Deacon_NA

Stroking my ego is a sure fire winning technique to get me to give the build a look over. Well played.

I think there are things in the post above that I disagree with but frankly I'm not sure I properly understood all the points, so I'll just focus on the OP.

Your goals:
* Solo AVs/GMs
* Missions at 0/(5-8)

The second part is done with your build as-is. You should be good to go for the first objective too but some fine tuning could speed the fights up.

5 Doctored Wounds in Triage will get you basically the same enhancement values and provide 5% recharge. An expensive upgrade is Panacea, including the proc which is very cool in Triage.

If you don't like Trip Mine, so be it. It does overperform for MMs, giving the same kaboom as a blaster or corr and significantly more than a def. Maybe it's just the defender TM underperforms. Regardless, having it increases kill speed and not insignificantly.

If you took Electrifying Fences for the -kb, you may want to consider the Overwhelming Force proc in Assault Bot. While prot bots have some single target kb, it pales in comparison to the pile of bodies assault bot can send flying. This proc could free you to take another pool if you prefer.

Ordinarily I'd say Hasten is a must for good trapping. However with your GM soloing goal, you're fairly well locked into needing the other pools, though leaping isn't "required" for the task. Personally I took Hasten instead of Provoke. Unfortunately that seems to keep me out of the GM soloing club (but not AVs) since they just run run run around the open zone and a taunt seems to tether them.

With 58% s/l def, I'd look to excange a chunk of that def for recharge. For example, Cloud Senses in Seeker Drones over Siphon Insight and Perfect Zinger in lieu of Mocking Beratement.

For GM purposes, I'd suggest Challenge over Provoke due to faster recharge.

OP I like your analogy about customizing the wheel more than the saying "don't invent the wheel". My cliche for this stuff (not just traps, but any build) is that "there's more than one way to skin a cat". My own bot/traps looks little like most builds posted for the combo, certainly not like the one presented as the model build for you to try and beat. Yet at the end of the day it's doing everything people are looking for at the high end, with the previously mentioned exception of GMs, and I'm fine with that.

To summarize, my main point would be to seek more recharge, freely exchanging some of your s/l def bonuses. My secondary point is, try to learn to love Trip Mine.

Is Flash Freeze really important to your concept? I think Temporal Selection is valuable for MMs. You can pretty easily keep it on 2-4 pets (or teammates) and they'll get 50% more from your heals, both Chronoshift and Temp Mending. You can take TS instead of Flash Freeze, slot with DW and lose only 1.25% recharge bonus.

You've got Farsight recharging in 73 seconds with a duration of 120 seconds. That Red Fortune can certainly give you another slot to play with. Taking it out still easily keeps Farsight perma. Similarly the LOTG end/rch can be swapped to either of the other 2 pieces of LOTG to provide more def and still easily be perma.

I don't see any kb protection. I assume the empty slot in Super Speed is for a BotZ. If not, well, there you go.

Nit pick - Bruce moved to Italy, not Paris.

Personally I thought this was the best of the series. Bane was weak but looping back to R'as and Talia made up for it. A second theater viewing is inevitable.

Freezing Rain every day and twice on Sundays. It's one of the great powers in the game.

I'm not going to do the number crunching to see how a +dmg buff that lasts for 10 seconds out of however many seconds to recharge, versus a -res debuff that's perma and can stack. For one person maybe it's close but I'm sure Sleet wins in the end. Add a teammate... or a 2nd, or a 24th, and Sleet pulls so far ahead it becomes silly to choose BU.

Eureka was one of those that was on my DVR season pass. I shan't mourn its passing but I'll miss it. Something light and breezy with a fun cast, I especially enjoyed the addition of Wil Wheaton. I hope this is a springboard to more work for him.

Spoiler:

Baltar's accent always annoyed me. He's a fine actor and I'm sure he can do a middle American accent just fine, but when he spoke it always sounded like he was trying to sound like a man from the 40s, not from any geographical region. Just nit-picking, not nerd-raging.

