Reflecting Damage

treesclimber

With loadouts coming out i was wondering about starting to play a bit more on my GF, i always liked a reflector build but my question is, what is really worth to use?
I will be making a little list of what i know and if you know anything else not on the list speak it up and how good it is.

Guarded assault;
Supermacy of steel;
The blacktorn;
Blacksmith;
Renegade evoker;
Fireburst / Frostburn / Briartwine;
Glyphs (greater green dragon glyph is not really a reflect but is in the idea range);
Boons;

oicidraz

Greater blue dragon is good for that purpose too, since aspect of the lightning damage enemies that hit you.

rjc9000

I'm pretty sure a Death Slaad + spamming Aggravating Strike will probably deal more DPS than most of these reflect sources combined.

The effectiveness of this build also varies with the dungeon: in MC, you'll barely tickle mobs with Reflect due to their low damage. Meanwhile, in FBI, you might actually add a bit of damage by virtue of how hard the FBI enemies hit.

If you insist on doing this build, then I would also make sure you're stacking a lot of lifesteal so you can essentially keep Recovering your HP (20-30% I think is sufficient). I would also pick the Tactician capstone to fuel your AP appetite (for Supremacy of Steel).

treesclimber

Yes Tactician , my intent was get some damage but keep a protective build giving preference to direct reflects but taking other things as well so....is death slaad that good?

kydavi

I actually run a reflect loadout on my GF whenever I go T2 or above content. Most of my build is self-dps (boons, feats, companions) for soloing, but with a couple pieces of gear (blackthorn and briartwine) and a quick power swap out (guarded assault w/ perma shield and KV, SoS) I become a spike turtle.

Aggro pull, high defense, decent damage, self-healing, everything you need to tank like a boss while still being able to solo.

And yes, death slaad is great w/ aggravating strike.

pitshade

My understanding is that both Blacksmith and Evoker are basically dealing the same damage as pre-mod 6. My GF has both but doesn't run them anymore.

treesclimber

Ok understood i will close my eyes and purchase a death slaad from the AH, blacksmith i was searching and the reflect has been caped, still it should be significantly more than renegade evoker, renegade evoker will reflect around 500 damage on crit and blacksmith return damage is capped at 5000, enough to justify the use? I don't know.

rjc9000

How often do enemies Crit you?

In mobs, it might happen more often due to the sheer volume of chances of dealing damage, but mobs only have a chance to touch you once before your teammates drop them in a couple of seconds.

On bosses, it might happen once in a blue moon? And even that can change depending on how fast the boss attacks too.

Someone like Orcus attacks much quicker and more often than someone like Storvald, so Orcus has more chances to roll a natural 20 on you. Still, I don't reccomend using the Renegade Evoker on the basis of it proccing off crits.

treesclimber

Ok, thx for the help, im so lucky i'm a cheap azz and didn't have enough money for the slad, it's gonna drop next lockbox, what a safe save xD.

dread4moor

Missed this thread cause I took some time off from NW.
@treesclimber My friends and I have tested and played with several all-reflect builds for 3 years.
Got really frustrating with some key broken features, so much that I suspended my build. But still a fan of the spiked turtle.
Good advice ITT so far.
I would add ...
1) Use GA offhand and max crushing pin
For maximal reflect damage
2) Supremacy of Steel goes from 105% to 140% efficiency rating with max Overwhelming Impact feat. Must have if you plan to use SoS!
3)the highest reflect damage dealers we see on ACT are GA+KV (RedRef model), feated SoS, maxed Frozen Reflection (SKT boon), Forgefire (Blacksmith) and Fey Thistle.
4) Now the bad news. Expect reflect damage to be very low overall. Only go this route if you plan to play with low to moderate geared teammates or very squishy high DPS.

PM me if you want any ACT reflect data.
Good luck. Turtle Power!

Edit:
Greater ever frost chain mail has a nice deflect/reflect too.

jumpingmorks

The problem with reflect builds right now is that in Cryptics over zealous hunt to remove damage loops they have severely crippled reflect damage builds. For example, Guarded Assault has approx 30/60 second ICD for the HP component of damage which was introduced when they removed the damage loop between reflect GF's with KV on and OPP's.

sadus671

My feeling about Deflect / Reflect damage... it's not worth going all out for.... it should just be an additional passive source of damage (threat).

You are using Guarded Assault for Crushing Pin and addition Aggro.. vs the damage it causes... you are using damage after deflecting an attack for bonus damage... but the mitigation offered from Deflection is the reason to work in a decently high deflect %...

In my experience the best way to keep aggro is constant damage... (this is why I like poison effects and dots (Death Slaad, Greater Green Dragon Glyph, Kneebreaker, Jagged Blades, etc...)).. even with at-will spam.. you'll have animation delays.. etc.. so the more stuff you have ticking/hitting on mobs.. the more likely you are to hold threat. (especially on large #'s of trash)

I see Reflect damage as just another contribution to that constant damage effort.

just my 2 cents..

remfdt

I really kind of miss the old reflect spam loops with pallys... was a great "gear check" for RL equipment, and was fun watching things just melt away in bright flashes of white light.