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COH transplant, seeking help.
oneheadedboy
Posts: 85 Arc User
Alright, so I wanna tackle the learning curve on free form early. I plan to subscribe indefinitely and have started with the three month deal since this game seems like the most reasonable replacement for my game that's being closed. Right now I have a level 12 Void, and a rough draft of this build in a similar range. I've only been playing for a few days, and soloing just to get used to stuff.
But anyways I wanted some help with my first free form guy. I've done light research but been really confused by lots of things. The plan is a mix of gadgeteering, unarmed combat and power armor, but only for the passive (it seems like the best one.)
Anyways, this is what I've come up with. As a rule of thumb, if I didn't select it I probably don't know what it means.
I wanted a sort of a mixed of ST DPS (I read that the Dragon power gave a nice buff paired with other powers from that framework, so I tried to pick up a couple of those for my st chain) with strong AOE and the ability to fight at range, plus self buff/heals, procs and I think a pet somewhere. Also, I think guns are lame and boomerangs are sweet.
Onto the stuff I just don't get as a noob. What are advantage points? Are they like enhancements in COH? Or set bonuses? Or what? Same question for advantages.
Also, what are the trees? Dexterity, Role, mastery?
And I keep getting gear in game. What does that have to do with anything?
I feel like this process is just really unnecessarily convoluted right now, but hopefully once I get used to it I won't still feel that way.
I've seen this stuff explained in guides but the explanations seemed just as convoluted as the mechanics to me, and I just ended up scratching my head for a second and walking away. I don't want the game to start annoying me after I just started playing it.
But anyways I wanted some help with my first free form guy. I've done light research but been really confused by lots of things. The plan is a mix of gadgeteering, unarmed combat and power armor, but only for the passive (it seems like the best one.)
Anyways, this is what I've come up with. As a rule of thumb, if I didn't select it I probably don't know what it means.
I wanted a sort of a mixed of ST DPS (I read that the Dragon power gave a nice buff paired with other powers from that framework, so I tried to pick up a couple of those for my st chain) with strong AOE and the ability to fight at range, plus self buff/heals, procs and I think a pet somewhere. Also, I think guns are lame and boomerangs are sweet.
Onto the stuff I just don't get as a noob. What are advantage points? Are they like enhancements in COH? Or set bonuses? Or what? Same question for advantages.
Also, what are the trees? Dexterity, Role, mastery?
And I keep getting gear in game. What does that have to do with anything?
I feel like this process is just really unnecessarily convoluted right now, but hopefully once I get used to it I won't still feel that way.
I've seen this stuff explained in guides but the explanations seemed just as convoluted as the mechanics to me, and I just ended up scratching my head for a second and walking away. I don't want the game to start annoying me after I just started playing it.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Post edited by oneheadedboy on
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Comments
The energy buff from Dragon Kick and Uppercut only happens when you have stacks of Focus, which you get from using one of the "Form of the Tempest/Tiger/Swordsman/Master" toggles. All four toggles give the same stacking buff, but they have different triggers for gaining stacks. Form of the Tempest is probably the best for your build; it gains stacks when you crit. Just about every build should have some toggle or other, since they provide energy and a considerable damage buff, and since you're using two Dragon attacks and primary superstat Dexterity anyway, the Form toggles suit the build nicely.
Reconstruction Circuits is generally not a good choice for non-Power-Armor builds, since (like all Power Armor toggles) it locks out non-Power-Armor powers while it's running. Bionic Shielding or Conviction would be much better choices for healing, in Gadgeteering and Celestial respectively, among other possibilities.
Advantages can be compared loosely to placing slots and filling them with SOs in CoH, but it's not a great analogy, and in general you're probably better off trying to understand CO as its own thing rather than map CO mechanics to CoH mechanics.
Advantage points are what you spend to get Advantages. The main use of advantage points is to rank up powers, making them more effective. A rank 2 attack is 20% more damaging than a rank 1, and a rank 3 deals 20% more than a rank 2; the 20% improvement per rank also generally holds for healing, absorb, and mez duration, but some powers vary with rank in different ways. You don't get enough advantage points to raise all of your powers to rank 3, so you have to pick and choose what to rank up and how far.
