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Critique my classic masked hero Might DPS build
baryonsweep
Posts: 7 Arc User
Hi all,
As a preface to this, I have recently returned to CO and love the 'On Alert' changes, my existing freeform build no longer seemed as effective, so I'm redesigning my hero.
The concept is a traditional super strong, masked hero archetype.
The build and powers framework consist of only one active offense, and a handful of active defensives to get me out of trouble.
As you can see I have SS'd STR, CON, INT - Strength, for my damage focus. Constitution to give me some survivability and a stronger Resurgence, and Imbue (Imbue is key to using Unleashed Rage with guaranteed crit, and the odd Resurgence again with crit if my health gets low)
As far as the powers I'm alittle unsure of;
Beatdown - I've ranked to 3, and used some of the spec tree to boost it's crit and base damage, this I feel will give me a sustainable damage power for cosmic fights. Or should I scrap this and take Demolish with 'Below the Belt' for the damage bonus?
Unleashed Rage - Again, ranked to 3, in PH testing with Agressor up, and Imbue on this deals a hefty amount of AOE damage, the Brawler role treats this as physical damage for the bonus, but obviously it is sonic damage when applied to an enemy. Is this worth the points?
As for the build in general, I know it'll lack survivability, but I can't see a way to increase that without gimping the damage potential, I considered the Vindicator tree instead of Warden for the health returns, or possibly dropping one of the above skills for another active defense (Masterful Dodge or Unbreakable, and or possibly Bountiful Chi)
I have allready wasted my free retcon building what I thought would be an excellent cosmic tank, but sadly it felt very squishy and was ripped apart by On Alert mobs and even cosmics.
Sadly, I think it might just be an uneven development of the framework, as I can run the same Alerts with my PA DPS, in Avenger role and cut through the bad guys before they drop me (plasma beam FTW..)
Any advice or constructive feedback is welcomed, or guidance on how to squeeze in some more survivability!
Thanks in advance!
PowerHouse (Link to this build)
Name: Vigilsman
Archetype: Freeform
Super Stats:
Level 6: Strength (Primary)
Level 10: Constitution (Secondary)
Level 15: Intelligence (Secondary)
Talents:
Level 1: Superhuman
Level 6: Mighty
Level 9: Enduring
Level 12: Brilliant
Level 15: Physical Conditioning
Level 18: Body and Mind
Level 21: Healthy Mind
Powers:
Level 1: Clobber
Level 1: Mighty Leap
Level 6: Beatdown (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 8: Thunderclap (Collateral Damage)
Level 11: Roomsweeper (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 14: Haymaker (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 17: Enrage (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 20: Aggressor
Level 23: Havoc Stomp (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 26: Unleashed Rage (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 29: Resurgence (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 32: Imbue (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 35: Molecular Self-Assembly
Level 38: Retaliation
Travel Powers:
Level 6: Superjump (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 35: Superspeed
Specializations:
Strength: Physical Peak (3/3)
Strength: Aggression (2/2)
Strength: Brutality (2/2)
Strength: Overpower (3/3)
Brawler: The Glory of Battle (3/3)
Brawler: Penetrating Strikes (1/2)
Brawler: Ruthless (2/2)
Brawler: Setup (2/2)
Brawler: Offensive Expertise (2/2)
Warden: Fortified Gear (3/3)
Warden: Ruthless (2/2)
Warden: Tenacious (2/2)
Warden: The Best Defense (3/3)
Mastery: Strength Mastery (1/1)
As a preface to this, I have recently returned to CO and love the 'On Alert' changes, my existing freeform build no longer seemed as effective, so I'm redesigning my hero.
The concept is a traditional super strong, masked hero archetype.
The build and powers framework consist of only one active offense, and a handful of active defensives to get me out of trouble.
As you can see I have SS'd STR, CON, INT - Strength, for my damage focus. Constitution to give me some survivability and a stronger Resurgence, and Imbue (Imbue is key to using Unleashed Rage with guaranteed crit, and the odd Resurgence again with crit if my health gets low)
As far as the powers I'm alittle unsure of;
Beatdown - I've ranked to 3, and used some of the spec tree to boost it's crit and base damage, this I feel will give me a sustainable damage power for cosmic fights. Or should I scrap this and take Demolish with 'Below the Belt' for the damage bonus?
