Local_Man
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Quote:If you go on the Defender boards and call them "healers," you're likely to get blistered. Defenders are buffers/debuffers with a secondary of damge. Healing is far less important in CoH than other games because of the buffing/debuffing. Several of the Defender sets have NO HEALS at all.Originally Posted by HomsikPanda
ok so excuse my noobyness, but how exactly is the controller/dominator good and what is it's roll in a group? is he just mainly there for buff/debuff?
i understand that a defender is usually the resident healer, but i don't fully understand the roll of the controller =/
Controllers are, er, controllers with a secondary of buff/Debuff. Their main job is to make the foes unable or less able to attack while making them more susceptible to being attacked. Holds, stuns, sleeps, slows, confusion, immobilize, and distraction are the tools for controllers. If a foe is controlled, he can't attack or defend himself. Many controllers can do a lot of damage, too, but the "team" role is to control the foes. Many controllers can heal, but not all (Controller secondaries are most of Defender primaries.)
To get a better feel for controllers, take a look at my Ill/Rad guide, linked in my sig. It has a lot a basic information about Controllers.
Dominators have a control primary and a damage secondary. Their damage is both ranged and melee. -
Quote:A couple more details on my build: I use Shadowfall + Super Speed to give me full invisibility. Super Speed lets me get in position quickly to hit the larges number with the Fearsome Stare cone. I can also drag Fluffy and Sparky into position easily. This let me fit in Hasten easily, and still have room for Recall Friend -- very handy to have for Howling Twilight. On the Dark Miasma side, I only skipped Black Hole. I tried Black Hole on my Thugs/Dark Mastermind, and found it to be worse than everyone always says -- hated it and respec'ed out as soon as I could. On the Electric side, I skipped Short Circuit. I actually added the snipe late for a little bit of added damage, but it is skippable. The only APP power I took was Power Boost for the combo with Thunderous Blast. I fit in Hover at 49 for vertical travel and knockback protection, but I'm considering dropping Hover and replacing it with a Knockback IO and something else -- maybe Combat Jumping for the Immob protection.Originally Posted by cp2_4eva
Interesting take on that Dark/Elec build Local_Man. I like the details.
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Quote:There are some Controller builds that are inherently melee-oriented in my opinion -- Fire/*, Ice/* (if you go with Arctic Air) and */Kin in particular. While you can choose to play other builds in melee, they are inherently ranged. Most other builds will benefit most with Ranged Defense and some AoE Defense. There are a lot of sets with Ranged Defense. It is up to individual preference whether looking for Ranged Defense bonuses will provide more benefit than other attributes like Regen, Recovery or Recharge.Originally Posted by Bubbles_NA
I've been reading up on some controller types (mind/kin, ill/rad), and, if I remember Local Man's guide correctly, his thought on ill/rad was that you've got ranged attacks for a reason - you should be hanging to the back, sides, anywheres but near the melee area. On a couple of fire/kin threads they mention soft-capping, but not PVP. Should I assume that any controller builds that have soft-caps are for PVP, or are there some types of controller builds that have fewer ranged attacks so you need to get closer to melee and therefore need the protection?
I'm used to playing tanks, so I know what soft-caps are, I'm just not sure how important they would be on a controller - unless it's more of a playstyle choice.
Thanks in advance for any feedback. -
Quote:So you exclude every blaster with the Energy Secondary? Which just happens to be the single most popular secondary? Power Thrust is the power every one of them is forced to take a level 1. On my blasters, I like having a knockback power as a "get out of my face" power. Knockback is an important part of the game, and it has a very "superpowered" feel. I could go through every powerset in the game, and a substantial percentage of them have a knockback power. Your problem isn't knockback -- it is people who don't know how to limit or control knockback.
Dealing with MA Scrappers, Storm, Energy blasters, PB's and other forms of KB is eliminated when you don't pull them into the mix. Does it hinder some teams? Never. I form my own teams, so I don't have to ***** about it.
Well, I think we had just better agree to disagree, and leave it at that. I have found that learning to deal with knockback in a way that helps the team instead of being a problem is one of the really fun parts of certain builds. My Energy Blaster likes to fly overhead, so that his blasts knock foes down instead of back. My Storm Controllers and Defenders only use Gale and Tornado in limited situations to avoid being a problem, and Hurricane is a strategic power for me. And there are folks out there who are better at handling knockback than I am. Illusion has less knockback than many powersets. Only the pet, which isn't available until level 32, has knockback. And in general, the benefits of Phantasm far outweigh any downside.
