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Kung Fu Fighting

crabbycabbycrabbycabby Posts: 77 Arc User
Back tonight (morning) with another build. This time a basic Unarmed Melee fighter, concentrating on Critical Hits and Dodge (lots of dodge).

Scarily enough (for me) I built this one using just the one power set (Unarmed).

I do not have any experience in game with the Unarmed powers, so I am really hoping for any insight you might have.

List of attacks:
  • Vicious Strikes Energy Builder/Chance to grant Focus
  • Thundering Kicks Combo/High Critical Chance
  • Thunderbolt Lunge Lunge 60 Foot/Snare-Root
  • Dragon Kick Cone AOE/Charge/Stun/Rush
  • Rising Knee Knock Down/Vulnerable
  • Shuriken Storm PBAOE 30 Foot
  • Burning Chi Fist Bonus DoT
  • Fury of the Dragon Cone AOE 25 Foot/Maintain

And that seem to me to be a lot of attacks to keep track of...

And now for the build:

PowerHouse (Link to this build)

Name: Woo Hoo 1.0

Archetype: Freeform

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

Talents:
Level 1: The Master con: 10, Str: 10, Dex: 10, Rec: 8
Level 6: Martial Focus Str: 5, Dex: 5
Level 9: Acrobat Dex: 5, Con: 5
Level 12: Physical Conditioning Str: 5, Con: 5
Level 15: Impresario Dex: 5, Rec: 5
Level 18: Relentless Str: 5, Rec: 5
Level 21: Quick Recovery Con: 5, Rec: 5

Stats From Talents:
Dexterity: 25
Strength: 25
Constitution: 25
Recovery: 23


Powers:
Level 1: Vicious Strikes (Drunken Master)
Level 1: Thundering Kicks (Rank 2)
Level 6: Thunderbolt Lunge
Level 8: Way of the Warrior (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 11: Dragon Kick (Rank 2)
Level 14: Form of the Master (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 17: Bountiful Chi Resurgence (Rank 2, Resurgent Reiki)
Level 20: Masterful Dodge (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 23: Rising Knee (Flowing Strikes)
Level 26: Intensity (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 29: Parry (The Elusive Monk)
Level 32: Shuriken Storm
Level 35: Burning Chi Fist (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 38: Fury of the Dragon

Travel Powers:
Level 6: Athletics (Rank 2)
Level 35: Flight

Specializations:
Dexterity: Combat Training (3/3) Offense now grants Critical Strike Rating
Dexterity: Gear Utilization (2/3) Increases Offense & Defense from items by 12%
Dexterity: Deadly Aim (2/3) Secondary Super Stats increase Critical Severity
Dexterity: Quick Reflexes (3/3) Dexterity now grants Dodge Chance Rating

Vindicator: Aggressive Stance (2/2) Gain 20% of your Offense as Defense
Vindicator: Merciless (3/3) Increase Critical Severity by 15%
Vindicator: Focused Strikes (3/3) Increases Critical Strike Chance of Single Target attacks by 6%
Vindicator: Offensive Expertise (2/2) Reduce Active Offense recharge time by 14%


Warden: Slaughter (3/3) Increases Critical Strike Chance of Melee Combo attacks by 9%
Warden: Ruthless (2/2) Increases Critical Severity by 10%
Warden: Elusive (2/2) Increases Resistance to AOE attacks by 20%
Warden: The Best Defense (3/3) Gain 100% of Defense as Offense

Mastery: Dexterity Mastery (1/1) Gain 20 Dexterity, 10 Critical Severity, and 10 Avoidance​​
Proudly F2P
Not anymore
Gold since Christmas 2015

Comments

  • jaazaniah1jaazaniah1 Posts: 5,554 Arc User
    You'll probably need another heal. Maybe drop something for Conviction. If Dragon Kick isn't giving you enough energy you could drop something and add MSA Take some Int talents. In groups, if you find you aren't being attacked enough to dodge much to build stacks you could try Form of the Tempest instead.​​
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  • flowcytoflowcyto Posts: 12,858 Arc User
    edited October 2015
    I'd prob go for Str PSS here. You'll trade a small % of dodge for much more offense and defense (can still gear for some dodge%).

