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Toxic leveling build
bravehoptoad
Posts: 248 Arc User
Okay, flowcyto talked me out of a Revitalize build for newby levelling. I've been testing versions of a toxic levelling build (I'm level 20) to find what works best.
To my surprise, I'm having the best luck with an AoPM build. With it I'm consistently able to beat 3-person hard Demons in the Powerhouse -- avoiding all potions to reduce volatility -- which is okay at level 20, I guess. I would have thought that a DEX/CON/INT build and a more offensive passive like Fiery Form or Ice Form would do better because of the huge bump to damage from both that and the Ranged Damage role, but 3-hard almost always defeats that build, in my hands anyway. I have yet to try one of the defensive passives, but because I already have a Might tank, I don't want to.
I suspect AoPM is winning because it 1) makes up for holes in low-level builds, and 2) makes up for inexperience in the hands of the user (namely, me.)
So here's the build I've had the most success with. Any thoughts?
PowerHouse (Link to this build)
Name:
Archetype: Freeform
Super Stats:
Level 6: Intelligence (Primary)
Level 10: Constitution (Secondary)
Level 15: Recovery (Secondary) -- I can't decide what to use here. Right now REC, because Supernatural Power is supposed to scale with it. DEX only gives +5% critical chance. EGO and PRE give depressingly low flat bonuses to damage and healing. END is the other frontrunner -- I want to test how it performs vs. REC. I get an extra chunk of top-end energy, and with Preparation my equilibrium stays about the same, so just need to see how much worse the energy return on Supernatural is with END. Or mabye it's better, because it will trigger sooner.
Talents:
Level 1: The Soldier
Level 6: Negotiator
Level 9: Quick Recovery
Level 12: Healthy Mind
Level 15: Field Ops Training
Level 18: Survival Training
Level 21: Command Training -- I need to figure out if it's better to concentrate strictly on Super Stats, because that's what AoPM scales with, or to scatter bonuses all over because that works best with the INT tree.
Powers:
Level 1: Infernal Bolts
Level 1: Devour Essence (Rank 2, Phlebotomist) -- main single-target attack and maintenance heal.
Level 6: Supernatural Power
Level 8: Aura of Primal Majesty (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 11: Epidemic (Rank 2, Outbreak) -- Main attack. I'm using Outbreak to fuel AotInfernal.
Level 14: Aspect of the Infernal -- This stacks faster than Concentration, but if I took Concentration I could rank up Epidemic instead of using Outbreak. Something to test.
Level 17: Defile (Rank 2, Rank 3) -- Alpha strike, toxic debuff, and 100% poison application for AotI. If I take Plague Bearer, does it apply two stacks of Concentration? Something to test.
Level 20: Resurgence (Rank 2, Evanescent Emergence) -- I can't decide which heal to use. Resurgence for now because it costs 0 energy and gives ~40% of my health bar for emergencies. Conviction heals more in the long run, but it's energy expensive, and without MSA who cares about the long run? It's good for topping off between fights, I guess. I was using Palliate for the stealth of Absolve, but again it costs so much energy that I'd sometimes die waiting to cast it. Or Masterful Dodge/Unbreakable -- might pair well with Devour Essence, but then I'm left looking for a soda machine or a loading pallette to drain when I want to fill up health between fights. For now I'll leave this one at the top of the heap and plan to re-spec a lot as I try out different things.
Travel Powers:
Level 6: Athletics (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Specializations:
Intelligence: Preparation (2/2) -- with a high equilibrium I'm able to cast a full-charge Defile, and Tactician is terrible. Gives about 20 offense, about +1% damage.
Intelligence: Enlightened (3/3)
Intelligence: Detect Vulnerability (3/3)
Intelligence: Expertise (2/2)
Avenger: Ruthless (2/2) -- Avenger seems like the natural tree for someone who relys almost entirely on maintains.
So that's it for now, at level 20. You can see I'm down to small questions, trying to fine tune for my newby fingers. In the future I'm thinking something like this:
Level 23: Ego Surge (Rank 2, Nimble Mind) --isn't this the requisite AO with CON SS?
