StrykerX

To be fair, DPA isn't usually as important for AoEs. Very few builds can ever produce a nonstop AoE chain so all a high DPA really does is let you switch to single target blasts a second or two faster... you're still stuck waiting for recharge before you can AoE again.

Though admittedly, those 5+ seconds to get all three cones off on my Sonic/Mental feel like an eternity when things are shooting back...

Open your Powers window and click Combat Attributes. The Movement section of that window will list your current running, jumping, and flight speeds. You can look at those while Siphon Speed and IR are active to see which is better... it could be either one, depending on slotting and other powers like Swift or Hurdle.

Once you get Seeds of Confusion slotted up melee should be no big deal. Tough doesn't do a lot for a Dom, though sticking a 3% defense IO in it and taking Weave can help if you can spare the slots. If you want resists, a patron shield is better.

I'd take Aid Self instead of the tree if you solo. As for perma-Dom, it's very useful... you get status protection, you mez bosses in one shot, and you get a free endurance refill every minute and a half. What's not to like?

I'd put a -KB or Kismet 6% accuracy (really 6% to-hit) IO in Combat Jumping instead of a Defense IO. The -KB would let you only run Acrobatics when you needed the hold protection, while the Kismet would help you hit purples with your debuffs. Given your lack of global +accuracy and high recovery (which makes Acrobatics easy to run full time) I'd go with the Kismet.

Remember that Bodyguard is effectively 75% resist all. Use it any time a boss is around and you won't have to worry about getting 2-shotted. I personally prefer Ranged and AoE defense from IOs plus a resist based shield for Bots, especially if you have additional defense powers. S/L/E covers a lot, but Ranged and AoE covers pretty much everything.

If you don't want to get at least 15% or so Ranged defense from IOs, I'd go Scorpion Shield though. That will give you great defense in most situations and you can rely on Bodyguard when facing things like Fire and Psy attacks. And it does give you one advantage: most melee attacks will miss so you don't have to worry about positioning as much.

As for to-hit debuffs, AVs resist those by 85% (or more if not even level). Purple con enemies also resist them a lot. Solo, most things will be affected heavily by them (except EB versions of AVs / Heroes) but on a team they'll be weaker since you'll fight a lot more grapes. On the bright side, on a team you should have less aggro unless you are tanking for the team (in which case presumably the enemies will be doing S/L damage and you won't need to-hit debuffs).

Another option is the build I'm currently playing: Archery/Energy played as a pure ranged attacker. Skip the attacks in Energy (other than Power Thrust, which you'll rarely use but which is a great place to slot a Kinetic Crash set for cheap KB protection and recharge) and take Boost Range and Hover. You'll have great AoE and a good single target chain, and you'll be able to keep Boost Range going full time. It's a very fun build and since the buffs from Energy don't give you the pink glowy hands it fits thematically.

Actually, Wow is a very good fantasy MMO. I just happen to be very much over fantasy MMOs...

If you can't afford Hami-Os (or can't slot them yet), my preferred slotting for Protectors is:
Blood Mandate Acc/Dam and Acc/Dam/End
Commanding Presence Acc/Dam and Acc/Dam/End
2x Defense

That gives good accuracy and damage, enough endurance reduction to ensure they never run out, and good defense on the bubbles. It also gives a couple of minor recovery bonuses, which are handy if going stamina-less. You can swap Brilliant Leadership for Commanding Presence if you'd rather have a minor regen bonus in place of a recovery bonus.

If you have a higher budget and are 50, I'd go with something like:
Nucleolus Exposure (Acc/Dam)
2x Peroxisome Exposure (Dam/Mez)
Golgi Exposure (Heal/End)
2x Defense

That gives the equivalent of 1 Acc, 3 Dam, 2 Stun, 1 Heal, 1 End, and 2 Defense SOs. Replace a Peroxisome with a Nucleolus if you fight +3s or better often... you lose the equivalent a Stun SO but pick up another Accuracy. Back in the old days I'd suggest Membrane Exposures for recharge plus defense, but since recharge does nothing for pets now you might as well save a few (or more than a few) million inf and go with defense IOs instead.

(From the perspective of my new(ish) Archery/Energy Blaster)

Most favorite: Carnies. I like their background, the costumes are cool, and the end drain doesn't bother me since I fight at range. They can be hard, but not overpowering, and they're interesting.

