Inercia

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Yup, off we go to Faultline

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Yay! Faultline! Me loves!!

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Controllers currently give +2 mag protection each.

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No, they give mag 1 protection each. I just checked because I was not sure when I read your post.

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Also, Do we think that 3 tanks will be excessive???


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Two tanks work great for the final mission. Three tanks can be excessive, yes... but I previously tried to do this TF with my tank and was finally forced to do it with my dark defender because we had no debuffing in the team.
And I NEED those roman costumes for my tank!!

I will try to join you with Sinaptic Storm, level 8 Psi/MM blaster. I'll have to exemplar, but I think it will be for very short time.

I would love to join your ITF with
Angel of Flame - lvl 44 Fire/Fire/Fire tanker.

Replying to myself...

Well, seems that nobody wants to join.
I feel all sad and cold inside...

Uhm, let me see:

Energy / Energy - lvl 50. My main and first character in CoH.

Fire / Ice - lvl 42. Very fun to play. Fast and really safe with two ST holds and Ice patch.

Elec / Elec - lvl 18. If someday I can level him to 36 Power sink slotted), I’ll try to respec out of Fitness pool.

Archery / Devices - deleted at level 14. After two TFs with lethal resistant enemies (clockwork and CoT spectral demons) I simply found her too frustrating.

AR / Energy - lvl 24. Thinking about deleting him. If I have to wait till level 35 (boost range) to see something good from a power combo... Also, I have played Energy once yet and don’t like to play the same twice if I can find other options.

Ice / Fire - deleted at lvl 12. Somehow I don’t think it had the good sinergy of Fire/Ice.

Psi / Mental - lvl 8. Waiting to play him in the new Hollows. So far he seems quite powerful and safe.

Definitely, I have played more blasters than anything else. That probably is what makes me think that all my other characters do a “meh” damage.

Time: Friday 13th - 20.30 BST (aka, United Kingdom time now) or 21.30 CEST (aka, central Europe time now)
Meet: In front of Imperious (Cimerora)
Number of teammates: 6+
Minimum level: 35
Available to heroes and villains

I have never done this TF, but have been told it's a lot of fun, so I want to give it a try. Besides, I think roman costume will look good on my angelic tanker.

1- Angel of Flame - lvl 43 Fire/Fire/Fire tanker
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Please join!

Today, reading some random posts in the US forums, I came across a port from Blunt_Trauma, who uses this signature:

"Welcome to Blasterdom. Remember, any fool can charge into battle wearing full plate armor for protection, but it takes a special kind of fool to charge into battle wielding torches and wearing only a thin layer of gasoline-soaked tissuepaper for protection. We sir, are those fools."

It made me laugh my socks off in a way like only Terry Pratchett books can.
I though I had to share those fun (and kinda wise) words with you. Hope you find them as fun as I did.

I can understand that some people do not find "cool" to use Nova and Dwarf forms. After all, all Novas and all Dwarfs look the same, and maybe they do not fit in your character concept.

Besides of that, I think there is no reason why a Warshade should not go tri-form. (Do not know on PB, never tried)
- Nova has much better firepower than human form.
- Nova can fly.
- Nova has to-hit bonus.
- Nova has Recovery bonus.
- Dwarf has better resistances that all human-shield forms together.
- Dwarf has mezz protection.
- Dwarf has self heal.
- Clicky powers (hasten, mires and eclipse specifically) carry from one form to the other.
- Tri-form does not need Stamina. Stygian circle is much better and, besides, stamina offers nothing when in Nova or Dwarf form.

If you only pick one human form blast (Ebon eye for the coolness factor of shoting rays from your eyes) and one shield (because at those low levels anything else is a bit "lackluster") you will not suffer from lack of slots. At least I didn't: all my slots went first to Nova attacks and then to Dwarf powers. Occasionally I also heavy-slotted what for me were the best human-form powers: Dark extraction (6), Unchain Essence, Eclipse, Sunless mire and Quasar.

A lot of human form powers work really well with only a few slots (2 or 3) and I think it's no use to pursue IO sets bonuses in human form powers, because as I understand those are not active when you are in Nova or Dwarf form. So, I did what is commonly called "frankenslotting": mix and match IOs from different sets to get maximum return for minimum slots (usually using triple aspect IOs whenever possible). Yes, some of my powers only have like 93% enhanced damage instead of 96%... ooooh! I am soooooo crappy.

