Deacon_NA

When I began alphaing, my criteria at that time was "Out of Acc, Dmg, End and Recharge, which one of those will help this character the most right now?" It recently occured to me, while looking further down the tree for my toons, I should have started at the end state and mapped a way to get there. So I'm going about the process of a more thorough analysis of what different alphas do. I'm taking a look at my Illusion/Radiation Emission Controller now.

Cardiac Core Paragon
Endurance/Range/Resists

Currently, I find that very long duration fights (GMs, some AVs) can be taxing on the blue bar. I have Conserve Power which happens to recharge in just about the amount of time I need it. So I could use help with Endurance.

With all toggles on, including rad debuffs, end consumption goes from 2.62 end/sec to 1.99. Not too shabby.

The range increase would allow me to step out another 16 feet (80 to 96).

I use Temp Invul so s/l resists go from 44.5 to 49.9.


Cardiac Radial Paragon

This buffs the Fear duration as well as Sleep (which Ill has but is impractical) and intangibility (irrelevant).

End drain is now 2.12 end/sec.

Sure, the Fear duration(s) increase but I just don't think it's worth considering.


Musculature Core Paragon
More damage? Why not? Defense debuffs are enhanced too. Immobilize is irrelevant.

My ST attack chain is Blind, Spectral Wounds, Power Blast. I throw in Energy Torrent for aoe.

Blind goes from 64.82 to 78.13
Spectral Wounds from 96.14 to 114.8
Power Blast from 140.58 to 163.77
Energy Torrent from 153.03 to 172.36 (both including expected dmg from proc)

Def debuff from RI goes from -25 to -33.25.


Musculature Radial Paragon
This one sounds, really, really, really good.

A little less damage than above, but now with -tohit debuff, end mod and run speed.

Blind is now 74.58
Spectral Wounds 110.49
Power Blast 158.51
Energy Torrent 167.31

Additionally, RI's to-hit debuff goes from -37.8 to -42.3.

Recovery rate goes from 253% (4.51 end/sec) to 270% (4.81 end/sec). That includes AM.
I use Ninja Run + Sprint for travel, that takes me from 44.4 to 47.3 mph.

I like this collection of enhancements.

Nerve Core Paragon
Accuracy, Hold, Defense
I've got 33% global accuracy and, of course RI for def debuffs.

When I switched base to-hit (to .48 to represent +3s) in Mids just now, I had a rude awakening - there's room for improvements. Flash, Energy Torrent, and Lingering Rad all have a final to-hit of 85% against +3. Everything else is 95+. Slotting Nerve Core Paragon puts everything at or above 95%.

Hold duration from Blind goes from 35 to 40 seconds.
Flash 27 to 32
EMP 53 to 61 (wow).

Nerve Radial Paragon
This gives slightly less accuracy but can boost Confuse.

Final to-hit for everything (for +3s) is still 95+%.

Deceive goes from a 72 second duration to 82.5 seconds. Nifty, but not sure how practical, may help for AV stacking.

Defense from SI + Maneuvers + CJ goes up a smidge, not worth mentioning.

Spiritual Core Paragon
Recharge, Stun and Healing.

Global recharge is currently 198.8%, including Hasten which is perma.
PA, Lingering Rad and AM are also perma. The ST attack chain is seemless 1-2-3. Before looking at any numbers, I'm inclined to believe recharge is "good enough".

I'll spare you the numbers this time, you can't exactly be "more perma" on powers that don't stack like AM, PA, LR or Hasten.

Most interesting to me was that Phantasm goes from 80 seconds to 70. Not sure if I want to have him make me irate 10 seconds earlier to see him charge into melee.

Radiant Aura goes from a 237 HP heal to 264.7.

Regen goes from 180% (8.2 hp/sec) to 193% (8.8).

I know an ill/rad is supposed to be all about recharge recharge recharge, but this isn't making a compelling case.

Spiritual Radial Paragon
This is less recharge than above, and the only attribute my ill/rad can use is -slow, which I don't really care about, so I'm not going to evaluate this.

Conclusion

I've already gone down the Cardiac path. Nerve Radial Paragon and Musculature Radial Paragon both tempt me to go a different direction. Right now, I'm inclined to go with Musculature Radial Paragon

I submit this post to see if my reasoning is flawed and if there's some consideration I missed.

