Eddys in the Space/Time Continuum a Guide to Gravity Control & Kinetics
My Gravity/Kinetics controller dates back to I3 and has experienced a lot of changes. I still find her to be great fun to play, and very satisfying both on teams and solo.
I dont have any brilliant strategies for slotting IOs into the build. Ive got a couple of them scattered around (as well as a bunch of HOs), but Ive yet to come up with a compelling plan for slotting sets on this character. For the most part, for any power I am 3-slotting an attribute I try to replace the 3rd enhancement (which doesnt operate at full strength due to ED) with an IO enhancing some other attribute. For example, on a power with 2 acc/3 dmg/1 rchg I might replace the 3rd dmg with a dmg/rchg.
I have not discussed the powers from a PVP standpoint. At best I am an infrequent PVPer and dont want to misdirect folks with that interest. You should be aware that most of the powers have different durations and magnitudes in PVP. For example, GD is Mag 3 with a 22 second duration in PVE and Mag 4 with a 15 second duration in PVP. Check out
City of Data if you need the numbers.
Gravity Control
Crush lvl 1
This is your single-target immobilize and one of the two choices you have for a Tier 1 power. Although its 1.0 damage scale, it puts out that damage over a 9-second DoT, giving the impression that it doesnt deal much damage. Dont be fooled. Crush has a fairly fast animation and a 4 second recharge which allows it to be spammed. It also has a 20% accuracy bonus. The immobilize is Mag 4, which will affect a boss (and many AVs) in a single application, allowing you to establish containment and prevent them from using their melee attacks on you. In the event the foe resists the immobilize, Crush also debuffs movement speed by 62.5% and has fly. One unique aspect of Crush compared to the immobilizes in other control sets is that it doesnt have knockback. Crush should be slotted for accuracy (1-2), damage (3) and recharge (0-1). Enhancing the immobilize duration is unnecessary as the base duration is huge (28 seconds at level 50).
Lift lvl 1
Lift is your other option for a Tier 1 power. Its 0.80 damage scale plus a high magnitude knockup and -fly. Note, Lifts damage occurs after a 2-second delay. Although many like the soft control, its not as useful as Levitate from the Mind Control set for juggling a boss while stacking magnitude for your single-target hold. This is because Gravity Distortion has 10 seconds of knockback. That means, using Lift after GD will not result in knockup. Lift should be slotted for accuracy (2), damage (3) and recharge (0-1).
In most builds, its difficult to fit both Crush and Lift. In that circumstance, I recommend Crush. As indicated, Crush has higher damage, higher accuracy, faster recharge and sets up containment. About the only exception I would mention is on a pure team build where you are skipping Propel (see below) and want another damaging power.
Gravity Distortion lvl 2
Gravity Distortion is your bread and butter single-target hold. Its available at level 2 and should not be delayed. Like all the single-target holds, it is Mag 3 (22 second duration at level 50) and will need to be stacked with another hold to effect a boss. It also has a 20% accuracy bonus. Similar to Crush, in the event the foe resists the hold, it also debuffs movement speed by 62.5% and has fly. As indicated, GD suppresses knockback for 10 seconds, even if the magnitude is insufficient for the hold to take effect. GD should be slotted for accuracy (2), hold (2-3) and recharge (1-2). Although GD is 1.10 damage scale over a 4 second DoT, I am not one that advocates slotting holds for damage. This is a power that HOs and IOs can be slotted to good effect if you want to slot for both hold and damage.