If you want to exclude good players from your teams, it's your choice. -
Quote:First, Phantom Army has NEVER had knockback. Not since I first came into the game in Dec. 2004.Originally Posted by EverStryke
I wanted to chime in here, simply because I am a tanker afficianado. I despise PB's, Energy Primary blasters (even Defender Energy secondary) and Especcially Illusionists.
Let's get one things straight right here. I understand and even respect your views on an AT that you obviously Love, I myself have my own views on how Tanks are run. You or myself can write Guide after guide trying to out one another, but I personally don't have anything to proove, I simply want to state something.
I have seen in the past PA do KB. This was issues ago mind you. Things may have changed, but even so... Phantasm does do KB. This simply wont work with me. I despise KB as a tanker and it may not work for me and the way I form my teams.
When playing an Illusion Controller you must take into account that what you consider "Ignorance" may be another experienced player that has dealth with too much of something and they simply refuse to put themsvles back into that position again.
let's concede that PA does Not do KB, ok... Phantasm still does, and as a tanker I would still have to deal with it. My teammates would have to deal with seperated mobs, Bosses that you would have to chase down due to them being knocked around and even mobs that tear apart because the Aggro that PA steals can have chaos insue. None of these things work for "Me".
Cost of playing an illusion controller. And the cost of playing a tanker that likes nicley herded mobs.
On a side note, I have dealt with enough Illusion Controllers and Energy blasters, I could care less if PA does KB or not, this is because Phantasm does and it makes the PA issue a moot point. Have a nice day.
Second, I have played plenty of tanks. My Invuln/Axe was my first tank to hit 50, and I have other high level tanks including Stone/Fire, Ice/EM, WP/Stone and Shield/SS. One of my regular partners is one of the best tanks in the game, Call Me Awesome. I seriously doubt you know more about tanking than he does.
Yes, uncontrolled knockback can be frustrating . . . but that is NOT the fault of the AT or the powerset, it is the fault of the player not knowing how to maximize the use of knockback for maximum benefit. Knockback is a part of the game, and many, many powersets have a knockback power or two. Peacebringers, Energy Blasters and Storm Defenders/Controllers are particularly known for knockback, as it is a key part of their damage mitigation. Those three have far more knockback than an Illusion Controller. But many other characters have knockback, including most of the Blaster secondaries, many of the Blaster primaries, several Defender primaries and secondaries, and even APP powersets and melee sets like Martial Arts' Crane Kick. As a tank, you need to learn how to deal with and use the knockback. Your main job is to draw aggro so that the foes are not attacking the rest of the team. If a foe is flat on its back, it is not attacking the rest of the team . . . or you, either. If you have that foe taunted, then he will come after you when he gets up.
Phantasm can be mostly controlled by using the "invisible leash" and leading him to the right places. By the right positioning, Phantasm's knockback can actually be used to make the tank's job easier. An Illusion Controller can work with a tank by staying back, pulling Phanty to the far side of foes away from the tank so that Phanty's knockback will knock foes towards the tank. And in the mean time, if Phantasm and his decoy distract and/or kill a foe, then that is one less foe you have to worry about. (If you ever want to see how it is done, I have Illusion Controllers at level 50 on Guardian, Pinnacle and Freedom, and a level 40 on Justice.)
And you should welcome Phantom Army on your teams, if the player is good. Nothing in the game is better at taking the Alpha strike than Phantom Army -- not even a max slotted Granite tank. A level 20 Illusion Controller can, for 60 seconds, tank a level 54 AV. I'd like to see how long a level 20 tank lasts. Phantom Army, when used correctly, can make a tank a better tank by allowing the tank to gather outlying foes while PA distracts the big baddies. Less healing means more endurance available to attack the bad guys.
Being a good tank isn't about your ego. It is figuring out a way to help the team as a whole take foes down safely and quickly. Phantasm provides good damage and damage mitigation. A good tank learns how to work WITH the powers that benefit the team instead of trying to ban them. -
Quote:You seem to be nicer than I would have been under the circumstances. If a teammate asked me to not use Phantom Army, I would ask why he wants me to not use my best power. I would nicely explain that he was mistaken and that PA do not have knockback, and I can prove it. But if he insists on being ignorant, then I would announce to the team that I was quitting because the tank is a bumble-headed buffoon who won't take the word of someone who knows more than he does . . . and then quit in a snit, hopefully convincing any teammates I like to quit with me.Originally Posted by Constant_Motion
I have read your guide, good job btw, and I completely agree. I was just posting the other side of a discussion I was having with someone else. I even went to perez park like I said I would so I could confirm it myself, before saying well the guide says this, cause I knew what the response would be. Basically my delima boils down to this: some people will just flat out refuse to conceed, even if they haven't any hands on experience. They must have been scared by phantasm doing his thing and like mentioned earlier, now attribute knockback to all illusion pets. And you know what? That's ok. For anyone else in this situation, don't waste your time trying to convince them. Offer to show them, and if they take you up on it great, but if they don't just move on. Thanks again for listening and the guide.
