And More Bestial

rajakaji

I probably should have expected as much from the dev's golden child, but my haphazardly thrown together bestial build just to have fun running around as a crazy wildman troll (as in green skin regenerating, not kicking dogs and breaking hearts) is outperforming my Might/Earth Tank for survivability and my Darkness DPS for damage, even undergeared and running in Hybrid to avoid generating extra threat while still using a defensive passive. So I figured I'd give him some little tweaks to optimize his performance further. This is what I'm running on right now.

Beast - Freeform (Hybrid)
v3.44:36

Super Stats
Level 6: Strength (Primary)
Level 10: Constitution (Secondary)
Level 15: Endurance (Secondary)

Talents
Level 1: Superhuman (Str: 12, Con: 12)
Level 6: Enduring (Con: 8)
Level 9: Mighty (Str: 8)
Level 12: Physical Conditioning (Str: 5, Con: 5)
Level 15: Boundless Reserves (Con: 5, End: 5)
Level 18: Bodybuilder (Str: 5, End: 5)
Level 21: Paramilitary Training (Str: 3, Con: 3, Rec: 3, End: 3)

Powers
Level 1: Bestial Fury
Level 1: Shred (Rank 2, Penetrating Strikes)
Level 6: Pounce
Level 8: Regeneration (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 11: Aspect of the Bestial (Giant Growth)
Level 14: Wild Thing
Level 17: Resurgence (Rank 2)
Level 20: Antagonize (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 23: Massacre (Rank 2, Bloody Mess)
Level 26: Rebirth
Level 29: Devour Essence (Rank 2, Phlebotomist)
Level 32:
Level 35: Feral Rage (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 38:
Adv. Points: 26/36

Travel Powers
Level 6: Athletics
Level 35: Swinging

Specializations
Strength: Swole (3/3)
Strength: Quick Recovery (2/2)
Strength: Brutality (2/2)
Strength: Juggernaut (3/3)
Guardian: Fortified Gear (3/3)
Guardian: Ruthless (2/2)
Guardian: Find the Mark (2/3)
Guardian: The Best Defense (3/3)
Vindicator: Aggressive Stance (2/2)
Vindicator: Merciless (3/3)
Vindicator: Focused Strikes (3/3)
Vindicator: Mass Destruction (2/3)

Devices
Slot 5: Vehicle Stub

The last slot I'm keeping open in case I ever get the chance to unlock Moonstruck (with the Regen Boost Adv). Halloween tends to be busy for me. And the slot before that I was debating between Lacerating Cyclone with Vortex Technique (PBAoE Pulls are kind of a staple of my meleers) and Eviscerate for a quick bleed refresh.

I knew Feral Rage was probably a bad idea but I wanted to try it out at least, and the PH didn't offer sufficient difficulty to really test an ultimate, so I ran with it for a while in the world. Now that I can say "been there, done that" I'm ready to get rid of it. It doesn't really do enough for me to pay for the sacrifice at the end. Which would give me room for all of the afore-mentioned. Unless there's another ultimate that would be more beneficial. Possibly Sword?

And after reading some of the other bestial builds I'm also thinking that Supernatural Power might work better than Wild Thing if it gives enough to consistently spam Massacre since stacking bleeds tends to trail off once they're capped, and that's precisely when you start spamming.

Rebirth I thought fit the theme, and Regen pretty much cancels out the self injury since it doesn't block healing like Last Stand, but I'd consider one of the elementals if people think it would perform better. I have Aurora unlocked.

I'm also wondering about giving him a Block with more pure defense instead of fancy gimmicks, but I'm not really sure PA, TK, or Sorcery really fit. Or maybe just make him a pure homage and give him Ebon Void.

So how's that sound? Advice appreciated.

flowcyto

I guess it'll somewhat depend on what you plan on doing w/ it, since Hybrid-dps builds are good for soloing stuff, but are not ideal as dps for more specialized content. But yeah, Supernatural Power would probably be easier for you when using Massacre and DE heavily (and Lacerating Cyclone, if you take it), since they are all pretty expensive. SB's Vorpal Blade could help you build bleeds a bit faster, but you aren't using an MA toggle/form, and Shred + AotB_Enrage is already pretty good at stacking bleeds. I would prob get a wider AoE option, either way. And yea, I would also add tapped Eviscerate w/ Messy, to help refresh Bleeds/Shredded and stack AotB when using Massacre (since Massacre can't do that on its own). You could also make a knock-based build using Enrage as the toggle/form instead, if using Massacre (and maybe Lacerating Cyclone) heavily, but then you'd still want Shred for debuffing at least.

Also, I'm not sure why you took Guardian spec here, since this isn't a ranged build for Find the Mark to work well. Perhaps you meant to get Warden w/ Upper Hand or Elusive? I would prob also pass on Quick Recovery in Str PSS, since it's pretty weak overall; Physical Peak can help you spam melee abilities a bit more (or get Aggression, if you don't have energy issues at all). Antagonize is also fine as block enhancer, imo; the others can have their perks, but so can the anti-knock stuff from Antagonize (what's more important is just having a non-Fluidity ranked block enhancer and using it well, imo). As for Rebirth, it can be okay w/ Regen, but so can the other self-reses. With Regen and backup heals like Resurgence, DE, and/or health packs available, I don't think the res choice will matter much either way here, so I'll just leave that up to you.

rajakaji

Guardian Spec was probably a misclick on Hero Creator, it's supposed to be Warden and I guess I didn't notice cause they had similar abilities.

