Okton

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I have hit 45!! Looking forward to this

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YAY! Gratz Ducky!

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fair point on transference, i have it on my kin/dark defender and it is quite lovely, allthough it can miss, and the longer i can go on before having to use it the better


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Which is why a good kin tries to fit in Tactics (but that's another story...). In any case, I also play a kin defender and they play quite differently actually.

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Firstly to Okton, looks like its pretty close to my slotting that one, but only 2 in fly wont do (will explain why further down). and on Fire Ball i really thought 1acc 3dam 2End would do it, i run siphon speed perma and when needed i hit hasten, so having an End or two seems better than a recharge dont you think?

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Not after Transference .

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i took both the jumping and flight pool because of a mix of concept and annoyance ^^

Fly is and will always be his main travel power, but i wanted cj and acro for the mezz protection.

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Fair enough, although with Siphon Speed and 3-slotted Hover, you're basically flying .

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i've thought alot about hot feet, went on test and tried it out, sure its a nice power but its really not for me. only times i wanna be that close to a mob is to hit Cinders or heal then back away again.

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You'll need to be in melee a lot more often for Transfusion / Transference / Fulcrum. So Hot Feet does some extra passive damage (and quite a bit after Fulcrum) while you do other things. But if you don't like it, skip it .

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bonfire i took just for filling up really, couldnt decide what to put in that last powerslot so i just took that for fun

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You might get more utility from Smoke: the ThT_Debuf is small, but useful, the -perception lets you get closer before you hit Flashfire.

Anyway, fire/kin r0XX0rZ

Purely in terms of slotting and given your power choices (and order), this is what I would suggest:

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Exported from Ver: 1.7.6.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder - (http://sherksilver.coldfront.net/index.php)
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Name:
Level: 50
Archetype: Controller
Primary: Fire Control
Secondary: Kinetics
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01) --> Char==> Acc(1) Acc(3) Hold(3) Hold(5) Rechg(5) Rechg(7)
01) --> Transfusion==> Acc(1) Heal(7) Heal(9) Heal(9) Acc(17) Rechg(40)
02) --> Fire Cages==> Acc(2) Acc(11) EndRdx(17)
04) --> Siphon Power==> Acc(4) Rechg(29) Acc(34) Rechg(46)
06) --> Combat Jumping==> Jump(6)
08) --> Swift==> Run(8)
10) --> Siphon Speed==> Acc(10) Rechg(11) Rechg(29) Acc(31) Rechg(31)
12) --> Flashfire==> Acc(12) Acc(13) DisDur(13) DisDur(15) Rechg(15) Rechg(31)
14) --> Super Jump==> Jump(14)
16) --> Health==> Heal(16)
18) --> Cinders==> Acc(18) Acc(19) Hold(19) Hold(23) Rechg(25) Rechg(25)
20) --> Stamina==> EndMod(20) EndMod(21) EndMod(21)
22) --> Speed Boost==> EndMod(22) EndMod(23) EndMod(46)
24) --> Acrobatics==> EndRdx(24) EndRdx(34)
26) --> Hasten==> Rechg(26) Rechg(27) Rechg(27)
28) --> Hover==> Fly(28) Fly(40) Fly(43)
30) --> Fly==> Fly(30) Fly(37)
32) --> Fire Imps==> Acc(32) Dmg(33) Dmg(33) Dmg(33) Acc(34)
35) --> Transference==> Acc(35) Acc(36) EndMod(36) EndMod(36) Rechg(37) Rechg(37)
38) --> Fulcrum Shift==> Acc(38) Acc(39) Rechg(39) Rechg(39) Rechg(40)
41) --> Fire Ball==> Acc(41) Dmg(42) Dmg(42) Dmg(42) Acc(43) Rechg(43)
44) --> Fire Shield==> DmgRes(44) DmgRes(45) DmgRes(45) EndRdx(45) EndRdx(46)
47) --> Fire Blast==> Acc(47) Dmg(48) Dmg(48) Dmg(48) Acc(50) Rechg(50)
49) --> Bonfire==> Rechg(49) EndRdx(50)

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PS I still have to say I'm very dubious about some choices: Health for a kin? (and 3-slotted!!!) 2 travel powers? No Hot Feet???

As you can see from the table, it's quite easy to hold an AV/Hero when the triangles are pointing down. My point was that when they're up, they still offer a pretty hefty protection. Not that I fully agree with this system anyway...

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Do the triangles stop confuse and sleep?
Might explain why we had so little trouble the other day, 4 instances of sleep and confuse, and then topping it up every few seconds.

