LVL30 custom vs. LVL35 normal & custom

[JazzBlue]

So....

I was waiting to switch out to lvl 35 gear from my LVL 30 custom atomite, until I had all the pieces for the full set.

I finally acquired all the LVL 35 pieces today, and once I equipped them, I noticed the armor is definitely higher, but not noticeable enough to keep me alive like the custom atomite did. I was dying more often, and more importantly, I was now burning through MP (energy) at a MUCH faster rate due to the missing 1 m/s from the custom atomite.

Now I wonder if I'm better off just keeping the atomite for the near future, but unfortunately, I'm already too heavily invested in the plasma gear to stop. I have 4/5 of it customized already, and just looking for enough creds for the final recipe.

For those that have made the jump, is it worth it? Does the set bonus on the custom plasma match or exceed that of the atomite?

Also, my toon looks kinda goofy now. I look like I'm wearing jorts over tights?!?!

Sadly, as of this point, I much prefer the atomite gear, and wish I had just kept that and not invested so much into the plasma.

I DO however LOVE the Arbiter's helm! I hope the rest of that custom set keeps pace with the quality of this piece.

I just hope I keep enough interest in the game to finally see it come to fruition. Looks like there will have to be at least 4 more expansions with level caps to get it all, and that could mean 6 months of work & waiting...

oh well... Just a game, and so far I love it!

Any thoughts or input from people that have actually compared the full custom set bonuses would be appreciated. I tried searching for it, but wasn't finding the info I needed.

Thanks!

[Spu]

i'm right there with ya, just keep it for now then when the cap comes sell it for the new one, and hope you dont get bored, can't lose another pwnie ;]

[roguedubb]

I stuck with the Custom Atomite set over the Plasma gear due to the underwhelming difference in stats and the overwhelming decrease in looks.

[Teddyache]

Ive been trying to gather the data to post about this as well but I don't have all the gear either. Right now, I switch between the custom atomite with m/s implant for the look in B* and GH and mana regen while playing, and a mismatched set of level 35 green and purple gear that gives me a little more armor and a lot more Int. I use the 35 damage implant with this armor so its quite effective at doing damage and grabbing aggro and I can usually stay alive thru SY5 with a full team. I have a load-out for each so I can switch quickly mid-level if I need the mana regen or want the higher damage.

So far I think there is a case that the significant int gain from the 35 greens may outweigh the small armor increase of the purples. Right now I am mixing because I don't have all of either set... I also want to compare the dodge from the Plat armor but I'm not going to buy it until I finish my drop sets to see if I even need more dodge. Has anyone started working on this yet? I got all the data from the great item compendium in the help/guide section but it doesn't have the set bonus info yet and I prefer to test it in game before posting.

[LelouchX]

Well, i'm just about sick of trying to customize the top gear, let alone acquire it. I decided i just HAD to have it for the atomite, and i am no better off now for it since the cap has gone up. I just need the plasma helm now for my main, so hopefully i'll get a drop. But it is rediculous how many creds it costs for recipes, even ones that drop and go on AH are expensive. The gear in the AH is also ridiculously high considering when you liqudate you garbage drops you only get 5 creds for a green. Starting to feel like STS either wants those people who can't play 10 hours a day to farm (and it takes a while to gear farm one SY stage, SY5, as opposed to slouch as well) or spend plat to get enough creds to buy it from the people who do have 10 hours to farm and list them in the AH. And i haven't really analyzed the Green/Purple thing for lv 35 yet, but if u are right firoth, i don't think it's worth it to even go for purps, let alone customize. Of course i'd like it to show off a little that i have the custom purples, but not bad enough to spend hundreds of plat or hours for it. Next cap, it will be a mixed set for me. Now, when i PvP twink, i'll go all out for the best of the best, but not now.

[JazzBlue]

I used the full custom plasma for about

one.

day.

if that.

That underwhelmed with it.

I switched back to my custom atomite. I live longer, and can heal more team members when I'm not dead.

The increased stats from the set pull aggro in SY5 to the point where i'm either potting continuously, or flat out dying.

Dropped back to the custom atomite, and everything rolls along smoothly again. No deaths, and using only a few pots per run. Basically just keeping even with them. I recover enough along a run to offset the use of them when needed.

Add to that the looks of the new custom plasma, and I'll stick with the old set thanks. Wish I hadn't sunk about $200,000 into the set.

Oh well. Maybe it will come in handy during the next expansion/cap.

