Wyldhunt

Thanks, Infernus_Hades - that pretty much confirms to me that Blizzard should be my crowning damage power, and get it once the other pieces are in place.

Today (during down times for my office work), I narrowed in on EPPs/PPPs more. I know I want and End return power, and the best two seem to be Power Sink (lowest recharge time, requires enemies but no hit check) and Hibernate (recharge still less than Blizzard, perfect as a follow-up to Blizzard). Notice the reasons for Hibernate - I think I'll need to come up with a story reason for Nightshivers to go villainous for a bit around 44, get Blizzard at 41, Shark Skin at 44, Hibernate at 47, then Assault at 49.

I keeping now imagining Howling Twilight + Tar Patch + Aim + Ice Storm + Blizzard + Hibernate...

EDIT: why Hibernate over Rest? I can Hibernate during the battle if/when more attacks come in...

Alright, Nickolas85 and Infernus_Hades, I've looked at the numbers on Blizzard, compared them to other Corrupter nukes, and yes it seems a crime NOT to take the highest-damaging Corrupter nuke of all...

The question is when. I don't want to play a one-trick pony, and I don't want to slow down the team by having to rest after a nuke, or delay my ability to Tar Patch/Darkest Night the next spawn and have Twilight Grasp ready.

My choices for 32, 35 and 49 boil down to Blizzard, Hasten, and Aim.

Hasten: I feel like Hasten will provide the best consistent usefulness of the three, since it'll allow me more Tar Patch, Ice Storm, and Howling Twilight (3 boons for the price of one power).

Blizzard: the power at the price

Aim: almost a filler power, but can provide a spike for Ice Storm, and if my calcs are correct, Aim + Ice Storm provides greater damage than Blizzard alone over the same amount of time, without the End crash. (EDIT: I don't mean over the 15 seconds, but over the recharge time of the powers.)

Am I missing anything in my decision to take Hasten and Aim before Blizzard?

Nightshivers continued on Sheldon's arc, leveling to 25, added 2 Acc to Freeze Ray so it would hit reliablty, got to frustrate plenty of Freakshow by using Freeze Ray to deny them Dull Pain...

Then was invited to a team running at 28. Now this, THIS was an excellent team! Although the team makeup varied from mission to mission, every single player kept things going, the leader selected a good difficulty level, and everything went well. No, a tanker is not needed, but it is nice to have one on a team. The leader was a tanker, handled the pace of the battles, and EVERYONE else on the team waited the few extra seconds required until he had fully pulled or plowed and had aggro before going in. It worked wonderfully, and I don't think anyone felt either rushed or bored.

In addition to the tanker, there were at least two scrappers the whole time, 2 then 1 then 2 controllers, 1 then 2 blasters, but no defenders nor other corrupters. The 2nd beginning and ending controller were /kin, but other than that, I had the only group heal - which (likely wasn't necessary, but helped).

For the latter part of the missions, an initial level 2 joined - no-one complained, and the level 2's player kept her involved. Again, an excellent team.

Nightshivers got Howling Twilight at level 26, and while it was never completely needed, it helped a good deal in some Tuatha patrols joining battles and multiple close spawns. This could have helped against the previous night's Nemesis, but I still feel I needed my other powers first. I did some things sub-optimally myself this night, such as using Freezing Rain near the end of a battle (couldn't really tell how many were still up and how many were just dead bodies, so I wasn't sure and wasn't going to take the time to cycle through enemies and count). However, I kept the debuffs up (first priority), kept the Twilight Grasp going when useful (couldn't make it to a few targets when I wanted to, but they still survived), and then added holds and damage - which, being a Ice/ Corrupter, was perfectly possible.

We decided to take on Eochai then Jack in Irons - the lowbie character swapped out to her level 47 Earth/Kin corrupter, and we downed both GMs. On these two, I of course did spam Twilight Grasp for its debuff (along with Tar Patch, Fearsome Stare, and Howling Twilight - all for their debuffs) while staying well out of melee - I knew the /Kin had the tanker's/scrappers' HP handled. There were no isues (other than one strange death, where the player said "that wasn't Shadow Maul" - so I guess maybe she hit the cyborg self-destruct?), and the monsters went down in fairly short order. I do wonder what would have happened if the GMs had Nosferatu's heal...

I hoped you do notice a theme up there - no specific powers were necessary, no specific ATs were necessary. However, we all adapted our playstyle and focus based on what was available, and we all played well, which meant it worked! And with an Ice/Dark Corrupter being so versatile, it was quite easy for me to swap roles between debuff/heal/control/damage as I felt best. This AT/powerset is allowing exactly what I had hoped it would.

So, how to allow TFs to soloers with appropriate rewards, while still not killing the number of teams available for TFs?

1. Make rewards better on the teamed side.
2. Make the requirements for solo entry harder.

Items:
1. Don't allow downgrade of AV to EB. This is a TF, not a normal mission.
2. Use the Ouroborous portal, and require soloer level 50.
3. Reduce the rewards just enough so that the TF is not more valuable in drops/XP when soloed. Note that this should not just be below what is earnable to a team, but includes the time spent recruiting a team. In other words, I should not be able to solo a TF so many times in 3 hours that I earn more than the what it takes to recruit an 8-character team and go through the TF in the same amount of time. Changing maximum spawn size to number of players on team might be one way to accomplish this. Capping to 1 TF/day might be another way to accomplish this.

Note: this is all suggestion based on the harshest limits given to soloing TFs I've seen so far.

