I've heard its not so much its damage but its survivability that has problems? I mean, if you have properly-supported 2GM your damage can't suffer too/i] much.
2GM and bullet ballet are pretty strong. Lead tempest is pretty defense and if I am not mistaken, the melee powers are good too.
"Good can be found in heights, even in the deepest pits of evil" but "The valleys of evil always exist in the mountains of good."
The Specialist has pretty balanced and strong DPS in melee and at range, althought it do suffers energy issues because it has neither energy management stats, nor an energy unlock.
It also lost some part of its defenses after LR nerf.
Aside of the cool factor I'm not sure if I'd recommend the Specialist for purchase in its current state. It used to be very good, now it's closer to the same level with free ATs.
And the Fist never was very good AT to begin with. High DPS but paper-thin and no self-heal. It really doesn't do anything more than free ATs are doing.
Really, Premium ATs in general needs to be on the same level with the Savage. This assumption that they will be widely popular only because the theme turned to be completely fictional.
I did some comparison between the Inferno and the Squall, out of curiosity.
Outperformed by the Inferno. "Premium" AT my exhaust.
I now understand why games like LoL are so famous... Constant balancing of characters.... I moved on to mmorpg anyways and can't find better customization than CO... But at least let there be more ATs or better premium ATs
I still want the specialist or night avenger though xD (something with both melee and ranged)
"Good can be found in heights, even in the deepest pits of evil" but "The valleys of evil always exist in the mountains of good."
the dps I saw from it was perfectly fine as soon as I got my passive. it wasn't anything I'd call extremely low.
I think your issue may lie in trying to use heirloom gear from the beginning perhaps?
Halfway to 40, I'm not sure the gear is the issue. Have you been parsing? It's really rather sad dps, and the passive has a few issues in alerts. Namely: Stealth doesn't freaking work in them. All of the "They pay less attention to you" parts of what made the Void great were broken when that patch came out. Also, there was a time where the void's ebon rift was a great cc power, that would bunch people up and make your shadow tendrils do a ton of damage. That time has sure passed. The one and only upside to the void is it makes ao'q possible for an AT player. Ebon Ruin is ace. Shame you get it so late.
The Specialist has pretty balanced and strong DPS in melee and at range, althought it do suffers energy issues because it has neither energy management stats, nor an energy unlock.
It also lost some part of its defenses after LR nerf.
Aside of the cool factor I'm not sure if I'd recommend the Specialist for purchase in its current state. It used to be very good, now it's closer to the same level with free ATs.
And the Fist never was very good AT to begin with. High DPS but paper-thin and no self-heal. It really doesn't do anything more than free ATs are doing.
Really, Premium ATs in general needs to be on the same level with the Savage. This assumption that they will be widely popular only because the theme turned to be completely fictional.
I did some comparison between the Inferno and the Squall, out of curiosity.
Outperformed by the Inferno. "Premium" AT my exhaust.
Oddly enough, and this was never the case before, the inferno is also more survivable. I don't even... Writing that sentence just made my brain hurt.
Sure, 2gm is still OP. But that comes with the added threat, and I know you know how screwed our current dodge system is with lightning reflexes. Hell, we got a block specifically designed to fix it, and the block SUCKS. That said? Specced for dps, it's a pretty decent alert tank, and plays hybrid dps pretty well.
The fist is nothing but a giant threat magnet with no way to hang when it gets the eventual threat. I've said it before and I'll say it again: The dps cap for ATs being higher is actually a detriment. You need an AMAZING tank to hold aggro on that kinda character. I'm actually kinda glad I'm doing this experiment as an LTS subscriber. I can't even imagine how mad I'd be if I bought that AT and tried to run it. Granted, it's no Squall. Some of the ATs make me hella happy that I'm just doing this as a test and a writing exercise. We need an AT pass, bad.
In game, I am @EvilTaco. Happily killing purple gang members since May 2008. RIP Caine
Problem with the Night Avenger is, it can not be equally balanced for both ranged and melee because you have to pick only one toggle.
Which kinda misses the point of being in the hybrid role.
Either way you are underusing your Str or Ego.
And no energy unlock nor stats for energy management.
It also has neither AO or AD to pick and in case you were unlucky enough to aggro too much on you, you can't just pop Masterful Dodge and PBAoE everything. And as soon as you are out of your stealth you are very squishy. Re-stealth can be problematic.
Albeit the Specialist's self-heal is very situational, weak and unreliable, it is certainly better than no self-heal at all.
I don't know why people are using the Inferno as a token "hard" to play AT. It may be supersquishy, but given how fast it can kill things, it never matters outside of alerts (when you will be faceplanting if no good tank is around because AT = aggro magnet).
I think the difference between the Squall and the Inferno is in their DPS. They're both squishies with no panic buttons and threat management, but the Squall simply can't kill things fast enough before being killed.
I really like this thread, and can't wait to see which AT you do next. My experience with the Savage matches what people have said--at 37, it's my highest level character. It's just so good.
I'm eager to see what you have to say about the Disciple. I'm only at 21 on mine, but it feels pretty sturdy for a melee dps AT.
Between the two? I'd go with Night Avenger.. Night Warrior is pretty freaking boss,and boomerangs are awesome. 2GM awesome, really, if more for AoE.
..and Shadow Strike? That just never gets old.
Problem is, it flat out doesn't work in alerts. I'll be covering that soon, Night Avenger might actually unseat the Squall as my current whipping boy. Against any elite content, right now, stealth just flat out doesn't work. I fire off a Shadow Strike successfully about one out of every 10 times I try. Skull mobs see right through it, which is HILARIOUS because pvpers can't most of the time. The Specialist, on the other hand. Don't try to tank, and it's pretty fun. It's about our best shot at a hybrid melee/ranged AT.
Long story short: Most ATs are pretty bad to an intentionally sad degree. TAco's experienceand picks notwithstanding.
I wouldn't say bad, for a decent chunk of em. Too focused, to a fault, definitely. Problem really is: ATs are built around the trinity. None of the rest of the game is. This makes them suffer pretty badly as a result, and the high damage soft cap really doesn't help the squishies.
Note I said "most." Some of them are quite decent, and there's always that absurd DR bug they have.
That said, if the Master plays like the FF version of the set its mostly based on, the biggest issue I've had with Unarmed Defensive MA is.. the damage is appallingly low. Horribly so, even for a tank.
(Though melee-tanking at least has to cut down on the worst issue for trying to melee in PUGs.. "The Benny Hill 'I Got Aggro'd!' Dance"...)
