Pilcrow

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Oh boy you missed a doozy. Ok controllers have been given an innate ability called containment. Once a target is held, immob, disoriented etc, any damage we do the the mob will be doubled. In exchange for this damage boost, all mass holds had their duration cut by half and their recharge time upped by 25% I believe it was. You cannot have multiple pets anymore except for fire imps which are 3 now. They perma until killed or or released using a nifty a nifty little command. Did I miss anything guys?

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Duration cut 40%, recharge DOUBLED.

But the short answer is that, yes, your MC can solo now.

Quite well, in fact.

If you respec into the fire pool, you will do significant amounts of damage. Significant enough that it will likely be nerfed, mind you, but for now, it's quite nice.

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If its on Test server, just let me know Day & Time. I can contribute the following... imps, Jack and Stoney

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I gots da phants.

We'll want some high level tanks to abosorb the punishment if possible. No armors up, just HP and heals.

We got derailed by my child's birth and I5 rollout, but a number of us were going to go to the arena to get solid Pet Damage numbers.

I managed to get them for PA and you'll find them in my Phantom Army Guide on the guides section. But for the rest of the pets, we don't really know.

Anyone up to running our trollers to test and trying to get some damage numbers on them?

Just to throw something at the wall, I suggest a meet Wed night at 8 PM EST.

I'll post details here. Anyone else in?

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What happens if you add a fully slotted Tactics to the mix? An Ill/Kin Troller really benefits from the ACC boost in Tactics since so many powers depend on a successful hit on a target.

I have about 12 ACC slots in all my powers. Using Tactics, I can free up 7 of them. Granted, I use 2 powers instead of the 7 slots, which is now causing me problems figuring out the new build.

The way I see it, 3 dam 3 rechrg should do the trick.

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Good comment. I included some 2 ACC slottings in my analysis and they were always poor performers, even against +8s. So, I can't really justify more than 1 ACC enhancer.

Because Accuracy essentially caps at 1 SO (and 6 slotted tactics approaches 1 SO as I recall), having 6 slotted tactics says that you should replace the accuracy enhancer with a DMG or Recharge one. And lucky you, BTW!

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Either way, I still think Cuppa's comment is one of the best. If you don't want the flames, don't aggro. Or whatever it was. But I expect I've been relegated to the a$$ki$$er camp and therefore my opinion isn't to be valued.

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There's a world of difference between someone who liked the I5 controller changes and a brown noser. The latter is a sycophantic and wrong, the former is merely wrong.

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Thank you, thank you. I perform every Tuesdays and Thursdays at Caesar's.

Well, the necro raising WAS pertinent to recent changes, right? It's a valid resurrection!

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Your necro is about as relevant as our input was to States's decisions.

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There's no immediate deadline for changes Archetype wide, though individual power sets might need attention sooner. I just wanted to say that nothing at the moment is set in stone.

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And, six months later, welcome to the Blastroller. Funny, how things change.

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RIIIISE from your GRAAAVE!!

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AASQ #1 is causing all sorts of nasty browser problems so - it must die.

Is it TEOTWAWKI? (The End of the World as We Know IT?)

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A. It is the end of an Age. . .and a sad day indeed. But it had to be done. The AASQ was a rabid beast that needed to be put down.

Q. Could the original AASQ thread perhaps be thumbtacked for a suitable morning period for folks to make their peace?

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A) I think the point was to get if off the first page so it would stop borking browsers. But since it has rednamed posts in it, it will live forever in the glory of page 123/655

Q) I have answered a non-stupid question with a non-stupid answer, will I be punished?
Q2) How?

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AASQ #1 is causing all sorts of nasty browser problems so - it must die.

Is it TEOTWAWKI? (The End of the World as We Know IT?)

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A: For some people it will be.

Q: Did I get first reply?

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A: No you didn't....

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q) Is this the new AASQ?

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A: No! We must start with te correct question!

Q: Where are the Lost in Kings Row?

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A: Same place they were last week

Q: Do you like the new box I have, it has racing stripes!

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A) I prefer Athyna's

Q) Have I now doomed this newborn AASQ for threadlock?
Q2) Shouldn't we answer the last question in the OLD AASQ?

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Q) 'Cause I'm Trigger Happy, Trigger Happy everday!

A) Should we start calling Catwhoorg Cat_Who_Organizes now?



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NO! 3 parts names are MINE

Q) So, who should start AASQ2 CuppaJo, or Poz?

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AASQ #1 is causing all sorts of nasty browser problems so - it must die.

Is it TEOTWAWKI? (The End of the World as We Know IT?)

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A: For some people it will be.

Q: Did I get first reply?

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A) YES!

Q) Now that there is an AASQ 2, will the lost finally be located in King's Row?
Q2) Will Son of AASQ behave any differently than AASQ?
Q3) What should I do with these two questions that have already been ignored?