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Resistance to sleep is much lower (even with PToDs up). See table here. Confuse should be the same as hold/stun (except it doesn't aggro). If 2 Mind doms can easily break through an AV's (Mag 51) hold protection when PToDs are up, some people might be a bit upset...

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but two dominators using domination can demonstrate that the dreaded purple triangles of doom grant no perfect mez protection.
... and I guesss without domination it woul take ages to solo EBs.

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EBs have a mez resistance of Mag 7 when purple triangles are up and only 5 when they're down, so yes, they're quite easy to hold with 2 doms (or even solo). Now AVs, that's a whole different story (Mag 51 when the PToD are up Mag 7 otherwise).

Some 1AT people ran an all-defender team for a while (Team Synergy) with one toon of each primary. I think they stopped somewhere in the mid-20s, but they were blitzing through +3/4s. Not as min/max as all-rad or 4 rad/4 kin, but a nice way to get a bit of everything and no "waste" of powers like having 8 RAs.

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So your advice is basically "find a team and don't solo"?
I appreciate the advice, but I was really going for a more solo-able build. If this one won't work, how could I improve it for soloability?

I picked dimension shift for when I get a little too over my head and I need to run awaaaaay without too much return fire - I anticipate using it more like an anti-phase-shift where they go intangible rather than me

In terms of disruption field, what I was hoping was that singy could tag the mobs with the debuff *before* it flings them away, but if it's end heavy, it's probably not worth the bother. Any recommendations for something to fill that gap instead?

Shame about Liquefy ;(

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Grav is easy to solo in low levels regardless of your secondary because of the early single-target attacks. Unfortunately, as you move up levels, some of the best sonic powers require team-mates. Disruption Field is certainly end-heavy (although 3 slots for EndRdx are all it needs), but the main problem is that the combo with Sing won't work because of its inherent repel (as Archy said). This doesn't mean you can't solo at all, just that it will be very slow (I respecced 3 times when levelling, and never found a build which allowed for "easy" soloing after the 20s). Sing helps a bit but the single target -res debuff doesn't stack with itself and is not of much help if you're facing a group of 3-4 enemies (remember you don't get an AoE attack until epics). You can always pick up extra attacks like Air Superiority, but my advice is:

- if you want to play grav/sonic, try to team as much as possible and don't sacrifice some of the best sonic powers (shields, Disruption Field, Clarity) in order to try to get a "solo build".
- if you want to solo, I would really suggest taking another secondary like MaX said (rad being the obvious choice, kin/storm very good if you're willing to be more patient, TA not bad too).

From the last couple of raids I did, I'd suggest 2 kins on the PA team if possible (incl any ill/kin). Now that decoys don't follow you, the drops have to be more precise, so you really want perma PA.

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(I'm sure Okton will jump at this thread at some point )

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You called?

First of all, this is really not a build to solo... trust me... Although the -res of some of the sonic powers is nice, you really need a team to make it shine because of the shields, the ally-based PbAoE -res debuff and Clarity (Clear Mind, but better!). On the grav side, Propel is nice for the first 30 or so levels (or for when you really can't find a team), after that, the animation is so long, it becomes much less useful. I would start with all 3 attacks (Crush, Lift and Propel) and then drop one later on. Try to take the shields earlier: 25% +res is very nice to have on your team-mates (with an extra 20% if they stay within your Sonic Dispersion). Disruption Field is quite nice with a tank/scrapper, and probably gives you more utility than stealth. Clarity is a much more useful power (too bad it comes so late). Liquefy is my least favourite tier 9 power of all the sets I've played (well, up there with Frozen Aura) and even less useful for a controller than a defender from what I've seen. I wouldn't really take either phase power tbh unless you plan to PvP (in which case "teh Cage" is better).

Anyway, hope some of this helps. At least you can tell yourself that you're definitely NOT playing a FoTM combo. And my best advice: team with another sonic .

I used 2 Acc 2 EndMod 2 Rechg when I had it on one of my controllers. Worked fine.