[Kahlua]

Put some points into that mana regen shield skill if you're running out of mana fast... or cast revive every so often.
Does full custom plasmatech not give another +1 to m/s? I know full custom Titantech gave another +1 to h/s

[Teddyache]

Jazz - Can you post the set bonus from the custom 35 PlasmaTech purple set? I haven't seen this anywhere yet. I have a feeling it will look a lot like the custom atomite set bonus with maybe a little extra mana.

Kahlua - Using that mana shield shouldn't be necessary for anyone with custom atomite set. Even without the plat m/s regen implant, I can get to 4 m/s after the set bonus and revive buff. That shield is a waste of skill points and a slot IMO.

Anyone have the plat set bonus?

[Elf-Orc-Naga]

Looking for this thread! Picture pls with stat so we can easily compare im planning to craft my plasma set but the color dully red not even better to original neonic green!

[Hullukko]

Put some points into that mana regen shield skill if you're running out of mana fast...

Which skill is that?
The mana bubble?
In the shipyard?
I don't think so. Unless you take your 20s between mobs by actually standing about it will not have the time to break even in any of them maps.

But I don't think the mana consumption is a problem without the +1m/s. Ofcourse it was nicer with atomties when one could keep the mana level virtually full even when spamming. The amount that I have to pot blue in an sy5 run is not that bad. Being accurate with rev helps.

One can think of it this way. One blue pot is 140, that's 2 minutes 20seconds worth of 1m/s. The difference is less than one pot in sy2 and only a couple in sy5. You'll break even (financially) with flashgun liquidation alone.

Does full custom plasmatech not give another +1 to m/s? I know full custom Titantech gave another +1 to h/s

I've heard that it does, as did custom atomites. But can't confirm that for plasmatechs as I went for the plat. 100k for recipes alone was just too much for me.

[LelouchX]

The increased stats from the set pull aggro in SY5 to the point where i'm either potting continuously, or flat out dying.

Sweet, i loves me some aggro, can't wait to get my helm and finish my set. I love tanking on my engi, and i do just fine doing it in SY5 when there's no com around, check my build (in sig) and add me in game if you wanna join me for some gear runs whenever i'm doing some.

Using that mana shield shouldn't be necessary for anyone with custom atomite set. Even without the plat m/s regen implant, I can get to 4 m/s after the set bonus and revive buff. That shield is a waste of skill points and a slot IMO.

I agree, unless you stay in the back when you're an engi, and avoid skills like sonic boom and trans, you are gonna lose this shield and mana regen. I don't have a full set now, and i keep my mana just fine by making sure i use rez every minute before the buff runs out. I dont think i've used more than 2 mana stims in any stage to be honest

[JazzBlue]

Sweet, i loves me some aggro, can't wait to get my helm and finish my set. I love tanking on my engi, and i do just fine doing it in SY5 when there's no com around, check my build (in sig) and add me in game if you wanna join me for some gear runs whenever i'm doing some.

I'm the same way. I crash into a mob gun blazing and spamming skills. There is something much different about the way this new armor handles itself at lvl36. I am not getting the mana regen I got with the lvl30 custom atomite, and pulling this much aggro with the increased stats pulls ALL the damage to me. Switched back to the atomite, and I'm just fine again.

Please let me know what you think once you complete your set, as I have had a wonderful time being a tanking engi up until now, but the new set just messes with that play style too much for it to be workable at this poing in the game.

I'll probably not be on my engi for a while. Starting to lvl my operator again, so I may not be able to provide any more timely updates concerning this, but I would love to see how the discussion progresses once more folks test it out & provide feedback.

[Kahlua]

Which skill is that?
The mana bubble?
In the shipyard?
I don't think so. Unless you take your 20s between mobs by actually standing about it will not have the time to break even in any of them maps.

But I don't think the mana consumption is a problem without the +1m/s. Ofcourse it was nicer with atomties when one could keep the mana level virtually full even when spamming. The amount that I have to pot blue in an sy5 run is not that bad. Being accurate with rev helps.

One can think of it this way. One blue pot is 140, that's 2 minutes 20seconds worth of 1m/s. The difference is less than one pot in sy2 and only a couple in sy5. You'll break even (financially) with flashgun liquidation alone.



I've heard that it does, as did custom atomites. But can't confirm that for plasmatechs as I went for the plat. 100k for recipes alone was just too much for me.

I personally don't even use the skill. I was just saying it's an option if you're running out of mana and don't want to use power packs.