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Q)Is this the new AASQ?

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Q) How will He-Who-watches necro rez the old AASQ?

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AASQ #1 is causing all sorts of nasty browser problems so - it must die.

Is it TEOTWAWKI? (The End of the World as We Know IT?)

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A) I don't think so. I don't feel fine. Neither does States for that matter

Q) How will He-Who-watches necro rez the old AASQ?

The calculator has a slot for that, and I'm about 80% confident I have the right number (0.2) for siphon speed. I put .5 for Siphon Power though and it should be .35. I need to fix that.

Anyhow, just plug some true's into the calculator and fix the speed boost number and you'll know. Though AM is .30 and Speed Boost is .35, so the AM numbers will probably be almost the same.

Anything you can figure out about accuracy would be great to get into This thread.

If we get to some consensus, we should probably make a guide out of it.

Accuracy is deuced odd in this game.

I have only ever made three guides. All about controllers. I guess I should finally list them.

<ul type="square">[*]Completely Irrelevant: The Vision Thing: Controllers - This was a cataloguing of Statesman quotes in relation to controllers that I stopped maintaining when they changed the board policy to keep redname posts forever. But there are some links to some old interviews for those who care[*]Needs Updating: 5 Best Solo Controller Builds - Always been floored at how popular this was. I've linked to a recent post where I have posted some first draft I5 builds for solo controlling. Will update in a month or two when I've played enough I5.[*]Ready for I5: Pilcrow's Phantom Army Guide - The results of the Should I Perma-PA thread (no, you shouldn't ) turned into a decent guide to Phantom Army. Hope it helps some people.[/list]

I have only ever made three guides. All about controllers. I guess I should finally list them.

<ul type="square">[*]Completely Irrelevant: The Vision Thing: Controllers - This was a cataloguing of Statesman quotes in relation to controllers that I stopped maintaining when they changed the board policy to keep redname posts forever. But there are some links to some old interviews for those who care[*]Needs Updating: 5 Best Solo Controller Builds - Always been floored at how popular this was. I've linked to a recent post where I have posted some first draft I5 builds for solo controlling. Will update in a month or two when I've played enough I5.[*]Ready for I5: Pilcrow's Phantom Army Guide - The results of the Should I Perma-PA thread (no, you shouldn't ) turned into a decent guide to Phantom Army. Hope it helps some people.[/list]

Some Results
For those who can’t or don’t want to download the spreadsheet, here are some results to guide yourself with. First, know what I used as my default setting in the calculator:

Basic Variable Settings
<ul type="square">[*]My results are based on +0 SOs slotted into PA[*]Results with Hasten, AM, Siphon Speed Etc. assume those are “perma”[*]I split attack time 50% melee, 50% ranged, this is one area where YMMV significantly[*]My results were calculated against minions[*]My results were calculated against even cons[*]My results assumed 0 DEF on the MOBs[*]Changing any of the three above items makes ACC more important to slot[/list]
Second, know that I played with some 2 ACC slottings, but they were always weak, even against +8 cons. So you’ll only see 0 ACC and 1 ACC items in my charts. I can’t mathematically justify slotting 2 ACC.

Third, I want to stress that the difference between the worst possible slotting (perma-PA) and the best possible slotting is usually only 20%. I.E. – perma PA is 80% as “optimal” as the most optimal slotting. The difference between the 1 DMG + 5 RECH slotting I recommend as your “minimum” slotting and the optimal slotting is usually only 10%. So in most cases as you play with different optimal slottings, you are moving within a pretty small range of values. Therefore, slotting to fit your playstyle/rhythm is probably MORE important than hitting the “supposed” optimum. After all, if the slotting you picked is “missing” ideal timing enough for you to notice, then it’s probably effecting you at least 1 in 10 combats.

Finally, and I can’t stress this enough. These statistics are about balancing the uptime of PA with its DPS. But I don’t want to leave the impression that damage is the “way to go” with PA. Their ability as an agro sink is a very powerful control, especially by I5 standards. I would advise you against a pure damage slotting as much as I would against “perma-PA”.

