StratoNexus

Indeed. The lucky character I spoke of had all 4 Issue 20 slots tier 4 by April 10th, after a bit less than 40 trials. I was only planning to go tier 3, but lucky drops altered the plan. But I don't plan on running 4 to 6 trials a night on most characters.

22 missions to become a villain, do the redside stuff for the accolade, 11 more to at least be able to go hero side again and still yet 11 more to get back to full hero. And you need 8 days for that.

Or you could do 2 Ouro arcs and a BAF trial, plus gather the explores and history badges.

It is also possible that the Temp Power lasts less than 4 seconds and can be replenished at a faster rate. Just a little bit shorter, say 3.75 seconds and it is possible another 1 or 2 applications of Reactive could occur at the end of the rain. If it were 3.5 seconds, you could get another entire series of applications. This means it is possible the stacking cap is 5 instead of 6. A cap of 4 seems very unlikely based on my testing and I still lean towards 6.

Adding 75 DPS in a 20 or 25 foot radius AoE which lasts 15 seconds with a base 1 minute recharge IS A HUGE DEAL. I am astounded there are people who pretend it is not. Being able to wipe out every minion and lt. in a +2 spawn every 20 seconds with a power that is primarily a debuff/control power really ought to seem way off kilter to everyone. Being able to do it with a power that is simply supposed to be a decent AoE damage power also ought to seem off kilter to everyone.

On top of that, rain powers can easily blow past target caps, anyone who has used Blizzard on the towers in an ITF or other target rich environment knows what I am talking about. My Emp/Ice defender does that all the time; now I can do it without crashing my endurance and instead of every 160 seconds I can do it every 24. But its no big deal, killing 40 enemies every 24 seconds is what Emp defenders were designed to do!

Yeah, I am a fun hating person.

It has a stacking limit. When my friend uses his Rain of Fire, then I will only very, very rarely be able to get my reactive to proc (if I get lucky to hit just after one of his Reactives ends and just before another tick of Rain of Fire replenishes it).

10 runs of Freezing Rain using the 75% DoT proc averaged 97.4 ticks (85, 89, 92, 94, 96, 96, 101, 104, 107, 110). Since each application checks for 5 ticks at a rate of 75% chance for each tick and Freezing Rain attacks 76 times, if there was no limiter I should average 5*.75*76=285 ticks. 97.4 ticks would be about 26 applications of the reactive proc over 15 seconds. It appears from the time of tick 1 until tick 5, 4 seconds pass, so we need about 4 seconds before one power can drop and a new one can replace it, which means Freezing Rain will replenish Reactives 4 times (0, 4, 8, 12).

It seems likely then that the stacking limit is 6, which would mean FR applies 24 applications of the proc over its lifespan (and I just got a bit lucky and averaged higher than the 90 ticks 24 applications would have).

10 runs of Ice Storm with the 25% debuff/50% DoT proc averaged 64.9 ticks (54, 55, 60, 62, 63, 64, 68, 71, 74, 78). 24 applications of the reactive proc at 50% chance should yield an average of 60 ticks over Ice Storm's lifespan.

Those numbers seem close enough that I am willing to make the guess that the DoT stacks up to 6 times. It could be just a coincidence though, 20 power activations is not enough to say for sure.

If the stacking limit is 6, that means while it is fully saturated, the 75% version is dealing an average of 301.05 damage every 4 seconds or adding 75.26 DPS (vs. even cons). That is very strong when teamed, but not likely not out of bounds for a team environment (although a trio could likely get there, and it is a very nice addition in a small team situation). In a solo environment it is likely you could only stack 2 to 3 (what is the best chain with the most very low cast time powers?). ~35 DPS added in a solo environment is also very strong, but likely not out of bounds here either. With aura toggles it seems likely one could get to 6 (especially those powersets that can take 2) and of course rains get you there very quick.

It seems likely to me that the best solution would be to add the same type of limit to these procs as exist on IO procs. In both rains and auras, as even in auras the procs are likely more potent than they should be. Maybe they could also just limit the stacking to 4, instead of 6? Possibly both should be done.

Indeed.

Some numbers after my Freezing Rain and Ice Storm tests.

My Storm MM has the 75% chance for DoT; the /Ice defender has the 25% chance for debuff/50% chance for DoT.

10 casting of each power hitting just one targeting dummy.

Freezing Rain averaged hitting 97.4 Reactive ticks.
Against +3 enemies that would be 847 damage (before counting in the resistance debuff of Freezing Rain and not counting Freezing Rain's damage).

