Wyldhunt

I agree with Syntax42 and Infini - as I found yesterday, it's trivial to softcap S/L/E/N on Ice/*, so start there. It's also easy to cap HP on Ice/, so do it. I would suggest perma-Hoarfrost to help with the HP cap. The next thing is definetely +regen.

I know from Elec/Stone experience tha /Stone has wonderful mitigation, and a great attack chain especially when Hastened - you can perma-Hasten with expense, or just get close enough with perma-Hoarfrost that the rest doesn't matter.

Yeah, post a build so we can see what powers/pools you're going for, and we can respond with some slotting examples.

Well, The Amber Fist hit 50 last night. Before I had to log, I upped the diff to +0/x4/bosses/EBs, and did the Tip mission "You're A Cruel, Mr. Phipps." Even with two Red bosses and around 20 assorted Arachnos pounding away from close spawns, I got 'em all. My toon's health did go orange a couple of times in that battle in quick succession, but nothing Energize and a Green couldn't handle.

Next I'll complete badging for Eye of the Magus and the Mender Ramiel arc, then see how +0/x6/bosses/EBs goes, and keep increasing from there. I also need to seek out some Arachnoids...

I have all IO sets desired now except Kinetic Combats, and almost done with LotGs, Oblits, and Numina. I still need to get the Glad Armor +3 Def and Shield Wall +3 Res, but I figure they'll come later once I have the Hero Merits and/or influence.

By the way, for those worried about getting enough influence for IO sets: my own experience is that if you do your tip missions, enough Alignment Merits will come your way that you really don't have to worry about it. You'll also get enough Reward Merits through Story Arcs to help. Also, sell the purple drops you don't want - I've already received two of these in only a short time of fighting 50s. My only outside boost has been lots of salvage stockpiled by previous toons over the years, but lack of that wouldn't have slowed down getting these IO sets by too much - I would have saved my inf for the salvage and/or already-crafted IOs rather than spending some inf directly on recipes.

While I agree that the best tank is the one you like to play and can play effectively, I can see Ice/Elec being pretty strong for that...

I spent a few minutes putting together a build, and easily hit Def softcap S/L/E/N (w/o relying on Energy Absorption), HP cap (with perma-Hoarfrost), and perma-Hasten (using 3 purple sets but not relying on Force Feedback: Chance for +Rech). However resists are still pretty weak, so I'd have to remember to bring Oranges and use Wedding Band/Eye of the Magus appropriately - probably only when def isn't enough AND the enemies are KD-resistant. There are some other perks in the build, enough that I'll have to tweak it and put it in my "reserve" list for my next possible toon.

Thanks for the suggestion, iMidget Perfection! I'd been looking for a suitable secondary for Ice/, and you just gave it to me.

That did get by the filters, didn't it?

Guardian - 29th - got it! The Amber Fist must be there! I haven't joined these before. I find from a post from you in December this meeting place/time:

"King's Row by the gate to Independence Port at 6pm PST\9pm EST (line up on the wall. It makes team set up easier)"

Is this still good?

With WP's End recovery, you can handle extra Leadership toggles. If you're building to softcap Def (which is extremely valuable for WP), Combat Jumping, Weave, and Manuevers will definitely help. I like Tactics as well, as it helps against Perception debuffs (which personally annoy me). However, there are many "extra" powers to choose from - I suggest looking at them, ranking them, then determining what you want.

My general rule for slotting while levelling is three (auto+2) in each attack first, than add 2 to each Def/Res that could benefit from them, gradually adding 2 to each other power that can use them. Then I'll figure out what IO sets I want, and add more to those I want first (tends to be AoE/hard hitting powers) and the rest as slots become available later in the build.

How good is WP? My SS/WP Brute was my first level 50, even when my I2 historical Inv/Axe tank collected dust at level 47, because that tank couldn't stand against Carnies/Malta (pre-the-possibility-of-IOs). The neverending supply of End for my SS/WP and lack of holes definitely sold me on that combo.

Reasons I can recommend WP to new Melee toon players:
1. End doesn't run out.
2. Toggle and forget set allows the player to focus on his/her attacks.
3. No "oops, we're gimping you against these mobs" holes.

The only downsides to this set in comparison to others (as previously stated) are:
1. A little less ability to take an extreme Alpha in a few edge cases. Not a big deal.
2. A little less ability to hold aggro. Easily taken care of - can't ever be "the best" at this, but can get to "standard" Tanker aggro-holding levels.

For a new Melee toon player, I do recommend taking an attack set that allows some crowd mitigation, like SS or SM (even Elec with Thunder Strike), over something that doesn't, like Fire or Dark. The KD/Stun time allows more regen time.

The only reason I haven't made a few WP/ tanks is that I like trying different sets, and I've already found success with my SS/WP Brute.

While Inv/ can be tough as nails, it's a set that's left a bad taste in my mouth because of its Psi/End holes. I could only recommend that set with a list of cautions you'd need to cover and plan to spend plenty of inf for.

Thanks, Breog.

I've already got the five Doctored Wounds listed, and the heal/regen percentages don't change that much, so I'll probably leave it alone for now. If I find Force Feedback provides enough consistent +Rech when I'm going +2/x8 to allow for "permanent" Energize, then I'll look to swap out the triple Doctored Wounds for the Heal/End. With Hasten down, I'm only getting a little more than one second benefit from the triple over Heal/End anyway.