Legend
<ul type="square">[*]X sec downtime btw casts – The amount of time between when the previous PA despawns and the first spawning of the next PA[*]available X% of play time – If you cast PA every time it recharged, this is the % of time it would be there[*]X DMG per Cast (BI) - The total DMG the PA will produce (as a multiple of your base brawl a la the Brawl Index) in the 60 seconds it is active[*]X DPS (BI) – The DMG per Second PA will produce not during a cast but during your entire playtime if you were to cast it each time it were active under ideal conditions;[*]X% of max uptime – The uptime of this slotting vs. the maximum possible uptime (6 Slotted for recharge)[*]X% of max DPS – The DPS of this slotting vs. the maximum possible DPS[*]X% of max optimization score – The optimization score of this slotting vs. the max possible optimization score. The optimization score is computed by adding the % of max DPS and the % of max uptime[/list]
Without Hasten vs. Even Con Minions<ul type="square">[*]Perma - 23.05 sec downtime btw casts; available 72.24% of play time; 33.53 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.4 DPS (BI); 100% of max uptime; 41.12% of max DPS; 83.47% of max optimization score[*]1 DMG - 33.06 sec downtime btw casts; available 64.48% of play time; 63.9 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.69 DPS (BI); 89.25% of max uptime; 69.93% of max DPS; 94.16% of max optimization score[*]2 DMG - 45.92 sec downtime btw casts; available 56.65% of play time; 94.26 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.89 DPS (BI); 78.41% of max uptime; 90.64% of max DPS; 100% of max optimization score[*]3 DMG - 63.06 sec downtime btw casts; available 48.76% of play time; 124.63 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.01 DPS (BI); 67.49% of max uptime; 100% of max DPS; 99.07% of max optimization score[*]4 DMG - 87.06 sec downtime btw casts; available 40.8% of play time; 155 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.05 DPS (BI); 56.48% of max uptime; 100% of max DPS; 92.56% of max optimization score[*]1 ACC + 4 DMG - 123.05 sec downtime btw casts; available 32.78% of play time; 179.57 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.98 DPS (BI); 45.37% of max uptime; 100% of max DPS; 85.99% of max optimization score[*]1 ACC + 5 DMG - 183 sec downtime btw casts; available 24.69% of play time; 214.75 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.88 DPS (BI); 34.18% of max uptime; 100% of max DPS; 79.37% of max optimization score[/list]
With Hasten vs. Even Con Minions<ul type="square">[*]Perma - 7.9 sec downtime btw casts; available 88.37% of play time; 33.53 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.49 DPS (BI); 100% of max uptime; 33.15% of max DPS; 80.75% of max optimization score[*]1 DMG - 14.32 sec downtime btw casts; available 80.73% of play time; 63.9 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.86 DPS (BI); 91.36% of max uptime; 57.72% of max DPS; 90.41% of max optimization score[*]2 DMG - 22.16 sec downtime btw casts; available 73.03% of play time; 94.26 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.15 DPS (BI); 82.65% of max uptime; 77.03% of max DPS; 96.84% of max optimization score[*]3 DMG - 31.92 sec downtime btw casts; available 65.27% of play time; 124.63 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.36 DPS (BI); 73.87% of max uptime; 91.03% of max DPS; 100% of max optimization score[*]4 DMG - 44.44 sec downtime btw casts; available 57.45% of play time; 155 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.48 DPS (BI); 65.02% of max uptime; 99.64% of max DPS; 99.86% of max optimization score[*]5 DMG - 61.05 sec downtime btw casts; available 49.57% of play time; 185.36 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.53 DPS (BI); 56.09% of max uptime; 100% of max DPS; 94.66% of max optimization score[*]1 ACC + 5 DMG - 84.18 sec downtime btw casts; available 41.62% of play time; 214.75 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.49 DPS (BI); 47.1% of max uptime; 100% of max DPS; 89.21% of max optimization score[/list]
With Hasten and AM vs. Even Con Minions<ul type="square">[*]Perma - 3.03 sec downtime btw casts; available 95.19% of play time; 33.53 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.53 DPS (BI); 100% of max uptime; 30.47% of max DPS; 79.95% of max optimization score[*]1 DMG - 8.48 sec downtime btw casts; available 87.61% of play time; 63.9 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.93 DPS (BI); 92.04% of max uptime; 53.44% of max DPS; 89.14% of max optimization score[*]2 DMG - 15.03 sec downtime btw casts; available 79.97% of play time; 94.26 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.26 DPS (BI); 84.01% of max uptime; 71.96% of max DPS; 95.57% of max optimization score[*]3 DMG - 23.03 sec downtime btw casts; available 72.27% of play time; 124.63 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.5 DPS (BI); 75.92% of max uptime; 85.98% of max DPS; 99.2% of max optimization score[*]4 DMG - 33.02 sec downtime btw casts; available 64.5% of play time; 155 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.67 DPS (BI); 67.76% of max uptime; 95.43% of max DPS; 100% of max optimization score[*]5 DMG - 45.87 sec downtime btw casts; available 56.67% of play time; 185.36 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.75 DPS (BI); 59.53% of max uptime; 100% of max DPS; 97.76% of max optimization score[*]6 DMG - 63 sec downtime btw casts; available 48.78% of play time; 215.73 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.75 DPS (BI); 51.24% of max uptime; 100% of max DPS; 92.68% of max optimization score[/list]