Many powers also have special advantages that you can take which add a new effect to the power or even completely change its functionality. Ranks cost 2 points each (except travel power ranks, which cost 1 each); special advantages cost 1-3 points depending on the advantage (a few powers also have 0-point advantages which are just cosmetic options).
Spending points on the special advantages means less points left to spend on ranks, of course, but in addition to your finite available points, you cannot spend more than 5 points total on any single power. So if you want more than 1 point worth of special advantages, you have to weight that against getting rank 3.
In addition to advantage points, you have specialization points. You get one specialization point per level, starting at level 10, to spend in your specialization trees. Your first tree is determined by your primary super-stat, in this case Dexterity.
After you have 10 points in the stat tree, you can start filling a role tree of your choice; they're loosely aimed at general roles and pairings of roles, but that doesn't mean Brawler is necessarily the best choice for a melee damage dealer, nor that Brawler is a bad choice for non-melee-damage-dealers. Once you have 10 points in the first role tree, you get to choose a second role tree and put 10 points in that as well.
At level 40, you spend your final specialization point on a Mastery. You get to choose one of three Masteries, and which three you get to choose from are determined by which trees you chose before. So Dexterity, Vindicator, Guardian gives you a choice between Dexterity Mastery, Vindicator Mastery, and Guardian Mastery.
Gear is gear. It improves your stats, gives Defense (which provides a bit of damage resistance), and sometimes has other bonuses like improved power recharge speed. You have six equipment slots, one Primary and one Secondary each for Offense, Defense, and Utility.
It is a lot of information to take in at once, but despite the recent loss of your second head, I'm pretty confident you're the type that will quickly swim, not sink.
meteoric has already given some great advice, so I'll just try to build on it.
In general, when I create a build, I try to limit the number of attacks I pickup. You're going to develop a favorite attack for a given situation, and generally one AoE and one (or two) single target are going to serve you well if your looking for functionality over theme.
Let me just start by saying you've already picked out one of the more awesome AoE powers (for the moment anyway). Ricochet Throw will make your first experience in CO a happier one. As will Invulnerability if you're looking to solo your first build, and you can make yourself into a tank for grouping if you want (but then I'd want to move away from the Marital Arts powers and over to the Might powers).
Sadly, mixing range and melee isn't ever going to be perfectly optimized, however I think you can work out a build with a taste for both that and still have a great CO experience. So, I'd say make your opening attack a range, and as I said, you already have a great one. If nothing else you can keep the ranged Energy Builder and Ricochet Throw then go melee the rest of the way.
As far as your stats go. I'd recommend going with Constitution for more health, as you've got a good defensive passive. Strength helps with melee damage, ego with ranged damage. Dex helps you crit more with both. Endurance lets you build up and store more energy, Intelligence reduces the power cost of your powers and your refresh timers. . .really it's up to you but for your first run I'd make constitution your primary.
Also, I'd recommend getting a block power. The ones I like to note are as follows: Parry (which has an advantage to increase your dodge while doing melee attacks), Energy Shield (which has two advantages to increase your defense while either doing melee or ranged Power Armor attacks [but you can't have both]), Force Shield (which has an advantage that gives you a lingering defense after you've activated it), and Ebon Void (which has an advantage that makes it stronger the more you are hit).
This is likely all a bit overwhelming to start with, but when I'm making a build I have a general check list:
1) Energy Builder
2) One Single Target Attack (and a second one with Crippling Challenge advantage if making a tank)
3) One AoE Attack (with Challenging Strikes advantage if making a tank) (i get as soon as I can when leveling)
4) Passive Ability
5) Block
6) Self Heal (Conviction (healer), bountiful chi resurgence(with Resurgent Reiki; DPS with Dodging Passive/buffs), Bionic Shielding (if I just don't know))
7) Active Offensive (2 if making a DPS build; I like Intensity and Ego Surge w/ Nimble mind for melee dps builds)
8) Active Defense (Unbreakable or Masterful Dodge if I picked bountiful chi resurgence (from Martial Arts) as my self heal; Resurgence (from Supernatural) as a second one if I am making a tank (which means when I have Con as my primary))
9) Toggle Buff (Enrage(might), Form (melee; often tempest with DPS builds), Concentration (ranged), Compassion (healer), inertial dampening field (if I just don't know what to get))
10) Energy Unlock (if one fits my powers/status)
11) (if I'm making a DPS or Healer or Pet Build) Evasive Maneuvers with the Slight of Mind advantage.