If all you intend to do is 12-24 member trials, then TS would get lost amongst all the various buffs. If you intend to do anything else, 8 member tfs both at 50 and below, then it's a quite helpful power and not just for regen for a tank. If you're at a high recharge level you can easily have it on 3 members and a 4th with some effort.

While I would rank it 9th out of Time's 9 powers, that doesn't make it skippable, Time has 9 very good powers and every Time toon I've made (4 50s) has taken all 9. Still, if you absolutely have to cut something from Time because some pool power will make you that much more effective, then so be it.

Updated.

Let me start with your questions

1) As for a major hole in the build, I think obtaining a shield from epics is a missed opportunity. A Sonic/ Defender has some options to create a super sturdy build. Some opt to get Scorpion Shield for s/l Def, I personally like to add up resists with a res shield. My Sonic/Sonic took Psychic Mastery to pick up some psi resists, to add to some psi resist and def bonuses to help cover that hole. Another potential miss is either the Miracle or Numina proc in Health. Sonic is not endurance friendly, so either of these will be a welcome addition.

2) Ugh, I need to rework my Sonic/Sonic (as well as 3/4 of my def/corr/blasters) to include the nuke. Sonic Attack's nuke is especially nice.

3) Looking at your build, I see Siren's Song as the most tempting target. I'll probably get rid of SS as well. Its old appeal - to mule a cheap purple, is no longer as true with the relative flattening of purple prices. If you intend to solo you may want to keep it since it's worth it's weight in gold solo.

4) I'd definitely use enh boosters for Disruption Field and Assault.

5) Your observations are right about Sonic Siphon. I save it only for foes that are going to last a long time. -Res follows normal purple patch rules, so higher level enemies will get those modifiers. Someone will say that an enemy's damage resistance resists resistance debuffs. While that's technically true, the bottom line is, if you apply a 30% resistance debuff to an even level foe, they will take 30% more damage than they would have without the debuff. For more info: http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Damage_Resistance

On to 2nd set of questions.

I wouldn't sweat putting +5 enh boosters in Barrier. I see 27.4% resists there anyway. Good enough for an ally shield.

Definitely those slots in Hover would do you much more good in Maneuvers. You'll get more defense, better endurance overall. Easy choice here.

I'd make moving slots from Stamina a last resort. As previously mentioned, endurance is a chore.

Screech has other uses, such as having a long duration for the -res effect. It's a key part of your range def bonus so I'd be hesitant to say drop it.

Yes, catalysts drop during trials.

I do want to note that Shockwave copied over into Mids for me as unslotted. So I'm not sure what you're slotting into it. I'm going to guess the Overwhelming Force proc, which should breathe new life into this particular power.

Miscellaneous notes:

I think the Def Bastion proc may be better in Howl, as I believe the proc can fire off each target hit. Of course Ragnarok kd proc is nice there too. Either should be fine actually.

Unless you're pvping, since you already have Tactics I don't think the +perecption proc in Amplify will do anything against pve mobs. A recharge would be fine.

There have been discussions about Sonic/Sonic over the last couple of months. Those threads should be easy to find in this forum. Reading those may be helpful as well.

Datalink isn't working. Can you post the chunk perhaps?

Here's the cumulative results thus far for 164 samples:

You have reason to believe it has a less than 1 in 6 chance of being rewarded? If so what is your analysis to come to that conclusion?

I'm just putting this out there as data, nothing more. I've got 35 of these items (that I can find, I may have done a couple the first day or on toons I forgot about) so I'd expect 5.83333 of each, if they follow a uniform distribution (I should run 1 more to get an even 6). Here's what I've gotten:

Acc/Dmg 7
Acc/Dmg/End 8
Acc/Dmg/End/Rch 6
Dmg/Proc 4
Dmg/End/Rch 8
End/Rch 4

I found a t-test calculator online which confirms what common sense was telling me, that there's no reason to think the proc drops < 1/6 of the time. I'm just not having "good" luck. Not that's it's bad luck, just not good.

If anyone else has their drop data easily accessible, I think it would be interesting to see, just for science and stuff.

ETA: I'm going to keep updating this as I go.