When I began alphaing, my criteria at that time was "Out of Acc, Dmg, End and Recharge, which one of those will help this character the most right now?" It recently occured to me, while looking further down the tree for my toons, I should have started at the end state and mapped a way to get there. So I'm going about the process of a more thorough analysis of what different alphas do. I'm taking a look at my Crab soldier now.

Cardiac Core Paragon

This is a Crab, so yes, Endurance isn't easy though it's managable with the build I currently have. I don't find myself chewing a blue unless there's an extended fight (say Reichsman).
This also gives Range and Resistance, both of which are desirable.

End drain from toggles goes from 1.87 to 1.41 end/sec.
I won't list them all, but end consumption on aoes decreases significantly.
Resist numbers all look better:
s/l from 50.6 to 55.5
e/n/t from 39.4 to 43
f/c from 50.4 to 54

My shortest range attack increases from 50 to 60 feet.

Cardiac Radial Paragon
Not evaluated - Fear, Sleep and Intangibility don't apply.

Musculature Core Paragon
Who doesn't like more damage?
Because there are so many attacks, I'll just look at the hardest hitting ST and AOE attacks
Longfang goes from 320.3 to 353.2
Bile Spray from 226.3 to 247.8
The immob duration from School of Sharks goes from 38 to 44 seconds. Whatev.
Def debuff from Suppression and Heavy Fires increases from 7.5 to 10.


Musculature Radial Paragon
This one is chock full of goodies.

Slightly less damage, but buffs End Mod and run speed.
Longfang is now 345
Bile is now 242

Endurance Recovery goes from 192% (3.78 end/sec) to 200% (3.93 end/sec)
Ninja Run + Sprint is my travel, so run speed goes from 63 to 68.6 mph.


Nerve Core Paragon
Accuracy, Hold, Defense
I've got TT:Leadership, 66% global Acc and a smidge of def debuff to boot, so connecting isn't a problem.
The hold is irrelevant.
I'm currently soft-capped to Range and AoE, at 42.3 Melee. Slotting this gets Melee to 46%, the others to 50. Nice. Team defense buffs (TT:M and Leadership: M) go from 20.5 to 22.7.


Nerve Radial Paragon
Not evaluated. Same as above but with additional benefits to confuse, taunt and fly, none of which I do.

Spiritual Core Paragon
Recharge, Stun and Healing, This could be interesting.

Global recharge is currently 128.8. Practically speaking my ST and AoE chains are seemless. I'll look at Omega Maneuver, Reinforcements, and Serum.

Omega recharge goes from 134.4 seconds to 115.1
Reinforcements from 302.4 to 263.7
Serum from 112 to 101.

Stun isn't something I'm looking for, even though Omega has it, so not a factor.

The heal from Serum goes from 838.4 to 950.8 +HP goes from 410.8 to 466.8.
Regen goes from 206% (20.9 hp/sec) to 219% (22.9 hp/sec)


Spiritual Radial Paragon
Recharge bonus in this goes from 45 to 33, but has other useful goodies, most of which I can use: To-Hit (for Tactics) and Jump. The Slow doesn't help.

The recharge numbers mentioned above increased.
Omega is now 119.6
Reinforcements 273
Serum 103.4

TT:L to-hit goes from 15.8 to 17.2

Conclusion
I've already gone down the Cardiac path. Spiritual Core Paragon looks like it may be a better choice, but not SO much better that I'm going to change direction.

I submit this post to see if my reasoning is flawed and if there's some consideration I missed.

When I began alphaing, my criteria at that time was "Out of Acc, Dmg, End and Recharge, which one of those will help this character the most right now?" It occured to me, while looking further down the tree for my toons, I should have started at the end state and mapped a way to get there. So I'm going about the process of a more thorough analysis of what different alphas do. I'm taking a look at my Traps/DP now.

Cardiac Core Paragon

Endurance is a non-issue today.
My resistance from epic shield (Dark Embrace) goes from 43 to 47%. Not too compelling.
Range would be nice, but as a Trapper, I don't get TOO far out for cones.

This is no-go.

Cardiac Radial Paragon
Not evaluated - Fear, Sleep and Intangibility don't apply, on top of an already losing alpha.

Musculature Core Paragon
Everything in this is useful for this toon.
Web Grenade's immob duration increases from 28 to 36 seconds
Acid Mortar's -Def debuff goes from -42 to -48
The +Dmg boost is quite nice. There's too many numbers, but I'll just say this is a compelling direction to go.

