Rigel_Kent

Dark Blast got Psi'd.

I find it difficult to ever justify rolling either a Dark/ or Psi/ blaster over a corruptor with a more direct port of the original defender set. Or even a defender outright. I'd have to really, really love one of the blaster secondaries to even consider it.

On the bright side, as an electric blaster, I'll have lots and lots of company on the bottom tier for a few weeks before the shiny on Dark/ wears off.

You can even give melee types the option to turn off crappy mez protection toggles (Wet Ice, ahem) to save on endurance and attack moar.

Just to clarify, if you have your hit rolls channel on, it will report Poison Gas as being autohit. This is misleading.

The initial pulse is not autohit, but all targets that are hit will have a short duration mag 3 hold applied. Accuracy should help with this part, if you can find a way to slot it.

Subsequent ticks every 1 second are autohit, and all targets within the gas will have their regeneration and recharge debuffed for at least 10 seconds. There is also a 2% chance to hold proc per tick. Accuracy won't help with this part.

1> Corruptors - Support, check. Crits, check. Making everyone in your team awesome means making yourself awesome too. Logic!
2> Blasters - And why shouldn't any comic book damage dealer concept have both melee and ranged attacks? Even MVC2's Cable gets a dragon punch.
3> Brutes - Playstyle mismatch, but the "gains damage in battle" thing plus various taunt auras are a surprising fit for "power drainer" concepts.
4> Dominators - See Blasters. But where's my nuke?
5> Tankers - Survive-all concept is limiting, but just ask anyone, I have a knack for drawing aggro.
6> Defenders - Perfect playstyle match, except for a blatantly gamey inherent that makes no sense for most character concepts. A comic book hero unleashes raw fury, not better budgeting skills, over a fallen comrade, and doesn't magically lose 30% of his power just because he's teaming up in a crossover issue. I therefore reserve this AT for Jekyll & Hyde concepts with dual solo/team builds.
7> Scrappers - Okay for when I want to play scrappy instead of blasty. Less okay for when I want a concept to do anything interesting in a team dynamic.
8> Controllers - Concept dissonance. I roll this AT to be heavy on support and light on attacks, not to get inherent crits and be a distant #2 to Doms at crowd control.
9> Masterminds - Like buffs/debuffs. Don't like pets being the super ones. I have Pokemon for that.
10> Stalkers - Design is gamey, focus is narrow. I rarely come up with a concept that can thread this needle. Comic book characters are meant to be seen.
NO> Peacebringers Warshades Soldiers Widows - I don't know what planet has comic books featuring heroes with exactly the same origin, powers, and appearance as other heroes. Here on Planet Earth, I prefer to pick my own origin story, costume and powers on a comic book themed RPG.

I don't mind Beam Rifle seeming to be on the weak side (especially since it really isn't), but it does suffer from thinking inside the box.

Beam Rifle isn't Assault Rifle. It's not ever going to be the "realistic" blast set. So it could've had any number of various effects on its blasts. A containment beam, a repulsion beam, an endurance drain beam, hell, even a healing beam. This is comic book fantasy, any kind of magical effects could have gone in this set. Instead, we got damage, dots, and dots that cause more damage.

If you don't get a good answer here, try the PvP boards.

If the dev motivation behind any game mechanic is "to kill you", that's likely a symptom of false challenge-difficulty equivalence. In a game that stands out in its industry for its customization, challenge isn't in how hard it is for our characters to succeed, it's in discovering novel, even personalized ways for our characters to succeed. We've customized our looks and our powers, our endgame should be customized as well.

This can be seen, for example, when certain players build reputations for running TFs or raids in particular ways. Some, for example, are known for aggressively rushing through a TF, even if it means taking point with a suboptimal tanking build, like an elec/elec blapper. (*cough*) They've discovered their own unique way of beating the game, and I like to think they get some personal gratification from that.

On Keyes, we have exactly one way to avoid Rocks Fall Everyone Dies. So you figured out not hurting A-M and green number spam are required to stay alive on Keyes? Congratulations. You graduated. There's no more challenge left, except for doing that same exact thing, over, and over. Have fun.

I'm seeing a lot of talk about unresistable, unavoidable damage causing "equality" in this thread.

You're forgetting the large inequality those mechanics create between buffs, debuffs, taunts, slows or mezzes, and heals. After 50 levels of choice between any number of approaches to support a team, Keyes is a disappointment and a bore to my non-healing defenders. Just slot Rebirth like everyone else, and pray to the trinity.