Yes, I'm gunning for +HP - The Amber Fist is a Tanker, might as well make use of the HP... but I put the Perf Shift: End Mod in Power Sink purely because I couldn't find a "better" user for that slot. Your suggestion for Static Shield makes a lot of sense, so I've moved that slot with a straight-up Res IO, giving me a total 58.3% Psy Res with my other slotting.

I knew about, but hadn't seriously considered Taunt in Power Sink. As it is, I believe I have enough in Fault to take care of that. I wonder, since Power Sink is auto-hit, would its Gauntlet also be auto-hit (unlike the powers which require a hit check)? I'll have to watch for that and confirm.

I'm still concerned about Toxic in TFs though. I'm not as concerned about Arachnoids* - what I'm wondering is how much pure Toxic might be waiting for me in TFs, and whether I "need" Power Surge to cover that, or whether temp powers and oranges will be enough.

*Arachnoids' pure Toxic attacks are all melee, and Fault/Seismic Smash will mitigate their rate of atack. Their Venom Barb's Toxic is combined with Lethal, so until/unless my +Def cascade fails due to their -Def, The Amber Fist should be OK.

I've adjusted the build a bit more, and thanks to a Purple drop which I sold for 80mil, and the Hero/Reward merits I've spent on the more expensive stuff, now have about 80% IO sets complete.

My question now is the Lvl 49 pick. I like Tactics with RR: Increased Perception for what it does, however I'm wondering whether Wedding Band/Eye of the Magus and a few Oranges would be enough for me to tank Toxic in TFs, or whether I should just get Power Surge. I've played enough with godmode crashes to hate them (though the toons I play normally live through them), but have any of you Elec/ Tankers been able to say, tank Recluse w/o Power Surge up? If so, did you rely on Positional Defense to see you through?

So far, The Amber Fist has only been defeated by Ghost Widow (all EB-level). Of the Praetorians, the only one he could not defeat was Siege (dang fast Regen/Heal) - I had to bring along some temp power Clockwork/Warwolf/PPD help to finish off that EB.

The Amber Fist is at 49.5 now, so his journey into higher mission difficulty levels will soon begin...

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.92
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

The Amber Fist: Level 50 Mutation Tanker
Primary Power Set: Electric Armor
Secondary Power Set: Stone Melee
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Leadership

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Charged Armor

• (A) Reactive Armor - Resistance
• (9) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance
• (9) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Recharge
• (43) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance/Recharge

Level 1: Stone Fist

• (A) Kinetic Combat - Accuracy/Damage
• (3) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance
• (7) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Recharge
• (40) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance/Recharge

Level 2: Stone Mallet

• (A) Kinetic Combat - Accuracy/Damage
• (3) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance
• (7) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Recharge
• (45) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance/Recharge

Level 4: Heavy Mallet

• (A) Kinetic Combat - Accuracy/Damage
• (5) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance
• (5) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Recharge
• (46) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance/Recharge

Level 6: Static Shield

• (A) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%

Level 8: Grounded

• (A) Gladiator's Armor - TP Protection +3% Def (All)

Level 10: Hasten

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO
• (11) Recharge Reduction IO
• (11) Recharge Reduction IO

Level 12: Energize

• (A) Doctored Wounds - Recharge
• (13) Doctored Wounds - Endurance/Recharge
• (13) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Recharge
• (29) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Endurance/Recharge
• (33) Doctored Wounds - Heal

Level 14: Super Speed

• (A) Winter's Gift - Slow Resistance (20%)

Level 16: Conductive Shield

• (A) Reactive Armor - Resistance
• (17) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance
• (17) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Recharge
• (46) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Endurance/Recharge

Level 18: Lightning Reflexes

• (A) Run Speed IO

Level 20: Fault

• (A) Perfect Zinger - Chance for Psi Damage
• (21) Perfect Zinger - Taunt/Range
• (21) Perfect Zinger - Taunt
• (37) Perfect Zinger - Taunt/Recharge
• (40) Perfect Zinger - Taunt/Recharge/Range
• (43) Perfect Zinger - Accuracy/Recharge

Level 22: Lightning Field

• (A) Obliteration - Damage
• (23) Obliteration - Accuracy/Recharge
• (23) Obliteration - Damage/Recharge
• (34) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (34) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
• (34) Obliteration - Chance for Smashing Damage

Level 24: Build Up

• (A) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Chance for Build Up
• (25) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Endurance
• (25) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff
• (31) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge
• (31) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge/Endurance
• (31) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Recharge/Endurance

Level 26: Power Sink

• (A) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Accuracy/Recharge
• (27) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Recharge
• (27) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Accuracy/Recharge
• (29) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Recharge
• (40) Performance Shifter - EndMod

Level 28: Taunt

• (A) Perfect Zinger - Chance for Psi Damage

Level 30: Boxing

• (A) Accuracy IO

Level 32: Tough

• (A) Titanium Coating - Resistance
• (33) Titanium Coating - Resistance/Endurance
• (33) Titanium Coating - Resistance/Recharge