The dps isn't atrocious on the Master. That DR bug actually helps it a bunch, although the dodge nerf really didn't do it any favors. It can actually main tank a surprising amount of content, although it's no Savage or Invincible.
I really like this thread, and can't wait to see which AT you do next. My experience with the Savage matches what people have said--at 37, it's my highest level character. It's just so good.
I'm eager to see what you have to say about the Disciple. I'm only at 21 on mine, but it feels pretty sturdy for a melee dps AT.
I appreciate that
I can say flat out that the Disciple is freaking great. I'm saving that bacon. Siphoning strikes makes it a viable self-healing dps machine, and the damage it throws out is pretty darn impressive.
If you're curious, the ATs I currently have on deck are The Mountain, The Soldier, The Mind, and The Void. I feel like my Mountain might hit 40 first, because while it's not spectacular at the damage? It's damn sure fun to play. I've had multiple requests for the Disciple, though. That will probably bump it to the top of the queue pretty fast, I'm trying to take requests.
Problem with the Night Avenger is, it can not be equally balanced for both ranged and melee because you have to pick only one toggle.
Which kinda misses the point of being in the hybrid role.
Either way you are underusing your Str or Ego.
And no energy unlock nor stats for energy management.
It also has neither AO or AD to pick and in case you were unlucky enough to aggro too much on you, you can't just pop Masterful Dodge and PBAoE everything. And as soon as you are out of your stealth you are very squishy. Re-stealth can be problematic.
Albeit the Specialist's self-heal is very situational, weak and unreliable, it is certainly better than no self-heal at all.
I don't know why people are using the Inferno as a token "hard" to play AT. It may be supersquishy, but given how fast it can kill things, it never matters outside of alerts (when you will be faceplanting if no good tank is around because AT = aggro magnet).
I think the difference between the Squall and the Inferno is in their DPS. They're both squishies with no panic buttons and threat management, but the Squall simply can't kill things fast enough before being killed.
Huh, your post bugged for me when I tried to quote it.
Again, 100% correct. It's pretty obvious you've done something like this too, your knowledge of the ATs and their weaknesses is pretty fantastic. The major issue with the Squall, imo, is the fact that to do much with it you pretty much have to get right in the middle of combat. The Inferno can just chill at the edges and pick at people, the range it has really keeps it pretty safe. Given Teleport, it's got an unfair rep. It can hide for a second and not risk sad dps, because of ALL OF THOSE DEBUFFS. I've taken an Inferno to 40 before (and blanked on that fact) and with teleport as a get out of hell free card? It's actually pretty damn effective. It's not a hard at, it's just one that requires some tactics. And everything that works for it is why the Squall fails. Teleporting out in the middle of combat in an alert is a non starter, mobs can see right through it. The fact that the Inferno can build Concentration stacks like nobody's business doesn't hurt either. The Squall legit never got to 8 before dropping. Even with a decently geared 40 version, winding that thing up is a headache. A properly built Inferno can hit max stacks in about 2 seconds if you plan it right. WORLD of difference right there.
In game, I am @EvilTaco. Happily killing purple gang members since May 2008. RIP Caine
The dps isn't atrocious on the Master. That DR bug actually helps it a bunch, although the dodge nerf really didn't do it any favors. It can actually main tank a surprising amount of content, although it's no Savage or Invincible.
The issue I have with this sentence, mostly because it is true, is that with the Savage intent probably was a survivable DPS (given a look at its spec trees) and the Master was supposed to be a dedicated tank.
I think something is not exactly right here... :cool:
Yup, overnerf of the dodge passive again shows its ugly head.
Oh, well. At least nobody was cruel enough to put our dodge block enchancer on it. :biggrin:
Funny thing with ATs is they are built very narrowly within their powersets so it serves very well as a highlight of balance issues between powersets.
The Impulse, for an example, could be improved by changing its power progression, but it won't solve things like the Force defensive passive being handicapped against VIPER pulson tech or another strange idea with Force Cascade consuming energy forms. Both pretty good examples of gimmicks where too much of a game utility was sacrificed for the theme.
Likewise, nothing is really wrong with the way how the Mountain was built, problems are more with the Earth powerset.
Sometimes ATs are handicapped not even because of their builds, but because powersets have issues.
Ok so... Between the tempest, disciple and specialist what would you suggest? If I save enough, I am gonna get an AT followed by a 2-character slot or a good costume set (most probably the former) and if its a tough choice at least tell me the pros and cons of each on comparison.
"Good can be found in heights, even in the deepest pits of evil" but "The valleys of evil always exist in the mountains of good."
I can say right now that TK blades does really solid DPS with really good survivability thanks to Siphoning Strikes, Nova. Really fun to watch, and the melee set I've had the most luck with (though still, Benny Hill problem. You can run, kids, but it won't save you unless you can kill the pursuer before they get there. I.E. DON'T DO THIS WITH ALERT BOSSES!)
ANd let it be said I don't dislike ATs or anything! I'm just a FF-devotee. I've seen plenty ofevidence that ATs can compete, it's just some of the design decisions boggle me and sometimes seem intentionally cruel to subject players to - see the Squall's lack of a threat wipe (standard on my huge DPSers) and the general horrific lack of self-healing.
And the DR bug helps the Master, then? Interesting.. I eventually gave up on UAMA after taking a minute or two to whittle down a single two-bar baddie (!). May just be my usualproclivity toward DPS at work.
..and huh, usually when I was playing with NW in Alerts I'd wait til the boss was distracted, slip in, strike, and de-aggro? Not working there?
Hmm I am just having a tough time deciding because I find the concept of telekinetic blades very cool (combine that with your psi dragon armor or holoforce armor and you get one hell of a costume when the ID mastery lights it up) but at the same time, I don't wanna feel like wasting all my hard earned questionite because I have never really had much luck with pure melee dps - dedicated ATs . I found the devastator too sluggish and I kept dying constantly with the blade and unleashed. And isn't the disciple similar to the unleashed?
"Good can be found in heights, even in the deepest pits of evil" but "The valleys of evil always exist in the mountains of good."
HW as a set hits really hard, as does SB, but SB has rough survivability issues unless built to compensate for - and well, we know how well most DPS ATS compensate for survivability issues, right?
Ego blades really has none of those problems.It hits pretty fast,has a nasty spike potential, and excellent survivability thanks to SiStri. Only reason I'm on break from it is again - the pain of trying to do melee in general in a lot of Alerts due to bad player behavior.
Err what's HW ? Sorry but I stink with abbrev ... And if you have ego as base stat for a melee dps (I know the hold resist makes it so awesome), doesn't it reduce your base damage, which scales on str?