Without Hasten vs. +2 Minions<ul type="square">[*]Perma - 23.05 sec downtime btw casts; available 72.24% of play time; 27.81 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.33 DPS (BI); 100% of max uptime; 35.74% of max DPS; 85.98% of max optimization score[*]1 DMG - 33.06 sec downtime btw casts; available 64.48% of play time; 52.99 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.57 DPS (BI); 89.25% of max uptime; 60.79% of max DPS; 95.04% of max optimization score[*]2 DMG - 45.92 sec downtime btw casts; available 56.65% of play time; 78.17 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.74 DPS (BI); 78.41% of max uptime; 78.79% of max DPS; 99.58% of max optimization score[*]1 ACC + 2 DMG - 63.06 sec downtime btw casts; available 48.76% of play time; 104.18 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.85 DPS (BI); 67.49% of max uptime; 90.38% of max DPS; 100% of max optimization score[*]1 ACC + 3 DMG - 87.06 sec downtime btw casts; available 40.8% of play time; 137.75 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.94 DPS (BI); 56.48% of max uptime; 100% of max DPS; 99.12% of max optimization score[*]1 ACC + 4 DMG - 123.05 sec downtime btw casts; available 32.78% of play time; 171.31 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.94 DPS (BI); 45.37% of max uptime; 100% of max DPS; 92.08% of max optimization score[*]1 ACC + 5 DMG - 183 sec downtime btw casts; available 24.69% of play time; 204.87 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.84 DPS (BI); 34.18% of max uptime; 100% of max DPS; 84.99% of max optimization score[/list]
With Hasten vs. +2 Minions<ul type="square">[*]Perma - 7.9 sec downtime btw casts; available 88.37% of play time; 27.81 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.41 DPS (BI); 100% of max uptime; 28.82% of max DPS; 81.62% of max optimization score[*]1 DMG - 14.32 sec downtime btw casts; available 80.73% of play time; 52.99 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.71 DPS (BI); 91.36% of max uptime; 50.17% of max DPS; 89.67% of max optimization score[*]2 DMG - 22.16 sec downtime btw casts; available 73.03% of play time; 78.17 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.95 DPS (BI); 82.65% of max uptime; 66.96% of max DPS; 94.79% of max optimization score[*]1 ACC + 2 DMG - 31.92 sec downtime btw casts; available 65.27% of play time; 104.18 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.13 DPS (BI); 73.87% of max uptime; 79.76% of max DPS; 97.33% of max optimization score[*]1 ACC + 3 DMG - 44.44 sec downtime btw casts; available 57.45% of play time; 137.75 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.32 DPS (BI); 65.02% of max uptime; 92.82% of max DPS; 100% of max optimization score[*]1 ACC + 4 DMG - 61.05 sec downtime btw casts; available 49.57% of play time; 171.31 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.42 DPS (BI); 56.09% of max uptime; 99.59% of max DPS; 98.64% of max optimization score[*]1 ACC + 5 DMG - 84.18 sec downtime btw casts; available 41.62% of play time; 204.87 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.42 DPS (BI); 47.1% of max uptime; 100% of max DPS; 93.2% of max optimization score[/list]
With Hasten and AM vs. +2 Minions<ul type="square">[*]Perma - 3.03 sec downtime btw casts; available 95.19% of play time; 27.81 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.44 DPS (BI); 100% of max uptime; 26.48% of max DPS; 80.73% of max optimization score[*]1 DMG - 8.48 sec downtime btw casts; available 87.61% of play time; 52.99 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.77 DPS (BI); 92.04% of max uptime; 46.45% of max DPS; 88.39% of max optimization score[*]2 DMG - 15.03 sec downtime btw casts; available 79.97% of play time; 78.17 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.04 DPS (BI); 84.01% of max uptime; 62.55% of max DPS; 93.54% of max optimization score[*]1 ACC + 2 DMG - 23.03 sec downtime btw casts; available 72.27% of play time; 104.18 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.25 DPS (BI); 75.92% of max uptime; 75.33% of max DPS; 96.53% of max optimization score[*]1 ACC + 3 DMG - 33.02 sec downtime btw casts; available 64.5% of play time; 137.75 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.48 DPS (BI); 67.76% of max uptime; 88.9% of max DPS; 99.99% of max optimization score[*]1 ACC + 4 DMG - 45.87 sec downtime btw casts; available 56.67% of play time; 171.31 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.62 DPS (BI); 59.53% of max uptime; 97.15% of max DPS; 100% of max optimization score[*]1 ACC + 5 DMG - 63 sec downtime btw casts; available 48.78% of play time; 204.87 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.67 DPS (BI); 51.24% of max uptime; 100% of max DPS; 96.53% of max optimization score[/list]

