Melee v. Tank

When I was new to Uprising, I played Melee. In the beginning, carrying a blade and using the following Ability set up worked really well:

Targeted: Diving Roll or Charge
Directional: Wild Swing
Self: Cleave or Power Cell
Ultimate: Shock Strikes
Combat Passive: Durable

As I progressed in level, though, I realized that despite using Durable I'd take quite a bit of damage. This was because playing Melee required that you engage your opponent up close and personal. As missions became harder and PR was difficult to raise, I wound up switching from Melee to Tank. A Tank will attack from a ranged position, making it harder for opponents to inflict damage. They basically take up one position and fire all they've got. Here's a basic low-to-mid level Tank Ability set up:

Targeted: Grenade or Holographic Decoy
Directional: Hold Out Blaster or Snipe
Self: Cover Smoke or Armor Piercing
Ultimate: Intimidate or Barrage
Combat Passive: Relentless

Tanks are much deadlier later in T2, when Abilities like Rocket Launcher, Sticky Bomb, and Shield Generator are available. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for Melee. In other words, quite early on in the game, Melee becomes relatively unplayable. And it stays that way. Kabam never released bigger, better, and badder Melee Abilities. Not long ago, when I used a Riposte Blade at level 100, I tried also using my old Melee Ability set up for fun. Aaaaand I got absolutely murdered. 

In part, this is due to how Kabam nerfed Shock Strikes, though I won't complain about that here. The point is that Uprising has never been kind to Melee players. Frankly, I'm unsure what to call the middle ground of part Melee and part Tank, which needs be far more adaptive to what each mission demands. Let's call it Attacker, since a high Attack Rating helps tremendously. I ran as an Attacker for a long time. At 100 level and using the aforementioned 6* Riposte blade, my base ability set looked like this:

Targeted: Charge 3
Directional: HoB 3
Self: Armor Piercing 2 or Crowd Control 3
Ultimate: Think Fast 3
Combat Passive: Hit & Run 2

With this build, I changed Abilities as the mission required. Droids on Mataou? No problem. Self Ability changed to Ion Wave 2. Wampas on Hoth? No problem. Targeted Ability changed to Holographic Decoy 3 and Self Ability changed to Snare Trap 3. And so forth. In other words, as an Attacker, I approached each mission individually.

While there are many different base Ability sets one could use as an Attacker, tailoring my Abilities to the job at hand worked very well for quite awhile. Against Purge Troopers, for example, Armor Piercing works excellently with Durasteel Cutter 2 or, better, DC Rank 3, especially if you're carrying a blade and don't mind getting close to your enemy. The range of DC isn't all that great, and you hit only a single enemy at a time, but Armor Piercing also makes Melee attacks more effective.

All of this led me to reconsider my entire approach to Abilities. How about Force Powers? What could they do for me that standard Abilities couldn't? The answer is for different post. But suffice it to say that playing Melee effectively takes not only a lot of skill, but also the willingness to be adaptive. At the end of the proverbial day, every mission is about controlling the narrative.  I've said this before, but it's so true.

For instance, using Charge 3 and Crowd Control 3 with a blade seems odd, doesn't it? Charge moves you forward, into the enemy, while Crowd Control blasts them away from you. It's counterintuitive. And that's exactly the point. Both of these Abilities interrupt  your enemy, which is crucial in so many different situations. Add HoB 3 and Hit & Run 2 to the mix, for example, and suddenly you can charge and interrupt a group of enemies, gain Armored in the process, then unload with HoB. When you're almost out of ammo (energy) you can use Crowd Control to knock back and, again, interrupt any enemies still standing. The great part about this? You're using HoB. It has awesome range. Next, you mop up the last of those opponents you initially attacked. Hit & Run refills energy as you run, so now you run towards your next opponents with, essentially, Haste. This is a very effective strategy for an Attacker.

One of my main gripes with Uprising is that your main weapon isn't the one you carry, it's your Targeted ability.  At the outset, Kabam allowed us to use the weapon we carry as our main weapon, since you could use Abilities like Wild Swing or Snipe. These are sorely ineffective Abilities, however, and I don't suggest that anyone use them. Which is as much to say that, it doesn't matter if you carry a blade, rifle, or pistol -- an Attacker build will prove effective. It will also demand, however, that you play smarter and  more aggressively. It's amazing how quickly you can cover a lot of ground, for instance, while using Charge, Hit & Run, and Think Fast.

In the end, the Abilities you use define your experience of the game. Choose wisely.