City of Heroes Crabbing Guide

City of Heroes Crabbing Guide by Lobster

Q: This isn’t some kind of weird guide to crustacean cannibalism is it?
A: No. At least I don’t think so.

0.0 Introduction

With the advent of the V(illain) E(pic) A(rche)T(ype)s – VEATs from here on out – my love of the game as been renewed. So many build options! So much flexibility! So much less annoying than Kheldians! ;)

I’ve got lots of love for the other 3 options, but for now I’ll be focusing on the Crab (Spider), since that’s where most of my playtime has been.

First off, things to like about the Crab:

*Ranged damage: Weighted heavier on the area of affect (AOE – multiple target affecting) side, but single target (ST) dameg is there to a degree as well.
*Survivability: In spades. With sos think stalker level, with IOs you move into post-brute, sub-tank. HEAVY io investment & specialized power choices put you in a really happy place survival-wise. All this from range? Wait, wouldn’t that make you a tank mage? Not so fast young plfarmer! The lack of ST damage here is a critical balance point – bosses will take you noticeably longer.
*Pets!: Of course…pets help with bosses. If you like pets, the Crab has some of those. They share the level 38 pet (Disruptor) with the bane, and have an additional set of moderately useful pets at 35 (Spiderlings).
*Awesome looking backpack: It looks awesome and there’s a hatch under the abdomen for storing a sack lunch.

1.0 Powers

I’ve omitted specific numbers in most cases, because you can just check in game or use a build planner to get those. I have provided a few numbers where I found them useful. For the most part, I’ll just give you a general idea about the power and tell you what I think of it.

You should always take the Crab version of a power, unless you are doing some kind of Wolf build, in which case this guide is not targeted at you (but may be helpful). You’ll have the Wolf powers as you’re leveling up of course, so don’t hesitate to purchase IOs for it – they can be re-used in CG.

Powers with * are Wolf Spider powers that require the gun draw animation.
Powers in bold are the Crab’s signature powers (in my opinion). These are the powers that define you, and that you really shouldn’t skip unless you have a great reason.

1.01a: *Single Shot
1.01b: Channelgun[/color]

These two are your basic ranged, single target damage. They deal the same damage but Single Shot deals lethal damage & Channelgun deals energy. Channelgun looks much cooler.

1.01c: *Pummel
1.01d: Slice

Basic single target rarged damage attacks. They deal the same damage but Pummel has a 66% chance of a mag 3 (Lt. level) stun. This is really noticeable, and can be quite handy at the lower levels. However, since we’re going for the Crab build & playstyle, I’d suggest skipping these as your time is better spent on AOEs ranged attacks (which do the same, or more damage).

1.01e: Wolf Spider Armor
1.01f: Crab Spider Armor Upgrade

Passive status protection to hold, immob, sleep, confuse, stun & fear. WSA provides mag 2 status protection, with it you will be able to ignore 1 status effect. CSAU provides mag 4 protection, which will protect you from 2 status effects. You should take CSAU.

However, they are stackable, so you can take both if you have room but I feel this is unnecessary since you get additional heavy status protection from Fortification. If you have nothing else to take, it’s not a horrible choice.

They also provide negligible (3%) smashing, lethal & (2%) psionic resistance, and are NOT worth slotting for this unless you desperately want a resist set bonus.

1.02a: *Burst
1.02b: Longfang

Second tier single target ranged damage attack. They deal the same damage (about 65% more than Burst/Channelgun), both are lethal. Longfang looks cooler of course.

1.02c: Combat Training: Defensive (CT:D)

Passive defense versus ranged. A little more than half the strength of a standard defense toggle – but it costs nothing! I can’t see why you would skip this on any Crab build.

1.04: Combat Training: Offensive (CT:O)

Passive accuracy bonus, less than a do unslotted, about 50% more than a do 3 slotted. Some builds may have room for this, but I would not suggest making it a priority – TT:L is a better choice in almost every situation. In cases where you want both or have a free power slot, this make a nice pick-up-and-forget power.

One thing this power does provide that is very difficult to get is some (albeit minor) resistance to tohit debuff. It is noticeable against those incredibly annoying PPD:Ghosts that debuff your tohit to the cap.

1.06a: Wide Area Web Grenade

A decent aoe immob that offers -kb. -kb will prevent knockback from affecting your targets – so, for example, webbed targets will not be scattered by Frag Grenade. This would be great, and a recommended power except that the range is very small (10ft sphere). Frustratingly small. You can get more than 2-3, but you really have to work at bunching them up, and most Crabs don’t have the time to herd (but you certainly can, and I do occasionally).