Pilcrow’s Phantom Army (PA) Guide

This guide began as a way to answer the question “Should I Perma-PA?” (meaning: should I slot 6 recharges into PA, which even with Hasten is not quite perma).

The short answer is: No. Put in at least 1 DMG enhancement. A typical build will get 74% more DPS and lose only 9% of PA’s uptime for that one enhancement. Slotting for max damage per cast (1 ACC + 5 DMG) is also inadvisable, at least 1 recharge is more optimal because you get more uptime and more DPS (less per cast but the more frequent casts more than make up for it).

Caveat: If you want PA purely as a control, slot to perma.

Anyhow, this guide documents how I came up with that answer and tells you a lot of other stuff about PA. It even has a calculator to figure out the perfect PA slotting for your specific character. Ain’t that cute.

The guide is more about slotting PA than using it, so if you need that more basic tactical information, and the section on the basics doesn't cut it for you, theres a simple but nice Using Phantom Army Guide you can look at.

Anyhow, I hope you find it useful. If you get nothing else out of this guide, try to keep the following in mind
<ul type="square">[*]Perma-PA (all recharge) is probably a mistake. Slot for at least 1 DMG unless you want it to be a “pure control”.[*]If you typically fight even cons, slot DMG &amp; RECH only. If you typically fight red and above slot 1 ACC in with your DMG and RECH.[*]Your goal is to have PA’s recharge rate fit well with your typical combat cycle. A “perfectly” slotted PA that spends a lot of time unclicked, or that makes you delay combats waiting for recharge is a poorly slotted PA.[*]The “worst” slotting and the “best” slotting are within 20% of each other, so focus on fitting your playstyle.[/list]
Phantom Army Basics (as of Issue 5)

Phantom Army is unique in a few ways, even amongst pets. It is the only pet that does illusory damage, like Spectral Wounds does. That means that some of the damage it delivers heals back automatically a few seconds later. Furthermore, if you slot damage into the PA, it increases the amount of damage it does, but the healback remains the same, which gives you A LOT of bang from slotting for damage. And since the pets can be attacking while you are doing other things, you have even more incentive to slot these for damage.

But PA is also an invulnerable, but targetable pet. It controls enemies by taunting them, but shines as an absorber of the alpha strike by the MOBs, who concentrate their initial attacks on these invulnerable, targetable pets instead of…you. Mid-combat, they are also fabulous for taking three MOBs essentially out of the fray and focusing their attacks on these three unkillable pets.

So, an eternal debate exists about how to slot these puppies. If you’re into control above all else, you should slot them 100% for recharge so they are available as often as possible to absorb aggro. But if you were about control above all else, you probably wouldn’t be an illusion controller in the first place.

On the other hand, PA is one of the best controls available to Illusion (or even to any controller in I5). So slotting it the traditional 1 ACC + 5 DMG to maximize the DPS may not be an ideal way to go, either.

So how do you decide which way to slot PA? Well, use this handy-dandy guide, of course!

The Ideal
First off, we have to figure what an ideal slotting of PA would be. Ideally:
<ul type="square">[*]PA would be recharged at the start of each combat to absorb the alpha strike[*]Each combat would last exactly 60 seconds so that none of your PA’s damage was “wasted” because PA was up with no-one to fight[*]The time it takes you to rest or walk or buff or whatever until the next combat would be exactly the time it takes your PA to recharge so it’s ready to absorb the next alpha strike, but it never sat in your tray unused[*]PA will do the maximum possible damage while meeting those other conditions.[/list]
Now, you’ll never hit those conditions. But that’s what you want to slot towards. A PA that is available at the start of more combats than not, but that doesn’t spend a lot of time in your tray unclicked. Obviously, the big variable here is how much time your combats take. But no matter what the numbers show you, they aren’t as important as striving towards that ideal. If a slotting you see is 5% below “optimum”, but you have PA available to take the alpha 10% more often with the “substandard” slotting, then you came out ahead.

The reason people tell you to Perma-PA is that it maximizes the number of times it’s there to absorb your alpha strike. That’s an easy benefit to note and an easy slotting to get it. Same story with people who advise you to maximize DPS. Easy to know how to slot for that, and an obvious benefit.

Slotting towards the more complex ideal is less straightforward, because there’s no set amount of time between combats. The key here is to make your best informed guess and play with it for a while. Then move up and down the chart of ideal slottings based on what your play experience tells you. Too much downtime on PA? Add a recharge in. Sits in your try unclicked too much? Replace a recharge with something else.

The Calculator
It’s an excel spreadsheet that can be downloaded from here. I will try to keep it up there as long as humanly possible.

Some Results
For those who can’t or don’t want to download the spreadsheet, I'll follow this post with some results from the Calculator.

Assumptions Used
Most of what we know of Phantom Army comes from Geko’s Post defending the changes to Phantom Army when Issue 2 changed them significantly.

