DrGemini

This. The force of so many bodies supported by an array of good secondaries makes for some very nasty results.

We were able to run an MO Lambda with no trouble whatsoever. The only time Marauder's HP didn't go down was the 60 seconds or so he had Unstoppable running. The mass of pets kept extra mobs at bay. And, our bodyguard mode made his Nova Fist tickle. That, and we had a great variety of incarnate abilities.

Well, at this point I think it is a little hard to isolate because my henchmen do a lot of damage between their slotting and my buffs/debuffs.

But, it did seem to me that their attack chain was going off faster compared with what I had slotted in them. And, they were putting out higher numbers.

I don't expect this to be the result. But, perhaps there is a "bug" or "exploit" that this new set takes advantage of that wasn't noticeable until now because the pet damage sets didn't offer recharge enhancement?

I will make a point of testing it against my old slotting and see if it is true.

As a side note, I would be more in favor of certain bonuses showing up in MM sets IF those bonuses applied to our henchmen (like the damage bonuses).

Well, I did not really want to be the one to be responsible for running additional raids. I want to be able to play other parts of the game too! But, it seems that @mojo jojo is not following through on his end of things. So, I am going to step up and get the wheels turning until someone else can take over and keep it going.

I fail to understand why people continue to try and borrow terms from other games and apply them to a game that is definitely not the same. Yes, CoX is an MMO and there are some general similarities. But, there is one big difference...

We are called "SUPER" heroes and/or villains. We are not magi. We are not bound by the same rules that govern all other MMOs. Therefore, it would stand to reason that, while each AT is designed to function along a certain role, all ATs can do amazing things that often cross paths with what other ATs do. Yes, each AT has an area (or role) which they fill best. But, no team or player is stuck in the holy trio that other games put you in.

On the other hand, I have run across people who seem totally oblivious or unwilling to recognize that there are specific roles that need to be filled on a team. And, because of that ignorance or unwillingness, the team is made to suffer when they shouldn't. So, in that sense, there are extremes on both sides.

But, over all, if people stopped trying so hard to compare us with other, more trio-strict games, then they might stop trying to ask the developers to give them things they shouldn't have.

Oh, and if you want an AT with Blasts in the primary and defenses secondary... We have those in the form of VEATs, Corruptors (to some extent), and Kheldians.

I think people would go for Moonbeam more if its damage was higher. But, I have noticed that one advantage to Moonbeam (as is) is that it is a very good power with which to execute pulling. However, in the current environment where pulling is much less needed, I think Moonbeam could use some attention.

Also, Dark powers seem to be heavily invested in Cones and Damage-Over-Time. As much as a PBAoE might be useful, I would think it would be better to replace those PBAoEs with more cones. This would go together with the rest of both sets better and better promote the whole "hovering controller/dominator" concept some people see with Darkness Control.

Eh, I suppose it isn't exclusive to this experience. I just sometimes get so used to seeing a variety on the live servers. So, when I am part of a team of 8 dark/* controllers/dominators, it seems pretty amazing.

Still, my experience (after currently 22 levels) with a variety of situations (yes, not everyone I ran into was running the new stuff) suggests that Dark Control will be a great addition to the primaries available to us.

For those wanting some details on the powers and what they do, here is a little summary of what I have seen so far...

The first 3 powers in the set are your standard Immobilize, Hold, and a Cone Immobilize which uses the animation for Tenebrous Tentacles. However, I do believe the mass immob power does have better range than Tenebrous does. And, it has been noted by some that the DoT component does seem to have better numbers than Fire Control. That would probably have to be tested side-by-side. Also, if you factor in the -Resist patch from Dark Affinity, you can use your Cone Immob to do some pretty good damage even at low levels. Oh, and the animation on the cone immob is pretty cool!

At level 4, you get a nifty single target Confuse called "Possess." It has a base 8-second recharge and has a cool animation. It did seem like the Confuse was not causing any significant loss of XP per kill. As you can imagine, running the DFB and the new trial, this power was pretty handy against the bosses and AVs.

Next comes Fearsome Stare. Standard cone-range fear. In my opinion, Dark Control can probably take advantage of this better than others due to the ability to keep cycling it in with other AoE controls. Due to Fear having that -Tohit component, it really stacks with the debuff in Dark Control meaning the mobs don't hit you much to begin with.

At level 8? 10? you get Heart of Darkness which is a PBAoE stun with a small DoT to it. The concensus does seem to be that this power could use some adjustment in the cast time. It uses the "Blackstar" animation with some cool swirly effects around the mobs. I could see this being a power you might skip if you don't plan on being in melee a lot.

Level 18 gives you access to Haunt. You target 1 mob for this power. It summons 2 flying Shades which will assault your target. If the target dies before the shades disappear, they will then spread out (or follow you) and attack other enemies for as long as they remain. The base recharge on this is 3.30. Haven't been able to adequately time how long they stay out, but the duration does seem long enough to help you with at least one full mob. If you are moving at a good pace, you might get 2 groups out of them. I suspect this power can be made permanent. The shades can be targetted for buffs/healing.

Okay. Beyond 18, I don't have any experience with the rest of the set. But, the 2 other powers in the set are a location hold patch and an Umbral Beast (uses a wolf body). Perhaps someone else farther ahead of me in the testing can give information on those.

Anyways, over all it seems a good set. No telling what (if any) changes the devs might make to it before the final release.