Propel lvl 6
You can open a gravitational rift and retrieve a heavy object, then Propel it at your foes for Smashing Damage. That doesnt sound like fun. Now replace heavy object with car, fork lift, pool table, etc. and you begin to get the appeal of Propel. [Note: the objects you throw are random and wont appear the same to your teammates.] Aside from the visual fun which Propel brings, it hits like a freight train. Propel is 1.96 damage scale, making it the highest damage attack available to a controller. Unfortunately, it also has a 3.5-second animation. This can be frustrating on a team, as whatever you are aiming at may already be defeated by the time the animation finishes. If you dont intend to solo and dont require entertainment, by all means skip this power and take Lift instead. However, I think this is a mistake for a /Kinetics. Fulcrum Shift + Containment + Propel puts up orange numbers that will rival a blaster (480 hit points for a level 50 at the damage cap). Just make sure that you use it on a target that will be alive for at least 5 seconds. Also be aware that Propel has pretty sizeable knockback, so either precede it with GD or plan accordingly. Slot Propel for accuracy (2), damage (3) and recharge (1). IO sets that allow you to add some range are also useful, as Propels range is 20 feet shorter than your other powers.
Crushing Field lvl 8
Your AoE immobilize. That means your targets cant move but they can shoot at you. With /Kinetics as your secondary, this is a dangerous power at the level it becomes available, as you have no means of mitigating the aggro it generates. Although I do recommend this power, it can be deferred until level 24 or so. CF has the same immobilize duration as Crush (but is only Mag 3), as well as the movement speed debuff and fly. It does have a 10% accuracy penalty, so slot accordingly. The primary uses for CF are to prevent scatter after using Wormhole and to set up AoE containment for one of the APP AoE blasts. As with Crush, CF doesnt have knockback. That means you can use it on top of an allys Ice Slick or Freezing Rain without negating the knockdown. CF is not a damaging power its 0.30 damage scale (less than Brawl), so damage slots are largely wasted. Slot CF for accuracy (2-3). Ive never slotted it more than that, but recharge or endred could be options if you intend to use it a lot. If you want to devote some slots, the IO sets available (immobilize and slow) have some interesting set bonuses.
Dimension Shift lvl 12
This is the one power in either set that Ive never tried. Its an AoE intangibility with a 25-foot radius and a 30-second duration. During that period they cannot be affected, which will greatly frustrate those members of your team that insist on attacking them. Out of the box I believe it will affect minions and lieutenants, with additional slotting required to affect bosses. There are slotting strategies which involve making everyone but the boss intangible so that the team can focus on him. If you want advice on this power, youre going to need to look elsewhere.
Gravity Distortion Field lvl 18
Your AoE hold. Like all the AoE holds, it has a 20% accuracy penalty and a 4 minute recharge. The duration is not great either (15 seconds at level 50). Gravitys version is ranged with a 20-foot radius AoE. It shares the same knockback and movement speed debuff of GD. While Im no longer a big fan of the AoE holds for control sets with lots of AoE options, Gravity is lacking in this regard so GDF becomes more useful. The recharge buffs from Hasten and Siphon Speed become quite valuable in allowing you to use this power more often. Slot GDF with accuracy (2-3), hold duration (2-3) and recharge (1-2).
Wormhole lvl 26
AoE foe teleport combined with disorient and knockback. This is a highly effective power, but it has a lot of moving parts that you have to account for or it will get you killed. The power targets a 15-foot radius AoE around a foe with a maximum of 16 foes affected. In contrast to Teleport Foe, which has a 200-foot pickup range, Wormholes pickup range is only 80 feet. There is a 2.6 second delay between activation and teleport, during which time all targeted foes will shoot at you if you are within line of sight. Hint: activating Wormhole while in line of sight is BAD. Learn to use geography to your advantage. Adding range enhancements allows you more flexibility in using the power.
Wormhole is a Mag 4 teleport and will teleport bosses and elite bosses. After the teleport, Wormhole applies a Mag 3 disorient with an 18 second duration (lvl 50) and a Mag 15 knockback. To my knowledge, his is the longest duration AoE stun in the game. Bosses will not be stunned when they exit, but they will be knocked down. Native EBs will be knocked down but EBs scaled from AVs with the PToD (purple triangles of doom) will not. Wormhole will not teleport arch villains, but it will aggro them, so be aware that they will come looking to rearrange your face if you use it near them.
