Alvan

---------------------------------------------
Exported from Ver: 1.7.6.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder - (http://sherksilver.coldfront.net/index.php)
---------------------------------------------
Name: Coldest War
Level: 50
Archetype: Blaster
Primary: Ice Blast
Secondary: Devices
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Ice Bolt==> Acc Acc Dmg Dmg Dmg
01) --> Web Grenade==> Acc Acc
02) --> Ice Blast==> Acc Acc Dmg Dmg Dmg
04) --> Caltrops==> Rechg Rechg
06) --> Swift==> Fly
08) --> Aim==> Rechg Rechg Rechg TH_Buf TH_Buf TH_Buf
10) --> Targeting Drone==> EndRdx EndRdx EndRdx TH_Buf TH_Buf TH_Buf
12) --> Air Superiority==> Acc
14) --> Fly==> EndRdx EndRdx EndRdx Fly Fly Fly
16) --> Hurdle==> Jump
18) --> Bitter Ice Blast==> Acc NucleExp Dmg Dmg EndRdx Rechg
20) --> Stamina==> EndMod EndMod EndMod
22) --> Assault==> EndRdx EndRdx EndRdx
24) --> Tactics==> EndRdx EndRdx EndRdx
26) --> Freeze Ray==> Acc Acc Hold Hold Rechg Rechg
28) --> Hasten==> Rechg Rechg Rechg
30) --> Cloaking Device==> EndRdx EndRdx EndRdx
32) --> Smoke Grenade==> Acc Acc
35) --> Frost Breath==> Acc Acc Dmg Dmg Dmg EndRdx
38) --> Bitter Freeze Ray==> Acc Acc Hold Hold
41) --> Char==> Acc Acc Rechg Rechg Hold Hold
44) --> Blizzard==> Rechg Rechg Rechg Dmg Dmg Dmg
47) --> Bonfire==> KB_Dist KB_Dist
49) --> Rise of the Phoenix==> Rechg Rechg Rechg
---------------------------------------------

First of all, thank you for all the answers regarding the Trip Mines / BFR / Ice Storm question earlier. This is the build I most likely will be going for when I'm getting the Veteran Respec. I decided to take BFR - I can live with the activation time and the extra hold does a world of difference.

Comments and critique are appreciated, but only if you bother to read through my reasoning for the picks, below.

This version of Coldest War is a suicidal blaster built for Zonal PvP and high-level team PvE. This is a Respec build, so levels of slotting is irrelevant and I would neve level up a character like this.

Should be noted that for PvP, the build really doesn't assume you are fighting to get most kills with as few deaths as possible. At lower-levels it is pretty much a counter-stalker build, either going against solo Stalkers or protecting your team from them. Higher levels it's more about taking down a target, or keeping him busy so your team can do what they are doing (like take down pillboxes while you keep guard). The number of times you or your target get killed matters not as no-one is keeping score of that - reason to fight in the zone is something else anyways (Getting specific kills for bounty at Siren's, Pillboxes at RV, having fun at the two other zones)

It is not a perfect build, but that fits the feel of a slightly insane Russian blaster. It also is geared towards mobility, even if that is a swearword for the Device Blaster. Thus no Trip Mines or the like. The rest of the team will most likely want to push forward anyways.

And last but not least, most of these are fun powers to have. They make playing a bit different from normal blasting, but it's "fun" -different, not "odd" -different.

Power-by-power walkthru:

01) --> Ice Bolt==> Acc Acc Dmg Dmg Dmg
02) --> Ice Blast==> Acc Acc Dmg Dmg Dmg
18) --> Bitter Ice Blast==> Acc NucleExp Dmg Dmg EndRdx Rechg
35) --> Frost Breath==> Acc Acc Dmg Dmg Dmg EndRdx
The basic attack package.
PvE and PvP: Not much to say, 2 Accuracies, 3 Damages in all, with additional enhances in the high-costing powers to keep them manageable.

01) --> Web Grenade==> Acc Acc
PvE: A nice addition to the pile of -recharge the attacks keep providing. Also useful against flying/fleeing enemies (Diabolique, I'm looking at you)
PvP: The critical power against those nasty Melee types - 2 accuracies to better guarantee a hit of -jump/-fly (everyone has Combat Jumping so the Immob part doesn't really matter).

