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Post by cloudsbirdstrees on Mar 1, 2023 23:40:57 GMT -5
I'm curious what people with more experience think. I only have one level 40 (a devastator). I'm curious, are there archetypes that are just better than others for their given role?
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Post by Shapey on Mar 2, 2023 9:32:50 GMT -5
Everything is subjective, some people like to play certain things for the playstyle or theme, but in terms of actual performance of the role, I can judge based on the kit.
The best Tank archetype would go to The Rockstar. It has a lot of pro-tank pieces on it; Strength prime for Juggernaut, Resurgence as a power, Vicious Descent with a whole Brick frame, Rockstar comes equip with everything a strong tank could want. You'd have to learn Annihilate timings since it has a particularly long activation time, but it's still the best of the bunch.
The best Melee damage archetype would go to either The Disciple or The Fist. Disciple is a complete Telekinetic Blade kit and they can do some serious damage with very little effort, while Fist is a very slightly less optimized Burning Chi Fist kit, which is debatably the strongest power for melee there is. Both of them deal a whole heap of damage, though of course neither have access to Warden so defense can be shoddy. As long as they aren't pressured, both of them can destroy things easily.
The best Ranged damage archetype would go to The Hexslinger. Intelligence prime, access to Resurgence and a Threat Wipe, has an ultimate, DoT, and uses Soul Beam? This is by far the most decked out kit of the Ranged variety, though in testing it wasn't actually the strongest. But as far as boss encounters are concerned, the defense penetration thanks to Int prime would easily tip it over, on top of simply having a lot of powers that are staples to Freeform builds.
The best Support archetype would go to The Radiant. Perhaps surprisingly, none of the Support archetypes feel like a complete Freeform kit, but Radiant gets the closest by having a 100ft heal, a good AoE heal, and access to a self-rez. Its downfall is having the worst resurrection power available as well as Ego for a superstat for no particular reason. Some would also argue that it's worse for not having an arcane aura, but that much is subjective, as the passive it does get increases healing significantly.
The best Hybrid for survival is The Savage. Regeneration isn't the best tank passive, but Savage has access to a lot of other sustaining means and can be built to take a lot of punishment.
The best Hybrid for damage is The Dragon Spirit. Once again this treads on the Burning Chi Fist route of damage, not quite the optimal way to play it, but it has all the pieces it needs to use it effectively, only held back by its lock to Hybrid role.
The best Hybrid for support is The Grimoire. In all honesty, there's only 3 archetypes that can technically be Support, and one can't even heal. So by process of elimination, Grimoire makes the best of it. With the right power selections it can do a lot of AoE healing, but severely lacks in the single-target department and infamously is stuck in Hybrid Aura of Primal Majesty, which thanks to a recent change, does not jive well with group content. I call this the best for that, but don't let the words fool you, it isn't that good.
Hope this proves insightful to you!
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Post by cloudsbirdstrees on Mar 2, 2023 22:01:16 GMT -5
Thank you! Very comprehensive response. I don't mind playing an AT if it is underpowered, as long as I like the theme.
When I was leveling my devastator I felt really squishy for a stretch, but eventually the build comes together. I wonder if there are ATs that just don't come together ever?
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Post by Shapey on Mar 3, 2023 8:37:04 GMT -5
It boils down to what you would've liked out of the AT. Devastator isn't a perfect one, it lacks the true main damage for Heavy Weapons (Annihilation), but it is functional enough by the end of leveling. But as for ATs that simply don't work, I can only think of two.
The Automaton suffers from a distinct lack of what its main damage should be. The best one can do for it is build for Chest Beam damage or Blast damage for Rocket Punch, but neither of these will get you much anywhere from the lack of consistent damage-over-time (Plasma Burn is available, but Automaton can't refresh it). It's just a poorly constructed AT overall.
The Inventor is perhaps the worst archetype right now. It wants to be too many things and succeeds at none of them; it wants to be a pet master, but only has two summons and no bolstering aura, it wants to be a healer, but only has Bionic Shielding which can only be used every 15 seconds and Medical Nanites which is a heal-over-time, it wants to have damage, but has some of the weakest damage powers there is and is locked to Support role (which reduces all their damage by 10%). Building as a healer essentially isn't an option since it doesn't have access to Compassion, and building for damage will leave one disappointed the moment they step out to do any content that involves Tough enemies without people to act as meat shields. Frankly, this is an AT that'd work a lot better as a Hybrid and some other choices for damage, but as is, it leaves a lot to be desired.
Though I can't say they're the worst, I can give honorable mentions to The Cursed/Scourge and The Samurai. Cursed/Scourge is a relatively complete Infernal damage kit, but it's utterly bogged down by being stuck with Recovery prime and Supernatural Power as an energy return, which does not play well with Infernal/Bestial builds that use Charges for damage instead of Maintains. The Samurai, on paper, isn't flawed, but when you consider what it's supposed to be; a Dodge tank, it falls apart a bit. Put simply, Dodge tanks need Thundering Kicks in order to guarantee their survival against the hardest foes. I could also mention The Mountain, but I'd say that's through no fault of its own, Earth is just currently in a really bad spot.
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