STR or INT?

jairevans

I was playing around with Heavy Weapons and I'm really enjoying CON primary instead of the STR primary I had before. Adrenaline Rush and Fuel My Fire are such great quality of life specializations.

But without Juggernaut and melee cost discount, STR suddenly becomes almost unnecessary. I could do the whole thing with DEX instead and have much better energy management and cooldowns with INT.

For instance, compare:

PowerHouse (Link to this build)

Name:

Archetype: Freeform

Super Stats:
Level 6: Constitution (Primary)
Level 10: Dexterity (Secondary)
Level 15: Intelligence (Secondary)

Talents:
Level 1: The Glacier
Level 6: Acrobat
Level 9: Healthy Mind
Level 12: Coordinated
Level 15: Covert Ops Training
Level 18: Survival Training
Level 21: Field Ops Training

Powers:
Level 1: Bludgeon
Level 1: Fury of the Dragon (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 6: Eruption (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 8: Invulnerability (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 11: Form of the Tempest
Level 14: Conviction (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 17: Molecular Self-Assembly
Level 20: Brimstone (Rank 2, Rank 3, Challenging Strikes)
Level 23: Annihilate (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 26: Ebon Void (Rank 2, Rank 3, Voracious Darkness)
Level 29: Decimate (Crippling Challenge)
Level 32: Masterful Dodge
Level 35: Dragon Uppercut
Level 38: Rebirth

Travel Powers:
Level 6: Millennial Flight (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 35: Teleportation

Specializations:
Constitution: Fuel My Fire (3/3)
Constitution: Resilient (2/2)
Constitution: Deflection (1/3)
Constitution: Adrenaline Rush (2/2)
Constitution: Armored (2/2)
Guardian: Fortified Gear (3/3)
Guardian: Ruthless (2/2)
Guardian: Retribution (2/2)
Guardian: The Best Defense (3/3)
Protector: Fortified Gear (3/3)
Protector: Bulwark (2/2)
Protector: Debilitating Challenge (2/2)
Protector: Resolute (3/3)
Mastery: Constitution Mastery (1/1)

MSA becomes much more valuable than it used to be, energy management gets another option later on if I want to try and add Rush, and I can pump the hell out of DEX for healing, dodge, crit, and damage from Focus.

Of course, Heavy Weapons swing slowly so building stacks of Focus may not be as easy as Enrage where most of my attacks have that baked in, but then I lose DEX or INT to pick up STR which Enrage scales off of and I end up looking like this:

PowerHouse (Link to this build)

Name:

Archetype: Freeform

Super Stats:
Level 6: Constitution (Primary)
Level 10: Dexterity (Secondary)
Level 15: Strength (Secondary)

Talents:
Level 1: The Master
Level 6: Acrobat
Level 9: Martial Focus
Level 12: Physical Conditioning
Level 15: Covert Ops Training
Level 18: Paramilitary Training
Level 21: Survival Training

Powers:
Level 1: Bludgeon
Level 1: Unleashed Rage (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 6: Eruption (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 8: Invulnerability (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 11: Enrage (Giant Growth)
Level 14: Conviction (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 17: Molecular Self-Assembly
Level 20: Brimstone (Rank 2, Rank 3, Challenging Strikes)
Level 23: Annihilate (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 26: Ebon Void (Rank 2, Rank 3, Voracious Darkness)
Level 29: Decimate (Crippling Challenge)
Level 32: Masterful Dodge
Level 35: Vicious Descent
Level 38: Rebirth

Travel Powers:
Level 6: Millennial Flight (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 35: Teleportation

Specializations:
Constitution: Fuel My Fire (3/3)
Constitution: Resilient (2/2)
Constitution: Deflection (1/3)
Constitution: Adrenaline Rush (2/2)
Constitution: Armored (2/2)
Guardian: Fortified Gear (3/3)
Guardian: Ruthless (2/2)
Guardian: Retribution (2/2)
Guardian: The Best Defense (3/3)
Protector: Fortified Gear (3/3)
Protector: Bulwark (2/2)
Protector: Debilitating Challenge (2/2)
Protector: Resolute (3/3)
Mastery: Constitution Mastery (1/1)

I just don't think that knock energy from Enrage will be enough even with MSA trying it's best without INT. Maybe run in Hybrid for better energy management, some of the lost HP and adrenaline will be made up by super stats applying to Conviction. I don't know, what do you think I should do?

crypticbuxom

Actually you might be better off with Str as a primary and go for the full Offense/Defense stat cycling. Get all your crit chance from the crit related Vigilante Secondary and pump your primaries with as much offense and defense as you can if you got the Justice Primary Offense. You'll have more HP, more damage and more defense.