04) --> Caltrops==> Rechg Rechg
PvE: Form of crowd control to steer the enemies in a proper direction. Works quite well with Bonfire and teams with other blasters who can dish out AoE Damage to the enemies stuck in the 'trops.
PvP: Protection against getting ASd. Annoying power against all other people, works in nice combination with Web Grenade. Recharges to be able to keep a couple up at a time if needed.

06) --> Swift==> Fly
16) --> Hurdle==> Jump
20) --> Stamina==> EndMod EndMod EndMod
Fitness Package.
PvE and PvP: Nothing interesting here.

08) --> Aim==> Rechg Rechg Rechg TH_Buf TH_Buf TH_Buf
10) --> Targeting Drone==> EndRdx EndRdx EndRdx TH_Buf TH_Buf TH_Buf
24) --> Tactics==> EndRdx EndRdx EndRdx
The +ToHit package.
PvE: I'm only running Targetting Drone and have my Aim on Auto-Activcation. Tactics is too big of an endurance hog to use in PvE-style action. Might turn it on if fighting Nemesis or other foes with +defense powers to give a marginal boost to the team.
PvP: I'm running both Targetting Drone and Tactics for the stacked +Perception bonus. Aim is not on Auto-Activation, but used when going in.

12) --> Air Superiority==> Acc
PvE: This is a nice power, can juggle a Freakshow Tanker with it if you time it right.
PvP: Not that much use in PvP. Against people who are not running Acrobatics, the Knockdown is useful to buy time with. To be frank, Devices has a better -Fly power available, so I really don't use this so much.

14) --> Fly==> EndRdx EndRdx EndRdx Fly Fly Fly
PvE and PvP: Not taking Hover is a question of slotting. For me to be comfortable with Hover I have to have it 3-slotted with Fly Speeds and Swift 3-slotted with them as well. Because of this build is constantly in endurance problems, I would have to put in a EndRdx there as well, and still take Fly with 3 Flight Speeds and at least one EndRdx for Movement Power. So, I took Fly with 3 EndRdx and 3 Flight Speeds instead. Saves some slots, at bearable price.

22) --> Assault==> EndRdx EndRdx EndRdx
PvE: As it boosts the team's damage, it is quite useful to run in PvE, even if the amount of damage isn't that high.
PvP: The +Damage is not really worth mentioning as I don't find myself in large teams or huddled up with others in PvP, but Res(Placate, Taunt) is worth taking this baby over Maneuvers (as the +Defense isn't really that good either).

26) --> Freeze Ray==> Acc Acc Hold Hold Rechg Rechg
38) --> Bitter Freeze Ray==> Acc Acc Hold Hold
41) --> Char==> Acc Acc Rechg Rechg Hold Hold
The Hold package.
PvE: Mostly use Freeze Ray and Char to keep a nasty boss in place. I can pretty much run an attack chain with the three powers, but I usually substitute BFR in it for BIB, which deals with the enemy faster.
PvP: A chain of 5 stacked holds pushes nicely through a decent mez-resistance. With Hasten running Char -> FR -> BFR -> FR -> Char can be fired neatly so that they still overlap each other. With Geas of the Kind Ones and Vanguard, even more holds can be pushed through

28) --> Hasten==> Rechg Rechg Rechg
PvE and PvP: It's Hasten.

30) --> Cloaking Device==> EndRdx EndRdx EndRdx
32) --> Smoke Grenade==> Acc Acc
Stealth Package
PvE: I still haven't figured out the way Smoke Grenade works. If I hit every enemy in the group with it, about 50% of the time they still attack me, and about 50% of the time they actually get their Perception range reduced. Not using these all that much. But they have their uses sometimes.
PvP: It isn't Stalker-level stealth, but the -Perception, combined with +Stealth, allows speedy getaways and annoyance.

44) --> Blizzard==> Rechg Rechg Rechg Dmg Dmg Dmg
PvE: The Blaster Nuke. Quite good if you get boosted with external sources. Devices blasters suffer from the lack of Build Up, so the damage from this is far from perfect.
PvP: Taking Blizzard at 44 to keep it out of Warburg. Blizzard isn't really a PvP power, and having it at Warburg levels is a waste of time.