The exit range for Wormhole is huge, allowing you to use this power to send foes away as well as bring them to you. The exit point needs to be in line of sight, but other than that can be hundreds if not thousands of feet away, which can be very useful (and amusing) on outdoor maps. The exit point can also be straight up.
Slot Wormhole for accuracy (2), range (1-2), disorient (1-3) and recharge (0-2).
Singularity lvl 32
Singularity has the same Crush, GD and Lift powers you do, although its only have a 60-foot range. Pets use a 0.80 ranged damage modifier vs. 0.55 for controllers, so its attacks do 45% more damage than an uncontained controllers. It also has the Kinetics power Repel, which is a knockback aura. Singularity has 50% resistance to Sm/Le/Fi/Co/En/Ne and 100% resistance to Psi/Tx (capped at 90%), making it a contender for the toughest pet, however it cannot be healed. It is also unmezzable, with Mag 100 status protection to all effects except confuse.
Singularity tends to follow behind you and tends to stay out of melee. It cycles its attacks and switches its targets, but tends to have a pretty short aggro radius, roughly equal to its attack range. If you are soloing, it is helpful to have some kind of stealth to allow Singy to pick up aggro first and soak up the alpha (I use Super Speed for this). Placing it with Recall Friend can be done but is tricky, as Singy doesnt like to be too far from you. As Singy is intangible, its also possible to stand inside of it to use the Repel aura for your own protection.
Slot Singularity for accuracy (1), damage (3) and hold (2). Although I havent found it documented anywhere and cant get the devs to confirm, I am firmly convinced that Singy has either a tohit buff or a higher accuracy modifier. Even with 1 acc slotted, it is able to easily hit high defense targets like Rikti drones that cause me to whiff endlessly.
Kinetics
Transfusion lvl 1
This is your heal, and although targeted its a good one (it heals for 78% more than an /Empathy controllers Healing Aura). Its an AoE with a 20 foot radius centered on your target. That means if you want to self-heal, you need to get close to melee range. Keeping your target held or immobilized so they cant smack you isnt a bad idea.
In addition to healing, Transfusion also provides 50% -regen for 20 seconds, making it valuable against AVs. Although AVs resist regen debuffs (85% at lvl 50), Transfusion recharges in 8 seconds and the regen can be stacked. It also drains 10% of the targets endurance, but doesnt return any to you.
Slot Transfusion for accuracy (1-2), heal (3) and recharge (0-1). It does have a 20% accuracy bonus, but I tend to slot 2 acc anyway as I dont want it to miss.
Siphon Power lvl 2
Debuffs your targets damage by 20% for 30 seconds and buffs yours and allies within a 20 foot radius around you by the same amount. Not particularly exciting, especially once you get Fulcrum Shift, but nothing to sneeze at either. With some recharge this can be stacked 2-3 times. I find it to be a very effective debuff against AVs. Slot for accuracy (1-2) and recharge (2-3).
Assuming you take Crush at level 1 and GD at level 2, at level 4 you will be faced with picking between Siphon Power, Repel and Lift. My pick goes to Siphon Power.
Repel lvl 4
A knockback aura. Although it does provide some protection against foes trying to melee you, it mainly serves to zero out your endurance bar. In addition to the toggle cost of 0.78 end/sec, it costs an additional 1 end every time a foe touches it. The latter cost cannot be reduced through enhancements. There is really no reason for a Gravity controller to have this after they get Singularity just stand inside of Singy and use its Repel aura for free. If you insist on getting it, slot for endurance reduction.
Siphon Speed lvl 10
One of the defining powers of Kinetics. It debuffs your targets movement speed by 62.5% and their recharge by 20%, both for 60 seconds, and buffs your run speed (300%), flight speed (116%) and recharge (20%) for the same duration. Slotted for recharge it can be stacked 2-3 times. Like all slows, the movement debuff can be enhanced while the recharge debuff cannot. More importantly, both the movement and recharge debuffs are non-resistable, which is huge against AVs as they normally resist speed and recharge debuffs heavily. Slot Siphon Speed for accuracy (2), recharge (3) and slow (0-1). Slows will also increase the movement speed buff to you.
