Alvan

Superior Invis is better than Hide, but the difference is that a Stalker can get a higher total Stealth value compared to a Non-Stalker. Double the value of a Non-Stalker, to be exact.

Also (and in this case this matters more) Hide + Stealth stack, which means they combined become more powerful than Superior Invisibility.

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Blaster/scrapper. Blaster who plays all melee with no or no ranged ability. See also blanker, a blaster who tanks, blanktroller, a blaster who tanks and controls, etc etc you get the idea

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All commonly known as faceplanters for their incredible powers of staying at 0 health and on the floor

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Either way its good to see your slots work rather than feel as though they are so its a good idea to play around with them in game and visually see the effects.

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Yup. All the stuff above level 31 below is peliminary since I have no experience in them. I will most likely have to respec the character again at levels 40 and 50...

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(Knockout Blow)

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If you lose this then lose it for a hold, i tend to scrank malta, i like to be first in or first seen no matter. I like to make sure sappers are dealt with for myself. i kill the sapper then worry about tanking the rest of the group. It takes a hold or disorient to see to them comfortably really but with earth epics you have to wait till 44 for a hold. With the pyre and ice mastery you can get a hold at 41 so you may find it best to keep knockout blow until the time is right to lose it really.

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At the moment it feels natural to go for full Earth Mastery set - Good AoE Immob, the large-area Sleep, a -Fly ST Immob and a ranged ST Hold. Changes shown below. My lv 50 respec will probably include testing all possible epics on Test Server, but Earth seems most controllery in my mind.

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(Salt Crystals)

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Its a sleep i cant see it getting attention as the effect i'd imagine outlasts the taunt duration. I do like the aoe sleep more for (with correct team cooperation) using just before hibernate or detoggling toggles that maybe there on enemies who arent sleep protected or preventing ambushes. Getting teams to use their powers in synche with your own is often hard, you may say right ill sleep that lot and someone else unleashes rain of fire on them just after.

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True. I have some doubts of it, but there are situations I can see it being useful. In PvP, Sleep is more rarely resisted than Holds. In PvE, There are situations where the team gets attacked by more than one group and you have trouble keeping aggro, in which case added control can help. But I have no experience in SC except seeing it in action by some Earth Controllers. Will have to see about it when the time comes.

The following build is pretty certain up to level 32 (will be respeccing into it once I get 6 bubbles and get there so I can sell enhances while respeccing)

---------------------------------------------
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) --> Resist Physical Damage==> DmgRes(1)DmgRes(3)DmgRes(3)
01) --> Jab==> Acc(1)
02) --> Temp Invulnerability==> DmgRes(2)DmgRes(5)DmgRes(5)EndRdx(37)EndRdx(43)
04) --> Dull Pain==> Rechg(4)Rechg(7)Rechg(7)Heal(37)Heal(40)Heal(43)
06) --> Resist Elements==> DmgRes(6)DmgRes(9)DmgRes(9)
08) --> Unyielding==> DmgRes(8)DmgRes(11)DmgRes(11)EndRdx(40)EndRdx(43)
10) --> Taunt==> Rechg(10)Rechg(13)Rechg(13)Taunt(23)Taunt(23)Taunt(31)
12) --> Combat Jumping==> DefBuf(12)DefBuf(15)DefBuf(15)
14) --> Super Jump==> Jump(14)
16) --> Resist Energies==> DmgRes(16)DmgRes(17)DmgRes(17)
18) --> Invincibility==> DefBuf(18)DefBuf(19)DefBuf(19)Taunt(31)Taunt(31)Taunt(34)
20) --> Hasten==> Rechg(20)Rechg(21)Rechg(21)
22) --> Hurdle==> Jump(22)
24) --> Health==> Heal(24)Heal(25)Heal(25)
26) --> Tough Hide==> DefBuf(26)DefBuf(27)DefBuf(27)
28) --> Stamina==> EndMod(28)EndMod(29)EndMod(29)
30) --> Boxing==> Acc(30)
32) --> Unstoppable==> Rechg(32)Rechg(33)Rechg(33)DmgRes(33)DmgRes(34)EndMod(34)
35) --> Tough==> DmgRes(35)DmgRes(36)DmgRes(36)EndRdx(36)EndRdx(37)EndRdx(46)
38) --> Weave==> DefBuf(38)DefBuf(39)DefBuf(39)EndRdx(39)EndRdx(40)EndRdx(46)
41) --> Stone Prison==> Acc(41)Acc(42)EndRdx(42)EndRdx(42)
44) --> Salt Crystals==> Acc(44)Acc(45)EndRdx(45)EndRdx(45)Rechg(46)
47) --> Stalagmites==> Acc(47)Acc(48)EndRdx(48)EndRdx(48)
49) --> Fossilize==> Acc(49)Acc(50)Hold(50)Hold(50)
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Sprint==> Jump(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Acc(1)
01) --> Gauntlet==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Rechg(2)
---------------------------------------------