Ice Storm averaged having 64.9 Reactive ticks.
Against +3 enemies that would be 564 damage (before counting in the resistance debuff portion of the proc and without counting the damage of Ice Storm).

A couple things I think I have figured out about Reactive. None of my tests are exhaustive enough to call conclusive, but the indication is strong enough that I am not embarrassed to post my beliefs. The testing was done with an Emp/Ice defender who has the 25% chance for debuff/50% chance for DoT proc, BIB was set to auto on a dummy in the RWZ. Also used was a Rad/Pistols defender who has the 75% chance for DoT proc, Executioner's Shot set to auto on a Dummy in the RWZ.

1. The DoT will not end prematurely. These are not cancel on miss DoTs. The DoT can stop and then start up again. So tick 1 and 2 can activate, tick 3 fails, then tick 4 and 5 can activate.

2. I believe each application has a maximum potential of 5 ticks.

3. The percent chance is the chance rolled for each tick, not the chance the for the power to proc at all. If your attack hits the temp power is always granted to the target. My Rad defender has a significant advantage in number of ticks that hit and I only had one time where no reactive damage occurred.

I have a Demon/Storm with the 75% chance. I will try to compare his Freezing Rain to my Emp/Ice defender's Ice Storm (in normal play they both obliterate +2 minions and Lts. the Freezing Rain works slightly better since it has KD).

But you don't play blasters...
Because they perform too low...

That would depend on the amount of DPS the user output, unless the DOT damage is much higher than I expect.

The questions that need answering for you to know:
What is the average DPS the DoT portion puts out at 50% and 75%?
What is the average resistance debuff you will have applied at 25%?
How much DPS do you output without the Reactive?

Add your DPS + the DPS of the 75% DOT.
Add your DPS + the DPS of the 50% DOT, multiply by (1 + the answer to question 2).

Which of those 2 is higher?

I am not sure anyone really knows the answer to the first two questions at this point in time. I have heard a great variety of inconsistent reports about the reactive proc. In a solo setting, activation times may play a factor in how many debuffs/DoTs you can keep active, further complicating the question. All this of course ignores the enemy resistance levels, since the DoT will be reduced vs. enemies with Fire resistance but improved relative to the enemy resistance vs. your primary damage type.

When I can walk up to a spawn of level 53 Longbow on my Demon/Storm MM (who is 50+1) with BG mode on, and hit Freezing Rain and then just stand there as every Lt and minion dies, something is not right.

While my experience leads me to believe the issue is only in fast ticking powers, it is possible the DoT proc itself is too strong even in regular powers.

Dual Pistols does not underperform. It simply is not Fire blast when it comes to damage. Far too many people think that every new set has to be more damaging than every set that came before it. Dual Pistol's debuffs need help, yes. The Cryo and Chem round are lacking. But the utility in Dual Pistols is leaps and bounds ahead of Fire (and I am a Fire blaster at heart, you can keep your fancy controls and Knocks, I'll just Blaze them in the face, thank you very much).

The AoE potential of Pistols is strong. The single target is lower tier (but still well within blaster norm). The control is strong. Would I have made Executioner's Shot have a half second shorter cast time? You bet. Would I prefer to see Empty Clips get something to make up for its cast time? You bet. Does Pistols currently underperform relative to other blast sets? Sadly, no, which makes it hard for me to argue for the changes I would like to see.

Good points. I could use it for timing the STF flyer respawn or a Sally respawn while running in Croatoa, for instance.

You can already have 2 gun drones out.

Indeed, I also started the trials playing on my blaster. It is likely the reason I did not have to adjust my playstyle on my blaster (which is similar to my controller in some ways) was because the blaster is on my more regular server and I teamed more with people able to support my usual, reckless playstyle. The controller is not and I teamed more often with people who were not as apt to aid or buff. The blaster also has RotP, so even when I messed up, I was not likely to miss much.

I have a SS/EA Brute and a WM/WP Tanker. I think that makes me Strong Enough and Pretty Enough.

When I form leagues, after I get to a certain level of people, I set a start time. I'll say in league chat, "OK, so we all know when the trial is going to start I am setting us a start time. We will run this BAF in 11 minutes." Then I set my kitchen timer to 11 minutes.

I loathe never knowing if my league is going to run in 3 minutes or 16 minutes, so I try to give people I lead an idea. As time passes and I continue to recruit, I'll periodically say, "8 minutes to Go Time for our BAF."

I'd love to be able to have that timer be in game. Anyone in the league can see the timer running down, so they know if they have time to make a sandwich, get a beverage, or if they better stay because the green button will be coming soon.