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Trouble with Shockwave

sturmwolf65sturmwolf65 Posts: 66 Arc User
edited September 2013 in Power Discussion
First off I'm a fan of all kind of melee Toons and especially tanktypes.
Tanks and tough scrapper have always been my favorites (yes, i'm an old CoH player).

Now the problem I face at the moment;
after I brought 3 ranged Toons to max level, because ranged heros are so much more effectiv in CO, I struggle with melee Toons, especially with Mights.
One major problem is that I can't make Shockwave really work for me.
I wanted a Bigfoot-like toon using Shockwave, but the power is terribly underperforming in my eyes.
How can I make this "ranged" power work for a melee type toon?
It doesn't scale with STR, right?
And can I make it work without to much trade off, cause I have to waste extra spec points or skills into it?
Post edited by sturmwolf65 on

Comments

  • flamingbunnymanflamingbunnyman Posts: 2,035 Arc User
    edited September 2013
    Run in Hybrid or Melee Damage role, Primary Superstat Str, Secondary Con and whatever you want for the third one. Take the Juggernaut spec. Take Warden or Guardian tree and max The Best Defense. Take any Defense boosting specs you have access to.

    Between the +damage from Superstats and the Offense from The Best Defense, you'll barely notice the lack of Ego, or the fact that your Form and/or Passive probably give less benefit to ranged attacks.
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  • zazelbyzazelby Posts: 48 Arc User
    edited September 2013
    Wow. In CoH, if you wanted a single power to perform better, all you had to do was drop some enhancements into that single power.

    But I'm sure this method of having to carefully choose your character's specializations, stats, gear, toggles, and passives, all to boost one single power, has its advantages, too.


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  • flamingbunnymanflamingbunnyman Posts: 2,035 Arc User
    edited September 2013
    If you're picking all your Superstats, Specs, Gear, Form and Passive to boost one power, you're doing it wrong.

    What I listed is a good start for a Might character, and will boost all his melee powers even more than what Shockwave gets from it.
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  • flamingbunnymanflamingbunnyman Posts: 2,035 Arc User
    edited September 2013
    Just to clarify, a Hybrid with PSS Str 400, SSS Con and one other both 200, Unstoppable (or Way of the Warrior) and Enrage plus the specs i mentioned above is going to have:

    About 75% damage from Superstats. (Probably more, I cant find the formula right now)
    44% damage to melee attacks from Strength.
    77.5% Melee damage/39% Ranged damage from Unstoppable.
    105% Melee damage/53% Ranged damage from Enrage.
    200+ Defense, which will convert into 200+ Offense (plus whatever amount of Offense they naturally have) for at least 30% all damage.

    That's +331.5% Physical melee damage and +197% Physical ranged damage. Yes, that's significantly less of a bonus to ranged, but it's still a big bonus.
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  • monsterdaddymonsterdaddy Posts: 793 Arc User
    edited September 2013
    Shockwave is sonic dmg tho n get no bonus from physical.
  • flamingbunnymanflamingbunnyman Posts: 2,035 Arc User
    edited September 2013
    Shockwave is sonic dmg tho n get no bonus from physical.

    You are correct. I forgot it was Sonic. It would still get the damage from Superstats and Offense, and I know from experience that that's enough to make Shockwave do respectable damage; the character I was using had basically the same setup listed above, but a defensive passive.
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  • sagewithbubblessagewithbubbles Posts: 484 Arc User
    edited September 2013
    zazelby wrote: »
    Wow. In CoH, if you wanted a single power to perform better, all you had to do was drop some enhancements into that single power.

    But I'm sure this method of having to carefully choose your character's specializations, stats, gear, toggles, and passives, all to boost one single power, has its advantages, too.

    Most of the suggestions in that post will boost either everything you do, or anything tagged as melee. There's actually very few ways to boost individual powers as opposed to providing a general damage buff for everything you do, or some particular form of everything (like elemental damage, etc).

    Aside from throwing in rank ups using advantage points. The Blast and Combo-boosting specs are about the only way to single out more specific powers (and they aren't usually worth taking over a more global damage boost).
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  • monsterdaddymonsterdaddy Posts: 793 Arc User
    edited September 2013
    The Blast and Combo-boosting specs are about the only way to single out more specific powers (and they aren't usually worth taking over a more global damage boost).
    Agreed but for some very high damage charge attacks or Unleashed Rage the Setup spec from Brawler is really good.
  • flyingfinnflyingfinn Posts: 8,408 Arc User
    edited September 2013
    You take down 'cannonfodderminions' with it. It's not like you need to spam it.
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  • theravenforcetheravenforce Posts: 7,132 Arc User
    edited September 2013
    I found Electric Form (since it boosts Energy Damage) works well with this set up.

    I could envision a Laser Sword toon STR/CON/INT with Electric Form and Shockwave working reasonably well, the knockdown would be a bonus which you could use in addition to your lunge which could root them.

    I reckon Sonic Damage needs to be a fleshed out set in CO, but that's way off from happening anytime soon.