    Some issues I cleaned up in this edit:

    http://powerhouse.nullware.com/powerhouse.html?v=11&n=Woo Hoo 1.0&d=1123abAG9PK6310D100D203DF00DA03DK03A600DL05DM00DQ0DEI05DD00DJ05DO03DR0010gA03tr3T5X

    - Ya typically don't rank up the toggle. I also took FotTempest over FotM, since it doesn't require you to get hit to stack up.
    - Replacing BCF w/ Dragon Uppercut. Its a bit less ST dps, but gens much more energy via Rush (which BCF can't grant).
    - Don't rank up Masterful Dodge; rank1 already shoots you well past 100% dodge.
    - BCR and Elusive Monk both give 10% final dmg penalties. I'd axe at least one of them so the penalty isn't as high.
    - Took rank3 of TKicks, for a cheap basic attack and a stronger dodge buff.
    - Fury of the Dragon isn't really that great, but I kept it in unranked at the end if ya just wanna use it for its looks. If ya dun mind dropping it, then I'd prob replace it w/ Resurgence or Palliate/absolve.
    - Also fully ranked Shuriken Storm, since its good for AoE.
    <CO stuff> .: Petco :. // A basic FF building guide (see 1st reply) // PSA on Power Activation Delay // Ayonachan's Gift Horse (misc stat data)
    - Be safe and have fun, champs - for science!
  • vonqballvonqball Posts: 939 Arc User
    edited October 2015
    If you really want to focus on dodge, Con PSS is actually better than Dex. Deflection on the Con tree gives a much bigger bonus to dodge than the one on the dex tree. Deflection scales of dex though, so you would need to take dex as as secondary and invest heavily in it. The heal on crit is also a nice survival boost for a build with high con (it heals 2% of max health) and high dex (better crit chance).

    That said, strength PSS is going to give you a nice cost discount, a large defense bonus (translating to offense if you go wardicator/guardicator) and a big crit severity boost. It is a very strong choice for any melee hero...well maybe not tk blades.

    100 hands has some nice synergy with burning chi fist.
  • crabbycabbycrabbycabby Posts: 77 Arc User
    edited October 2015
    Thank you very much everybody!
    flowcyto wrote: »
    - Ya typically don't rank up the toggle. I also took FotTempest over FotM, since it doesn't require you to get hit to stack up.

    Flowcyto: Here I was looking at the "10% Chance to gain a stack of Focus" at rank 1 vs 40% at rank 3. but went your way with this, even to changing the Form. (Going for the Criticals anyway...). I hope this works out as I also dropped Drunken Master from Vicious Strikes.

    I dropped Fury of the Dragon for Intensity, giving me 2 Active Offenses, which led me to keep the Offensive Expertise.

    I also went with Overpower (for the Critical Chance) in place of the Juggernaut.

    Anyway here is the second attempt:

    PowerHouse (Link to this build)

    Name: Woo Hoo 2.0

    Archetype: Freeform

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

    Talents:
    Level 1: The Master con: 10, Str: 10, Dex: 10, Rec: 8
    Level 6: Martial Focus Str: 5, Dex: 5
    Level 9: Acrobat Dex: 5, Con: 5
    Level 12: Physical Conditioning Str: 5, Con: 5
    Level 15: Impresario Dex: 5, Rec: 5
    Level 18: Relentless Str: 5, Rec: 5
    Level 21: Quick Recovery Con: 5, Rec: 5

    Stats From Talents:
    Dexterity: 25
    Strength: 25
    Constitution: 25
    Recovery: 23

    Powers:
    Level 1: Vicious Strikes
    Level 1: Thundering Kicks (Rank 2, Rank 3)
    Level 6: Thunderbolt Lunge
    Level 8: Way of the Warrior (Rank 2, Rank 3)
    Level 11: Dragon Kick (Rank 2, Rank 3)
    Level 14: Form of the Tempest
    Level 17: Bountiful Chi Resurgence (Rank 2, Resurgent Reiki)
    Level 20: Masterful Dodge
    Level 23: Shuriken Storm (Rank 2, Floating Butterfly, Strong Arm)
    Level 26: Ego Surge (Rank 2, Nimble Mind)
    Level 29: Intensity (Rank 2, Rank 3)
    Level 32: Parry
    Level 35: Rising Knee (Rank 2, Flowing Strikes)
    Level 38: Dragon Uppercut

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

    Specializations:
    Strength: Swole (2/3) Strength now grants +2 Maximum Health Points
    Strength: Physical Peak (3/3) Secondary Stats grant a cost discount to Melee powers
    Strength: Brutality (2/2) Secondary Stats now increase Critical Severity
    Strength: Overpower (3/3) Strength now increases Melee Critical Chance