Torrynt, I do not want to do TFs for the drops. I've never done anything for the drops. I've done what I have to experience the content, succeed or fail. I like to explore in games - new ways of playing, different characters, and ALL the content available, regardless whether it's a storyline that falls below a B-grade movie, it's that thin line that allows me to enjoy the game itself.

I've attempted solo giant monsters many times - had to bail on them all so far, but I just wanted to see how far I could last against them and what damage I could do. A test for my character, not an obstacle to be overcome in order to get XP or a drop. The reward was the experience itself, something which cannot be quantified in the game.

I've seen your repeated argument against allowing solo TFs to be that there would be fewer players joining teams. The assumption I see behind this argument is that people who'd rather solo are forced to team, and you want it to stay this way. The logical extension of this is that you want people who don't want to team with you to be forced to do so, which contradicts your response to me. Please clarify your position to help me understand how this is not contradictory.

I ended up on a 8-character level 45 team going against Nosferatu as an AV. Team makeup changed during the mission, but there was at least 1 tank, 2 scraps, 1 MM, 1 controller, 1 def. I can't remember whether the eighth was a scrap or controller most of the time.

We were able to wade through the Nemesis front-end without too much trouble. Yes, there were two (or three) wipes before the AV, but the players on this PUG were still all good, and the team (including myself) "came together" more as the mission progressed.

I need to state here: I am a competent player, but not an excellent nor hardcore one. I know most of the tactics to use, and have extremely quick reflexes. I have a 2nd-tier gaming rig with a decent internet connection. However, I am not going to devote my life resources (time, energy, money) into becoming a hardcore CoX player - I do this for enjoyment and destressing, nothing more.

I wondered whether I was helping the team enough for my spot given the relative paucity of my powers and enhancements - Howling Twilight would have been immensely useful here, as would Dark Servant - Shadow Fall could have helped too. Still, Darkest Night, Tar Patch, Fearsome Stare and Twilight Grasp did hold their own, and I don't feel I should have swapped powers at this level. Unfortunately, I could not by myself debuff Nosferatu enough to really make a difference. Add to that the MM really couldn't use her Thugs against him (she couldn't keep them out of melee well), and three melee toons seemed to be enough for Nosferatu to fill to 1/2 health at a moment's notice. No one mentioned doing a running aggro battle, and since some of my previous tactics comments had been ignored and I wasn't the leader, I didn't bring it up - it's seems a pretty hard-core tactic anyway, one which I've yet to be a part of.

Then the leader left the team (someone said she DC'd), and the team fell apart at that point without finishing it. I'm looking forward to how I might be able to take Nosferatu when Nightshivers is level 45 himself...

One item I learned is that against Nemesis, it takes longer for a Shield tanker to gather the aggro than against "nameless mobs" such as the previous night's farm had - of course, that farm had a tanker and a brute splitting aggro, so maybe that was the difference. I don't remember having such trouble against Nemesis with my Inv/Ax tank (even after aggro caps were implemented). At first I didn't wait long enough before casting Fearsome Stare/Tar Patch/Darkest Night against the Nemesis, and suffered for it.

Even though the players were good, one thing I've noticed about practically every PUG I've ever been on - you can always tell a player who doesn't understand pulling. They're always beside, not behind, the puller when he begins his pull, then they start shooting as the mobs are incoming rather than waiting until the mobs come around the target corner/point, and that always craps what otherwise would be a nice clumped group, which then quite easily ends up with stray aggro from other spawns. Pulls aren't always needed, absolutely true. But when the PUG can't handle the steamroll or need to thin out a room a bit, they're extremely useful...

After Nightshivers escaped from Emperor Cole's presence, he made straight for Field Agent Keith Nance. Rather than being worried about the "double" situation, he actually looked forward to this chance to prove to Primal Earth he truly was a hero. He was also curious about whether his double was actually a parallelax from Primal Earth, much like Statesman and Tyrant are. Unfortunately, he was never able to find out, as it appeared his "evil double" was just a simulacrum created by the Protean and/or the Council of his "good double," and his "good double" ended up sacrificing himself before Nightshivers could really talk to him. That was the saddest moment of Nightshivers's life so far - seeing multiples of multiples of himself all dead or waiting to die in order to stop Protean's invasion. Why hadn't his "good double" worn a medi-teleporter? What did he mean by "two worlds to protect" - Praetoria and Primal Earth, or another unknown dimension where the "good double" originated? Unfortunately, Jenni Adair was woefully inadequate to answer these questions.

Oliver Haak had also called, requesting assistance, which Nightshivers gratefully supplied, especially snice Nightshivers wanted to investigate more of the magical groups in Primal Earth. While nothing truly exciting happened during these adventures (yes, he kept the forces of evil from getting the Wheel of Destruction, but that's all in a day's work), he kept learning and expanding his own powers.

Following that, he attended a short workshop at the University in Steel Canyon, seeing how Paragonians supported the creation of power enhancements, and met Montague Castanella there. As of this writing, he has completed Montague's tasks, joined the Midnight Squad, and has just met Mercedes Sheldon. Nightshivers isn't sure what to think of the Midnight Squad - the magical interest is a definite fit, so he knows he can learn much through them, however just like Scott back in Praetoria, they follow an unknown and mysterious leader, and Nightshivers knows very well that followers should know their leaders very well or risk manipulation. For this reason alone, Nightshivers feels no special loyalty to the Midnighters - if they turn to evil, he will attempt to shut them down.

