"HL needs a lot of power". I never got this.

When I started testing out HL the first thing that made me fall in love with the power (asides from the Lantern allure, I´m a big fan of the GL lore) was the ability to pull 2, 3 or 4 power combos with just one hit of a power button and the appropiate combination of mouse clicks. I saw that as I progressed further into the tiers I could still DPS in this direction, topping scoreboards or ending up second but still consuming less power than any other DPS in my group. In the times where T4 Raids as Black Dawn was the highest tiered raid we had, and before even completing my T4 set, I managed to top that raid several times using mainly construct combos and profiting from the +50% modifier from powers like Snap Trap to buff my own weapon combos. Again, this means that I out-DPS everyone, and also consumed less power than everyone.

I don´t see this as an exception but only as a natural thing. In fact, I believe that this is the way that the devs intended us to use this power: as a versatile mob-shredder that can still be extremely power-efficient. In contrast I remember running as a Fire DPS before the revamp, where you truly needed to connect 2 or 3 powers in rapid succession to get the best burning interactions. That is (or was) a power that truly needed a lot of juice to get good results.

So whenever I´m running an alert either as DPS or Troll and I see another player raging for power and defending himself claiming that Hard Light NEEDS more power, as if it was truly the only way to go... I am baffled.

No, HL does not NEED more power than others to yield good results. It only needs it if you want to play as a "berserk DPS" who believes that good dps-ing only translates in pure numbers and in the speed of the damaging. But these are also the kind of DPS that I see charging straight after the tank or even before him, letting dangerous ads (like the Sunstone Assasins in FOS2) behind them, and similar fails. But if you are willing to take a second of your time to assess the threats on your screen, to check if it is time to use ranged powers or melee ones and take full advantage of damage modifiers and the possibility of inflicting multiple hits and consuming only the cost of one power, HL is more than viable, it is perfect. Afther all, remember that the description for the DPS role states that our mission is not only to eliminate threats fast, but also efficiently.

Rant over, I know that this oppinion is not shared by many HL users, but it´s the one I have. Thanks for the time and sorry if it annoys anyone.

SHort answer DPs is about math, actual damager per second.

For any power to max out potential yield damage per second you are going to eat a lot of juice.

Take you and your style up against any k007 Hl combo users and they with distance themselves from you, provided they have the juice.

While you are rolling through a nice little claw - ran - whip combo

They are clipping everything like crazy and so fast unless you know you have no idea what's going on.

Some players are just addicted to the blue juice, they are like crack addicts with bad attitudes when they don't get enough. A majority of the most vocal power addicts don't ever or very seldom play an actual role.

Jurgen, i totally agree with you! I love the fact that as a HL troll i can amp up my combo meter by just using one power, and just string into so many CC effects and damage dealing. I have just swapped out chompers to have Ram instead, as i couldn't use claws if i'm not the prime troll.

It makes me laugh when you see people screaming for more power when i've chained together 25 hits of "powers" for the cost of one.

I out dps'd someone in Oa once with full troll gear in DPS stance while using half the power they did...

HL has been my first power and will always be my first power!

I´ll add something else since I can´t edit the original post anymore:

The major nonsense to me is when people say they have modded their HL DPS with full Prec mods, yet spam powers continuously instead of chaining constructs. What´s the point of that if they are going to interrupt their own damage modifiers, and usually for something lower? Guys like these should go Prec & Might or full Might.

In my case, I go full Prec, I get the Turf mod that boosts my prec if I get an 11 hit counter and BOOM, numbers through the roof by Brawling combos or construct combos alone.

Cool a T2 alert. Tell me more about how bad *** you are.

Bottom line the combos for HL are average damage, even when stacking precision. So you got below average might hits and average precision hits. Unless you clip every combo with a power, you will barely be even pulling your weight in the top raids.

Thanks for reading

Hear ya OP...continually starting new powers (might base) when I could just be continuing combos and using Pre ..and not being power hog..more appealing.

i totally agree with you. NOT!!!!! u cant be a good range dps without a lot of power. U can be an ok dps without range but not topping the board. the only time i'm not power hungry is in alerts but not raids. come on man get your head outa ur a**

ur a troll so maybe u dont anderstand being a hl dps. U NEED A LOT OF POWER TO BE A GOOD HL DPS!!!

AGAIN I REPEAT. U NEED A LOT OF POWER TO BE A GOOD HL DPS. U CAN'T RANGE WITHOUT REPEATING POWER. UR EAITHER LYING OR IDK TWISTING THE TRUTH lol. but seriously compare someone who links dps without your dmg out.

HL not op i out dmg HL with quantum daily in nexus. celestial now thats OP i've never out dmg celestial with equal gear.

HL has a large spectrum about using power or not.
If you dont want, or cant, use so much power, you can spare, comboing. (RFS, for example)
But if you want to REALLY DPS, the trolls must be good, cause HL can destroy anything in its path, using a lot of power. (k007 or mdm, for example).