12) (if making a melee) a lunge power
13) (if healer) Heal Power (duh, but it can be a combo with other things in the check list if it's also your attack)
It's a general check list, I'll violate often the one single or AoE attack rule for good combos (and with pet builds I often take a different track, often dumping the Actives and other powers for more pet powers), but I always ask myself what is my reason for doing so and so it has always helped me get a good starting place and to have a well rounded build.
As an after thought, If you have the free advantage points, rank your "flying" travel power to rank 3. Getting around faster is always a good thing. If you don't, think about picking up one of the "Become" Devices as they come with a rank 3 travel power. You can save up and get one on the auction house if you don't want to save up the Zen for it.
Spec Trees is something most people (myself included) are still figuring out and you shouldn't feel bad about posting a build and asking "Which advantages?" Also, remember there are rooms to test out your powers in the powerhouse and if you are paying for a subscription you can sign up for the Test Server and go there to try out your whole build: http://co-forum.perfectworld.com/showthread.php?t=124184 Just visit the debug NPC infront of the powerhouse to up your level and such.
I hope this helps and best of luck, be sure to keep posting if you have questions.
For any dps, which I am assuming you are going for right now, Crit Severity is the most important stat. I tell you this so you can be looking for and recognizing it early.
This makes Vindicator one of the best, and most chosen trees for...most everyone lol. It has a lot of good specs to pick, but the one you should note is Merciless. It is a 3 point spec that gives +15% to crit severity. This is different because the other trees can only give +10%.
Next, there are a lot of "generic" spec choices, such as the Gear choices. These will grant +% to offense and defense bonuses. These give bonus to every attack, every time. There are also a lot of "+ crit or damage to single targets, maintains, blasts, etc." Eventually you might want to get into those to max out a certain power, but as a beginner, I would recommend you sticking to abilities that buff everything. The most notable of these is "The Best Defense" in Warden and Guardian. Therefore, a lot of dps'ers will choose one of these as their second tree.
Most will choose their Primary Superstat as mastery. DEX has one of the best ones since it further adds Crit Severity.
Things to look for in your PSS tree are: Gear bonuses, crit, crit severity...DEX has all of this...not a lot of other trees do, so that is something to watch out for in the future.
Keep in mind that I only gave suggestions for dps, but those choices will change a bit if you want to tank or heal as a primary function.
I won't say a lot on your build for now, but I will say this: Invul is not an offensive passive, so you won't be able to change to Melee or Ranged Dps role.
Soloing, levelling, this is not a gamebreaker, but in a group setting, could be. If you want to run Invul in a group, you should look into Crippling Challenge and Challenging Strikes and do some Tanking research...Otherwise (and I would almost never suggest 2 passives) take an offensive passive to help out groups in Alerts (the main reason to team in this game).
I will also say to get a Form, as others have mentioned. Form of the Tempest is the best one for you since you superstat DEX...it relieves early energy problems and gives a really nice damage boost on top of that.
Remember: Half the people you know are below average...
Do not correct a fool, for he will hate you for it. Correct a wise man, for he will appreciate you for it.
Don't be like the Qularr. They would not last one round in the Interstellar Galactic Arena...
Handle @brayv
to the post above me though who points out vindicator, its just an amazing tree all around. aside from gettinga juicy 15% crit severity, as dps you should look into putting 3 points into "rush of battle" which for each enemy you kill you get 15% of your HP back over 5 seconds. for DPS toons who dont often have an effective heal, this is a god-send.
Remember: Half the people you know are below average...
Do not correct a fool, for he will hate you for it. Correct a wise man, for he will appreciate you for it.
Don't be like the Qularr. They would not last one round in the Interstellar Galactic Arena...
Handle @brayv
It was mentioned that the AOE boomerang power is a good choice.
Haha, who goes there!? Identify yourself.
Oh... Yooouu.
moves hand to boomerang.