Sometimes I enjoy being snooty, especially when I'm right.
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Quote:Originally Posted by PHlRE
your choice of powersets are very flexible (i guess most are, but Dark is known as the "Jack of all Trades" powerset) and you can go any route you want to, to general team debuffer or AV/GM support specialist, to pet-user Soloist. Of course, you can also get a balance of all that in.... its really up to you in what direction your playstyle will take you....
A couple key things will be Twilight Grasp. If all else fails, your heal hopefully wont. Make sure you have the ACC up REAL high in order for that power not to fail, or in a tight situation, you or someone else may die. Have it on a fairly good recharge too....
Having it more available is more important than the amount it heals, cuz it already heals a significant amount....
Darkest Night is the best damage mitigation toggle a defender has imo. Yes, Rad Infect has higher -ACC but no -Damage(which EF has, but at a lower percentage). Early on, its hard to develop defense or -ACC enuf to make the mobs miss consistently. DN will shine for the amount of Damage it debuffs. This will be extremely apparent w/ AV's and GM's, when they do whack someone, which is usually often, considering that -ACC will affect AV + GM classes on a much lower scale.....
Howling Twilight is an interesting power. If coordinated right, it can make you into literally a team rezzer. You can dip into the Teleport and either TP friend to mob and rez, or TP Foe a mob to teammate/team to rez off of. Non-Dark defender players usually dont know about the -Regen it also performs. In order to be a legitimate -Regen'r for AV/GM teams, you want to get this power to 100% recharge to get the most out of it. Unslotted -regen usually wont be enough. It is also proven to be resistable by Dark Energy resisting AV's......
Your Fluffy (if you're gonna use one) is best used as a controlling pet. He reliably kicks off Tenebrous Tentacles and Petrifying Gaze and Twilight Grasp. Other powers, not too reliable. Someone had mentioned she tested the damage done, and equated to about 1/20th the damage you do - which looks right. So dont bother trying to squeeze damage out of him.... Otherwise his debuffing/healing powers should about match your ability - he becomes a phenomenal support pet vs AV/GM's and between you two, should keep everyone well-healed and Petrifying Gaze stacking (if you plan to get that power)....
Take a look for Fluffy Slotting Threads in getting the most out of him in the way you want
gah, forgot my fav power in Dark Miasma
Fearsome Stare..... this is a must-have, which you prob found out already. Post 30, teammates will be powerful enough to crush down mob groups pretty fast, and your DN may serve the team very little. Fearsome Stare will basically be your Bread'n'Butter lead in/Tank in power. The traditional slotting for this is 2 ACC SO's, 2 -ACC SO's, and 2 Recharge SO's. This allows you to control/debuff every mobgroup you encounter with a team. The damage mitigation is usually high (especially if you follow w/ a TT attack) that you wont even need to drop DN or heal the team during that attack....
I pretty much agree with all the stuff in this post. Fluffy needs to be slotted mostly with Accuracy and ToHit Debuffs for his -toHit aura, and then you can add some hold, heal or Immobilize to taste. I don't bother with damage, because he does everything else better.
I already mentioned Fearsome Stare is a key power, and the balanced slotting gets the most out if it. Adding a little ToHit Debuff is nice if you can fit it in. (I didn't with my Defender, but did with my Thugs/Dark MM who doesn't need as much Recharge.) -
Quote:Plus, Twilight Grasp has the same -Regen as Kinetic's Transfusion, so you want to keep spamming Twilight Grasp against foes with a lot of Regen. Even though AVs have a high resistance to the -Regen debuff, it builds up to make a difference. Start with Howling Twilight, and then spam Twilight Grasp to add -Regen and keep teammates healed.Originally Posted by BrandX
My first suggestion...remember that Howling Twilight is a HUGE -Regen Debuff! So when up against those AVs, use it as a regen debuff and not save it as a mass rez!
