Author Topic: Automaton  (Read 3033 times)

Xev

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Automaton
« on: June 19, 2015, 12:56:32 PM »
Soooo I rolled up an Automaton. I get my look, name, hotkeys going... I'm rocket punching bad guys in the jujunum and having a decent time with it even though I'm sucking for energy most of the time. 'I can see where they were going with the Spec Trees and have my PowerHouse build set and start to look at what powers trigger my Energy Unlock when I finally get it... And I think there are exactly 2 if I remember right. 1 is a heal... The other is a power I don't plan to take!

Wha?

I know at least 1 person here rolled up an Automaton. How did you manage Energy? This could be a decent build if it had decent energy management. I imagine playing it like a Soldier with a heal and narrower knockback/long range aoe. Would like to stick with it long enough to unlock Aspect of the Macheen at least.

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Xev

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Re: Automaton
« Reply #1 on: June 19, 2015, 10:34:59 PM »
Awww man I have to play him all the way up to 40 to get the power unlocks??  I'd forgotten that I guess. I just got Aspect of the Machine and was about to delete him but checked a FF first and saw that I still can't select Rocket Punch and AotM.

It's a promising build but this thing with the sucking for energy all the time just doesn't work and it goes on until level 25 at which time I get an Energy unlock that has 3 short duration stacks to get it to potential, works with 1 power in the set - a heal, and it doesn't even scale with my SS"s!

Am I on camera.... did they bring Punk'd back....??

Anyway..

Think this lil idea is getting the back burner. I'm glad I checked out Rocket Punch finally and I would like to see the build work but I'm the least useful toon on every single team and don't see this ending until eventually my near endgame gear may raise me up to the usefulness of the average teen level newbs I'm running XP alurts with.


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Kaos Arcanna

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Re: Automaton
« Reply #2 on: June 19, 2015, 11:07:33 PM »
I tried to boost recovery on my automaton as much as possible.

And if you don't want to play one you can unlock the powers by respeccing another toon into automaton who's already 40.

Castegyre

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Re: Automaton
« Reply #3 on: June 20, 2015, 12:32:53 AM »
I tried to boost recovery on my automaton as much as possible.

And if you don't want to play one you can unlock the powers by respeccing another toon into automaton who's already 40.

I didn't even think of doing a respec, thanks. I've tried to level an Automaton, but it's just annoying.

Xev

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Re: Automaton
« Reply #4 on: June 20, 2015, 01:27:09 AM »
Were you still sucking for energy even with high Rec? What did you use to trigger Overdrive??

Did you ever compare Rocket Punch dps to Mini-Gun/Gatlin Gun/Gigabolt dps? Seeing as how that cone is so narrow it should be significantly higher but I haven't checked yet.  It seems to be delay happy.

Wrist Bolter seems to be the same way sometimes (maybe it was just lag..) and so far is my least favorite Energy Builder although once it gets going it's kinda cool.

Once I got past the level I could one-shot rows of mobs with Rocket Punch - Automaton leveling got annoying to me too.
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Kaos Arcanna

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Re: Automaton
« Reply #5 on: June 20, 2015, 01:43:43 AM »
Were you still sucking for energy even with high Rec? What did you use to trigger Overdrive??

Did you ever compare Rocket Punch dps to Mini-Gun/Gatlin Gun/Gigabolt dps? Seeing as how that cone is so narrow it should be significantly higher but I haven't checked yet.  It seems to be delay happy.

Wrist Bolter seems to be the same way sometimes (maybe it was just lag..) and so far is my least favorite Energy Builder although once it gets going it's kinda cool.

Once I got past the level I could one-shot rows of mobs with Rocket Punch - Automaton leveling got annoying to me too.

It's been a while since I played my Automaton but I don't believe end was much of an issue for him at the end. I am sure that Gigabolt is head and shoulders over rocket punch though. It might be better than Gatling gun... Like I said, it's been a while. I know at the end the DPS was high enough that I didn't delete him or freeform him. :D

Xev

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Re: Automaton
« Reply #6 on: June 20, 2015, 05:21:44 AM »
Well see that's what I was hoping was that I just didn't wait for the build to blossom.

I still don't get what is supposed to trigger Overdrive. There is 1 toggle - Reconstructive Circuits. There is 1 maintain and the maintain is an optional melee attack.
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Xev

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Re: Automaton
« Reply #7 on: June 22, 2015, 08:26:35 PM »
OK here's something else I don't get but it's about Power Armor in general.

If I want more than one power to fire off at the same time what do I need to do? I know the powers all need to be in different slots (hand, chest, shoulder) but do they all also need to be toggles/maintains?

>>

Oh Yeah.... Something else.. Rocket Punch.. The Attack that damages everything in a 100' line... Is a Single Target Attack...?

