Psiphon
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Posts
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Joined
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Quote:Themetically it's nice but from a practical standpoint it's not really that good.Originally Posted by ShoeTattoo
This sounds like an interesting combo, on reflection.
The better defenses of /FF take some of the sting out of using wormhole, plus the stuns in wormhole and replusion bomb can stack. Also, even if it comes late, having AOE from the /FF secondary makes a grav/FF character a little more versatile. Thematically this combo is also a very nice fit for a mad scientist or a magic-slinging kind of character.
/FF helps but the extra control from /Rad and /Storm work far better and make you feel like a proper controller.
Grav/FF can be very frustrating especially in caves and other maps with uneven surfaces where the KB from Wormhole can be problematic - on these occasions I wish I was playing the Grav/Rad or Grav/Storm. -
If you go with Energy mastery you can pick up Focused Acurracy and slot it with a set of Gaussian's
Basic L50 IOs plus the unique res/def and the Gaussians will cap your defence to all positions - 46.6%. -
Quote:I've just hit L50 on mine and it's become my new main.Originally Posted by Yoshitomo
Hey guys, should Tanks really be able to nuke things...coz I can
Heh sorry if this just sounds like I'm boasting, it's not meant to, I'm just so amazed at how powerful SD/SS is.
I respeced my SD/SS at the weekend because I messed up my slotting while levelling, but I'm still only using SO's (apart from my steadfast protection). I managed to get 42.7% defence to all positions and I overhauled the slotting in my attacks. I joined a pug team last night to beat down on Antimatter and I was ploughing through entire groups in a flash.
The leader, an Elec/Elec Tank, was also pretty powerful, but with rage (sometimes double stacked) and AAO, I just jumped into the group so AAO would kick in, hit shield charge and foot stomp and everything just crumpled into a heap around me. I don't think I've ever felt so powerful.
I really wish they'd sort out the new SS animations when my shields out though.
Any other big SD/SS fans out there?
The damage is great and they way that it delivers it is a thing to behold - like yourself I jump in to the mob for the damage buff then Footstomp, Shield Charge, Footstomp.
I soloed L49 to L50 - resetting a radio mish after clearing (it was a rescue captive) and managed to level in 1.5 hours; for a tank I'd say that's pretty good.
Like yourself I'm struggling to fit Taunt - I'll probably dual build dropping Hasten for Taunt on the team build.
Oh and no don't drop Knock out Blow - great damage, Knock up to mitigate damage from tough foes and looks great. -
Quote:Thanks for the info; how long does the STF take?Originally Posted by Eislor
Instead of just "learning to live with it" do some Statesman TFs and choose the Synthetic Hami-O as your reward. If its not the one you want, sell it. Eventually you will have the Membranes you need.
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Quote:I've got a number of alts and this is one of the worst for solo play; Fire, Plant and Illusion are your best bets.Originally Posted by Hube02
Hi,
I'm new to CoX and so far I've tried out Tanks and Scrappers and thought I'd give a controller a try. I like to build characters based on concept and not really on putting to together things just to make the best character I can. I looked over what is available and thought that a Gravity/Force Field controller would be something I'd like. (I'm sure that I'm not the first and doubt I'll be the last)
Hopefully this has not been asked and answered. I looked over the guides and did some searches but did not find anything that helped.
Anyway, hears the thing. While I like teams, I also play solo, allot, and I need my characters to be able to survive on their own as well as part of a team. The question is, can this combo survive solo.
I've only done the tutorial with this character and one mission from the first contact and I've found this extremely difficult and extremely slow.
Is there anything that I can do to make this a solo friendly character? Does it get better as the character matures? If I was going to build this character strictly for solo play what type of choices should I make as far as powers are concerned? -
Thanks guys - at 400,000,000 each I think I'll have to learn to live with it.
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Quote:I guess it depends on whether the OP is talking Solo or Team.Originally Posted by MentalMaden
Freezing rain is a huge HUGE help and it comes early. Heal? meh.
Things like hurricane, steamy mist and thunderclap are wonderful in the twenties for survivability and increased control. As someone that has played both sets 1-50 I'll say that fire/storm matured much earlier and made a bigger impact earlier.
The /Kin will solo better where the idea is to take down large low level mobs and keep moving quickly - if your taking too much damage just reduce the level of the mob a notch.