    Vindicator: Aggressive Stance (2/2) Gain 20% of your Offense as Defense
    Vindicator: Merciless (3/3) Increase Critical Severity by 15%
    Vindicator: Focused Strikes (3/3) Increases Critical Strike Chance of Single Target attacks by 6%
    Vindicator: Offensive Expertise (2/2) Reduce Active Offense recharge time by 14%

    Warden: Slaughter (3/3) Increases Critical Strike Chance of Melee Combo attacks by 9%
    Warden: Ruthless (2/2) Increases Critical Severity by 10%
    Warden: Elusive (2/2) Increases Resistance to AOE attacks by 20%
    Warden: The Best Defense (3/3) Gain 100% of Defense as Offense

    Mastery: Strength Mastery (1/1) Gain 20 Strength and 30 Offense​​
    Proudly F2P
    Not anymore
    Gold since Christmas 2015
  • carrionbaggagecarrionbaggage Posts: 730 Community Moderator
    edited October 2015
    I would recommend ranking up Dragon Uppercut, since it's your best single-target damage-dealer.

    I don't think you'll get much use out of Rising Knee in this setup. The power does have some merits (particularly as a short-recharge MSA trigger)...but in this case, I think you'd be better off damage-wise spamming your Dragon attacks instead of pausing to introduce knee to groin.

    Advantaged BCR is really nice on a dodge build, but I think you'll want additional self-healing if you plan to tackle some of the tougher content.

    With your already-heavy damage bonuses, Intensity's buff will be hit hard by diminishing returns. Coupled with the long recharge, I think you'll get more use out a different power (like another self-heal).

    Overpower's crit boost is tempting, but in this build I would recommend good 'ole Juggernaut. You'll be focusing (no pun intended) on DEX to fuel your Form and energy returns, with a side order of CON to stay alive. Compared to the benefits of boosting those two stats, boosting STR past what you receive naturally isn't very appealing. Overpower also scales relatively slowly, and I think you'll have plenty of frequent crits already to fuel FotT.

    This is probably what I'd do with it: Woo Hoo

    Note on the above build:
    Ranking up forms is usually an inefficient use of advantage points. But in this build, you're very dependent on the Rush buff for energy management, which means you might end up leaning on your energy builder until you get a decent Focus stack...which could take a while with a base-rank FotT. I think that's a respectable argument for ranking the form, but the points could certainly go elsewhere (like Parry or Resurgence or Ego Surge).
  • flowcytoflowcyto Posts: 12,858 Arc User
    Agree to most of what Carrion said. I do like the knee -> 2x DU combo, but w/o MSA ya dun really need it either, and can be axed if ya want more room for other powers.

    Flowcyto: Here I was looking at the "10% Chance to gain a stack of Focus" at rank 1 vs 40% at rank 3. but went your way with this, even to changing the Form. (Going for the Criticals anyway...). I hope this works out as I also dropped Drunken Master from Vicious Strikes.
    Ya shouldn't be having to use ur end builder much here (well, unless ur lower level), so dropping Drunken Master shouldn't be a problem.

    Ranking an MA toggle can be okay if ur really cemented on Rush mechanics, but its def one of those low priority things to me- something I typically only do w/ MA AT builds that have ample adv points avail.
    <CO stuff> .: Petco :. // A basic FF building guide (see 1st reply) // PSA on Power Activation Delay // Ayonachan's Gift Horse (misc stat data)
    - Be safe and have fun, champs - for science!
  • crabbycabbycrabbycabby Posts: 77 Arc User
    Thanks Carrion and Flowcyto!

    I took a lot your advice and put them together into this build.

    I kept Rank 2 on Form of the Tempest, just for the better chance to stack Focus.

    I also kept Rising Knee, not only for the Flowing Strikes set up but also because it is the only knock in this build. I just realized this on the build tonight. (Maybe move the Rising Knee up? and move everything else down?)

    I surrendered to your experience regarding Juggernaut (Defense). I just wanted to ask if this is really the best way to concentrate on "Critical Hits and Dodge"? I do very mush agree that this will boost Critical Severity on the whole, and that Nimble Mind will boost Critical Hits part time, but the build just seems to have gotten away from me. There seems to be almost nothing boosting Critical Hits or Dodge full time (TKicks and MDodge boost Dodge part time).

