Gearing, Stats, and You

tasittler

After reading guides that are several years dated and knowing that the current devs have done some tweaking under the hood, I'm curious at this point which of the following is the better solution at least for FF:

1) Gear and stat for your super stats only
2) Use your gear and talents to buff your non-supers

I've already burned my freebie retcon token on my character since I wanted to rework some things anyway. I've done some testing and found my damage output remaining relatively consistent regardless of which direction I go and the effects of the non-supers seem to not be worth the meager gains.

In case it helps, my character is basically a slightly reworked Scourge AT with a touch of some of the other sorcery powers used for things like Pillar of Poz and the shadow power that is a ranged aoe hold for both theme and how well certain powers play off each other. So it's a ranged aoe damage / dots with the ability to generate multiple types of holds with some extra survivability.

Any tips folks could provide for optimization would be much appreciated as I feel like I'm maybe a mid-level at best builder. Granted I've tried to stay within theme a bit more but the utility of a particular power tends to win by a nose usually.

ajanus

Generally speaking, I usually just full on stat for superstats only. I usually run Vigilante secondaries which force you to use your superstats, then double stat all 3 primaries as superstats.

Now, whether I use primary superstats or secondary superstats when I use mods depends on what I am actually gaining with my spec tree. Usually it is tied to whichever gives me Crit Severity. If I take STR primary, then usually all my gear mods go to Con to buff up Juggernaut.

I would never mod outside my superstats on primary pieces though. If anything, I might dedicate 1 secondary piece to a stat I need outside my superstat range, but honestly, out of 3 stats, I can cover the bases of whatever toon I want to make.

jamesbonnell

I have a tendency to gear for super stats, and then buff, if only one other stat, Recovery.

I generally prefer to have a decently high Rec - 50+ - on almost every character.

I also tend to gear one stat for my form, e.g. Strength / Enrage, Int or Ego / Concentration, etc.

This may or may not be the PSS. There are times when a secondary stat is higher than the PSS, particularly when I wanted a benefit from the specialization from the PSS but the form or another spec (the aforementioned Juggernaut) that benefits from a high level of one stat.

flowcyto

Well, although the Scourge is a good AT, the SS setup is one of the bad things about it. I hope you didn't keep that part of it

It really just depends on the build- primarily, melee vs. ranged, and if ur using an energy-hog move as ur primary or not. Ranged generally has tighter-knit stat setups w/ Int running a gamut of possible things ranging from Concentration, Quarry, and MSA, to Manipulator, working well w/ AoPM as a PSS, and just giving general CDR and cost discount (alternatively, Ego can fill that spot if using an Ego-scaling EU, like Killer Instinct). W/ these builds, you can usually get optimal dmg/energy w/o going outside ur 3 SS's and still likely pick up Con SS for good health. When ur 3 SS's can handle most/all survival, energy, and dps needs, there's not much need to stat or gear outside them.

Melee builds, by and large, don't have EUs devoted to them, and their toggles don't overlap in their prime stat w/ any EU (no EU is fueled by Str or Dex). Rush-toggle users are a bit more concise since they can get Rush to replace or supplement an EU, and then Dex does most things for them (sans granting knock resist, which is more valuable for a melee unit). Enrage-Str users have nice synergy w/ Constitution and Juggernaught, but generally either have to settle w/ lower crit but less energy issues from taking Int or Rec over Dex, a sub-par offense passive (Unstoppable) to fix knock energy issues, and/or have decent crit but perhaps some energy issues w/o using Rush moves (which won't combo w/ Enrage toggles) and/or skipping Con so you get something like DEX/Str/Int or STR/Dex/Int w/ MSA (good on crit and energy, but then ur health is lower).