Musculature Radial Paragon
This one is chock full of goodies.

The Damage boost is a bit less then the prior one, but still nice.
Immob and Def debuff are the same.
End Mod takes Recovery rate from 162% (3.15 end/sec) to 170% (3.31 end/sec)
Run Speed goes up, I use Sprint+Ninja for travel and run increases from 56.4 to 60.4 mph.
To-Hit debuff from Seeker Drones goes from -9.5 to -10.85.

Nerve Core Paragon
I have Tactics, 45% Global Accuracy and Acid Mortar debuffing def. Accuracy isn't in my "problem set". So I won't analyze what this gives me for accuracy which is already 95% for +3 enemies.
On teams I usually use Toxic rounds, so I'm guessing this would improve hold duration of Suppresive Fire
I'm already soft-capped to the 3 positional defenses, this eeks out another 3-ish percent. I don't gain much, the team (from Maneuvers and FFG) goes from 25.5% to 28.3.

This one's sort of "meh".


Nerve Radial Paragon
Not evaluated. Same as above but with additional benefits to confuse, taunt and fly, none of which I do.

Spiritual Core Paragon
Recharge, Stun and Healing, I like the sound of that.

Global recharge is currently 83.8%. I'll look at the effects on Hasten, Triage, Acid Mortar, Poison Trap, Seekers and Hail of Bullets. These are the powers I want up he most.

Hasten goes from 133.5 to 119 (withHasten up). In other words, it's now perma.
All the following numbers (representing seconds of recharge) include Hasten
Triage: 57.9 to 52.6
Acid: 29 to 25.3
Poison: 26.2 to 23.7
Seekers: 29 to 25.3
HoB: 34.9 to 31.6

This also buffs stun and healing.
Seeker stun goes from 9 to 12 seconds
Triage regen goes from 287.7% to 326.9%
My own regen goes from 180% to 193% (9.8 hp/sec to 10.5)


Spiritual Radial Paragon
Recharge bonus in this goes from 45 to 33, but has more useful goodies, all of which I can use, including Slow (for Caltrops), To-Hit (for Tactics) and Jump.
The recharge numbers mentioned above increase about a second across the board. Hasten has a couple seconds down time.
To-Hit in Tactics increases from 19.69 to 21.48.

I've gone down the Spiritual path and after this analysis, I'm confident it's the right one. Musculature is tempting too, but not enough to make me switch direction at this point. I'm sure I'll end up with Spiritual Radial Paragon, over Core, but I've got a while to go to worry too much about that.

I submit this post to see if something in my reasoning is flawed and if there's some consideration I missed.

When I began alphaing, my criteria at that time was "Out of Acc, Dmg, End and Recharge, I could use the most help with End, as a bonus, added resists are cool too". So I went Cardiac. It occured to me, while alpha slotting other toons, I should have started at the end state and mapped a way to get there. So I'm going about the process of a more thorough analysis of what different alphas do. First up, my Invul/SS tank.


Cardiac Core Paragon
e/n/f/c/t increase roughly 4% from 30 to 34 (varies based on bonuses)
end drain from 1.86 to 1.4 end/sec
Knockout Blow endurance goes from 13.1 to 9.9, Footstomp from 12.5 to 9.6

I like the idea of added range for Taunt and my range attacks.

Cardiac Radial Paragon
Not evaluated - Fear, Sleep and Intangibility don't apply.

Musculature Core Paragon
This is enticing because, for building up survivability, I sacrificed some damage (Jab and Haymaker just have 4 slots of KC)
Jab from 51.8 to 65.1
Haymaker from 140.41 to 169.5
Knockout Blow from 304.8 to 368
Foot Stomp from 142 to 162.4
Hurl from 149.5 to 173
LBE from 128.3 to 142.6, also def debuff goes from 14 to 18.6

The immob is irrelevant

Musculature Radial Paragon
The end mod is the draw here.
Recovery was already 192% (3.88 end/sec), with this slotted, it becomes 204% (4.12 end/sec)

New damage #s
Jab 61.6
Haymaker 162.5
Knockout Blow 352.7
Foot Stomp 157
Hurl 166.7
LBE 138.8, def debuff the same 18.6

Nerve Core Paragon
As mentioned before, Jab and Haymaker only have 4 KCs, so Accuracy enhancements are weak for those 2. I did take Focused Accuracy and have 18% global bonuses. In practice, hitting is not an issue. Also I want to point out I do not have Rage. Please do NOT make the exclusion of Rage a point for discussion, even though I know most /SS Tanks do not approve.