I have to say, based on continued play and updates below, it's starting to "feel" like the proc drops < 1/6 of the time

I look forward to the adventures we will share together...

Here's the odds for what I'll bring:

Thermal Def - 60%
Storm Corr - 20%
Mental Blaster - 10%
Dark Blaster - 10%

Now that I think about it, I got 2.5 different characters to 50 with the Time team, so I'll likely roll a support toon and blaster.

One thing I'd consider for any /Sonic now, old or new, is putting the Overwhelming Force kb2kd proc in Shockwave, which will give you a legit 2nd aoe with the added bonus of providing some pretty sweet mitigation with aoe kd every 4ish seconds. I'd take it over Siren's Song and use Ragnarok for the same bonuses.

This is a "season to taste" point, but I'd put a stealth io into sprint and put the Kismet unique in Hover. This would enable you to move faster while pve invisible.

Yet another "season to taste", the Winter's Gift slow resist is a wonder for Cold. AF has 60% resist to slow and -rch, so the io would give a total of 80. Personally I always find a spot for this for any Cold of mine. Maybe steal the Heal out of Health.

I finally got around to slotting this. I put it in a Rad/Fire blaster I use for light farming (+1/8). Now this blaster is close to my best controller/dom for mob control. Crazy. The recharge of course isn't as friendly as for Fire Control.Bonfire, so I can't juggle multiple spawns, but I play in complete safety for 45 seconds at a time.

I'll be the next one to say something's gotta give for this. Hopefully the fix won't have collateral damage. The proc, outside of Bonfire, is as advertised and is "game improving" not "game breaking".

I'm sure they would take the Overwhelming Force set, being damage powers, but those do kd (.67 mag) so not really for this list.

I also vote for scrapping prior poll and including Water Blast. Is there an eta for Nature Affinity? Even if not, I'd like to vote on Water Blast and if Nature is out by the time we start, I can pair WB with it, were WB to win.

I agree with Local's sentiments that Earthquake is a very handy tool in an Earth troller's kit. Same with Quicksand, and further, I think ID is a power you're very glad to have when you need it. Assault stands out as something to be replaced with Earthquake, even with just the 1 slot, or even Quicksand if you don't want to reorder power selection. Given that, I'm going to focus on revising the build posted, keeping the OP's stated goals in mind...

I think you're going to not enjoy the +kb proc in Stupefy, especially since you have it in 2 aoes.

I'd move the ATO into Stalagmites and use the usual 4 Basilisks Gaze + 2 purple procs in Fossilize. I assume this is a "money is no object" build, so let's put Ragnarok in Fissure. Now to get back the ranged def - use Lockdown in Volcanic Gasses and Mako's in Seismic Smash. Boom - 46.3% ranged def. I stole a slot from Earth's Embrace, which I didn't think was catastrophic given that it's still perma and puts you over the HP cap.

Some changes I'd consider, but didn't incorporate in the below build, I'd probably go for the +regen and +hp bonuses in LOTG rather than splitting up your defense powers with an LOTG and GotA. I say this because I don't think the recovery bonus is all that critical when Transference is up every 8 seconds. Maybe 2 LOTG + Cytoskeleton, since the +HP 3rd bonus is wasted when you're at the HP cap.

So the build below has the same powers, though I did swap out Assault for Quicksand (EQ wasn't available at that level), with the modifications discussed:


Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.957
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Rize of the Earth: Level 50 Natural Controller
Primary Power Set: Earth Control
Secondary Power Set: Kinetics
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leaping
Ancillary Pool: Stone Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Fossilize -- BasGaze-Acc/Hold(A), BasGaze-Acc/Rchg(7), BasGaze-Rchg/Hold(9), BasGaze-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(9), Apoc-Dam%(11), UbrkCons-Dam%(11)
Level 1: Transfusion -- Dct'dW-Heal(A), Dct'dW-Rchg(13), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(13), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(15), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx(15)
Level 2: Stone Cages -- TotHntr-Dam%(A), TotHntr-Acc/Immob/Rchg(3), TotHntr-Immob/Acc(3), TotHntr-Acc/EndRdx(5), TotHntr-EndRdx/Immob(5), TotHntr-Acc/Rchg(7)
Level 4: Siphon Power -- Acc-I(A)
Level 6: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(17)
Level 8: Maneuvers -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), GftotA-Def/EndRdx(43), GftotA-Def(46)
Level 10: Siphon Speed -- Acc-I(A)
Level 12: Stalagmites -- SWotController-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear(A), SWotController-Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/Rchg(17), SWotController-EndRdx/Rchg(19), SWotController-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/EndRdx(19), SWotController-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/EndRdx/Rchg(21), SWotController-Rchg/Dmg%(21)
Level 14: Quicksand -- ImpSwft-Dam%(A)
Level 16: Tactics -- GSFC-Build%(A), GSFC-ToHit/EndRdx(23), GSFC-Rchg/EndRdx(23), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(25), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg(25), GSFC-ToHit(27)
Level 18: Super Speed -- Zephyr-ResKB(A), Zephyr-Travel(37)
Level 20: Speed Boost -- Efficacy-EndMod/EndRdx(A), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc(33), Efficacy-Acc/Rchg(34), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(34), Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg(39), Efficacy-EndMod(40)
Level 22: Boxing -- Dsrnt-I(A)
Level 24: Tough -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), S'fstPrt-ResDam/EndRdx(27), GA-3defTpProc(29), GA-ResDam(29)
Level 26: Volcanic Gasses -- Lock-Acc/Hold(A), Lock-Acc/Rchg(31), Lock-Rchg/Hold(33), Lock-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(33), Lock-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(34), Lock-%Hold(36)
Level 28: Weave -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), GftotA-Def/EndRdx(43), GftotA-Def(45)
Level 30: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), GftotA-Def/EndRdx(46), GftotA-Def(46)
Level 32: Animate Stone -- BldM'dt-Acc/Dmg(A), BldM'dt-Dmg/EndRdx(36), BldM'dt-Acc(36), BldM'dt-Dmg(37), BldM'dt-Acc/EndRdx(40), BldM'dt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(40)
Level 35: Transference -- Efficacy-Acc/Rchg(A), Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg(37), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(39), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc(39)
Level 38: Fulcrum Shift -- Acc-I(A)
Level 41: Fissure -- Ragnrk-Dmg(A), Ragnrk-Dmg/Rchg(42), Ragnrk-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42), Ragnrk-Acc/Rchg(42), Ragnrk-Dmg/EndRdx(43)
Level 44: Rock Armor -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), GftotA-Def/EndRdx(45), GftotA-Def(45)
Level 47: Seismic Smash -- Mako-Acc/Dmg(A), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx(48), Mako-Dmg/Rchg(48), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(48), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(50), Mako-Dam%(50)
Level 49: Earth's Embrace -- Panac-Heal/Rchg(A), Panac-Heal(50)
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Containment
Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- P'Shift-End%(A), Efficacy-EndMod(31), Efficacy-EndMod/EndRdx(31)
Level 50: Agility Core Paragon
Level 50: Spectral Core Flawless Interface
Level 50: Control Core Embodiment
Level 50: Barrier Radial Epiphany
Level 50: Cimeroran Radial Superior Ally
Level 50: Ion Radial Final Judgement
------------

I hated this forum when it was created and made my thoughts heard at the time.

I've tried to have an open mind to see if it did have some benefits I didn't see in the beginning.

Still, today I hate this forum. It was created to solve a problem that didn't exist and still doesn't.

I largely ignore the goings on in this forum, unless something randomly happens to catch my eye from the higher level A&P forum, like this thread did. Given that so many posts are of the "help me build a ss/fire brute farmer" (or whatever farmer) rarely does that happen.

I only post builds that I'm seeking feedback for in the relevant AT subforum.

In this thread, I'd like to make a full(ish) inventory of the best places to use the new proc. I have selfish reasons, that I want to make sure I haven't overlooked any good uses for it. I've slotted it once and found it to be a noticable improvement for the Assault Bot in Robotics. Now enemies stew in the burn patches in stead of flying out of them. I'd like to focus on kb powers, not the proc's other bonus, to add a chance to kd to damaging powers with no kb of any mag.