From this post we know that:
<ul type="square">[*]PA has 75% accuracy[*]PA casts 1-4 decoys (3 each cast after I5)[*]Ranged attacks are a bit faster than melee attacks (10 ranged/cast vs. 7 melee). Between this and some testing it appears that a melee attack takes 8 seconds to cycle and a ranged attack takes 6 seconds to cycle. (I would love some additional testers, I had a hard time keeping the PA at range.)[*]Another little tidbit, it seems that the cycles for a ranged and melee attack are not intertwined. So if you could get the PA to come in and out of melee range, you’d get extra attacks because it would cast the ranged attack, cast the melee attack when it would have idled waiting for the ranged to recharge, cast a ranged when it would have idled waiting for the melee to recharge, etc.[/list]
My testing of PA, which I would LOVE some people to confirm or deny, reveals the following:

PA seemed to attack about once every 4 seconds or so at range and a melee attack every 8 seconds. Geko’s figures say a ranged attack takes 6 seconds and a melee one takes about 8 seconds. That’s not my experience in I5, but I’m going to use Geko’s implied numbers for ranged attacks in my analysis. I’ll update that guide based on testing feedback from others.

I’ve Brawl Indexed Phantom Army on two different illusionist (lvl 18 and lvl 36) and come up with the following. Please let me know if you have different results:
[*]Melee: 6.09 - 4.83 autoheal = 1.26 [*]Ranged: 3.76 - 1.79 autoheal = 1.97

Finally, some other “facts” that are in my assumptions:
<ul type="square">[*]PA has a duration of 60 seconds with a recharge of 240 seconds. [*]Hasten is a 0.7 recharge effect and can be “perma” with 6 +0 SOs[*]I made some educated guesses on the recharge boost of AM, Siphon Speed, Etc. Precise numbers would be appreciated.[*]A +0 Recharge, DMG, or ACC SO delivers +0.333 Bonus[*]Accuracy caps at 95% and floors at 5%[*]Accuracy is computed as follows: Chance to hit = (1 + Acc SOs) * (Base ToHit * Purple_Patch - Defense of target + ToHit bonus)[*]Purple Patch Modifiers are as per Ladioss Sopp's spreadsheet[/list]
Caveats
I've done my best to test the numbers I've used, but it would be nice to have some others test and see if you get the same results. Specifically, there are a couple of things I'm hinky on because I haven't gotten confirming tests from others.:

<ul type="square">[*]The BI of PAs two kinds of attacks (melee and ranged)[*]The Attack rate of the ranged attacks (melee was pretty easy to get since they stayed still and spammed it, but ranged was hard to get because they kept closing to melee)[*]The formula for accuracy, especially purple patch issues[/list]
Let me know if your test results seem to differ or if you find an outright error in the guide or calculator.

Enjoy your decoys.

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In light of the i5 changes I think soloability for controllers pre-32 will go way up. I have in fact tried a few builds on an idea I had for a scrapping controller.

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I concur.

I still have some testing to do of TA and Sonics to make the BEST calls, but here are some darn good solo controller builds for I5. Again, these are meant to be guidelines, not exact builds. If you want to scraptroll with mind as a primary, try a Mind/Kin + the fighting pool.

I've always been suprised at how useful people found this guide. I hope this will serve as a decent stopgap until I know enough about I5 to pick the "best".

Happy gaming all...


Archetype: Controller
Primary: Mind Control
Secondary: Storm Summoning
---------------------------------------------
01) --&gt; Mesmerize(1)
01) --&gt; Gale(1)
02) --&gt; Dominate(2)
04) --&gt; Levitate(4)
06) --&gt; Hasten(6)
08) --&gt; Mass Hypnosis(8)
10) --&gt; Confuse(10)
12) --&gt; Hurdle(12)
14) --&gt; Super Speed(14)
16) --&gt; Health(16)
18) --&gt; Total Domination(18)
20) --&gt; Stamina(20)
22) --&gt; Hurricane(22)
24) --&gt; Steamy Mist(24)
26) --&gt; Terrify(26)
28) --&gt; Snow Storm(28)
30) --&gt; Freezing Rain(30)
32) --&gt; Mass Confusion(32)
35) --&gt; Tornado(35)
38) --&gt; Lightning Storm(38)
41) --&gt; Fire Ball(41)
44) --&gt; Fire Shield(44)
47) --&gt; Fire Blast(47)
49) --&gt; Thunder Clap(49)