Level 26: Void Shift (Emerging Nightmares)
Level 29: Evasive Maneuvers (Sleight of Mind) -- with this build, I can tell that controlling range is going to be important. And it should be fun, too!
Level 32: Fire Snake (Rank 2, Rank 3) -- for the toxic debuff. I hope it looks cool.
Level 35: Masterful Dodge (Unfettered Strikes)
Level 38: Rebirth -- mainly a placeholder ATM. Never lose a star!
Specializations:
Avenger: Round 'em Up (3/3)
Avenger: Surprise Attack (2/2) -- would work really well with Defile alpha-strike.
Avenger: Relentless Assault (3/3) -- 150 offense seems like great fun with Epidemic and Devour Essence both.
Vindicator: Aggressive Stance (2/2) -- Without Warden or Guardian, Vindicator loses some of its shine. Maybe I'll check out Overseer or some other spec.
Vindicator: Merciless (3/3)
Vindicator: The Rush of Battle (3/3) -- but boy, does that seem handy for levelling. Maybe stay with Vindicator.
Vindicator: Modified Gear (2/2) -- or Mass Destruction
Mastery: Intelligence Mastery (1/1) -- so sweet with AoPM and INT tree. Vindicator Mastery might make sense since I'm using melee DE and ranged Epidemic, but I suspect the bonuses are very small even with AoPM.
If you have any thoughts, I'd love to hear them! I'm getting anxious to leave my exile in the Powerhouse and return to the world.
To my surprise, I'm having the best luck with an AoPM build. With it I'm consistently able to beat 3-person hard Demons in the Powerhouse -- avoiding all potions to reduce volatility -- which is okay at level 20, I guess. I would have thought that a DEX/CON/INT build and a more offensive passive like Fiery Form or Ice Form would do better because of the huge bump to damage from both that and the Ranged Damage role, but 3-hard almost always defeats that build, in my hands anyway. I have yet to try one of the defensive passives, but because I already have a Might tank, I don't want to.
I suspect AoPM is winning because it 1) makes up for holes in low-level builds, and 2) makes up for inexperience in the hands of the user (namely, me.)
So here's the build I've had the most success with. Any thoughts?
PowerHouse (Link to this build)
Name:
Archetype: Freeform
Super Stats:
Level 6: Intelligence (Primary)
Level 10: Constitution (Secondary)
Level 15: Recovery (Secondary) -- I can't decide what to use here. Right now REC, because Supernatural Power is supposed to scale with it. DEX only gives +5% critical chance. EGO and PRE give depressingly low flat bonuses to damage and healing. END is the other frontrunner -- I want to test how it performs vs. REC. I get an extra chunk of top-end energy, and with Preparation my equilibrium stays about the same, so just need to see how much worse the energy return on Supernatural is with END. Or mabye it's better, because it will trigger sooner.
Talents:
Level 1: The Soldier
Level 6: Negotiator
Level 9: Quick Recovery
Level 12: Healthy Mind
Level 15: Field Ops Training
Level 18: Survival Training
Level 21: Command Training -- I need to figure out if it's better to concentrate strictly on Super Stats, because that's what AoPM scales with, or to scatter bonuses all over because that works best with the INT tree.
Powers:
Level 1: Infernal Bolts
Level 1: Devour Essence (Rank 2, Phlebotomist) -- main single-target attack and maintenance heal.
Level 6: Supernatural Power
Level 8: Aura of Primal Majesty (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 11: Epidemic (Rank 2, Outbreak) -- Main attack. I'm using Outbreak to fuel AotInfernal.
Level 14: Aspect of the Infernal -- This stacks faster than Concentration, but if I took Concentration I could rank up Epidemic instead of using Outbreak. Something to test.
Level 17: Defile (Rank 2, Rank 3) -- Alpha strike, toxic debuff, and 100% poison application for AotI. If I take Plague Bearer, does it apply two stacks of Concentration? Something to test.
