Scrappers rush in.
My original 50s back when City of Heroes was live were a mastermind and a scrapper. These, along with brutes, are generally regarded as being the strongest soloing archetypes in the game. Other archetypes can solo well depending on powersets and build, but these three do it by default, and from level 1 onward. Perhaps not coincidentally my third highest level character, who topped out around 40, was a brute.
Scrappers play a lot like brutes; as
both have a melee powerset as their primary and a defensive set as
their secondary. Which of the two archetypes has the highest damage
output I'll leave to the number crunchers to decide, but the
basics of the debate is that a scrapper's crits give them higher
average damage but can be outdone by a brute with a full fury bar.
Scrappers don't have fury, but they don't need it because scrappers have scrapperlock. This isn't an in-game mechanic like fury, but a state of mind that overwhelms the player of the scrapper and has much the same effect – driving them on in a red hazed adrenalin rush where all that matters is to attack the next enemy, and the next, and the next... The scrapper will only stop fighting when there's nothing left to fight.
In theory. In practice small details like taking damage and running low on endurance can put a halt to the non-stop mayhem, but scrapperlock is real and I hit the Rest button only with reluctance, usually preferring to just pop an inspiration and keep moving straight on into the next group of enemies.
Tempter ends this run at level 23 (just!) which is also where Bad Girl, my blaster, and American Nightmare, my brute, ended their respective runs.
(Is 23 my upper limit for a single 24 hours of /played time in this game? Possibly. I suspect a mastermind might do better because that archetype is the soloing powerhouse, but I've cooled on MMs somewhat since the game came back so it could be a long time before I put that archetype to the test.)
As when I did my comparison of Bad Girl and American Nightmare, there's a lot of variables to consider. Tempter ran one Task Force, which is always a source of rapid XP gain – something like one and a half levels in 45 minutes – but unlike them she's a hero, and there's generally a good deal more travel time between missions on blueside.
From level 5 onward I ran on +0/x2, as I did on American Nightmare – though I did drop back to +0/x1 for a few missions just before I hit level 22 because the Warriors were giving me a hell of a time. Like the Igneous and Banished Pantheon I haven't fought them often in the past – they appear only in a very limited level range on blueside and I don't think they show up on redside at all.
(The Banished Pantheon stopped being scary very quickly. Their shamans are the only priority target.)
I wrapped up this run with a few missions at level 22; geared up with single origin enhancements in about half my slots. The performance boost is noticeable – I blazed through a Sky Raiders radio mission with very little effort – and I feel that Tempter has a lot of potential once she's fully SO'd out. Broadsword isn't a fast set but now that I've got a decent attack chain it gives reliable damage output. The stacking defence debuff that most of my attacks apply does mean I get a lot of runners though.
As defensive sets go Fiery Aura is fairly aggressive. I suppose that's unsurprising, given that it's one half of the Spines/Fire combo so beloved of AE farm brute builds. I can see why that is as Blazing Aura adds a lot to my damage output, though being a damage aura it's so end heavy that I only started using it at 22. I did test it out earlier on in this run for a short time but it was flatlining my endurance in every fight.
(Some time ago I read an analysis of how common each AT/powerset combo was on Homecoming. There were more Spines/Fire brutes than all of the other brutes combined.)
As I said, there's too many variables in the levelling experience to do a direct comparison between characters – and the prominent Talos Island enemy groups like the Tsoo and the Warriors are causing me to rethink my long held view that blueside is easier than redside – so I remain undecided on the scrapper vs brute question.
What I do know is that as always I come away from this run of City of Heroes reminded of why it's my favourite MMO, and as always I'm tempted to keep going with it rather than move on to the next game in the rotation. I probably won't though, because as fun as this has been I could probably do with a change of pace from the relentless Fight Fight Fight of CoH.
Otherwise I might succumb entirely to scrapperlock.
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