Anyway, against +3s, Jab and Haymaker had 90% chance to land (not factoring in LBE debuffs), everything else 95%. Slotting this gets everything to 95%.

Defense Numbers (all with 1 foe in range of Invince)
s/l - 51.2 to 54.5
e/n - 41.2 to 44.5
psi - 41.5 to 43
f/c - 43.1 to 46.3

Nerve Radial Paragon
Not evaluated. Only the Taunt enhancers were enticing, but I can't remember an instance of losing aggro on a foe I was spamming taunt on.

Spiritual Core Paragon
Recharge and Healing are the goodies. My current global recharge is 60%, no Hasten.
I'm just going to evaluate a few key powers with long-ish recharges - Dull Pain, Knockout Blow, Foot Stomp
DP went from 143 to 125.6 seconds
KoB from 11.5 to 9.5
FS from 9.4 to 7.8

The Heal from DP went from 1505 to 1701 (both get max HP over the cap)
Regen went from 321% (34.4 hp/sec) to 339% (36.3 hp/sec)

Spiritual Radial Paragon
Not evaluated. Only the ToHit was an added bonus and I know there's simply not much to enhance

Right now, I've gone with Cardiac because I would find, in an extended fight, the end bar made a slow, but steady, move to the left. That issue is completely solved now and it's very satisfying. However, there are compelling alternatives. I think, in order, it looks like the best choices are

1) Nerve Core (go from close to soft-cap to reach the soft-cap)
2) Cardiac Core (The resist bonuses are actually disappointing, I don't imagine going from 28 to 32 on a damage type will make a difference, but again, endurance is more managable than it was.)
3) Spiritual Core
4) Muscular Radial
5) Muscular Core

With Nerve, I can swap out FA for Conserve Power and have a tool for those drawn-out fights that were problematic before.

So I'm going to switch directions to from Cardiac to Nerve to get to Nerve Core Paragon.

I submit this post to see if my reasoning is flawed and if there's some consideration I missed.

Edit to add - The endurance drain during extended fights that I mentioned was an issue when I had Soul Mastery and would use Darkest Night. I've since respecced into Physical Perfection, so I'm betting those endurance issues wouldn't exist now anyway.

Yeah, the mez click in Shield, which is probably in a different category from "enhancing Defense slotting increased DDR" since you can't put Def IOs in it. It does however, take Recharge enhancements, of which there is a Hami-O that enhances both Recharge and Def, so slotting it buffs the DDR of the mez click. Weird, but true.

Buyer beware - some would consider this an "exploit" and one day, maybe, it could get fixed.

There are some points made above, I'm dubious about.

Practically speaking, you're limited by how many you can lay out before they start self destructing. As far as hard limit goes, no.

You can still make use of your other 3 slots in FFG.

1) Karma -kb IO. This shouldn't be terribly expensive, I don't know current rates.
2) LOTG +7.5% recharge. This is expensive but you can get it with hero or villain merits (2) in 4 days of play.
3) Kismet +6 to-hit. Not sure how much this is today.

Any and all of those will make life better.

Bots, perhaps more than any other MM primary, puts more reliance on the boss pet and subsequent upgrade.

Unfortunately, you're simply at the "ugly duckling" stage most MMs go through, particularly Bots. Hang in there though, get to 32 and you'll see what the hype is about.

I logged on last night hoping to get the Notice of the Well shard for my "Untouchables" caste characters (e.g. Stalker) and even formed teams to better insure being able to use said Stalker. Unfortunately, every team I joined (or made) was Scrapper/Tank heavy, with a Blaster or 2 mixed in, so I'd invariably switch to a debuffer to make a smoother tf. Khan's not hard by any means, but a debuffer can make a difference on the last fight taking 5 minutes or 20 minutes.

So my Stalker still waits, NotW-less. Hopefully tonight...

I'm unable to view via Mids at the moment (at work goofing off) so I can't really see the big picture. I'll try to check it out when I get home.