Level 20: Resurgence (Rank 2, Evanescent Emergence) -- I can't decide which heal to use. Resurgence for now because it costs 0 energy and gives ~40% of my health bar for emergencies. Conviction heals more in the long run, but it's energy expensive, and without MSA who cares about the long run? It's good for topping off between fights, I guess. I was using Palliate for the stealth of Absolve, but again it costs so much energy that I'd sometimes die waiting to cast it. Or Masterful Dodge/Unbreakable -- might pair well with Devour Essence, but then I'm left looking for a soda machine or a loading pallette to drain when I want to fill up health between fights. For now I'll leave this one at the top of the heap and plan to re-spec a lot as I try out different things.
Travel Powers:
Level 6: Athletics (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Specializations:
Intelligence: Preparation (2/2) -- with a high equilibrium I'm able to cast a full-charge Defile, and Tactician is terrible. Gives about 20 offense, about +1% damage.
Intelligence: Enlightened (3/3)
Intelligence: Detect Vulnerability (3/3)
Intelligence: Expertise (2/2)
Avenger: Ruthless (2/2) -- Avenger seems like the natural tree for someone who relys almost entirely on maintains.
So that's it for now, at level 20. You can see I'm down to small questions, trying to fine tune for my newby fingers. In the future I'm thinking something like this:
Level 23: Ego Surge (Rank 2, Nimble Mind) --isn't this the requisite AO with CON SS?
Level 26: Void Shift (Emerging Nightmares)
Level 29: Evasive Maneuvers (Sleight of Mind) -- with this build, I can tell that controlling range is going to be important. And it should be fun, too!
Level 32: Fire Snake (Rank 2, Rank 3) -- for the toxic debuff. I hope it looks cool.
Level 35: Masterful Dodge (Unfettered Strikes)
Level 38: Rebirth -- mainly a placeholder ATM. Never lose a star!
Specializations:
Avenger: Round 'em Up (3/3)
Avenger: Surprise Attack (2/2) -- would work really well with Defile alpha-strike.
Avenger: Relentless Assault (3/3) -- 150 offense seems like great fun with Epidemic and Devour Essence both.
Vindicator: Aggressive Stance (2/2) -- Without Warden or Guardian, Vindicator loses some of its shine. Maybe I'll check out Overseer or some other spec.
Vindicator: Merciless (3/3)
Vindicator: The Rush of Battle (3/3) -- but boy, does that seem handy for levelling. Maybe stay with Vindicator.
Vindicator: Modified Gear (2/2) -- or Mass Destruction
Mastery: Intelligence Mastery (1/1) -- so sweet with AoPM and INT tree. Vindicator Mastery might make sense since I'm using melee DE and ranged Epidemic, but I suspect the bonuses are very small even with AoPM.
If you have any thoughts, I'd love to hear them! I'm getting anxious to leave my exile in the Powerhouse and return to the world.
Post edited by bravehoptoad on
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Comments
Well, at ur level you have little to help w/ survival, like extra heals, tanks cds, threat wipes (also ur Defense is much lower than a geared lvl 40). So ur riding almost purely on health pool and healing devices atm to supplement DE- SSing Con w/ AoPM's extra stats means you have a good bit more health than the glassier offense passive setups, and a longer time-frame to heal it all back in (also if you were using the dps roles then you have less healing than Hybrid role, in exchange for the higher dmg and lower threat gen).
Survival is tough at low levels, even for lowbies using tank passives. In groups ya just gotta block more often and not bull-rush into groups of mobs like you see high-level (or foolish) players doing (like me
Rec is fine to keep- esp when leveling. But I'd prob mix it w/ some End gearing, even if End isn't an SS. Supernatural Power works off an energy threshold (15%), and End effectively increases it since the threshold is a % of max energy. You'll probably find a combo of both works better than going all out into one of the other.
Up to you, but in the end talents don't amount to much. In this case I'd prob go w/ the three +5/+5 SS combos, and three combos of +5/+5 SS/End or SS/Dex.