Increase Density lvl 16
ID can be applied as either a proactive or reactive ally buff. It provides protection against hold, stun, immobilize, knockback, repel and teleport as well as 18.75% Sm/En damage resistance for 60 seconds. As a controller, you have better things to do than to keep a team buffed with ID, although proactive buffing is useful against some mezz heavy foes. Slot for damage resistance (1). This power is easily skipped by a controller. I took it in a respec when I had an open power slot that I couldnt afford to invest slots in.
Speed Boost lvl 20
Now you deal crack. Although you will get whiners who complain and ask not to be buffed, those who know cant get enough. Speed Boost provides the following ally buffs, all for 2 minutes: 50% recharge, 50% endurance recovery, 175% run speed, 68% fly speed. Its also one of the few buffs in the game that provides resistance to slows. Slot for endurance modification (1-2). Note, Singularity can be buffed too.
Inertial Reduction lvl 28
In a nutshell, this is Super Jump with no prerequisite. Has a 25 foot AoE, but its pretty rare that you get teammates clamoring for this. Entirely optional, depending on your travel power choices. You can take this instead of a travel power, or take it for vertical mobility if youre a Super Speeder. Slot for jump (1). IR is perma out of the box and doesnt need recharge.
Transference lvl 35
Makes you and your team Energizer bunnies. Drains a target for 40% of their endurance and returns 40 endurance to all allies within a 20 foot AoE centered on the target. Similar to Transfusion, you need to be close to melee range if you want to be buffed. Slot Transference for accuracy (1-2), endurance modification (3) and recharge (1-2). It does have a 10% accuracy bonus, but I tend to slot 2 acc anyway as I dont want it to miss. Its not something you need to use every battle, as most players have their endurance under control by the time they get to this level, but its quite useful for protracted AV fights or restoring endurance to a blaster thats just nuked or an ally hit by a Sapper.
Fulcrum Shift lvl 38
This is what you waited for, and its worth it. Enables you to keep an entire team buffed to the damage cap. The mechanics of this are complicated and often misunderstood. First, the power applies a 20% damage debuff to the target and all foes (up to 10) in a 30-foot radius AoE. Second, it applies a 20% damage buff in a 20-foot radius AoE around each of those debuffed foes. These buffs stack, so you or your allies would receive a buff for each foe (up to 10) they were within 20 feet of. Finally, it applies a 40% damage buff in a 20-foot radius AoE around the caster. If the maximum of 10 were affected, somebody in range of all 10 foes and the caster would receive a 240% damage buff (20% x 10 + 40%). All the damage buffs have a duration of 45 seconds, while the debuff has a duration of 30 seconds. Did I mention FS stacks with itself? In practice, the melee folks will get the majority of the buffs. Youll have to educate the ranged fighters to run in if they want to get buffed. Dont bother trying to get Singularity into melee for the buff. Its not very cooperative about it, and its Repel aura tends to scatter the spawn. Fulcrum Shift should be slotted for accuracy (2) and recharge (3).
Pool Powers
Travel: Although it is entirely possible to build a /Kinetics controller without taking a pool travel power, it is not something I am comfortable with. Siphon Speed has to be recast every 60 seconds, something that may be difficult if you are deep in purple territory. Inertial Reduction doesnt require a target, but level 28 is a long time without a true travel power, even with the temp powers available. One could respec out of a travel power after IR becomes available. I took Super Speed on my build as I like the PVE stealth it provides and I was already taking Hasten.