If you are interested I can post my build when I arrive home. It's obviously not the best (far from it) but it's quite budget-friendly.

Tri-form WS works very well in teams. In fact, the moment I enjoyed the most with this character was doing the final mission from RWZ arc. I think Rikti take extra damage from negative energy attacks. I tanked AV while our Invulnerability tanker recovered from Unstoppable crash, hehe. And later, me and my two Extracted essences blasted the other AV (Nemesis) to pieces (thanks to the cannon fodder he brings to the battle).

The only thing I think would make the WS experience even better would be that the form-changing was a bit faster (like half second faster). For something that changes form like 3 or 4 times in a big battle, those seconds you spend changing can mean... that your teammates have killed most of the enemies!! (No problem though, your buffs will last enough to obliterate next spawn almost single-handed).

Sorry for the long post. I love my WS.

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Play them liek they are or don't play them I luv khelds!

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Hey, I played my WS up to level 50 and she is probably the character I have had more fun with. I love the WS powers (PB, I have not tried).

This suggestion was more for the sake of discussion than any actual wish for a change in Kheldian ATs.

Hey.

I am trying to assemble a team to do a fast run on one of the respec trials.
We only need to be 4+ people and it should take 90 minutes tops.

The one with Freakshow, everybody needs to be above lvl 34 and the one with Rikti, lvl 44+. Please post here if you want to join and for which one.

My idea is doing it ASAP, today if possible or during this weekend.

RESPEC TRIAL TEAM
1- Mind Nova - Lvl 50 Mind control /Empathy

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Mechanically, the double (buffed) damage is unlike any other buff in the game

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OK. My fault. You are absolutely right.
Let's then say... it is different that any other buff in the game that a player has total control over.

It is nice to see that the thread has turned much more civilised and constructive.
I wanted to post in it, but was quite afraid to do so because I didn’t want to be attacked like others were.

My opinion on Containment:
Thematically, doesn’t make much sense for the AT.
Mechanically, the double (buffed) damage is unlike any other buff in the game and that makes it a bit unbalanced. Although for most controllers (who do not do a lot of damage) that isn’t a great problem.

The assumption: if you lower controller damage output, soloing becomes more difficult.

The proposed solution (aka. very strange idea and nearly impossible to implement and balance):
Design new additional ways to defeat opponents that are not related to damage

For example:
If you can keep a foe mezzed for over a certain amount of time, it is automatically defeated.
Or, if you can keep a foe without endurance for a certain time, defeated.

I think it would make controllers that not specialize in damage (or that don’t have a lot of damage in their sets) more viable solo, and could add a bit of variety to the game. Everybody could take benefit of that and would give the devs a lot more different possibilities for powers…and a hell of a hard time to balance things, yes.

Anyway, it was just a thought.

I also like the idea of making the damage/control proportions change depending on the number of teammates. Something similar could be done with defenders inherent.

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Hmm I could say an empath is viable without stamina, but a mind/emp is kinda hairy if you ask me. You would only afford tk when RA is on, and keeping a big team comstantly buffed would ruin you end in seconds, let alone heals in tight teams, control powers and some toggles on like epic shield

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Do not have TK and plan to take my epic armor at 49... not that it is of any use to a squishy controller. I rely on controlling my oponents for damage mitigation.

I buff the whole team all the time. I use AB, fort, CM and the auras every time they are up. Well, I do not CM the toughies, for example, because that is unuseful most of the time. Anyway, the OP, as a defender, has access to vigilance, so he will have even less problems with stamina than I do... and I don't have any.
You are welcome to team with me and see for yourself.

I really REALLy insist, than a staminaless empath is viable, except if he wants to run many toggles, like all Leadership pool, or attack heavily (which empaths rarely do).

I have a level 44 Mind/Empathy controller... staminaless.

Absolutely no problem, and I tell you... I am constantly spamming powers from my primary and secondary: AoE holds, ST attack chain (dominate-levitate-mesmerize-psionic blast), buffs (clear mind, fortitude, adrenalin boost) and heals...