My options are: Evasion, Deadly Aim, Expose Weakness, Quick Reflexes, and a few more, but I'm sure I've gotten the point across. Something obviously just got lost in translation here.
I'm gonna go ahead and drop my first point in Power Swell since I find myself critting a lot and it seems like the way to go atm.
Also, to give more information and encourage further guidance.
My powers as of now (lvl 10) are Boomerang Toss, Thundering Kicks, Ricochet Throw, and Bionic Shielding.
My primary superstat is Dexterity, and I just selected Constitution as my secondary.
With my advantage points, I've picked up Accelerated Metabolism for Boomerang Toss and Ricochet Throw rank 2. I'm saving my level 10 advantage point to pick up Thundering Kicks rank 2, since the damage seems pretty low as of now.
I would love to keep updating this thread and getting feedback as I level, if you guys don't mind.
Also, here's what my stuff looks like. I forgot which characteristics I picked, but tried to focus them around damage and HP.
Another update- I reached level 11 and grabbed form of the tempest. Now, how can I tell if it's even working? I mean, there doesn't appear to be any visual que that it's toggled on. Does it just auto toggle? I don't see it where I expect my buff bar should be, but I could just be looking in the wrong place.
Update to the update- Sike, I got it. Just hold it down and it's on.
This is super sweet, my ricochet boomerang is one shotting groups and my rank two karate kick is taking down ST's much faster. The extra HP from the secondary constitution and the self heal from incoming damage are making me feel pretty durable when I get caught off guard too.
About masteries, you just missed it in other comments. They wrote that masteries are unlocked at lvl 10 and first masterie tree is the same as your primary SS. n your case it's DEX. On lvl 20 after spending 10 points in DEX masterie you will be able to unlock other masterie trees like vindicator or warden.
Ow, and never, ever, take accelerated metabolism. It's pointless. Only reason why anyone should take it if they spent all of their advantage points (I mean all, like all yo got until you reach max lvl, wich is 40) and you have 1 left and can't spend it anywhere else, but in accelerated metabolism.
I'll re-read this thread again after I'll get home and see what else I can tell you.
But for now, I would suggest you to not to worry about your power/advantage choices. Just get to 40. If you will stick to 1 char and play for atleast 2 hours a day you will reach 40 in less then a week. nd if you do that you will know basics, gear, powers, advantages, masteries. Main things. Ow, and after reaching lvl 40 you will get free RetCon token that will allow you to unlearn all of the powers and masteries on your char for free. And because this game is easy don't be afraid of f*cking up your build. You actually will have to try and try hard to make a build unplayable in this game. (I tried... only thing I came up with is taking all passives in the game, no healing powers and using only energy builder as attack power... otherwise, build works fine.)
So, everything that was said above.
But I'll go through your build step by step. Do note, I am not a "pro", but I will point you your most obvious mistakes and explain them to you.
Nanobot swarm is a good thing to have if you relying on powers with cd, but still you should take it only on late lvls. Taking it on lvl 6 is a bad idea, because you need to take most important powers first. Energy builder, single target attack, aoe attack, passive, form, heal, block. I usually take them in that order. If you really going to take all those powers with cd you can take nanobot swarm, but take it after lvl 30.
Sonic device and toxic nanites are both "on next hit" effects, I am not sure, but as I heard all "on next hit" effect share cd, so take 1 of 2. And on later lvl aswell, about 20 or so.
Dragon kick is an aoe if I remember it correctly. You already have an aoe attack, so take it only as "for concept" thing. If you actually want it for effectiveness, then choose 1 of 2.
Implotion engine is an ultimate power. You can take ultimate power only after reaching lvl 35.
I heard strafing run is a good power, so I guess it's fine.
Open palm strike and dragon uppercut basicly do same thing, damage to 1 target. You can keep both, but it's kind of a waste in my opinion.
Reconstruction circuits as already has been mentioned only work well with power armor powers. In short, power armor works that way that you can activate multiple powers at the same time and they all will attack on their own for as long as you have an energy to do it. But while any "toggle", power armor power, is active, you can't use powers from other frameworks. So activating reconstruction circuits will mean that you will have to just stand there healing without being able to attack. So for heal take conviction or bionic shielding.