Hasten: I am not a player that takes Hasten on every character. Out of 18 or so characters, I have it on 4 or 5. /Kinetics is a set that benefits greatly from Hasten. Hasten allows Siphon Speed to be stacked more easily. Siphon Speed allows Hasten to be up more often. Its a beneficial circle. Having a 110% recharge buff up much of the time (on top of whatever recharge enhancements are slotted in the powers) does wonders for long recharge powers like GDF and brings the recharge for GD down to under 3 seconds.
Fitness: There are those that build /Kinetics controllers without the Fitness pool or respec out of Fitness after picking up Transference. I am not one of them. My play style involves cranking up the recharge buffs and spamming powers. This would not be remotely possible without Fitness. Transference allows me to do it in extended fights without having to slot for endurance reduction.
Leadership: Any control set with /Kinetics as a secondary will benefit greatly from Leadership, specifically Tactics. You have more powers with a tohit check than just about any other set. In general, slotting 1 acc + 3-slotting Tactics is superior to slotting 2 acc. That said, I respeced out of Leadership around level 42 or so. I found that there were too many mezzing mobs that dropped my toggles, leaving me with inadequate accuracy until Tactics recharged. Taking Leadership also eliminated two power choices from my primary/secondary, neither Assault or Maneuvers (the prerequisite to Tactics) being of particular value to a /Kinetics.
Ancillary (Epic) Power Pools
I have not tried all of these. I had Fire for a while and currently have Psi. Shortly after I8 the damage from the blasts was cut to bring the damage scale into line with the blaster powers they were based on. The single-target blasts now do roughly the same damage as controllers single-target control powers. For sets like Gravity, Illusion and Mind with solid damage, there is less reason to take the single-target blasts. The AoE blasts are still useful, as AoE damage is harder to come by. From the 12/7/06 Patch Notes, the current values are (note,
City of Data still reflects the old values):
Earth Mastery/Hurl Boulder: 1.64 damage scale
Earth Mastery/Fissure: 0.90 damage scale (old value believed to be unchanged)
Fire Mastery/Fire Blast: 1.1 damage scale, plus 80% chance of 4 x 0.15 DoT
Fire Mastery/Fire Ball: 1.05 damage scale, plus 80% chance of 3 x 0.15 DoT
Ice Mastery/Ice Blast: 1.0 damage scale
Ice Mastery/Ice Storm: 75 x 0.028 pet damage scale DoT over 15 seconds (unchanged)
Primal Forces/Power Blast: 1.0 damage scale
Psionic Mastery/Psionic Blast: 1.0 damage scale
Psionic Mastery/Psionic Tornado: 0.875 damage scale
Fire Mastery: If youre looking for damage, look no further. Even after the adjustment, Fire does substantial damage. You get single-target and AoE blasts, a resistance armor (27.5% Sm/Le, 20% Fi, 10% Co), and an endurance recovery power.
Psionic Mastery: Provides one of the few mezz protection powers available to non-melee characters, albeit with a 90 second duration. With recharge buffs you can have it up more than half the time. As a bonus, also includes 22.5% defense to Psi. The set also has a single-target blast, an AoE blast and resistance armor (27.5% Sm/Le, 20% Psi). Although the AoE isnt available until lvl 47, it has useful secondary effects of recharge and knockup (which can be used on top of CF).
Primal Forces Mastery: Conserve Power, a single-target blast, a resistance armor (30% Sm/Le) and Power Boost. Power Boost is the gem here, as it provides a 186% enhancement to the duration of all your mezz powers.
Ice Mastery: Single-target and AoE blasts, defense based armor (13.5% Sm/Le with 30%/10% resistance to Co/Fi), and Hibernate. Hibernate makes you untouchable for 30 seconds while you rapidly heal and recover endurance. Ice Storm, the AoE blast, now benefits from containment. Its more damaging than Fire Ball but on a 2 minute timer.
Stone Mastery: Single-target blast with a 4-second animation (about the last thing Gravity needs), an AoE with chance of stun and knockdown, defense based armor (14.4% Sm/Le), and Earths Embrace (Dull Pain).