The /Storm will be better on a team where extra control is useful and you dont need to keep running all the togs for damage and control. -
Quote:Sorry got to disagee againOriginally Posted by MentalMaden
Fire/storm is a much much earlier bloomer than fire/kin.
A large heal from the off and plus recharge at L10, all Storm gives you is Freezing Rain and you have to wait till L16 for that, the other worth while powers are in the 30's as per Kin. -
Quote:Sorry got to disagee againOriginally Posted by MentalMaden
Fire/storm is a much much earlier bloomer than fire/kin.
A large heal from the off and plus recharge at L10, all Storm gives you is Freezing Rain and you have to wait till L16 for that, the other worth while powers are in the 30's as per Kin. -
Quote:I disagree with most of the comments so far - Fire/kin's are very easy to solo even at the early levels.Originally Posted by Humility
So I am trying out a Fire/Kin since they are supposed to be fantastic and such.
Is this late blooming? Right now I am telling myself "wait till 20, wait till 20, wait till 20". It just feels like very spawn takes at least half my stam, and damage output is painfully low. I know i'm still lowbie at 18... but good lord it's just getting horrible. Slow killing and squishy as heck, with some factions the alpha will faceplant me regardless of what I do.
I know getting stamina at 20 will help, but does the set just bloom late? Looks like there are some really fantastic tools in late game /kin, which is good cause right now it's just... meh. REASSURE ME DAMNIT!
Transfusion gives you a large Heal for low End cost
Siphon Speed at L10 gives you a large recharge bonus
Hot feet for damage
Cages for containment
Flashfire at L12 for mitigation
Char for hold/mitigation
Run the missions at about -1 or 1/x4 o r5 or so at low level
Flashfire, Cages, and cook them with hotfeet while spamming cages.
Use Siphon Speed for +recharge
Transfusion to negate damage
Char Bosses and Lieuts but try to avoid Bosses and run missions without them
As you level up you can adjust the level accordingly but you should level at a good rate.
I've levelled a number of Fire controllers and /Kin is one of the easier - big heal, +recharge are nice buffs to have.
It really takes off in the 30's - Imps at L32, Fulcram Shift at L38. -
Hi All,
I've got all of the Shield powers that offer resistance to defence debuff (Battle Agility, Active Defence, Grant Cover) but I'm struggling to reach the 95% cap.
Is it possible on a Shield?
Active Defence is 3 slotted with recharge and I also run Hasten - with Active Defence double stacked I'm at about 85% but this falls back to 65% when it's not.
Any ideas?
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Quote:Originally Posted by Yoshitomo
Hi tanks!
Recently I've been wanting to get my SD/SS gal out for some clobbering, and maybe even get round to respecing into her IO build. But one thing I noticed is that I never took taunt because I was waiting until I needed it to hold aggro but that time never came. I found AAO, foot stomp and shield charge all stopped mobs from fleeing by either stacking taunt from AAO and gauntlet or just because they were on their backs.
So she's currently just fitted with SO's and with no taunt, but in my IO build, for some reason I added taunt. When I noticed this, I thought GREAT! I can slip PP in place of taunt to alleviate my end issues, but what would you tank vets suggest?
I've been soloing my SD/SS but decided to team last night for the first time, I found that I had trouble keeping the aggro on me
It will be hard to fit taunt in my build so I plan on dual building - a team build with taunt and one without. -
Quote:I think it's a little unfair to pick on tanks as low damage, I find that they are more like Controllers - some builds are very low damage while others are high.Originally Posted by Obscure Blade
Tanks: I can't stand the low damage.
For example - currently (L48) my Shield/SS is levelling every 3 hours or so playing solo. I played briefly with a team and found my XP hit the floor in comparison.
Obviously it won't compare to a well played equivalent Brute for damage but few things will.
So yeah just saying not all tanks are low damage
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Quote:Originally Posted by Sarrate
A damage auras' effect on combat is a bit more complicated than most people give them credit for.
It's pretty easy to prove attacks are balanced around doing a certain amount of damage for a certain amount of damage. For a single target attack, that's 1 damage scale (44.488 dmg as a Tank) per 5.2 endurance. Unless you have a set with a special discount (Energy Transfer, Incinerate, etc), you'll be paying the same endurance to kill mobs if you use several small attacks or a couple big ones (overkill notwithstanding). Obviously, this means the faster you deal damage, the faster you'll burn through endurance.
