some of the tanks with the worst overall performance I have ever seen have been stoners.Originally Posted by Blueraven
I suggest the Devs Balance the defence powers for tankers.
Check out all the build the "Power Gamers" are talking about and you'll see certain armor types NEVER talked about.
Even if your not a power gamer and don't slot purples or even IO Sets. No one that plans on tanking the higher end (40-50) and have done any amount of research at all would consider Dark Armor, Ice Armor,Fire Armor etc. no one would would want to sacrifice a DPS slot on their team for a second or third healer.
And what's with all the melee attacks in the blasters secondary?
Blasters are the Wizards of other MMO's and in other MMO's I dont see too many getting into melee as a desired effect. All be it, at low levels it sometimes comes in handy and perhaps getting 1 melee attack might be good for IO sets or whatever but 4-5 attacks? They are very useful if ya intend to get all your debt badges by lvl 30.
I suggest you look around and see that some of the more exotic sets can be just as survivable and fun as stone and invuln and even look a lot more exciting while doing it.
As far as your madness with blasting- sometimes the best place to play is right in melee range. Ever play with kins only on your team and try to get healed from a distance? Fail. Ever try to get fulcrum shift when you are standing 30 ft away from a spawn? Fail. Ever seen how good some of the melee attacks can be from a good blapper? Blaster does not equal range. Besides, with various buffs, IOs, and even inspirations, you don't have to worry about being canned as easily as you might think playing a blaster in melee range. Don't get me confused- I am not saying you should take alpha on a blaster, but you don't always have to be scared to get up close and personal with spawns either. -
I have an EM brute, and I found Whirling Hands to just be a terrible attack even with full fury and some slotting at lvl 50. I think it is entirely skippable and really just a weak link in the set. I would choose to team with some AoEcentric friends and call it a day, personally.
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Well, I will say this of the combination in general. I think it is almost survival overkill. While you are attacking, anyway, the -tohit of Dark Melee will combine with the already superb mitigation of stone armor and you will be pretty solid. I won't really suggest you go afk and deal with wife aggro with anything outside of an illusionist/FF with SI and PFF activated simultaneously.
I suggest you slot for runspeed bonuses and recharge to lower your dependence on speed boost. I have seen a few swift stoners in my day. Being able to function w/o a kin is a quality I can easily admire in a stone brute or tank. -
Quote:I never said ice armor was bad for brutes. I only said it is more likely that we would get it as a secondary than regen. I think ice armor is dandy, in fact.Originally Posted by Ahmon
Ice Armor'd be a great set for Brutes. Not sure why you think it's a bad idea.
Regeneration, however doesn't interest me unless they give Brutes Katana or Broadsword simultaneously or prior to the introduction. Then it truly will be min/max worthy! -
Quote:We think similarly. I can't bring myself to roll a stone armored toon for several reasons, and the dependence on SB is one of them. Of course, looking like a big pile of poo is also at the top of the list.Originally Posted by _Deth_
I think you mistook what my point was. When on a team, the team has to act as a unit, or will essentially it will just be a waste of everyone's time and effort. If you don't want to contribute to a group, go solo, it's that simple. I am not saying that everyone should build their toons and play in a fashion that they are dependent on others, I hate stone armor tanks and brutes specifically for that reason. At the same time, if I am in a group, and I jump into a large number of mobs and DON'T get backup from them, I am usually pretty annoyed at that point, and if it becomes the norm with the group I leave. Being self-sufficient is all well and good, but there are situations where all the self sufficiency in the world amounts to jack.
The roommate example is a good one. If I could afford to pay the rent on my own, I wouldn't need the roommate in the first place. If my roommate can't make the rent, I get a new one.
If you are in that situation, then you are on a crappy team. A brute, with proper support, is more than able to tank. Those are the key words, and what seperates brutes from tanks. As a brute, I run at the biggest meanest thing in the group, I hold its aggro, and will generally grab the rest of the aggro in the process. I don't do this to protect the team, I do this to maximize my fury as quickly as possible. I generally only grab strays if they are really stomping on someone. My survivability and my tactics make me the tank by default, and if the team is worth a crap it works out swimmingly. My job is to kill the biggest and nastiest of the mobs face to face, with his eyes on me. The beauty of this, is that villains all have damage as their primary set, with the exception of Doms, and even their mechanics provide for a ton of damage. All the weaker mobs, in a team of 8, should be decimated by the rest of the team, aggro or no aggro. It's funny how I can tank on boss missions with my brute, without actually tanking. I run in swinging, and all I do is attack. I might throw a taunt here and there so I don't have to chase things. I don't run around taunting mobs off of squishies unless they are in serious trouble. Keeping the squishies alive usually keeps my damage bonuses higher, so I can hit harder and crush better. Wait, if i "protect teh squishies" I get a benefit of being able to kill better, funny how that works.
This sums it up beautifully.
The thing is, the brute IS tanking in that scenario, just not in the traditional tanker "meat shield" fashion.
Just because the mechanics are different, in a team setting, the roles are the same. Brutes are not tanks, this is true enough, and the way they play is different if played well. A tank, in a group, has one job, and that is to get the attention of all mobs and keep it on him, damage is secondary. Brutes grab the attention of the mobs by putting out tons of damage. Too many people compare brutes to scrappers, and too many try to make them tanks. The reality is they are almost dead in between, and if played well, can be both at the same time.
On the other hand, I have a friend with a stone brute that has a lot invested into movement bonuses, and her run speed (Something like +70%) is astounding. She literally runs circles around me while in granite. -
Quote:I agree on the last point. If you are on a team, you should definitely help out your team mates. However, I find it problematic to build any particular AT or set with a codependence on other team mates for survival/function. As an example, I have seen plenty of stone tanks and brutes that were useless without a kin. I have also seen ATs of all sorts who could not function without a "healer" with a direct ST heal on team. Emotional codependence is problematic, and I am sure that is an untermed concept for this in-game where people are just hooked on another's powers to help them function.Originally Posted by _Deth_
Not to play devil's advocate, but seriously, if you are on a team, you DO depend on others, and are expected to play a role. Doesn't make you weak, just the dynamics of the situation.
No, I am not saying all brutes should be tanks, but if you see a teammate getting his tail handed to him, you step in, doesn't matter what AT you are.
I don't exactly agree with your first point, however. I find it sort of like having a room mate. If you have a room mate, you should expect your room mate to pay his share of the rent every month. However, if your room mate is unable to come up with his share, you should be able to pay the rent on your own without him. At least for one month. Kind of a tough standard to apply to a game, but I find it makes my toons more self sufficient and reliable.