If I played Dark/Sonic, I think I would only go with 2-3 attacks given how great your primary is. For occasional soloing, something like Scream-Howl-Shout-Shriek (unslotted) would probably be enough, and I would probably go for Siren's Song too (instead of Aim). I haven't played Sonic Blast high enough to be sure (and have only seen the stun used against me in PvP ), but I think my build to 40 would be something like this:

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Exported from Ver: 1.7.6.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder - (http://sherksilver.coldfront.net/index.php)
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Name:
Level: 40
Archetype: Defender
Primary: Dark Miasma
Secondary: Sonic Blast
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01) --> Twilight Grasp==> Acc(1) Heal(13) Heal(13) Heal(37) Acc(39)
01) --> Shriek==> Acc(1)
02) --> Tar Patch==> Rechg(2) Rechg(3) Rechg(3)
04) --> Scream==> Acc(4) Dmg(5) Dmg(5) Dmg(11)
06) --> Darkest Night==> TH_DeBuf(6) TH_DeBuf(7) TH_DeBuf(7) EndRdx(9)
08) --> Hasten==> Rechg(8) Rechg(9) Rechg(11)
10) --> Swift==> Run(10)
12) --> Fearsome Stare==> Acc(12) Acc(15) Fear(15) Fear(17) Rechg(17) Rechg(19)
14) --> Super Speed==> Run(14)
16) --> Hurdle==> Jump(16)
18) --> Howl==> Acc(18) Dmg(19) Dmg(27) Dmg(27) Acc(40)
20) --> Stamina==> EndMod(20) EndMod(21) EndMod(21)
22) --> Shadow Fall==> EndRdx(22) DmgRes(23) DmgRes(23) DmgRes(25)
24) --> Petrifying Gaze==> Acc(24) Acc(25) Hold(29) Hold(29) Rechg(37) Rechg(37)
26) --> Howling Twilight==> Rechg(26)
28) --> Recall Friend==> IntRdx(28)
30) --> Siren's Song==> Acc(30) Acc(31) Sleep(31) Sleep(31) Rechg(34)
32) --> Dark Servant==> TH_DeBuf(32) TH_DeBuf(33) TH_DeBuf(33) Hold(33) Hold(34) Heal(34)
35) --> Shout==> Acc(35) Dmg(36) Dmg(36) Dmg(36)
38) --> Dreadful Wail==> Acc(38) Dmg(39) Dmg(39) Dmg(40)

- I was talking about myself (blapper) . Might work for you then.
- Definitely no mez res (unlike Unstoppable). Not sure if/when it was changed.
- 30 secs is the recharge iirc.

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does the personal force field have that "feature" of shutting off after 30 seconds? is it a decent panic button power?

has anyone had any use out of repulsion field or is it a bit of a novelty power?

Is force of nature as much fun as it sounds? is it also useful as a panic button?

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PFF is a toggle and your real panic button. FoN is more of an "offensive power" (mini-Unstoppable without the mez resistance), just watch out for psi damage and for when it drops (end crash). Never tried Repulsion Field, but doesn't sound like the best for a blapper anyway.

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well, while handy, I wouldnt recommend respeccing group fly in. I did it before for hami raids, but generally most ill trollers got fly already and most of times there are 8 present with fly. So unless you cant fill a PA team with flyers, I wouldnt waste a respec on it.

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Yup, what Stage said. And remember that Hover is enough (with Speed/Power Boost).

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An important point. Why is Speed Boost slotted with Recharge Reduction?

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Soz, I'm completely ignorant about Speed Boost and the slotting was really a bit of an after-thought. I pressume that End Mods are the way to go and that the recharge on it is pretty reasonable if I don't need recharge redux in there?

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Yes. 2-3 EndMods is all it needs.

I'm actually playing Ice Mastery with my ice/storm but I did consider the option of Fire for some early extra damage (and better shield). I finally opted for the safety of Hibernate, the stacking slows and the extra AoE control of Ice Storm (also I've already played Fire, Primal and Psi on other controllers). But I might still switch to Primal after 47 depending on how things go... PB is still too good

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the Damage Resistance debuff didn't seem any more powerful.

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PB doesn't affect Resistance debuffs.

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Does Power Boost increase all of the debuffs on Placeable Debuffs like Freezing Rain or Disruption arrow?

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It does affect summons, so for example it would affect the -def and movement slow (not -rchg) of FR.

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If FR does benefit I assume you need to PB and then FR, otherwise the placeable is normal?

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Yes.

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For toggles like Snow Storm how does the Power Boost work. Looking at No Future SnowStorm does 0.75 second duration slows. I'm guessing these are boosted while PB is running

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Yes, only while PB is active.

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Hurricane has a 30% 10 second Accuracy debuff. If PB is running and a mob runs into it I assume this becomes a 10 sec 60% debuff. As it doesn't stack subsequent debuffs are ignored until the current 10 second debuff wears off. The converse is also probably true, if you've a mob in Hurricane normally and you PB the 60% won't kick in until the current 10 second 30% wears off?