The laws of in-game physics are inconsistent with light. Maybe light does energy damage, maybe light does psi damage. We're not sure.

Anyway, I checked out the character creator, and Illusion Control, Mind Control, Empathy, Psi Blast/Psionic Assault/Mental Manipulation, Energy Melee/Energy Manipulation/Energy Assault, Rad Blast, Claws, Energy Aura, Invuln, and Willpower seem to have passable light type effects with the right customization.

FWIW my light based hero concept ended up psi blast; rad blast looks just a little off, with its gaseous effects and spinning particles.

Just a quick word of warning: there are few frustratingly bad powersets in the game, but Psi Blast for blasters is one of them. If you roll a Psi blaster, make sure to pick a good secondary (like MM) and spend most of your power picks and slots on it instead.

Power picks:

Power Sink without Blackstar? You're making me pout. I'm not sure Power Sink serves any purpose in this build other than nuke recovery.

Or, since you're not hovering or flying, you can master the secret leapfrog joust technique for reverse knockback, so you could add either Gale or Torrent and start training, grasshopper.

With Lightning Clap and Dark Pit, Shocking Bolt is meh except for Hamidon raids. I'd drop that in favor of either Blackstar or a knockback. Maybe drop O2 Boost too if you don't like it enough to 2-slot it.

Slotting:

Unusual Tenebrous Tentacles slotting, but has potential. To get the most out of those procs, get some range and recharge in the two non-proc slots. A HO-Centriole (Dmg/Range) and a Ragnarok-Dmg/Rech/Acc, perhaps. Range in TT is terribly underappreciated; once you try it, you won't know how you got by without it.

Stamina probably won't need that many slots.

Courtesy decode, same as the build in the OP.

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.93
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Magic Defender
Primary Power Set: Storm Summoning
Secondary Power Set: Dark Blast
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Electricity Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: O2 Boost -- HO:Golgi(A)
Level 1: Dark Blast -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(3), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(5), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(5), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(7)
Level 2: Gloom -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(7), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(9), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(9), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(11), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(11)
Level 4: Snow Storm -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 6: Steamy Mist -- RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(A), RctvArm-ResDam/Rchg(13), RctvArm-ResDam(13), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(15), S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(50)
Level 8: Freezing Rain -- UndDef-Rchg/EndRdx(A), UndDef-DefDeb/Rchg(15), UndDef-Rchg(17), LdyGrey-Rchg/EndRdx(17), Achilles-ResDeb%(19)
Level 10: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(19)
Level 12: Hurricane -- FrcFbk-Rechg%(A), DarkWD-ToHitDeb(21), DarkWD-ToHitDeb/EndRdx(21), DarkWD-ToHitdeb/Rchg/EndRdx(23), DarkWD-ToHitDeb/Rchg(23)
Level 14: Super Speed -- Zephyr-Travel(A), Zephyr-ResKB(25)
Level 16: Tenebrous Tentacles -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(25), Posi-Dam%(27), TotHntr-Dam%(27), Cloud-%Dam(29), GravAnch-Hold%(29)
Level 18: Dark Pit -- Amaze-Stun(A), Amaze-EndRdx/Stun(31), Amaze-Stun/Rchg(31), Amaze-Acc/Stun/Rchg(31), Amaze-Acc/Rchg(33)
Level 20: Thunder Clap -- RzDz-Acc/Rchg(A), RzDz-Acc/Stun/Rchg(33), RzDz-EndRdx/Stun(33), RzDz-Acc/EndRdx(34), RzDz-Stun/Rng(34)
Level 22: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 24: Night Fall -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(34), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(36), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(36), Posi-Dam%(36)
Level 26: Tornado -- C'Arms-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), C'Arms-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(37), C'Arms-Acc/Dmg(37), C'Arms-Dmg/EndRdx(37)
Level 28: Boxing -- Acc-I(A)
Level 30: Tough -- RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(A), RctvArm-ResDam(40), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(40), RctvArm-ResDam/Rchg(42)
Level 32: Lightning Storm -- Decim-Acc/Dmg(A), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx(42), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(42), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(43), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(43)
Level 35: Life Drain -- Nictus-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Nictus-Acc/Heal(43), Nictus-Acc/EndRdx/Heal/HP/Regen(45), Nictus-Heal(45)
Level 38: Weave -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(45), LkGmblr-Def(46)
Level 41: Thunder Strike -- Erad-Dmg(A), Erad-Acc/Rchg(46), Erad-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(46), Erad-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(48)
Level 44: Charged Armor -- RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(A), RctvArm-ResDam(48), RctvArm-ResDam/Rchg(48), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(50)
Level 47: Power Sink -- Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg(A)
Level 49: Shocking Bolt -- BasGaze-Acc/Hold(A), BasGaze-Acc/Rchg(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Vigilance
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Mrcl-Rcvry+(A), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(39)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- P'Shift-End%(A), P'Shift-EndMod(39), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(39), EndMod-I(40)