The PPP aoe immobs are actually better choices in most cases. The exception being that only Scirroco’s immob has -kb, so if you really want that you may be tempted to take WAWG. If you just want the “web” look, I’d suggest Black Scorpion’s immob, as it covers a larger area (15 ft).

Unfortunately though, this power lacks a Crab counterpart. I think if the gun weren’t required, I might take this on a few builds.

1.06b: Aim

By now you should know what Aim is and be able to come to a decision on it. Personally, the only builds I actually make room for Aim/BU type powers are Stalkers & Banes. Anything else I’ll pick it up late 30s/40s if I have room and not shed a tear if I don’t.

1.08a: *Heavy Burst
1.08b: Suppression

Your main cone attacks. Both of these are great. HB does lethal damage, Suppression does energy damage. If you are going with a heavy aoe focus, you may even wind up taking both (see section 2.0). Why is Suppression a defining power of the set? For one: it’s iconic. You’ve seen this power before; it looks awesome. (It’s the one where the 4 arms go crazy and blast all over). Secondly, the arc is huge (60 degrees) – this power will reliable hit every single target in a spawn, and sometimes in the next spawn.

That being said, this is the only one of the 3 iconic powers I could see possibly skipping. Plenty of people have complained about the long animation time, so if that’s your kind of gripe, you may want to skip it for Heavy Burst. Heavy Burst is not nearly as good, but has a much faster animation. I know I’ve never gotten tired of Suppression – if it seems to long for you, maybe just sit back and watch and enjoy it instead of trying to race through you farm? ;).

As for Heavy Burst, it’s a very decent cone attack. It has the same arc (30 degrees) as Blaster/Corruptor Breath of Fire, but a 10ft longer radius.

1.10: Tactical Training: Maneuvers (TT:M)

In my opinion, this IS the defining power of the Crabs. The sheer awesomeness that 3 Crabs can bring to a team by capping everyones defenses is, well, awesome.

It is a toggle defense VERSUS EVERYTHING power that applies to yourself and any teammate within 60ft (a much larger radius than the Force Field bubble toggle). Slotted, it is slightly stronger than an unslotted Super Reflexes toggle. If you’ve made it to 50 on a villain and don’t realize how powerful that is, I suggest playing a defense based character to 50, then coming back to your Crab.

It (and the other two TT powers) are VERY cheap to run. All 3 together cost less than the Mastermind version of Dispersion Bubble and just a little bit more than the defender version). So, by itself, for about 40% of the cost of Defender Dispersion Bubble, you can provide the SAME defense over 140% larger area. The larger area is a great boon in teams when your teammates are actually free to fan out a bit, and you don’t have to stay right on top of them, or scramble around to try and keep everyone covered. True, it does NOT provide ANY mez protection for the team, but that’s hardly a gripe.

Simple summary: Slotted, it’s like running all 3 SR toggles (unslotted) for your entire team. If you don’t take this, don’t expect to be welcomed on to teams.

You should take this at level 10, every time, no excuses.

There is a huge (http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showf…=0&fpart;=1) thread on this in the SoA forums. Browse it at your leisure.

1.12a: *Bayonet

Bayonet is a decent single target damage attack on a relatively low recharge. I believe, with all the modifiers applied, it does similar damage to Scrapper Disembowel (~120 unslotted @50) – but I could be wrong here. I don’t really care though, as I don’t see any reason to take this power. If you want single target melee damage, make a Bane.

1.12b: Arm Lash

In theory, a decent melee cone attack. 10 range, 30 degree arc. That’s the same range as Pendulum but with a slightly wider arc. I say “in theory” because I really don’t encounter many situations where this would be useful. I have tested some melee Crab builds and they just suck compared to what you can do with a ranged one. Some folks like it though, as it does look quite cool. I can’t fault that reasoning – heck I kept Omega just because it looks cool :).

1.12c: *Venom Grenade
1.12d: Venom Grenade

These powers have identical damage and recharge (24s), but the crab version animates a tiny bit (.2s) faster. They are both 20 ft sphere aoe toxic damage attacks that afflict targets with -20% resist all and -40% resist toxic debuff. VERY nasty stacked in teams. For a simple comparison, Defender Sleet/Freezing rain provides a -30% resist debuff on a 60s recharge over the same area. This is NOT a direct comparision, but should give you some kind of idea of the usefulness of VG just as a debuff – it does good damage on top of that!

1.16: Tactical Training: Assault (TT:A)

Provides the same buff as the pool version (15%) for half the endurance. Lots of builds will find room for this.

