_Ail_

Both /fire and /ice ought to be nice. /thorny should be fine as well.

I like the animation of thorn barrage but it should be skippable. Those attacks with half the range are a pain if you play at range, and I can understand someone skipping it if they have enough recharge to fill out their chains some other way. I like the attack though.

Sounds good! If it is what you want concept-wise, then go for it I think!

Best of luck, and hope you have fun playing the game!

(1) You will have a lot of recharge so powers will be up frequently and doms always have something to do. So I would tend to make the attacks you use worthwhile.

(2) I would put the 2 slots somewhere else but I am sure others will disagree with me.

(3) There are many possible approaches. Here is just one but please don't take it as gospel or anything:

You can take the mace mastery epic instead of dark. Then stick a LoTG +recharge in both PFF and scorp shield and now you have 5 LoTGs overall. (Remember that each bonus can only be used 5 times but that the LoTG 7.5 recharge is diff from the set bonus +7.5% recharge.) Also optionally add boxing+tough+weave and put a +3% def IO in tough and slot weave for defense. If you did this you could also 5-slot all of maneuvers, weave, and scorp shield with red fortune. You can add in the (Kismet? from memory) + to hit IO in one of these defense slots as well if you like. If you feel you can spare another pool aid self is also always pretty good all by itself with PFF because you can heal while in it. 5-slot with doctored wounds or something if you do--but watch that you don't get too many 5% bonuses. I think PFF fits in well with Grav/ conceptually in any case because it is this force bubble looking thing like singularity.

With Gravity you can pretty easily get a non-purple-set hasten-less permadom if you are willing to sacrifice one of the knockback powers (lift, propel) to a Kinetic crash set. You need 125% recharge if you try this. I only mention this as a convenience issue but you do only seem to have hasten from the speed pool. I had a hasten permadom for years but hastenless is just so much nicer with UI lag. If you are by yourself it is no problem. But in these large incarnate content things it is really annoying to me having to keep 2 things up all of the time and only 1 of them is auto. The UI lag makes them look like they have recharged when they haven't yet, so you are always wasting time clicking on them when they aren't up yet.

(4) You seem to have a good idea about how slotting works and put the right things in the right sets (stupefy in wormhole, etc.) and don't seem to need any guidance on that.

I think that many builds will work and if you like something you should go with it. Liking things is always (IMO) the most important thing.

Hi,

I have a Grav/ dom but don't really play /elec so I don't have much comment on that. I had a defender with the dark epic pool a while ago but haven't played it in a while. So in short take all of my comments except about Gravity with a grain of salt.

Also keep in mind that the nature of these critiques is that people nitpick about lots of stuff while not properly congratulating you on all of the clever things you did. So consider ;D yourself congratulated before the critcisms below:

(1) I don't like that you have 3-slotted lift and charged bolts. I would rather have one good attack than two half-***** attacks. I would choose which one you want, and 5-slot that one. That way you can just use the good attack.

(2) I am not sure why you are slotting those 2 extra slots in gravity distortion for damage. Lift does more damage for less activation time. I guess in (1)-(2) I am saying if you want a ranged attack chain...then great...go ahead and actually create one. But some poor mans ranged attack chain like you seem to be creating is always just going to irritate you, and remind you that you should be meleeing instead since you actually built for that. (Edit: I just realized that only 1 of the extra slots if a damage proc and the other is acc/rech...My comments laregly still stand I think.)

(3) Your defenses seem somewhat weak to me with only the dark embrace resist armor. I realize doms were originally designed to depend on their controls for defense, but the current game quite frankly allows you to build yourself to be somewhat tank-ish if you wish. I know some disagree with me, but you should be aware it is an option.

I remember a survey of a few years ago that showed that people tended to play powers within conceptual frameworks. So being a TA might be unlikely, but if you were a TA you were probably a TA/A.