In them meantime, a couple of things stood out -

You may want to consider doing vill tips (or hero) every now and then and getting LOTG +7.5 Recharge IOs for your 2 ally bubbles. The +Def values will be virtually unchanged and it's a freebie 15% rch. You can also get a Numina unique for health using the same method. All this for doing tip missions for less than 2 weeks.

Check out the recharge difference in 2 slots vs 3 for Repair. I have a feeling the difference won't be all that great, especially given how often you'd use that power considering you have Aid Other.

I never go more than 5 slots for Doctored Wounds. The 6 slot bonus is "meh" and 5 slots is enough to ED cap Heal and Recharge.

In Detention Field, check out Hami Acc/Mez. I think they're cheap (don't remember, to be honest) but they do enhance the magnitude (yes magnitude) of the cage effect.

I'd want to figure out a way to squeeze in at least one Def IO into Prot Bots. I'm guessing with Power Boost you can soft-cap your bots, but you could get another 4+ percent for yourself.

Because I don't have Mids, I can't tell what your total Ranged Def is, I do see 2 opportunities to add 5%, via a 6th Thunderstrike and a 6th Red Fortune.

To-Hit IOs aren't terribly expensive and are nifty for either increasing recharge (Adjusted Targetting) or all positional def (Gaussians). Even just keeping the same # of slots in Tactics (4), Gaussian adds nice bonuses.

In Web Cocoon, GWs are dirt cheap and 4 slots of those provide some decent bonuses. Basilisk Gaze would be even better, but more expensive.

Likewise, 2 slotting Force Feedback in Force Bolt does something (+speed) for cheap.

Well, that turned out to be a lot of feedback for not being able to actually see the build in Mids.

I hate, HATE being an AT-elitist, but given the rules you gave, my answer is Scrapper and I'd love to see what justifications someone would give for preferring a Stalker.

The "why" is quite simple actually: 1) better aoe damage (except for Elec) 2) more survivability via more HP.

Then there are subtleties such as Scrappers grabbing aggro and Stalker shedding it, so the Scrapper is more squishy friendly in that case.

I know people are going to say "My Spines/SR Stalker does tons of AOE and is plenty survivable". Yes, I'm sure it is. Guess what, that Spines/SR Scrapper is better on both counts.

Please note - I'm not a Stalker hater, and in fact rather enjoy playing the ones I have. I understand the OP's pain, of teams not being enthused about including him for LRSF/STFs. Personally I'm going to make sure my Stalkers get their NotW from Khans this week.

Quick answer for now - yes Enzymes will improve Def and the Prot Bots bubbles and yes, a Miracle unique in Health will do very nice things for your recovery.

Quaver do you have Tactics? Do you PvP? If the answers are, respectively, "yes" and "no" then the +Perception IO won't do anything for you.

I completely agree with Zaprobo, especially with respect to its cost.

If this is a favorite character of yours, then fine. I personally think the cost per performance gain is quite high, especially with respect to Apocolypse and Ragnarok. If you substitute in Decimations (or Devastation if it's the psi def you're chasing) and a Positron's Blast, are you really losing much? The only thing in /FF that you gain from having more recharge for is Repulsion Bomb, which you didn't take. The attacks from the primary would lose a bit, but not much. I made that swap in my Mids and it looks like Pulse Rifle Burst goes from 3.12 seconds to 3.66. Pulse Rifle Blast goes from 1.75 to 1.86. Photon Grenade from 6.25 to 8.94. Your call if that's worth 4 billion inf or so.

Endurance is high but that's mostly because the prohibitively endurance intensive Force Bubble is toggled on in the build. I'm assuming you're not intending to play with that on continuously.

You have no -kb protection, by the way.

One important note I want to make, Lysosomes may not be doing what you expect them to do in your Prot Bots. I just respecced a Bots MM and when I checked the Def from the bubbles it was 7.5%, as if there was no Def slotting whatsoever. Buyer beware.

That's good news. Thanks folks.

Does anyone know when a character that earned Notice of the Well from STF or LRSF from 2/1 to 2/7 can earn a new one with Khan or Cuda starting on 2/8?

Is it one week from when the NotW was earned or as soon as the new WST is live?

I did a lot of STF/LRSFs last week and have no idea what day I did them, so I hope I can start earning them once the WST switches. If not, I'm hoping there's some countdown somewhere (like with tips). Otherwise, this could really suck...

Please notice the bolded "know" above. If your answer begins with "I think" then that's not what I'm looking for, I'm looking for something definitive.