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Unfortunately my /storm is still 6 levels away from PB, so can't test it yet but I would guess it kicks in immediately when PB is activated.

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Does Power Boost work for other placeable pets like the Fear of Spectral Terror or the Stuns & debuffs of Tornado

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Yes, again, only during the duration of PB.

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Also does anyone know if Spectral Terrors inability to take ToHit debuffs is WAI? According to NoFuture Spectral Terror has a Cloak of Fear aura with a 15% tohit debuff and a single target Terrorise with another 15%. These are so high I'm guess this may be WAI (drat, I wasted 3 slots on this. Roll on the i8 vet respecs)

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I would guess it is WAI. I've only ever slotted Acc Fear and Range in it.

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after reading somewhere on the US boards that slotting Def_Debuf was more useful than Def_Buf.

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Thats funny i'm sure read the total opposite and that the def buff from the enforcers maneuvers was awesome.
1 acc 3 dmg 2 def buff for me.
Linky


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Well I've seen the Prima guide numbers as well as some other calculations (clicky), but one example of a thread where several people argued in favour of slotting Def_Debufs is here. I even remember some people on these boards a while ago saying that the slotting seemed bugged (maybe it's been fixed now?) and that even when slotting Def_Bufs, they were actually getting a Def_Debuf effect . I guess that the "best" slotting for each person also depends on whether you're taking the Leadership pool, how much Acc you slot on henches and (as I mentioned before), if you tend to team a lot with other Thug MMs. Guess I'll just play around with enhancements and test it myself .

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But slotting EndRdx on henches only reduces the end cost of casting them, right?

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It applies to the henches own attacks, reducing their endurance cost and meaning they don't run out so quick (especially with some pets such as the Commando, who has whole host of AoEs and drains endurance like a Humvee through 4 star )

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Wow, I didn't know this, thanks for the tip!

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The end redux because they ran out of endurance very very fast after I got the 32 upgrade, before that they never ran out. They all get some area attacks and stuff with the 32 upgrade so I guess thats whats draining em.

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But slotting EndRdx on henches only reduces the end cost of casting them, right?

Despite my growing scepticism of public raids, I can bring along one of my (level 50) controllers:

Okton: Illusion/Radiation - 2 Holds, AM, rad debuffs, Power Boost, Vanguard
Tleollin: Fire/Kinetics - 2 Holds, SB, IR, Vanguard
Gravity's Echo: Gravity/Sonic - 2 Holds, Singularity, Sonic Dispersion, Power Boost, Vanguard

I'm guessing Okt is the most useful because of PA (oh and I get to make fun of Stage too! ), but I'm happy to bring along any of them.

I'm convinced that the 2 main requirements for a raid to succeed are to have enough people (mainly for the holding phase) and that everyone follows instructions from the raid/team leaders. When Jiaozy organised his raid (April?), he specifically listed which powers to use for the holding phase (basically only holds and a few buffs). This might help people who feel tempted (like at PG's raid) to spam useless powers which only increase lag and result in a failed raid.

My thugs/dark is just about to hit 34 and I was wondering how effective my slotting of Enforcers was. At the moment I use 1 Acc 2 Dmg 3 Def_Debuf after reading somewhere on the US boards that slotting Def_Debuf was more useful than Def_Buf. I find that with my playstyle (and given my secondary), I rarely lose any henches if I solo, but on larger teams, I can sometimes lose a thug (usually the arsonist when he decides to go brawl the mobs) and occasionally an enforcer. What are other people's experience with slotting them? Would 2 Acc 2 Def_Buf 2 Def_Debuf be better? Do people prefer 3 Dmg? Does anybody slot ThT_Bufs? I'm guessing this also depends whether you team a lot with other Thugs because of the stacking Leadership buffs, but any comment would be welcome!

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just answer the question instead of going offtopic.

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That is such an absurd comment it doesnt warrant a real responce.

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My posts were meant to be useful, and based on my experience with /rad (including a lvl 50 controller), playstyle and personal opinion. It seems that the OP feels otherwise, so I think it's time for me to drop this thread. If you look at my first post, I did make a suggestion about where to slot an EndRdx (which was I think your main question). And it's quite clear from your posts that you don't fully understand how RI works: you can't slot ThT_Bufs into it, it's mainly ThT_Debuf (crucial, as other have pointed out in this thread) or Def_Debuf (less so for PvE). Anyway, good luck with your toon.