PrincessDarkstar

The problem with putting the proc in a toggle is that although it goes off on average once every 200 seconds there is no guarantee that you are going to actually be close enough to get much benefit from the short lived build up.

In addition to that I would say you have probably got your Nova form over-slotted at the moment, the +tohit is good enough on its own (It will help against hard to hit enemies on its own, but once you start getting into the really hard to hit enemies even 6 slotting the +tohit wont help you - for example stacked Veng on Nemesis), the 2 EndMod IO's you have are only going to work out as good as a single chance for +end IO, and the flight speed I find unnecessary (Especially when you have more imho important things to spend your slots on).

So overall I don't think it is worth it, and I would change your slotting to at most 1 fly IO and the chance for +end IO.

A third point is that with SS/SR will you not be taking Hasten? A third clicky power to complicate things?

I would be reluctant to bind anything to a movement key, because the one time you need PB against an AV you wont be moving and it won't fire.

I would set PB on auto (Since that saves your life) and just watch for rage, if you monitor damage in Combat Attributes you will be able to tell fast enough.

Zorn, you can buy IO's that negate knockback in case you didnt know.

As you are in my SG I might be persuaded to put my hand in my pocked for you if you cannot afford one?

Edit: Also the illusion of damage in nova form isn't such an illusion, with two fast AoE's you can give a lot of blasters a run for their money and only the really AoE heavy ones will outdamage you enough to matter.

I would much rather see Vanguard as the next Epic classes (Wizards FTW!). They can even cross sides easily.

Deichs, your playstyle and build style seem very close to my own, but I do have a few things to mention (Some minor, some pointless, some just because I have nothing better to do):

Sprint: A good place to slot a +stealth IO. I know you have SS + Shadow Cloak for invis but there are many times when SS has just been too much for me, and I prefer having other options.

Dark Nova Emanation/Detonation: I find that Positron's Blast doesn't give enough of a recharge bonus, so if you are going to spend lots of time in Nova consider a 6th slot with a lvl 50 Recharge IO. It makes a massive difference being able to get that extra AoE out each spawn.

Black Dwarf Antagonise: It is the recharge you really want to slot it for, the times you really need to hold aggro you will find hasten drops and then the faster it is up the better. But I would drop the 2nd slot and just put a recharge IO into the main slot. Even if you don't I can't see the +range helping.

Shadow Recall: Do you use it in combat that often? I don't so use a range IO for the shadow shard.

Black Dwarf Mire: Many people disagree with me, but this is a power you want to spam whenever it is up, so that is every 5.7 seconds, but at 13 end a pop you won't be able to use it much before the end starts to bite. I frankenslot this power and forgo any set bonus'. Even then it can still be quite end heavy, or at least was until I got the chance for +end proc.

Dark Nova/Black Dwarf: You have slotted the Chance for +End, which is fair enough, but the rest of the EndRdx or EndMod only add up to +0.2 eps for Nova and +.26 eps for Dwarf, which I don't think is the best place for the slots, especially since I think you should find 2 more slots for the Nova AoE's

Maneuvers/Inky Aspect/Orbiting Death/Phase Shift: Do you use these powers? If the answer is no I recommend dropping all 3 and getting Invisibility (LoTG mule instead of Maneuvers) and Stimulant/Aid Self/Resuscitate. You will definately use Resuscitate (Often!), and stimulant works well for Mo runs (Aid Self isn't great but it does give you stun resistance!). Also phase shift is a purchasable temp power in case you ever do PvP, so no great loss.

Eclipse: Amazing power that it is you shouldn't need to enhance the EndMod. I went 4 x Res/Rech and 1 x Acc IO.

Dark Extraction: Drop the recharge IO and the Dam/End and get the purple Acc/Dam/Rec and the purple Proc. Not cheap but not too expensive and the pets are worth it and then some.

Dark Nova Bolt: I don't think the chance for build up proc is worth being picked over the acc/end/rech, but if you do then I would slot Dark Nova Blast the same for twice the chance.

Black Dwarf Drain: The only other power I frankenslot, Acc/Heal/Rech and as much of it as you can. This power can be a lifesaver.

Sunless Mire: Blashpemy for some but a playstyle choice for me. I once had it perma in my build, and I think the optimum playstyle involves making full use of it and dropping every 30s, but there is no way I can manage that, and I guess the same if for you. In that case, once you get some purples in your build and can afford to drop the recharge bonus you might want to consider just giving it 3 slots of Acc/Rec IO's and leaving it at that, freeing up slots elsewhere for more used powers.

Gravity Well: I think slotting for hold is a perfectly valid choice and do the same. Since you don't have Unchain Essence you don't really need to ability to 1 shot kill something.

I know this isn't much help but I would keep the ones I enjoy playing the most.

To be of slightly more help:

Bubbles v Cold:
Bubble give -end protection, which isn't used often but is vital when it is needed and they give higher +Def, so a Bubbler can soft cap the defence for the whole team if they stand close enough, but that is all they can do really. The cold is much more versatile, and in today's world of +Def IO's most toons don't need the level of +Def that bubbles bring, the cold shields are enough.

So I would keep the Cold.

Sonic v Thermal:
I don't know the specifics of each set too well since I have never played either, but when I get a thermal on the team I notice the heals more than the debuffs, and when I team with a Sonic I really notice the debuffs. So either they are just easier to spot, or they are more powerful.

The healing from thermal is nice, and I think the final decision between these comes down to how important do you find healing on the teams you play, and how much do you enjoy it? I have rarely been in a team where we needed a healer, especially if we had some kind of shielder like a Sonic.

Personally I would keep the Sonic, even if it is from a selfish point of view because my scrapper loves those rings of saturn

I would definately say it is worth taking Maneuvers, fully slotted it is ~5% for a defender and ~4% for a controller so that is 14% defence which works out at your whole team taking 28% less damage - so well worth it!

Bubbles however can add ~30% to defence, so the two Rad defenders will be very close to the defence softcap, and I would think therefore it will be a better choice.

However; Sonic has a lot more going for it than just the shields, whereas FF doesn't really. I would seriously consider taking FF instead, but the sets are so different playstyle wise I would make that choice based on what you enjoy most.

This thread has been very amusing

Anything with FF running about using the big repel bubble to smash spawns apart? Ideally a bots/ff because then those that attack you also get KB'd from the bots and feared from the swarm missiles.

I think any softcapped scrapper with a self heal and confront will be enough for GW if there is someone to stack the stims.

As for recluse the difficulty is that he has massive accuracy/tohit (not sure which) and I would expect an uber specced /SR would be best, someone who has aimed for the crazy heights of 60-70% defence! Supported probably by 2 shield scrappers with aid other and grant cover while the rest beat down the towers.

Aside from those specialists I can't see why not

In fact you wont even need that if all the scrappers are packing Maneuvers, any defence capped scrapper would be enough without needing an overspecced /SR.