Nightshivers will not now disclose the name he was born with, although he shares that his family lived outside Praetoria's sonic walls, in freedom and fearfulness of Devouring Earth. The coven took him in at the start of his adolescence, convincing his family that Nightshivers had a long and hopeful fate in store.

The magic shared with and poured into Nightshivers over time woke up his own arcane bloodline, to the point where it altered his physical form somewhat - he now has pointed ears, claw-tipped fingers, and a distinctive fae appearance. He adopted the dress of the coven, which very much looks like fantasized Victorian wear. This dress definitely helped him stand out among all of the other heros in Praetoria, and has become quite iconic for him. The magical practices were always helpful to Nightshivers, but often not pleasant, especially given the powers he has manifested. He has been frozen through, and has fully experienced death and resurrection. He has not only witnessed horrors, but been them - which was an exercise in understanding what evil truly is, so it can be guarded against. Yes, Nightshivers is a mere 21 Praetorian years old, yet looks like he is in his 50s.

When the coven sent Nightshivers to Nova Praetoria, they also sent a wisp companion to provide a bit of aid to Nightshivers, and so they could keep in contact. While Nightshivers heavily relied on the wisp at first, he gradually outgrew the need. Even so, he liks to summon it for comfort from time to time.

Sorry, firespray, but before I posted in this discussion I'm keenly interested in, I did feel it necessary to read every word on all pages, just to make sure I did actually had something to add rather than regurgitate.

First, I gotta say if I was a forum mod, my finger would be hovering over the "lock thread" button right now. Perhaps that is what some want to happen to this thread, which would be rather sad in my opinion. Maybe that's why that haven't locked it quite yet.

Alright, on to my additional "something to say." First, I am solidly on the side of "I want to play all content at my own pace, in my own way," which means I want all content soloable. The content is why I'm playing the game, pure and simple.

There are boardgames which require a group of people to play. There are boardgames which can be played solo. There are boardgames which play best with a certain number of people, but can be played by other numbers. There are boardgames which are called "multiplayer solitaire" because, while all the people playing sit at the same table (or share the same virtual interface), they're really independently racing to reach a winning goal, and not actually able to help or impeded each other. It has been proven that an MMO can include all of the above. SO, the argument of "this is an MMO, you MUST TEAM!" goes right out the window.

Especially for Torrynt, I must ask: why do you want to team with people who you feel really don't want to team with you? Why not join a SG that focuses on teaming so that you can plan and have teams available when you're ready? Why must you wish to force teaming on people who would rather solo?

I'll leave it at that for now - trying to avoid a wall of text.

Levels 1-7: went in a blur as they normally do. One or two-shotting most enemies, plowing through missions, hardly touching secondary powers.

• If I was a new player with no vet rewards, my power choices would have been Ice Bolt, Twilight Grasp, Ice Blast, Frost Breath, Tar Patch. As it was, I was able to skip Frost Breath, get Tar Patch a little sooner, and get Darkest Night. Darkest Night especially made Reese and his gang pushovers.
• Since Nightshivers has a magical background (and I don't want to cause knockback out of Tar Patch/Ice Storm/etc), I chose vet Darkwand over the Nemesis Staff. Since I was choosing Hover, I knew that the spectrals would just fly up to me, and I could laugh as I pulled out my Ghost Slaying Axe, so this time I did not choose Sands of Mu.

Levels 8-11: kill rate began to slow down. I did take Freeze Ray at 8 and Hover at 10. However I could see my Endurance sapping away quite quickly (especially when using Darkest Night), as warned about by other Ice/Darkers. My reliance on Darkwand did make this worse, but I don't see that Frost Breath would have been any better. This confirmed that I had to get Stamina asap, though I wondered whether lvl 15 IOs/SOs would change this opinion.

• Freeze Ray allowed me to mez the mezzers first.
• Hover was a 100% debuff against melee attacks.
• Also began to manage inpirations: whenever 3 of a kind were available, converted them to Break Free until I had three, then to blues until I had three, kept a green or two, and used the rest. This became critical to survivability against mezzers.
• Tactics were to use Tar Patch first usually; Freeze Ray first on mezzers or when TP not recharged and I didn't need to rest.

Level 12-17

• Ahh, IOs. Why IOs rather than SOs? I got some funds, and hate outlevelling enhancement bonuses. Prior to 12, I slotted TOs that I could use, sold TOs I couldn't, and kept all salvage I would use for IOs. Went through IO training to get the free Acc, and luckily had the salvage and funds to get at least one Acc/End in the powers that needed them. It helped a bit - just a bit. However, my hit rate was still worse than in the beginning.
• Ahh, Ice Storm. Oh, wait. Only gets them down to almost 1/2 health, and takes a lot of end? Oh well, it'll get better later, especially when adding 2 Dmg IOs. Make sure End bar is full, open with Tar Patch/Ice Storm, then Darkwand one, then Ice Blast/Ice Bolt another, and let Scourge take those two while finishing the others. For mezzing Lieus/Bossees: Freeze Ray, Tar Patch, Ice Storm, maybe Darkest Night, all STs on Lieu/Boss until he's gone. If hold resistant lieu/boss, Darkest Night, Tar Patch, Freezing Rain, Freeze Ray someone else, all STs on Lieu/Boss until he's down.
• Besides the End problem, this range was golden. If I had put off Fly, I would have taken Sprint instead so I would not have had to respec later on and still fit in Stamina at 20. It was in this range that I really saw the power of Hover - at least in Praetoria. Most of the endless ambushers don't have range powers to speak of (Weakened Destroyers none at all), so this part was an absolute cakewalk. The only issues I found was with multiple Blast Masters in one spawn, but it was manageable. Blast Masters note: if you have one of their DoTs on you (forgot which one) while Hovering, don't go near the ground! You can avoid the fire spawning so long as you stay in the air the entire time...
• The End problems actually got worse during this range, enough that I had my lvl 50 craft/gmail Lvl 20 IOs to Nightshivers at lvl 17. They did provide some help, but still not enough - Stamina was needed.

