need help to not suck at melee

omnius · October 2021

I feel as if I have my build and gear down fine, my problem is that when I play melee DPS (I normally play ranged for this reason) I just plain suck. I die more, I have a harder time noticing when to block, more difficulty spotting "don't stand here, this spot = bad for you" patches on the ground etc. The reason I'm posting this is because I've noticed many other melee DPS players (not in hybrid role, not using a defensive passive) having way less trouble keeping their DPS up and also their health bar quite often. Even in regular alerts they're always rushing into the fight ahead of everyone without face planting like I normally would. I admit I have absolutely terrible twitch reflexes (another reason I normally play ranged) but there's not much I can do about that. My ranged toons this week aren't having much trouble coming in the top 5-10 fighting the DL event cosmics without faceplanting, my HW toon faceplanted 4x on one of them and didn't have any aggro. I'm currently at about 8600 HP, and wearing heroics for now. I always have heal packs with me too.

This is the build I'm using. I think it's fine, and suspect I need help more with tactics than build. I should probably ditch my self rez for a threat wipe. I'm using Absorb Heat for my maintenance heal because I'm finding it heals way better than Endorphin Rush.

Mister dies-a-lot - Freeform (Melee Damage)
v3.44:37

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

Talents
Level 1: The Devastator (Str: 10, Con: 10, Rec: 10, End: 8)
Level 6: Paramilitary Training (Str: 3, Con: 3, Rec: 3, End: 3)
Level 9: Relentless (Str: 5, Rec: 5)
Level 12: Amazing Stamina (Rec: 5, End: 5)
Level 15: Quick Recovery (Con: 5, Rec: 5)
Level 18: Bodybuilder (Str: 5, End: 5)
Level 21: Physical Conditioning (Str: 5, Con: 5)

Powers
Level 1: Bludgeon
Level 1: Eruption (Rank 2, Magma Burst)
Level 6: Enrage (Giant Growth)
Level 8: Unstoppable (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 11: Pulverizer
Level 14: Arc of Ruin (No Quarter, Wildfire)
Level 17: Resurgence (Rank 2)
Level 20: Annihilate (Rank 2, Scorching Blade)
Level 23: Antagonize (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 26: Unleashed Rage (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 29: Vicious Descent (Work Up)
Level 32: Havoc Stomp (Major Impact)
Level 35: Absorb Heat (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 38: Fiery Embrace
Adv. Points: 36/36

Travel Powers
Level 6: Mach Speed
Level 35: Fire Flight (Rank 2, Rank 3)

Specializations
Strength: Swole (2/3)
Strength: Physical Peak (3/3)
Strength: Brutality (2/2)
Strength: Juggernaut (1/3)
Strength: Overpower (2/3)
Warden: Fortified Gear (3/3)
Warden: Ruthless (2/2)
Warden: Upper Hand (2/3)
Warden: The Best Defense (3/3)
Vindicator: Aggressive Stance (2/2)
Vindicator: Merciless (3/3)
Vindicator: Focused Strikes (3/3)
Vindicator: Mass Destruction (2/3)
Mastery: Strength Mastery (1/1)

Devices

flowcyto · October 2021

Well, melee in general will have a harder time than ranged (as usual). Here, it's prob that many of the other melee players you see are likely much more committed and experienced w/ it, and also that you don't have as good of a purview of the fight to see mechanics coming (some of that can be solved w/ not being too zoomed in, but not so zoomed out that you can't see your actions or movement well enough or become disoriented). Ofc, you can just cop out and switch to using R3 Invuln in the Hybrid role, but maybe that can just be a temporary measure (if so, then you can train it last and re-train out of it later). You could also use a dual-passive approach to have the defensive Hybrid as an option, but then you'd need to free up a power slot and fully rank the defensive passive.

negusonic · October 2021

My experience with melee has been enhanced by a few player choices:

1) play with gamepad (Xbox controller, stadia controller, etc). I can do ranged okay with Key+Mouse User Interface but gamepad just came much more natural

2) Movement power. I had a super speedster back in the day and found that superspeed just took me out of position too often. I really like movement in my fights rather than a post and pummel fight so staying within max melee range just seemed easier with acrobatics or athletics.

3) Fight Timing. My character has a lot of INT to help keep things like active defenses readily available. She's not DPS but even still Melee chars just have more options to get hit. I love Evasive Manuevers/Laughing Zephyr, Breakaway Shot, etc to quickly add distance to target during small tells.

Finally, and I know this seems redundant, but learning how your Block (active and passive blocks) will protect you in a fight are crucial. I know this lowers your DPS and there are other HP shields available to most melee builds but I'd you're getting defeated often, then Block is still the best way to slow things dot and learn the combat you're facing

warcanch · October 2021

If it were just you there, then you'd only have to contend with the FX you and the target are producing. You still need to learn the mechanics, tells, etc of each NPC you fight.

Toss in other players with their FX added, and always right on top of melee pile, then being a (new) melee player to this game, can be difficult.

Just to use one example, Might based NPCs such as Johnny Hercules. His powers are not the same as a players' Might powers. Thunderclap is a chargeup and can hard stun for 4 -5 seconds (or more) if not blocked. You need to learn the BAM, FOOM, etc powers from these NPCs and learn to block, move away, whatever appropriate tactic there is, for each of them. Most players have learned to just BLOCK and that handles most mitigation.

As a Ranged character, you don't have to worry too much about most things going on in the melee pile. However, sometimes the NPC will put out a large AoE, and usually with it's tell: Foom, Boom, etc. You need to learn what to block and what to laugh off. Or, if you've done the Mega Destroyer Open Mission yet, get BEHIND him for his Fire All Weapons cone attack.

Mechanics to each NPC. Learn em. Fights go way better.

jaazaniah1 · October 2021

I can well remember when I first started doing cosmics and how my melee dps would suddenly, and to my eyes, inexplicably die. Now, after hundred of such encounters and much greater familiarity with the game mechanics, even my sub-6000HP healers standing in the melee dps pile next to dino survive quite well.

I can't emphasize enough how important block timing is (as others have mentioned). If you know when to block, you can at least soak tank vs. dino in mercs with R4 mods.

I always set my camera zoom to 75. That lets me easily see all tells and still see what is going on around me.

pantagruel01 · October 2021

One thing to check: make sure you can pan your camdist out all the way. With default settings, maximum camdist is 30, but you can trivially set the slider to a max of 70 (it's possible to go beyond 70, but it's unreliable and rarely necessary).

omnius · October 2021

Sigh. My long reply somehow vanished during an edit so I'll just post the short questions.

I need a threat wipe yes? There's a high damage "Havoc Stomp" device with knock-to in the event store with just a 27 sec CD and I don't use HS more than every 30 seconds or more anyway. It also has a bigger damage sphere. I could replace HS with a threat wipe and also free up 2 adv points. Although I don't know where I'd spend them other then having two travel powers at R3...

Gear: Which Primary/Secondary items are better for this build: +Defense or +HP? Same question for modding the defense slot.

pantagruel01 · October 2021

omnius#0640 wrote: »

I need a threat wipe yes?

If you're running Eidolon yes. Not super critical for most other content.

flowcyto · October 2021

Gear: Which Primary/Secondary items are better for this build: +Defense or +HP? Same question for modding the defense slot.

I'd prob go for more maxHP of the two of those, but either option works (though ofc neither replaces the mitigation power of good blocking).

need help to not suck at melee

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