For Concentration-granting toggles, you'll only get one stack at a time (getting >1 of a toggle stack per proc can happen if you rank up Focus-granting toggles- not really relevant here).
Resurgence is fine to start with. In instances, you'll be having to block more often and use the healing devices the supply kits give you when leveling, but since the latter get out-modded as you get better stats you mine as well use them anyways.
Probably look to getting another defensive move next- like EM w/ sleight of mind, Palliate/Absolve, M Dodge, Unbreakable, or Conviction.
Avenger could work, though it won't give you as high constant defenses as Guardian or Warden, but it still pairs well w/ Vindicator and Aggressive Stance provided you keep using maintains. If you AoE often, its prob worth keeping (Guardian's Locus is an alternative to that, though, and Warden has Elusive).
haha 'requisite'? Nah, just a good idea. To me the AO can come later, though, esp since as a hold break you already have Resurgence's EE adv. Heals or tank cds and more survival should come before it, imo.
Yeah Firesnake is good for the build; makes mobs flail around too, which is always fun. EM w/ sleight of mind gives ya a potential aggro dump (though its 50% chance on use, the brief stealth is 100% provided ya dun get hit) so ya won't necc need Palliate/absolve w/ it.
Eh, I'd take Mass Destruction over Rush of Battle in a build w/ Epidemic, but that's just speaking in terms of optimal dps.
Int mastery is fine- all the non-SS's are still good to have in this build.
Go get em, champ
- Be safe and have fun, champs - for science!
You can hit 40 with Epidemic and ANY passive that even remotely enhances Epidemic either offensively or defensively. EVERYTHING else is icing on the cake.
I prefer Pestilence, but to each his/her own.
I do use Fire Snake in just about every build that touches toxic damage soley for the debuff, which is the best way to get around the heavy damage diminishing returns that we have.
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
That, plus once you have enough Nemesis tokens, Nemesis gear, is all you need for leveling.
I mention it here because I'm leveling a toxic char with that setup, dual-passives of Pestilence and Regen.
You can definitely tank alerts if need be with Regen.
I ended up going END. I couldn't see much a difference in the energy return of Supernatural Power -- in both cases, once I got below 15% I was getting ~50 energy. My equilibrium was about the same (with Preparation), but END was giving me another 20 energy on the top. Of course, I don't know when an Infernal build is ever going to be maxing out energy like that, but since all other things looked equal, what the heck?
I'm going with Resurgence for now. It's doing just what I want -- giving a bump in emergencies.
It turns out that missions -- even at Elite level -- are much easier than the Powerhouse Danger Room. I was working my tushy off to beat 3-hard demons (no potions). Beating Psimon, who's yellow to me at 20 -- on Elite was a piece of cake.
The one thing I haven't been able to do is beat a legendary by myself. It was Viper-X in that open mission where you try to save the mayor -- I could only get him down about one-third. I just didn't have the healing through-put to keep up. In this case Conviction might have been better. Right after a Supernatural spike, I have just enough energy to cast it, and then a DE tap will give me another Supernatural spike. With my INT PSS the cooldown on Conviction is like 3 seconds. It's remotely possible I could have danced around and fought an 11:59 battle and beaten him (you have to beat him in 12:00). Or maybe trying BCR? Something with a steady throughput. In any case it's the one thing I've tried to do but couldn't.
Yes--I don't need the damage spike just now. Things go down pretty fast. I've just been reading in the Hero Games forum that M Dodge + Unbreakable rotation is the current big thing. Maybe I'll give it a crack. Seems like having semi-permanent ADs would work well with Devour Essence against aggressive PvE mobs that just charge up to be drained.
I'll give Avenger a try -- I see an awful lot of Wardicator/Guardicator builds. For good reason, I'm sure--I'll probably respec to it myself at 40 if I ever get there, but for now I'll try the different thing.
Well...thinking has been kind of fun. I would NEVER have picked AoPM just by looking at the wiki. Against a hard danger room, it just blew everything else away, and I'm still not sure why. It probably helps that even at level 20, all my non-SS stats are pushing 70, which I've read is a soft-cap for a lot of stuff.