Levels 18-20

• Damage began to suck, slowing down progression. Made me wonder whether Health at 18 was better than Bitter Ice Blast. By the time lvl 19 rolled around, I knew I needed to respec Freeze Ray out and replace with Bitter Ice Blast.
• In avoiding Mother Mayhem and Bobcat, I did street sweep for a while. But that got so frikkin' boring that I did Bobcat's missions after all.

Most of my time in Praetoria was solo, but I did duo with a lowbie Brute who either had a very lag connection or was very inexperienced, then with a Demon/Dark MM (excellent player) and Brute who was new. Double or constant-cycling Tar Patches were horrendous to the mobs, the Demons kept aggro safe, and the Brute could do what he did with me targeting through him. A Blaster joined and we continued to do well, then the MM had to quit and the Brute didn't change his tactics, annoying the Blaster who died some. The Brute died as well, but he didn't care. Me? Not once - Hover and Twilight Grasp FTW! We only did part of a mission with this last makeup, for which I think all of us were glad, and then we all quit the team.

Levels 20-24:

• Level 20 was the respec out of Freeze Ray and into Bitter Ice Bolt. Good choice - less controller, more blaster, enough debuffs to stay alive and arrest villains.
• Stamina allowed better End management.
• At 22, picked up Fearsome Stare. Much like Ice Storm, this was a play-changer. Now I opened with Fearsome Stare (didn't hit much until I got more Accs slotted at lvl 23, but still...), Tar Patch (no alpha), Darkest Night (no alpha), Ice Storm (broken up alpha which missed), then began ST attacks/heals.
• At 22, I also got a full set of lvl 25 IOs - 1 End/2 Acc in all powers that took them (except replaced 1 Acc in Ice Storm with 1 Rech), 2 Dmg in Ice Storm, 3 Rech in Tar Patch, 1 End/2 ToHit Debuffs in Darkest Night, 2 Heals in Twilight Grasp, 1 Heal in Health (no other slots assigned to it), and 3 EndMods in Stamina. Life is good - end management problems solved (for now, especially since I don't yet have Howling Twilight).
• The only times I got into trouble were when I had to fight 4 Lieus. A few maps of Castellanos missions have this (split Rikti tunnels under office), and a Banished Pantheon mission in a graveyard. Well, I didn't HAVE to do the latter - but I'd been fighting through all the Shamans with Nightshivers telling them "Your weather powers are no match for mine!" So when I came upon 6 Shamans circling around in one area, I figured what the hey - let's see whether I can do this. When the four Death Shamans summoned their minions, there were enough hits to bring me to orange, and before I could take out a 2nd Shaman, the -7 dmg/tick DoTs piled on. Unfortunately, I reacted like a Brute (I can still pop out two attacks!), my Twilight Grasp hit, but the damage piled on faster, I went up, up, and a-splat! The Shamans all chuckled and said "Yes, you are strong, but we have something you don't - teamwork!" After my first hospital visit, I avoided them, got all the glowies, killed the mission boss not 100 yards from them, and went on my way.
• I should say something about my teaming here. I've had both wonderful and horrible experiences teaming. First is that my play schedule is erratic. Second is that I don't give a damn about "kill 'em all FAST". Third is that I like having some sort of story experience going - it's what keeps my mind involved in the game. Fourth is that I suck at recruiting. So I primarily play solo, but I'm trying to make a difference with Nightshivers. I won't hide from teams if I'm online for at least an hour, and will put up my LFT (missions) search note.
• So the mission after my first death I get an invite for AE missions. I have never done this, so I accept, wary of what it might be, and turned out to be. A farm. Alright, if you like to farm, so be it - no skin off my back. OK, so let's see how this build does with massive spawns who rez, along with a timed ambush from the mission door. 1 Brute, 1 Tank, 1 Defender (TA/Arch), 1 Controller (Plant/something), 1 Warshade, me, and I think someone else. We did damn well - the only team wipes happened the first two missions when we weren't yet prepared for the timing of the massive ambush. Fearsome Stare and Darkest Night were huge contributions to mitigation, and Tar Patch was a huge contribution to AoEs. Ice Storm helped, and selective Twilight Grasps saved me and others several times. The STs were really just filler, cleanup, and wanderer removal. But by the 3rd (or was it 4th?) time through, I was bored out of my skull. No mission text, custom mobs not even named (other than "minion," "lieutenant," "boss") and pure constant spamming of appropriate powers. Still, I don't quit immediately unless PO'd. So I let team know the next was my last mission, and then quit after that mish. I'll have to remember to put "no farms" on my LFT search notes.

Lvl 24 - just picked up Freeze Ray again, so got some non-Fear control back in the build. Howling Twilight will be at 26, then Petrifying Gaze at 28.

Note that I just began this character last week, and besides last night's farm, have only played content as it comes, at default level. With all of the speed-levelling changes to CoX over the recent years, I feel no desire (yet) to speed up the levelling of Nightshivers.

If you're on Guardian and want an Ice/Dark Corrupter to join your level 20+ mission (or short TF) team, look up Nightshivers. I'd be glad to help!

Changed my mind - enough theorycraft for now. At level 24, so time for a recap of the ride.