"Good can be found in heights, even in the deepest pits of evil" but "The valleys of evil always exist in the mountains of good."
I just checked ironmarble's videos for the disciple and the specialist. Wasn't so impressed by the specialist's dps but the disciple... I was like :O the whole time...AND that was just with unmodded heirloom gear... I mean like 9 out of 10 hits were all crits... I have never seen such chance on any unleashed or blade I have met so far... What more? Blade frenzy was like eye of storm part 2... You could clear a whole mob in 1 sec! And that last lvl 40 skill is like an instakill on problem... Guess the disciple may be an aggro magnet? But I think I am gonna get him instead of the specialist... Which means I am gonna get either holoforce or dragon set (which do u suggest?) next up.
I have only 3 questions now:
How does the disciple perform in rampages?
Where does the health bar of a lvl 40 disciple stand? (My savage's bar stands at 9000 when side kicking to lvl 40 with lvl 35 gear that I pulled off the AH)
How do I divide the stats I rank up
"Good can be found in heights, even in the deepest pits of evil" but "The valleys of evil always exist in the mountains of good."
Ego blades really has none of those problems.It hits pretty fast,has a nasty spike potential, and excellent survivability thanks to SiStri. Only reason I'm on break from it is again - the pain of trying to do melee in general in a lot of Alerts due to bad player behavior.
Just do enough DPS to have the aggro yourself, problem solved. Well, other than the dying problem.
Don't stat Recovery on the Disciple (or on the Soldier on that matter). There's a specialisation for secondary SS boosting your defense in Ego tree, but it works with either secondary SS so you can have it statting only Dex. And the more crits you can get out of Dex the better, since Siphoning Strikes heals the better the more you can crit.
Con mods will be hit with diminishing return very soon since it isn't a superstat, so you'll be better with +maximum health points gear than with Con gear and mods.
So yeah, it's first Ego and Dex and with both gear and specs you are bound to build for crits.
The Void is prob low dps cause its stuck w/ a basic blast and embrace for most levels- neither are good base dps. DD is a good adv for AoE CC, but R2 Embrace is rather weak and back-ended on dmg.
Its dmg should pick up a bit on AoE w/ Ebon Rift, and def once ya get Ebon Ruin at 40.
Too bad it has to pick between LD and Shadows, cause the latter are good dps for a pet.
I figured you'd really like the Savage.. well, outside of trying to AoE grind w/ it :x The dps a well-made hybrid AT w/ a defense passive can still do w/ strong powers is insane.
As far as ATs w/o Con SS- I gear 'em w/ health mods too, but that's usually not enough MaxHP for my liking, so I'd still stat some Con on top of that. Just depends how high ya wanna go.
Call me crazy for being nitpicky, but I was re-reading your write-ups on you've given in this thread on various archtypes and I saw one error.
For the Devastator AT, you mention that Endorphin Rush partially scales on Defiance. This used to be the case, but it really doesn't anymore. The duration of Endorphin Rush should be a flat 6 seconds instead of being based on Defiance. The change happened during the big update to all the Forms and Auras, but in game description wasn't properly updated.
The Soldier... I expected less from this AT. It's always been a squish-monster, I've leveled a few before. I wasn't expecting it to perform as well as it did, and it really did perform spectacularly. Usually, AT characters feature a ton of overlap. Too many redundant or useless powers. This one doesn't have that. The tactical choices are fantastic, each power has a specific purpose, and I've found a reason to rank or advantage every single one of them. Minigun rocks for closely packed groups. Mine's got a teddy bear on it. AR is awesome for building concentration stacks, just stop maintaining about 50% in if you're 60 feet in or so. Shotgun with advantage, is a great get-off-me button. SMG is awesome for mowing down low level packs. Smoke nade? It works better than most threat wipes.
Sterga said this previously, and I went for it: A soldier works fantastically if you just bum-rush a fight. If you've got a tank? Let them get the first hit, and by the time you get threat, it's dead. If you're getting beat on? Shotgun it, and burn it down with AR. The only power I don't see working as well as I'd like? Sniper Rifle. It's just a big threat magnet, and the second you're hit you lose your charge. Mini-gun seriously crushes it for raw dps, and in fact mini-gun clobbers just about everything. I dropped from time to time, with my soldier (sometimes smoke nade doesn't work) and you know what? I didn't care at all. My usual "give it a heal" doesn't apply here, the damage it tosses out is *insane*, and knowing how to build concentration stacks means that dying does nothing at all to you. I rocked a 38 soldier in mechanon, with full graphics, and still came ahead of some 40s that are played by people I respect the hell out of. This thing is a bit of a monster.
I'll point out, for the record, that my fiancee joined the game a bit back. Picked up the soldier, on my suggestion. She hit 40 within 3-4 days. She never played an MMO before, and didn't do much gaming at all. Still rocked out the dps, and got great damage even with low gear. This one might be one of the easier silver ATs to run with. Just hold down one of a few buttons and stuff dies. I parsed it, and she was coming near the top for dps even without knowing how the game actually functions. That speaks volumes for the potency of this AT.
As for the costume? I wanted a soldier that looked more human, and like a vigilante. I kinda got into the idea of making an anime style harajuku assassin. I don't watch much anime, and I don't know a ton about Asian fashion, but I like how she turned out as a character. Her pistol is a gatling pistol, and literally everything else that isn't the gatling gun is the new rifle. That thing is amazing, if you play a soldier I fully recommend picking it up.
Advantages:
-INSANE dps.
-Good crowd control. The knocks and the threat wipe from smoke grenade work fantastically.
-Versatile. AOE, single target, line of effect... This does everything.
-Fantastic spec trees. Avengicator works well here, it's easy to ramp up crits on both your aoe and single target.
-Energy efficient. I didn't care when I got my energy unlock. I was doing well anyway.
Disadvantages:
-Squishy. You gotta play tactically, otherwise you're going to die a messy death.
-... Actually, that's about it. It's just squishy, you need to use tactics. This isn't a jump in and murder things AT. This is an AT where you do best by watching your team and seeing their strengths.
Rating:
10/10
One thing that would make it better:
Nothing. It's great at what it does. The only bits of weakness it has are compensated for, by how good the dps is. I guess the usual can go in here: Reduce the cooldown on heal devices, and split them for the heal device and bubble device.
In game, I am @EvilTaco. Happily killing purple gang members since May 2008. RIP Caine
I consider Sniper Rifle specifically an anti-boss power. It gives this AT something extra to do when boss is tanked, and if it draws aggro I'm just blocking and move mysef out of the fight unitl tank can regain aggro.
