Post by Shapey on Mar 6, 2023 19:37:49 GMT -5
Hello champions! Today I bring you yet another archetype review, another one of the free ones, and the first of the ranged ones: The Soldier! This one is all about guns and gun accessories, touted as the one man army with all the different things it can pull out of it's invisible inventory. Does all its weapons make it good, though? Lets find out.
The Soldier comes as follows;
Super Stats
○ Ego (Primary, Level 6)
○ Dexterity (Level 10)
○ Recovery (Level 15)
○ The Soldier Innate Trait (+10 Ego/Dex/Rec, +8 Int)
Powers
Energy Builder: Steady Shot (Innate)
Power 2: Submachinegun Burst (Innate)
Power 3: Holdout Shot or Rifle Butt (Level 6)
Power 4: Targeting Computer (Level 8)
Power 5: Concentration (Level 11)
Power 6: Shotgun Blast or Gatling Gun (Level 14)
Power 7: Retaliation (Level 17)
Power 8: Assault Rifle (Level 21)
Power 9: Killer Instinct (Level 25)
Power 10: Smoke Grenade or Lock n Load (Level 30)
Power 11: Concussion Grenade or Frag Grenade (Level 35)
Power 12: Sniper Rifle or Rocket (Level 40)
Specializations
○ Ego (Level 10)
○ Vindicator (Level 20)
○ Avenger (Level 30)
○ Ego (Primary, Level 6)
○ Dexterity (Level 10)
○ Recovery (Level 15)
○ The Soldier Innate Trait (+10 Ego/Dex/Rec, +8 Int)
Powers
Energy Builder: Steady Shot (Innate)
Power 2: Submachinegun Burst (Innate)
Power 3: Holdout Shot or Rifle Butt (Level 6)
Power 4: Targeting Computer (Level 8)
Power 5: Concentration (Level 11)
Power 6: Shotgun Blast or Gatling Gun (Level 14)
Power 7: Retaliation (Level 17)
Power 8: Assault Rifle (Level 21)
Power 9: Killer Instinct (Level 25)
Power 10: Smoke Grenade or Lock n Load (Level 30)
Power 11: Concussion Grenade or Frag Grenade (Level 35)
Power 12: Sniper Rifle or Rocket (Level 40)
Specializations
○ Ego (Level 10)
○ Vindicator (Level 20)
○ Avenger (Level 30)
Lots of choices of weapons here, and not quite a lot of means of survival. This one is true to the nature of a glass cannon, so lets break down what all these powers do for The Soldier.
Steady Shot is your energy builder. It's the slowest energy builder there is, but it makes up for it by generating more energy than most others do in a single activation.
Submachinegun Burst is your AoE, and with the amount of advantages it has, can be several other things. A bleed applicator, your main means of survival, your main debuff applicator (Armor Piercing), your Furious generator. A lot of utility is packed into this single power, and it's one you can expect to get a lot of use in AoE situations.
Holdout Shot or Rifle Butt is the first choice to make, and frankly, it's a very easy one. Holdout Shot is a tap power that costs very little energy and deals increased damage if you have low energy, and even more damage if it scores a critical strike. Rifle Butt is a tap power that deals meager damage and briefly stuns your target in melee range. Holdout Shot has a slew of very, very useful advantages, including restoration, application of the exclusive Frail Armor debuff (which will heavily increase damage), and Open Wound (which causes Bleed stacks, a very potent DoT), so I consider it very easy to give up a measly stun for kit synergy.
Targeting Computer is your Passive. Increases your overall damage using ranged Technology powers (this AT only has ranged Technology powers) and applying a unique debuff to your target 3 seconds after hitting them with a Technology power, which provides +10% critical chance and +15% critical severity against the target (at rank 3) while reducing the amount of damage you take from them.
Concentration is your toggle form. Gives a stacking damage buff whenever you use a ranged power from 25 feet away from a target or more, or whenever you charge or maintain a power at least half way. Lasts 20 seconds, new stacks refresh it, can only gain a stack every 4 seconds, and stacks up to 8. The damage buff scales with your Ego or Intelligence, whichever is higher.