And bonus!--I'm suddenly group-friendly. I'm looking forward to my first Alert to see how AoPM works in those.
True, it's surprised me how much easier missions are than the Powerhouse. Also so much easier than when this character was a Behemoth AT -- with no healing, I couldn't even do Elite missions. Even very hard missions could be breath-taking.
Is it odd I kind of miss that tension?
Why Pestilence over Fiery Form or Ice Form? You have to get 9 stacks of poison to equal Fiery's built-in damage bonus, and the toxic DoT seems pretty small. Color your Fire green or whatever and voila! It fits conception. Probably even better is Ice Form with the way it's always putting villains in ice cages, but ice + poison is a harder conceptual fit.
At 20, this is my highest-level character, so I barely even know what Q is, let alone how to spend it. I have I think 1200 Questionite in my inventory. What'll that get me? ;-)
You could go with an offensive passive, sure it's faster... but with the above you literally have to try to die. Throw in BCR and it's even easier.
But really, any decently built FF shouldn't have much problems in PvE atm. Its easier to level w/ a build like this, but that's speaking relatively- when the bar is already set pretty low.
- Be safe and have fun, champs - for science!
Also, I know that most of my offensive based toons are well into damage diminishing returns way before they are finished being geared, so that difference in damage vs. Fire or Ice Form isn't as important in testing than it seems to be on paper. Plus in Alerts, poison stacks really fast and that extra boost to my damage there will kick in.
However, I have yet to do any Alerts since they switched them...I usually built my toons to dominate 2-Minute Drills, Dockside Dustups, and Recruiting Drives. So I'm not really sure how relevant my current state of mind is concerning Alerts.
Aside from Epidemic, I think my favorite leveling/grinding ability would be Sword Cyclone. Builds for that are also insanely easy to play and really fun as well.
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
Heh...yay for me, then, because I figured that out the hard way. In the Powerhouse I tried Fiery Form/Conflag, Fiery Form/Epidemic, and Stormbringer/Hurricane, before stumbling into AoPM/Epidemic.
I made 2 levels this weekend (to 22) and the build is awesome. I was trashing Stronghold even at 20, when the convicts were all red or purple to me. With Epidemic + Devour Essence, like you said, and Defile for an opener and debuffer, I've felt that I had a versatile and complete set of attack abilities.
I've been wondering what heal to use. I hadn't put BCR on the list -- still running with Resrugence -- but I'll give it a try.
Well...it's my first toon to get this high, so I wouldn't know. I was having a way, way, way harder time with her when she was a Behemoth AT, though.
Pestilence used to give a Trauma debuff? Or does it still and just not right in the wiki?
What do you know! My other character is an Unleashed AT that I haven't converted to FF yet. Maybe I can pick your brain at some point.
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
BCR works great with Epidemic. Pop BCR maintain Epidemic... rinse repeat. If you have dex either PSS or SS it helps. This way you only need Devour Essence for tough single targets. Oh, get Fire Snake to go with Defile. For tough mobs: Defile, Fire Snake, Devour Essence... dead.
eh, ATs are nearly always gonna have it harder- unless you build the FF poorly. Some of it is prob also just natural experience seeping through. Things should be growing easier in terms of rote leveling as you get better gear, even if nothing else changes.
This sort of build is kinda like training wheels (as the Savage is to ATs), from here, more risks and liberties taken, more build tinkering in the future, and up and up and up you go.
At least you didn't have the opposite experience I did- going from many more nuanced and complex builds to one of the most automated (at least I gave him Night Warrior so he had more combat options, but damnit if that didn't make leveling even easier). My finger still hurts from all that DE/Epidemic maintain spam. Shoulda just taped down the buttons ><
- Be safe and have fun, champs - for science!