Also Defiant is better if you focus on only stating your gear to Str and Con exclusively as well as giving you energy every time you would get a Defiant stack gained or refreshed.

Also, any reason you take Vicious Decent when you have a lunge already and an OK AoE from Brimstone? I'm sure you can do better with Skewer.


PowerHouse (Link to this build)

Name: Suggested Changes

Archetype: Freeform

Super Stats:
Level 6: Strength (Primary)
Level 10: Intelligence (Secondary)
Level 15: Constitution (Secondary)

Talents:
Level 1: The Devastator
Level 6: Physical Conditioning
Level 9: Body and Mind
Level 12: Healthy Mind
Level 15: Covert Ops Training
Level 18: Paramilitary Training
Level 21: Negotiator

Powers:
Level 1: Bludgeon
Level 1: Unleashed Rage (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 6: Eruption (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 8: Defiance
Level 11: Enrage (Endorphin Rush, Giant Growth)
Level 14: Conviction (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 17: Molecular Self-Assembly
Level 20: Brimstone (Rank 2, Challenging Strikes)
Level 23: Annihilate (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 26: Ebon Void (Rank 2, Rank 3, Voracious Darkness)
Level 29: Decimate (Crippling Challenge)
Level 32: Masterful Dodge
Level 35: Skewer (Rank 2, Rank 3, Follow Through)
Level 38: Rebirth

Travel Powers:
Level 6: Millennial Flight (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 35: Teleportation

Specializations:
Strength: Swole (3/3)
Strength: Aggression (2/2)
Strength: Brutality (2/2)
Strength: Juggernaut (3/3)
Guardian: Fortified Gear (3/3)
Guardian: Ruthless (2/2)
Guardian: Retribution (2/2)
Guardian: The Best Defense (3/3)
Protector: Fortified Gear (3/3)
Protector: Bulwark (2/2)
Protector: Debilitating Challenge (2/2)
Protector: Resolute (3/3)
Mastery: Strength Mastery (1/1)

jairevans

crypticbuxom wrote: »

Actually you might be better off with Str as a primary and go for the full Offense/Defense stat cycling. Get all your crit chance from the crit related Vigilante Secondary and pump your primaries with as much offense and defense as you can if you got the Justice Primary Offense. You'll have more HP, more damage and more defense.

Also Defiant is better if you focus on only stating your gear to Str and Con exclusively as well as giving you energy every time you would get a Defiant stack gained or refreshed.

Also, any reason you take Vicious Decent when you have a lunge already and an OK AoE from Brimstone? I'm sure you can do better with Skewer.

Good thoughts. Yeah, I have a few odd choices I'll try to explain.

See I was STR/con/dex initially relying on Enrage and Physical Peak for my energy management with a little MSA help. It worked alright, it'd work even better with Defiance from an energy standpoint I just dislike having to start nearly every pull blocking or at half health from damage taken while waiting on Defiance stacks. I feel so squishy until it is stacked up. Once it and Voracious Darkness are fully stacked everything is awesome (sing!) but being at full strength all the time with Invulnerability is one of those things like Adrenaline Rush and Fuel my Fire keeping my health and energy full all the time, it's just convenient and easy in play. That's why I want to leave the powerhouse as CON primary.

I just have a STR/DEX purple random drop right now on this character, I haven't farmed up enough to buy a Vigilante secondary offense to prop up critical chance for him. He's one of my silly diversion alts rather than someone I seriously invest resources in.

As for vicious descent, with ranks in Invulnerability, I don't have points left for my level 32, 35, and 38 powers. With advantage points Skewer becomes great, Defiance would let me do that. Without points, I'd rather just Brimstone. So vicious descent was just an occasional toy for the look and easily replaceable.

bravehoptoad

What about CON/STR/INT? Doesn't seem like DEX as a secondary would be doing as much for you as INT in that second build. You can get crit from gear and take Ego Surge/Nimble Mind somewhere in there.

monsterdaddy

Str/Con/Int is probably the best choice for a number reasons. Str for Enrage w/Endorphin Rush is as good as Adrenaline Rush but you get better knock resistance, Juggernaut and cost. Int geared with just a Hospitable Eyepiece is plenty for MSA energy plus cooldown. Get Vigilante and slot all Con is all you need. Dex isnt worth much anymore as a SSS, skip it.

Defiance is tricky for energy, if you don't hold agg you're going to be in bad shape. But with Str PSS you could easily be at 120% dmg resist before the passive. LR or Regen are good choices to have as passive. I'm certain LR offers the most dmg mitigation over time.

monsterdaddy

BTW always get Ego Surge w/Nimble Mind.