Damage auras actually match the DPE of a single target attack against single targets. (ie: Death Shroud against 1 target is just as efficient as Energy Punch.) So against multiple mobs, damage auras are far more efficient. So running a damage aura while fighting is dealing damage / killing faster, thus burning more endurance.
It leads to shorter fights, but more frequent rests ("it's draining my endurance fast!").
(Another wrinkle is that if left on, the auras burn endurance you'd normally be recovering outside combat.)
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One benefit of taking damage auras earlier is that you get to slot them up early, making them more useful as soon as you get Stamina. A 4-6 slotted aura can be used much more effectively at lvl20 than a 1 slotted aura can be at lvl22. Of course, that also means that you're taking and slotting a power you may not use much until lvl20, which could slow down leveling up to that point.
I Agree.
I've levelled a couple of Fire Tanks and found that street sweeping large mobs of Green or Blue con Minions in the Hollows worked well in the early levels.
The Aura ticks away while you concentrate on the Lieutenants and Bosses.
This way you get lots of Insp drops too. -
Quote:Agreed!Originally Posted by LSK
It depends on the team you are on I have the same luck with some teams I was on when the trollers used there immobilize and I use burn.
The point that I'm trying to make is that my Fire/Ice tank's effectiveness, damage and fun is affected by the play of other team members. Playing the Shield/SS it isn't, they can do pretty much what they want - Shield Charge has a much larger radius.
After playing a Shield tank I feel that the way it delivers the damage is more effective and satifying than the Fire/Ice - Ice Patch/Burn still makes me smile though.
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Quote:As I said MOST psi attacks have a positional component, there are some exceptions but not enough to cause an issue.Originally Posted by Airborne_Ninja
Wait, whats this?
http://www.redtomax.com/data/powers/...ntrol.Dominate
Say, Dominate has no positional component?
Thusly the psi "hole" still exists since psi controls are non-positional, albeit to a lesser extent then a resist set.
The point of my statement was that due to a Shield tank's defence being positional it doesn't make too much difference what mobs and damage it's up against it's generaly equally effective.
I solo my Shield/SS at +2/x8 against most mobs including Carnies.
My Ice and Fire tanks are capable of the same (the Ice actually more +4/x8) but come unstuck if the mobs in question are dishing out alot of psi damage - to me that is a psi hole.
If you want to be pedantic you could say that Shield has a psi crack but I wouldn't call it a hole. -
They have positional defense which includes the majority of psi.
Neither my /SR Scrapper or Shield/ Tank have any issues with Psi damage. -
Quote:I'm sorry but I have to disagree with this - I've found immobs to be counter productive to using Burn.Originally Posted by Fire_Minded
Steamrolling team you say?
SD/Fire better at Steamrolling then a Fire/Fire?
I call Shinanigans!
On a steamrolling team, a Fire/Fire will still win out.Why you ask? Simple, the Burn everyone hates so much does full, and massive damage when a Controller immobs the attacking mob that surrounds the Fire/Fire Tanker.
Hit Burn, and Burn hits a wider radius then people think it does.It hits more then 5 Targets.Burn aslo can out damage SC, as well as has a faster recharge timmer.
We all know that no Steamrolling team is without a Controller that can lock everything down.Well, atleast not the good ones.
I adore my pure Fire Tanker, but I think ill try a SD/** variation of a Tanker, just for some spice.Dout ill like the lack of heal, resistance, and FE, but, worth a shot.
I find that in most teams the controllers are spamming immobs when the mobs are still dispersed and this reduces the effectiveness of the Burn patch.
Shield Charge on the other hand has a much larger radius so I;ve found this to be less of an issue.
You've said that your going to play a Shield/Fire - think this is a great idea as it seems to me that what you really love is Fire Melee.
It can be a pain not having a ready heal but you'll find that you need it less.
For me the big advantage to Shield/ over Fire/ is that it doesn't have the Psy hole, it doesn't matter what mobs I face I've got a good chance of taking them down ( I hate having to adjust the mission level if I pick up a Carnie or Arachnos mission).