With a caveat "moving yourself out of the fight" doesn't mean" running in circles like a headless chicken only making things worse for tank and everyone else", but just taking a step backward and not attacking until aggro is again on the tank...
Gradii: As you know, 100% agreed with that. The shield stims actually bubbling is pretty clever, since wtf, how the hell are you gonna fill that extra hp cap otherwise? It's not like healers ever need to use the things.
Cthunist: Yeah, and that's literally about it. The 120 foot reach is nice for fights like what's going on with Mechanon right now, it's fantastic for staying out of aoe damage range, but otherwise? Meh. Gatling's got 100 foot reach, it works well enough most of the time. I'd say I love it for a pull attack, but this thing shouldn't be pulling ANYTHING. Sniper's the closest thing to redundant the AT has, although it's pretty absurd if you spec for single target damage. I've seen a few sniper soldier builds, it's pretty darn brutal. Personally, I don't like speccing single target, so that probably limited my efficacy with it.
One thing I will say, though? It's pretty handy for standing on top of things, then dropping down behind them to lose aggro when you get threat. Might be one of the most efficient wipes I know of, I was having a *blast* doing that in the bank alerts.
Wrath: Hm, not sure. I've got a void, mountain, and mind on deck. Gonna have to see which one grabs me by the face the hardest. I'm actually kinda thinking maybe the mind, I haven't done a healer AT in a bit. Wouldn't hurt to break up the DPSers a bit, and I've been having fun with it already.
In game, I am @EvilTaco. Happily killing purple gang members since May 2008. RIP Caine
Of my AT's, My Soldier is by far my favorite. I've taken him into everything from Alerts to Gravitar.
I'll also add this.. this AT is a BEAST on a team with people rocking support auras. Any of the Aura's. I don't know if any AT benefits from buffs as much as this AT does.
I still play my soldier regularly, because he's just that much fun.
Soldier shreds (if I were to rank the ATs thus far it'd be in the top tier- w/ the caveat that its not quite as easy as the likes of the Savage, but has completely different and awesome strengths). Once I got high level and got Rocket for the alpha strike, I found I could play quite recklessly and get away with it. After LnL + Rocket -> SMG -> shotgunning -> follow-up AR_SMG most things are dead or very close to dying- and if they aren't dead yet then they get another shotgun blast (or two) and soon will be dead.
The ability to take off large chunks of health from long range is what's missing from the Squall (until lvl 40), and for these squishy, heal-less ATs I find that is rather key in Grab Alerts (if you actually want to AoE like a madman and get away w/ it a bit).
Cthunist: Yeah, and that's literally about it. The 120 foot reach is nice for fights like what's going on with Mechanon right now, it's fantastic for staying out of aoe damage range, but otherwise? Meh. Gatling's got 100 foot reach, it works well enough most of the time. I'd say I love it for a pull attack, but this thing shouldn't be pulling ANYTHING. Sniper's the closest thing to redundant the AT has, although it's pretty absurd if you spec for single target damage. I've seen a few sniper soldier builds, it's pretty darn brutal. Personally, I don't like speccing single target, so that probably limited my efficacy with it.
Try SR vs. Gravi and F&I. I think you'll like it a bit more then :x
The reason for Sniper Rifle for me is that I took Rocket Launcher R2 with advantage as a splash damage opener, so I need another long range attack for bosses.
Pop AO, fire the rocket and then finish the rest of the group with SMG is my usual way.
But obviously with knockback from the rocket this build would not be very useful for teaming, so there's a Sniper Rifle at least.
My favorite part about this AT is... After you have Energy Unlock, you can stop using energy builder. Like forever.
Thing I'd change in the Soldier AT would be an assault rifle energy builder. Which is more like something looong overdue with Munitions in general. Two pistol energy builders and not a single SMG/AR one.
So I pretty much maxed out my savage. I love it but I wanted a killing machine with a good sustain. The savage satisfies it but it has a little trouble due to the absence of an aggressive passive. Of course I moved on to the disciple. From what I have seen, the disciple's power ramps up as you level it up and is evenly spaced. I didn't find that all that much with the savage halfway through. I know it's kinda crazy but I was annoyed when howl was a little passive. In case of the disciple I have been loving all the power so far. Ever since my favorite lunge so far to the level 17 dragon's wrath (ego blade breach), I haven't been so disappointed. I was initially pissed that it dies too fast web surrounded. But now with more crit and siphoning strikes, I negate their damage most of the time as long as I have something to hit and I don't get one hit (I hate the Mega-Ds for this). The savage rocks though. But I have paused playing it for the moment...
"Good can be found in heights, even in the deepest pits of evil" but "The valleys of evil always exist in the mountains of good."
Did you yell "Leeroy" or at least "YOLO" when you rushed in? It's required. Even if the people around you question your sanity. They probably do anyway.
Sniper Rifle is what I use for lazy Frosty and Grav damage. Unless I know the tanks can actually hold Frosty's attention. I also like to use it as an opener. Most alert pugs are wimps and aren't going in first anyway.
The only thing I use SMG for is farming the voodoo cemetery. Enemies are dumb and funnel into my gat gun's cylinder nicely.
Thanks to Superhero Healthcare, you never need worry about death! EMTs are always right around the corner should you be beaten unconscious and drop you in a designated recovery zone upon your revival.
I love, love this thread, Chalupa. This is the best stuff written on archetypes anywhere. Your ratings themselves are sometimes overgenerous, but that's only because you enjoy playing this game so much. I love that you gave the Inventor 9/10--not because it's powerful or well-designed, but just because you had so much fun playing it.
The one I'm looking forward to is the Tempest, because the one and only thing ATs do better than FFs is raw damage, and the Tempest is supposed to do the most of all--more than the Inferno, more than the Soldier. It has the biggest bore of all the glass cannons.
This bit from Tammy Waffles is tantalizing:
Simply repeatedly launch Ball Lightning, tap Sparkstorm and hold Block and watch as you AOE everything to death while you run with Dark Speed. Also, Cooldown reduction is vital to the Tempest since it already has infinite energy. You can essentially cut your Active Offence and Ball Lightning cooldowns by half granting you a shield and increased DPS more often and enabling you to launch Ball Lightning (effectively overlaps) after every Lightning Arc maintain...The spread for this AT is very specific (including talents), to hit the sweet spot of equilibrium above 90% to alpha strike Gigabolt with 15% extra damage.
Non Damage energy builders would be cool, maybe a targeting laser for power armor and munitions, builds energy and increases the crit chance of your next attack or something.