1.18a: *Frag Grenade
1.18b: Frag Grenade

A decent spherical aoe over a 10ft radius. Strangely, it seemed to reliably hit more targets for me than WAWG, which has the same size area of affect. Like Venom Grenade, these two are identical except for a minute (.2s) diference in animation time. It provides unreliable knockback, and I’d rather it was either 100% chance of knockback or 0%, but I still find it useful for the damage.

1.20: Tactical Training: Leadership (TT:L)

Provides the same buff as the pool version (10% to hit) for half the endurance. I’d suggest this for most builds, and take it over CT:O.

1.22: Mental Training

Passive +recharge, +run/fly speed & resist slows. Exactly the same power as Quickness & Lightning Reflexes. Can’t see why you would skip it. Crabs are the only ranged archetype to get these.

1.24: Fortification

Toggle mez protection vs. stun,sleep,immob,hold (but not fear/confuse/knockback) + resistances. This power is awesome. It provides the 80% of the mag protection of a Brute/Scrapper/Stalker toggle AND good resists versus everything except psi (15% Smash/Lethal & 25% energy/negative/fire/cold/toxic) for about the same cost as a SINGLE toggle. Stacked with Crab Spider Armor Upgrade you have near Tank level mez protection. Basically it’s 2-3 toggles in one. No reason to skip this power.

Also, this power looks pretty cool. I think it’s the same graphics & similar colors as the Brute Unyielding (not sure, my /inv is blueside).

1.26: Frenzy

The little power that wanted to be a big power. Why do I say this? It’s on the same timer (20s) and has the same end cost (18.5) as the big boys (Foot Stomp, Fire Sword Circle) but with a smaller aoe size (8 vs 15 & 10 respectively). This makes no sense to me, and seems like some kind of oversight, so I can’t see how the power is worth it. Basically, it’s a slightly higher damage Whirling Hands/Axe/Blade etc. with the recharge & end cost of Footstomp, if that makes more sense. I’m just not sure if the damage is “higher” enough to be worth the end cost and recharge. I think if it was a 15, 12 or even 10 sized pbaoe it would be excellent, for now it’s merely good.

In a general coolness sense though it does look fairly decent AND if you can get enough people bunched closely it can do good damage.

1.28: Serum

It’s Dull Pain with twice the animation time. You should be able to decide for yourself if you want it or not. Suggested for tank-oriented builds. I tend to think of it more as a life extender than a life saver (ie use it at 50% health, not 10-15%).

1.32: Omega Maneuver

Boy if this isn’t an interesting power. In some sense, it is a signature power just because the visuals are so unique, but in another sense it’s not, because it’s not particularly powerful. I love using it for an opener in large groups, and I’ll even use it solo if I happen to get a double spawn or something, but in general you don’t get a whole lot of mix/maxer return for your investment. What it IS good for is fun. If you like fun powers, this one is great.

It summons a seemingly indestructible pet at you target location that taunts nearby foes (with varying effects – it often fails to out-taunt a single attack by a meleer, but will regularly out-taunt my venom grenade) that explodes for low nuke damage (less than Blaster Rain of Arrows, far less than Blaster Nova, Blaster Inferno but only a little less than Corruptor Thunderous Blast). One offset to the low damage though is that you should immediately follow it up with Venom Grenade (before the explosion), this will bring it up past Corruptor TB. Of course, most Corruptors have debuffs to throw in as well….

1.35: Summon Spiderlings

Summons 3 -2 Spiderlings. They have a single melee attack and single ranged lethal dot. The damage isn’t much at all, but it does help versus single targets. Versus multiples it is often wasted on things you were destroying with aoes. They also function as extra bodies to distract the enemy, and have decent survivability from our TT:M.

I believe these are the same as the Stalker Patron Pool power, but I don’t have that so I can’t say for sure.

Unlike the Patron Pools, they have a 240s duration with a 600s recharge. It is difficult, but not impossible to get them perma. Without hasten or any set bonuses they are down about 30s. Hasten will push you into perma easily. Without hasten, it will take about 35% global recharge + Mental Training + 3 recharges slotted to get them perma.

NOTE: Summoning a new set before the originals die will WASTE the power. The new summons will not replace the old, they will simply fail to appear.
Q: Does this apply if only one is left alive?

1.38: Call Reinforcements

Same as Corruptor Patron Power, but two of them. Very powerful/noticeable pets. They have a hold, a single target blast and an aoe, all electric. They also have a single target web grenade.

