Help me understand present day PA please

omnius

I used to play PA extensively 10 years ago and back then it was all about INT as PSS with REC/END secondaries and ranking accelerated metabolism into 2-3 maintains so you could spam TF out of Dual Wrist, Minigun, and Micromunitions all at once. Nowadays I'm seeing all the popular build suggestions centered around EGO PSS with no accelerated metabolism. I'm almost halfway to 40 and I can already see that that maintaining all 3 powers for any length at all isn't going to be a pretty picture without some very high end end game gear and mods. I get the strong impression that the builds I'm seeing posted are with that gear very much in mind. Am I missing something? Because I distinctly remember not being this energy starved last time I levelled a PA using the old build method, and I stayed with INT PSS at 40 because that's what you were supposed to do to not run dry so fast on energy. I realize that many things have changed since then but if these EGO builds are managing to maintain all 3 powers frequently, I'd like to know how they're doing it please. Do the devs now expect you to use energy builders more? Here's roughly where I'm sitting so far so I think I've covered all the expected bases:

(Unnamed Build) - Freeform (Any / Multiple)
v3.44:37

Super Stats
Level 6: Ego (Primary)
Level 10: Recovery (Secondary)
Level 15: Endurance (Secondary)

Talents
Level 1: The Psychokinetic (Dex: 10, Ego: 10, Rec: 10, End: 8)
Level 6: Ascetic (Con: 5, Ego: 5)
Level 9: Boundless Reserves (Con: 5, End: 5)
Level 12: Quick Recovery (Con: 5, Rec: 5)
Level 15: Worldly (Ego: 5, Rec: 5)
Level 18: Daredevil (Ego: 5, End: 5)
Level 21:

Powers
Level 1: Power Bolts
Level 1: Dual Wrist Rocket Barrage (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 6: Mini Gun (Rank 2, U-238 Rounds)
Level 8: Invulnerability
Level 11: Overdrive
Level 14: Micro Munitions (Rank 2)
Level 17: Concentration
Level 20:
Level 23:
Level 26:
Level 29:
Level 32:
Level 35:
Level 38:
Adv. Points: 10/36

Travel Powers
Level 6:
Level 35:

Specializations
Ego: Force of Will (2/2)
Ego: Insight (3/3)
Ego: Sixth Sense (2/3)

Devices

flowcyto

Well, it helps that Ego PSS has Insight, which allows Ego to also reduce cost discount. It also helps that we have powers like Power Conversion or Dark Transfusion, which can greatly reduce the strain on energy for setups like PA. There's also certain pieces of gear (like the Distinguished Helmet of Efficiency), cost discount rating on gear, and general stat set bonuses that can help w/ energy, and other power options like CoAP or Force Sheath. There's also AoPM and/or AoAC auras that PA players could be getting from allies, depending on the content, which can also greatly help w/ energy management.

So there's a number of different ways to make 3-slot PA affordable, and even when using entry-level 40 gear or w/o full energy stats SS'd. Int PSS is still a fine choice too, and it can be solid for dps due to Detect Vuln (at least, vs. tougher targets). Even a Dex focus (w/ Chilled Form) could be made to work for PA. Although Ego PSS is indeed good, don't feel like you're pigeonholed into it either. Either way, which option(s) you take will depend on your own gear level and what you want for your stat layout and SS setup.

Also, you are still leveling, and it's not uncommon to have many more energy issues then since the gear options can be much weaker overall. You may not be able to regularly use 3-slot PA until you get closer to max level (and get decent mod-able gear & cost discount rating options), but that's okay as most leveling content is pretty easy anyways, and you can always fall back to using 2-slot PA until your energy situation improves.

omnius

OMG this forum's formatting, this is my 100th edit... Anyway @flowcyto I think I'm going to stick with INT/REC/END because it's still considered solid and I think it handles multiple PA toggle better and longer than EGO with Insight. I also ran across this out of the box idea from 2019, maybe he's on to something? Let me know what you think?

"Infinite Energy PA build.

You'll need:

Wrist bolter energy builder.

Wrist bolter Automated Assault advantage (1pt)

Endurence primary

2pts in the Kickback specialisation in the endurence tree.

This is how it works:

Automated assault converts wristbolter into a hand slot power allowing it to fire constantly even with head and chest slots toggled on. The down side is that this does not generate energy while other slots are toggled.

The spec Kickback causes your next power used to regen 5% (10% with 2pts) of your max energy everytime your energy builder deals dmg.