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Quote:I agree that EM Pulse is worth having, and I have it on my Earth/Rad. But I'm not sure Power Boost is the best choice in an APP set. I think you can get more utility out of another set. The Primal set is lacking in damage, with only a single target blast and a fairly narrow cone. Ice, Earth and Fire all provide more damage, which Earth/Rad is generally lacking.Originally Posted by Crim_the_Cold
There are a few specific situations that I would need that level control, romulus phalanx, bad pug, etc... and I'm the type of person who carries backup weapons for my backup weapons in pen and paper rpgs because if I didn't have it I'd need it. To put it in nerd speak I'm the guy who goes on a quest in the forrest and carries a +3 longsword, a +1 silver good aligned shortsword, a +1 cold iron shortsword, a masterwork mace and a masterwork bow with several variants of magic arrows. That not including things in magical storage.
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Quote:My understanding is that Rocky has Resistance caps of 90% in the damage types where he is not inherently higher (meaning only Psi). So he will not be completely unkillable, he will be pretty close. But you have to take into account that there are adjustments for levels, so a high level AV will still be able to knock Rocky upside the head . . . or whatever it is that Rocky has.Originally Posted by Perspective
Hey Folks,
So, to make a not very long story even shorter, I'm in the market for a new controller alt.
While trying to think up which sets to go with, I came up with an idea for a conbination tht you reall ydon't see too much off in my experience, Earth/Sonic.
Now, on paper it should have excellent AoE hard lockdown, -Def and -Res debuffs (and great -tohit as well while liquify is up), good team buffs, and decent soft control with quicksand/earthquake.
The question I have is this: Looking at the numbers, and assuming Stoney dosen't have a resistence cap under 100% (He has 100% psionic res, afterall), it should be possible to get *all* of his resistances up to 100%. His lowest base resistance is in smashing at 40%. With 20% from the two pet res IOs, 23% from the fully slotted shields, and 17% from the bubble that should be just enough to turn this neigh unkillable mini-tank into a *completely* unkillable one.
The questions I have are:
A) Is this even possible, or does he have a cap I am unaware of?
and
B) Is worth it? Considering the amount of conrol I would already have, and the lack of individual damage capabilities compared to another primary
Earth/Sonic is a combo that has a guide from HotButteredSoul, called "I feel the Earth Move . . . " It is old, from I-7, but discusses the combo pretty well and is one of the guilds I liked when I was writing my Earth/Rad guide. -
Local Man, my main handle, is a level 50 Dark/Elec. I still pull him out quite often for TFs and other stuff. Plus, I have a Kin/Elec in the upper 40's and several other Dark Miasma characters in high levels . . . I have played both Dark and Elec quite a bit.
Personally, I like having Voltaic Sentinel a/k/a "Sparky" in my build. Sparky adds quite a bit of damage overall, and is very efficient both in time and endurance. In effect, Sparky shoots out 10 Charged Bolts for the endurance cost of only about three, and for the casting time of about 1.5. Even better, since I can cast Sparky before going into battle, the overall cost for that damage is even less. It is quite common for me to be busy doing other Defendery things, and glimpse over to see that Sparky has finished off a foe for me. Besides, I really like being able to tell my team about my two pets, Sparky and Fluffy.
One of the best aspects of a Dark/Elec is the ability to quickly hold a Boss. Fearsome Stare controls all the minions and Lts. Then a quick casting of Pet Gaze and Tesla Cage locks down a Boss. Even a lot of controllers have trouble handling an entire spawn this easily.
I originally tried to have an Endurance Drain build, but I found that I died a lot trying to run in and drain endurance with Short Circuit. Because Fearsome Stare is a Fear power, running in with Short Circuit allows those foes to take a pot-shot at you -- not good. I now use a different method -- Thunderous Blast + Power Build Up will fully drain the endurance of any foes who survive the nuke. It's not up all that often, but it works better, in my opinion, than trying to use two shots of Short Circuit while foes are shooting at me. I've though about trying to slot up my other powers for Endurance Drain . . . but my Dark Miasma powers mean that the foes aren't hitting very often, so the lack of Endurance Drain is is far less important because of the ToHit Debuff. (Now in my Kin/Elec, the entire focus of the character is on Endurance Drain.)
My Dark/Elec plays mostly like a Controller with blasts. He plays mainly at a short range and mostly stays out of melee. This is dictated by the cone size of Fearsome Stare, easily the most important power in the set. There are certainly other ways to play the character, but this is what I have found to be fun and effective. -
Quote:Thank you! I tried to allow for various opinions. If you have some suggestions for a different playstyle, feel free to post them.Originally Posted by DocSharpe
One of the best guides I've seen. I'm sure my playstyle is different than yours, but knowing how you approach things makes your comments even more valuable.