I think having just an assault rifle, pretty standard and basic, energy builder is quite more needed before moving to more fancy and niche ideas.
I love, love this thread, Chalupa. This is the best stuff written on archetypes anywhere. Your ratings themselves are sometimes overgenerous, but that's only because you enjoy playing this game so much. I love that you gave the Inventor 9/10--not because it's powerful or well-designed, but just because you had so much fun playing it.
The one I'm looking forward to is the Tempest, because the one and only thing ATs do better than FFs is raw damage, and the Tempest is supposed to do the most of all--more than the Inferno, more than the Soldier. It has the biggest bore of all the glass cannons.
This bit from Tammy Waffles is tantalizing:
Thanks
The thing to keep in mind is that when I do these ratings, it's more "as far as archetypes are concerned". If we're being fully honest here, considering freeforms even the savage is like a 6-7 at best. I probably shoulda put that caveat in there to begin with, especially since I pretty much front loaded myself with some of the better options out there. I'm about to sound like a cynical bastard comparatively, I've got 3 of em hovering at 25 because they're just god-awful.
Honestly, I take how fun a thing is to play into consideration for all of my reviews. The only high rating I gave for a boring AT was the Savage, and it's honestly because the AT was just that strong. Invincible went the opposite direction, the fact that you could target a few packs at once was a riot, and definitely effected the final score. I actually feel like the Squall woulda been solid middle of the pack, if it weren't for the fact that you just legitimately hold down one button until you're dead. Heck, if someone's reading this stuff for honest advice about an AT? The fact that it'll bore you half to death to play seems like it should be near the top of the list.
I might need the Tempest after the one I'm currently working on. I think I'll take you up on that. I've got a big dent put into The Mind, and all I'm gonna say for the moment is a palate cleanser is a very good idea.
Meeda, you seriously have me wondering now why they don't just give us a steady shot variant with an AR. We have that new rifle, nearly every non-2 gun muni power can fire from it, but the only eb it works with makes pew pew noises. This would be a great addition. You have my bow.
In game, I am @EvilTaco. Happily killing purple gang members since May 2008. RIP Caine
I'm really surprised that The Inventor Scored so much!
Unfortunately I STILL hate this AT and I Regret to this very day for Wasting ZEN on Buying (my characters was remade into FF slot, Inventor was JUST NOT for him)
I find it very Tedius to play with,
I still consider Medical Nanites the worst Support Passive
if Medical Nanites Boosted Technology Powers Damage like Seraphim Boost Paranormal Damage that would be a Saving Grace for that Passive
Lack of Ressurection Serum
and the annoying Teddifications (which get fixed, no more Breaking Bosses)
also I'm having bad memories doing Alerts since it seems like my Intenvor was an Agro Magnet and somehow all the MOBs the other players agroed were focused on me!
I was getting Gangbanged by mobs while having a Smartass in the PUG going "WHY AREN'T YOU SUPPORTING ME? YOU ARE THE WORST HEALER EVER" .... this actually DID Happened, I don't make up things
This AT is still big NO for me, but I'm Glad that you found a way to Enjoy it :cool:
for me there is no Redemption for this AT
I find myself REALLY Surprised with The Soldier, it was a Good AT for all the reasons you stated and I fell in Love with it (Along Specialist and Discliple)
The only problem with me with The Devastator is with Unstoppable, this passive needs to get some Defense buff/Damage resistance BUff (like Earth Form) and not that Pathetic 2 Digit Damage Absorbation
The Unstoppable needs to be the Defensive counterpart of the Dodge/Avoid of Way of the Warrior
I'm really like this thread so far! REALLY Great costumes and characters as well! :biggrin:
POWERFRAME REVAMPS, NEW POWERS and BUG FIXES > Recycled Content and Events and even costumes at this point Introvert guy who use CO to make his characters playable and get experimental with Viable FF Theme builds! Running out of Unique FF builds due to the lack of updates and synergies! Playing since 1 February 2011 128 + Characters (21 ATs, 107 FFs) ALTitis for Life!
It isn't a totally bad AT, it just may need some small finishing touches.
The Inventor actually isn't a dedicated support AT, it's a pet master/support hybrid, it's just that people who don't know CO very well are expecting it to be support just because of the role icon.
I think that a lot of problems with expectations in PUGs could be avoided if role-dependent icons were ditched completely and you could could pick whatever icon over your head you want.
This AT is more a hybrid than a support, despite being built in the Support role.
If I had a choice, I'd just roll with the Hybrid role icon. That would be much better representation for how this AT was built.
Medical Nanites actually can be useful if you skew your build heavily towards PRE and bonus healing. They are not Regeneration by any means, but they can make your pets and teammates last for longer.
Meeda covered a lot of it, but I actually was pretty damn capable of keeping most teams standing while doing what I did. It was hella fiddly, but tossing out the odd bionic and having nanites fill in the gaps worked very well, especially with heal drones backing me up. But it's part of why I made the caveat of "Great if you can make it work". That thing is god-tier difficulty.
I'm so very glad they fixed the teddification. It's now *officially* worth the rating I gave it. Doesn't break bosses now? Groovy.
100% with you on Unstoppable. My heavily tricked out might dps 40 uses it, and even with incredible gear she's only getting like 50 dr. it's pathetic.
Disciple will happen. I'm trying to break up melee and ranged, to save some life-long carpal tunnel issues, lol.
In game, I am @EvilTaco. Happily killing purple gang members since May 2008. RIP Caine
Comments
2GM and bullet ballet are pretty strong. Lead tempest is pretty defense and if I am not mistaken, the melee powers are good too.
"Good can be found in heights, even in the deepest pits of evil" but "The valleys of evil always exist in the mountains of good."
~me
"Good can be found in heights, even in the deepest pits of evil" but "The valleys of evil always exist in the mountains of good."
~me
It also lost some part of its defenses after LR nerf.
Aside of the cool factor I'm not sure if I'd recommend the Specialist for purchase in its current state. It used to be very good, now it's closer to the same level with free ATs.
And the Fist never was very good AT to begin with. High DPS but paper-thin and no self-heal. It really doesn't do anything more than free ATs are doing.
Really, Premium ATs in general needs to be on the same level with the Savage. This assumption that they will be widely popular only because the theme turned to be completely fictional.
I did some comparison between the Inferno and the Squall, out of curiosity.
Outperformed by the Inferno. "Premium" AT my exhaust.
I still want the specialist or night avenger though xD (something with both melee and ranged)
"Good can be found in heights, even in the deepest pits of evil" but "The valleys of evil always exist in the mountains of good."