47) --> Bonfire==> KB_Dist KB_Dist
PvE: Form of crowd control. If you manage to get enemies cornered with it, you have a great situation. Otherwise you'll just annoy your teammates to heck with KB.
PvP: This is here for two reasons: To kick people off pillboxes in RV, and to separate a Mastermind from their pets. Automatically hitting Knockback is a better thing than most people give it credit for. The damage in it is minimal, but with a couple of Knockback Distances, it scatters things around like there is no tomorrow.

49) --> Rise of the Phoenix==> Rechg Rechg Rechg
PvE and PvP: I die a lot. In fact I love to die a lot. Ever since I got my hands on RotP, it has been my favorite power. The Disorient it does is great fun in both PvE and PvP and justifies the insane tactics I love to use. The 10 second invulnerability it grants isn't a bad thing either.

Routes not taken

Ice Storm
I have used this power a lot, and it's great. The slow it provides makes Blizzarding a lot easier. The damage isn't worth mentioning, and if you get mezzed after firing this and before Blizzard, the result usually is death. It is the power I'm most regretting not having. Used to have Caltrops/Ice Storm/Bonfire for a remote herding combination of making enemies go where you want as well.

Taser
Not regretting skipping this power. Rest of the Devices powerset assumes that you want to keep your distance, yet this power is melee-ranged. Those two things don't go well together. Would work better with a primary that has a Disorient power.

Trip Mine
Another great power that I am not taking for this particular build. I think I've explained my reasons for not having it, but summa summarum - Regular Devices (with Trip Mine) assumes you want enemies to come towards you, every other powerset assumes you want to go towards the enemies. To make my build more compatible with the other players' builds in teams, I am not taking powers that require setting up.

Time Bomb
The same reasoning I have for Trip Mines stands for Time Bomb. Time Bomb is affected even more by the chaotic nature of High-level combat as you can never be sure where you will be standing 15 seconds from now.

Auto Turret
Same reason - needs to be set up, even if the bugger is great when it is actually there.

Cold Mastery
Snow Storm and Hibernate would have been the really useful powers for me in this set, but I would have been left with just 1 fast hold (BFR doesn't count), which would have been a bit problematic considering how used I am to having 2, to the point that I rely on having 2. Also, my leading cause of death is still getting Mezzed, not taking damage in a fair fight - Hibernate might not have been successful all that often. For generic Ice/Devices, Cold works wonders. As you'll be Single-target attacking anyways, you won't be breaking the Sleep. And the Slow is good with Blizzard (as you don't get Shiver from /Ice)

Electrical Mastery
My second choise for an Epic. Would have geared the character more towards PvE with a secondary "Nuke" (against machines) and another Cone attack, giving Ice/Dev the AoE it is lacking. But as I am emphasize my strengths, not trying to even out the small bumps, I chose Flame Mastery (with the tricks rather than attacks)

Force Mastery
With Force Mastery, the reason for not choosing was the same as with Cold. There is no additional hold in this set. Ignoring the lack of hold, the set outperforms Flame Mastery in every way - Repulsion Field trumps Bonfire and Force of Nature trumps Rise of the Phoenix in usefulness.

Munitions Mastery
Munitions Mastery balances out Ice/Devices near-perfectly. It has a Armor that does not cost endurance, a secondary Hold and a Snipe. Coldest War was originally a Ice/Dev/Mun, but I respecced out of it to get something a bit less careful.

Last Words?

I have no idea why I wrote this. No-one sane would ever want to play an Ice/Dev/Flame anyways.

[ QUOTE ]
I'm doubtful that most heros have more than 2 holds and 1 Immob power so I can only assume it means they have better resistance to such powers than me or theirs are all autohit.

[/ QUOTE ]

The "autohit" effect you might be witnessing is the fact that heroes are sporting more +ToHit powers (Aim, BuildUp, the like. Defender with Tactics gives a lot of +ToHit compared to any villain with the same) and that Controller/Dominator single target holds have inbuilt +Accuracy. (with 2 Accuracy SOs they're at 50% * 1.86 = 93% hit probability if no ToHit or Defense powers are in effect)

About the resistance, 2 Holds break acrobatics so that's not hard to get through. Tankers, Scrappers and some rare others (Defenders with Psi epic) have better form of hold resistance. Immobilize is broken by Combat Jumping, which is quite common. And there are Break Frees and Strength of Wills that help a lot as well.