    Here is the current build: (with the Rising Knee moved up)

    PowerHouse (Link to this build)

    Name: Woo Hoo 3.0

    Archetype: Freeform

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

    Talents:
    Level 1: The Master con: 10, Str: 10, Dex: 10, Rec: 8
    Level 6: Martial Focus Str: 5, Dex: 5
    Level 9: Acrobat Dex: 5, Con: 5
    Level 12: Physical Conditioning Str: 5, Con: 5
    Level 15: Impresario Dex: 5, Rec: 5
    Level 18: Relentless Str: 5, Rec: 5
    Level 21: Quick Recovery Con: 5, Rec: 5

    Stats From Talents:
    Dexterity: 25
    Strength: 25
    Constitution: 25
    Recovery: 23

    Powers:
    Level 1: Vicious Strikes
    Level 1: Thundering Kicks (Rank 2, Rank 3)
    Level 6: Thunderbolt Lunge
    Level 8: Way of the Warrior (Rank 2, Rank 3)
    Level 11: Rising Knee (Rank 2, Flowing Strikes)
    Level 14: Dragon Kick (Rank 2, Rank 3)
    Level 17: Form of the Tempest (Rank 2)
    Level 20: Bountiful Chi Resurgence (Resurgent Reiki)
    Level 23: Masterful Dodge
    Level 26: Shuriken Storm (Rank 2, Floating Butterfly, Strong Arm)
    Level 29: Ego Surge (Nimble Mind)
    Level 32: Conviction (Rank 2, Rank 3)
    Level 35: Parry
    Level 38: Dragon Uppercut (Rank 2, Rank 3)

    Travel Powers:
    Level 6: Athletics (Rank 2)
    Level 35: Flight

    Specializations:
    Strength: Swole (2/3) Strength now grants +2 Maximum Health Points
    Strength: Physical Peak (3/3) Secondary Stats grant a cost discount to Melee powers
    Strength: Brutality (2/2) Secondary Stats now increase Critical Severity
    Strength: Juggernaut (3/3) Constitution now grants Defense

    Vindicator: Aggressive Stance (2/2) Gain 20% of your Offense as Defense
    Vindicator: Merciless (3/3) Increase Critical Severity by 15%
    Vindicator: The Rush of Battle (2/3) Gain 10% Maximum Health over 5 seconds with each kill
    Vindicator: Focused Strikes (3/3) Increases Critical Strike Chance of Single Target attacks by 6%

    Warden: Slaughter (3/3) Increases Critical Strike Chance of Melee Combo attacks by 9%
    Warden: Ruthless (2/2) Increases Critical Severity by 10%
    Warden: Elusive (2/2) Increases Resistance to AOE attacks by 20%
    Warden: The Best Defense (3/3) Gain 100% of Defense as Offense

    Mastery: Strength Mastery (1/1) Gain 20 Strength and 30 Offense​​
    Proudly F2P
    Not anymore
    Gold since Christmas 2015
  • flowcytoflowcyto Posts: 12,858 Arc User
    edited October 2015
    Dragon Uppercut knocks up already (better when charged), so ya dun necc need Rising Knee here if ur just taking it for the knock. Ya do also have a stun w/ charged Dragon Kick. Could also put a stun adv on the lunge, though I'd also take that as lower priority.

    Con PSS is the best option for boosting dodge% via specs, since its Deflection scales better than Dex PSS's, and it has better defensive options (you'll trade out for Con PSS not boosting ur dps innately, though). Otherwise, much of ur dodge comes from the passive, gear, and certain powers like TKicks. Unless ur going for a 100% dodge-tank build (which this isn't), dodge isn't guaranteed anyways, so having higher defense as a constant backup can be nice. Str PSS provides the most versatile benefits for a melee (melee cost discount, defense, severity, knock resist), so imo its still the best option here.

    W/ R3 WotW & TKicks + a gambler's gem for dodge.. ya should have in the realm of 55-60% dodge or so when bufffed. That's quite good for a non-tank as is. As for crit: Dex and crit rating on gear share the same DR curve, so by having Dex SS'd and getting crit% on offensive gear you're already going to have high crit by lvl 40. Specs will also boost that, like Vind's flat crit% options or Slaughter. Ya def don't need Dex PSS to have high crit%.
    <CO stuff> .: Petco :. // A basic FF building guide (see 1st reply) // PSA on Power Activation Delay // Ayonachan's Gift Horse (misc stat data)
    - Be safe and have fun, champs - for science!
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