These guys are much more powerful than the Spiderlings, which I find interesting because they are common to both sets and I would expect the unique pet to be the more powerful/useful…but I guess that’s just me.

240 duration on a 900s recharge timer (just like the Patron Pets), it is *very* difficult to perma these. Getting them down to around 30-60s for a pet-focused build seems to work out pretty well. They definitely cut down on boss kill time, and even help out a little bit on aoe.

1.5 Patron Pools

There are a few things you should know about the Patron pools with respect to Crabs:

*We get the same pools as Brutes.
*Mako->Bile Spray is the BEST damage you will get out of a Patron Power, and will outdamage your normal attacks if applied after Venom Grenade.
*All Black Scorpion powers will cause weapon draw, and currently (06.26.08) there is a bug so the mace is invisible.
*The Mu immobilize is the only one with -kb.

That’s really all there is to it, the sets are pretty much the same: aoe immob, ST blast, weak AOE, pet. Unless you’re picking your set based on concept (like I did), I suggest you go for Mako, simply due to how much damage Bile Spray puts out after a -40% toxic debuff. Not many things resist toxic either.

Pet wise, the Mu pet heals you occasionally IIRC, the Arachnos Blaster is very good damage (at least mine has been so far), and I don’t have any first hand experience with the Mako or Ghost Widow pets.

2.0 Flavors

There are a few flavors that I think the crab powers directly lend themselves to, and a few slotting directions you can favor, making for some interesting combos.

2.1 Powers

I think the power strengths lie in a triangle between aoe damage, defense & pets. You can strengthen any one of these at the cost of the others.
I’ll offer some thoughts on how to focus on a particular strength, or combination.

2.1.1 AOE

You want to mow down sheets of enemies like a railgun through a pack of kittens.
You will come close.

You are taking Venom Grenade and Suppression. You should probably also take Frag Grenade.
Heavy Burst from the Wolf powers will flesh our your pure aoe attack chain; you can deal with the redraw because you are going for overkill.

For the true master of aoe, you will want Mako’s Bile Spray power, as its damage is boosted 40% by Venom Grenade. It will easily put out raw numbers higher than any of your other aoes in this situation.
The immobilize (School of Sharks) does decent damage as well, but isn’t as easy to use as it requires yourself and all targets to be on the ground.

You should still keep both your single target attacks, or bosses will take too long.

You will want TT:A and possible pool Assault for maximum damage. Things like Omega Maneuvers & the pets can be skipped. Even though Omega is technically an aoe, you may need that power choice & slots for more important pieces of the arsenal.

If you take Hasten, you will want to 3 slot Stamina. Without Hasten you should be fine with 1 (remember VEATs have a higher base recovery) – unless you go for the extra defense toggles, then you’ll want 2 or 3.

2.1.2 Defense

You want to suffer the existential paradox of eating you cake while having it whole simultaneously, perhaps on a yacht while taunting Dire Otter Ninja Pirate Soldiers who are failing to scratch your crustacean godliness. And perhaps you can….

You are already taking TT:M of course, because you are not a dying seal.
You have taken CT:D & Fortitude as well.
You should take either CJ or Hover, because they provide 2.5% base defense to crabs (~3.75 slotted).
You may want to take power pool Maneuvers as well, it provides 3.5% unslotted and ~5.25% slotted.
You should probably take Serum, so you can laugh even longer while being whittled down.

If you are truly hardcore, you will take Weave & Tough.
Without any IO slotting, you will have ~33% defense versus melee & aoe, capped (~45%) ranged defense, 50% Smash/Lethal resists and ~40% Energy/Negative/Fire/Cold/Toxic.
You will have 2% Psionic resist, just for kicks, because you are a bad#$$.

Running all those toggles will take more end than most other builds, so you should 3 slot Stamina.

2.1.3 Pets

You want to be like a Mastermind, but able to lift a weapon heavier than a butter-knife. In fact, you want to fire thousands of super-heated butter knives out of a giant cannon at anyone who dares lift a butter knife against you. All while your pets are destroying their ankles, kneecaps, and perhaps painful central zones.

You will take both pets, of course.
You will take hasten, so you can spend more time feeding you higher tier pets the bones of the fallen, and so you can salvage an extra slot for damage for your Spiderlings
You will take a Patron pet. Which one is up to you – I have only tried Black Scorpion’s Blaster, and I love him. Matching metal spiders of doom…
You will take TT:A & TT:L (you already took TT:M remember?), and possibly pool Assault if you can fit it in.