[ QUOTE ]
As for the heal I hit more often against EBs than players and that's with 2xACC SOs in it so it's not that great, maybe a 33% chance to hit...

[/ QUOTE ]

Base ToHit in PvP is 25% lower than it's in PvE and most enemies are running some form of defense.

Against an enemy who is running no defenses and when you're not running any ToHit Buffs, your real probability to hit is 50% (base) * 1.66 (accuracy enhas) = 83%.

Any +Defense has horrible effects on this - 25% defense boost halves your chances of hitting. 45% boost (not all that hard to reach) brings your hit probability to about 8.3%.

But according to Finagle's Law, as your need for the heal to hit approaches 100%, your tohit approaches 0%.

[ QUOTE ]
According to NoFuture, Acro is -100 KB, while integration (And, for example, GA, rooted and unyielding) is -10.

[/ QUOTE ]

Indeed, but Integration (and the like) also gets a 10k% resistance against it on top of that.

We did some hunting yesterday, but I'm still missing some 75% of them so I'm still in for doing TT hunting. Good thing is that we noticed the Warburg missions we used sometimes have also Longbow type Doors that should count for your Longbow badge, Jiaozy

[ QUOTE ]
Well you can tank with it, but you can tank with almost any key powered and decently slotted build anyway. I am going to guess soloing sucks.

[/ QUOTE ]

Soloing with it is quite dull yes, but if I want to solo, I have other lower-level characters to do that with. Or my blaster if I really want to be effective solo and for example gather influence/prestige without other people around.

If I am waiting to get an invite to a team, I'm usually at Rikti Crash Site, killing portals, as people find it easier to invite people who are outside missions than those who are indoors.


[ QUOTE ]
Dark ring mistresses how do you find them with your build out of interest?

[/ QUOTE ]

I find the whole concept of the carnies a bit painful because of the Psionic damage type, but with a half-decent defender even Darks are bearable. I'm surviving more with this build than I was before I respecced Aid Self into the mix. Actually group with 3 illusionists is more dangerous to me than a group with a Dark Ring, because each Illusionist can fire 2 Psi-typed holds in short succession, leading to 6 stacked holds on me, so I usually opt for taunting them from afar (which means they won't fire their PBAoE Hold at me), even if it means taking more damage. A Dark Ring makes me usually eat a Catch a Breath or two thanks to that annoying Mask effect, but as the build is generally low on the amount of endurance it eats through, it is bearable. With a good support character backing me up, it becomes easier.


[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
* No Unstoppable

[/ QUOTE ]

i am sometimes utterly amazed out how good defender sets can actually be, now that the buff flashes to help especially

[/ QUOTE ]

Agree with you there, the blinking made Unstoppable much more usable (before that I used external timer to keep track of it), but it doesn't mean I have to worry less. If fighting enemies who are still half alive, Unstoppable crash will be bad, no matter if you know it 15 seconds beforehand or not.


[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
* No Hasten, Invincibility will...

[/ QUOTE ]

i cant see the relationship between haste and invincible, dull pain yes, invincible nope.

[/ QUOTE ]

As Organi pointed out, The only worry I have with this character is keeping aggro. If I had to worry about keeping them close to me with Gauntlet and not Taunt aura (for example if the taunt aura had a tohit probability), Hasten would be more necessary to keep up my attack rate and thus my Gauntlet.


[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
* Stone Prison to keep AVs immobilized while you Taunt them from distance.

[/ QUOTE ]

Best way to do an AV imo, although a ranged hold maybe as good or better, but ranged hold is better than the kob melee hold

[/ QUOTE ]

Ranged hold has the problem that it works on AVs only 50% of the time as their hold resistance varies. There are only few AVs out there (Infernal is the first to come to mind) with proper Immob resistance. Thus I chose an Immob over hold.


[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
..Dull Pain...

[/ QUOTE ]

its a +hp and take the alpha heal.

[/ QUOTE ]

*nods* And a key power for every Invulnerabilty tank in my mind. But an additional Heal helps surprisingly much as Dull Pain is quite slow-reloading.