Have you thought about Dark/Kin? That way you can leech not just health, but also endurance, damage, and speed. Once you get used to moving from close range to cone range and back, there's not much stopping this build.

P.S. Don't skip Dark Pit.

Gonna say dark/psi defender. Dark Miasma for obvious reasons. Psi to deal with fricking ghosts. Defender for lower level access to the game breakers.

And it ain't bad at level 50, either.

OK, so Shield Defense narrows it down to scrappers, tankers, and brutes. It also excludes claws, spines, dual blades, and katanas.

From there, let's look at the remaining weapon selection. Pick the one that suits your concept, and that'll narrow the AT further.

Battle Axe -> Tanker or Brute. (Also Scrapper after I21.)
Broad Sword -> Scrapper only. (Also Brute after I21.)
Fiery Melee (Fire Sword, etc.) with Combustion -> Tanker only.
Fiery Melee (Fire Sword, etc.) with Cremate -> Scrapper or Brute.
Ice Melee (Ice Sword, etc.) -> Tanker only.
Stone Melee (Stone Mallet, etc.) -> Tanker or Brute.
War Mace -> Tanker or Brute. (Also Scrapper after I21.)

P.S. Thank you for not rolling Emp/Archery.

P.P.S. Just as an aside, my angelic alt started BS/Invul (there was no SD back then) and ended up a Sonic/Fire blaster. If you're willing to try a concept without a shield, blasters dominators stalkers and VEATs have melee weapon options.

Poison. Anything Poison can do, other debuff sets can do with a vastly larger radius and/or autohit and/or faster recharge and/or stacking. That's why it just can't compete with Cold, Dark, Rad, Storm, Traps, or even Trick Arrow.

All Issue 21 changes for Poison is that it can't compete with Time either.

Not much to add to the thread, except to concur that henchless /Traps isn't too bad, and neither is henchless /Storm.

My henchless Bots/Poison is quite awful, though, and may get rerolled as a Corruptor.

I'm going to go back on what I said earlier in this thread.

Empathy is special, but not in the way new players think. What makes Empathy special are its quirks:

• 9 out of 9 powers are clicks. No toggles, no autos.
• 9 out of 9 powers are self-targeting or ally-targeting. No enemy or location targeted powers.
• Low level powers are more situational than high level powers.

None of this means you need a special build for Empathy, or to ignore your secondary. It actually means:

• 9 clicks: Hasten and recharge bonuses are your new BFF.
• 9 self/ally targets: Shift-1~8, a set of ally targeting keybinds similar to Tab/ShiftTab/CtrlTab, and the ability to switch rapidly between ally and enemy targeting is essential. Left click targeting won't cut it.
• Low level situational powers: Don't play the same at level 50 as you did at level 2.

Defiance 2.0 kind of works like that. With Defiance 2.0, I have the option to intentionally fail at AoEing, by using ST blasts early in the fight and AoE blasts later in the fight. If I choose to do so, Defiance 2.0 rewards my bad gameplay by making it somewhat less bad.

Mmmyeahno.

Making bad gameplay less bad is simply not a buff, bonus, perk, or positive of any kind, even if the devs believe it is. Which leads me to propose a theory:

All past, present, and future combo based powersets in City of Heroes suck.

I haven't seen Street Justice yet, so I'll go lurk the melee AT boards a bit and see if my theory holds up.

Simply scaling back the old nukes to the crashless nuke model seems like a missed opportunity. (This goes double if they end up like DP's tier 9.) If the problem is not enough bang for the buck, more bang is as good a solution as less buck.

So while I don't like making powers work differently for different ATs, I did have a random thought.

What if nukes were extra affected by the various ATs' inherents? Defender nuke end crash reduced by Vigilance, Corruptor nuke scourge triggering off higher HP targets, Blaster nuke giving a huge defiance self-buff and its crash delayed for the defiance duration?