There's a heckuva lot of talk about how much of an improvement it is for Tornado and of course Bonfire has seemingly been transformed from a skippable, at best situational power to instantly allow +4/8 soloing as soon as the proc is slotted.

What else is there?

There are the 2 Shockwaves, from Sonic Attack and Claws. This proc will allow Sonic Attack to have a legit second aoe, with the same range and arc as Howl. Now my Claws Stalker will actually have an aoe to use on teams.

Explosive Arrow - Archery's other aoe.

AR has a few candidates, but it seems like the best would be M30 Grenade (also a personal attack from Mercs), which has a high mag aoe kb.

One might think that Dark Blast's Torrent would be a good spot, but it's still low damage and Dark has good aoe otherwise. On the other hand, it would provide another means of control to a blast set already rich with control.

Dual Pistols has some options, but I wouldn't bother since you can turn off the kb at will anyway.

Energy Blast is rich with kb, but I'd go for Explosive Blast, the aoe.

Psychic Blast has Telekinetic Blast. Personally I wouldn't bother slotting it here, I actually don't mind having a single target gtfo power like this.

Rad's Electron Blast. I've never thought of this as a creator of "problem" kb, but if you want none at all, here you go.

Device's and Traps Trip Mine. Also Time Bomb, if you're one of the few that take this.

Energy Manipulation's Power Thrust. I wouldn't slot this here as I've always viewed this only as a gtfo power.

Thunder Strike - From Electrical Manipulation and Electric Mastery (defs and corrs): an enthusiastic YES! From Electric Melee and Charge Mastery (MMs): No (mag <1 already).

Telekinetic Thrust from Mental Manipulation and Psionic Assault. Very high mag. I wouldn't use the proc here for the same reason as Power Thrust or TK Blast.

Repulsing Torrent from Kinetic Melee. I might come to find KM appealing with a legit 2nd aoe. Probably not.

Hurl from Super Strength and Hurl Boulder from Stone Melee. Still long animating powers, but proc helps.

Disruptor Blast, Mace Beam Volley and Mace Beam from Mace Mastery for basically all ATs except corrs/defs/khelds. Personally I've always eliminated Mace from consideration when looking for an epic aoe, but now I can consider it. And still most likely not choose it.

Storm's Gale but the consensus seems to be that Tornado is much better.

Phantasm maybe? Solo I've never considered his kb too much of a concern, but teams can get annoyed.

Force Bolt from Force Field? Not for me, as I do value the ability to kb a mob at times, but there do exists some of you that say "no kb, none of the time"

Khelds are so full of kb I don't even know where to start with them. I've heard Solar Flare is a good spot for PBs. I haven't heard for shades, maybe Dark Detonation?

Frag Grenade for Soldiers, Banes have a few Mace attacks, including 2 aoes, that do kb. I'm not sure which would be the "best".

What else is a good candidate for the kb2kd proc?

Periodically I see threads about the relative value of the Defender vs the Corruptor, Controller and even Mastermind ATs for end game. I have no intention of getting into that now, rather I just want to testify for the primacy of the Defender in the Blockbuster event. I've done dozens of these holiday trials since it was released. The best runs (where "best" is defined by speed and safety) invariably involved one of my Defenders. Many of the buff/debuff sets have game changing powers at T8 and/or T9 that the other ATs don't have access to. From my own stable of characters, for a couple of comparisons, I've got a fire/kin corr and kin/sonic def; the corr has the better (that is, more expensive) build and I'd expect that on a small team the corr would perform better but Fulcrum Shift and Transference make a world of difference. Even a Kin/Rad of mine that has about 3 set bonuses total was more of a force than the well purpled Corr. Similarly I've got an Earth/Cold troller that has a better build than my Cold/Ice def but the fender can throw out Sleet and Heat Loss, giving it a significant edge.

Sure, Rad and Force Field don't have T8/T9s that are game changers, but I'd say everyone else does, even Traps can make good use of Trip Mine with the brief lulls between fights.

So bring your fenders out to Blockbuster and be a star!