The only time that I find myself in trouble is if I forget to toggle off fly and toggle on hover. My endurance bar begins to plummet down.

If you want to go stamina-less, some things to have in mind:

- Toggle-light build. So, better without leadership.

- IO set slotting is your friend, most sets have nice end reduction components. Having 30-40% end reduction is pretty easy... and nearly unavoidable.

- As a defender, you'll have Recovery Aura from level 18 on. That can be up quite often (about half of the time). 400 sec. recharge, that goes down to 205 sec with three recharges... and even less with hasten and some +recharge set bonuses. So, in the end, pretty much 90 seconds it is up and 90-95 seconds it is down.

- Kinetics are very popular nowadays. You will probably be speed-boosted (so +end recovery) in teams.

- Eating blue inspirations is not a sin.

- You always can plan a build with Stamina for some time and respec it out at some point to get other powers, when you have your IO slotting sorted. That moment is always very good for me, because I gain 3 new shiny "active" powers in one go.

Gratz Defcon!

Your certainly leveled Tiro Certero at high speed.

Although Defiant is my home too, I hope to see you often in Union when I am there, remember I have my lowbies in La Legion del Fenix.

I don't know if this has been discussed previously, but it is an idea that crossed my mind yesterday: a mixed Peacebringer-Warshade kheldian.
I mean, a kheldian that you could choose primary between Luminous Blast and Umbral Blast, and secondary between Luminous Aura and Umbral Aura... giving you effectively 4 possible different results.
Leaving aside history and origin justifications, I think it would be interesting to discuss which would probably be the best combinations or the differences in playstyle that each of those four combinations would offer. If not for anything else, because it is next to impossible that the Devs offer us such a possibility, just for the sake of discussion...

I have begun playing with my Earth/Storm controller and... it is VERY FUN!
Also, I found that I help my team a lot with damage... yes, yes, with damage.
At low levels, a lot of attacks (roughly 25%) don't hit the baddies due to unslotted or poorly slotted (TOs) accuracy, but when I lay Quicksand and Stone Cages, everybody in the team hits all the baddies, even if they are +2s.
I am only level 9 at the moment, but I think this controller will ding 50 in the future...

Thanks for asll the advice!

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earth and mind imo..

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My controllers are Mind/Empathy, Gravity/Kinetics and Earth/Storm.

An I got nothing against FotM! Just are the ones that made more temathic sense to me...

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Fire/EM is probably the best scranker or "scrapping tanker" set for a few reasons.

The first is that /EM's damage is extremely high, and concentrated on single target 'spike damage' attacks. This lends itself to taking on small numbers of tougher opponents rather than larger groups of weaker opponents. Fire/ also has Firey Embrace, a "second Build Up" which further increases this damage output. EM's most powerful attack damages you each time you use it... which is no problem with Healing Flames.

The second is that Fire/ possesses a good range of mitigation, but nothing that increases with the number of enemies around you (Ice, INV and Willpower all do). You have good resistances, an endurance drain, and finally Healing flames. Healing Flames gives you considerable survivability and drastically lowers downtime... but it doesn't raise your HP like DullPain/Hoarfrost/etc. so you are vunerable to heavy "Alpha Strikes".

Finally, Fire/ has no autohit taunt aura. This makes it fairly poor at holding aggro against very high level enemies. It also has a few mez holes, Immobilisation and Knockback protection being amongst them.

So Fire/ can easily face a wide range of damage types but is generally better versus fewer foes than versus many foes. And /EM is best at fighting fewer opponents, and has VERY powerful spike damage that can be boosted further with Firey Embrace. Combined, they produce a character that will survive best against small groups of opponents and can output a large amount of single target damage in a short amount of time.

The same reasons also make it a good choice for PvP combat, since /EM damage is rarely resisted and Fire's Heal and high resistances work in its favour against most other players. Also, the traditional power pool choices for a Fire/ (Fitness obviously, Leaping to cover the mez holes, Speed to decrease the recharge on Healing Flames) are also typical choices for PvP melee toons (SJ/SS + Hasten + Fitness) so you will find a lot of Fire/EMs being rolled for PvP combat, where they will be mainly Damage dealers rather than Meatshields.