[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
* KO Blow to help take care of Sappers

[/ QUOTE ]

it does help with me, i have 3 hold slots which gives me ample time to slip my attack chain in, and also means i can still be first in on malta unless it misses but then i have unstoppable, a room with 3 sappers close together is just click unstoppable and use a well slotted taunt.

[/ QUOTE ]

With multiple Sappers I have to resort to using Lucks, but those situations are luckily quite rare. Usually teams (or someone else besides me in a team) know to take down Sappers first, so most of the time I don't need to do much more than jump in and KO Blow the Sapper, and the rest of the team deals enough damage to get rid of it. I can basically take down a +2 Sapper solo by hitting Rage, KO Blow, Footstomp and then Jab/Box/Brawl it until it is down, +3 if I have damage inspirations or support. Usually I don't have to.


[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
* Rage to deal with -ToHit

[/ QUOTE ]

i took foc acc for that, cos i dont like relying on rage, i dont like "only affecting self" times. The foc acc is +per so when it came to arachnos and them trying to blind me i was fine.

[/ QUOTE ]

-perception is another fringe case I have to use inspirations with, but even these days the missions where it happens are quite rare.

The only cases where I actually find myself using Rage these days are either against Circle of Thorns, as they use both +Def and -ToHit, or if I want to take down a specific enemy (such as a Sapper) without having to worry about the team doing the same. The 10 second Only Affecting Self is quite nasty, especially as it is a Defense DeBuff and blocks out Invincibility as well, but haven't had a problem of someone dying because of it so-far. Probably one day that too will happen.

Also, taking Focused Accuracy would have meant taking another power for -Fly effect and something to keep the enemy afar. If I wanted FA, I'd most likely switch Superjump for Flight and take Air Superiority for the Tier 1 power from the Pool. But as it would make me lose my ranged Immob, I would most likely not to it anyways.


[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
* Your main protection is your Defense - move into as many enemies as possible and use them to boost your Invincibility.

[/ QUOTE ]

quick fly by taunt and hide with team standing 40 yards back is fastest way to herd and instantly gets mob into melee range, i never could understand the run round and effect mobs for 2 secs with taunt and then hide in every situation.

[/ QUOTE ]

The only character I do the run-around-with-aura-running herding dance routine is my AR/Ice Blaster. And that's usually more for fun than real efficient playing.

With this Tanker, the enemies in a spawn are usually so close to each other that jumping in the middle and Foot Stomping is enough to get the main group's attention and then using the ranged Immob and Taunt to keep those further away interested in you. Against more dangerous situations (for example 2 spawns close to each other) or scattered mobs, I too use the taunt-and-hide pulling method.


[ QUOTE ]
Powerchoices are down to concept and playstyle, slottings important and so is playing to suit build and choosing the right playstyle well enough to suit other peoples build.

My trick archer would love this tank, my empath would be wishing she slotted attacks more.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, once again fully agreeing. As I said in the original post, this build works well for me as I like to keep pushing forward in a mission without pausing. With a big team behind me, doing what they do best.

The build works wonders when there are people doing damage around and spawns that are big enough to pose a threat to someone. If the whole team is based around supporting the tank who is a main damage dealer, things become more tedious.

The build is, as said, a bit slow to solo, and possibly quite annoying to duo as it puts quite much responsibility for the other character as well. It's not as boring to solo as say a "pure empath" build or a controller based on locking down the enemies so other people can do the pounding, but quite slow. (KO Blow, Jab/Box and Foot Stomp are quite good attacks, even if the two bigger ones recharge a bit slowly)

For duo of characters, pretty much anyone who has attack power works, as do characters with good boosts to damage dealing and attack rate (Kinetics, Rads). Worst end of stick would be other support types that are specialized in situations where "the other guys would do the damage", like the Pure Empath mentioned earlier.

I see 3 enhances in swift that would do much more if they were Flys instead of Run (as you've slotted Hover with Flys) Also the Acc in Aid Self is a glitch, I suppose? (Should be Interrupt reduction?)

Quick PvP numbers rundown for PFF in case someone still cares. Will use a Blaster for attacker as they have widest range of +ToHit powers available. All powers are unslotted.