I went to cosmics a few times cause I figured that was a good place test the ultimate, and he did pretty well, as I said outperforming my two main characters who are currently running in dps roles, so I'll probably contue adding him to my gcr rotation. I'm really attached to Regen for survivability and theme, which prevents me from taking melee dps role, but I know I'm not ready to tank cosmics. Maybe I could try Soaking?

flowcyto

You could try that, but the role is ultimately just to you. A real tank would need Challenge advs anyways, and would prob be easier (on healers) w/ Defiance or Invuln if MT'ing- so I assume that's ultimately not what you're going for. You could try a dual passive approach too, if you want to practice being more of committed dps, but still have the option of playing a hybrid-dps w/ Regen. You would have to have a power slot and 4 adv points free for a 2nd passive, though.

(also, we could review your 2 other dps builds, if you think they could be improved and if you want to)

rajakaji

Well, the Earth/Might I made a post about recently and I'm not sure what else I can do besides cultivating better reflexes, and figuring out what's been going on with my internet lately certainly wouldn't hurt either.

The Darkness guy I avoided building for endgame for a long time because I just didn't like the way Shadow Blast and Ebon Ruin looked and felt, and it seemed like that was the pigeon hole Darkness was forced into for optimal damage. But I recently bit the bullet and worked them in towards the end of the build just so I could (I thought) contribute something at cosmics.

Shadow Dancer - Freeform (Ranged Damage)
v3.44:36

Super Stats
Level 6: Dexterity (Primary)
Level 10: Recovery (Secondary)
Level 15: Constitution (Secondary)

Talents
Level 1: The Specialist (Dex: 10, Con: 10, Int: 8, Rec: 10)
Level 6: Survival Training (Dex: 3, Con: 3, Pre: 3, Rec: 2, End: 2)
Level 9: Field Ops Training (Con: 3, Int: 3, Ego: 3, Rec: 2, End: 2)
Level 12: Covert Ops Training (Str: 3, Dex: 3, Con: 3, Int: 3)
Level 15: Coordinated (Dex: 5, Int: 5)
Level 18: Acrobat (Dex: 5, Con: 5)
Level 21: Impresario (Dex: 5, Rec: 5)

Powers
Level 1: Shadow Bolt
Level 1: Shadow Embrace (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 6: Ebon Void (Rank 2, Voracious Darkness)
Level 8: Night Warrior (Rank 2, Rank 3, Silent Running)
Level 11: Void Horror
Level 14: Ricochet Throw (Rank 2, Microelectronic Controllers)
Level 17: Lifedrain (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 20: Ebon Rift
Level 23: Summon Shadows
Level 26: Chilled Form
Level 29: Spirit Reverberation
Level 32: Shadow Blast (Rank 2, Devoid)
Level 35: Endbringer's Grasp (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 38: Ebon Ruin (Rank 2, Nyctophobia)
Adv. Points: 34/36

Travel Powers
Level 6: Teleportation
Level 35: Shadow Wings

Specializations
Dexterity: Gear Utilization (3/3)
Dexterity: Brush It Off (2/2)
Dexterity: Deadly Aim (3/3)
Dexterity: Expose Weakness (2/2)
Guardian: Fortified Gear (3/3)
Guardian: Ruthless (2/2)
Guardian: Find the Mark (2/3)
Guardian: The Best Defense (3/3)
Vindicator: Aggressive Stance (2/2)
Vindicator: Merciless (3/3)
Vindicator: Focused Strikes (3/3)
Vindicator: Mass Destruction (2/3)
Mastery: Dexterity Mastery (1/1)

Devices

Additional Notes:
XQ==]

Pets and Ebon Rift are largely cosmetic and I generally avoid them in Endgame content. But I'm not sure swapping them out for other abilities would necessarily make my main attacks stronger. Main rotation is Ricochet Throw opener from stealth, Shadow Blast for Devoid, Ebon Ruin until I need to renew Devoid. Endbringer's Grasp when it comes off cooldown, generally making sure to set it up with a fresh Devoid. If I thought I wouldn't be a liability at Dino I'd save it for DPS Checks there.

I'm considering throwing healing advantages on Shadow Embrace and Ebon Rift for a little extra survivability since they're just for trash mobs anyway.

