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I need help sorting out this Beastial mess!

highjusticarhighjusticar Posts: 140 Arc User
edited December 2013 in Power Discussion
I have been trying to make a beastial character loosely based off of Felicia from Darkstalkers. The character should play somewhat like an arcade fighting game character. I wanted some unarmed kick attacks in the mix with the claw attacks as the character is a cat girl. (I thik there is a law that says you must create one in every game that they can be made in! :tongue: )

This is what I came up with so far:

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: The Blade
Level 6: Relentless
Level 9: Amazing Stamina
Level 12: Wordly
Level 15: Negotiator
Level 18: Quick Recovery
Level 21: Martial Training

Powers:
Level 1: Bestial Fury (Rip and Tear)
Level 1: Shred (Rank 2, Penetrating Strikes)
Level 6: Pounce (Crippling Challenge)
Level 8: Night Warrior (Rank 2, Rank 3, Silent Running)
Level 11: Aspect of the Bestial
Level 14: Inexorable Tides (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 17: Molecular Self-Assembly
Level 20: Massacre (Rank 2, Blood Mess)
Level 23: Bountiful Chi Resurgence (Rank 2, Resurgent Reiki)
Level 26: Ego Surge (Rank 2, Nimble Mind)
Level 29: Aggressor (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 32: Masterful Dodge
Level 35: Howl
Level 38: Rebirth

Travel Powers:
Level 6: Acrobatics (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 35: Superjump

Specializations:
Strength: Physical Peak (3/3)
Strength: Aggression (2/2)
Strength: Brutality (2/2)
Strength: Overpower (3/3)
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: Modified Gear (2/2)
Mastery: Strength Mastery (1/1)

I am not too sure about the order though or maybe some of the powers.

Right now the character is level 10 and is the same up to the build except I took Dex as a secondary instead of Con, but at this low of a level, it can be fixed if need be.

I am not sure about Night Warrior vs Way of the Warrior. I know that in a sustained fight WotW will allow for more damage and maybe more defense, but I do love the alpha strike of the stealth attack. I can one shot super villains right now, though I expect that will probably change as I get higher in level. The stealth is very useful in getting around though.

I took MSA instead of supernatural as I 'think' I have enough cooldowns to keep it going, provided pounce works on it.


Thats all I can think of now. Thanks for any help sorting this out you can give me.
Post edited by Unknown User on

Comments

  • kaiserin#0958 kaiserin Posts: 3,196 Cryptic Developer
    edited December 2013
    Rip and Tear is redundant if you have Shred.

    Aspect of the Bestial is poop for Bestial. I would suggest Enrage as it will fuel you while using Massacre (also Endorphine Rush).

    You might like Evasive Maneuvers if you want more in combat movement options.

    Bloody Mess is also poop. It adds to the severity layer instead of the base, which results in lower damage on high crit builds.

    Curious how MSA will work out for you. Supernatural power is pretty decent as you need little rec to fuel it (it honestly works better with endurance statted), however it has quite the lag to it with Bestial clicks and gets a little frustrating when you're trying to use non-bestial abilities.
  • flamingbunnymanflamingbunnyman Posts: 2,035 Arc User
    edited December 2013
    kaizerin wrote: »
    Aspect of the Bestial is poop for Bestial. I would suggest Enrage as it will fuel you while using Massacre (also Endorphine Rush).

    I never thought of using Enrage with Bestial. If I were to take Frenzy, the Enrage on each third hit would stack, right? So I'd build stacks slower than Shred+AotB, but I'd be able to benefit from Endorphin Rush.
    Curious how MSA will work out for you. Supernatural power is pretty decent as you need little rec to fuel it (it honestly works better with endurance statted), however it has quite the lag to it with Bestial clicks and gets a little frustrating when you're trying to use non-bestial abilities.

    Supernatural Power gives 30 Energy even if you have no Recovery at all, and it doesn't seem to have an internal cooldown; it procs as often as you meet its conditions.
    The only problem I have with it is that you have to be under 15% Max Energy before using a Supernatural power for it to trigger, so you need a big Energy pool for it to trigger off high cost powers. That's why you want to go with End.