Least favorite: Malta titans. I've faceplanted more to those hunks of tin than to everything else combined. Zeus Class especially... those insanely powerful plasma blasts combined with their incendiary missiles and hold gas missiles are brutal.

Surprisingly easy: Sappers. I don't run any toggles but Hover (I'm Weapons Mastery so even my armor is an auto power) so the drain is no big deal, and I can still shoot them while stunned. Plus they go down fast to Rain of Arrows.

Robots/Traps is an absolute beast in PvE, and will definitely help a team (for one thing, they make excellent tanks if you take Provoke). Robots/Pain is even better for team support but you don't have that on the list. However, you may not want to focus on the Bots/Traps for IOs simply because they can do so much without IOs, including soloing archvillains. Thugs/Storm, on the other hand, would benefit enormously from IOs and would also be a beast, and it might be better in PvP (I don't PvP so not sure). Of course if you want absolute domination, fully IO out the Bots/Traps... then your team contribution on an ITF will be the ability to solo the entire task force, so no matter who drops out your team can win. (It'll probably take a lot of practice, but Bots/Traps is one of the few builds I've heard of soloing the ITF.)

My rankings for solo would be:

1) Bots/Traps
2) Thugs/FF (safe but slower)
3) Thugs/Storm
4) the rest, not sure of order

Keep in mind that any Mastermind solos well though. If you want an AV soloist instead of general soloing then /Poison is good, but for general use it's a bit iffy.

For teams, it's more about the secondary.

1) very well played Storm
2) FF, Dark and Pain (all are good, FF less so for AVs)
3) reasonably well played Storm
4) TA
5) Traps (move it up a couple spaces for AVs)
6) Poison (move it up a lot for AVs)
7) badly played Storm

As you can see, Storm is highly dependant on player skill...

As for fun, that's pretty subjective. I personally like Bots/Traps best because I love being able to solo anything I run into, and when I do team the massive AoE laser show never gets old. I also like Storm for the pure chaos of it... but more so on other ATs for some reason.

On the other hand Bots gives the Mastermind himself additional defense, so if you are going to use a taunt and tank the AV yourself Bots are better. If you are going to let the pets take the aggro, I'd go with Thugs.

Plus, with PvE you can challenge yourself in various ways even if the mobs are unlikely to ever actually defeat you (short of a mapserver disconnect). Seeing how fast you can clear a mission, how many groups you can take on at once, and so forth beats killing a lifeless target any time.

Of course you could always try actual PvP if you want real risk... though sadly the drop rates are so low that if you are doing it for the loot it's pretty pointless.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The Karma and Steadfast recipes can be had for 3 million or so apiece, but I've never seen a Zephyr anywhere near 10 million, either in recipe or crafted form. They're usually over 20 million.

[/ QUOTE ] Yeah that's why I worded my statement the way I did. 12 points of KB protection(using one or more of the karma and steadfast) instead of saying all three.

[/ QUOTE ]
Ah, I thought you meant skipping Acrobatics and slotting all three KB IOs for 10 mil. I was wondering where you found that deal...

Considering that Prisoners intentionally give reduced rewards, I don't see the problem...

You can now have a clue given at the start of a mission. (Finally!)

[ QUOTE ]
yes cool but a spider is pretty squishy

[/ QUOTE ]

So is a Dominator when things go wrong...

The Karma and Steadfast recipes can be had for 3 million or so apiece, but I've never seen a Zephyr anywhere near 10 million, either in recipe or crafted form. They're usually over 20 million.

[ QUOTE ]
My SoAs take pride in their rank and authority within Arachnos. They will take great pride in hunting down those that dare to renounce the gifts of training bestowed upon them...

[/ QUOTE ]

I think that SoAs that switch to blueside should run into occasional bounty hunters or Arachnos troops like Keldians run into Voids. I would think the defection of a highly placed Arachnos operative (a Destined One, no less) would annoy the Arbiters just a wee bit...

I've never soloed a SF, but for AVs I find the best strategy to be immobilization + taunt. Stay in Bodyguard (with the pets parked out of AoE splash range) and keep the AV stuck in a burn patch unable to use melee. Add in your various debuffs and it's not too hard to solo many of them, though some just plain cheat.