Superstats used to be Dex/Con/Int back when I think Spirit Reverb scaled off Con (I might be remembering wrong, it was a while ago), and I only really wanted Int for stealth sight, which probably isn't worth super stating just for that. I switched Int to Recovery to go better with Reverb, but I'm not sure I fixed my Talents.

flowcyto

Yea, ERuin w/ Devoid debuff is important if you want good single-target dps for Darkness. Some sets only have one standout single-target attack, unfortunately, and Darkness is one of those (at least it has a decent single-target option though, lol). The dps should be pretty good if you stick to building around ERuin, assuming there's no notable energy issues. I mean, as good as melee is at single-target dps overall, an optimized ERuin build shouldn't be lagging that far behind, generally. You can also throw in Dimensional Collapse w/ the Fear and Devoid refresh advs (prob drop the R1 Void Horror for it, since pets can die to AoE and can have AI issues), so you have a quick way to refresh both debuffs for ERuin that also deals some DoT dmg. The healing advs are also fine to get for the AoE(s), if you want them. The build could also prob use an AD like Resurgence (and/or maybe a self-res), if you want to make room for it. You also don't necc need the 3-pt block linger adv if you want to free up some points, or maybe take a rank from the Ult (or the blast, if using DCollpase for refreshes), but it's up to you.

Earth is one of the weaker sets atm, but ranged Earth isn't nearly as bad as melee Earth, since Cave In is still pretty good single-target dps, and Earth's ranged AoEs offer a decent mix of reach, dmg, and CC options. The main issue there is that you have to go out-of-set for a ranged Crushing debuff, but even Hurl in Might is very theme-adjacent and can easily put up Demolish from long range w/ its newer advs (Disorient + Demolish on Disoriented target), and then MSA is also an easy EU pick. Melee Earth I generally would just avoid atm, and if it was a melee build then I'd more lean on the Might side w/ stuff like Haymaker, and maybe just use (ranged) Earth for AoE, Fissure w/ adv, the lunge, and/or the block, or something like that to get some Earth rep in there.

rajakaji

It occurs to me it might be partially because Bleed is a DoT so I have that running in the background when lag hits, whereas the other two are built around direct attack damage, so Dimensional Collapse might help on that front.

One anomoly worth mentioning, everyone keeps saying Regen is less favorable than Defiance, but my Bestial with around 13k hp generally survives a missed block on a big cosmic AoE long enough to use Resurg or get back into range for DE, whereas Earth/Might with Defiance when I'm using his survival build (decided to dual passive so I could practice Tanking occasionally) and around 16k hp generally doesn't, and I'm not really sure what's going on there. Endorphine Rush is his secondary heal for when Resurg is on CD in case that makes a difference.

flowcyto

Defiance provides the highest dmgRes boost of all the passives (when fully stacked, ofc), and thus is the most consistent for healers to heal against bosses that hit hard (save for 100% dodge builds, which are strict and can be hard to pull off). The other passives obv have their own perks, but it'll depend on the situation as to whether they're good for it.

Since stacked Defiance gives (much) higher dmgRes then Regen, you shouldn't really have a case where you survive a big hit w/ Regen but not w/ Defiance (gear/stats etc being equal), unless you're talking about not having Defiance stacked and/or not being healed up beforehand in Defiance's case. Defiance isn't generally a great passive if not main tanking something, since then you may not be able to reliably keep it stacked, and then something like Invuln w/ its constant effects is better for mitigation.

rajakaji

Yes, a person with Regen shouldn't be surviving something that regularly kills Defiance. (I mean I've died a few times from the block walk over lava to get into lunge range after a big knock, but not nearly as often as Earth/Might guy.) And a person with Fortuitous, trash questing secondaries, and incomplete stat mods and mostly Con at that shouldn't be doing more damage than someone with Justice Gloves of Precision, Onslought Sniper, and a full stock of r5s, admitedly Dex/Con on Armor and Dex/Rec on Utility. But that's what I'm looking at. It doesn't make any sense to me either.

flowcyto

Well, it's not a mystery that more dmgRes_Defense = less dmg taken per hit, so there's def other things going on there. I assume you weren't MT'ing, and in that case Regen can be better if you're not the main healing focus and/or Defiance isn't being consistently stacked.
Also, do you have parses comparing your dps builds?

rajakaji

Ok, I just did Ape and got hit with 17k on a missed block. I guess it just happened that whenever I brought him before there was a really good AoRP and my other characters haven't been so lucky. Pretty big coincidence but I guess it makes sense given that things didn't add up before. He still managed to score enough to qualify even dying a bunch though, which usually doesn't happen for my mains.

I'm probably going to download the parser soon, it looks like a really good program. But I don't have parses right now unfortunately.

Also, I'll try swapping out Defiance for Invuln on Earth/Might for when I'm running the survival build, since it should give more consistency if I'm not the main target, and shouldn't hurt too much if I do wind up in a situation where I feel confident enough to MT. Maybe Gravatar since I got pretty good at it collecting diamonds.

flowcyto

Yea, something like AoRP can def be a significant external factor. Anyways, Invuln isn't quite as good as stacked Defiance for MT'ing Cosmics overall, but it's a decent runner-up there, and can outperform it in lots of other content where the inc hits are smaller in size generally (esp vs. trash, where the dmg shield can nullify the majority of inc dmg). It's a good overall passive if you just want a more generalist defensive setup/build. Hope you can make the other builds work better for you, regardless.