Dead Calm

Thanks for the nice words everyone - At some point I may write a CoV based follow-up, although as yet nobody has annoyed me enough to prompt me to do it.

And remember - If they died, it was their fault. Or the Controllers.

A big thanks to everyone for putting up with my somewhat random mito hunting path. I'll stay a bit lower next time .

If I'm about I'll bring DC along to help with the debuffage.

Dark is more controllery. You'll really mostly on your cones for AoE damage.

Rad will give you a better single target attack chain, some okish AoEs, and def debuff which you otherwise won't have.

So essentially, Dark is a bit safer, Rad is a bit more offensive.

[ QUOTE ]
I shall not fear, fear is the mindkiller,
I shall face my fear and let is pass through me.



[/ QUOTE ]

Damn you, I had that one all worked out in my head and everything!

[ QUOTE ]
the prospect of removing fear seems to be increasing fear...the irony :P

[/ QUOTE ]

We have nothing to fear but the removal of fear itself.

[ QUOTE ]
I can see them replacing it with hold. A few times in game people I have teamed with have said fear will be dropped from fire in time. My opinion is that hold will replace it throughout the game.

-fly dosent make sense to me most controler types are very very similar only illusion is very different. Diversity is going out the window.

[/ QUOTE ]

So the sum total of all the evidence is "someone said it on the internet?"

Clearly a DOOMCON 1 situation if ever I saw one.

Keeping stuff away from you won't be a problem. With Fearsome Stare (Cone fear+tohit debuff), Tar Patch (AoE slow+res debuff) and Tenebrous Tenticles (cone Immob, small to hit debuff, slowish DoT), pretty much everything is going to stay where you want it.

You won't see big numbers damage wise, but you will see a lot of small ones. With Tenebrous Tenticles and Nightfall (a fast DoT cone) you can mow down huge swaiths of minions/lts, while firing single target blasts at the bosses.

Gah, got held up at work so couldn't make it. Sorry about that.

Count me in.

[ QUOTE ]
Stone melee without stone fists? That's gonna be painful :/

[/ QUOTE ]

I tried it.

By level 10 I had established that I needed to bring a book along to read in the gaps in my attack chain, and decided that I'd get stone fists after all.

Absolutly.

It also ignores fluffy who, in an AV situation where he uses everything on one target, and is standing next to that target because of summoning/tping him there, is quite capable of doing at least as much debuffing as the rest of a D3's powers put together, with his Darkest Night, TG, TT, all of which iirc, according to the figures in the Prima villains download, were defender strength debuffs, and his Chill of the Night, which is a 30% to hit debuff unenhanced.

Basicly, with him up and used well, hitting the cap isn't going to be a problem.

Congratulations dear boy.

Regarding the rest thing, the only obvious way I can think of is to set yourself up as bait in a buch of tripmines/poison traps you set up previously. Obviously this would only really work on melee characters, and you'd need to come up with a convincing reason why you'd need to rest for it to be anything other than a big "I'm luring you into a trap" sign.

Howling Twilight is a 100% health rez now I think. I'm not actually sure it even takes heals any more. Back in the day (when this was all fields) it healed for a set amount for each mob in the PBAoE, and was generally regarded as a good way to get lots of debt for everyone concerned really quickly.

I'd go for a single recharge, or possibly some disorients if you want to use it offensivly.

Agree with everything else Faultline says.

I've played my Rad/Kin to 38 with my only hover and fly from pools. With only two end reds slotted, both in repel.

Yes, I like a challange.

It's doable, but you need to keep an eye on your end bar and have some spare blues. Keeping everyone SB'd in exchange for all their blues works wonders.

You will do a little dance when you hit 35 though.

Much like everyone else, I'd say life drain isn't worth it. It does nothing for you that transferance doesn't do far better. I may go against everything my instincts are telling me and say that dark pit may be useful, as I'd have loved an AoE mez, even a rubbish one, on my /kin.

I'd also think hard about torrent. With a /kin you want to be up close and personal with the mobs most of the time, something that a knock back power doesn't help with at all, and if you want to keep stuff off it's feet, repel does it a) better, b) in a more entertaing way, and c) with much more panache.