Nightshivers's background and story so far:

A small group of free-willed magical creatures (one of the last) in Preatoria divined Cole's plans, saw Scott's own selfishness, and discovered the recent portal opening to Primal Earth along with the true heroes there. Sensing this was their last chance to save Praetoria from the evils that beset it on every side, they chose a human with magical bloodlines, brought him in gently to their group, slowly educated him in their goal and morals, and imbued him with heroic levels of potential. Almost a decade later, they sent him to Nova Praetoria to work within the Loyalists, figuring this would be his best chance to get to Primal Earth.

So Nightshivers went, not seeing many good choices. Yes, he was a "superhero" now. However he knew he could be defeated and knew he had to work within the framework of Praetoria, quietly, in order to bring the coven's plan to fruition. Nightshivers used his time within the Loyalists to curb Reese's and Praetor Duncan's excesses, letting all think he was just after power and glory. He did get to meet and work with the only Praetorian hero he was interested in - Transmuter, of course learning what really happened to Transmuter's powers. Oh, the weakness of relying on a focus rather than inner learning... Nightshivers jumped at the opportunity to enable IVy to actually help others, and did enjoy taking Dr. Hetzfeld out of commission. However, he actively resisted working with Mother Mayhem and Bobcat at the last. The coven had directed him not to contact Scott, so he ended up with what he considered the lesser of these evils - Bobcat. Luckily, he got the opportunity to leave Praetoria earlier than expected, and did not have to do more than that.

Nightshivers was absolutely shocked by the transition to Primal Earth - especially finding Emporer Cole already there! Add to that Cole's denunciation of Nightshivers even after following the Loyalist way, and Nightshivers had all of the direct confirmation he needed that Cole must be stopped. Indeed, Praetoria was absolute proof that "superheros" were no better than "normal" humans in making moral choices, so what right had Cole to take freedom of choice away from all other humans? Nightshivers was so angry that he couldn't even form words with that response - he was also rightly afraid that Cole would take him out then and there. So Nightshivers let Cole believe what he would and got away as quickly as possible.

Honestly, this build is in a state of flux. You can see that I've already changed some powers just today thanks to Nickolas85's comments. I've found some opportunities to improve some slots, and I have a feeling they can be improved much more - I'm looking forward to some discussion over these. I19 will obviously bring some more changes, where I'll need to decide to add Bitter Freeze Ray, Frost Breath, Assault, Tactics, or even Super Speed. I'm currently leaning towards the last three since they won't require any slots!

Actual play experience will also change the build and slots. I've already done a respec from Freeze Ray to Bitter Ice Blast at level 20 due to experience in levels 18-19. I have a feeling there will be more - but hey! That's why I chose Ice/Dark.

Broad goals for this character are...

Highest priorities:

1. Enough ST damage to take down bosses.
2. Enough debuffing to survive my own aggro.
3. Enough healing to keep me vertical.
4. Enough AoE so that I don't have to plink down every single enemy.
5. Enough Accuracy to hit reliably.
6. Enough Endurance so I don't have to slow down a reasonably-paced PUG.
7. Use cheaper IOs primarily for frankenslotting power effectiveness.
8. Be able to have fun solo and on teams.
9. Stay heroside.

Secondary priorities:

1. Enough control to prevent runners and lock down annoying mobs.
2. Enough recharge to use my powerful abilities almost every "battle" (as opposed to "hold my beer, watch this!" moments of wiping spawns).
3. Get set bonuses occasionally or as an "add-on" to the frankenslotted IOs; use "extra" slots for procs (AoEs first; quick-recharge STs second).

Specifically NOT goals:

1. Soft-cap defense
2. Be able to run TFs (I may join if I have the time, but I'm not building specifically for them)
3. Be able to PvP

Alright, time for me to shut up again for a day. Next on the list are enhancements.

Flight

Fly is a safe, easy travel power. Super Speed works for many, with the benefit of Super Speed/Shadow Fall providing practical invisbility. But this isn't a /Traps Corrupter - I don't really see the need for practical invisibility.

Hover is not just a prereq for Fly, but a debuff power, and one of the reasons I easily survived all the ambushes in Praetoria. Have you defeated 100 weakened Destroyers without a single hit against you? Have you laughed while all of Shen's go-gangers fall under your AoE slow/damage powers? Yeah, you have Hover too, don't you? It's a 100% effective debuff against melee attacks.

Speed

Purely for Hasten. This power might be optional for you. Hasten does allow for much faster use of Tar Patch and Ice Storm, along with some other power spamming.

Electricity Mastery

The Is Ice/Dark viable? thread convinced me on this, along with the Fire/dark corruptor need defense? thread. I'm playing a Corrupter, not a Tankmage. My mindset is to debuff/control/"arrest" them, not have res/def to the cap. If they hit me for debuffed damage, I'll Twilight Grasp 'em. If they mez me, I'll have Break Frees to counter and mez 'em back (or even use BFs pro-actively, if I don't want Darkest Night detoggled).

However, I need Endurance! So far, my End drops faster than most Tankers/Brutes I've played, and even one Brute I teamed with last weekend (even with 1 lvl 15 EndRedx IO in each power). I understand that the End will be more manageable later on, but I agree with PHIRE that I'll want an epic/patron pool that has and End power. I don't want Nightshivers going villain at all, so it's just epic pools. Conserve Power doesn't return End, just reduces cost - I want a power to return End. Dark Consumption requires a hit check and is on a longer recharge than Power Sink. Electricity Mastery it is. I also get a PBAoE on an OK timer (often enough to pair with Power Sink), with decent damage and a status effect, and a fast-cycling hold. Those are quite acceptable as prereqs for Power Sink.