Base ToHit in PvP = 50%
PFF = +75% DEF
Base ToHit against someone using PFF = -25%, which defaults to 5%

(Power used = Bonus Granted = Theoretical Total = Actual Total)
Blaster with Tactics = +7% ToHit = -18% Total = 5%
Blaster with Targetting Drone = +13.8% ToHit = -11.2% Total = 5%
Blaster with Build-Up = +15% ToHit = -10% Total = 5%
Blaster with Aim = +37.5% = 12.5% Total = 12.5%
Blaster with Build-Up + Aim = +52.5% ToHit = 27.5% Total = 27.5%
Blaster with Power Boost + Build-Up + Aim = +115% ToHit = 90% Total = 90%
Blaster's Blind Grandmother with Geas of Kind Ones = +200% ToHit = 175% Total = 95%

So the slotting might help quite a bit in PvP, then again, enemies can slot things too.

An invulnerability tanker can reach Resistance cap for only Smashing/Lethal withtout resorting to Unstoppable (and can reach all but psi way easilly with it) and can get to 45% Defense with enough enemies around you (I think you can get an Inv tanker to about 27% or 28% without counting the +def from extra enemies, and you get some +2.5%ish per enemy in melee range up to maximum of 10 enemies with Invincibility running).

45% is not the real defense cap, but if you get there, you're most often in a situation where you get hit 5% of the time unless enemies use +ToHit or -Defense powers.

As an Invulnerability tanker, the more extra Defense powers you get, the easier time you will have dealing with smaller number of more powerful enemies. You will not need extra powers to deal with 10 minions. But you might want some if you get into a fight with 2 or 3 bosses that deal some damage type you don't resist that well, for example Negative Energy.

(numbers are approximate as I'm not in a place where I can properly calculate this stuff)

Finally pretty much perfected my tanker build to fit my style of play - Full meatshield build for an Inv/SS. This doesn't work for everyone, but thought to share anyways in case someone gets inspired. It is a respec-build of mine from level 47, so before that you might want to have the attacks in a bit earlier if you plan to solo. It's a team-build, but I can do missions on Invincible with it if I really need to.

* No Unstoppable, as Unstoppable only leads to Unstoppable crashing and unnecessary worrying about how long you can tank.
* No Hasten, Invincibility will keep enemies close even if you get hit with -recharge powers.
* Stone Prison to keep AVs immobilized while you Taunt them from distance.
* Aid Self for a self-heal (anyone who calls Dull Pain a proper self heal isn't taking enough damage)
* Tough to bring S/L resistance to cap. Weave to bring Defense up a notch.
* Foot Stomp to get instant attention / ease the Alpha strike by dropping half of the enemies to the ground
* KO Blow to help take care of Sappers
* Rage to deal with -ToHit
* Your main protection is your Defense - move into as many enemies as possible and use them to boost your Invincibility.
* Weak point is still Psi damage and hold stacking, but that's the life of an Inv Tanker.

---------------------------------------------
Exported from Ver: 1.7.6.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder
---------------------------------------------
Name: Simulacrus
Level: 50
Archetype: Tanker
Primary: Invulnerability
Secondary: Super Strength
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Temp Invulnerability==> DmgRes(1)DmgRes(3)DmgRes(3)EndRdx(5)EndRdx(5)
01) --> Jab==> Acc(1)
02) --> Dull Pain==> Rechg(2)Rechg(7)Rechg(7)Heal(9)Heal(9)Heal(11)
04) --> Resist Physical Damage==> DmgRes(4)DmgRes(11)DmgRes(13)
06) --> Hurdle==> Jump(6)
08) --> Unyielding==> DmgRes(8)DmgRes(13)DmgRes(15)EndRdx(15)EndRdx(17)EndRdx(23)
10) --> Taunt==> Rechg(10)Rechg(17)Rechg(19)Taunt(19)Taunt(21)Range(50)
12) --> Combat Jumping==> DefBuf(12)DefBuf(21)DefBuf(23)
14) --> Super Jump==> EndRdx(14)
16) --> Health==> Heal(16)Heal(25)Heal(27)
18) --> Invincibility==> DefBuf(18)DefBuf(27)DefBuf(29)Taunt(29)Taunt(31)Taunt(31)
20) --> Stamina==> EndMod(20)EndMod(31)EndMod(33)
22) --> Boxing==> Acc(22)EndRdx(25)
24) --> Aid Other==> IntRdx(24)
26) --> Tough Hide==> DefBuf(26)DefBuf(33)DefBuf(33)
28) --> Aid Self==> Rechg(28)IntRdx(34)IntRdx(34)Heal(34)Heal(36)Heal(36)
30) --> Tough==> DmgRes(30)DmgRes(36)DmgRes(37)EndRdx(37)EndRdx(37)
32) --> Weave==> DefBuf(32)DefBuf(39)DefBuf(39)EndRdx(39)EndRdx(40)EndRdx(40)
35) --> Rage==> Rechg(35)Rechg(40)
38) --> Foot Stomp==> Acc(38)Acc(42)Dmg(42)Dmg(42)Dmg(43)EndRdx(43)
41) --> Stone Prison==> Acc(41)Acc(43)Rechg(45)Rechg(45)
44) --> Knockout Blow==> Acc(44)Acc(45)EndRdx(46)Dmg(46)Dmg(46)Dmg(48)
47) --> Resist Elements==> DmgRes(47)DmgRes(48)DmgRes(48)
49) --> Resist Energies==> DmgRes(49)DmgRes(50)DmgRes(50)
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Sprint==> EndRdx(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Acc(1)
01) --> Gauntlet==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Rechg(2)
---------------------------------------------