« Last Edit: June 22, 2015, 08:48:05 PM by Xev »
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Castegyre

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Re: Automaton
« Reply #8 on: June 23, 2015, 12:49:58 AM »
You can activate Shoulder Launcher and then toggle on Micro Munitions at the same time so long as you don't switch targets before Shoulder Launcher fires or it'll mess up. You can toggle on Micro Munitions and Mini Gun at the same time at different targets and they'll both fire. Some of the powers have quirks like Shoulder Launcher not liking you to change targets while it activates, but if you pick three that work well together and have the blue bar to support it you can fire three powers at the same time.

Powers like Rocket Punch and Mini Gun are area of effect line attacks in HERO P&P terms. In CO their actually 3d cylinders instead of 2d lines on a map. They'll fire from you through your targeted enemy and hit everything in a line up to their target cap. Interestingly, because they're cylinders instead of lines it's actually possible to do something like fire over the head of short enemies when aiming at a tall one.

Xev

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Re: Automaton
« Reply #9 on: June 23, 2015, 01:43:46 AM »
I got the advantage on Wrist Bolter to make it a Hand Attack. I walk in the Training room and start attacking a dummy and I can't get Wrist Bolter to work with Chest Beam. It's not a big deal but since they didn't work together I was thinking maybe both attacks have to be a toggle (and or maintain, maybe..) for them to work at the same time. The powers you mention are all toggles.

The reason I bring up Rocket Punch being 'single target' is that I was going to pump it up with Mass Destruction (Tree choice to add +crit chance for AoE) to add some ... punch to it. Then I read the Rocket Punch power description in-game and it's called 'Ranged Attack' which I think means single target. I have to look at it again tonight but I think Rocket Punch is flagged as a Single Target attack in-game.


>>>

Soooo Rocket Punch does indeed seem to be flagged as Single Target, to me anyway. It's simply called Ranged Damage. It's also in the single target section when you look at power selections. I am thinking that for the purposes of the tree choice above, Rocket Punch may just be a single target attack.

Not to confuse things but on a similar note... In its description in-game Chest Beam is called Ranged Damage (single target), not Ranged AoE Damage, but it's in the AoE section of power selections and of course in actual use, like Rocket Punch, it Is AoE. If you read farther down the description it's called Single target Particle Damage.


 
« Last Edit: June 23, 2015, 02:33:23 AM by Xev »
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Castegyre

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Re: Automaton
« Reply #10 on: June 24, 2015, 05:18:38 PM »
PA powers can be quirky. I don't know about that particular advantage on Wrist Bolter as I've never used it, but it wouldn't surprise me that it doesn't play nice with other powers in the set.

I do know some of the other powers are misleading in what they are and how they work. Plasma Beam, for instance, is a maintain, but it's treated like a charge and not a toggle. So it doesn't work well with chargeable powers like Chest Beam or Tactical Missiles which also don't work well with each other within the theme of the set mechanics. Shoulder Launcher is really a tap AoE nuke with a long animation, but the animation acts like a toggle. Which is great for triggering Overdrive but can cause the actual attack to not fire properly if you're not careful.

One of my PA characters uses Eye Beams, Chest Beam, and Plasma Beam. I can use Eye Beams with either other power just fine, but not the other two powers together. I have another PA character that uses Mini Gun, Micro Munitions, and Tactical Missiles. I can use all three together in pretty much any combination until my blue bar runs out so long as I take care in charging Tactical Missiles.

As to whether or not some of the powers are properly treated as AoE or single target for things like Mass Destruction or Focused Strikes, though, I don't know as I've never personally tested that or even bothered to research it.
« Last Edit: June 24, 2015, 05:30:50 PM by Castegyre »

Xev

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Re: Automaton
« Reply #11 on: June 25, 2015, 01:52:26 AM »
I have builds in use and in planning that rely on high crit chance, or as high as one as possible.. A 6% bonus is nothing to sneeze at especially when being locked into Tree choices on an AT. I wouldn't mind playing this guy in Alurts after I level him and I might want to use Rocket Punch in another build.

I think I found a great build for AotM but I don't like that it fizzles on long boss fights with no yard trash around to keep the Frenzy stacks up. That's still kinda a big sticking point for me, so, I dunno..

PA power descriptions and usage look like they're their own minigame but worth the tinkering and they're fun to use and watch fire off.

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Xev

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Re: Automaton
« Reply #12 on: July 16, 2015, 12:49:01 PM »
Jfyi to anyone that plays their Automaton or plans to make one or is using or plans to use the Overseer tree..

After playing mine, I saw a use for the Overseer Tree in a new build and the Trapped option would have been the cherry on top due to I just happened to have an aoe that spammed Root if I took the advantage, which, I could afford to do if I could pick up some of the damage slack with Trapped.

I didn't thoroughly test, but, as far as I can tell Trapped is broken/doesn't work. The topic popped up in Rampagers not long after I made the build and someone(s) in channel said it wasn't working.

So, don't waste your points and if you do, check to see if they're doing anything for you. Would be my tip.

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