Where's Leadership?

Well, with including Blizzard in the build again, Leadership had to go. Now when I19 rolls around and Fitness is inherent, Leadership may make it back into the build.

Nickolas85 and Infernus_Hades, it seems you're emphasizing a possible "issue" with Ice/Dark: there are so many tasty powers, it's difficult to really know what's "best" to pick and when!

The resources for most of my picks are:

1. Silas Does Support - Dark Miasma
2. Wintervoid's Ice/Dark guide
3. The recent Is Ice/Dark viable? thread
4. All three are well worth the read in considering an Ice/Dark Corrupter.

The power choices are front-loaded - 8 "asap" powers by level 20, not counting pools! Put in Fly by 14 and Stamina by 20, and you need 13 picks to get all of these... So ya gotta decide what to delay, unless you have City Travller/Ninja Run/I19. Any one of these will help:

1. Vet "City Travellers" - go straight to travel power, skip prereq.
2. Ninjas - delay travel power until later.
3. I19 - inherent Stamina!

Since I have none of the above, I ended up sticking with Fly/Stamina and prereqs sooner than later, figuring that it's easier to get through these on the lower levels. I'll catch up to all my asap picks by level 22.

What are my asap/prereq powers?

• ST damage: Ice Bolt/Ice Blast/Bitter Ice Blast. Unlike Fire, which has damage powers out the wazoo, you pretty much need all three of these. Note to newbies: you'll likely need Frost Breath as well during levelling up, since you won't have Veteran attacks like Sands of Mu nor Darkwand.
• Heal: Twilight Grasp. Use it for heal, be glad of the debuff - spam if you got the endurance or other people are taking care of damage.
• Debuff: Tar Patch/Darkest Night/Fearsome Stare. Others have said it all about these.
• AoE Damage: Ice Storm
• Movement: Fly (with Hover prereq)
• End management: Stamina (with Swift/Health prereqs)/Power Sink (with Thunder Strike/Shocking Bolt prereqs)
• Pet: Dark Servant

Why aren't Freeze Ray, Howling Twilight and Petrifying Gaze asap? They are my high priority powers, however I see Debuff being more important than outright control for this character. That said, I reviewed my current build again after Nickolas85's comment, and now have Freeze Ray at 24, Howling Twilight: 26, Petrifying Gaze: 28.

Special note about levels 8 to 20: I actually did take Freeze Ray at level 8, then noticed how low my damage output was becoming at levels 18-19 since I focused on Fly and Stamina (and skipped Frost Breath). So at 20 I respecced out of Freeze Ray (lvl 8) and into Bitter Freeze Ray (lvl 18), and at level 21 so far, it's good. However, I'm glad I had Freeze Ray from levels 8 to 18. Luckily, I19 will make this moot since Fitness will be inherent. (I'll get more into my actual experiences with this build in this thread after going through power picks and enhancements.)

Medium priority powers are Hasten and Shadow Fall. Shadow Fall does add utility - for me, it's the Stealth that's useful, not so much the Def/Res. On my just-modified build, I take these at 30 (Hasten) and 32 (Shadow Fall).

The low-priority powers are Aim, Bitter Freeze Ray, Frost Breath, and Blizzard.

• Aim: this really isn't needed often, but if suffering under a lot of ToHitDebuffs, facing extreme Def, or when wanting a damage spike, it has its uses.
• Blizzard: after reading Wintervoid's guide, I'd decided to leave Blizzard out of the build entirely. I'm not about killing enemies the fastest, and it honestly seems that the time spent recovering after Blizzard would even out the enhanced speed from using it. However, that was before I reconsidered my level 49 pick today (thanks Nickolas85), after getting Power Sink at 47. Power Sink can support a very quick recovery after Blizzard, so I'm getting it rather than Assault.
• Bitter Freeze Ray: this does a bit of damage along with its long-duration hold - but it's slow-animating, and with 3 other holds (Freeze Ray, Petrifying Gaze, Shocking Bolt), it's just not needed, so it didn't make the cut.
• Frost Breath is one of those high-End low-damage cones. With Ice Storm and enough recharge (hello Hasten), I just don't feel like this AoE is needed. Now this is very, very debatable, and I'll probably get into this more later in the thread.

Powers which won't ever make the build:

• Black Hole - others have said it all about this power.
• Electric Fence - as others have said, /Dark has Tar Patch. Ice is slowing even more. There are plenty of holds in the sets (in fact, I'm skipping one of those). No real use from Electric Fence - taking Shocking Bolt instead.
• Charged Armor - there should really be enough survivability in my build without Charged Armor. I would rather have the damage available via Thunder Strike instead (though if I decide I want to use fewer slots in this "power pick," I might change my mind.)

Now we get to the first reason I'm sharing all this. I would like your opinions on what you think is good, and what you'd do differently. Not necessarily to convince me to change, but to share with all who may try Ice/Dark in the future all the options and why. Who knows, maybe this'll lead to a new guide for Ice/Dark. I'm not knocking Silas's wonderful support guides nor Wintervoid's Ice/Dark guide at all, I'm just saying we might find some additional information which could lead to a new Ice/Dark guide.

So rather than go ahead and post all my reasons for this current build, I'll stop my contribution to this thread for a bit and see whether any of you have initial comments. Even if your only thought here is that I'm FoS, hey - at least thanks for reading!