Unleashed Rage - Again, ranked to 3, in PH testing with Agressor up, and Imbue on this deals a hefty amount of AOE damage, the Brawler role treats this as physical damage for the bonus, but obviously it is sonic damage when applied to an enemy. Is this worth the points?
As for the build in general, I know it'll lack survivability, but I can't see a way to increase that without gimping the damage potential, I considered the Vindicator tree instead of Warden for the health returns, or possibly dropping one of the above skills for another active defense (Masterful Dodge or Unbreakable, and or possibly Bountiful Chi)
I have allready wasted my free retcon building what I thought would be an excellent cosmic tank, but sadly it felt very squishy and was ripped apart by On Alert mobs and even cosmics.
Sadly, I think it might just be an uneven development of the framework, as I can run the same Alerts with my PA DPS, in Avenger role and cut through the bad guys before they drop me (plasma beam FTW..)
Any advice or constructive feedback is welcomed, or guidance on how to squeeze in some more survivability!
Thanks in advance!
PowerHouse (Link to this build)
Name: Vigilsman
Archetype: Freeform
Super Stats:
Level 6: Strength (Primary)
Level 10: Constitution (Secondary)
Level 15: Intelligence (Secondary)
Talents:
Level 1: Superhuman
Level 6: Mighty
Level 9: Enduring
Level 12: Brilliant
Level 15: Physical Conditioning
Level 18: Body and Mind
Level 21: Healthy Mind
Powers:
Level 1: Clobber
Level 1: Mighty Leap
Level 6: Beatdown (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 8: Thunderclap (Collateral Damage)
Level 11: Roomsweeper (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 14: Haymaker (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 17: Enrage (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 20: Aggressor
Level 23: Havoc Stomp (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 26: Unleashed Rage (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 29: Resurgence (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 32: Imbue (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 35: Molecular Self-Assembly
Level 38: Retaliation
Travel Powers:
Level 6: Superjump (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 35: Superspeed
Specializations:
Strength: Physical Peak (3/3)
Strength: Aggression (2/2)
Strength: Brutality (2/2)
Strength: Overpower (3/3)
Brawler: The Glory of Battle (3/3)
Brawler: Penetrating Strikes (1/2)
Brawler: Ruthless (2/2)
Brawler: Setup (2/2)
Brawler: Offensive Expertise (2/2)
Warden: Fortified Gear (3/3)
Warden: Ruthless (2/2)
Warden: Tenacious (2/2)
Warden: The Best Defense (3/3)
Mastery: Strength Mastery (1/1)
Post edited by baryonsweep on
0
Comments
Something else to consider is the upcoming change to Imbue. It's on the PTS now if you want to check it out.
The poster formerly known as Lightwave!
Heya,
I see in my haste I have exported an unifinished build - I did indeed leave out the passive, it was built around 'Unstoppable' running in the Brawler role, let me repost the build.
It does have alot of attacks - I am revising the build at the moment, it has very very little survivability, even in the PH's danger room.
I may have to opt out of unstoppable and use invuln. or defiance (though imho defiance seems exceptionally lackluster for most content)
PowerHouse (Link to this build)
Name:
Archetype: Freeform
Super Stats:
Level 6: Strength (Primary)
Level 10: Constitution (Secondary)
Level 15: Intelligence (Secondary)
Talents:
Level 1: Superhuman
Level 6: Physical Conditioning
Level 9: Body and Mind
Level 12: Healthy Mind
Level 15: Mighty
Level 18: Enduring
Level 21: Brilliant
Powers:
Level 1: Clobber
Level 1: Retaliation (Punitive Pummeling)
Level 6: Mighty Leap (Nailed to the Ground)
Level 8: Unstoppable (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 11: Roomsweeper (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 14: Thunderclap (Collateral Damage)
Level 17: Haymaker (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 20: Enrage (Rank 2, Endorphin Rush)
Level 23: Aggressor
Level 26: Unleashed Rage (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 29: Resurgence (Rank 2, Evanescent Emergence)
Level 32: Imbue (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 35: Molecular Self-Assembly
Level 38: Bountiful Chi Resurgence
Travel Powers:
Try that - definatly not a levelling build.