Level 35: Tremor

• (A) Obliteration - Accuracy/Recharge
• (36) Obliteration - Damage/Recharge
• (36) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (36) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
• (37) Obliteration - Damage
• (37) Force Feedback - Chance for +Recharge

Level 38: Seismic Smash

• (A) Kinetic Combat - Accuracy/Damage
• (39) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance
• (39) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Recharge
• (39) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance/Recharge

Level 41: Weave

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense
• (42) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
• (42) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Recharge
• (42) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
• (46) Kismet - Accuracy +6%
• (50) Shield Wall - +Res (Teleportation), +3% Res (All)

Level 44: Combat Jumping

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense
• (45) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
• (45) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Recharge
• (50) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed

Level 47: Maneuvers

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense
• (48) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
• (48) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Recharge
• (50) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed

Level 49: Tactics

• (A) Rectified Reticle - Increased Perception

Level 0: Freedom Phalanx Reserve
Level 0: Portal Jockey
Level 0: Task Force Commander
Level 0: The Atlas Medallion
Level 50: Cardiac Core Paragon
------------
Level 1: Brawl

• (A) Accuracy IO

Level 1: Sprint

• (A) Jumping IO

Level 2: Rest

• (A) Empty

Level 1: Gauntlet
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift

• (A) Run Speed IO

Level 2: Hurdle

• (A) Jumping IO

Level 2: Health

• (A) Numina's Convalescence - +Regeneration/+Recovery
• (19) Numina's Convalescence - Heal
• (19) Numina's Convalescence - Heal/Endurance
• (43) Numina's Convalescence - Heal/Recharge

Level 2: Stamina

• (A) Performance Shifter - EndMod
• (15) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Accuracy
• (15) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Recharge
• (48) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End

I started an Elec/Stone in November, and with only casual mission/badging +0/x1/bosses/EBs play, have him at 48 now. I have him about 10% IO'd, but he's still the only tank I've yet played that can easily handle and solo everything thrown at him - he's only been defeated by Ghost Widow, and the Vanguard missions at his difficulty were almost yawners.

I'll crank up the difficulty and team more once he reaches 50 and see how he really pans out then, but here's what I have so far as reason to play this combo:

1. SM provides wonderful mitigation to Elec. Fault for the minions; Seismic Smash for the leaders.
2. Elec provides wonderful +Rech and End mgmt to SM.
3. Just enough AoE through Tremor and Lightning Field that the minions are defeated about the same time as bosses, so I can concentrate on the leaders and let the minions fall when they will. This is good, since I want the minions around for Power Sink.
4. High resists with Tough means my HP bar is very manageable.
5. I laugh at Carnies/Malta/Rikti/Nemesis - in fact, when I was badging for Unveiler, Fault/Seismic Smash let me defeat Orange-con Fake Nemeses w/o their being able to hit PFF more often than not (the same is true with Paragon Protectors).
6. This combo provides a tanker's level of protection while being able to play brute's non-stop style.

TL;DR version: he's effective, fun and non-stop.

Thanks, Rhyseem! I was reviewing some more, changed my Seismic Smash slots to match my Stone Fist, ended up not needing that 6th Oblit in either Tremor or Lightning Field, so your suggestion for Force Feedback settled it (in Tremor).

I am going for Cardiac Core Paragon incarnate. I didn't see much improvement from Spiritual in my build, bet getting a little closer to S/L resist cap and a lot more EndRedx settled me on Cardiac.

You know, Breog, I like that a lot - very flavorful.

This set makes me think of a certain old B-movie by the Troma people... was that your inspiration, opprime28?

Build Review: Elec/SM

After trying a Corrupter (Nightshivers is sitting at lvl 43), I've returned to Tankers. I settled on Elec/SM after weighing what I wanted from the sets. The Amber Fist is now level 40, very fun to play, and performing to all my expectations. I'm actually spending the time on him for IOs, and have slotted the ones I've found so far (no purchases yet).

Below is the build I'm planning, including the Incarnate slot, with softcap S/L defense, almost hardcap S/L resist, and a good chunk of +Rech/+HP, etc. I'm planning the build w/o regard to cost - he's going to be around for quite a while, just like my first Tanker.

To possibly unusual choices:
1. Mocking Beratement in Fault. I tried this to help with softcap def + some Rech, and I'm thinking this might be better than slotting up Taunt. Fault has a far shorter range, but a larger radius of effect, a darn good primary effect with Stun, and allows me two great AoE taunting powers (with Tremor being mererly a good AoE taunt+).
2. Two Endoplasm Exposures in Stone Fist. Stone Fist is my opener due to -Res, so I might as well slot it well, and I figure the bonus to Stun there will help me stack Stuns up to a decent amount on bosses/etc.

I've read many, many posts on Tankers, Electric Armor, and Stone Melee, and have long experience playing Tankers. Do you see anything I'm overlooking on this build?