Give it a go and see the light
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Quote:I'm not sure if the Whirlwind idea would work.Originally Posted by somnambulist
Me too, I'm a Fire/Rad/Stone. I like to use choking cloud with radiation infection to hold my foes. It works pretty well. In your case you will have to deal with pets scattering your foes so I don't think it would be perfect for you... but if you look at the power as damage mitigation it could be a big help. I think my slotting was 2 end reduction and 3 hold but I've got some hold IO set in it now. Anyhow... if you try to hanging out near the foe you have radiation infected then at least you'll have a good chance of holding anyone who runs to melee with you.
I got /stone for the same reason you're considering it. I like the resistance and the heal. I also use the stone attack that's an AoE disorient.
Another idea I'm having (not tried for years!!) is the whirlwind power from superspeed? With a lot of end reductions in it you could be knocking down anyone who gets within melee range of you. Might be worth the endurance. If you run around the battlefield like a madman it could be awesome. LOL anyhow I would love to see it... :P
I expect that you spam Cages which would negate the kb and if you weren't the kb would knock them out of your damage aura.
Might be fun though
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Quote:Yep, I completely agree; both my Ill/Storm and Ill/Rad are set for fewer but higher level mobs for this reason.Originally Posted by Local_Man
There is a substantial difference between an Ill/Rad and an Ill/Kin. (I have both, though my Ill/Kin isn't high enough for the APP set yet.) Kinetics virtually forces you to play in melee with its melee heal, endurance and damage buffs. That damage buff makes a big difference, letting you take down lower level foes faster with one or two big hits. Also, optimal Fulcrum Shift requires a lot of foes around. When you have a tough single foe, Fulcrum Shift isn't nearly "all that" -- still good, but not as amazing as with a group.
Radiation has no powers that rely upon large numbers of foes, and the only powers that require anything close to melee are Flash and EM Pulse. You only need a single foe as an anchor for those Rad debuffs. This makes Rad better for the long, tough fight rather than the fast, large but easier fight.
The OP asked how to run with larger mobs though so I offered the best advice I could based on my play experience.
With larger mobs and no AoE immob I think the best way to play is in the mobs to keep them grouped and use the Stone Epic for the extra control - also due to the smaller radius of Fissure compared to say Psy Tornado it pulls less aggro. -
Quote:I agree with this!Originally Posted by Muon_Neutrino
My suggestion? If it isn't already, slot up RI for max tohit debuff, make it be the first rad toggle you hit, and cast spectral terror on the mob instead of next to you. Spectral terror carries a 15% tohit debuff, so that plus your RI should easily floor the tohit of even level foes. That way, they may all shoot at you, but they'll all miss. At that point you can cut loose with all the AoEs you want, they won't be able to do a thing about it. Basically, just a change of tactics. It is certainly true that with perma-pa your best abilities are with smaller numbers of tougher targets, but there's no reason you can't deal with crowds too.
Doing it this way, you don't even really need to use lingering rad since they can't hit anything anyway. Only time you'd need it is if they started running from you!
My Ill/Kin/Stone solos comfortably at +2/x8 using similar tactics - without the mitigation of Rad I rely heavily on the large heal to regen lost health.
I play in melee and find stone the best Epic for this. Fissure has knockdown and a stun that helps with control and sets up containment.
Siesmic Smash also does massive damage and a mag 4 hold. -
Thanks for the feedback, I'll try your suggestions and reinstall as a last resort.
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Hi,
After playing CoH I closed my PC straight down and got the error that it was unable to close the program _dummy_dnsresolver.
I've run various scans on my PC for viruses and trojans etc and found nothing, I've also Googled it and can find very little. I did find a reference to a PC game using this so my query is - is this a valid program used by CoH or have I been hacked?
dummy_dnsresolver doesn't seem like the best name to give a program being used by a Trojan etc.
Any help or info would be greatly appreciated. -
There is no -def to the rage crash if you stack it, the only part that you cant avoid is the -Damage and -End.
Ice would work well with the End recovery in Energy Absorption. -
I'd like to see a change to the Defender inherant to something called Focus.
This would allow the Defenders Primary to have different modifiers to his
Primary dependant on whether he's in a team or solo.
In a team as is.
When solo he's able to focus his attention on himself rather than spread his powers across a team and as such his powers are more powerful for less Endurance.
For example in the case of FF Dispersion Bubble would give better defence by percentage X for reduced End.
Repulsion Bomb shorter recharge etc
With the boost to personal effecting powers it would improve soloing.
Applying this to other sets should assist all defender to solo.