I think that the concept or idea of a character tends to be very important to many people. It certainly is to me. If I don't like a character's concept, I can barely bring myself to play that character. On the other hand, if I like a character's concept, I will happily play that character again and again even if it is gimp-city mechanics wise.

The cottage rule is nice because it respects concept. It says if you had a character with a certain concept and had a power which fit in somehow with that concept, then you will probably still be able to continue to use that power in the same conceptual manner.

This is really very important. I am surprised that so many people can't see this. The picture people have in their heads of a character is what keeps many playing. If you suddenly change a power so that it can't do what it was doing before for that picture, you are really going to piss them off.

I myself am horribly picky, perhaps too much so. First, I refuse to play a character unless I can think up a good name. Since superhero names tend to be simple things like Thor or Wolverine or Storm, I require a simple name. Also (and I agree I am different from most people here) if I have to take -Storm or .Storm or OoStormoO instead of Storm, you had better bet that character's days are numbered. I also want a concept that fits with the character, and I will be plenty annoyed if the powers change so that the concept is no longer possible.

Even having to have my forum handle be _Ail_ rather than Ail (because--at least at the time I created the handle--you couldn't have a handle that was only 3 letters; I am not sure if this has changed) annoys me immensely.

Anyway, in summary I think concept is important for a superhero game. And the cottage rule helps to preserve concepts.

If you are willing to go with a controller, Elec/Kin ought to be good.

First, grats on all of the defense.

The big problem I see is that you only have 21.3% global recharge and no hasten. That is not really sufficient when you want poison traps up every spawn, or to stack acid mortars.

I think FFG is overslotted. I would put 2 defbuf and 1 LoTG +recharge in it and call it good. Keep in mind it doesn't really need endrdx or recharge or whatever because you summon it and it just stays out.

Scorp shield and weave are way underslotted. You have 1 def buf in scorp shield and nothing else. You only have 2 defs slotted in weave and nothing else. Both of these slottings are a crime against nature. I would 5-slot them with RedFtn and then put LoTG +recharge in as the 6th slot.

4-slotting boxing is a waste on a corruptor IMO. For a lvl 50 cor, I would take the ability off my bar and never miss it and just understand that it is a prereq for tough/weave. For a lower level cor I would leave it on my bar and stick either 1 acc or 1 endrdx in it.

Aid self is underslotted. If you are going to bother getting it, make it worthwhile.

Other slotting is somewhat wonky in my opinion. Maybe look through the forums for some common posts where people go over standard builds and copy those. There ought to be plenty of fire/traps posts around, because it is a well known good combo.

I've had a 50 Grav/Energy for many years now. I think that Gravity is quirky and not for everyone. I enjoy it immensely.

Wormhole is gimmicky because:
(1) The knockback can strike, even if you try to mitigate it by where you position things.
(2) Since the teleport often only gets part of a spawn, you often make the problem worse on teams as they previously had one spawn location but now have 2 because you only teleported half of them.

That said, I really wouldn't change gravity for all of the world. I like wormhole and don't want it changed. You have to embrace the knockback in the set IMO. You have it in wormhole, which is your "go to, reliable, up every spawn control power," so you HAVE to get used to it. Singularity also knocks back.

Having an AOE immob without -kb isn't all bad as you can immob groups and they will stay on an ice slick, for example, but still pop up and down. I'm sure some people rely on this, and that is reason enough not to change this function.

Just don't sweat it, I think, and realize that a little knockback isn't going to kill anyone in real life. If you are the sort that is annoyed by knockback, don't play the set. If you are the sort who will let loose a tornado when a team is close to wiping, because you know the extra chaos might help, you will probably like gravity.

I think it is enjoyable. I recently rejoined after a couple years absence, so no incarnate abilities at all yet. My Grav/Energy is an all-ranged attacks (because I just want the knockback--I had this for concept reasons even before they buffed the ranged attacks in energy) hasten-less permadom with 41%-ish smashing/lethal defense as well as aid self and can certainly take care of herself. I do remember in teams levelling up years ago though when I didn't have permadom or all that defense that I would stand in the singularity when the team was close to wiping and watch in glee as it knocked purple enemies away from me and I further blasted them as they skipped and tumbled away from me.