The build (using short forum post for those w/o Mid's, Data Link for those with):

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: Electricity Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Ice Bolt -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(5), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(43), TmpRdns-Acc/EndRdx(43)
Level 1: Twilight Grasp -- Nictus-Heal(A), Nictus-Acc/Heal(7), Nictus-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(7), EndRdx-I(27), Numna-Heal/EndRdx(27), Acc-I(50)
Level 2: Ice Blast -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(5), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(37), TmpRdns-Acc/EndRdx(40)
Level 4: Tar Patch -- RechRdx-I(A), TmpRdns-EndRdx/Rchg/Slow(9), P'ngTtl-EndRdx/Rchg/Slow(9)
Level 6: Darkest Night -- DarkWD-ToHitDeb(A), DarkWD-ToHitDeb/EndRdx(11), DarkWD-ToHitdeb/Rchg/EndRdx(11)
Level 8: Hover -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 10: Swift -- Flight-I(A)
Level 12: Ice Storm -- Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(A), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(13), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(13), Posi-Acc/Dmg(15), Posi-Dam%(15), RechRdx-I(50)
Level 14: Fly -- Winter-ResSlow(A)
Level 16: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A), Numna-Heal(17), Numna-Heal/EndRdx(17), Numna-Heal/Rchg(46)
Level 18: Bitter Ice Blast -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(19), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(19), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(37), TmpRdns-Acc/EndRdx(37)
Level 20: Stamina -- P'Shift-EndMod(A), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc(21), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(21), P'Shift-End%(46)
Level 22: Fearsome Stare -- Abys-Acc/EndRdx(A), Abys-EndRdx/Fear(23), Abys-Fear/Rng(23), Cloud-ToHitDeb(31), Cloud-Acc/ToHitDeb(33), Cloud-Acc/Rchg(50)
Level 24: Freeze Ray -- Lock-Acc/Hold(A), G'Wdw-Acc/EndRdx(25), G'Wdw-EndRdx/Hold(25), EoCur-Acc/EndRdx(34), Hold-I(34)
Level 26: Shadow Fall -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 28: Petrifying Gaze -- Lock-Acc/Hold(A), G'Wdw-Acc/EndRdx(29), G'Wdw-EndRdx/Hold(29), EoCur-Acc/EndRdx(34), Hold-I(36)
Level 30: Howling Twilight -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(31), RechRdx-I(31)
Level 32: Aim -- RechRdx-I(A), AdjTgt-ToHit/EndRdx/Rchg(33), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(33)
Level 35: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(36), RechRdx-I(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: Thunder Strike -- Sciroc-Acc/Dmg(A), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx(42), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(42), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(42), EndRdx-I(43)
Level 44: Shocking Bolt -- Lock-Acc/Hold(A), G'Wdw-Acc/EndRdx(45), G'Wdw-EndRdx/Hold(45), EoCur-Acc/EndRdx(45), Hold-I(46)
Level 47: Power Sink -- Efficacy-EndMod(A), Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg(48), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(48), RechRdx-I(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

Flexibility. That's why you play Corrupters anyway, right? Corrupters can be damage-dealers, can control, can support, can offtank, can solo well, and can team well. Why not take the most flexible of the builds?

Dark brings enough survivability and a lot of flexibility by itself, however Fire only brings damage. Yes, I know that defeating enemies is the ultimate way to control them, and that one only needs enough survivability to defeat enemies. Let's say I end up needing a little more survivability than some to defeat those enemies. If you needed the minimum survivability, you'd roll a Blaster anyway... (j/k - maybe)

There are other Corrupter primaries which also have some levels of control, but it seems that they are either biased more towards ST or AoE, use more cones, etc. That's why Ice is the pick for me. Ice has 3 STs, 1 cone, 1 targeted AoE, 2 holds (1 which, while slow, does tier 1.5 ST damage as well), 1 buff, and 1 nuke. Pretty dang flexible.

Back when I started CoH (I2), I figured my first character should be sturdy and easy to manage, so I could learn the game. Thus began Schatten Turm, my Inv/Ax tank. After I got him into the 40s, I began to see it was hard for me to team as well as I could (post GDN/ED) without knowing the other ATs. After starting a few, altitis quickly set in, and except for a SS/WP brute, I have gotten no other characters to lvl 50.

Recently, after copious alts and mock-up builds, I decided to settle on one new character which should be fun from 1-50. The AT and sets were to be flexible, so that if I ran into a wall of boredom, I could respec the character and not have to start over again.

I decided on an Ice/Dark Corrupter, and Nightshivers began. I wanted to take him heroside as quickly as possible, so began in Praetoria. Nightshivers just hit 20 last night, and is now in Talos Island.

I want to use this thread to share his progress, and to assess Ice/Dark with your input.

Thank you very much for that reply Finduilas. I'd belatedely realized that the procs weren't the best for the low-slotted attacks as well, since I hadn't hit the ED "cap" for damage in them yet.

I took all of your advice, but I need to investigate some more on how much +ToHit/+Acc is "enough" (even for TFs) and when more of this can be traded for less EPA and more DPA. For example, is it worth trading +7% Acc/+5% Recharge (and a few max HP) from Haymaker and/or AirSup to slot them as Mako: Acc/Dam and Dam/End, Touch of Death: Dam/End, Crushing Impact: Dam/End, Perfect Zinger: Chance for Psi? With 4 Numina's in Heal, I'll still hit the HP cap when Hoarfrost is up, so the consideration is really on the +Acc/+Rech. The same consideration will apply to the Kismet +Acc in Combat Jumping versus one more Recharge in Hasten.

