Render Wrote:Sunday: Banana Spider shoots his way from level 8 up to 24! On a PUG! Wahoo! Crab build suggestions anyone?Heh, well, here's a major caveat - I don't have a Crab - I play a Bane currently. I think Corrupted Flame's been whacking down the Crab branch, so he probably has some thoughts.
But my thinking is that you need to decide whether your first priority is teaming or soloing. A VEAT can do both, and one built for groups will be able to solo fine...and one intended for soloing will still be great in groups. But nonetheless, there's priorities. My feeling is that if you're building a VEAT (Spider or Widow) for soloing, you probably want to grab Power Pool Manuevers in addition to TT: Manuevers, grab Combat Jumping (which may let you go down the jumping pool to Acrobatics and KB protection)...possibly fighting pool for Weave, basically every shred of defense you can think of. Tough resistances would also go well with Crab armor resists. I don't think you need both the Wolf Spider Armor passive and the Crab Spider Armor Upgrade - just the Crab passive will do, though if you're really keen on stacking 'em, it's your call. I just don't feel it's worth the power choice on a really tight build - I didn't take Wolf Spider Armor on my Bane.
Also, you need to decide what attacks you're taking. Most Crab players seem to focus on the AoE attacks available (and take one from patron pools as well). The Crab melee attacks aren't that popular. That's not surprising, since Crabs have superior ranged attacks while their melee stuff isn't as good as a Bane's - a Bane faces the opposite situation, good melee attacks but lackluster ranged ones for the most part. Omega Manuever as a nuke-type attack also seems rather hit-or-miss with most folks. Some like it, some hate its unconventional mechanic.
Do you want all the pet summons? If you do, how often do you want 'em to be up? Most of the time? Then you'll need hasten, some hami-o's and probably recharge set bonuses.
I can only speak with confidence about this subject since getting my spider to branching level this double-XP weekend.
I did get locked out for a significant period, but honestly, eh...it wasn't a huge hardship. 30 minutes at night, after which I was like, eh, I'm gonna go to bed. I still couldn't get into Virtue when I woke up - only managed after 30-40 minutes.
What the heck. It's not the end of the world. Was I mildly annoyed? Yeah. Do I wish NCsoft could do better? Yeah. But really, eh. I can't work up the energy to get really pissed. =P
And I achieved all my double-XP goals anyway.
-- Acyl