    I have a character with Primary Ego, Secondary End and Rec, with Supernatural Power and all Bestial and Infernal powers. It's hilarious watching my Energy bar drain super fast, and then suddenly refill itself. :biggrin:
    _________________________________________________
    @flamingbunnyman in game. Formerly @Roderick in City of Heroes.
  • kentekokenteko Posts: 80 Arc User
    edited December 2013
    Just gonna throw in a quick two cents but don't forget Laser Knight/The Elusive Monk (from Energy Shield/Parry respectively). Howl or Rebirth are good things to drop for it and they give a significant boost just by existing.
  • highjusticarhighjusticar Posts: 140 Arc User
    edited December 2013
    OK, I made a few changes:

    PowerHouse (Link to this build)

    Name:

    Archetype: Freeform

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

    Talents:
    Level 1: The Blade
    Level 6: Relentless
    Level 9: Amazing Stamina
    Level 12: Wordly
    Level 15: Negotiator
    Level 18: Quick Recovery
    Level 21: Martial Training

    Powers:
    Level 1: Bestial Fury
    Level 1: Shred (Rank 2, Penetrating Strikes)
    Level 6: Pounce
    Level 8: Way of the Warrior (Rank 2, Rank 3)
    Level 11: Inexorable Tides (Rank 2, Rank 3)
    Level 14: Enrage (Endorphin Rush)
    Level 17: Molecular Self-Assembly
    Level 20: Massacre (Rank 2, Rank 3)
    Level 23: Bountiful Chi Resurgence (Rank 2, Resurgent Reiki)
    Level 26: Ego Surge (Rank 2, Nimble Mind)
    Level 29: Aggressor (Rank 2, Rank 3)
    Level 32: Masterful Dodge
    Level 35: Howl (Make them Tremble)
    Level 38: Parry (The Elusive Monk)

    Travel Powers:
    Level 6: Acrobatics (Rank 2, Rank 3)
    Level 35: Superjump

    Specializations:
    Strength: Physical Peak (3/3)
    Strength: Aggression (2/2)
    Strength: Brutality (2/2)
    Strength: Overpower (3/3)
    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: Modified Gear (2/2)
    Mastery: Strength Mastery (1/1)

    I did a little research and from what I can tell, in the upper levels bosses hit points get stupid and shadow strike would have to do 'nerf brigade' damage in order to one shot them the way I do now. It also seems that they gave every mob rated tough or higher enough perception to see through teleport which ranks higher than stealth.

    My idea for MSA was that pounce has a 3 second cooldown and BCR has a 15 second one. I would think I would be using those a lot in a fight even if just to set off MSA. Is there a minimum cooldown for a power to get MSA to work? If supernatural would still work better, than I can swap them.

    Other than that I dropped revive and put in parry with adv. Since I am most likely stating REC as my second SS, I would probably change my talents to something else like CON or END.

    Once that is settled, I could use some help putting all the powers in the right order.

    Thanks
  • ashensnowashensnow Posts: 2,048 Arc User
    edited December 2013
    How much INT are you going to be able to stack ?

    Without an energy management secondary SS (such as INT for cost reduction) and with an energy unlock that is not supported by some significant degree of statting you might want to be sure that you will be able to fuel your primary attacks. I'd test this on the PTS to be sure that you don't end up to reliant on your EB.

    'Caine, miss you bud. Fly high.
  • highjusticarhighjusticar Posts: 140 Arc User
    edited December 2013
    ashensnow wrote: »
    How much INT are you going to be able to stack ?

    Without an energy management secondary SS (such as INT for cost reduction) and with an energy unlock that is not supported by some significant degree of statting you might want to be sure that you will be able to fuel your primary attacks. I'd test this on the PTS to be sure that you don't end up to reliant on your EB.

    I have no idea how much I would need before DR takes effect, but I originally had INT in it and for some reason changed it, maybe because recovery works on supernatural power. I think I may have been looking at something and changed it from INT.
  • helbjornhelbjorn Posts: 678 Arc User
    edited December 2013
    kaizerin wrote: »
    Rip and Tear is redundant if you have Shred.