I also forgot to include Accolades in the Max HP, but I'll still leave Hoarfrost slotted up for the Heal. Maybe I'll remove some slots from Health - just maybe, as additional regen can be nice with so much HP.

Oh, and if/when I land a Gladiator's Armor +Def, I could always trade out the lower-level sets in Jab and Icicles for others and move a slot from somewhere to Tough.

Thanks again!
Wyldhunt

I've tried tanks of all stripes except DA and Ice Armor. It's time for the latter once I19 rolls around. I have a good amount of experience with SS, both Tanks and Brutes, but none with Ice Armor.

Note: I've placed the slots I'll put in Health and Stamina under Sprint and Rest. Health will have 4 Numina's Convalescence, and Stamina will have 4 Performance Shifters (standard slotting for me).

Particular questions:
1. Should I skip Punch in favor of Permafrost, since I have both and AirSup/Boxing in the mix? That would return two slots to use elsewhere, likely to beef up the procs/dam in another attack.
2. Should the last two slots in Jab be moved to Haymaker? The question is more DPA (at the build's current recharge when Hasten is up) or make the most of the -30% DamResDebuff on multiple targets?
3. I know most of the Mako's Bite bonuses are basically wasted since with Hoarfrost up I'm way over the HP cap. However, I don't really see any better use of the slots than this (Acc/Dam + Dam/End + 20% proc). Perhaps the slots can be better used elsewhere - I'm just going by my old rule of thumb to 2-slot each attack at least.
4. With the massive heal from Hoarfrost, and Hibernate being available, do I really need to worry about getting Psi defense and/or Toxic resist up any more?

In general, if you see what you consider better slotting or power choices, please share what you'd do.

Thanks!
Wyldhunt

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.803
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

TBD: Level 50 Magic Tanker
Primary Power Set: Ice Armor
Secondary Power Set: Super Strength
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Frozen Armor -- LkGmblr-Def(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(15), LkGmblr-Def/Rchg(15), LkGmblr-Rchg+(37)
Level 1: Jab -- Mako-Dam%(A), Mako-Acc/Dmg(3), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx(9), Mako-Dmg/Rchg(46), Zinger-Dam%(48)
Level 2: Punch -- Mako-Dam%(A), Mako-Acc/Dmg(3), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx(9)
Level 4: Haymaker -- Mako-Dam%(A), Mako-Acc/Dmg(5), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx(5)
Level 6: Air Superiority -- Mako-Dam%(A), Mako-Acc/Dmg(7), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx(7)
Level 8: Hoarfrost -- Numna-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Numna-Heal(13), Numna-Heal/EndRdx(13), Numna-Heal/Rchg(43), RechRdx-I(46)
Level 10: Wet Ice -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 12: Chilling Embrace -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 14: Fly -- Winter-ResSlow(A)
Level 16: Icicles -- Oblit-%Dam(A), Oblit-Dmg(23), Sciroc-Dam%(23), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg(34), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx(36), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(37)
Level 18: Glacial Armor -- LkGmblr-Def(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(19), LkGmblr-Def/Rchg(19), LkGmblr-Rchg+(37)
Level 20: Knockout Blow -- Hectmb-Dam%(A), Hectmb-Dmg/EndRdx(21), Hectmb-Dmg(21), Hectmb-Dmg/Rchg(48), Hectmb-Acc/Rchg(48)
Level 22: Taunt -- Zinger-Dam%(A)
Level 24: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(25), RechRdx-I(25)
Level 26: Energy Absorption -- Efficacy-EndMod/EndRdx(A), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc(27), Efficacy-EndMod(27), Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg(33), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(34), Efficacy-Acc/Rchg(34)
Level 28: Rage -- GSFC-Build%(A), GSFC-ToHit/EndRdx(29), GSFC-Rchg/EndRdx(29), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(31), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg(33), GSFC-ToHit(33)
Level 30: Boxing -- Mako-Dam%(A), Mako-Acc/Dmg(31), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx(31)
Level 32: Hibernate -- Heal-I(A)
Level 35: Tough -- Aegis-ResDam(A), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(36), Aegis-ResDam/Rchg(36), GA-3defTpProc(40), S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(50)
Level 38: Foot Stomp -- Armgdn-Dam%(A), Armgdn-Dmg/EndRdx(39), Armgdn-Dmg(39), Armgdn-Dmg/Rchg(39), Armgdn-Acc/Rchg(40), Zinger-Dam%(40)
Level 41: Weave -- LkGmblr-Def(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(42), LkGmblr-Def/Rchg(42), LkGmblr-Rchg+(42)
Level 44: Gloom -- Apoc-Dam%(A), Apoc-Dmg/EndRdx(45), Apoc-Dmg(45), Apoc-Dmg/Rchg(45), Apoc-Acc/Rchg(46), Apoc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(50)
Level 47: Darkest Night -- ToHitDeb-I(A)
Level 49: Maneuvers -- LkGmblr-Def(A), LkGmblr-Rchg+(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A), Empty(11), Empty(11), Empty(43)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A), Empty(17), Empty(17), Empty(43)
Level 1: Gauntlet
Level 2: Ninja Run

I give another recommendation for /Dark as the most fun - it keeps you active (more flexible) between the pets and the enemies more than the others (which are much more support-only roles).

However, I've played /Dark so many times that I have /Thermal with my Demons. If you go /Thermal, be sure to get keybinds that make reapplying the shields a quick item - a search for MM keybinds on this forum will yield good results.