Not sure why attack toys are there. Conceptually? If you are looking for a "tech" pet, then support drones and munitions bots will fit your theme much better. Still, toys are actually a very good pets, they multiply while in combat so they can do some good damage even when your build isn't a pet master.
You also mentioned attack rotations in your first post, if I am not mistaken. Well, there's no such a thing in CO. Here you grab a power that hits hard/looks flashy and then just grab lots of other utility powers to make that 1 power stronger. You don't use many powers one after another. Just pick 1 single target and 1 aoe, that's in most builds the way to go.
Btw, here's remake of your build. I added advantage points and changed few powers. That's nowhere the best possible variation of your build that's just a blueprint. Shape it, change it, as you wish. That build here is only so you will understand how average build looks.
PowerHouse (Link to this build)
Name:
Archetype: Freeform
Super Stats:
Level 6: Dexterity (Primary)
Level 10: Ego (Secondary)
Level 15: Endurance (Secondary)
Talents:
Level 1: Quick Trigger
Level 6: Agile
Level 9: Indomitable
Level 12: Shooter
Level 15: Sniper Training
Level 18: Professional Athlete
Level 21: Jack of All Trades
Powers:
Level 1: Boomerang Toss
Level 1: Ricochet Throw (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 6: Sonic Device
Level 8: Invulnerability (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 11: Bionic Shielding (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 14: Parry (The Elusive Monk)
Level 17: Attack Toys (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 20: Open Palm Strike (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 23: Strafing Run (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 26: Masterful Dodge
Level 29: Ego Surge (Nimble Mind)
Level 32: Molecular Self-Assembly
Level 35:
Level 38:
Travel Powers:
Level 6: Swinging (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 35: Acrobatics (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Specializations:
Dexterity: Combat Training (3/3)
Dexterity: Gear Utilization (2/3)
Dexterity: Deadly Aim (3/3)
Dexterity: Quick Reflexes (2/3)
Warden: Fortified Gear (3/3)
Warden: Ruthless (2/2)
Warden: Tenacious (2/2)
Warden: The Best Defense (3/3)
Vindicator: Merciless (3/3)
Vindicator: The Rush of Battle (2/3)
Vindicator: Focused Strikes (3/3)
Vindicator: Modified Gear (2/2)
Mastery: Dexterity Mastery (1/1)
Ow, and one more thing, forms increase you ranged or melee damage. So if you will take form of the tempest it will increase damage of you boomerang throw only slightly compared to melee powers.
Ow, and, one more thing. Reading is a very usefull skill to have. Just read description of powers (not in that build maker, but ingame). Don't forget to change from "show available powers" to "show all powers" and press that "show advanced description". It will explain alot about every power in game. Both how they work and how they work with something else.
I've been playing a bit more, doing stuff in the Desert, and I've gotten my guy to level 17 so far. As of right now, here's what my build looks like. I'm leaving the talents blank because honestly I don't exactly remember which ones I picked and I can't figure out how to check. But here's an updated screen showing my totals.
Additional notes:
I went with Targeting Computer as my passive instead of Invulnerability since it seemed like it would beef up Ricochet Throw, which has really felt like my bread and butter.
I guess I derped on Accelerate Metabolism in Boomerang Toss, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. There's a power with almost the exact same name in COH and it's one of the sweetest buffs in the game.. I guess I just subliminally felt like I had to have it.
I'm really not digging the damage from Thundering Kicks. I feel like I take ST targets down faster and more safely by chilling at range and charging Ricochet up. Increasing it to Rank 3 helped a bit though, and since I did that I've been using it more. I still think I need a better ST attack though, which brings me to my next point.
For my next power choices, I'm thinking, not necessarily in this order:
-Intensity
-Dragon Uppercut
-Masterful Dodge
-Molecular Self Assembly ( Bionic Shielding's energy cost feels kinda steep, I'm hoping this will help)
And after that I'm pretty much lost. Maybe a pet power? What's the deal with Ultimate Powers?