Energy-hog attacks (and Ranged builds not using HI/KI/Ego Reverb+Ego, MSA+Int, or Spirit Reverb+Con) usually demand at least one devoted energy SS (Rec or End) on top of Int or Ego/Str PSS to avoid copious end building. But this locks in two of ur SS's, since End and Rec can't fuel any dps-oriented toggles and aren't good for threat/dps.. you'll have to give up something when you pick that 3rd SS. Just like w/ Str users ur limited a bit in what you can do (similar issues- lose health, or lose crit, or ignore Rec_End for Dex+Con and have more energy problems, etc).

If I can't fit all my dps, energy, and survival needs in my 3 SS's, yeah I may have to stat a considerable amount in non-SS's (ex: stating Con for most dps ATs that lack it as a SS; stating Strength for some knock resist on Dex/Con/Int_Rec users, stating Dex for INT/End/Con energy-hog users, etc), but for committed dps builds its not often a big price to pay since the DR on passive dmg for FFs is so strict anyways.


I guess to make a shorter version that's easier to understand, some examples of what I mean:

1. EGO/Dex/Con, KI+Muni user: all three bases (dps, energy, health) covered. No great need to stat much outside those three.

2. INT/Dex/Con or DEX/Int/Con, typical ranged build using MSA + Concentration_Manipulator: same deal as 1.

3. INT/End_Rec/Con, FC tap spammer w/ Conc + MSA: good health and efficient for energy, but low crit; could use some Dex.

4. STR/Dex/Con or DEX/Str/Con, melee user: good dps + health for generalized melee builds, but may run into energy issues if not using Focus-toggle + Rush-granting move.

5. DEX/Int_Rec/Con, melee user: good on all 3 bases, but can still get knocked around (low Str) and doesn't work for Enrage-toggle users that need Strength.

6. STR/Con/Int_Rec, melee user: good for Enrage-stacking melee, but lower crit w/o Dex and won't work w/ Focus-toggle users.

selphea

General rule of thumb is as much into superstats as possible, but enough Rec/Equilibrium to throw out the first attack and last long enough before Form or Unlock energy kicks in.

For example, with a Thunderbolt + Lightning Arc + MSA + Concentration build that has Int superstatted but not Rec, its rotation would look like:

1. Thunderbolt (Concentration kicks in)
2. Lightning Arc (Second shot of of Concentration Energy slightly over halfway through maintain)
3. Thunderbolt goes off CD and starts returning MSA energy close to the end of the maintain.

That means Equilibrium + 2 stacks of Concentration needs to be greater than the cost of a Thunderbolt tap and pretty much a full Lightning Arc maintain to tide you over to the MSA return.

So that's where balancing Equilibrium vs. Int's Cost Discount and Concentration + MSA return comes in. Int will give you the sustainability, but you might need some Rec to get it going, and that's statting non-superstats i.e. Rec might be useful.

tasittler

Thanks for all the info and it looks like I need to rework a few things.

bravehoptoad

Rush-toggle users are a bit more concise since they can get Rush to replace or supplement an EU, and then Dex does most things for them (sans granting knock resist, which is more valuable for a melee unit).

MechTeddy says that the energy return from Rush doesn't actually scale with DEX. That's kind of old info, though--did they fix this?

selphea

bravehoptoad wrote: »

MechTeddy says that the energy return from Rush doesn't actually scale with DEX. That's kind of old info, though--did they fix this?

From what I've seen, it does scale with Dex

flowcyto

bravehoptoad wrote: »

MechTeddy says that the energy return from Rush doesn't actually scale with DEX. That's kind of old info, though--did they fix this?

Dex is increasing Rush, at least when I just tested (w/o Dex SS: 7 energy per tick; w/ Dex SS and no other changes: 9 energy per tick).

The tool-tip for Rush is either inaccurate or not updating properly, though, cause I didn't notice any change in that.

Also, it seems that the cost discount Rush gives is affected by the DR for cost discount rating on gear, as w/o gear it was closer to 15%, but ~8-11% w/ gear on. That's prob intentional, though.

More minor bugs for the pile..