Here's this character as she exists at 30:
PowerHouse (Link to this build)
Name: Katie Jones
Archetype: Freeform
Super Stats:
Level 6: Constitution (Primary)
Level 10: Dexterity (Secondary)
Level 15: Intelligence (Secondary)
Talents:
Level 1: The Glacier
Level 6: Covert Ops Training
Level 9: Acrobat
Level 12: Coordinated
Level 15: Healthy Mind
Level 18: Survival Training
Level 21: Field Ops Training
Powers:
Level 1: Infernal Bolts
Level 1: Supernatural Power
Level 6: Devour Essence (Rank 2, Phlebotomist)
Level 8: Invulnerability (Rank 2, Rank 3) -- I spent a lot of time in the Powerhouse, and tried out Regen, LR, AoPM, Fiery Form, and Ice Form. Invulnerability is by far the easiest for the soloing newby.
Level 11: Epidemic (Rank 2, Outbreak)
Level 14: Void Shift (Emerging Nightmares)
Level 17: Conviction
Level 20: Defile (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 23: Masterful Dodge
Level 26: Fire Snake (Rank 2)
Level 29: Aspect of the Infernal -- This stacks much, much faster than Concentration. Epidemic gives a 25% chance every half second, and Defile a 100% chance. Also it has a very cool-looking aura. I keep bubbling it to the top, though, because I want to try out Form of the Tempest once I get a decent crit. That's still a ways off, as my crit sits at 16-20% depending on what gear I slap in.
Level 32:
Level 35:
Level 38:
Travel Powers:
Level 6: Mach Speed (Rank 2) -- I can't wait to try out Impact with Epidemic.
Level 35:
Specializations:
Constitution: Unyielding (2/2)
Constitution: Fuel My Fire (1/3)
Constitution: Tough (3/3)
Constitution: Resilient (2/2)
Constitution: Adrenaline Rush (2/2)
Sentry: Fortified Gear (3/3) -- Sentry has been great so far. Epidemic and Devour Essence both hit fast enough that I build up Fortify and Reinforce pretty quickly, even with my low crit %. Now that I'm high-enough level to be getting into Vindicator, though, I'm thinking about respeccing to a Guardicator thing.
Sentry: Sentry Aura (2/3)
Sentry: Fortify (2/2)
Sentry: Reinforce (2/2)
Vindicator: The Rush of Battle (1/3)
Since I switched to Invulnerability, the only place I've died is in 5-man missions when I pulled too many 2- and 3-bar villians at once. Otherwise, unless it's a boss my health barely moves. That is one thing about Invulnerability -- you're taking no damage at all, and suddenly you're taking a lot. I just soloed Chimera on Monster Island in that open mission "Bunch of Beastmen." I thought it would be a tough fight, but I didn't even need to use my heal or my Active Defense (just Devour Essence).
Mostly I zoom around spanning Epidemic. Against a tough boss, I'll open with Fire Snake, then soften him up with Defile, then Void Shift to get him feared, then spam Epidemic until I've built up 8 stacks of Concentration, then Devour Essence as a mainstay. I'll tap Defile to refresh Concentration if it's a long fight, and Fire Snake on cooldown.
I'm happy so far because I've managed to solo everything and only died when I was careless. The game actually seems to be getting easier as I go -- 14-20 seemed to be the thoughest -- which is a bit counter-intuitive. You'd think it would get harder at higher levels.
I should say -- I've soloed almost everything. There is one Dr. Destroyer 5-man mission that requires you to defeat a bunch of robots in 30 seconds or something before a computer terminal resets, and I haven't been able to do that one yet.
Next up: Ego Surge at 32, then I'm thinking Telekinetic Shield with Tk Reinforcement, then maybe Ice Form so I can be more useful in groups and switch to Invulnerability when I'm soloing.
So far...woot!
Well, it depends what you want ur primary focus to be- ranged or melee (DE). FotT will end up buffing DE the most, while AotI will boost Epidemic and Defile more. Also depends on which of the 2 stats you want to be higher in the end- Int/Ego, or Dex?
Sentry is okay for the build; wouldn't be my first pick though. Its a bit better for groups than it is solo, plus it won't be boosting the dmg of Epidemic, since that's AoE.
Wardicator or Guardicator is the rote, but effective, choice- esp for solo.