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Quote:Please take a look at my guide. It explains a lot about PA. Phantom Army has three Ranged attacks and five melee attacks, but all three of the ranged attacks are the same except for the animation, and all five of the melee attacks are the same except for the animation. Any one of the three phantoms who spawn can do any of the eight (or actually two) attacks. One of those ranged attacks looks like an energy blast, but all three of the ranged attacks are really the same amount of psi damage, and a portion of that damage will heal back after 5 seconds unless the foe is defeated. All five of the melee attacks are really the same amount of psi damage, and a portion of that damage will heal back after five seconds unless the foe is defeated.Originally Posted by Constant_Motion
The latest I've been told is now this:
The Phantom Army can spawn, tanks, blasters and scrappers I beleive. But i do know it can produce blasters. And in that array of blasters they produce energy blasters.
Guess I'll just run out to perez park and see what happens. :/
They do not have specialized jobs of "tank, blaster or scrapper." They are what they are -- three invulnerable pets who can attack at range or melee, and who have a high threat level so they draw aggro. -
Quote:The tank didn't know what he was talking about. There is NO knockback in Phantom Army. The attacks look like a lot of different damage types, but all of the attacks are actually Psi Damage only. And none of them have knockback. By not using Phantom Army, you simply reduced the damage being done and slowed the team down.Originally Posted by Constant_Motion
Recently started my first ill/rad controller. The tank asked me not to use phantom army cause it can knockback the mobs. Is this a usual request or a personal quirk? Nothing was said to the keld in squid form though. Just trying to get a feel for phantom army and when to use it without ticking people off. Personally I felt a bit incomplete without it.
I of course complied with his request and the team did fine, it was just a bit less enjoyable I guess.
The level 32 pet, Phantasm, is the only knockback in the Illusion Control set. And with some understanding of how Phantasm works, you can stay back away from the tank to limit the knockback, or even use it to knock foes back towards the tank.
Bad tanks can be "threatened" in their tanking ability by Phantom Army -- good tanks know how to deal with PA. Be prepared to explain to the uninformed about how your powers work, and how you can make the team better by using them. Phantom Army is the best power in the Illusion set, and you should use it often. Occasionally, you may want to hold off on using it for "this" group so that PA can be used better for "that" group, but for the most part, you want PA out as much as possible. And any tank or anyone else who complains about it doesn't know what they are talking about. It does take some practice to learn how to cast them in the right place, or lead them into battle at the right time if they have already been cast, but you have invisibility to make that much easier.
Take a look at my Illusion/Radiation Guide, linked in my sig. It has a lot of discussion about strategy. -
Quote:Yes, power boosted EM Pulse is a huge area hold that will last forever . . . but how often do you need that much holding power? Most teams will wipe out the foes in a few seconds, wasting that holding awesomeness. An Ill/Rad really needs that hard control more than and Earth/Rad due to the lack of hard controls, but Earth/Rad has other options that that don't have the "sledge hammer on a mosquito" effect. I consider Volcanic Gasses a better hold because it continues to catch foes entering the area after is is cast, making it more useful. It also recharges much faster.Originally Posted by Mr_Enigma
I ran my Ill/Rad with Primal for a long time. Powerboosted EM Pulse is absolutely amazing. In addition to the very long duration, it has a 60 ft radius. 60. Feet. It holds stuff in a sphere 120 feet across.
In my opinion it squeaks past Volcanic Gasses for the title Best Hold in the Game. It's basically an I Win Button. -
How many people read the title to this guide, and thought it was a guide about running CoH in some odd African language? You might want to mention in the title that it relates to Linux. Those of us who don't do Linux have probably never heard of "Ubuntu."
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Many people seem to love Super Jump. It's certainly not bad, but it has as many detriments as any other travel power.
It has limited vertical movement. Fly and Teleport don't.
It leaves you vulnerable to attack, and as said previously, you don't really have much time to change your trajectory to avoid it. Super Speed, Teleport and Fly keep you out of trouble more.
Super Jump is far more difficult than Fly or Super Speed for those "Search for . . ." missions in open maps that are quite frequent in upper levels Blueside. You draw aggro when you land unless there is a handy rooftop or other secluded landing place.
Bouncing around requires a lot of attention and decisions to make. Fly and Super Speed are generally easier to use.
It is not uncommon to fall between buildings and then get caught in some feature of the environment -- such as something hanging over, keeping you from going straight up. And there are times that your forward progress is restricted because you have to go up and over an obstacle. Fly and Teleport don't have this problem most of the time.