~me
I'm pretty certain, that I've heard really good things about it's solid performance in Rampagess. Even after the dodge nerfs.
Yep so did I... Especially against Gravitar
"Good can be found in heights, even in the deepest pits of evil" but "The valleys of evil always exist in the mountains of good."
~me
Yes, I'm sure. It's no longer at the same level it was before.
And using Masterful Dodge as an argument really means little. This AD turns everything into dodge tank, but only as long as it is up.
And it really needs an energy unlock at least.
Halfway to 40, I'm not sure the gear is the issue. Have you been parsing? It's really rather sad dps, and the passive has a few issues in alerts. Namely: Stealth doesn't freaking work in them. All of the "They pay less attention to you" parts of what made the Void great were broken when that patch came out. Also, there was a time where the void's ebon rift was a great cc power, that would bunch people up and make your shadow tendrils do a ton of damage. That time has sure passed. The one and only upside to the void is it makes ao'q possible for an AT player. Ebon Ruin is ace. Shame you get it so late.
Oddly enough, and this was never the case before, the inferno is also more survivable. I don't even... Writing that sentence just made my brain hurt.
Sure, 2gm is still OP. But that comes with the added threat, and I know you know how screwed our current dodge system is with lightning reflexes. Hell, we got a block specifically designed to fix it, and the block SUCKS. That said? Specced for dps, it's a pretty decent alert tank, and plays hybrid dps pretty well.
The fist is nothing but a giant threat magnet with no way to hang when it gets the eventual threat. I've said it before and I'll say it again: The dps cap for ATs being higher is actually a detriment. You need an AMAZING tank to hold aggro on that kinda character. I'm actually kinda glad I'm doing this experiment as an LTS subscriber. I can't even imagine how mad I'd be if I bought that AT and tried to run it. Granted, it's no Squall. Some of the ATs make me hella happy that I'm just doing this as a test and a writing exercise. We need an AT pass, bad.
RIP Caine
Which kinda misses the point of being in the hybrid role.
Either way you are underusing your Str or Ego.
And no energy unlock nor stats for energy management.
It also has neither AO or AD to pick and in case you were unlucky enough to aggro too much on you, you can't just pop Masterful Dodge and PBAoE everything. And as soon as you are out of your stealth you are very squishy. Re-stealth can be problematic.
Albeit the Specialist's self-heal is very situational, weak and unreliable, it is certainly better than no self-heal at all.
I don't know why people are using the Inferno as a token "hard" to play AT. It may be supersquishy, but given how fast it can kill things, it never matters outside of alerts (when you will be faceplanting if no good tank is around because AT = aggro magnet).
I think the difference between the Squall and the Inferno is in their DPS. They're both squishies with no panic buttons and threat management, but the Squall simply can't kill things fast enough before being killed.
And what about the Master?? The AT best at tanking! Excluding the savage of course (I soloed a whole mob in lemurian invasion at lvl 35)
"Good can be found in heights, even in the deepest pits of evil" but "The valleys of evil always exist in the mountains of good."
~me
I'm eager to see what you have to say about the Disciple. I'm only at 21 on mine, but it feels pretty sturdy for a melee dps AT.
Problem is, it flat out doesn't work in alerts. I'll be covering that soon, Night Avenger might actually unseat the Squall as my current whipping boy. Against any elite content, right now, stealth just flat out doesn't work. I fire off a Shadow Strike successfully about one out of every 10 times I try. Skull mobs see right through it, which is HILARIOUS because pvpers can't most of the time. The Specialist, on the other hand. Don't try to tank, and it's pretty fun. It's about our best shot at a hybrid melee/ranged AT.
I wouldn't say bad, for a decent chunk of em. Too focused, to a fault, definitely. Problem really is: ATs are built around the trinity. None of the rest of the game is. This makes them suffer pretty badly as a result, and the high damage soft cap really doesn't help the squishies.
The dps isn't atrocious on the Master. That DR bug actually helps it a bunch, although the dodge nerf really didn't do it any favors. It can actually main tank a surprising amount of content, although it's no Savage or Invincible.
I appreciate that
I can say flat out that the Disciple is freaking great. I'm saving that bacon. Siphoning strikes makes it a viable self-healing dps machine, and the damage it throws out is pretty darn impressive.
If you're curious, the ATs I currently have on deck are The Mountain, The Soldier, The Mind, and The Void. I feel like my Mountain might hit 40 first, because while it's not spectacular at the damage? It's damn sure fun to play. I've had multiple requests for the Disciple, though. That will probably bump it to the top of the queue pretty fast, I'm trying to take requests.
Huh, your post bugged for me when I tried to quote it.
Again, 100% correct. It's pretty obvious you've done something like this too, your knowledge of the ATs and their weaknesses is pretty fantastic. The major issue with the Squall, imo, is the fact that to do much with it you pretty much have to get right in the middle of combat. The Inferno can just chill at the edges and pick at people, the range it has really keeps it pretty safe. Given Teleport, it's got an unfair rep. It can hide for a second and not risk sad dps, because of ALL OF THOSE DEBUFFS. I've taken an Inferno to 40 before (and blanked on that fact) and with teleport as a get out of hell free card? It's actually pretty damn effective. It's not a hard at, it's just one that requires some tactics. And everything that works for it is why the Squall fails. Teleporting out in the middle of combat in an alert is a non starter, mobs can see right through it. The fact that the Inferno can build Concentration stacks like nobody's business doesn't hurt either. The Squall legit never got to 8 before dropping. Even with a decently geared 40 version, winding that thing up is a headache. A properly built Inferno can hit max stacks in about 2 seconds if you plan it right. WORLD of difference right there.
RIP Caine
I think something is not exactly right here... :cool:
Yup, overnerf of the dodge passive again shows its ugly head.
Oh, well. At least nobody was cruel enough to put our dodge block enchancer on it. :biggrin:
Funny thing with ATs is they are built very narrowly within their powersets so it serves very well as a highlight of balance issues between powersets.
The Impulse, for an example, could be improved by changing its power progression, but it won't solve things like the Force defensive passive being handicapped against VIPER pulson tech or another strange idea with Force Cascade consuming energy forms. Both pretty good examples of gimmicks where too much of a game utility was sacrificed for the theme.
Likewise, nothing is really wrong with the way how the Mountain was built, problems are more with the Earth powerset.
Sometimes ATs are handicapped not even because of their builds, but because powersets have issues.
"Good can be found in heights, even in the deepest pits of evil" but "The valleys of evil always exist in the mountains of good."