I'd strongly recommend high personal defense and softcapped bots (other than the Proterctors). If you slot the 5% pet defense IO and put a couple of defense IOs in the Protector Bots then Maneuvers should get you the rest of the way there, or at least close enough. It'll also help your own defense. Also, be sure to slot plenty of endurance reduction in Web Grenade, since you'll be spamming that a lot. The Trap of the Hunter set works well since it has a nice ranged defense bonus.

Also, be sure to get plenty of recharge on Acid Mortar and Poison Trap... the -resist and -regen help a lot on AVs. I'd also go with Stamina... I don't have it on my Bots/Traps but I do lose endurance in long fights, and in a SF you won't always have enough blue pills. Alternately, you could slot Aid Self with and Aid Other with a recovery unique each (plus five Doctored Wounds) and always use each once every two minutes... having the Miracle and Numina's recovery buffs should be enough to skip Stamina.

[ QUOTE ]
Do not skip trip mine. Ever. A mine field can one shot a purple conning boss. Each mine does massive lethal/fire damage. A bunch together can make a serious dent on an av or cut an EB down to half health.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, but the bots can kill a purple boss faster than you can set up that minefield. Good advice for a Corruptor, but a Bots/Traps MM can just hit purple bosses and EBs head on and flatten them so in practice the mines are less vital.

How often do you use cones? Howl -> Psychic Scream -> Shockwave is a nice ranged attack chain, especially if you hover over the enemy. If you don't fly it's less useful, simply because the animations are long enough for the enemy to get in close between shots. Still handy on teams though.

Screech is handy for removing an annoying minion or Lt before it gets to attack... like Stunner Freaks, Sappers or those Malta guys that toss the 30+ second stun grenades. I have Stunning Shot on my Archery Blaster, which is the same power with different graphics, and I find I don't use it every spawn but I'm really glad I have it at times.

Mind Probe and WoC are pretty much worthless if you always stay at range. Telekinetic Thrust would be better, since it's a way to move something that did get up in your face back to range.

Personally, I'd go with Shockwave if you team a lot or you are a flier, and Screech if you use the "sleep them and pick them off one at a time" approach. I'd pick up Screech at some point in any case if you solo much, since the 40s have a lot more annoying targets you'll want removed from the fight before they use their annoying attack on you.

Agreed on Aid Other... I only took Repair because it was one of the very few powers I could grab at level 49 and use with just the default slot (since I already had Assault).

Detonator is the most skippable. The damage is good, but the endurance cost for re-upgrading a replacement is pretty steep. I find that with Bots/Traps I don't have pets get in trouble enough to justify it as a "he was going to die anyway" power... and when I do run into a situation like that I can hit Repair and save the pet instead.

Trip Mine is handy for dropping at an enemy's feet and can be handy to set traps, but it's not vital by any means. I use it as much for something to do as anything... once you drop Caltrops, Poison Trap, and Acid Mortar you're pretty much sitting there doing nothing, and Trip Mine hits far harder than any of your Pulse Rifle attacks.

I'd skip the personal attacks (or respec out of them in the 20s) before skipping anything else in Traps. Acid Mortar is a great debuff (especially with an Achilles' Heel proc slotted). Caltrops is a significant damage mitigation since it tends to make things run around instead of shoot, and it can take some good sets for cheap bonuses. Triage Beacon is fantastic in AV fights... if you take Provoke or Challenge and get a little extra ranged defense from IOs you can immobilize and tank an AV while the Triage Beacon heals the bodyguard damage from the occasional hits. Poison Trap is a so-so hold but an incredibly good -regen debuff... it makes a big difference against AVs. Seeker Drones can be dropped in front of a spawn to eat their alpha strike, and they help on AVs by debuffing damage. Web Grenade is the key to defeating bosses quickly since it holds them still in the Assault Bot's burn patches, and it also makes AVs and EBs a lot less dangerous by removing their melee attacks. And of course FFG is pretty much the best single power in any MM secondary, period. The only one of those I'd consider skipping is Seeker Drones, and they are nice enough that I'd need a good reason to skip them... and a pulse rifle attack isn't good enough.