For the most part, I choose Super Jump only on melee-type characters who won't be substantially hurt by a pot-shot or two. It is fun to bounce off of rooftops, but there are occasional frustrations to using SJ. Especially in CoV, I find that Fly is sometimes faster than SJ. -
Quote:Thanks for the kind words about the guide. I tried to mix in a lot of opinions other than my own to give people a broad view of the powersets.Originally Posted by CB_GB
The more I play, the more impressed I become with this guide.
It not only explains the utility of various powers, it puts them into context in both the discussion and the sample builds. That's important, because builds are about choosing from competing options.
On that note, I'd suggest one change particularly for new players, like me: take Mutation earlier.
If you team at all, this spares the expense of slotting a second build to be more group friendly. For someone struggling to afford IO's, it's costly to make a whole new "team oriented" build based around one power.
Mutation fits nicely in Local's suggested builds at 30, bumping Lingering Radiation until later. Why move LR? In fast moving groups, it gets less utility, both because of its slow recharge and because mobs don't last long enough for its benefits to shine. When soloing through small groups, its slow powers often aren't needed, as you can lock down each enemy without it.
It's not a bad power. It's most useful when moving through tougher mobs, and three times in the past month, its Regen debuff has made the difference for my team in wearing down an ornery AV. But it's less useful than the powers preceding it, and it can be bumped to 49 (or to 35, displacing Flash), while allowing your character earlier access to a valuable rez, all in a single build.
You make good points about Mutation. Mutation is a great battlefield Rez, and it is the next power I would fit into my builds if I could. I have Mutation on my Earth/Rad and Plant/Rad Controllers, and would fit it into my Ill/Rad if I took Hasten/Super Speed for travel. With the 60 month Vet Reward, I might drop Air Superiority and be able to fit in Mutation.
It depends on the team make-up and playstyle whether the slow in Ling Rad or Mutation's Rez will provide more benefit. Rezzing a key member of the team so that he can immediately jump back into the fight, substantially buffed, can turn the tables on a battle. On the other hand, there are some AVs that you run into in lower levels, especially if you like doing TFs, where having LR might provide that -Regen your team needs to take down the AV. With the availability of the temp power self-rez, and the ease with which anyone can combine Inspirations to make a Wakie, the "need" for rez powers are lower now than in previous incarnations of the game. That's why I did not include Mutation in my suggested builds, but I certainly can see good reasons why one might choose to take the power.
I find that the Slow in Ling Rad has minimal benefits when Phantom Army and Phantasm are drawing the attention of the foes. Illusion does lack control powers, and that added slow can be nice to have at times, but the distractions from Illusion generally do the job. The slow can be nice to slow down those occasional foes who run away from Spectral Terror, but even they don't go far. The main benefit of Ling Rad is the -Regen for AVs. If I have it anyway, I may as well use it for the slow as well, so I use it pretty constantly even if I'm not sure it is providing all that much benefit. (But that Slow is really nice on the ITF.) -
Quote:Remember that there are Hami-O's out there. For Radiant Aura, 3 Golgi (Heal/EndRdx) and 1 Recharge is a nice option -- no set bonuses, but you get more bang in fewer slots.Originally Posted by Robert_B
Ok, well, obviously your going to want 3 Heals, but outside of that is there anything else to make it more useful? it's not the best heal in the game, but my team of 2 Rad/x and a X/Rad has it so how can I make it better?
Also, speaking of Rad, my builds are tight, both with choices and Slots, so BARE minimum to make the Holy 3 of Rad's debufs better, how would you slot them?
In Radiation Infection, if you are short on slots, try 3 Enzymes (ToHit Debuff/Defense Debuff/EndRdx). It max slots all three aspects of the power in only three slots.
Enervating Field -- 2 EndRdx. A third one has only a very small effect.
Ling Rad -- Depends on how much global Recharge you have. LR has a 30 Sec duration and 90 Sec Recharge, so you want that Recharge as high as possible. My default slotting is 1 common Acc, 2 common Rech, and Acc/Slow and Slow/EndRdx/Rech from Tempered Readiness. If you have enough global Recharge, you can drop one or two of the Recharge. In a perma-PA build for my Ill/Rad, I have it with only a single Accuracy -- but that is with a lot of global bonuses for Recharge and Accuracy.