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I partially agree to that, but I must add that said /EM high damage comes at lvl 35+ (Energy Transfer) or even at 39+ (slotted Total Focus), which leaves you with a lot of levels to grind... especially soloing. I couldn't play my INV/EM tanker past lvl 28... it was sooooo boring.

On the other hand, Fire/Fire tanker is quite the squishiest of the tankers against smashing/lethal (though better than INV against energy/fire) but has much better damage since the begining. I have mostly soloed mine up to level 35. I think she is even faster to solo (e.g. kills enemies faster) than my katana/SR scrapper. You run through the rooms with your aura on and once you have gathered say 6-8 enemies you let them sorround you and do Build up + Fiery Embrace + Combustion + Fire sword circle + burn and almost everything is dead (with some Healing Flames in between if needed). You can finish off the lieutenants with Scorch and Fire sword.
I only had trouble in the very early levels (endurance, low resistances) but after level 12 she really was very good.
On the negative side, in 8 man teams I cannot tank +3 enemies without good buffs.

Should my fire tanker be considered a scranker? She deals damage, I have most of the attacks (all /Fire except Fire Breath) but also have Taunt and the taunt/damage aura. And in teams I try to manage the aggro. Need all the possible buffs/debuffs from defenders and the team killing enemies fast because I am not a super-tough Granite and will be the first to die otherwise but... that's why the team is there!

I am rambling, sorry. My point: Fire/Fire is a very fun and easily soloable tanker (scranker if you want). You deal damage at scrapper levels (or even more) and can also tank for an 8 man team with appropiate support.
Hybrid-build some would say. That sounds OK to me. A pure specialist is very inefficient if he gets out of his niche and that I find too limiting.

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Earth, without a doubt IMO.


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Ok, I'll choose Earth.
But if at level 32 I find that the walking rock pet whatshisname is VERY inferior to Jack Frost… I will go to your house and... and... slap you with a glove!… TWICE!

I do not know if I will be able to ascertain said inferiority, however, as I have never had a Jack Frost...

I am still trying to decide between Earth/Storm and Ice/Storm...
I imagine Stamina is required for both, though.
Please, please please, I would like to have more oppinions regarding which is the best to go with /Storm, Ice/ or Earth/.

Thanks!

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(...) Stalagmites recharges fast and coupled with Stone Cages you effectively got another AoE hold (stun).

Earth/Storm is a tight build and one of the absolute skippable powers is Thunder Clap as it only stuns minions and you need to be in melee to use it. The ranged Stalagmites is vastly superior.


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But... but... I precisely was thinking on chosing Earth and not Ice TO STACK Stalagmites with Thunder Clap and be able to Stun Bosses! And you tell me to skip it...

On the other hand, Arctic Air seems to offer some nice benefits, too. I am still more confused (and mesmerized).

Yes, I have noticed... FF is not a very "active" secondary, and I like to do things constantly. It would be good if paired witha very active primary, but then Illusions also has several "fire and forget" powers (Phantom Army, Phantasm, invisibilities...). Furthermore, I already have one controller with psi damage...

Regarding the other combos... I just noticed that Earth seems to be nearly the same than Ice with different secondary effects and type of damage:

Fossilize = Block of Ice
Stone Prison = Chillblain
Stone Cages = Frostbite
Quicksand = Shiver (patch vs. cone)
Salt Crystals = Flash Freeze (PBAoE vs Targeted AoE)
Earthquake = Ice Slick
Volcanic Glasses = Glacier (Location AoE vs. PBAoE)
Stalagmites != Arctic Air <=== difference
Animated Stone = Jack Frost

For what I have read, it seems that Jack Frost is better than Animated stone. Cold damage is less resisted than smashing damage. Reduced recharge (on enemies) is better than reduced defense (offers more protection)... so it seems that Ice is better than Earth in all respects.

The only thing I do not know about these two is: animations, which are cooler? (no pun intended).
Also, Stalagmites being a Disorient would stack nicely with Thunder clap from Storm Summoning, but I do not know if this synergy alone makes Earth better pairing than Ice...

Need some serious advice to help me decide here...