Archetype: Controller
Primary: Illusion Control
Secondary: Radiation Emission
---------------------------------------------
01) --&gt; Blind(1)
01) --&gt; Radiant Aura(1)
02) --&gt; Spectral Wounds(2)
04) --&gt; Accelerate Metabolism(4)
06) --&gt; Hasten(6)
08) --&gt; Air Superiority(8)
10) --&gt; Superior Invisibility(10)
12) --&gt; Deceive(12)
14) --&gt; Fly(14)
16) --&gt; Hurdle(16)
18) --&gt; Phantom Army(18)
20) --&gt; Health(20)
22) --&gt; Stamina(22)
24) --&gt; Enervating Field(24)
26) --&gt; Spectral Terror(26)
28) --&gt; Radiation Infection(28)
30) --&gt; Lingering Radiation(30)
32) --&gt; Phantasm(32)
35) --&gt; Choking Cloud(35)
38) --&gt; EM Pulse(38)
41) --&gt; Power Blast(41)
44) --&gt; Temp Invulnerability(44)
47) --&gt; Conserve Power(47)
49) --&gt; Teleport Foe(49)


Archetype: Controller
Primary: Fire Control
Secondary: Kinetics
---------------------------------------------
01) --&gt; Char(1)
01) --&gt; Transfusion(1)
02) --&gt; Ring of Fire(2)
04) --&gt; Fire Cages(4)
06) --&gt; Hasten(6)
08) --&gt; Boxing(8)
10) --&gt; Siphon Speed(10)
12) --&gt; Flashfire(12)
14) --&gt; Tough(14)
16) --&gt; Hot Feet(16)
18) --&gt; Cinders(18)
20) --&gt; Weave(20)
22) --&gt; Kick(22)
24) --&gt; Repel(24)
26) --&gt; Bonfire(26)
28) --&gt; Inertial Reduction(28)
30) --&gt; Speed Boost(30)
32) --&gt; Fire Imps(32)
35) --&gt; Transference(35)
38) --&gt; Fulcrum Shift(38)
41) --&gt; Indomitable Will(41)
44) --&gt; Mind Over Body(44)
47) --&gt; Mental Blast(47)
49) --&gt; Psionic Tornado(49)


Archetype: Blaster
Primary: Ice Blast
Secondary: Ice Manipulation
---------------------------------------------
01) --&gt; Ice Bolt(1)
01) --&gt; Chilblain(1)
02) --&gt; Ice Blast(2)
04) --&gt; Frost Breath(4)
06) --&gt; Hasten(6)
08) --&gt; Freeze Ray(8)
10) --&gt; Chilling Embrace(10)
12) --&gt; Hurdle(12)
14) --&gt; Super Speed(14)
16) --&gt; Health(16)
18) --&gt; Bitter Ice Blast(18)
20) --&gt; Stamina(20)
22) --&gt; Ice Patch(22)
24) --&gt; Ice Storm(24)
26) --&gt; Bitter Freeze Ray(26)
28) --&gt; Shiver(28)
30) --&gt; Whirlwind(30)
32) --&gt; Blizzard(32)
35) --&gt; Freezing Touch(35)
38) --&gt; Frozen Aura(38)
41) --&gt; Body Armor(41)
44) --&gt; Sleep Grenade(44)
47) --&gt; LRM Missile(47)
49) --&gt; Build Up(49)


Archetype: Defender
Primary: Dark Miasma
Secondary: Dark Blast
---------------------------------------------
01) --&gt; Tar Patch(1)
01) --&gt; Dark Blast(1)
02) --&gt; Twilight Grasp(2)
04) --&gt; Gloom(4)
06) --&gt; Hasten(6)
08) --&gt; Shadow Fall(8)
10) --&gt; Dark Pit(10)
12) --&gt; Darkest Night(12)
14) --&gt; Super Speed(14)
16) --&gt; Tenebrous Tentacles(16)
18) --&gt; Hurdle(18)
20) --&gt; Health(20)
22) --&gt; Stamina(22)
24) --&gt; Fearsome Stare(24)
26) --&gt; Petrifying Gaze(26)
28) --&gt; Black Hole(28)
30) --&gt; Night Fall(30)
32) --&gt; Dark Servant(32)
35) --&gt; Moonbeam(35)
38) --&gt; Blackstar(38)
41) --&gt; Dark Consumption(41)
44) --&gt; Dark Embrace(44)
47) --&gt; Oppressive Gloom(47)
49) --&gt; Soul Drain(49)

In b4 Lock

[ QUOTE ]
Thanks for your feedback. As you know, we've already sped up the NPC's in Escort missions, which seems to be the number one request!

I've also noted that you'd like allies to fight sooner, more control over allies/NPC's, NPC's appearing on the map and better notification when protecting the artifact is over...I'm not sure how much of this we'll get done for I5, but if we don't, I'll put this into the quality of life fixes and try to get them done at some time in the near future.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thanks for the changes to NPCs.

You mention "better" notification when protecting an artifact is over - what is the current method of notification? The only sign I can see is you wait a long time and nothing seems to come. Is there something more visibile/audible that I've missed?