Take a look at my Ill/Rad guide for lots of information on Radiation Emission, even if you have it with a different primary or even as a Primary. I have included some strategy discussions on using Rad. -
Quote:Just a small suggestion: The set bonuses from Ghost Widow are not impressive, so you might want to consider an alternative. Pull a slot from somewhere else (the Achilles Heal proc from Earthquake?) to put in Fossilize. Then slot it with 4 Hami-O's and two Recharge common IOs. Use Acc/Dam, Acc/Mez and two Dam/Mez. That gives you good accuracy, capped Damage AND Hold, and good Recharge. You give up minor bonuses, but get some decent single target damage -- something badly needed for an Earth controller. I bet your gain in damage will exceed the additional damage you would get from that Achilles proc, depending on how often you use Fossilize. I tend to use it a lot.Originally Posted by Rodion
I went with a general build that I can use to do TFs (total invisibility with Steamy Mist and a +Stealth IO, Recall Friend, sacrificing Tornado which doesn't always team well). I emphasized recharge and ranged defense bonuses, but didn't go crazy. The priciest items were the Steadfast -KB, Achilles Heel proc, Winter's Gift Slow resistance and the Celerity +Stealth, all of which I acquired over a couple of years. Otherwise I don't have any Numinas or LotGs or other crazy expensive purple sets.
Most people won't be able to use this build because of the single travel power. I used to have Air Superiority/Crushing Impact but swapped it out for Stone Cages/Positron's Blast when I got the City Traveler Vet badge.
Maximizing recharge is the way to go, I think, but whether you do it via Frankenslotting or global recharge bonuses doesn't really matter as long as you get the recharge on the powers you need it on.
I tried to maximize Ranged Defense without making crazy slotting and power choices, figuring that there are enough to-hit debuffs in the powers to effectively soft-cap defense. And, as you aptly pointed out, you can fire off those debuffs outside the line of sight, so you rarely have to suffer an undebuffed alpha strike.
I may do a second build some day that goes for maximum carnage, but it's already pretty crazy as is.
You make some other choices different than I would -- not wrong, just different. And if someone wants to use your build but doesn't have the 60 Month vet reward yet, then just switch Fly to Super Speed. Its a good choice since Steamy Mist + Super Speed gives full invisibility in PvE. -
Quote:Originally Posted by Sailboat
Do Lightning Storm and Tornado inherit the 15% global damage buff from sets that your character gets? They are "pseudo-pets," and I think they get a damage buff that's been cast on you, like Accelerate Metabolism, but I'm not confident they get the global IO set bonuses to damage. Can anyone clarify? And the same for global accuracy bonuses?
Off the top of my head, your global recharge bonus is only 10%...generally I would slot for more if I were going to spend the time setting up an IO build on a Controller. My ideal would be to frankenslot the really best powers, or semi-frankenslot them (like 4 of one set for a good bonus then two triples from other sets to fill in as much enhancement as you can), and then look for recharge bonuses first.
One of the I-15 nerfs was to stop pets and pseudo-pets from getting your recharge buffs. There was much whining, complaining and knashing of teeth from Storm players, because Lightning Storm no longer got the huge buff from Recharge that allowed it to fire off lightning bolts constantly -- that nerf dropped the damage output from Lightning Storm by more than half.
The reason, allegedly, was that many of the pets had an attack chain that got messed up by recharge, so the devs prevented pets from getting recharge. So now Jack Frost has a better attack chain, but Lightning Storm does half the damage. -
Why are you getting a bad rep? Spoofing anyone's religious figure is going to anger some people . . . Just ask those folks in Norway who published the cartoon featuring Mohammed how well the Muslims are willing to take a joke. I'm amazed at how folks who ridicule Jesus would never ridicule other religious figures due to concern about reactions from other groups . . .
For a Gravity controller, the basics are: Gravity Distortion, Crushing Field, Gravity Distortion Field, Wormhole and Singularity. Most people take Crush, and then choose between Lift or Propel. Many team-oriented builds take Lift due to the long animation time of Propel. If you leave out both Propel (or Lift) and Dimension Shift, you should have room for a travel power, Fitness Pool and all but one of your secondary powers, and still be able to take four APP powers. -
Here's a quick summary for anyone choosing between Ice and Earth:
Earth is a better ranged AoE controller. It has three ranged AoE controls and huge amounts of Defense Debuff to make it easy to hit difficult foes. Because of the Defense Debuff and because it has slightly more damage, it solo's slightly better than Ice since the veteran powers can hit more reliably.
Ice is a better melee controller, mostly because of Arctic Air, but it can be played at range too. It has one (well, two if you count the sleep, Flash Freeze) ranged AoE control, but has a toggle melee control power and a PB AoE hold. Ice provides a huge amount of Slow and Recharge debuff which reduces the movement speed and number of attacks.