You will laugh maniacally while your pets ignore all your orders and run around like robot chickens with toasters for brains, usually shooting and maiming enemies. But not always!
You will mock Masterminds for their need to “control” their pets, and point out how useful yours are on their own. See…they are over there pulling that spawn you were going to get to anyway! (But seriously, they are actually pretty good about NOT doing that, better than my mm pets it seems).

2.2 Slotting

As far as set bonuses go, you’re looking at a balance between defense and recharge, with the rest (regen, hp, acc, dmg) turning up as bonuses.

2.2.1 Defense

There are lots of affordable sets out there that play to this strength, making it relatively affordable to cap your ranged defense, and get the other two up to respectable levels. I twinked my crab with about 6 million at level 15, and that lasted me well into the 30s when I was able to buy the rest of my stuff for myself. I don’t think this is an unreasonable expectation for a VEAT – run 2 ITFs on your 50, or hang out & team with friends for a few nights and you’ll have that much.

Relatively affordable:

*6 slotting Thunderstrike in Channelgun & Longfang will get you 2.5% ranged each.
*5 slotting Detonation in Frag, Suppression, Venom, Heavy Burst and possibly Omega will get you 1.88% aoe each.
*5 slotting Serendipity in your CT:D or TT:M will get you 1.88% aoe
*5 slotting Reactive Armor in Fortitude will get you 1.25% aoe
*6 slotting Titanium Coating in Fortitude will get you 2.5% melee.
*6 slotting Trap of the hunter in WAWG or a Patron immobilize (or both if you’re crazy) will get you 3.13% ranged.
*5 slotting Debiliative Action in an immobilize wil get you 2.5% ranged
*6 slotting Enfeebled Operation in an immobilize will get you 3.13% melee
*6 slotting Multistrike in Arm Last or Frenzy will get you 1.88% (5) aoe & melee (6)

Less afforable:
*6 slotting Red Fortune in CT:D or TT:M will get you 2.5% ranged. These used to be affordable, but with all the VEATs out there, the rarer pieces are now very expensive.
*Steadfast Protection +3% defense unique. This is also much harder to get now, but should be a top priority. Throw it in Crab Spider Armor.
*6 slotting Gaussian’s in TT:L will get you 2.5% to all. All the pieces except for two were < 1 mill for me. The proc was about 1.5, and the rech/end was around 5! Seriously, it was the ONLY one for sale and I really wanted to finish the set…
*5 slotting Aegis in Fortitude will get you 3.13% AOE
*6 slotting Stupefy in Omega Maneuvers will get you 3.13% ranged. Only do this if you really want that ranged defense, as it renders the power useful only as a rare-mez with weak damage.
*5 slotting Scirocco in Frenzy or Arm Lash will get you 3.13% aoe

Impractical:
*6 slotting Mako in a melee attack is 3.75% ranged
*6 slotting Touch of Death in a melee attack is 3.13% melee
*6 slotting Blood Mandate in a pet will get you 3.75% aoe (5) and 3.75% ranged (6). This one might actually be ok for a non-pet focus who just takes a pet for kicks and doesn’t want it up often (and it won’t be – you’ll have NO recharge in it beyond Mental Training).
*Same thing with 6 Sovereign Rights, which would net you 3.13% melee.
*6 slotting Force Feedback in Frag Grenade will get you 3.13% aoe, and render the power nigh useless as a damage dealer.

Also, if you have Tough/Weave/pool Maneuvers/any other power not specifically mentioned, these sets will of course apply there.
There are other combos I’m sure, these are just the ones I know of off the top of my head, or that came up through building skimming.

2.1.2 Recharge

Slotting for recharge is much more expensive than slotting for defense. You NEED a cash cow to fund you for this. I couldn’t afford to do it, but I will point out some ideas on what to slot.

“Low end” recharge spending (still more than I’ve ever had redside):

*5 slotting Positrons blast in Venom & Suppression (or any aoes) will get you 6.25% recharge each
*5 slotting Decimation or Entropic Chaos in Channelgun & Longfang will get you 6.25% each.
*6 slotting Kinetic Crash in Frag Grenade will get you 7.5% (and render the power nearly useless as a damage dealer).
*5 slotting Red Fortune in both defenses will get you 5% recharge each.
*5 slotting Stupefy in Omega will get you your last 6.25% recharge

Even doing all this will only get you about 57.5% global recharge. You’ll still be at about 20-25s downtime on the 38 & 47 pets.
In order to really get them bleeding edge you need to have the cash for LoTG 7.% recharges and/or purples.