Besides, even if they want to scatter (which as a rule they don't), you've got them tar patched and TT'ed. Way back in I0/I1 (well before I was playing) terrorised mobs used to leg it. This was hugely unpopular, so was changed to the current tremble while occasionally shooting in response to being attacked effect.

It's certainly one of the best powers in the set, possibly the best, depending on my mood.

Here you go.

[ QUOTE ]
Re the Dark Miasma Guide, an excellent source of info I agree and it was reading that, which prompted me to give the set another go and roll this toon.

[/ QUOTE ]
Have a search on the US forums for Blackest Night's guide, as it is also very good.

[ QUOTE ]
In my build plan so far I did not take Moonbeam. I reckon with Dark Blast, Gloom, Twighlight Grasp and Tar Patch I "should be safe getting to level 10 solo after which I will do more teaming and will not need more damage output.

[/ QUOTE ]
Dark Blast and Gloom should see you through as far as single target attacks go. I may well respec moonbeam out to include gloom myself. I'd also include Nightfall in there, as Nightfall+TT+fearsome stare give you a cone chain of ULTIMATE CONTROL AND DESTRUCTION. Ahem. Sorry.

[ QUOTE ]
For travel power I have gone for TP foe and then later TP for myself. My plan is to TP a foe into range of any fallen teammates in order to use Howling Twighlight.

[/ QUOTE ]
A popular tactic. I'd recomend taking recall friend as well, as it a) lets you do the reverse, and b) Will let you place fluffy where you want, which is particularly useful when he decideds that some lab equipment is more of a threat than the AV standing on your face.

[ QUOTE ]
I have not included Shadow Fall as it slows you down when in use and my plan is that badguys will be too debuffed to hit me anyway so I will not need its protection. (Stop laughing at the back!!!)

[/ QUOTE ]
I'd highly recomend taking it. People will bow down to you for psi protection later on. Also, the slow effect was removed around I5ish, so it's now no longer an issue.

[ QUOTE ]
Also with combinations of Tar Patch and Tenebrous Tentacles in effect they will be unable to even get to me! (I said stop laughing!!)

[/ QUOTE ]
Very true. With TT, Tar Patch, Fearsome Stare and PG it is very like playing a pocket controller.

[ QUOTE ]
I have not taken Haste in the build so far as I reckon with my differing recharge rates I should ALWAYS have a few useful powers available while others recharge and so still be useful to the team. (If you don't stop laughing THIS instant I will send you to the headmaster!)

[/ QUOTE ]Haste is useful but by no means needed. D3s tend to be very busy at the begining of a fight, but after the first 10 seconds or so usually blast away while bunging out a TG or two.

[ QUOTE ]
I have taken Black Hole purely as an emergency power for use in cases of "Aggro Avalanche".

[/ QUOTE ]
Fearsome stare works far, far better in about 95% of cases for this. If you really want to take it, try it on test first, ideally in a team situation.

[ QUOTE ]
I have also considered not taking Stamina and relying on Vigilance to handle any end problems. (RIGHT report to the headmasters office right now!!!)

[/ QUOTE ]I've played a non-stamina build on test before, and it seems ok. If/When they give out another freespec I'll probably use my current one before it to try it on live.

[ QUOTE ]
My otheer issue, given the huge range of powers he can fire
off is how to slot the Dark Servant. Do I give him a mix of enhancements or focus on just one of them like fear or the to hit debuff?

[/ QUOTE ]
The to hit debuff is the important part, as every single power fluffy has aside from petrifying gaze does this. As to other slots, an acc is useful but not essential, as fluffy is very accurate anyway. Holds or heals are popular.

My personal picks and slotting preferences, with the order blatently cannibalised from Chisel's post.

Dark Miasma

Darkest Night - 3 slots of tohit debuff, plus a slot of end red, although I now have three slots of HO debuff/end red in mine */em flexes*. Use it, love it.