Shotgun Blast or Gatling Gun is your second choice. Shotgun Blast is a somewhat weak cone AoE with a number of utility advantages while Gatling Gun is a stronger cylinder AoE that roots you in place for as long as you maintain it. The decision you make here can either be for theme or for build, Gatling Gun is a pretty cool visual and does respectable damage for an AoE, but the amount of utility you can get out of Shotgun Blast compliments the Soldier very well, in particular its ability to refresh Furious stacks and apply Armor Piercing on a tap.
Retaliation is your Block upgrade. It has the standard damage mitigation curve, the unique affect is blocking with Retaliation grants you a buff that increases the damage of your next attack by some amount when struck.
Assault Rifle is your main single target damage. This power deals a higher damage first shot than the shots to follow during the maintain, making it a hybrid of both Tap and Maintain damage. You move more slowly while maintaining this but are still free to move. While I'd recommend you simply hold the maintain, you can also just tap spam to always get the stronger shot.
Killer Instinct is your Energy Unlock. This grants you a buff whenever you score a critical strike that generates energy every 3 seconds for 6 seconds. Getting a critical strike while the buff is active will refresh the duration. The amount you receive increases with your Recovery stat.
Smoke Grenade or Lock n Load is your third choice. Smoke Grenade creates a perception debuff at your target's location, rendering them unable to see until they move out of the way. Lock n Load is an Active Offense that increases your damage dealt, reduces the cost of your powers, applies some breakfree if you are held, and grants you Furious for the duration, which is 15 seconds. While this seems like a no-brainer choice, Smoke Grenade is your only access to a Threat Wipe, which is a vital component for DPS in endgame content. It still is up to the player what they pick of course, but it should be considered carefully.
Concussion Grenade or Frag Grenade is your fourth choice, which is a lot easier to make. Concussion Grenade is an AoE tap that knocks back targets in a sphere radius. Frag Grenade is an AoE damage-over-time. Concussion grenade can be used as a sort of defensive means, but provides nowhere near the damage benefit that Frag Grenade gives. DPS typically depend on DoTs such as Fragnade to push some extra numbers, and in the case here, it can easily provide that.
Sniper Rifle or Rocket is your fifth and final choice. Sniper Rifle is a high range long charge with decent damage that stuns the target when struck, but must be fully charged to ever activate, and charging is interrupted by damage. Rocket is a sphere AoE on the target that deals crushing and fire damage, less to AoE targets. Sniper Rifle is typically considered a bit underpowered, and Rocket can provide decent AoE burst, so this is one of the easier choices as well. Rocket can also provide 3 stacks of Furious with an advantage, so it can compliment the kit very well.
The main damage you deal with this kit is Piercing damage, so the debuffs you'll want to apply are Armor Piercing and Frail Armor. Another part of this kit which varies in importance depending on the advantages you take on Assault Rifle is Furious, a self-buff that increases your critical chance and recovers some HP whenever you're struck. The buff can stack up to 3 times. Bearing all this in mind, how would I build The Soldier? Assault Rifle is optimized when utilizing Furious, but simply putting it to Rank 3 can make it easier to handle. I won't create two sections for it, but if mine is a little overbearing, you can do Rank 3 AR instead and not worry about Furious.
Talents
Take all your Superstat talents (Ego, Dex, Rec)
Powers
Energy Builder: Steady Shot
Power 2: Submachinegun Burst (Rank 2, Wall of Bullets)
Power 3: Holdout Shot (Frail Armor, Open Wound)
Power 4: Targeting Computer (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Power 5: Concentration
Power 6: Shotgun Blast (Breaching Round, Armor Piercing)
Power 7: Retaliation (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Power 8: Assault Rifle (Rank 2, Uncompromising, Accelerated Metabolism)
Power 9: Killer Instinct
Power 10: Smoke Grenade (Escape Artist)
Power 11: Frag Grenade (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Power 12: Rocket (Red Hot Fury)
Specializations
Energy Builder: Steady Shot
Power 2: Submachinegun Burst (Rank 2, Wall of Bullets)
Power 3: Holdout Shot (Frail Armor, Open Wound)
Power 4: Targeting Computer (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Power 5: Concentration
Power 6: Shotgun Blast (Breaching Round, Armor Piercing)
Power 7: Retaliation (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Power 8: Assault Rifle (Rank 2, Uncompromising, Accelerated Metabolism)
Power 9: Killer Instinct
Power 10: Smoke Grenade (Escape Artist)
Power 11: Frag Grenade (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Power 12: Rocket (Red Hot Fury)
Specializations
Ego
○ Force of Will (2/2)
○ Insight (3/3)
○ Sixth Sense (3/3)
○ Follow Through (2/3)
Vindicator
○ Aggressive Stance (2/2)
○ Merciless (3/3)
○ The Rush of Battle (2/3)
○ Focused Strikes (3/3)
Avenger
○ Ruthless (2/2)
○ Round 'em Up (3/3)
○ Preemptive Strike (3/3)
○ Relentless Assault (2/3)
Ego Mastery
Travel Powers
Dealer's choice. Rank one to 3.