The tadpole is growing up! Soon, I will have you playing a committed dps.. and loving it *evil laugh* *well-timed lightning effect*
- Be safe and have fun, champs - for science!
Yes, I rely on both Epidemic and Devour Essence a lot, so I'm curious to see how the switch in Form will affect the damage from both. Also I imagine FotT could apply even faster than AotI with a high enough crit -- though without Defile taps to refresh the stacks.
Heh. DPS. Even with a toon this tanky some of those lairs are tough. It took me an hour last night to finish Teleios and his Ultimate Mind, mainly spent in the room with all the 3-bar Might clones. I couldn't take on more than 2 at once, and they respawn fast. Finally I just had to work my way into the room and not worry about them respawning behind me -- and watch carefully where I got knocked to.
Fun! And I just can't imagine doing that with Fiery Form instead of Invulnerability.
I always used FotT since Epidemic is more to kill trash and a little more or less damage is not so important there, but DE is used mainly for bosses and so higher DE damage was always important for me. Also you get better healing with that.
For Superstats i would go DEX/CON/REC since Supernatural Power scales with REC, also it gives you a higher Equilibrium to start with Defile as Alpha Strike.
I also found it very useful to use one of the old secondary offenses that give energy on kill for the use of Defile.
I've never used any Q or Nemesis gear on my characters -- just random drops and mission reward gear. Usually chosen to enhance SS, but I'll go a little lower on SS for a significant boost to offense/defense/crit, depending.
I'd probably feel overpowered on most of my characters if I started using "real' gear for leveling.
As far as toxic goes, I had a lot of fun with Epidemic/Supernatural Power/Pestilence and Acrobatics/Versatility. Just run around poisoning everything and don't even slow down to fight, just swoop back around and pick up loot. Much more fun than spamming incendiary rounds at everything IMHO.
For a defensive passive on a toxic character I prefer Regen just because it's in the same powerset. At that point Compassion might not be a bad choice, and facetank bosses with Devour Essence and the Darkness block w/advantage.
eh, you care about soloing lairs; I don't. Seeing the world burn is more fun to me than hour-long solo fights
also, I guess I should mention that DE's heal is a crit when the dmg tick matched w/ it crits. If you want more DE heals w/o getting Pres/+heal%, up ur single target/melee crit%.
- Be safe and have fun, champs - for science!
Well...it's my first character, so I barely have any questionite, and don't know what Armadillo gear is or Nemesis gear. So I guess I'm levelling...the old-fashioned way?
Yeah, I really want to see how the stories turn out. It feels wrong to go through a dozen Telios quests and then quit without conquering the bad guy. And it's not like there's tons of people out there queuing to do lairs. So I solo them.
Maybe that's another consequence of this being my first character...I want to follow the stories.
Nemesis and the Q-store heirloom style gear gains in stats as you level, so you effectively don't need to use quest drops or AH items. It boosts all ur SS's and gives some offense/defense as well as bonuses for wearing 3 or 6 pieces of the same set, though derived/2ndary stats like crit rating or cost reduction are not on those sets of gear, and the +25% set bonuses are additive (ie, better when ur low level, not as noticeable as you gain level and get better stats).
You get Nemesis gear from the Nem token vendor at the MCPD north of Ren Cen (at lvl 25 Cpt Martin mails you a quest to go see him and make ur own Nemesis there), and Q-store gear is.. well in the Q-store (Questionite gear tab, near the bottom). Their item color is all orange-y, if you need to pick em out from the others.
Since its ur first toon, ya prob dun have the tokens_Q for it, but something to consider down the line.
- Be safe and have fun, champs - for science!
The big change has been that my crit % ticked over 25%, which means that Form of the Tempest now applies stacks with Epidemic as quickly as Aspect of the Infernal. So I'm trying out FotT. The differences in playstyle are bigger than I would have thought. Also I'm trying out Impact.
ASPECT OF THE INFERNAL vs. FOTT PLAYSTYLE
AotI gives you stacks of Concentration whenever you poison an opponent. So Epidemic with the Outbreak advantage has a 25% chance, and Defile has a 100% chance, and Devour Essence has a 0% chance.