Thanks in advance!
Wyldhunt

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.92
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

The Amber Fist: Level 50 Mutation Tanker
Primary Power Set: Electric Armor
Secondary Power Set: Stone Melee
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Leadership

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Charged Armor -- RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(A), RctvArm-ResDam/Rchg(9), RctvArm-ResDam(9), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(46)
Level 1: Stone Fist -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(3), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(7), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(46), HO:Endo(50), HO:Endo(50)
Level 2: Stone Mallet -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(3), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(7), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(50)
Level 4: Heavy Mallet -- KntkC'bat-Acc/Dmg(A), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx(5), KntkC'bat-Dmg/Rchg(5), KntkC'bat-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(46)
Level 6: Static Shield -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A)
Level 8: Grounded -- GA-3defTpProc(A)
Level 10: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(11), RechRdx-I(11)
Level 12: Energize -- Dct'dW-Rchg(A), Dct'dW-EndRdx/Rchg(13), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(13), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(29), Dct'dW-Heal(33)
Level 14: Super Speed -- Winter-ResSlow(A)
Level 16: Conductive Shield -- RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(A), RctvArm-ResDam/Rchg(17), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(17), RctvArm-ResDam(45)
Level 18: Lightning Reflexes -- Run-I(A)
Level 20: Fault -- Mocking-Rchg(A), Mocking-Taunt/Rchg/Rng(21), Mocking-Taunt(21), Mocking-Acc/Rchg(37), Mocking-Taunt/Rng(40), Mocking-Taunt/Rchg(43)
Level 22: Lightning Field -- Oblit-%Dam(A), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(23), Oblit-Dmg(23), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(34), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(34), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(34)
Level 24: Build Up -- GSFC-Build%(A), GSFC-ToHit/EndRdx(25), GSFC-ToHit(25), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg(31), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(31), GSFC-Rchg/EndRdx(31)
Level 26: Power Sink -- P'Shift-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(A), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(27), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(27), Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg(29)
Level 28: Taunt -- Zinger-Dam%(A)
Level 30: Boxing -- Acc-I(A)
Level 32: Tough -- RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(A), RctvArm-ResDam/Rchg(33), RctvArm-ResDam(33), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(43)
Level 35: Tremor -- Oblit-%Dam(A), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(36), Oblit-Dmg(36), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(36), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(37), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(37)
Level 38: Seismic Smash -- T'Death-Dam%(A), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(39), T'Death-Acc/Dmg(39), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx(39), T'Death-Dmg/Rchg(40), T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(40)
Level 41: Weave -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(42), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(42), LkGmblr-Def/Rchg(42)
Level 44: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(45), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(45)
Level 47: Maneuvers -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(48), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(48)
Level 49: Tactics -- Rec'dRet-Pcptn(A)
Level 0: Freedom Phalanx Reserve
Level 0: Portal Jockey
Level 0: Task Force Commander
Level 0: The Atlas Medallion
Level 50: Cardiac Core Paragon
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Acc-I(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Gauntlet
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A), Numna-Heal(19), Numna-Heal/EndRdx(19), Numna-Heal/Rchg(43)
Level 2: Stamina -- P'Shift-EndMod(A), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc(15), P'Shift-End%(15), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(48)

My Ice/Dark Corruptor would love little better than throwing Ice Storm and/or Blizzard on a field of confused foes... The plethora of Brutes I've played don't mind confused foes either. Sure, they're not attacking me and not buffing my Fury, but I don't care - I'm not married to Fury. The end goal is enemy death in any case.

The XP gain rate these days is fairly ridiculous anyways compared to - YES I'll say it! - the old days. Except in constrained storylines in Praetoria*, I have not seen any need to maximum XP gain from the available pool of mobs.

*Gotta agree with the concern there, but it's still an outlier, that can be satisfied by:
1) Not teaming and not using confuse
2) Teaming with others to fill the gaps in your own "don't want to take these" missions list, rather than street-sweeping. This is the option I chose.

The pseudopet inherits the buffs you have at that moment which can affect it. Source for my response - http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=241326

Yep - Nightshivers is level 38 now. All solo on redside - due to RL priorities, my play time has been very limited this last week. Add to that a friend is trying to feed my altitis by advocating for a MM Bots/Traps duo (fun!)...

I had a "doh!" moment with Aim. I can't slot Darkwand - but it still gets the boost from Aim! So now my setup for most spawns is:
1) Fearsome Stare
2) Tar Patch
3) If I feel these are warranted, Freeze Ray one mob/Petrifying Gaze another
4) Aim
5) Ice Storm
6) Darkwand 1 mob
7) Bitter Ice Blast 2nd mob
8) Ice Blast/Ice Bolt 3rd mob
9) cleanup any mobs past the first three who are now gone

If Dark Servant needs a recast between spawns, I'll cast him into the spawn. Even without slotting, fluffy rocks! On my Bots/Dark MM, he was always useful, but I never got to really see him shine. Solo with a Corrupter, it's like having my own mini-tank/controller/healer. I can concentrate on bosses, knowing he's got the minions handled (with my own AoE debuffs on them) along with occasional heals (so far, I haven't needed to use Twilight Grasp once with fluffy out). However, for those who haven't used Dark Servant - don't look for damage from him, as he's only got a little bit.