Air Superiority doesn't help against Knockback, but is a good, reliable Knockdown attack (knockback without hurling the foe back, just drop him to the ground where he is standing and make him get up again) that will drop flying enemies to the ground as well.

Hover on the other hand helps against Knockback attacks, as you will never fall to the ground. You might get pushed back a few yards, but you can still keep on fighting from the air.

*nods*

Bad wording from me again. Meant that BFs don't get you instantly back on your feet.

Knockback effect is when you are thrown back some yards and land on your back, having to spend a moment to get back up. This puts you out of the game for a very short time and there is pretty much nothing you can do about it if you don't have protection against it. (Break Free inspirations do not help, for example)

The biggest reason this is a danger is that while you're on your back, the enemies can still keep on attacking while you can't attack, take an inspiration or move.

Well, was going to say something like:

"Air Superiority is nice but by no means necessary. However if you would like to have it in your build while still having knockback protection, here is an an alternative build..."

Damned lack of sleep

Just to jump in with an alternative sollution:

Air Superiority is nice, but by no means necessary. If you want to take an alternate route to get Knockback protection and don't mind trying some other form of movement than Superjump, here is a variation of what I have on my AR/Ice Blaster:

FLIGHT:
Air Superiority
Hover

FITNESS:
Swift
Health
Stamina

SPEED:
Hasten
Superspeed

MEDICINE:
Aid Other
Aid Self

Hover works as a form of knockback protection and allows you to move up and down, while your main movement power would be superspeed. (having 3 slots of flight speed in hover and swift help) Superspeed also provides limited amount of stealth when fighting NPCs, so you have that as well from this combo.

When Issue 8 hits, I'm planning on fine-tuning my main for a build that is useful for both PvP and PvE. For the most part this means I'm reslotting stuff in a more efficient way and moving powers up and down the levels to get a bit more optimal builds for Warburg and Bloody Bay.

But, I'm having a dilemma on which of the following three powers to pick:

- Trip Mines, highly situational power, as there are few teams in PvE at lv 50ish that need to stop in missions for so long that I have the opportunity to set them up. In PvP these are a bit more useful, but I'm not taking teleport, so Teledroning is out of the question.

- Bitter Freeze Ray, it's a slowly activating power, and the damage isn't that good. But it is an additional hold, and stacking 3 hold powers with vanguard and geas running in PvP is more fun than stacking 2 hold powers.

- Ice Storm, only use it to slow down enemies before Blizzarding, rarely to deal minor damage to a big group of lower levels. But it does the slowing quite well and is probably the power out of these three I've used most.

So, out of those three choises, which one would you take and why? I've had all these powers on the character at one point or another, and for me they're pretty much on the same line. So, convince me

(Other possible powers I could pick are: Taser, Auto Turret, Time Bomb, Group Fly, Hover, Superspeed, Flurry, Health, Maneuvers, Vengeance or Fire Shield, but I'm not keen on taking any of these)

I'm in, just name a date and time

Midnight Thunder goes solo against Requiem (the AV version) and when beating him, dings 50.. (Well, had a few Emp/Darks to help him, but who counts them for anything.)

