Ok, firstly, my goal is two passives, so I can switch between dps and tank.
Firstly, my biggest issue is picking super stats that will work, second is picking a ranged form that will give the least penalty to a hybrid build, and of course, the most difficult part, is picking thematicly appropriate, and usable/effective powers.
I thought quarry would be the best choice for dps build, that would require INT/EGO ss probably, most any form would work well enough, but I would also want DEX to take advantage of crits and dodge.
Then I think, well obviously that would throw defiance/enrage out, because that runs on STR/CON combo, which mostly leaves invulnerability, wich I guess would be fine. But even so if I don't have STR super stat, I will get tossed around like a rag doll and possibly stuck in scenery.
Then it comes to attacks, with a hybrid, force cascade won't be an efficient power, especialy if INT would be possibly my only energy stat. So the alternatives are what, typhoon and chest beam? chest beam seems a better choice as I actually want energy attacks, on the other hand.. it fires from the chest and I don't really feel like that would be appropriate.
In otherwords, I'm pretty uncertain about..... pretty much everything. Anyhow, I hope to get some constructive feedback, I've read around on alot of guides, unfortunately most that seem related are pretty dated.
Strength and Enrage are really specialized for melee. They tend to be much less help in any ranged build. Instead of Enrage, you want to use Concentration, which is specifically for ranged. You will need either Intelligence or Ego in order to boost Concentration.
My main hero is a ranged hybrid tank based off Int/Dex/Rec and Lightning Reflexes. Knocks are trouble, but less than one would think. Take some form of flight as your main travel power. It won't really protect you from being knocked to begin with, but you won't fall afterward. So half of the knock effect is lost unless the opponent also uses something to disable your travel power.
If that doesn't feel like enough, and you don't mind being more tanky than blasty, take Constitution as your primary super stat. With Resilient specialization from the Constitution tree, you get a significant amount of knock resistance directly from Constitution. So it's a big help. Intelligence and Dexterity as secondaries will work well.
And on that note, Defiance scales to Constitution and works very well by itself. You shouldn't feel pressured to pick Enrage just because you're looking at Defiance. A Defiance/Concentration ranged tank should do every bit as well as a Defiance/Enrage melee tank (or for that matter a Defiance/Form martial-art tank).
If you like Force Cascade, a little trick I discovered and have tried not to keep secret is Circle of Arcane Power. The arcane circle counts as an energy form, which means Force Cascade's cost is cut in half while you are in the circle. The Force Cascade will kill the circle, but unlike with most active and passive offense energy forms, there isn't a cooldown or lockout. So you can easily just place the circle again for another blast.
So, does Con/Int/Dex, Defiant/Concentration as a start help?
Strength and enrage are indeed specialized for melee, however, even in a ranged build that would be just as good as a martial arts form, especially with ranged powers that have knock right? Also, might just works better with high str.
On my ego blader I get knocked all over, on a tank, that really doesn't work out too well.
I'm still thinking quarry/inv for dps/tank, for form, I still don't know what to pick, its tempting to choose something like compassion simply because it gives the same low damage to either, the only complication with that would be what would set it off, if I'm tanking in melee I feel like concentration might not work out that well.
I kinda feel like Dex/Int/Str, that would work well enough with inv, and in theory, the ego from audacity should make up for lack of ego maybe?
I feel like the devs are making it harder to combine things, perhaps even to lower freeform to a managable level compared to AT? It seems way too complicated to make a hero that punches things really hard and sometimes blasts the crap outta stuff....
So, I've been messing about with wind for tanking, not turning out to be my cup of tea, so, I'm going to again attempt to come up with a build that fits my taste.
I see the "Miss Infinity" build seems popular, at least according to the forums, but after finding the "Sho Nuff" build, that seems much closer to what I'm after, think I'm on my last free retcon so I'm definately going to spend much longer in the powerhouse before I go out and see how it peforms this time.
I am still looking for input on what might attacks I should pick, I kind of think I should take both demolish and haymaker for the advantages but thats two attacks that basicly do the same thing, if anyone has advice on what they think would be the best choice on might attacks, please advise.
Normally, for might tanking, I like the cheap tap-spam of Defensive Combo, and then big finishers like Upper Cut + Haymaker (though I don't like the Knockback). UC+HM synergize well, but I am also not thrilled to have two charge powers. I'm a basic guy and prefer one of each: 1 tap-spam, 1 charge, 1 maintain (2 if one is a heal or cc). Redundancy in powers for me often means a power goes unused. Obviously, other people play differently, so YMMV.
I guess it often comes down to THEME. If theme is key, then do what you need to do. If min/max is key, then go that route. I often tend to stay away from Might because of the knock back. That said, if you're only soloing, who cares! Roomsweeper away! However, if you team... please think of your team when using knockbacks!
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My main hero is a ranged hybrid tank based off Int/Dex/Rec and Lightning Reflexes. Knocks are trouble, but less than one would think. Take some form of flight as your main travel power. It won't really protect you from being knocked to begin with, but you won't fall afterward. So half of the knock effect is lost unless the opponent also uses something to disable your travel power.
If that doesn't feel like enough, and you don't mind being more tanky than blasty, take Constitution as your primary super stat. With Resilient specialization from the Constitution tree, you get a significant amount of knock resistance directly from Constitution. So it's a big help. Intelligence and Dexterity as secondaries will work well.
And on that note, Defiance scales to Constitution and works very well by itself. You shouldn't feel pressured to pick Enrage just because you're looking at Defiance. A Defiance/Concentration ranged tank should do every bit as well as a Defiance/Enrage melee tank (or for that matter a Defiance/Form martial-art tank).
If you like Force Cascade, a little trick I discovered and have tried not to keep secret is Circle of Arcane Power. The arcane circle counts as an energy form, which means Force Cascade's cost is cut in half while you are in the circle. The Force Cascade will kill the circle, but unlike with most active and passive offense energy forms, there isn't a cooldown or lockout. So you can easily just place the circle again for another blast.
So, does Con/Int/Dex, Defiant/Concentration as a start help?
On my ego blader I get knocked all over, on a tank, that really doesn't work out too well.
I'm still thinking quarry/inv for dps/tank, for form, I still don't know what to pick, its tempting to choose something like compassion simply because it gives the same low damage to either, the only complication with that would be what would set it off, if I'm tanking in melee I feel like concentration might not work out that well.
I kinda feel like Dex/Int/Str, that would work well enough with inv, and in theory, the ego from audacity should make up for lack of ego maybe?
I feel like the devs are making it harder to combine things, perhaps even to lower freeform to a managable level compared to AT? It seems way too complicated to make a hero that punches things really hard and sometimes blasts the crap outta stuff....
I see the "Miss Infinity" build seems popular, at least according to the forums, but after finding the "Sho Nuff" build, that seems much closer to what I'm after, think I'm on my last free retcon so I'm definately going to spend much longer in the powerhouse before I go out and see how it peforms this time.
I am still looking for input on what might attacks I should pick, I kind of think I should take both demolish and haymaker for the advantages but thats two attacks that basicly do the same thing, if anyone has advice on what they think would be the best choice on might attacks, please advise.
I guess it often comes down to THEME. If theme is key, then do what you need to do. If min/max is key, then go that route. I often tend to stay away from Might because of the knock back. That said, if you're only soloing, who cares! Roomsweeper away! However, if you team... please think of your team when using knockbacks!
-r0y