Both sets are effective team controllers. They can be played differently even though they have several similar powers. Both sets are low damage and slow to solo. -
Quote:Steamy provides a lot of benefits for the team. I can't tell you how many times I have been running out with the front of a team, turned a corner only to see a bunch of foes that we were able to avoid aggroing because of Steamy Mist. If you have teammates with defensive builds, it adds a little more. In the late game, the Energy Resistance in SM really helps. (Rikti have a lot of energy damage.)Originally Posted by perwira
Call it a "balanced" solo and team build (no second build, at least not yet). This character plays a fair amount of solo, but also duo/trio with friends, as well as missions with full-sized pick-up groups. Playing solo at +1 or +2 (with Boss) hasn't been much trouble. In a trio with a PB and scrapper last night we rocked even at +2/2.
Thanks for your comments, which give some clarity into how the powers interact together. You're right, I'm leaning towards SM, although I wonder how the visual effects affect other players. I recall being on one team with a poorly-played constantly-toggled hurricaner and I couldn't hardly see a thing, including the floor I was moving around on - something I'd like to avoid for the sake of the group. Hopefully, SM doesn't affect the other team members' visibility, as it's the kind of power that I'd want up as often as possible.
From reading your comments, I may have 'wasted' a power with superior invisibility, yet it's also one reason why I've gotten this far in the earlier levels as easily as I have. I may re-spec it out upon taking Steamy Mist (SM), considering that SS and SM together already provide more than enough cover for a controller. Again thanks for your comments! I appreciate your knowledge and understanding of the difficulty in mid-level ill/storm power selections.
(p.s. After reading your comments and careful consideration, this character took Steamy Mist at 24.)
Hurricane is a power that can be misused. Maybe it might help if I tell you how I use some of the powers. I use an 8-button mouse, and bind a lot of the powers to my mouse. I have Hurricane on one of those buttons, so I can turn it on and off with the flick of a thumb. I also have my travel power (in this case, Super Speed) on another button. That way I can turn it off easily in battle to save endurance.
I have seen people run Hurricane constantly, and it is usually a mistake. I use it to (a) protect myself and my squishier teammates when we get overrun in melee, (b) trap foes in corners or cul-de-sacs (This is really fun), (c) herd stragglers back into the group of foes where AoEs and teammates can take care of them, and (d) use its edge for the ToHit Debuff. The last two uses take some practice.
The lack of a self-heal in Storm is a problem. I tried to always carry a good number of green insps. When I get to the APP powers, I take either Ice or Earth with my Stormies just so I can get that heal. -
Is this primarily a team build or a solo build? That makes a difference.
I'm guessing that it is a team build from your comments about Steamy Mist. With Steamy Mist and Super Speed, you can actually skip Superior Invis -- I did on my Ill/Storm. I pretty much leave Steamy Mist on all the time and toggle off Super Speed if endurance becomes an issue. The SM+SS combo gives you full invisibility in PvE, and it doesn't suppress the defense or resistance. That would free up another power choice if you want it.
The other choices depend on your playstyle. I like Hurricane, but only use it in select situations. I use it a lot more solo than on teams. The ToHit debuff is substantial, and if you can use it to trap foes in a corner or in a Cul-de-Sac, it is wonderful.
Flash is a standard PB AoE hold -- exactly the same (except graphically) as Fire's Cinders and Ice's Glacier. It has a 20% Accuracy penalty (like most AoEs), a short duration and a long recharge. It makes a good "panic button" power and sets up AoE containment, but you don't have any AoE damage powers until the APP powers. I generally recommend not taking it until AFTER Spectral Terror because you don't have any back-up AoE control until then. But then, Spectral Terror is overall better AoE control, so you don't really need Flash then . . . Flash is an optional power and a lot of people skip it. It really needs to have good enhancement of Accuracy, Hold and Recharge to be useful. I would suggest you wait on Flash until 28 or 30.
Os Boost is nice to have. Another optional power, but on teams, I like to be able to un-stun and heal teammates in an emergency. It is also nice to have to heal your Phantasm when you get him.
I'm not a big fan of taking other pool powers. The stuff you can get in your primary and secondary is generally better than those extra pool powers. . . . and more fun, too.
My suggestion? Take Steamy at 24, Spectral Terror at 26, Hurricane at 28 and O2 Boost or Flash at 30. If you respec and drop Superior Invis, you can take Flash AND O2 Boost.