Thanks. That explains a lot... so it truly acts like a rain power rather than a standard attack. That also explains the massive sea of orange numbers I get when attacking huge groups... since it's three attack rolls it can hit a different 16 targets with each roll, resulting in more than 16 being damaged (but less damage to each). I'd noticed before that it had looked like it was hitting 20+ targets, and it was... just not with any one attack.

[ QUOTE ]

Until starting this thread, the only build I had ever heard of soloing a GM was a Thugs/Dark MM. This strikes me as odd because it hasn't even warranted a mention so far. Has it just been forgotten in the previous posts or are the builds listed so far really that much more effective as GM slaying builds?

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't know that they're more effective, just more popular (so more people have heard of them). The problem with Thugs/Dark is that Dark has less -regen than some other builds, and you pretty much can't kill a giant monster with damage alone... you need -regen and lots of it. Thugs do hit hard, and Dark has -resist, but I'm not sure Thugs/Dark can hit hard enough to outdamage certain GMs' regen even with the debuffs.

[ QUOTE ]
Ill/Rad is obviously taking the highest nomination so far, but as I sit here looking at the build in MIDs' I still find myself dumbfounded as to how that can be... Obviously Phantom Army being indestructible should take care of the character's survivability as long as PA holds the aggro, but do the Illusion Control pets really do that much damage? PA's description says that their damage "is illusory and will heal if the victim survives long enough", much like Spectral Wounds. So how is it that a GM could actually be killed by something that is only described as doing short term damage? Is the description misleading or am I missing something?

[/ QUOTE ]

About 40% of the base damage heals back, but none of the enhanced damage does. Fully slotted for damage you're only losing 20% or so to healing, and the remaining 80% is still higher than most Controller attacks. However, the real key is the Phantom Army... you can't solo anything if you can't stay alive, and perma-PA means that pretty much nothing can kill you. Add in the massive regen debuffs from Rad and you can overcome pretty much any GM's regen... eventually. Note that you will take a long time to kill some though... as much as several hours in extreme cases (Lusca). I think several take between one and two hours of nonstop attacking.

[ QUOTE ]
In regards to the Rad/Sonic and Sonic/Rad builds, what would keep the character alive? All I see in the build itself is a heal, a slow movement, a tohit debuff, and a damage debuff. Those aren't, by themselves, capable of mitigating all of a GM's damage, are they?

[/ QUOTE ]

Hover plus softcapped Ranged and AoE defense. And some luck.

[ QUOTE ]
And what of the Bots/Traps MM... It seems very promising, but I find myself very confused that the only MM build suggested, so far, is the least recommended. Why is that? Also, if I were to use a Bots/Traps build, does anyone have any advice on how to play it? I know that using bodyguard mode and a taunt is normally highly recommended in a battle with such a powerful single target, but how would that mesh with Traps? After all, two of its seemingly very useful abilities require the character to be in melee range and one of them is interruptible... Or is Trip Mine not worth the trouble?

[/ QUOTE ]

When I solo AVs on my Bots/Traps, I spam Challenge and Web Grenade to keep them stationary and attacking me (and not my bots). Triage Beacon takes care of most of the healing, plus Aid Self if need be (I have 40% ranged defense so getting it off is easy). I only get in melee range to drop a Poison Trap, and with Bodyguard I can survive one melee hit. The key is to keep the bots on Defensive Stay, not Defensive Follow... you want them standing on the far edge of your Triage Beacon from you so they get the regen but are out of AoE splash range. As for Trip Mine, it's not worth the risk to me... takes too long to use, leaving you open to more than one melee attack and risking your taunt wearing off.

I'd actually go with Thugs/Traps before Bots/Traps for GMs... it's more expensive to softcap but Thugs do more damage to single targets and Enforcers can slot Achilles' Heel procs for more -resist. Bots are great but the only thing that beats Thugs on single target damage is Ninjas, and good luck keeping those alive against giant monster PBAoEs.

I actually think a Sonic/Rad or Sonic/Traps Corruptor might be the best bet offensively, the only question is... can they survive long enough? That's why I recommended Ill/Rad... it's the only build I know of that is pretty much never going to be in danger of faceplanting due to a lucky two hits in a row landing. Even with softcapped defense, over the course of an hour long (or more) fight there are plenty of chances to have a bad streak and get flattened.