    I did run a sonic Damage build in the past constructed around Unleashed Rage, I was able to get hits from 12-16k with Electric Form.
  • carrionbaggagecarrionbaggage Posts: 729 Community Moderator
    edited September 2013
    Shockwave's wide cone is a nice way to spread Challenging Strikes or on-next-hit powers like Sonic Device.

    But as others have mentioned, its damage type and ranged classification mean it's going to do less-than-ideal damage on a Might toon.
  • sturmwolf65sturmwolf65 Posts: 66 Arc User
    edited September 2013
    So...basically from that info I got here...the whole power is a waste, right?
    It doesn't really synergies with any other Might characteristic and I would end up better with Havoc Stomp as my only AoE, right?
    Is there any benefit Shockwave can give a Might build that is reasonable?
    (Expect for pure fluff flavor?)
  • flamingbunnymanflamingbunnyman Posts: 2,035 Arc User
    edited September 2013
    Who said it was a waste?

    It mashes minions, fast.

    It's a BIG AoE, so good for applying Challenging Strikes.

    It's a knockdown on a full maintain, so it can stack and refresh Enrage. (though there's probably better options for that).

    It applies a snare, and can remove travel powers (if you take the advantage).

    Yes, Havoc Stomp will scale more than Shockwave, but it's tiny. It also has a rather strong knockback when fully charged, so it will scatter foes, right out of range of all your other powers.

    If it fits your theme, Iron Cyclone is the way to go. Better damage scaling than Shockwave, though slightly lower than Havoc Stomp. More damage per tick than SW. Guaranteed stack of Enrage on a half maintain. And if you decide that it scatters too much, Vortex Technique turns the knockback into knockto. VT will prevent you from taking R3, but it's still higher base damage than R3 SW.


    tl;dr It isn't the best power, but it isn't a bad one either.
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  • sturmwolf65sturmwolf65 Posts: 66 Arc User
    edited September 2013
    I'm a concept player...not really a RP player...BUT...I wan't my toons to be in line with the gimmick I want to create.
    I already have a "chain" character and he does all the chain-things and he works..."ok".
    But my Bigfoot-type of character should not pull out a chain all of a sudden.
    Havoc Stomp and Shockwave look very good on him, but they just don't work that well.
    So I just replacing the power isn't a real solution for me.
    ;)
  • carrionbaggagecarrionbaggage Posts: 729 Community Moderator
    edited September 2013
    Tremor from the Earth framework seems bigfoot-appropriate, if you're looking for a replacement ranged AoE.
  • sturmwolf65sturmwolf65 Posts: 66 Arc User
    edited September 2013
    But Tremor would have the same problems like shockwave,right?
    It's "rabged" and doesn't scale with STR but with EGO, right?
    So it would be pure cosmetics.

    Beside...it is a charge power, that makes it inferior to Shockwave, doesn't it?
  • flyingfinnflyingfinn Posts: 8,408 Arc User
    edited September 2013
    If you want to be awesome crusher of group of minions then those 2 do nice. If you're planning of only using those against single targets likes of Super Villains or likes of Grond, yea those won't 'work that well' compared to Uppercut or Demolish or Roomsweepah....
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  • carrionbaggagecarrionbaggage Posts: 729 Community Moderator
    edited September 2013
    But Tremor would have the same problems like shockwave,right?
    It's "rabged" and doesn't scale with STR but with EGO, right?
    So it would be pure cosmetics.

    Beside...it is a charge power, that makes it inferior to Shockwave, doesn't it?

    It does share those problems, but as physical damage it would at least get some bonus from passives like Unstoppable and Way of the Warrior. Speaking of which, what is your passive? Did I miss it earlier in the thread?

    For charge versus maintain, it mostly depends on how you use it. You can charge a Tremor from a distance, and open up with a strong(ish) alpha strike. Shockwave offers a steadier stream of damage. Tremor has a higher theorycrafted DPS, but both powers are pretty low on the damage totem pole.

    For a wide-range, bigfoot-friendly melee AoE, you won't find better than Havoc Stomp (short of Unleashed Rage, when it's off cooldown). Beyond a 10' distance, you're looking at ranged powers. Frenzy could work thematically, though it's only a cone instead of a full circle. The lack of lockdown is kinda nice, though.
  • theravenforcetheravenforce Posts: 7,132 Arc User
    edited September 2013
    But Tremor would have the same problems like shockwave,right?
    It's "rabged" and doesn't scale with STR but with EGO, right?
    So it would be pure cosmetics.

    Beside...it is a charge power, that makes it inferior to Shockwave, doesn't it?

    Faultline then? I always found that power to be pretty useful, does decent damage on tap and has nice graphics and hits in a line.
  • sturmwolf65sturmwolf65 Posts: 66 Arc User
    edited September 2013
    It does share those problems, but as physical damage it would at least get some bonus from passives like Unstoppable and Way of the Warrior. Speaking of which, what is your passive? Did I miss it earlier in the thread?

    You didn't miss, I haven't told yet.^^
    At the moment I'm using Defiance, but I thought about switching to Unstoppable because of my lack of damage.
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