I avoid Sister Jocasta big time.

I've found a new "never again" mission - a hero tip mission given to rogues, where you have to escort General whatshisname (Aarons?) through through a bunch of praetorians. Unlike the debutantes, who follow you unless you move too fast, the good general, when foes stand in his path, just STANDS there, refusing to move. You have to defeat each and every mob on the way back. They're not too bad solo, but the more team size scales up, they get dramatically harder.

Malta gunslinger is a bummer now that they've slowed down the ambushes. I know there were complaints but really, just make sure FrostFire is a boss and he will do the mission for you. Literally. I've dcd while doing that mission and logged on to find it completed. Since I do my tips for speed, this one now puts a cramp in my mission/minute ratio. It used to be very good for that.

"Rescue the Debutants" is one I avoid if possible, but will do it reluctantly, if it's the only one in my inventory. MIs as lieuts aren't too bad. I tip farm with a scrapper who has Char so I watch for the phase out, then the second she phases back in it's Char and kill (so no pets get spawned, Phantom Decoys slow things down since hostages won't release as long as he's around). I speed through the map to scout out where the debs are so I can avoid doubling back. Yes, this mission takes longer than most others but it's not TOO too bad.

On the other hand, I LOVE starting off a session with "Doc Quantum's Moral Quandry". Ravenstorm is an outstanding ally who is self sufficient and can kill a x/8 spawn point all by himself. I typically keep difficulty (both level and spawn size) low for raw speed, but this is one I turn to 11 whenever I get, since to Ravenstorm the mission is 0/8 (he's at mission difficulty level). I know I'll have a full docket when I do this mission.

Unless you've got a kin on your team that manages to damage cap everybody (rarely the case in practice) then TT:Assault is providing a very real benefit to you and everyone on your team. 15% damage in one slot is a good bargain, especially when you get another VEAT on the team with the same power, then add a Corruptor with the pool Leadership Assault. Before you know it the entire team has a sort of perma-buildup effect. Then you can take Leadership: Assault (like I did) and that's a total 30% dmg buff. Not too shabby. Placate resistance is an added bonus.

TT:Leadership (Tactics-esque) on the other hand, is probably more beneficial to you individually moreso than a team, at least a team full of people with the power. With new end-game TFs having mobs at lvl 54, To-Hit buffs go a long way to have you (and your team) hitting at a 95% rate.

I put my money where my mouth is on this, all of my VEATs have all 3 TT: Leadership powers, they're good for me (and pets, if applicable), good for the team.

You requested to let you know what we think, so here I go...

It was sort of hard for me to tell what you were going for. It appears you were prioritizing smoothing out defense across the various types. Your lowest is 20.6 (s/l/e/n) and highest is 22.2 to ranged.

Then there were sort of miscellaneous bonuses, like basically everything Edict of the Master gives, at least beyond 3 slots. 6-slotting GW's Embrace too, that 3.125% psi resist just isn't worth chasing.

I actually just went through finally IOing my bots/trapper yesterday. Personally, I emphasized positional defense and recharge.

If this is meant to be a Wal-Mart budget build (and that may sound more condescending than I'm intending) you'll be fine, in the sense that with Bots/Traps, basic IOs are fine and this is better than basic IOs.

Other notes -
Substitute the LOTG triple for an LOTG 7.5%. Do vill (or hero) tips for 4 days and you'll earn one.
I'm a big fan of Seeker Drones, many trappers are not, but I am. I'd definitely build that up for more recharge.
If you're at a loss where to take slots from, Stamina might be a good place to start. Many trappers used to go Stamina-less, before inherent fitness. I find a Numi unique (another 4 days of tips) in Health and 1 slot in Stamina does the job.

Like I say, this build, as is, will be more than functional, but I think a lot more could be done with it too.

My first villain 50 is a Thugs/FF and absolutely it "works". You can do pretty much any PVE except AVs, those are a stalemate. Not only does the Defense provide safety for you and your minions, but Force Bolt is remarkable at what it does - resistance to kb is very rare with npc mobs, so when there's a troublesome boss, you can keep him on his butt, perma.

So, OP if all you're looking for is "does it work?" because of your interest in the combo, by all means, yes. If you're looking for being more effective, I'll give yet another shout out to Traps, which surprisingly affords YOU, the MM, more Def via FFG than Dispersion Bubble provides.