    Aspect of the Bestial is poop for Bestial. I would suggest Enrage as it will fuel you while using Massacre

    With Rip and Tear, Shred and AotB, I can build 8 stacks of Enraged much faster than with Enrage and knocks. IMO the only advantage of Enrage over AotB is Aggressor (which hopefully will be fixed someday to work properly with AotB).
    (also Endorphine Rush).

    Speaking of poop...
    Bloody Mess is also poop. It adds to the severity layer instead of the base, which results in lower damage on high crit builds.

    This I agree with completely; it was quite disappointing to discover the utter uselessness of this advantage in testing. Rank 3 is clearly superior, even after the crit changes.
  • highjusticarhighjusticar Posts: 140 Arc User
    edited December 2013
    I am beginning to wonder, since bleeds don't really do anything for me other than some extra damage, would it be better to take a more damaging attack than massacre like burning chi fist?
  • supersharkssupersharks Posts: 103 Arc User
    edited December 2013
    Rec is an energy management stat, he'll build his entire end bar back in seconds.

    Massacre is an amazing attack, don't forget the knockdown it procs which can be amazingly useful. And the bleed damage builds very very fast.

    If you can fit it in your concept, replace it with reapers embrace. With the ease of bleed of bestial and high crit sev you can do ludicrous damage with it in no time.
  • kaiserin#0958 kaiserin Posts: 3,196 Cryptic Developer
    edited December 2013
    helbjorn wrote: »
    With Rip and Tear, Shred and AotB, I can build 8 stacks of Enraged much faster than with Enrage and knocks. IMO the only advantage of Enrage over AotB is Aggressor (which hopefully will be fixed someday to work properly with AotB).
    Faster does not mean better. Getting 8 stacks slightly faster (or not faster at all if using Aggressor) in a fight does not cover up AoTB's flaws in the set. It does not generate energy or stacks while using Massacre, which is the attack you will be using the most if your intent is to deal damage, only using Shred sparingly to keep up penetrating strikes once your 5 bleeds are down. Using AoTB over Enrage will starve you of your form energy gain, which is not something to dismiss.

    helbjorn wrote: »
    Speaking of poop...
    100 hps passive heal is not poop.



    Also posting this here again: MDPS Tests
    As some folks seem to be uncertain where melee powers fall for damage output.
  • flamingbunnymanflamingbunnyman Posts: 2,035 Arc User
    edited December 2013
    kaizerin wrote: »
    100 hps passive heal is not poop.

    Endorphin Rush is an interesting beast.

    It has a base heal of 0, and scales with nothing but Con. That means that, unless you're significantly invested in Con, it really is poop. Your 100 Health per second example requires 500 Con, which isn't difficult to get, but does require sacrificing other stats. Depending on your build, it might not be worthwhile.

    It only lasts 6 seconds, which means that you have to gain a stack of Enrage every 6 seconds or less to keep it up. Refreshing a stack, as with Howl or Massacre, will neither trigger nor refresh Endorphin Rush.

    Personally, I think Endorphin Rush is great, but I use it with Cleave, so I'm constantly gaining Enrage Stacks, and I have over 600 Con, so I have pretty much the optimal setup.

    There are builds wher I could see it being a waste of Advantage Points. In those cases, I'd question whether Enrage is the right Form to use, though.
    _________________________________________________
    @flamingbunnyman in game. Formerly @Roderick in City of Heroes.
  • kaiserin#0958 kaiserin Posts: 3,196 Cryptic Developer
    edited December 2013
    At around 350 con I'm getting ticks of 300 from endorphin (and it ticks every 3 seconds).

    Not sure what you mean by it not working with Massacre, it triggers Endorphin just fine (so does pounce).
    Which reminds me, another pro for Enrage with Bestial is gaining stacks off of your lunge.
  • flamingbunnymanflamingbunnyman Posts: 2,035 Arc User
    edited December 2013
    According to Mecha Teddy's thread, 350 Con should get 210 health per tick. Granted, that thread is old, so things might have changed. It's also possible that ER scales with bonus healing. I'll have to check that out.