I will likely try it with defiance and put in some more survivability - but I attempted a defiance based build recently, and could not understand why even in guardian role, I was put down so quickly..
It doesn't seem to offer enough increase in damage to make up for the loss of defense. There was a time where it seemed to allow you to kill stuff so fast that you didn't notice it, but it doesn't seem to any longer.
If you have Defiance and a few advantages in it, you shouldn't go down quickly at all. My might character uses Invul but I tried Defiance and in either case when using Enraged with Endorphin Rush, he was almost unkillable by PvE type stuff.
The poster formerly known as Lightwave!
I've been on PTS - and checked out the Imbue changes, it's largely useless to my Might build now, I have switched in Ego Surge, with the Nimble Mind advantage, sadly it is somewhat lacklustre, but then anything will be after the guaranteed crit from Imbue.
It really was a core component of my Might build, allowing to invest heavily in crit severity and relying on constitution to boost it. A great option for non-dex or crit heavy builds, it made up for the lack of ranged damage.
I loaded my PA alt onto the PTS, and soloed the Bloodmoon heroes with ease, even in the Avenger role, with little in the way of health or active defenses (2x BCR stacks, MD and Unbreakable)
However with my Might build, I really struggled, despite having higher SS's than my PA build, but comparable gear... It just goes to show the difference between Might and the other frameworks, in this case PA.
I just strafed left and right with Plasma Beam on, to clear the zombies, which I kept up even when fighting the Bloodmoon hero/heroine so the adds where pitiful... Might is comparatively unable to do anywhere near the sustained damage, or even rival the survivability due to the restrictions of it's range and current framework.
Right now, my Might hero pales in comparison to my PA for ease of playing and survivability vs. DPS
I'm not going to hang up the spandex, but I think he might take a backseat until there is a Might pass (if there is a Might pass.. imho it does need alittle tweak)
Also, one should NEVER use the +8 Talents, as you're really wasting some good points - points that can be added to a fourth or fifth stat. I'd highly recommend replacing Might, Enduring and Brilliant with three others (perhaps Martial Focus (Str: 5, Dex: 5), Accurate (Dex: 5, End: 5) and Coordinated (Dex: 5, Int: 5)). I personally like the 4-stat or 5-stat stuff, to bring a few stats up, but YMMV.
Enrage is now a toggle (as you know); and most people do not rank up their toggles. My enrage-toggle toons get all their stacks pretty quick, so...
Also, generally when folks take Bountiful Chi Resurgence, they have the Resurgent Reiki advantage (and Rank 2) - since Dodge is often pretty decent via gear now-a-days.
The unleashed rage attack, unless there for thematic reasons, is a big bag of "meh" - even with reduced cool down via INT ss'd, it is a LONG cool down for what it does.
You know about Imbue... Bionic Shielding isn't a bad choice here, and it gives you the flexibility to throw it on others, as well. The thing I don't like about it is you have to pay attention to your "debuff" because you'll think you can keep spamming it on yourself! Basically, once you use it, you get a debuff that prevents you from benefitting from it for 15 seconds (debuff is called "Bionic Tampering").
I'm also confused about this build... you want a lot of melee damage, but you also want to be a tank, but your passive (unstoppable) limits you to offense roles... It is hard to go for both; maybe you can drop one of the click-powers (or that lame ultimate) and grab a DEFENSIVE passive, so you can switch builds as needed? Maybe put a rank or two in your block if you go this multi-role route.
In the specializations, most STRENGTH people take JUGGERNAUT, it's just so sweet. Granted, that's more "tanky" than overpower (which is also nice). Maybe I'm thinking too much like a tank (as I'm trying NOT to say drop Initiative and pick up Aggressive Stance in the Vindicator tree), but there's some solid "survival" picks that were missed for what will amount to very little extra damage, overall.
Overall, a solid build. I'd take less KB attacks since I team/alert: knock UP is fine, but knock BACK for melee seems (and is) counter-productive. Plus, no team in the history of teaming really likes Knock BACK - especially as nasty as Champions is at it (which is fun, soloing, don't get me wrong). If you're just Cosmic farming, then no worries about KB.
-r0y