Gear
Starting
○ Critical Severity Primary Offense with Ego mods and a Gambler's Lucky Gem
○ Greater Health Primary Defense with Ego mods and a Growth Amulet
○ Efficiency Primary Utility with 1 Ego mod, 1 Ego/Dex mod, and a Gambler's Lucky Gem
○ Dex/Critical Secondary Offense (Acute Belt), Dex/Rec Secondary Defense and Utility (Rebounding)
Ending
○ Distinguished Offense Gloves with Ego mods and Soviet Guard's Resolution mods (DUC if applicable)
○ Distinguished Freedom Armor with Ego mods and Growth Amulet mods
○ Distinguished Efficiency Helm with Ego mods, Ascii's Precision, and a Gambler's Lucky Gem (Veteran's Core of Might if applicable)
○ Critical Belt of Determination with an Ego/Dex mod
○ Onslaught Fitness Tights with an Ego/Dex mod (Bolstering Heart of Determination if not available)
○ Bolstering Eyepiece of Determination with an Ego/Dex mod
Gameplan
The Soldier can keep everything to a range, and the energy efficiency is pretty good on it so you could possibly keep a travel power on for greater maneuverability in combat, but make sure to stay within a 50ft range for your Grenade and Shotgun blast. In AoE situations, you can open with a Rocket and follow it with Submachinegun Burst, repeatedly holding that to mitigate what ever amount of damage is coming your way while dealing your own, then swapping out to Assault Rifle once you only have 2 or 3 targets to pick off. Submachinegun generates Furious stacks, so Uncompromising still works here. In single target, you'll want to follow this rotation; Holdout Shot > Frag Grenade > Shotgun Blast tap > Fully Maintain Assault Rifle > Shotgun Blast tap > Maintain Assault Rifle about 5/6ths of the way > Repeat from the beginning. Make sure you use Rocket at the beginning to have 3 stacks of Furious for maximum AR damage. Holdout will apply Frail Armor and Bleed, Frag Grenade will supply a strong damage-over-time, and Shotgun Blast will refresh Furious, apply Armor Piercing, and trigger Preemptive Blast for a strong first shot of Assault Rifle. If you find yourself under pressure, use Submachinegun Burst and let Wall of Bullets protect you if the damage is manageable, otherwise hold block and hope for the best.
Other Notes
Restoration is available to The Soldier via Holdout Shot's Stim Pack advantage, and you can use it with this setup if you want some extra sustain, simply put Open Wound on Frag Grenade instead. It is a small damage downgrade, but it also gives an extra channel for survival. You also don't actually need the Gambler's Lucky Gem in the Distinguished Efficiency Helm, so what ever mod you feel you want to fit in there would work just as well, just remember that Ascii's Precision does not stack, so don't put another in it. If you want to use Rank 3 Assault Rifle, you can take Gatling Gun instead, omit Preemptive Strike and take Surprise Attack instead and max out Relentless Assault, and simply fully maintain AR twice before using Holdout Shot and Frag Grenade again. Relentless Assault is also optional, as Surprise Attack can be very useful in scenarios of defeating adds over a small amount of Offense.
Overall, my opinion of the Soldier is that it is a surprisingly solid archetype. While it lacks in Defense, access to Wall of Bullets can make that a non-issue, and the rest of its kit can easily score a high DPS output. I recommend giving it a try to any silver players, old or new. You might be pleasantly surprised with what it can do.
As before and always, thank you for reading.