Flambeau hits 42

Yep, Flambeau Noir hit security level 42 last night. My buddy Specimen popped online while I was checking the market and wanted to run some missions. I was happy to oblige and since my missions were filled with +4 to +5 enemies for her, she was raking in the XP. So was I, albeit at a lesser rate.

Next level is exciting as I'm planning on taking Weave and slotting it heavily (6 slots) to open up a combo of 4 Luck of the Gambler IOs (Defense, Def/End, Def/Rech, Def/End/Rech) and 2 Gift of the Ancients (Def/End, Def/End/Rech), which will cut toggle cost roughly in half and hit the ED cap (and then some) for the Defense boost.

Global IO bonuses for that slotting should give:
+10% Regen (caps the 10% regen bonuses, the "rule of 5")
+1.13% Max Health
+9% Accuracy (all attacks, caps the 9% acc bonuses, the "rule of 5")
+2% Recovery

Note that the capped assumption is predicated on slotting up the other two pbAoEs (Blazing Aura and Consume) with Scirocco's Dervish (4 slotted min). Still working on acquiring the salvage/recipies/influence required to pull those off, as Scirocco's Dervish is a VERY popular set.

In the current build, I'm avoiding the Epic power pools in favor of dipping into the pool powers to optimize the build. Fitness is the obvious one, as Health and Stamina are almost a required selection for Tanks. Hasten drops cycle time across the board on my AoEs and Healing Flames with an impact to End usage (I burn through the blue bar more quickly). The Fighting pool (Boxing, Tough, Weave) add to the defensive capability of the Fiery Aura primary, specifically adding much needed S/L Resistance and added Defense. The Leaping pool (Combat Jumping, Super Jump, Acrobatics) is required for status protection (Immobilize/Knockback) due to the holes in the coverage provided by the Fiery Aura primary. That leaves little room for Epic power pool choiced until way late in the build (high 40's). The up-side is that the pool powers enhance both damage output and survivability for the build, particularly once the IO set bonuses come into play.

Flambeau's becoming a very interesting project... : )

Cheers!