Any combo that gets you roughly another 40% will perma hasten & the pets. The easiest way (without mucking with a “standard” crab build) is to add 4 LoTGs & 1 10% purple recharge bonus. This is in ADDITION to all the slotting above, but replacing Stupefy in Omega with Absolute Amazement will work.

Also, as a bonus, you now have a single target attack chain of Channelgun->Channelgun. Yay for you and you millions! You must sleep on a soothing bed of infamy each night. I know I would.

2.1.3 Confluence

Where it really gets interesting is your choices on how you balance the between the power & slotting choices.

aoe powers + defense slotting: balanced ranged damage dealer with good survivability
aoe powers + recharge slotting: excellent damage, decent surivivability
defense powers + defense slotting: ranged tank
defense powers + recharge slotting: low ranged damage with survivability – This would actually be a strange combo to play out I think, and not one I’d suggest.
pets + defense slotting: good damage, average pet availability, good survival
pets + recharge slotting: max pet availability, good damage, slightly less defense

3.0 Playstyle

3.1: General

By now (Having earned a level 50 the hard way right! You didn’t PL for your VEATs!) you should be not need advice on how to play a ranged damage type, but I’ll point out some basics anyway, just in case.

There’s a different playstyle for every build (see below ….and beyond!), but the general locus of Crabstyle revolves around keeping you toggle buffs running, opening with Venom Grenade, and then going to freaking town. And by “going to town” I mean razing it. If you enjoy Blasters or Corruptors I think you’ll slip right into the Crab playstyle and perhaps fall in love with the increased survivability and mez protection, I know I did.

I tend to follow Venom with Suppression and then Frag – so the knockback comes last – but your attack chain will depend on power choice and slotting. I highly recommend opening with Venom since it will cause all your other attacks to hit harder.

You can often take the alpha from a full team spawn, especially if you have another veat or 2 in a team (3 crabs caps everything).
You can often bring an entire spawn to only lts/bosses remaining (depending on damage resists), then just use your STs & pets to pick off the stragglers.
You may have problems with certain bosses – but nothing serious. I had to actively hop at round to keep at range from several, but that’s fun! Hover makes those fights even easier.

Your main weaknesses are knockback, defense and tohit debuffs.
You can easily (if you have money, which you should) deal with the KB problem by getting a -3 kb prot IO, or you can just cave and take Acrobatics. Either of those will be plenty for PVE. Honestly though, I don’t have ANY kb protection yet, and it’s really not that bad.
One def debuff will usually open the way for many more, and then you’re just relying on your resists (thankfully you have some!). Crabs have NO defense debuff resistance. I think this is a valid balance point, so it’s definitely not something I will complain about. They can get a small amount of tohit debuff resist if you have room for CT:O.

I think that, like any archetype, your playstyle goes one of two ways: it is dictated BY your power choices, or IT dictates your power choices. If you love pets, you take all the pets and maybe sacrifice something for slotting them up. If you just happen to grab one of the melees, one of the pets and maybe aid other or something random on the way up, then you’ll be playing a lot differently than someone who grabbed all the range attacks.

3.2: Wolf vs. Crab

One thing that I think is very important to keep in mind is that you get a free, forced respec at level 24 when you make your choice of Crab over Bane. I’d advise taking advantage of this by NOT squeezing the fitness pool in before the respec – take as many of the actual primary/secondary powers as you can so you can get a feel for all of them. Plus, the leadership buffs will help you level a lot faster, especially if you team.

Before level 24 (and after too of course) teaming is strongly advised. A team of wolves post level 10 will MOW through max difficulty missions, resulting in a leveling speed faster than most people will see otherwise. It’s really quite impressive. Once you get to 20 and throw in TT:L, it gets even better because you can actually HIT all those purples. Grabbing assault will help too – especially on a team with multiple VEATs. I grabbed the pool maneuvers on my way up too for the extra defense. In that (pre-SO) level range I think it allowed me to cap my ranged def with one less Soldier/Widow teammate.

Most importantly, get used to the playstyle, because crabs play almost the same as wolves. Just much better. If you enjoy those first 24 levels, you will enjoy the other 26 even more. If you hate ever moment of it, you should probably choose Bane or move on to another character, because crabbing isn’t going to be that different.

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| Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build |
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| Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build |
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4.0.4 Death from afar: aoe powers + mixed slotting

This is pretty similar to what I’ll be doing for my next/second crab.

It’s pretty darn tankmagerish, at least on paper. 4 cones and 2 aoes means you don’t need hasten, you should always have one ready and an extra single target attack means that you’ll be a little bit better off in that boat than some others as well. Disruptors are still in the build, if only for boss fights (but they’ll probably be out a lot more than that).