~me
Hmm I am just having a tough time deciding because I find the concept of telekinetic blades very cool (combine that with your psi dragon armor or holoforce armor and you get one hell of a costume when the ID mastery lights it up) but at the same time, I don't wanna feel like wasting all my hard earned questionite because I have never really had much luck with pure melee dps - dedicated ATs . I found the devastator too sluggish and I kept dying constantly with the blade and unleashed. And isn't the disciple similar to the unleashed?
"Good can be found in heights, even in the deepest pits of evil" but "The valleys of evil always exist in the mountains of good."
~me
Err what's HW ? Sorry but I stink with abbrev ... And if you have ego as base stat for a melee dps (I know the hold resist makes it so awesome), doesn't it reduce your base damage, which scales on str?
"Good can be found in heights, even in the deepest pits of evil" but "The valleys of evil always exist in the mountains of good."
~me
I have only 3 questions now:
How does the disciple perform in rampages?
Where does the health bar of a lvl 40 disciple stand? (My savage's bar stands at 9000 when side kicking to lvl 40 with lvl 35 gear that I pulled off the AH)
How do I divide the stats I rank up
"Good can be found in heights, even in the deepest pits of evil" but "The valleys of evil always exist in the mountains of good."
~me
Epic Stronghold
Block timing explained
Con mods will be hit with diminishing return very soon since it isn't a superstat, so you'll be better with +maximum health points gear than with Con gear and mods.
So yeah, it's first Ego and Dex and with both gear and specs you are bound to build for crits.
Its dmg should pick up a bit on AoE w/ Ebon Rift, and def once ya get Ebon Ruin at 40.
Too bad it has to pick between LD and Shadows, cause the latter are good dps for a pet.
I figured you'd really like the Savage.. well, outside of trying to AoE grind w/ it :x The dps a well-made hybrid AT w/ a defense passive can still do w/ strong powers is insane.
As far as ATs w/o Con SS- I gear 'em w/ health mods too, but that's usually not enough MaxHP for my liking, so I'd still stat some Con on top of that. Just depends how high ya wanna go.
- Be safe and have fun, champs - for science!
I'll get back to it asap. But I need a break for a week or 2. And a new strategy for doing it.
RIP Caine
For the Devastator AT, you mention that Endorphin Rush partially scales on Defiance. This used to be the case, but it really doesn't anymore. The duration of Endorphin Rush should be a flat 6 seconds instead of being based on Defiance. The change happened during the big update to all the Forms and Auras, but in game description wasn't properly updated.
Get the Forums Enhancement Extension!
RIP Caine
BATTLE ANGEL AIKIKO
The Soldier
The Soldier... I expected less from this AT. It's always been a squish-monster, I've leveled a few before. I wasn't expecting it to perform as well as it did, and it really did perform spectacularly. Usually, AT characters feature a ton of overlap. Too many redundant or useless powers. This one doesn't have that. The tactical choices are fantastic, each power has a specific purpose, and I've found a reason to rank or advantage every single one of them. Minigun rocks for closely packed groups. Mine's got a teddy bear on it. AR is awesome for building concentration stacks, just stop maintaining about 50% in if you're 60 feet in or so. Shotgun with advantage, is a great get-off-me button. SMG is awesome for mowing down low level packs. Smoke nade? It works better than most threat wipes.
Sterga said this previously, and I went for it: A soldier works fantastically if you just bum-rush a fight. If you've got a tank? Let them get the first hit, and by the time you get threat, it's dead. If you're getting beat on? Shotgun it, and burn it down with AR. The only power I don't see working as well as I'd like? Sniper Rifle. It's just a big threat magnet, and the second you're hit you lose your charge. Mini-gun seriously crushes it for raw dps, and in fact mini-gun clobbers just about everything. I dropped from time to time, with my soldier (sometimes smoke nade doesn't work) and you know what? I didn't care at all. My usual "give it a heal" doesn't apply here, the damage it tosses out is *insane*, and knowing how to build concentration stacks means that dying does nothing at all to you. I rocked a 38 soldier in mechanon, with full graphics, and still came ahead of some 40s that are played by people I respect the hell out of. This thing is a bit of a monster.
I'll point out, for the record, that my fiancee joined the game a bit back. Picked up the soldier, on my suggestion. She hit 40 within 3-4 days. She never played an MMO before, and didn't do much gaming at all. Still rocked out the dps, and got great damage even with low gear. This one might be one of the easier silver ATs to run with. Just hold down one of a few buttons and stuff dies. I parsed it, and she was coming near the top for dps even without knowing how the game actually functions. That speaks volumes for the potency of this AT.
As for the costume? I wanted a soldier that looked more human, and like a vigilante. I kinda got into the idea of making an anime style harajuku assassin. I don't watch much anime, and I don't know a ton about Asian fashion, but I like how she turned out as a character. Her pistol is a gatling pistol, and literally everything else that isn't the gatling gun is the new rifle. That thing is amazing, if you play a soldier I fully recommend picking it up.
Advantages:
-INSANE dps.
-Good crowd control. The knocks and the threat wipe from smoke grenade work fantastically.
-Versatile. AOE, single target, line of effect... This does everything.
-Fantastic spec trees. Avengicator works well here, it's easy to ramp up crits on both your aoe and single target.
-Energy efficient. I didn't care when I got my energy unlock. I was doing well anyway.
Disadvantages:
-Squishy. You gotta play tactically, otherwise you're going to die a messy death.
-... Actually, that's about it. It's just squishy, you need to use tactics. This isn't a jump in and murder things AT. This is an AT where you do best by watching your team and seeing their strengths.
Rating:
10/10
One thing that would make it better:
Nothing. It's great at what it does. The only bits of weakness it has are compensated for, by how good the dps is. I guess the usual can go in here: Reduce the cooldown on heal devices, and split them for the heal device and bubble device.
RIP Caine
With a caveat "moving yourself out of the fight" doesn't mean" running in circles like a headless chicken only making things worse for tank and everyone else", but just taking a step backward and not attacking until aggro is again on the tank...
Cthunist: Yeah, and that's literally about it. The 120 foot reach is nice for fights like what's going on with Mechanon right now, it's fantastic for staying out of aoe damage range, but otherwise? Meh. Gatling's got 100 foot reach, it works well enough most of the time. I'd say I love it for a pull attack, but this thing shouldn't be pulling ANYTHING. Sniper's the closest thing to redundant the AT has, although it's pretty absurd if you spec for single target damage. I've seen a few sniper soldier builds, it's pretty darn brutal. Personally, I don't like speccing single target, so that probably limited my efficacy with it.