PowerHouse (Link to this build)
Name:
Archetype: Freeform
Super Stats:
Level 6: Dexterity (Primary)
Level 10: Constitution (Secondary)
Level 15: Ego (Secondary)
Talents:
Level 1:
Level 6:
Level 9:
Level 12:
Level 15:
Level 18:
Level 21:
Powers:
Level 1: Boomerang Toss (Accelerated Metabolism)
Level 1: Thundering Kicks (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 6: Ricochet Throw (Rank 2)
Level 8: Bionic Shielding (Rank 2)
Level 11: Targeting Computer
Level 14: Form of the Tempest
Level 17: Force Shield
Level 20:
Level 23:
Level 26:
Level 29:
Level 32:
Level 35:
Level 38:
Travel Powers:
Level 6: Swinging
Level 35:
Specializations:
About ultimate powers, most of them are not worth taking if you asking me. They sure look awesome, but because of the long cd on them, taking something else in most cases is a better idea.
And if you are lost at what power to take next, do it like me, go through your build step by step.
Energy builder? - Check!
Passive? - Check!
Single target attack? - Check!
AOE attack? - Check!
Form? - Check!
Self heal? - Check!
Block power? - Check!
Active offence? - On it!
Active defence? - On it!
And as soon as you will be able to answer "Check!" to all of those, you can say that your build is complete. Rest of your powers take depending on what you want. Want more defence, take something for defence. Second healing power, a power that will increase your defence/dodge/avoidance. Want more damage, take some on next hit powers, short duration buffs like dark transfusion with blood sacrifice advantage. Or maybe even second active offence. Just look at your build and ask yourself, where does your hero lacking or where do you want your hero to reach limits and then search for a power that will help you get what you want. And ofcourse if you can't find it yourself, there's allways forums waiting for you to ask.
I've gotten to level 28 and things are starting to make more sense to me but I'm still wondering about some stuff.
-I'm not sure what's considered 'high' or 'good' damage in CO, but I feel like Ricochet Throw does strong AOE and ST damage. Should I still have a separate ST attack in my final build? Also, would I see more damage bringing it up to rank 3 or taking the microelectronic controllers advantage? I'm assuming it would mean more AOE at the cost of single target.
-Talents. Should I have focused these primarily on my superstats, or tried to balance them out between everything? I want my main build to be exclusively ranged DPS but I would also like to be able to switch to a Tank build.
-Assuming Ricochet Throw covers both my AOE and ST damage, I feel like I should be able to pick up a good amount of 'extra' stuff. If it would be advisable to grab a strictly ST attack, what would be some effective suggestions?
-For my ranged (main) build, I'm thinking of using Targeting Computer as my passive, concentration as my toggle, and ego surge and lock n load as active offenses. The description for Ego Surge has me confused- On the one hand it says it's an ego blade buff, but in the description it says it's +dmg for all attacks and +ego. Which is it?
-For my tank (secondary) build, I'm thinking of taking Regeneration as a second passive. Also to help tanking, I was thinking force shield, masterful dodge, resurgence and bountiful chi resurgence. I guess the question is whether 2 active defenses, 2 active offenses, 2 passives and 2 self heals is overkill or not? Like I said, I just feel like I have a lot of extra room.
Alternatively, if you don't feel like reading all that, here's what I'm thinking as of now. It might be easier on the eyes.
Usually I try to do 2/1 actives depending on my role (tank-2 def/1 off, dps-2 off/1 def)
Then I will usually take either BCR or Conviction on just about every toon, with 1 passive, so I guess my setup would look like this:
2 active off or def
1 active (whichever not chosen above)
1 Passive
1 self heal
Ego Surge does boost all damage, but also gives you a flat boost to your Ego as well for the duration, so if you took Ego as a superstat, you will get more of a boost based on that as well.
The same is true for all active offenses, they all boost all damage, but they also have some secondary effect as well, or allow you to put adv points into a nifty additional ability. Electric Sheath is probably my favorite for this with the adv Matter-Energy Union that will put up a shield too.
Targeting Computer is fine, however, if you are just going to use all physical abilities, Quarry might be a better option. I prefer Targeting Comp when I am mixing particle and physical damage.
Those "extra" power options can be used for a variety of things...nukes, pets, circles, other group-friendly powers.
I think Summon Shadows would work thematically for a night warrior or ninja style toon, like Shinobi or the omnipresence effect.
I also like "fire-and-forget" powers like Munition Bots turrets or Heal Bots....or even Hex.
