Part 12

A detailed breakdown of City of Heroes melee powersets including Energy, Fiery, Ice, Stone, Super Strength, and War Mace, with ratings and strategic advice.

This section analyzes various melee powersets in City of Heroes, providing ratings and strategic insights for different playstyles, particularly focusing on their effectiveness in solo and group play.

Melee Powerset Analysis:

1. Battle Axe: Offers massive damage but has knockback, which can be a detriment and is incompatible with Burn. Recommended for solo play (Rating 7/7) but less so for groups (Rating 2/7). Not recommended for Fire Tankers; consider Energy, Fiery, or Ice Melee instead.
2. Energy Melee: Focuses on disorients. Powers like Total Focus and Energy Transfer are excellent. Good for support (Rating 5/7).
3. Fiery Melee: A strong damaging powerset, though not as powerful as Battle Axe, it costs less endurance. Offers both single-target and AoE options. Rated 3/7, considered not great unless focusing on AoE, in which case a Blaster might be more suitable. Works well with Fiery Embrace.
4. Ice Melee: Primarily offers slows rather than damage. Powers like Frozen Fists and Ice Sword slow enemies, and Frost is effective. Ice Patch is a knockdown AoE, and Freezing Touch is a hold. Greater Ice Sword is good, but Frozen Aura is weak. Excellent for group survival (Rating 7/7) due to slowing enemies and shortening recharge times, but poor for soloing (Rating 2/7).
5. Stone Melee: Features strong single-target damage with Stone Fist, Stone Mallet, and Heavy Mallet. Fault is a nice AoE disorient, and Hurl Boulder is a good ranged attack. Seismic Smash is excellent for high damage. Rated 4/7. Has knockback and is incompatible with Burn, so not recommended for Fire Tankers.
6. Super Strength: A common powerset with good utility. Jab and Punch are low damage. Haymaker is more damaging. Hand Clap is a good PBAoE disorient and knockback. Rage is a prolonged Build Up with a disorient. Foot Stomp can be used with Hand Clap for crowd control. Rated 6/7. Knockbacks can be annoying and it's incompatible with Burn, so not recommended for Fire Tankers.
7. War Mace: Described as a weaker, renamed version of Battle Axe with disorient instead of knockback. Rated 1/7, considered horrible and inferior to Battle Axe.

Power Pools Analysis:

1. Concealment:
   • Stealth: Provides invisibility and a noticeable 7.5% defense bonus, with a minor movement speed penalty. Rated 9/10.
   • Grant Invisibility: Offers invisibility and a 7.5% defense bonus. Useful for sneaking but likely not worth a power slot. Rated 4/10.
   • Invisibility: Provides complete invisibility. Useful but potentially redundant if Stealth is already taken. Rated 6/10.
   • Phase Shift: An excellent