Since wrist bolter is firing continuously your head and chest slots are effectively regenerating 15-18% of your max energy every time they tick dmg. Since you are endurence primary, your max energy can get quite high, leading to more energy regenerated.

When you combine this with Overdive it leads to infinite energy. With head and chest slots blasting away for max maintain (or reconstructive circuit's if you need to heal).

Adding rank 1 and 2 into wrist bolter causes it to function like a constant DoT.

Then either eye beams plus chest laser for beam themed toons or minigun and micro munitions for a more military feel.

To play tank - make con and ego secondary with challenge advantages in your head and chest dmg toggles and invulnerability as a passive

To play dps - make dex and ego secondary with accelerated metabolism advantages on your H&C dmg toggles. Targeting computer as a passive.

You can also hybrid by using invulnerability passive with dex and ego as secondary and a total spec focus on dmg (vindicator tree etc). This makes a strong and durable war machine.

This idea fits the theme of a power armour having an "infinite energy" core of power kinda like iron man or the androids from dbz

WARNING! The early lvls up to about lvl 15 can be challenging, but from there it really starts taking off and is incredible to play"

carrionbaggage

INT's cost discount stacks with the +Cost Discount you get from gear. Once you're able to gear up a lot of +Cost Discount at level 40, INT's contribution hits heavy diminishing returns. EGO's Insight provides the most total cost discount with endgame gear. INT is still useful for the defense penetration against several endgame bosses, though base damage is higher with EGO's crit-friendly spec tree.

Accelerated Metabolism can add a little extra energy/sec, as can the very expensive Qliphothic Energies mod; but neither is a large overall bonus. The energy-gain methods that Flow mentioned can also help, but keep in mind that some (like Power Conversion) are subject to PA's toggle-lockout.

At level 40 with a Distinguished Helmet of Efficiency (an important piece), both EGO and INT primary can stay energy-stable, though you'll likely want to mod some END outside of an ally AoPM. A streak of bad luck on the helmet's energy proc can sometimes bottom out your energy, but it's relatively rare.

For leveling, I'd probably do the Kickback setup you mentioned. You could run 2 toggles consistently, with the hand slot sharing uptime with Wrist Bolter.

flowcyto

Eh, imo it's like a poor-man's version of a 3-slot PA build, using the AA adv on Wrist Bolter instead of a proper Hand slot. Wrist Bolter's dps is only a fraction of that for Concussor Beam or the Wrist Rockets, Wrist Bolter is limited to 50ft, and there can be delays when using the AA adv since it has to switch between modes. End PSS is great for energy, and the Kickback synergy does still work well w/ an AA setup, but End PSS is also not really ideal if you can manage your energy w/o it. AA + End PSS are both still options you could consider, and their combination can be much easier on energy when leveling, but in the long-term I would at least eventually stick to a normal 3-slot PA build.

jaazaniah1

At one point the devs tried to semi-nerf PA because it was so powerful. Their solution was to make it very energy hungy. So, to be a perma-3 toggle PA dps now you really need to build for energy management (and sometime whine in group content that someone should bring an AoPM). Often that means running an Int/Rec/End or Ego/Rec/End build. In effect the devs wnat you to choose between survivability and dps now. PA is still the meta for high ranged dps. I keep wondering if the devs will try to nerf it again at some point. My work around on one build was to make it dual passive, with Invuln as the 2nd passive.

omnius

I'm actually building mine dual passive based on the one you posted in another thread a while back. I had probably stopped playing before that spike in energy costs you mentioned happened in a patch. I'll keep at it then and hopefully I'll be able to run that glorious combo of MM+Mingun I used to love so much without running down in 0.1 seconds without needing that SCR helmet as a mandatory piece of the puzzle. Thanks for the info everyone!

rhymere

omnius#0640 wrote: »

I'm actually building mine dual passive based on the one you posted in another thread a while back. I had probably stopped playing before that spike in energy costs you mentioned happened in a patch. I'll keep at it then and hopefully I'll be able to run that glorious combo of MM+Mingun I used to love so much without running down in 0.1 seconds without needing that SCR helmet as a mandatory piece of the puzzle. Thanks for the info everyone!

You need SCR and the new Gold CR which trickles off of "Cosmic" World Bosses that spawn every 4 hours. You cap out after 3 cosmics each granting 7 GCR a day but Irwin in RenCen has a daily that nets you 5 extra for offing one of them. That helmet is worth it...