    As to Massacre... That was a brain fart on my part. I was only thinking of the "Refreshes stacks of Enrage" part, and forgot about the knockdown part. :redface:
    _________________________________________________
    @flamingbunnyman in game. Formerly @Roderick in City of Heroes.
  • kaiserin#0958 kaiserin Posts: 3,196 Cryptic Developer
    edited December 2013
    Ah right, bonus healing is probably it. I always run in hybrid.
  • flamingbunnymanflamingbunnyman Posts: 2,035 Arc User
    edited December 2013
    OK, so...

    On the character I tested out, I have 375 Con.

    According to Mecha Teddy's thread, with 8 stacks of Enrage, you heal (Con x 0.6) health per tick of Endorphin Rush. That should be 225 Health per tick.

    Because I'm running in Hybrid, I have 43.9% bonus healing from Superstats. I have no other sources of bonus healing.

    With 8 stacks of Enrage, I get 318 health per tick.

    Adding 43.9% to 225 gives 323.775 health per tick.

    Switching to Tank role (no bonus healing), I get 229 health per tick.

    It looks like Mecha Teddy's info is still current, but possibly off by a point or two, and that bonus healing does affect Endorphin Rush. Meaning that in Hybrid role, Endorphin Rush is really good.
    _________________________________________________
    @flamingbunnyman in game. Formerly @Roderick in City of Heroes.
  • helbjornhelbjorn Posts: 678 Arc User
    edited December 2013
    Unless the mechanic has changed, my biggest problem with ER is that it doesn't proc on refreshes, meaning that all your healing is on the front end of combat while you're building Enraged stacks, where you're least likely to need it. In prolonged battle, where 8 stacks never drop off, the HPS is effectively zero.
  • helbjornhelbjorn Posts: 678 Arc User
    edited December 2013
    kaizerin wrote: »
    It does not generate energy or stacks while using Massacre, which is the attack you will be using the most if your intent is to deal damage, only using Shred sparingly to keep up penetrating strikes once your 5 bleeds are down. Using AoTB over Enrage will starve you of your form energy gain, which is not something to dismiss.

    Since most who are building within this set (and using Massacre) take Supernatural Power, I don't see this as much of a negative. My Bestial build is never energy starved.
  • kaiserin#0958 kaiserin Posts: 3,196 Cryptic Developer
    edited December 2013
    helbjorn wrote: »
    Unless the mechanic has changed, my biggest problem with ER is that it doesn't proc on refreshes, meaning that all your healing is on the front end of combat while you're building Enraged stacks, where you're least likely to need it. In prolonged battle, where 8 stacks never drop off, the HPS is effectively zero.


    It applies even if you are at max stacks.

    As for energy it depends on the build, it's great if your build is purely supernatural, not so great for using out of set powers. For instance I wouldn't be able to fuel Unleashed Rage on my build without the energy return from Enrage (not without wasting time using my eb).
  • helbjornhelbjorn Posts: 678 Arc User
    edited December 2013
    I just revisited Endorphin Rush on the PTS and found it IS much better than it used to be. With only 290-ish CON I was getting two ticks of 278 with each stack AND refresh of Enraged.

    I would almost consider spending two points on it in its present state. When was it revamped?
  • flamingbunnymanflamingbunnyman Posts: 2,035 Arc User
    edited December 2013
    Never, as far as I know.

    Every time you gain a stack, even at max stacks, it gives its Energy (just like any other Form), and procs Endorphin Rush.

    It doesn't proc ER on refreshes, but note that that specifically applies to powers like Howl than say they refresh the duration; gaining a new stack when already capped is a new stack, not a refresh.
    _________________________________________________
    @flamingbunnyman in game. Formerly @Roderick in City of Heroes.
  • highjusticarhighjusticar Posts: 140 Arc User
    edited December 2013
    After messing around a little bit in the powerhouse, it seems that even without having massacre yet, I can quickly empty my power bar enough to use supernatural vs MSA.

    I do have one clarification though.

    If I get my power bar down around 15%, but use Inexorable Tides I gain nothing for energy return even if I use a bestial attack next? I think the answer is yes, the next attack must be bestial and not something else followed by bestial.

    If that is so, then all I need to do is figure out the right order to bet the powers.
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