After last night's experience of going through 3 taskforces with this character I've come to think some slotting and powers again - I'll make a new build when I have a bit more time, but here's some comments on some stuff..

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08) --> Hurdle==> Jump(8) Jump(31) Jump(46) extra slotting is for jump speed, i cant see a need for it.

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I'm probably not taking the extra Jump heights on this one, as said, they just aren't worth it. I realized I don't have them now and I'm doing fine. I'll have to see about mobility vs. slotting things over on Test Server..

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14) --> Super Jump==> Rechg(14) Jump(34) dont take recharges, an endredux is nice, i have never needed a jump in it, i cant see the benefits.

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The Rechg is a glitch from the builder, should say Jump(14) Jump(34), which should cap the Super Jump height. Since I'll be running Combat Jumping in combat situations, I don't think I'll have much need for an End Red in this, the Jump enha improves travel speed, I'll have to take a look how I can best slot the movement powers (hurdle, superjump, sprint) as a combination and not make individual choises. Will probably mean that I'll have to make a Test Server build and make a couple of different versions before I can say anything about it.

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32) --> Unstoppable==> Rechg(32) Rechg(33) Rechg(33) DmgRes(33) DmgRes(34) DmgRes(34) 1 dam res helps almost reach your capped resist, most likely you may run other toggles too but most certainly your passives are always there. End mods are very nice though. 3 recharge is basically if you feel you would like to use it more often than you actually would, in RV having such a fast recharge has saved me though.

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Took a look at the numbers, and you're right. No point in having more than one +res in this. With the toggles running, it would have brought the resistances to something like 140%, with smashing/lethal at 200%... With resistance capping at 90%. Will drop or change slotting a bit on this one.. Recharges will stay to keep it available any time possible

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38) --> Foot Stomp==> Acc(38) Acc(39) Rechg(39) Rechg(39) Taunt(40) Taunt(40) Gauntlet isnt that good its worth slotting taunt at the price of endurance slots, with such a fast recharge taunt and the amount of taunt durations in invincible i cant see it worth losing an endurance slot over. Combined with taunt its good for those just outside of aura to say "remember me".

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Probably changing the slotting to Taunt, Taunt, Acc, Acc, EndRed, EndRed, (or 2x Taunt, 2x Acc, EndRed, Rechg, will need to test it) because It's not a primary way of taunting for me anyways - no need to have it ready all the time, but once in a while (much like Salt Crystals, FS will be used in some situations, but not all)

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41) --> Knockout Blow==> Acc(41) Acc(42) Rechg(42) Rechg(42) Hold(43) Hold(43) again an endurance slot, this can be used to hold sappers for yourself, the thing is can you get to them quick enough. i have that amount of holds in mine currently with 3 holds i can sip a drink and casually kill a sapper but with your lack of damage you definately need someone there.