In teaming, you have to gauge the team and its needs. Often discretion is the better part of valor and you should just wormhole the spawn straight down or into a nearby wall so it stays put. Sometimes, you shouldn't wormhole at all.

I think it is the differences of sets that make them exciting though. We already have plenty of cookie-cutter control power sets. If you want a gravity theme but want a more traditional set, well, there is nothing stopping you. Just go ahead and take a traditional one and re-color the powers and pretend you are controlling gravity. Having actual options is nice, and I like gravity. The beauty of games like this are that different powersets have all sorts of fun little quirks and in the end these come to be the things you really enjoy.

Just to echo others here: TK blast, will dom, and subdue are awesome.

I think flash arrow is pointless. Relying on slight debuffs like this for your defense is lame IMO and the -perception is useless. Entangling arrow is also useless 95% of the time, but the 5% of the time it is useful it is very useful.

Grats! Fun thread.

My very first 50 way back in '05 was a TA/A, before they were buffed at all. I remember that I kept playing it mainly because it was so gimped compared to other sets that it was a challenge. Normal ho-hum standard difficulty solo missions were a chore, involving lots of hovering and entangling arrows to get out of range of some of the baddies so I could get the remaining ones.

I remember that thread about "My TA/A can't even kill a detoggled regen scrapper who is doing nothing at all." lol. That seemed to create at least a few buffs for the set.

It has been a while, and I have recently rejoined so maybe this is not true any more, but for low level soloing I would say:
* Yeah, both blazing and fistful are nice.
* Ice arrow is very nice. Yeah, it is a gimp hold yada yada yada but for a low level person being able to take even one guy out of the picture is really nice.
* Don't forget to keep re-applying acid. It might not seem like much but it is helping you down things faster.

With the buffs to TA and auto stamina now this honestly should be a lot easier. TA might still be gimped but it is plenty powerful for the current game and nowhere near as bad as it used to be.

Hi,

I recently resubscribed after an absence of a couple of years, so I might be a little out of date. That said, my first 50 was a TA/A defender (way back when before TA/A got buffed so much) and the first character I got fully accoladed-out was an Ice/Traps corruptor. One of the reasons I quit was because I was so pissed off at the nerf to procs in poison gas trap, but I suppose that is all old hat now and people have come to terms with it.

I would echo other people on this thread:

(1) If you are playing traps as a "lay traps and then wait for them to come to you" character, you are playing it wrong. It is meant to be played in melee range in the thick of it all IMO.

(2) Trick arrow is more reliant on long recharges IMO because the really uber things like Oil slick or EMP are on very long recharges. Traps needs plenty of recharge too, but is not quite as crippled I think, since its core abilities have at most a 90 sec recharge.

(3) Do you want to play a melee or ranged character? This is the biggest consideration in my opinion. Trick arrow is awesome because all of its abilities are ranged and this gives you a lot of flexibility. I suppose you could play something like a fire/traps as mainly a ranged character but missing out on toe bombing mines and poison gas traps really makes the set lose something I think.

(4) The other question aside from (3) is do you want lots of pseudo pets or do you want to just act more directly? This is more stylistic than anything else.

(5) Traps is unquestionably more survivable. That doesn't mean that Trick Arrow doesn't have a lot of cool tricks up its sleeve though. Also, being at range is often a big survivability boost and often makes things in teams go more smoothly (or at least you have to be less on your toes in teams.)

Trip mine with controllers would be unbalanced. Controllers aren't supposed to have direct damage abilities as good as that.

If they put "Helpless Kitten--A little kitten meows 10 times, causing a slight tohit debuff in observers" in place of trip mine, it would be okay for controllers to get it.