One thing I will say, though? It's pretty handy for standing on top of things, then dropping down behind them to lose aggro when you get threat. Might be one of the most efficient wipes I know of, I was having a *blast* doing that in the bank alerts.
Wrath: Hm, not sure. I've got a void, mountain, and mind on deck. Gonna have to see which one grabs me by the face the hardest. I'm actually kinda thinking maybe the mind, I haven't done a healer AT in a bit. Wouldn't hurt to break up the DPSers a bit, and I've been having fun with it already.
RIP Caine
Of my AT's, My Soldier is by far my favorite. I've taken him into everything from Alerts to Gravitar.
I'll also add this.. this AT is a BEAST on a team with people rocking support auras. Any of the Aura's. I don't know if any AT benefits from buffs as much as this AT does.
I still play my soldier regularly, because he's just that much fun.
The ability to take off large chunks of health from long range is what's missing from the Squall (until lvl 40), and for these squishy, heal-less ATs I find that is rather key in Grab Alerts (if you actually want to AoE like a madman and get away w/ it a bit).
Try SR vs. Gravi and F&I. I think you'll like it a bit more then :x
- Be safe and have fun, champs - for science!
Pop AO, fire the rocket and then finish the rest of the group with SMG is my usual way.
But obviously with knockback from the rocket this build would not be very useful for teaming, so there's a Sniper Rifle at least.
My favorite part about this AT is... After you have Energy Unlock, you can stop using energy builder. Like forever.
Thing I'd change in the Soldier AT would be an assault rifle energy builder. Which is more like something looong overdue with Munitions in general. Two pistol energy builders and not a single SMG/AR one.
"Good can be found in heights, even in the deepest pits of evil" but "The valleys of evil always exist in the mountains of good."
~me
Sniper Rifle is what I use for lazy Frosty and Grav damage. Unless I know the tanks can actually hold Frosty's attention. I also like to use it as an opener. Most alert pugs are wimps and aren't going in first anyway.
The only thing I use SMG for is farming the voodoo cemetery. Enemies are dumb and funnel into my gat gun's cylinder nicely.
Thanks to Superhero Healthcare, you never need worry about death! EMTs are always right around the corner should you be beaten unconscious and drop you in a designated recovery zone upon your revival.
[at]riviania Member since Aug 2009
The one I'm looking forward to is the Tempest, because the one and only thing ATs do better than FFs is raw damage, and the Tempest is supposed to do the most of all--more than the Inferno, more than the Soldier. It has the biggest bore of all the glass cannons.
This bit from Tammy Waffles is tantalizing:
I think having just an assault rifle, pretty standard and basic, energy builder is quite more needed before moving to more fancy and niche ideas.
Thanks
The thing to keep in mind is that when I do these ratings, it's more "as far as archetypes are concerned". If we're being fully honest here, considering freeforms even the savage is like a 6-7 at best. I probably shoulda put that caveat in there to begin with, especially since I pretty much front loaded myself with some of the better options out there. I'm about to sound like a cynical bastard comparatively, I've got 3 of em hovering at 25 because they're just god-awful.
Honestly, I take how fun a thing is to play into consideration for all of my reviews. The only high rating I gave for a boring AT was the Savage, and it's honestly because the AT was just that strong. Invincible went the opposite direction, the fact that you could target a few packs at once was a riot, and definitely effected the final score. I actually feel like the Squall woulda been solid middle of the pack, if it weren't for the fact that you just legitimately hold down one button until you're dead. Heck, if someone's reading this stuff for honest advice about an AT? The fact that it'll bore you half to death to play seems like it should be near the top of the list.
I might need the Tempest after the one I'm currently working on. I think I'll take you up on that. I've got a big dent put into The Mind, and all I'm gonna say for the moment is a palate cleanser is a very good idea.
Meeda, you seriously have me wondering now why they don't just give us a steady shot variant with an AR. We have that new rifle, nearly every non-2 gun muni power can fire from it, but the only eb it works with makes pew pew noises. This would be a great addition. You have my bow.
RIP Caine
"Good can be found in heights, even in the deepest pits of evil" but "The valleys of evil always exist in the mountains of good."
~me
Unfortunately I STILL hate this AT and I Regret to this very day for Wasting ZEN on Buying (my characters was remade into FF slot, Inventor was JUST NOT for him)
I find it very Tedius to play with,
I still consider Medical Nanites the worst Support Passive
if Medical Nanites Boosted Technology Powers Damage like Seraphim Boost Paranormal Damage that would be a Saving Grace for that Passive
Lack of Ressurection Serum
and the annoying Teddifications (which get fixed, no more Breaking Bosses)
also I'm having bad memories doing Alerts since it seems like my Intenvor was an Agro Magnet and somehow all the MOBs the other players agroed were focused on me!
I was getting Gangbanged by mobs while having a Smartass in the PUG going "WHY AREN'T YOU SUPPORTING ME? YOU ARE THE WORST HEALER EVER" .... this actually DID Happened, I don't make up things
This AT is still big NO for me, but I'm Glad that you found a way to Enjoy it :cool:
for me there is no Redemption for this AT
I find myself REALLY Surprised with The Soldier, it was a Good AT for all the reasons you stated and I fell in Love with it (Along Specialist and Discliple)
The only problem with me with The Devastator is with Unstoppable, this passive needs to get some Defense buff/Damage resistance BUff (like Earth Form) and not that Pathetic 2 Digit Damage Absorbation
The Unstoppable needs to be the Defensive counterpart of the Dodge/Avoid of Way of the Warrior
I'm really like this thread so far! REALLY Great costumes and characters as well! :biggrin:
It isn't a totally bad AT, it just may need some small finishing touches.
The Inventor actually isn't a dedicated support AT, it's a pet master/support hybrid, it's just that people who don't know CO very well are expecting it to be support just because of the role icon.
I think that a lot of problems with expectations in PUGs could be avoided if role-dependent icons were ditched completely and you could could pick whatever icon over your head you want.
This AT is more a hybrid than a support, despite being built in the Support role.
If I had a choice, I'd just roll with the Hybrid role icon. That would be much better representation for how this AT was built.
Medical Nanites actually can be useful if you skew your build heavily towards PRE and bonus healing. They are not Regeneration by any means, but they can make your pets and teammates last for longer.
I'm so very glad they fixed the teddification. It's now *officially* worth the rating I gave it. Doesn't break bosses now? Groovy.
100% with you on Unstoppable. My heavily tricked out might dps 40 uses it, and even with incredible gear she's only getting like 50 dr. it's pathetic.
Disciple will happen. I'm trying to break up melee and ranged, to save some life-long carpal tunnel issues, lol.
RIP Caine