When I began Nightshivers's transition to villain, I'd wondered whether he could do so before 40, since I began at 36. Tips dropped at such a low rate... I did some digging, and found that I needed to fight bosses for the best drop chance, so I changed my status to get bosses in missions, and also street swept for them in St. Martial. That did the trick - got my five tips every day after that. Now that Nightshivers is villain at 38, I am slowly upping his mission status - right now, it's +0/x2/bosses. I'll likely expand the numbers before upping the levels any more. I will also do the 10 tip missions toward Rogue (but not the morality mission) before doing the Scirocco arc.

After becoming vigilante and going to Rogue Isles, I tested the "flipability" of Vigilante, and found some things lacking. Why would just going to Paragon/Rogue Isles wipe out progress/outstanding missions for the other side? I can understand some current technical limitation, however no thematic limitation. I tested using a SG base beacon in Rogue Isles to SHG base - check. However, even that removed outstanding reside missions!

Now that Ice Bolt and Ice Blast have 2 damage IOs in them, their damage has returned to what it was in Nightshivers's teens.

Nightshivers is strong solo! Plenty of both AoE and ST debuff/control. With Hasten up, there is absolutely no need for more than Freeze Ray/Petrifying Gaze to hold any - and I mean ANY - target he's come across. When facing targets which could perma-control Nightshivers, Freeze Ray (and occasionally Petrifying Gaze) is normally all it takes to get the drop on them (using Shadow Fall to good positioning/conning effect, of course). I hardly use Darkest Night solo right now, but when I start upping the level of mobs and/or including AVs, I'm sure I will again. Even the villain morality mission, where I had to fight Overdrive, Blast Furnace, and Overdrive again in fairly quick succession, was cake. They got two attacks apiece on me the entire time (yawn).

One weakness that remains is endurance usage. That's one reason I'm avoiding Darkest Night now (the second being its longish activation time). In extended battles when using Hasten, it's quite easy to blow through six "Take a Breathers."

The second weakness is (and will always be) mez protection. If facing one mezzer, my holds mean all is well, but against a group of them, the breakfrees are fairly critical. I was able to down two Consiglieres (one of which had a Singularity right next to Nightshivers) and their entourage only due to the BFs. The same villain setup had wiped my first villain, a Fire/Inv Brute, back in I6 - he had Unyielding, so of course I never carried BFs on him... To be fair, that was the only time the Fire/Inv Brute was ever permaheld.

I likely won't be able to post more about Nightshivers until next week sometime - I'm moving cross-USA this weekend.

Nightshivers is now - a villain. Deciding to go after the cause of evil rather than rescuing innocents was an easy step, however the Freakshow students weighed on his mind - until he wondered how in the world a creature with giant hammers for hands was going to type or turn a page...

That first step into St. Martial was a shock. How different from chemically-cleaned Nova Praetoria this was, but how eerily similar to parts of Neutropolis! Nightshivers saw yet more parallels - is it any different to be ruled by Cole's propaganda than Arachnos's? People without power are equally oppressed in both places, and lies are absolutely rampant...

Still Nightshivers carried on, slow though it was. While called a "vigilante," even after robbing a bank (known to support Carnival of Shadows accounts), he could not win the trust of some - Hardcase said, "my tasks are not for the likes of you!" So Nightshivers ended up releasing more Wailers to wail on The Family, subsequently beating Hardcase to a pulp. Later, after Nightshivers had finally been recognized as a "true" villain, a nonplussed Hardcase tried to act like the incident never happened, but Nightshivers saw the twitch in his eyes...

The coven who mentored Nightshivers had told him one day he would reach the pinnacle of his training when he was able to successfully command a servant of the dark to do his bidding. That moment arrived while in St. Martial. Nightshivers summoned his wisp to tell the coven the good news, and... there was no response.

The coven was not reachable.

Now Nightshivers had a fear - was this due to his own path, or had Cole's lackeys uncovered their plans? Nightshivers's body had changed - growing older, growing horns (finally so big he had to store his hat), and his legs had transformed so that he could no longer wear his boots! Yes, Nightshivers allowed these changes to happen, in order to convince the world that he was a villain, yet his heart was still the same. He was repulsed by the Rogue Isles, and reviled the evil he found there. If he could only last to strike at its source. No, Nightshivers's larger fear was that Cole had finally uncovered the coven and destroyed them. They all knew it could happen - secrecy was the only way Nightshivers had been able to play the part in Praetoria - but... had their end finally come? If so, Nightshivers had to act quickly against Arachnos, and then be ready for Cole himself!

Switch_NA, do you really see need for the much Ranged defense? If you got AoE defense up to the same level, then this build draw my attention more. However, it looks to me like you're giving away an awful lot for just ranged defense. Fearsome Stare and Darkest Night will help against mobs they're on (which won't be all in multiple spawns, but still).

Here's what you're giving away:
1. Damage on Ice Bolt
2. Recharge on Howling Twilight
3. Enhancing Dark Servant's other abilities (holds are one of his weakest)
4. Endurance reducation and recovery that you could have by alternate slotting

Dark Consumption is the end return power on the longest timer, and requires a hit check. Did you go for Dark Mastery just for Soul Transfer? Although Soul Drain is on a shorter timer with a longer duration than Aim, you have to be in melee, and have that power actually hit 7 enemies for it to equal the +Dam of Aim.