Twilight Grasp - I currently go for 2 heals, 2 accs and 2 recharges. Not only is it a very good PBAoE heal, but it is also a very useful debuff, harming a mobs accuracy and (iirc) damage, plus mullering their health regen, which is invaluable against AV's.

Shadow Fall - 3 slots of res, one slot of end red, and then start saying things like, "psychic clockwork? Pah, I mock them". Also provides protection from fear powers.

Fearsome Stare - A power I would give at least 12 slots if I could. The fear effect will work on minions and lts (provided they don't resist it, like most robots or Nemesis troops), but requires stacking against bosses. In addition to the fear, there is also a hefty to hit debuff attached. I currently slot it 1 acc/mez duration HO, 1 acc, 1 fear, 1 to hit debuff and 2 recharges.

Petryfying Gaze - Useful, but not essential. I go for 2 acc, 2 hold, 1 recharge.

Dark Servant - The best to hit debuff in the game, bar none. Uses darkest night, twilight grasp, tenebrous tentacles petrifying gaze and chill of the night. CotN is an aura that does minor damage, but a massive (as in a lot bigger than DN) to hit debuff. Because of this, use recall friend to get fluffy to stand on top of AVs. I slot him 1 acc, 3 to hit debuffs and 1 recharge, but I am probably the only person in the game to stick a recharge in, so ignore that one.

Tar Patch - Top notch -res debuff. Three recharges, plus some slow if you want, but not needed if you take TT really.

Howling Twilight - I tend to leave it to the late 20s. Good for impressive multi-res situations, also useful for the mez/debuff auto hit effects, including -res. Intersting fact I discovered last night: While in RV nabbing AVs, I was using it in an attempt to hit Makos regen while he was in MoG (yes, he can do that). Every time I tried it he ran. The big girl. I only use 1 recharge in it, though some slot it as a PBAoE mez.

Black hole is a pain, and I'd recomend not taking it, though it may have PvP applications.

Dark Blast

I go for Dark Blast, Moonbeam, Tenebrous Tentacles, Nightfall and the Blackstar. Slotting tends to be 2acc, 3 damage, 1 recharge (no recharge on the nuke), although I like to put a range in TT, as it then lines up with Nightfall's cone better. Next respec I may switch Moonbeam to Gloom, or fit them both in. Life drain is pointless when you have twilight grasp, dark pit has awful acc and only affects minions and torrent causes knockback which is a pain with a tightly clustered Darkest Night group in a tar patch.

Pools
I currently go for the fitness pool (swift, hurdle, stamina), the SS pool (hasten+SS, SS stacks with SF for full invis in PvE), the tp pool (recall friend for fluffy wrangling and getting people in place for HT) and the flight pool (hover+fly, hover for KB protection, fly for vertical movement and fun). I am toying with a fitnessless build though.

I've gone for Dark Mastery, taking the end recharge thingy which has a stupid recharge time, the shield which is very good, and Soul Drain, which is a great solo fulcrum shift thing.

CJ+Hurdle is rather useful as a mini travel power.

Another thing to remember is the proliferation of temporary travel powers in CoV. In addition to the mayhem jump and flight packs you've already got, you can pick up a goldbricker flight pack and a sky raider flight pack, which will give you a couple more hours flight time.

A big Grats to Smyte who hit 50 tonight despite having to team with Kensa, Ree and myself. Well done old chap.

The reason it is done like that is so that less people are firing stuff off at once so there is less lag and we don't all die.

If you don't have the pull out and re-entry you get a bunch of plonkers who just lay into it with their scrappers, causing lag and a potential failier.

I wait with bated breath to see how you intend to survive the "hami tank stops taunting so all plonkers unable to follow simple instuctions die" phase.

[ QUOTE ]
(and some decent positioning from the Brutes)

[/ QUOTE ]

Kensa and I (and I suspect Cynic) love a good variety of positions.

Sorry. I'll get my coat.

Shadowfall is invaluable in the later levels as it provides much (much, much, much) desired psi resistance.

To emphasise this point, when fighting psi mobs, you should always refer to Inv tanks as Mr Squishy-head, and tell them to stand near you to save them from the nasty psychic clockwork.