Congrats for @Tenebra for his third lv 50. Next up a squid or a d3.

[ QUOTE ]
Yes it does.. it affects ALL powers you have.

[/ QUOTE ]

Curiouser and Curiouser. How close to permanent Hasten does one get with both?

Grats mate Been busy with the leveling, I see

Ah, also one more reason for not taking devices as a secondary for a sniper - Build Up > Targetting Drone when relying so much on a single attack for damage.

Yeah, Fire would probably be the top choise for primary as Stalko said.

[ QUOTE ]
Hello, I'm looking to make a blaster that pretty much just snipes from the shadows for PVP use, however I've never massively PVP'd and this would be my first blaster so am after some advice.
Cheers.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'd go with Energy secondary, because you get the range boost from that and can pretty much out-range anything with it.

Flight (hover 3-slotted with flight speeds), speed (hasten, superspeed), fitness (swift, slotted with flightspeeds, hurdle and stamina) and concealment (stealth) for pools.

Munitions for epic to get the second snipe power.

No comment on the primary - Would probably go with Energy myself to get a few other damaging attacks.

Yeah, Liquefy is the big questionmark. I'll try the overkill slotting, see how it works. I have never seen the power in action or even spoken with anyone who has it, so I'll accept whatever suggestion given to me

Ah, sorry, right. Knew I forgot something.

Basically she's an team based Debuffer/Offender. Not going for the shields as I already have a bubblebot on Villains, and playing another would be tedious for me, so I'm focusing on providing as much -res as possible while skipping the +res powers (Except the pbaoe shield which is also a mez resist for myself). Basically going for something else than commonly seen as the correct form and trying to make it work. Been pretty much the idea behind my builds lately.

Good point about going for Shout earlier. The original version I did had 3 damages on howl, so the damage output was good with just the beginning attacks. Now Howl is my main AoE click debuff power, so another damage attack is a good idea.

What do you want to do with it? A respec build or from ground up? Focus on aggro-management or damage dealing?

---------------------------------------------
Exported from Ver: 1.7.6.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder - (http://sherksilver.coldfront.net/index.php)
---------------------------------------------
Name: Night Shriek
Level: 50
Archetype: Defender
Primary: Sonic Resonance
Secondary: Sonic Blast
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Sonic Siphon==> Acc Acc Rechg Rechg Rechg EndRdx
01) --> Shriek==> Acc Rechg Dmg Dmg Dmg EndRdx
02) --> Scream==> Acc Rechg Dmg Dmg Dmg EndRdx
04) --> Howl==> Acc Acc Range Range Rechg Rechg
06) --> Hasten==> Rechg Rechg Rechg
08) --> Disruption Field==> EndRdx EndRdx EndRdx
10) --> Combat Jumping==> EndRdx
12) --> Sonic Dispersion==> EndRdx EndRdx EndRdx DmgRes DmgRes DmgRes
14) --> Super Jump==> EndRdx
16) --> Swift==> Run
18) --> Health==> Heal
20) --> Amplify==> Rechg Rechg Rechg TH_Buf
22) --> Stamina==> EndMod EndMod EndMod
24) --> Recall Friend==> Rechg
26) --> Clarity==> Rechg
28) --> Siren's Song==> Acc Acc Range Range Range
30) --> Shout==> Acc Acc Dmg Dmg Dmg EndRdx
32) --> Liquefy==> DefDeBuf Rechg Rechg Rechg TH_DeBuf TH_DeBuf
35) --> Screech==> Acc Acc Rechg Rechg DisDur DisDur
38) --> Dreadful Wail==> Rechg Rechg Rechg Dmg Dmg Dmg
41) --> Dark Consumption==> Acc Rechg Rechg Rechg
44) --> Dark Embrace==> DmgRes DmgRes DmgRes EndRdx
47) --> Soul Drain==> Acc Rechg Rechg Rechg
49) --> Teleport==> EndRdx
---------------------------------------------

The questionmark really is Liquefy. How on earth should the power be slotted. From the description, it looks like your average earthquake type power. But there are just too many moving parts when it comes to the slotting.

Other commentary is appreciated as well.