Hasten is currently saved only for certain moments when I need to spam everything I've got, since my End use is back up again. That has finally decided me back to Power Sink - Hibernate won't be enough. But I don't want to wait until 47 to get it in Electricity Mastery, so I have to go for Mu Mastery. This will allow me to get Blizzard at 44 and have some pre-50 levels to enjoy with it. I'll finish up with either Charged Armor/Assault or Assault/Tactics.

Aim at 35 was a good choice - I use it just before Ice Storm, afterward hitting Bitter Ice Blast/Ice Blast/Ice Bolt at the hardest target available.

On a team in longer battles, I've begun selecting the "2nd boss" or what have you, then using my two holds and focusing all my STs on him (they debuff as well...). For Freak tanks, I'll pop Darkest Night on this guy too, since he'll be around for a bit. This is looking to be effective, since all the AoEs the team has will melt away minions quickly enough. My holds on top of the controller/dom holds will lock down every mob we've come across so far - even on those very resistant to holds we get some seconds. With the tanker doing his thing with the "1st boss," me concentrating on the 2nd like this makes for a safer battling environment for the team, and I get full use out of my STs - yeah, I don't get Scourge on them at first, but any minions in Scourge range are on their way out soon anyway.

I may actually stay with Freeze Ray and Petrifying Gaze rather than swapping the latter for Bitter Freeze Ray. Since I now have 2 Hold IOs in each, the duration is plenty, and I love the quicker activations on them.

Nightshivers is at 36 now; getting close to 37. The experience in the 30s copies what I've seen before - the player characters now have enough powers and enhancements to feel "full" enough to be fun, and while the enemies are powerful, they aren't types which are made to play on the player characters' weaknesses. It's really one of the "sweet spots" in level progression for all.

Wow - we have a definite upsurge in Ice/Dark conversation on our forum! I know I didn't start it, but I'm glad to be a part of it. If you're evaluating corrupter builds, please remember that Fire/Dark is not the end-all be-all. Fire/Rad, Sonic/Dark, and Ice/Dark are not either. Take a look at the different combos experienced players have posted about, and decide which one looks fun for your own playstyle, and go for it!

On 10/9, the excellent team had 3 controllers and a dominator for the last mission or two, along with the tanker, scrapper, blaster, and me. The last mission was again Council on an open map. Man, talk about a cakewalk. I only had time to throw either Tar Patch or Ice Storm before we were down to the mop up part of each battle - seriously, it took longer to run between spawns than to clear them up! I think the mission difficulty was at +4/x5. The dominator really added a lot to the team's take-down ability. Having controllers with /kin, /rad and /ff secondaries enabled the team to basically ignore whatever the enemy could throw at us.

On 10/10, I ended up being invited by another team to do Citadel's TF and later by the usual excellent team for the Katien Hannon TF. Citadel's TF went about as I expected for a new TF team - there were deaths, including Nightshivers 3 times (though no complaints from any of us), some disjointed actions, but we still held together and pulled through in good time. This team had a Dark/ tanker leading, a WP/ tanker, a Dark/ Defender (1st Defender Nighthshivers has teamed with), 2(?) controllers, a stalker(!), and either a blaster or scrapper (can't remember now). I noticed my End dropping like it had pre-Stamina again when I spammed attacks/holds - even without using Hasten. The difference seems to be having Shadow Fall (even with an EndRedx in it). On this TF, I pulled out all the "versatility" stops, shifting roles multiple times during the same extended battles. It really worked well. Nightshivers deaths came from 1) using Ice Storm with so many spawns (well over the aggro cap of even two tankers) that he couldn't take the enemy response, 2) following the WP/ tank into a battle when I saw his health spike, the others just entering the mission, and him not staying (he was zooming to the end room, but hadn't told us that), and 3) spike damage when I moved to a lower-level fight just as the alpha AoEs hit. I was glad of having a Backup Radio temp power, and used it twice during battles right around the bulwarks - ah, what wonderful places for AoEs! Then poor Vandal - what's an AV gonna do with two Dark Miasma's keeping him muddled? He went down with no issues.

On the Katie Hannon TF, defeating Mary MacCumber was about as expected. The only issue was quickly finding her in the crowd of witch hats so I could get Darkest Night on her asap. The one annoyance to all of us in that TF was getting Katie's Spirit to the entrance - the team decided to see what would happen if we stayed on the ground going back rather than the uber-method of flying above and out of aggro range. Due to the constant spaced-out ambushes, this took forever. We even left the mission door at one point and came back, hoping that would help Katie's Spirit to stop fighting - it may have helped a bit, I couldn't really tell. Finally I started targeting through Katie's Spirit just to clear her target list while the team lead (who she was following) always stayed much nearer the entrance. Note to readers of this: unless you do want the additional forever battles, just follow Paragon Wiki's advice on this mission...

Last night, the excellent team kept going, this time against Freakshow. Very chaotic due to the nature of the maps/spawns - almost as chaotic as the Citadel TF. On a lab map, up a ramp, we had just engaged with two Freak tanks and assorted supporters, when a Paragon Protector patrol and entourage showed up - luckily I picked up on the PP and got Darkest Night and my two holds on him pretty quickly, then popped Hasten and mowed into them. Our Earth/Kin still was taken out during that battle (first time she'd fallen that I remember), but Howling Twilight was ready to use just then and I was able to bring her back.