If not, please, don't let "better notification when protecting the artifact is over" slip to the QOL list. If it doesn't make I5, please put it on the I6 list. I can live without gthe ability to control my allies, without them on my map, even with them not fighting until late in the mission - these can make a mission harder, but at least I know what to do.

But an unclear objective is very hard to cope with.

I know this is harder than just dropping invisibility entirely. But when you aattack someone while stealthed, it makes no sense that EVERYONE sees you. The guy you shot at should see you (miss or hit) and people near him should see you, not everyone.

Ditto when you get hit. The guy who hit you shold see you, and people near him, not the whole map.

As mentioned, it's ideal for breaking groups into pieces an important tactic. This version is meant to make us be tactical, so keep the tactical aspect of this power.

The return of partial defense upon being spotted is nice and makes sense and I appreciate that. But the "stealth drop" is just not good.

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My brother is set to deploy in Iraq in just a few days so I wanted to make sure that I saw him off right!

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Best wishes to your brave brother.

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Positron and I will also be reading all of the threads over this week and we HOPE to post updates or responses on every single one.

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Thanks. We couldn't post testing results because there have been no redname posts after the latest patch went to the test server.

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I do NOT pass my posts through PR, community relations or anyone. I post, well, exactly as I think. So sometimes I won't sound polished like a snake oil salesman. Sometimes, I'll sound just like any other gamer out there.

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That's the way I like it, Jack. Warts and all, I'd rather have your real words instead of some PR BS.

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I'm not going to always write the best responses, but you'll at least have truthful ones.

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To be honest, the closest I've seen you get to "shading the truth" is when you do have time to think about it, like the justificaitons for changes in the release notes. When you post directly into the threads, we know where your coming from. We may not always like it, but we know it.

Thanks for the straight-shooting, Jack. And welcome back.

[ QUOTE ]
Many existing missions have been updated with hostage escorts, friendly heroes who fight by your side, villain wave attacks and more.

Discuss the new mission types and how you liked them. More of them? Less? Hostages AI Ok?

This thread is for you to provide feedback to the Devs on the above issues. You are allowed to post ONCE in this thread. Make it count! If you post more than one time - the extra posts will be removed.

If a dev responds this count will be reset.

[/ QUOTE ]

I hope I can get more than one reply as I have yet to hit any hostages, just some desks to protect and some wave attacks.

I had a VERY hard time figuring out when I could stop guarding the desk and move on with the other objectives in the mission. I failed the mission because the waves seemed to stop coming, but the mission was not complete. I went back and tried defeating nearby MOBs, and while I was a wave formed behind me and finished off the desk. MISSION FAILED.

Please we need some obvious indicator that the waves are over. Maybe a glowie appears on the desk so you can click it and know it's safe to move on.

I REALLY enjoyed protecting the desks. Very thematic task for my controller. Love that such content is finally here. Just needs some fine tuning to let us know when we've completed the objective.

Also, I was suprised to find I could not heal the desk, even though I could target it. It let me cast the heal, but it did nothing. It also let me speed boost and increase the density of the desk - though I saw not effect (not that I expected speed boost to do anyting, but did Increase Density apply my DMG RES? I dunno.)

It would be nice if we could use our buffs and heals on the things we are protecting.

Not trying to rain on the parade here. I LOVE the content, just needs a little work to make it as smooth as other mission objectives.

I give myself pemission to explore absurdity. And permission to bring some of it back with me.

And I liberally combine things I like into something new. If I had any artistic talent I'd make collages and parodies.

Well, I actually do make parodies.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
-Much as I hate suggesting this idea, defenders need to be able to survive just as long as the buffed teammates in order to ensure the safety of the team. Adding the ability to self target would be an incredible boost to defender sets like EMP, FF, Storm, and Kin. This would be a defender only ability and would bring these sets further into line with the capabilities of rad/dark.


[/ QUOTE ]

I know a lot of people might roll their eyes at this one, but I've been playing a lot of GuildWars where all Monks and Mesmerists are allowed to use Party Buffs on themselves as well(You simply target an enemy or pick no target at all and the buff is automatically targeted at yourself instead of a teammate). It's actually a lot more balanced than you'd expect and the only questionable ones are the Self-Heals. But then self-healing is actually something CoH already shares with GW.

[/ QUOTE ]

I've called for self-buffing for defenders before. It makes sense. When controllers get pets they get to buff the crap out of them, why not let defenders self-buff as one of their AT specific perks and to differentiate them from controllers more (defenders get to take advantage of all their buffs right away, controllers have to wait for pets).

As others have mentioned, you can lower the strength of the buff when it is self directed if it is really overpowering. I like the idea of the self-buffs conforming to the "no self-stacking" rule that bubbles follow and then having them automatically apply to the defender each time he applies the buff to a teammate. This has the added advantage of encouraging teaming, since if you have no-one to aim the buff at, you don't get it yourself either.

I just don't get why they don't do this.