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I will most likely be changing this power into Hurl, just to fit a -fly power in there somewhere. A Hold will not be that necessary power for a Tank and KO Blow having only melee range, makes things even more difficult. Other possibility is getting the single target hold from Earth Epic and getting the AoE Immob instead of Acrobatics at 47. Will have to see what this means for my slotting.

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44) --> Salt Crystals==> Acc(44) Acc(45) EndRdx(45) EndRdx(45) its a sleep, it only takes someone with an aoe to wake everyone up, its still good used for the right groups at the right moments, like while you are tanking one group a patrol appears so you sleep them.

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The best thing I see about the Crystals is that they have a huge area of effect (30' if I remember correctly), which means that they can give the team a breather if attacked by overwhelming enemies, giving a second or two to regroup and maybe get a vital member of the team back on their feet. I can also imagine it having use in getting attention of a bit scattered group of enemies in the beginning of a conflict.

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47) --> Acrobatics==> EndRdx(47) EndRdx(48) EndRdx(48)
i cant see you needing this, there seems to be 2 extremes. Unyielding will resist most anything pve but what it cant resist, acrobatics wont be enough.(hurl or air sup for the -fly would be more useful to keep av's grounded so that other people can more easily keep their dps up).

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Agreed, and will be dropping this for something more worthwile. Either some nice attack from SS or Earth Epic, or move Weave here and get something else at 49.

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49) --> Weave==> DefBuf(49) DefBuf(50) DefBuf(50) EndRdx(50) another end slot imo

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*nods* Quite endurance heavy power it seems. I'll have to take a look at things better in the morning, but moving Weave to an earlier level would make it possible to get enough slots into it.

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You want to do it with an all blaster team and every time some one dies you have have to drink. Would be fun to see if any one manged to get the AV before they passed out.

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Or a Squid-TF. One sip when someone spots a void/quant/cyst or someone gets killed, finish the glass when the whole team faceplants.

After playing a few levels upwards, I've thought about slotting and powers a bit more again...

---------------------------------------------
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) --> Resist Physical Damage==> DmgRes(1)DmgRes(3)DmgRes(3)
01) --> Jab==> Acc(1)
02) --> Temp Invulnerability==> DmgRes(2)DmgRes(5)DmgRes(5)EndRdx(37)
04) --> Dull Pain==> Rechg(4)Rechg(9)Rechg(9)Heal(40)Heal(43)Heal(46)
06) --> Resist Elements==> DmgRes(6)DmgRes(7)DmgRes(7)
08) --> Hurdle==> Jump(8)Jump(31)Jump(46)
10) --> Taunt==> Rechg(10)Rechg(11)Rechg(11)Taunt(15)Taunt(15)Taunt(31)
12) --> Combat Jumping==> DefBuf(12)DefBuf(13)DefBuf(13)
14) --> Super Jump==> Rechg(14)Jump(34)
16) --> Unyielding==> DmgRes(16)DmgRes(17)DmgRes(17)EndRdx(48)
18) --> Resist Energies==> DmgRes(18)DmgRes(19)DmgRes(19)
20) --> Invincibility==> DefBuf(20)DefBuf(21)DefBuf(21)Taunt(25)Taunt(25)Taunt(31)
22) --> Hasten==> Rechg(22)Rechg(23)Rechg(23)
24) --> Health==> Heal(24)Heal(29)Heal(29)
26) --> Tough Hide==> DefBuf(26)DefBuf(27)DefBuf(27)
28) --> Stamina==> EndMod(28)EndMod(37)EndMod(37)
30) --> Boxing==> Acc(30)
32) --> Unstoppable==> Rechg(32)Rechg(33)Rechg(33)DmgRes(33)DmgRes(34)DmgRes(34)
35) --> Tough==> DmgRes(35)DmgRes(36)DmgRes(36)EndRdx(36)EndRdx(46)
38) --> Foot Stomp==> Acc(38)Acc(39)Rechg(39)Rechg(39)Taunt(40)Taunt(40)
41) --> Knockout Blow==> Acc(41)Acc(42)Rechg(42)Rechg(42)Hold(43)Hold(43)
44) --> Salt Crystals==> Acc(44)Acc(45)EndRdx(45)EndRdx(45)
47) --> Acrobatics==> EndRdx(47)EndRdx(48)EndRdx(48)
49) --> Weave==> DefBuf(49)DefBuf(50)DefBuf(50)EndRdx(50)
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Sprint==> Jump(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Empty(1)
01) --> Gauntlet==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Empty(2)
---------------------------------------------