B1u3Jay, thank you for your kind words. I'd actually like to see more "play diary" threads in the A&P forums - I'd get value out of seeing how other people/ATs/powersets play through the levels and content as well!

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Nightshivers enjoyed being able to help people in Paragon, without worrying whether Cole was going to come smash him in. He enjoyed the freedoms given to people, and enjoyed drinking water he knew was not psych-drugged. However, even though he knew people chose bad behaviors, he began to notice a similar pattern to Praetoria - those in power (such as Mother Mayhem and Contessa Crey) got away with evil much more easily than those not in power. Even worse, innocents were still used as pawns. Worst of all, it didn't seem to matter how many hundreds of villains Nightshivers busted - there were always thousands more. Plots to take away a decent life for "normal" humans waited around every corner. Rescuing hostages only let villains get away with more heinous crimes.

Nightshivers thought back to how he had infiltrated Praetoria's regime, in order to fight the corruption within. He could not believe he'd been as successful as he was, even turning Reese around, so he resolved to try this again, with Arachnos. Of course he'd have to make sure he acted in an "appropriate" way, but would target only villains. So Nightshivers began his slow infiltration with acting the part of the vigilante, rationalizing that at least the villains he took out would not haunt Paragon again.

Nightshivers has continued with that same excellent team found on 10/7 - a few core players always the same; the rest of the team invited from whomever is available at the time.

On 10/8, I did get to use Howling Twilight for its rez several times. One time there was a point of confusion - as a spawn was dying and a teammate was down and Howling Twilight was still recharging, I asked for the team not to kill the last mob (they were the only ones in 80 ft) - - heroes do what they do, and the mobs are arrested. I then asked someone to bring an enemy near - one new teammate misunderstood and thought I meant to bring the enemy right next to me - I don't think I was successful in conveying that I just meant within 80 feet, but oh well. A teammate did bring an enemy close enough, I hit Howling Twilight, and the downed teammate was apparently afk (he DC'd a little while later), so some wasted effort there. No biggie, just wish we had known...

On 10/9, Nightshivers got to 32. Got Shadow Fall at 30. Now, I have a villain MM Bots/Dark at 43 - Shadow Fall to me is a "take asap" on an MM, as it lets you position for the battle without immediate aggro. While I didn't see it quite such a priority on the Corrupter (after reconsidering the picks for HT vs SF), I still feel a little more comfortable having SF now . At 32, I did pick up Hasten - in Freakshow battles, even with Speed Boost on, I still wanted a some more recharge for Tar Patch, Ice Storm, Fearsome Stare, and Twilight Grasp. I never needed to spam Howling Twilight - I still saved it for "oh crap" or rez moments.

One thing I noticed on this team - 90% of the time, the individuals I targeted for Darkest Night were taken out within 10 seconds of casting it - regardless of which target I chose, and regardless whether I Freeze Rayed them. Part of it is that I did not request the team to leave Darkest Night anchors alone (though I could tell they attempted to do so much of the time, and such a request was not needed - ever), but the greater part of it is that the team had so much AoE going on that the anchors were going down regardless. What really got me on this was the long activation time for Darkest Night - I had other powers (like damage) I could have been casting during that activation time. Especially last night, the team was Controller-heavy, so I concentrated more on damage and tended to only cast Darkest Night on purple bosses/lieutenants and when the battle was taking longer.

At the last, we also had a second tank (Stone/). This did create some issues for me knowing which tanker was leading, as the second tank would aggro extra spawns that were close, and being defense-based, did take spike damage. I should have coordinated with the /kin controllers and we "split up" which tank we were going to primarily support (which really means I should have offered to support the off-tank primarily) - I'll remember that next time.

One thing nice - with all the control, I got to concentrate mostly on damage. I still popped Fearsome Stare and Tar Patch when up, of course (except the tail end of battles), and at times did need to spam Twilight Grasp to attempt to keep toons vertical. For all those who say heals aren't needed, that buffs/debuffs will suffice - I'm not seeing that's true when the mission difficulty is set high enough. Having heals along with all the other stuff allows a team to take on what it otherwise could not. A blended approach appears to really be best, including heals (not heal-bots, mind you) into the mix.

Another thing nice - when solo, with Freeze Ray and Petrifying Gaze, I can juggle Holds pretty well on multiple targets, and when teamed (especially with controllers), quickly lock down even mez-resistant mobs. Having extra Holds seems to be never redundant.

I am finding that Ice Bolt does piddly damage by the early 30s (at least w/o damage enhancements). However its slow is still useful (when stacked with Ice Blast, runners become walkers), and when solo, it's an excellent pull (low-aggro) power, so it stays in my build.

So far, I like the build powers I've chosen - it's doing what exactly I wanted. My outstanding questions are:
1. Hibernate or Power Sink? Hibernate is really just for Blizzard; Power Sink requires me going into melee range (which granted I do plenty of now)
2. Petrifying Gaze or Bitter Freeze Ray? In other words, will the extra activation of Bitter Freeze Ray really slow me down, or can I use its extra Hold time and bit of damage to good effect? This one I'm going to have to end up testing for myself to really know.

