Comparing Martial Arts

merlinmonroe

I've been playing an Unarmed recently. I liked it, but noticed that my Munitions toon was killing stuff much faster.
This was surprising since melee usually does more damage than ranged.

Does unarmed have its strengths in something other than dps?

What are the strengths and weaknesses in the other MAs?

Of course, Dual Blades is obvious since it is AOE, but what about the others?

I get the impression that either Single Blade or Claws is best single target damage.

wrathsoul1

merlinmonroe wrote: »

I've been playing an Unarmed recently. I liked it, but noticed that my Munitions toon was killing stuff much faster.
This was surprising since melee usually does more damage than ranged.

Does unarmed have its strengths in something other than dps?

What are the strengths and weaknesses in the other MAs?

Of course, Dual Blades is obvious since it is AOE, but what about the others?

I get the impression that either Single Blade or Claws is best single target damage.

Sure, melee does more damage, but in order to be effective you need to go straight in their faces, even if it would be the dumbest thing you would do, since stuff like Pestilence exists.

But, for the MA sets, keep this in mind:

-Unarmed for dodge tanking;
-Dual Blades for AoEs;
-Single Blade for stacks of Bleed;
-Fighting Claws for armor penetration.

merlinmonroe

Thanks for the reply.

I don't understand why unarmed is better at dodging than the others.

I assume that most of the dodge abilities come from Lightning reflexes and other powers, all of which can be used by the other martial arts forms.

spinnytop

merlinmonroe wrote: »

Thanks for the reply.

I don't understand why unarmed is better at dodging than the others.

I assume that most of the dodge abilities come from Lightning reflexes and other powers, all of which can be used by the other martial arts forms.

Unarmed is better at dodging because unarmed has all the attacks that give dodge buffs. Yes, other martial arts sets can use them as well, but that doesn't change the fact that they are flagged as Unarmed powers, and have animations to match.

I'm going to hazard a guess... your munitions toon uses 2 Gun Mojo?

merlinmonroe

Thanks for your help.

Yes, my munitions toon uses 2 gun mojo, as well as Quarry with Fair Game advantage, so that he can heal himself as he kills. He kills pretty darn fast as well.

merlinmonroe

Is Single Blade worth having?

I was experimenting in the Powerhouse and am getting the impression that SB isn't very good.
I've noticed that Double Blade gets decent damage and also has Eye of the Storm which shields in addition to damage.

I also noticed that SB is the only MA that doesn't have any powers that require 5 powers to get.
I didn't think that SB does much damage as well.

Does anyone think that SB is good?

purin1

I use Single Blade almost exclusively, and I believe it is very good.

It's based around stacking bleeds and using Reaper's Embrace to Rupture them for heavy damage. Did you test Reaper's Embrace?

SB is also lacking in the AoE department, as is Fighting Claws.

jennymachx

The Unarmed set's strength has to do with how versatile it is. It has a wide array attacks with knock ups, knock downs and PBAoEs. Some of the powers gel well together, like Crashing Wave Kick's stun or Inexorable Tide's knock down giving Elbow Slam's advantage the extra damage boost. There are attacks with CC effects like snares, roots and stuns. The set also makes for a good tank build with so many of the powers having threat-generation advantages. As mentioned there are also various dodge buffs to be enjoyed from the set.

kinshare

purin1 wrote: »

I use Single Blade almost exclusively, and I believe it is very good.

It's based around stacking bleeds and using Reaper's Embrace to Rupture them for heavy damage. Did you test Reaper's Embrace?

SB is also lacking in the AoE department, as is Fighting Claws.

So I need to have a near max level character as a single blade to have a prayer of completing Serpent Lantern solo? Guess I should have went for long range dps.

flowcyto

kinshare wrote: »

So I need to have a near max level character as a single blade to have a prayer of completing Serpent Lantern solo? Guess I should have went for long range dps.

SB is great single target dmg. Some wind-up, but good payoff to it. If ya dun mind breaking theme a lil, ya can always dip into dual blades for its excellent melee aoe (sword cyclone). Can also nab BCR/RR, masterful dodge, eye of the storm, parry w/ elusive monk, and way of the warrior for very decent survival for a melee. Tides is also a good combo knock-up and aoe.

SB has its share of weaknesses, but ya can counter almost all of these by taking abilities from other MA trees if ur FF. Things like survival or aoe are only an issue if you are being very stringent with your theme and not allowing for other types of abilities other than SB.

Also, not really fair to compare legitimately good builds to OP crud like TGM that sullies the game's challenge and sense of balance. That's some of my bias seeping through, though.

kinshare

flowcyto wrote: »

SB is great single target dmg. Some wind-up, but good payoff to it. If ya dun mind breaking theme a lil, ya can always dip into dual blades for its excellent melee aoe (sword cyclone). Can also nab BCR/RR, masterful dodge, eye of the storm, parry w/ elusive monk, and way of the warrior for very decent survival for a melee. Tides is also a good combo knock-up and aoe.

SB has its share of weaknesses, but ya can counter almost all of these by taking abilities from other MA trees if ur FF. Things like survival or aoe are only an issue if you are being very stringent with your theme and not allowing for other types of abilities other than SB.

Also, not really fair to compare legitimately good builds to OP crud like TGM that sullies the game's challenge and sense of balance. That's some of my bias seeping through, though.

I should have been more clear. I'm not FF so I'm locked into The Blade achetype. I don't have a self heal and waiting a few minutes between every battle in an adventure Pack would be tedious and gets masochistic when dealing with Luther in Demonflame.