More a crowd-controller build than a pvp one now, still over-the-top resistances for s/l and holds/knockback, but that, along with KO Blow are nods for PvP purposes. Main point still is to keep some form of crowd control going. If/when going for full PvP, slotting for Taunt will be 2xAcc, 2xRechg, 2xTaunt, but since the Accuracy changes in Taunt affect only PVP environments, there is no point in taking them for normal play.

The thing is, I find this most pleasant a change. For one reason in particular. The <censored> Tsoo in Siren's Call. They keep killing me when I manage to make a close escape with 5% of my health left. This means I no-longer get my bar full of debt because of a shrivel of damage from a silly asian dude with a bad tattoo (no offense to all the nin/nin stalkers).

In my mind Siren's hotspot fighting has always been a risky business. Just that before it was a double-or-nothing -thing, if you were attacked you either got full debt or no debt, which lead to whinage or no worries. Now the situation means that getting full debt means fully getting whacked by NPCs.

On a borderline shady note what I see here is a good opportunity to start petitioning the people TP:ing you to mobs for griefing. Since they are now intentionally causing you debt. It is no longer a question of "My plan was to get the last hit on you so you wouldn't get any." Which has frankly been the only thing that's been keeping the thing valid until now...

If you like controlling, the Mercenaries primary is for you, the Spec Ops both have wide variety of mez effects at their disposal, from web grenade (-jump, -fly, immob) to AoE stun/hold effects.

If you prefer debuffing, go for Necromancy. I seem to recall them all having -acc at the end.

Guess it all comes down to what you are looking for. Damage means much, but it isn't everything in PvP

Silly monkeys, grats on the incredo-fast leveling to 50 to the both of you

Well, luckily I've been playing with War for long enough to be able to say it was my main toon even back when the power combo was totally gimped, and made it to 50 before the changes came that made it good...

So in my mind I've earned the right to play a FotM now

This is a rough estimate of what I have now (levels the powers were taken aren't accurate, but the slotting is).

---------------------------------------------
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==> Dmg Dmg Dmg Rechg Acc Acc
01) --> Web Grenade==> Acc
02) --> Ice Blast==> Acc Acc Dmg Dmg Dmg
04) --> Caltrops==> Slow Rechg Rechg
06) --> Swift==> Run
08) --> Aim==> Rechg Rechg Rechg TH_Buf TH_Buf TH_Buf
10) --> Targeting Drone==> EndRdx EndRdx TH_Buf TH_Buf TH_Buf
12) --> Air Superiority==> Acc
14) --> Fly==> Fly Fly Fly EndRdx EndRdx EndRdx
16) --> Freeze Ray==> Acc Acc Hold Hold Rechg Rechg
18) --> Bitter Ice Blast==> Dmg Dmg NucleExp(Acc/Dmg) Acc EndRdx
20) --> Health==> Heal
22) --> Stamina==> EndMod EndMod EndMod
24) --> Assault==> EndRdx
26) --> Tactics==> EndRdx EndRdx EndRdx
28) --> Hasten==> Rechg Rechg Rechg
30) --> Cloaking Device==> EndRdx
32) --> Blizzard==> Dmg Dmg Dmg Rechg Rechg Rechg
35) --> Bitter Freeze Ray==> Acc Dmg Dmg Dmg
38) --> Smoke Grenade==> Acc Acc TH_DeBuf TH_DeBuf Rechg Rechg
41) --> Char==> Acc Acc Rechg Rechg Hold Hold
44) --> Bonfire==> Rechg Rechg Dmg Dmg Dmg
47) --> Ice Storm==> Dmg Dmg Dmg Acc
49) --> Rise of the Phoenix==> Rechg Rechg Rechg