A really good HL DPS knows how to measure the power incoming versus the damage output.
The real prob is: ppl just read guides and repeat rotantions, without thinking about it.

I will produce as much damage as the trolls can give me power.

OP = original poster

Hl DPS needs alot of power to top charts in T5. T2 I'm sure you can get away with it but not T5. A whole different game when range attacking.

Ok... HL does consume a good amount of power do to having to jump cancelling and going through the power again. I understand you 100% BUT by time you go back through that combo again your TROLLS should have replaced that power used by then. Every 5 seconds P0T ticks and every 2 to 3 seconds recharge has cooled down and should be hit again. It's those trolls that are just sitting there 5 to 7 seconds attacking that make you run out of power. Small difference in time from 2 to 3 seconds compared to 5 to 7 seconds right? ANSWER: WRONG! You take that much of a break in between powers DPSing until the end of the raid and tell me if you still at the top. That small time difference adds up as the raid proceeds guy.

The thing is... there are 2 trolls in the raid so there SHOULD be no problem with power.

To Jurgen Blitz... be real guy... base your damage off what power the trolls give you? I don't think the guy that started this thread was talking about the Khandaq Raid. If the trolls in your group cant keep you juiced, then get a new supplier fool. No one in a raid should have struggle with other players for power. (i.e. when the trolls are telling the dps to slow down on burn because the solo heal is running out of power. GET A HEALER THAT CAN MANAGE HIS/HER HEALS WITH BETTER TIMINGS OR GET BETTER TROLLS. You should never have to wait for power. YOU CANT USE AN INFINATE COMBO BECAUSE ALL INFINATE COMBOS INVOLVE ONE MELEE BASED MOVE.

MORAL OF THE STORY YOU GUYS JUST NEED BETTER TROLLS.

Oh before I forget Celestial is not OP. Talk to the Devs about slowing down the cool down of retribution. A celestial dps should never beat you again if you're as good as you THINK you are. I have been celestial and the fact that you can spam retribution back to back and throwing plague in there every now and then is what you call OP. You shouldn't call the power OP (Over Powered), but you should call it SF (Stupid Fast). No need to nerf the power as a whole, but maybe alter the casting times.

If you are top dps using 3 or 4 constructs in a row mostly, and everyone has power, they just aren't putting up much damage. Dps are there because they can kill things faster than support roles, so if the power is good and I'm not using it, I'm not doing my best job.

Mac you are exactly the reason people hate on DPS's. Troll not giving enough power? KICK, healer running out of power? KICK. You ever stop to think that maybe the players in the raids with you are AT CR and not above it? A T2 troll will not keep you juiced in Kandaq.

What Starbrand said is 100% accurate. If a troll is not T5 i'm not going to be trying to use K007, or even FFF for that matter. With low CR trolls RSF and AAA are my go to combos. They still put out great damage with a low power cost.

Bottom line is as a DPS it is YOUR job to manage your power. The troll or trolls are just there to supplement it. If they can supplement you utilizing your best highest damage combo then by all means do it. Don't come in here saying a T2 troll will be able to do the same.

Lastly, you have Sodas, a supply drop, and weapon combos to supplement your power regen. Use them.

It's about math. The power clipping rotations simply do more damage. DPS is an arms race in DCUO. Layer in boss fights with enrage timers that were designed with high octane DPS as the yardstick and your rotations won't cut it in a top tier raid. Try an infinite combo in a T5 raid and you're probably getting booted. I'm not saying I'll boot you, I hate doing that. But I'm confident someone else will put the vote box up on my screen. It's an in-game culture you're not going to see change from a forum opinion-piece. Not when the behavior is so pervasive and the game is designed to encourage it.

To the OP, if you enjoy performing the full combos from HL i say more power to you (no pun intended). I too enjoy seeing the full animations from my powers. However, the only time i do that is in solo / duo content (and only if my duo partner isn't a troll). If i'm low on power i can either go into an infinite combo loop (claw, ram, ST, fan > repeat) or ill use ram, whip x2, clap x3.

You need to understand though, there is a time and place to be conservative and a time and place to go "berserk" as you say. If you try and do full combos in nexus / dox you will be kicked after the first boss. Why? Because your damage out will be lower than the trolls. Sure you might have really low power in, but that is just wasted DPS because you aren't using the power the trolls are giving you.

The whole thing about mods isn't really accurate either. HL mod for their playstyle. Though I've never seen a might specced HL. Mix mods are great for a balanced rotation such as the K007 because it uses 2 power attacks and 3 prec attacks.

I prefer being full prec specced because that is the way i play. RSF is one power attack and 3 prec attacks. FFF is 2 power and 3 prec. AAA is 1 power and 3 prec or 2 power attacks and 4 prec if you throw in another ram > whip at the end.

I can pull off any of these combos probably 3 times before you get done with one regular combo.

whats mdm?