[LelouchX]

I'm the same way. I crash into a mob gun blazing and spamming skills. There is something much different about the way this new armor handles itself at lvl36. I am not getting the mana regen I got with the lvl30 custom atomite, and pulling this much aggro with the increased stats pulls ALL the damage to me. Switched back to the atomite, and I'm just fine again.

Please let me know what you think once you complete your set, as I have had a wonderful time being a tanking engi up until now, but the new set just messes with that play style too much for it to be workable at this poing in the game.

I'll probably not be on my engi for a while. Starting to lvl my operator again, so I may not be able to provide any more timely updates concerning this, but I would love to see how the discussion progresses once more folks test it out & provide feedback.

Well, even though i don't have the new set complete yet, i'm not using the atomite any more, which did give a tremendous mana regen bonus. sure, i notice that i have to use mana stims, and even health stims, but i find its not terrible, depending on the group you run with. When you hit a mob in SY5, if everyone kills those ops first (which take a 1 second each to drop if everyone focuses on them) then you shouldn't have to use too much health stims. I also use use a pistol/shield combo, which will help your defense if you aren't using one now. I think in the pics i put up on my build thread, i used 20 health stims in the run, and that was the first time i tanked SY5 with it. Now i use half of that or less on average. I think this discussion goes beyond just gear equips tho, bc the skills used have a huge effect on how long it will take to drop mobs and incur less damage. A little side note, imagine u are an op in a group with no com. u know how many health stims u would be using before the end of the stage? Much more than i have ever used on my engi when i tank, and the ops appreciate it, even if they dont say it. My toons are in my sig, i'll be on sniper mostly trying to level, but feel free to add me, i love finding other tankin engis! If we need breaks from xp grinding, i'd love to do some SY5 runs.

[JazzBlue]

I hear ya, and yes it does go beyond the armor a little bit into the actual build, but with my build, which I have compared to MANY others on the forums and in the game is pretty optimal for a good all around build. Not much can be done to tweak any more out of it at this point.

Here's the exact skillset I'm currently using:

6 - wither
6 - leech
6 - empathy
1 - revive
0 - force shield
0 - suppression
0 - protection
6 - transference
4 - pain
0 - sonic boom
6 - decay

The mapping I'm using (bottom to top)

1st menu
Trans
wither
pain
decay

2nd menu
Empathy
Leech
Revive

This lets me fire off the first menu bottom to top for he maximum amount of damage, switch quickly to menu 2 for the added heals instantly with minimal movement to the switch arrow/tab. I've been running almost this exact build since lvl 30, but when I was able to get new points with the new cap, I started using sonic boom. Didn't like it and swapped it out for whither, which does much better.

I've been using a shield/pistol combo since lvl28/29 or thereabouts. Currently, Whistler & Energy field.

I'll find you in the game at some point tonight if I can, and we can discuss builds and make a few runs together to see how things stack up.

[Hullukko]

I hear ya, and yes it does go beyond the armor a little bit into the actual build, but with my build, which I have compared to MANY others on the forums and in the game is pretty optimal for a good all around build. Not much can be done to tweak any more out of it at this point.

"optimal"... hah.

I've said this before for a 7 skill engies, but you can pick almost any one of those skill points and put it to upping sonic boom from zero to and be more efficient. Beyond that is debatable. But having 7 skills is simply suboptimal. With current base damages the boom does something inspite of its lengthy cooldown, more than the 5-6 point in leech for example.

[JazzBlue]

hmm. I'll have to give that a shot.

Personally, I've always been a fan of maxing out specific skills, rather than spreading thin on many skills.

I played with sonic boom for a while, and didn't find it to be particularly effective, even at level 6.

Oh well, by next level cap, we'll get 5 more points to play with, and hopefully a new skill to the class as well. :-)

[LelouchX]

hmm. I'll have to give that a shot.

Personally, I've always been a fan of maxing out specific skills, rather than spreading thin on many skills.

I played with sonic boom for a while, and didn't find it to be particularly effective, even at level 6.

Oh well, by next level cap, we'll get 5 more points to play with, and hopefully a new skill to the class as well. :-)

i felt the same way, and only added boom to my skill set with the latest expansion. i think it is great for aggro, bc when it is still on cool down i have more trouble holding mobs. And like hull said, why not? I keep pain at 1 bc the AOE damage is the same no matter what what level you are, only the inital damage increases

[dollarbill]

C

[dollarbill]

. First screen shots ever taken... Lol but here are stats for custom atomite and custom plasma set. Not too much of a difference. Wearing l35 whistler and energy sheild with the epic +damage implant