I see these as "free dps" powers...I can still focus on my main rotation while those little extra things are just piling on the damage too.
Any extra egde you give your toon will add to dps as well as chances of completing missions/alerts.
For instance, I levelled a toon awhile back that began alerts like this: R3 Concentration (start with 3 stacks), Dark Transfusion (Blood Sacrifice), Electric Sheath, Masterful Dodge, and Fire at Will...leading into Palliate.
Remember: Half the people you know are below average...
Do not correct a fool, for he will hate you for it. Correct a wise man, for he will appreciate you for it.
Don't be like the Qularr. They would not last one round in the Interstellar Galactic Arena...
Handle @brayv
Do you have any suggestions? My primary superstat is Dex, and my others are Con and Ego. I have my main build set in a ranged damage role- my spec trees are dex, vindicator and avenger.
The thing is that I would like to be able to comfortably switch between roles. I have my second build using Regen as a passive so I can tank and for sticky situations- I've gotten to level 33 almost completely solo and have been able to take on purple enemies and higher level master villains by switching to my build with Regen in tank role. My damage is much lower but it is nice to be able to do.
I'm also considering working in a taunt power for my second build as more of my friends from COH will be coming over once the doors officially shut. I'm not seeing any actual taunts but I do see advantages that seem to add a sort of punchvoke effect to powers. Could I just take another AOE power and not rank it up, just to use as a taunt?
Great thanks. That's what I was hoping for.
This I don't understand. I picked targeting computer since my primary attack, Ricochet Throw, is ranged technology. Also since my damage is heavily based around crits, it seemed like targeting computer was the best option for DPS. It seems like Quarry loses out on the crit bonus of targeting computer for dodge, based on what I'm seeing.
I actually have the support drones right now but I'm not sure how I feel about them. The extra healing is nice but when I switch them over, the damage feels really underwhelming. I've also tried out the attack toys and they made me lol... Their damage seemed good but they over aggroed like crazy.
See, in this case I feel like the best way to add to my DPS in that sense would be to always have an active offense up, wouldn't it? I sort of hate how short the durations are on those things. Is Nanobot Swarm the only way to fix that issue (or attempt to?)
Thanks for the reply.
Orbital Cannon is a great nuke opener, followed by RT, then leading into Assault Rifle, Particle Beam Rifle, or even Chest Beam. Fire At Will has also become a favorite nuke opener of mine.
I understand you wanting to do both roles, however, remember the more you put into one role, takes away from the other...most builds can manage a few powers, but after a certain point, it just starts taking away from your primary role.
Taunts in this game really aren't needed. Crippling Challenge on 1 power or Challenging Strikes on an aoe is really all you will need to help your friends out. Tanks usually take both because they chose that as their primary role and try to max it out. Remember, Tank role increases threat generation on its own, while the other roles decrease it, so as far as threat is concerned, the game is on your side as a Tank. (As it should be)
For Dps, my main "fire-and-forget" power choice is Munitions Bots, because I can turn them into turrets and direct their fire. They don't just aimlessly bounce around the room like some pets do. You can also set the turrets at 100 range which will be out of a lot of aoe ranges.
Also the thing on active offenses: The damage increase is nice, but with +offense items freeflowing at 40, their diminishing returns hit pretty quickly. When you take an active offense, you should be focusing more on the secondary effect.
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But isn't the secondary for Targeting Computer +critical severity, whereas the secondary for Quarry is +dodge? I thought crit severity was best for DPS and dodge was a survivability mechanic? I'm not trying to call you a liar, I'm just legitimately confused.
Cool suggestions but I thought only one AOE attack per build was advisable, and I was told earlier in the thread that Ricochet Throw was a good choice. You seemed to be suggesting adding an additional single target attack instead of just using RT for both but these look like AOE suggestions to me.
That's great, thanks! Also thanks for the tanking info- I wasn't sure how easy it is to steal aggro by accident as I haven't done much teaming.
I asked about this in another thread but haven't gotten an answer. Especially in terms of DR it would be great if you (or anyone) could point me towards a more prolific character builder than the Powerhouse one that has real numbers and totals for builds along with comprehensive gear/mod cataloging. I really hope something like this exists or is being worked on- I'm very spoiled by Mids.