So the playstyle goes like this: apply debuffs (Defile and Fire Snake and Void Shift w/ Emerging Nightmares), then spam Epidemic even agains Big Bad Bosses until you've got 8 stacks of Concentration. Then switch to Devour Essence. You can then refresh your Concentration stacks with Defile taps, since it has a 100% chance.
With FotT, things are simpler but also feel less skillful. All of your attacks have a 25% chance to build a stack of Focus, so against a Boss you just apply debuffs and start straight in with DE. There are no sure-fire refreshes of your stacks, but you don't need it because DE is firing every half second.
As far as DPS, the big difference in playstyle is how Epidemic works. With AotI you take Epidemic with Outbreak, which lowers the Maintain time to 3 seconds. With FotT you take Epidemic with Rank 3 instead, which keeps maintain at 4 seconds. A full maintain of Epidemic seems to do about the same damage with each, but that takes an extra second with FotT. That makes sense, since Focus stacks only give half the benefit to Epidemic.
DE naturally does more damage with FotT. Since the best DPS this build can do is DE backed by Defile and Fire Snake debuffs, FotT gives better DPS than I could get with AotI even if I concentrated on making Defile my main attack.
I'm thinking I like AotI better for three reasons.
At any rate, what I'm doing any time I get a new power or advantage is bubbling these five to the top:
Undoing these five every level isn't too expensive, and it gives me maximum flexibility. I can swap out Invulnerability for one of the DPS forms (ice or fire or toxic) or try Regeneration or something. And I can switch my form to suit Soloing or DPSing or Tanking or whatever.
IMPACT
Impact takes some getting used to. It gives up to 30% multiplicative damage. Since I'm running Invulnerability/Hybrid, I'm giving up some beefy role multipliers, and Impact can help make that up. But I can also see why more people don't take it, because you literally cannot stop moving for even a second or the buff drops off. So when you're fighting with the buff up, what you're doing is running around your main target in the tiniest circles you can manage. It can be dizzying until you get used to it. It also must look really weird.
One thing I've found helps is how I keybind. I use ESDF for movement, and bind Epidemic to my "A" key. All I have to do is press my pinky down, and I can still use my other fingers (or my mouse) for navigating any which way. If I used WASD for movement I'd bind Epidemic to my Caps Lock key and do the same thing. (But I learned how to touch-type a long time ago, and ESDF feels more natural.)
WHAT'S NEXT
I'm thinking ahead a little bit to when I hit 40 and sort of finish questing and start grouping more. I'd like to try tanking. So I'm thinking my next powers will look like this:
Level 32: Ego Surge (Nimble Mind)
Level 35: Telekinetic Shield (Telekinetic Reinforcement)
Level 38: something with Challenging Strikes
The likely CS powers seem to be:
Viscious Cyclone seems like the winner, but I won't know until I actually start tanking. I'll probably try all of them out.
Also: I need to get enough Recovery that I can fire Fire Snake and then a full-charge Defile from scratch. Rank 3 Fire Snake moves slowly enough that I *could* full-charge a Defile and they'd hit about the same time, but right now I can't.
So. That seems like a lot to say even though I've only gained two levels since my last post
Those primary trees are much better than CON's in my opinion, plus gives you a primary superstat that enhances your Concentration stacks from AotI, AND will give you Rec, which enhances Supernatural Power.
This should also give you a metric crapload of energy for alpha-strikes, sustained damage...and whatever else you might need energy-wise.
This way you also won't be tempted to stat/gear anything above and beyond your chosen superstats.
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
For a long time I had REC instead of DEX as a SSS. I switched to DEX partly so I could experiment with FotT when I got the chance.
I was afraid to have EGO or INT/CON/REC because of the lack knockback resistance. This toon is almost always in melee range, and I thought getting blown around could be scary. Even CON PSS isn't that great, but as opposed to a STR SS, it's teaching me to be quick with the block key.
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