As it's quite easy to see, the build is more about controlling the playing field in PvE than high damage.. AoE effects that cause enemies to go to certain directions - In PvE-situations I can basically sit behind a corner and kill people without them ever seeing a glimpse of me

In PvP he usual attack chain against a squishy goes: Char, Freeze Ray, Aim, Ice Bolt, Bitter Ice Blast, Ice Blast, Ice Bolt or Bitter Freeze Ray. If they've hit Break Free, it's time to Smoke Grenade, Web Grenade and Caltrop the playing field and continue.

Against Masterminds using Bonfire's autohit knockback is essential - it separates the master from the pets and makes Bodyguard useless.

Brutes are usually beyond my damage skills, so the most I do against them is Web Grenade + Smoke Grenade (Caltrops if feeling playful) and then go to after the squishy they were teaming with.

Stalkers who aren't Eludin have never been a problem, On a previous build I had the Tactics + Targetting Drone combination running in Bloody Bay levels, and I consider myself quite good at hunting stalkers at Siren's. In RV, the number of Invis + Hides is on the rise, but haven't really noticed it yet. And as an added bonus if I get ganked now, I have RotP to get back into action without going though the hospital.

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If LadyWhite is still around i'd give him a shout. Dooms Day is his ice/dev blaster and was pretty successful by all accounts in PvP - i think built mainly as a squishy killer - slows, holds etc.

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Well, squishy killer role is fun and all that, but I'm getting a lot of lip from people getting ganked, so this thread was more an effort to try and create something else..

Being the complete n00b I am, I'm looking for some friendly advice on Ice/Dev for RV.

More specifically, I'm looking for such a build that relies on some other aspect of the Ice/Dev than ganking squishies.

Every working build I can think of either relies on too huge amount of preparation (setting up mines, bombs and turrets) or being stealthy and using holds to keep people under control and killing them before they can retaliate. Or in worst cases, both (set up mines, tp foe to them, rejoice).

I'm looking to you people for guidance, tell me, how to make a good pvp build with the said components (epic pool is freely choosable) that is fair to the enemies, sparing me from the foul-mouthing. But at the same time works well enough to be an threat in PvP.

Primary emphasis of the character is solo work in Zonal PvP.

Lv 38 Magic Mercs/FF signing for duty. I just love the controllery side of the Mercs - the Spec Ops really make things more bearable and interesting than they would as pure damage dealers.

*nods* and the text above it says (in white) Defense to Lethal, Smashing and Energy.



Just pointing out that one of them must be wrong and would be nice to know (for a fact, from someone who took it) which one is wrong and which one is long-dumped and obsolete text. (since if it's +def, I just might be taking it for my MM)

Edit: Damn I'm slow and thanks PRAF, that actually cleared a lot of things

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Scorpion shield
http://morchee.ifrance.com/Scorpion%20Shield.jpg


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Hmm. Which one is it against energy? +res (like the info line says) or +def (like the text says)?

Eden has a history of turning pre-made worlds into playable environments. Their Buffy/Angel RPGs are the best exemple of this. Both manage to capture the feel of the original, but do not limit them too much with it. If they can manage this with CoX Tabletop, I'm more than happy (and will be playing a scenario where Villains invide PI, slaughtering lv 12 peacebringers...)

Well, thanks all for coming and demonstrating that The Hamidon can be turned into nothingness with just 15 heroes...

We should try this with the proper 4 teams sometimes, but I won't bother trying to organize, since I just can't seem to bring enough people online.