40% ranged, 30% aoe & 21% melee defense means you’re no slob when it comes to survival as well. Throw serum slotted for max recharge and near-max heal on top of that and you are doing great.

I think there are a lot more viable options with this build than the others, so be extra mindful of the fact that I’m not claiming this is the best, just a decent skeleton to build off of.

Especially in this build, I think hover/fly is a great sub for cj/sj. Hover + Bile Spray is a beatiful thing to watch in its ugliness.

Villain Plan by Mids’ Villain Designer 1.40
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Level 50 Natural Arachnos Soldier
Primary Power Set: Crab Spider Soldier
Secondary Power Set: Crab Spider Training
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Leviathan Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Channelgun — Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(7), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(19), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(37)
Level 1: Crab Spider Armor Upgrade — S’fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A)
Level 2: Longfang — Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(7), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(17), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(36)
Level 4: Combat Training: Defensive — GftotA-Def/EndRdx(A), GftotA-Def/Rchg(5), GftotA-Def(5), GftotA-Run+(37)
Level 6: Combat Jumping — Krma-ResKB(A), ULeap-Stlth(50)
Level 8: Suppression — Det’tn-Acc/Dmg(A), Det’tn-Dmg/Rng(9), Det’tn-Dmg/Rchg(9), Det’tn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(17), Det’tn-Dmg/EndRdx/Rng(19), RechRdx-I(31)
Level 10: Tactical Training: Maneuvers — GftotA-Def/EndRdx(A), GftotA-Def/Rchg(11), GftotA-Run+(11), GftotA-Def(15)
Level 12: Venom Grenade — Det’tn-Acc/Dmg(A), Det’tn-Dmg/EndRdx(13), Det’tn-Dmg/Rchg(13), Det’tn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(15), Det’tn-Dmg/EndRdx/Rng(23), RechRdx-I(33)
Level 14: Super Jump — Jump-I(A)
Level 16: Hurdle — Jump-I(A)
Level 18: Health — Heal-I(A)
Level 20: Heavy Burst — Det’tn-Acc/Dmg(A), Det’tn-Dmg/Rng(21), Det’tn-Dmg/Rchg(21), Det’tn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(23), Det’tn-Dmg/EndRdx/Rng(27), RechRdx-I(37)
Level 22: Stamina — EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(40), EndMod-I(43)
Level 24: Fortification — ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx(A), ImpArm-ResDam/Rchg(25), ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(25), ImpArm-ResDam(27)
Level 26: Mental Training — Run-I(A)
Level 28: Frag Grenade — Det’tn-Acc/Dmg(A), Det’tn-Dmg/EndRdx(29), Det’tn-Dmg/Rchg(29), Det’tn-Dmg/Rng(31), Det’tn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(31)
Level 30: Tactical Training: Leadership — AdjTgt-ToHit/EndRdx(A), AdjTgt-ToHit/EndRdx/Rchg(33)
Level 32: Serum — Dct’dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Dct’dW-Heal/Rchg(33), H’zdH-Heal/Rchg(34), Dct’dW-Heal/EndRdx(36), RechRdx-I(46)
Level 35: Assault — EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(36)
Level 38: Call Reinforcements — BriL’shp-Acc/Dmg(A), BldM’dt-Acc/Dmg(39), BriL’shp-Dmg(39), RechRdx-I(39), RechRdx-I(40), RechRdx-I(40)
Level 41: School of Sharks — Det’tn-Acc/Dmg(A), Det’tn-Dmg/EndRdx(42), Det’tn-Dmg/Rchg(42), Det’tn-Dmg/Rng(42), Det’tn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(43), Immob-I(43)
Level 44: Bile Spray — Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(45), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(45), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(45), Det’tn-Dmg/Rchg(46), RechRdx-I(46)
Level 47: Spirit Shark — Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(48), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(48), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(48), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(50), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(50)
Level 49: Tactical Training: Assault — EndRdx-I(A)
————
Level 1: Brawl — Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint — Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest — Empty(A)
Level 1: Conditioning
————

Code:[/color]

| Copy 
& Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build |

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4.0.5 The Mastercrab

*i19 build
*capped defenses
*hasten & big pets 7s off perma WITHOUT alpha slotting

Here’s a completely updated i19 build for you to chew on:

