Concentration

bluecenturion

At 29 I finally had a spot in my build to consider non must haves. I am running a Power Armor CON/REC/END Tank. I mostly sit on toggles and AoE melt. since I do not have high EGO or INT I had thought Concentration was pretty much not for me. Also, the description in the power and on wiki says that it gains stacks with maintains. But i went on down to the powerhouse to try it. Thinking I also wanted to test the shoulder launcher. My hope on that is the animation is as cool in game as it is in my head lol.

I was quite surprised to find my AoE attacks built 8 stacks of Concentration in seconds. Yeah PA! I still am not rocking and INT or EGO, but I think this form will work well for me.

Here is my logic: every stack of concentration gives you a little over +3% ranged damage, and the increased cost of powers is 10%, so at 3 stacks you reach parity. I build 8 stacks fast, so the Damage Per Energy Second swings in my favor. I have a fat END bar, so the initial building of 7 stacks adds a nice little Blue bump at the start of the fight, even without INT/EGO to pump it.

Lastly, spending any points to increase ranks on this thing seems like a bonehead move. Since I generally open with AoE I quickly build stacks to 8. Starting at 3 actually cost me because I miss out on gaining those 2 energy bumps from when the concentration stack comes online.

Thats the pencil sketch in my head. Of course, all of the flavor text in the power description and wiki could be wrong, and all this thing is doing is costing me 10% extra power, with some cryptic multiplicative end problem since I run multiple toggles. It is such a joy building in a room where its impossible to see the effects in a quantifiable way. I think carpenters should try it.

flamingbunnyman

I can't comment on the rest, since I haven't played PA at all, so I've no experience with PA + Concentration. But:

bluecenturion wrote: »

Lastly, spending any points to increase ranks on this thing seems like a bonehead move. Since I generally open with AoE I quickly build stacks to 8. Starting at 3 actually cost me because I miss out on gaining those 2 energy bumps from when the concentration stack comes online.

IMO, ranking up any Form is a waste. All it does is make you start with more stacks. However, you should be picking a Form that synergizes well with your powers, which means that you'll build stacks super fast, just as you observed.
If the Form has an advantage on it, such as Endorphin Rush on Enrage, then that may be worth taking. But Ranks? Not really.

jellycupsowbug

Try compassion if you have Reconstruction Circuits and a Specialization that heals. It scales with Rec and Pre. You should get about 5% damage per stack, instead of 3%, and 10% healing.

gfb3

flamingbunnyman wrote: »

IMO, ranking up any Form is a waste. All it does is make you start with more stacks. However, you should be picking a Form that synergizes well with your powers, which means that you'll build stacks super fast, just as you observed.
If the Form has an advantage on it, such as Endorphin Rush on Enrage, then that may be worth taking. But Ranks? Not really.

I agree but with one exception: the MA forms can be worth ranking because it increases the likelihood of getting another stack. Since each stack also gives energy, it can be useful for energy management to rank the MA forms to increase energy income.

Other than that, though: yes, ranking the forms seems silly since they only improve the initial number of stacks you're carrying around.