Couple of Screens

Rooks tanking like a tank should
Hamidon gets immobed and killed with a Crey Pistol
The Heroes and their ultimate weapons

(Edit: added the screenshots)

I'll be there, hope to see you people here (The Hive) tonight

I actually rolled this one up at the RV event, and well... it was one of the worst builds I tried. (even better than my Empathy Offender, which I might end up making )

I think I simply must yield to the fact that stalkers have no way of working beyond the basic concept of "BU, AS, Placate, Crit." I'm quite sad about that - every other archtype offers some flexibility, but as of yet, I'm unable to see that in a stalker.

Dunk the Defender

Required powers: Air Superiority (or some other -fly power), Flight (or TP with good aim)

While technically it works best against defenders, I've used this against flying sniper-blasters successfully as well. Choose a target hovering happiliy above the battleground, buffing/healing/sniping stuff from relative safety.. Put pets on "attack my target", fly next to the poor sob and Air Sup them to middle of your pets. people don't expect the mastermind charging full speed at them, so this works surprisingly well. Add invisibility, phase shift or whatever for detail and Force bolt or other ranged powers to keep the target grounded. If teaming with stalkers, skip the pet-summoning phase

Ok, time to remind about this. We have about two teams filled with eager monster-hunters.

Some saddish factual stuff. The test server will be in shambles after this week's RV event, no matter what they will claim. This means we'll be doing the test on Union.

Also judging from the preliminaries, we only have about 2 teams so far. Would be nice to at least double that amount. All this talk about debt must have scared the fair folk of Onion. We'll probably be at this for a couple of hours, so late arrivals will be more than welcome. If the early beginning time is a problem, I'm willing to bump the starting time up a bit. But remember folks - 17:00 GMT = 18:00 BST

As mentioned before, I have nothing else material to offer than whatever the Monsters drop and debt, but if we in fact figure out something about The Hive, we'll be doing something groundbreaking.

I'll bring my Ice/Dev, but will be swiching to Villain side once we've kicked their behinds back to their own island

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For PvP zones: Elec would be best choice (ranged control, best armour)

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Munitions is the rogue one to be honest. I think munitions is the best choice for "stalker hunter" builds all the devices out there who use snipe along with LRM with defiance.

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These two are the ones that I've previously had, so some observations - Elec, Fire and Munitions all provide good ranged control with hold.

Munitions actually does even moreso with the sleep grenade, but the clear downsides of Munitions are that if you're going for shields, the one provided by the set is actually the worst. The second reason to skip Munitions is that if you are something other than assault rifle, you need to adjust to the fact that the offensive powers in the set (3 powers out of 4) use the assault rifle animation, which requires drawing out the weapon first. For an Ice blaster taking Munitions might be still worth it, since they'll finally get a snipe at lv 47 from it

Elec hold has good solid range and the energy drain effect never hurt anyone. The armor is solid, but the attack provided by the set is a bit slowly animated cone attack (with the same range as frost/fire breath but with wider cone). Energy resist is good, but somehew the EMP is a bit lacking.

Upside is that EM Pulse causes stun, not hold, which isn't resisted by Acrobatics. But sadly you'll end up on an endurance recovery break for a short while after firing the power, which can be quite dangerous and frankly causes you to stock up more blues if you want to keep going.

Also in PvP none of players aren't robots as far as the system is concerned, so EMP does no damage (it rocks more in a fight against freakshow or nemesis waffles.)

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It does depend on what you're after - but i'd rather not die in the first place to have to use RotF!

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In heated, balanced PvP (or in a situation where the world is against you) dying happens to a blaster far more than it does not. You're squishy and dangerous. It makes you a prime target. For Zonal PvP a self Rez is very useful, this from my experience on test where the balance might not be the best ever

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Is there really any point in having anything other than force epic on a blaster in pvp. I'm slowly coming round to the fact that FoN is 'da uber' power and Force Mastery the epic to take.

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Pyre Mastery, just for Rise of the Phoenix. Of course depends what you're after in PvP, but it helps a damn lot.

Then again, I've never been one going for the über build. Heck, my blasters don't even have acrobatics. :P