We just might be able to coordinate Katie Hannon's TF tonight (I've never done it), so it'll be interesting to see how that goes. Time to read up on this TF on Paragon Wiki. I still have painful memories of the original Positron TF way back when, but I understand TFs are able to be done by people with RL responsibilities now...

Perfect_Predator, I probably won't get to look over the latest version of your build in the thread you started until tomorrow, but I'll respond then unless someone else does and says the things I would have .

Since it's the weekend, I think everyone's playing the game...

Personal viewpoints on your build:

It looks like your focusing on spikes (Aim/Power Build Up), maximizing recharge to use your heavy hitters most often, and maximizing damage.

What I would do different in meeting those goals:

• Choose Freeze Ray over Petrifying Gaze. FR has less end cost, faster recharge, faster activation, same duration, and is much more visible (valuable on a team). PG does have slightly greater range, however you also take Bitter Ice Blast, which has less range than both.
• Without Ice Bolt, Frost Breath, and a reliable team (and especially without veteran powers), that build might be harder to get through to level 18 - if you don't have a team, you might want at least Ice Bolt until 18, then respec later.
• I suggest Howling Twilight earlier in the build, delaying Hasten or Aim instead - for the same reasons given to me previously in this thread.
• Unless you have outside End help, you might have some trouble managing it with that build - this is conjecture right now. I'll be able to verify high-level end issues in Ice/Dark once Nightshivers is 45+.
• I personally cringe at the though of two crash powers - Blizzard and Force of Nature - but that's just me.

Currently, I am working on getting +Def IO sets into my eventual build without gimping my ride. The reason is my last three nights' play have shown that Fearsome Stare and Darkest Night won't rule the entire battle, and so some +Def is good... Here's my current build (powers/slots to level 29 are live; IOs are conjecture)

Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.81
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Nightshivers: Level 50 Magic Corruptor
Primary Power Set: Ice Blast
Secondary Power Set: Dark Miasma
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Leviathan Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Ice Bolt -- Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(3), Thundr-Acc/Dmg(5), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(37), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(40), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(50)
Level 1: Twilight Grasp -- Nictus-Heal(A), Nictus-Acc/Heal(7), Nictus-Acc/EndRdx/Heal/HP/Regen(7), Nictus-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(17), Nictus-%Dam(17), Theft-+End%(42)
Level 2: Ice Blast -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(3), Thundr-Acc/Dmg(5), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(37), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(37), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(46)
Level 4: Tar Patch -- RechRdx-I(A), P'ngTtl-EndRdx/Rchg/Slow(9), TmpRdns-EndRdx/Rchg/Slow(9)
Level 6: Darkest Night -- DarkWD-ToHitDeb(A), DarkWD-ToHitDeb/EndRdx(11), DarkWD-ToHitdeb/Rchg/EndRdx(11), DarkWD-Rchg/EndRdx(43)
Level 8: Hover -- LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(A), LkGmblr-Rchg+(50)
Level 10: Swift -- Flight-I(A)
Level 12: Ice Storm -- Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(A), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(13), Posi-Acc/Dmg(13), Posi-Dam%(15), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(15), ImpSwft-Dam%(42)
Level 14: Fly -- Winter-ResSlow(A)
Level 16: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A)
Level 18: Bitter Ice Blast -- Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(19), Thundr-Acc/Dmg(19), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(34), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(36), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(46)
Level 20: Stamina -- P'Shift-End%(A), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc(21), P'Shift-EndMod(21), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(45)
Level 22: Fearsome Stare -- Abys-Acc/EndRdx(A), Abys-EndRdx/Fear(23), Abys-Fear/Rng(23), Cloud-ToHitDeb(31), Cloud-Acc/ToHitDeb(31), Cloud-Acc/Rchg(42)
Level 24: Freeze Ray -- Lock-%Hold(A), Lock-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(25), Lock-Acc/Hold(25), Lock-Acc/Rchg(31), Lock-Rchg/Hold(33), Lock-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(45)
Level 26: Howling Twilight -- Amaze-EndRdx/Stun(A), Amaze-Stun/Rchg(27), RechRdx-I(27)
Level 28: Petrifying Gaze -- Lock-%Hold(A), Lock-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(29), Lock-Acc/Hold(29), Lock-Acc/Rchg(34), Lock-Rchg/Hold(34), Lock-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(46)
Level 30: Shadow Fall -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), LkGmblr-Def(43), LkGmblr-Rchg+(43), LkGmblr-Def/Rchg(45), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(50)
Level 32: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(33), RechRdx-I(33)
Level 35: Aim -- RechRdx-I(A), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(36), AdjTgt-ToHit/EndRdx/Rchg(36)
Level 38: Dark Servant -- Nictus-Heal(A), Nictus-Acc/Heal(39), SipInsght-ToHitDeb(39), SipInsght-Acc/ToHitDeb(39), TotHntr-Immob/Acc(40), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx(40)
Level 41: Shark Skin -- GA-3defTpProc(A)
Level 44: Hibernate -- Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg(A)
Level 47: Blizzard -- JavVoll-Dam/Rech(A), Ragnrk-Dmg/Rchg(48), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(48), Det'tn-Dmg/Rchg(48)
Level 49: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Scourge
Level 2: Ninja Run

But it's not time for me to get a report on last night or analyze any more - it's time for me to get ready to play tonight!