Villain Plan by Mids’ Villain Designer 1.90
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Octet: Level 50 Natural Arachnos Soldier
Primary Power Set: Crab Spider Soldier
Secondary Power Set: Crab Spider Training
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Speed
Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Channelgun — Decim-Acc/Dmg(A), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(3), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(5), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(5)
Level 1: Crab Spider Armor Upgrade — S’fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A)
Level 2: Longfang — Decim-Acc/Dmg(A), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx(7), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(7), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(9), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(9)
Level 4: Combat Training: Defensive — LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 6: Combat Jumping — LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 8: Suppression — Det’tn-Acc/Dmg(A), Det’tn-Dmg/Rchg(17), Det’tn-Dmg/Rng(19), Det’tn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(19), Det’tn-Dmg/EndRdx/Rng(21), RechRdx-I(21)
Level 10: Tactical Training: Maneuvers — RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFtn-Def(13), LkGmblr-Rchg+(15), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(23), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(23), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(25)
Level 12: Venom Grenade — Det’tn-Acc/Dmg(A), Det’tn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(13), Det’tn-Dmg/EndRdx/Rng(15), RechRdx-I(17), Det’tn-Dmg/EndRdx(27), Det’tn-Dmg/Rchg(27)
Level 14: Super Jump — Jump-I(A)
Level 16: Maneuvers — GftotA-Def/EndRdx(A), GftotA-Def/Rchg(25), GftotA-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(29), GftotA-Def(29), LkGmblr-Rchg+(39)
Level 18: Boxing — Acc-I(A)
Level 20: Tough — S’fstPrt-ResKB(A), HO:Ribo(31), HO:Ribo(33)
Level 22: Tactical Training: Leadership — GSFC-ToHit(A), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg(34), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(36), GSFC-Rchg/EndRdx(36), GSFC-ToHit/EndRdx(36), GSFC-Build%(37)
Level 24: Fortification — Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(A), Aegis-ResDam/Rchg(31), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(33), Aegis-ResDam(34), Aegis-Psi/Status(34)
Level 26: Mental Training — Run-I(A)
Level 28: Tactical Training: Assault — EndRdx-I(A)
Level 30: Weave — GftotA-Def/EndRdx(A), LkGmblr-Rchg+(31), GftotA-Def/Rchg(33), GftotA-Run+(37), GftotA-Def(37)
Level 32: Hasten — RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(39)
Level 35: Summon Spiderlings — ExRmnt-Acc/Rchg(A), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg(39), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(40), ExRmnt-Dmg/EndRdx(40)
Level 38: Call Reinforcements — ExRmnt-Acc/Rchg(A), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg(40), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42), ExRmnt-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(42), RechRdx-I(42)
Level 41: Web Envelope — Enf’dOp-Acc/Rchg(A), Enf’dOp-EndRdx/Immob(43), Enf’dOp-Acc/EndRdx(43), Enf’dOp-Acc/Immob(43), Enf’dOp-Immob/Rng(45), Enf’dOp-Acc/Immob/Rchg(45)
Level 44: Shatter Armor — T’Death-Acc/Dmg(A), T’Death-Dmg/EndRdx(45), T’Death-Dmg/Rchg(46), T’Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(46), T’Death-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(46), T’Death-Dam%(48)
Level 47: Summon Blaster — ExRmnt-Acc/Rchg(A), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg(48), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(48), ExRmnt-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(50), RechRdx-I(50)
Level 49: Omega Maneuver — HO:Nucle(A), Dmg-I(50)
————
Level 1: Brawl — Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint — Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest — Empty(A)
Level 1: Conditioning
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift — Empty(A)
Level 2: Hurdle — Empty(A)
Level 2: Health — Mrcl-Rcvry+(A)
Level 2: Stamina — EndMod-I(A), P’Shift-EndMod(11), P’Shift-End%(11)
————

| Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build |
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For a no-purple build (although it does have a few hamis, because I have them laying around in base storage)… it’s hard to find fault in a pet-focused build with capped defenses.

Yes, I would like the second assault and yes, I would like serum, but I think this is a great place to be nonetheless.

You can always swap out TT:A for serum if you’re attached to it, same with Omega Maneuver. I find that OM is just plain fun to use, so I kept it around.

If I had the cash, I’d throw a purple set in VG & Channelgun and make up the .5% AOE def I needed elsewhere (pulling a slot of tough for CJ, for example).

4.0.6 Other builds

You can see from the previous builds that there is a ton of movement inside the Crab build space. You can throw in melee attacks (Frenzy may be a decent place for slots that would go into Omega, etc.), pool powers (confront, aid other, etc.) but I just chose not to, and tried to display a couple examples of builds playing to what I see as their strengths.

5.0 Closing

I hope I’ve given you some ideas for your own Crabs. Happy crabbing!