Ice Control/Storm Summoning
A very popular combination of powers not only because they synergize well but they fit thematically. The Ice Control/Storm Summoning Controller is a very team oriented controller, you have very good control options that will make your foes cry. Post ED soft control has become even more powerful and these sets are loaded with it. While its possible to solo there are more direct rewards in other sets.
At first you may think that there may be too much redundancy within these sets but the added slow and recharge stack. Its hard to gauge how much difference the recharge or -slow bring to the table but it does make a huge difference in damage mitigation. The goal of course is to hit the slow and recharge caps which you will do so effortlessly.
I will not go into the Ice Control primary because Frost has a wonderful guide that goes through it with great detail.
Frost's Ice Control Guide
I want to focus on the Storm secondary and how it synergizes with Ice Control. I am using the same format as Frost does as it applies to the secondary. I also included suggestions within the powers for tactics. I wrote this guide from a PvE standpoint, it does not cover PvP. There are different playstyles and slotting, below are my experiences and suggestions.
Ice Control/Storm Summoning Synergy
The Storm Summoning secondary is loaded with soft control and some damage which it adds and overlaps with Ice Controls power of -slow and -recharge. While there is some redundancy, it does synergize well and offers extra soft control when needed for tough fights. Furthermore the storm secondary adds extra damage for soloing, which makes up for Jack Frosts moderate damage via Freezing Rain, Tornado and Lightning Storm, which doesnt blossom until level 36+.
An interesting aspect is that you can harness all of the storm powers which Defenders have a tough time doing. One area that may be positive or negative depending on who you ask is that this combination will not make you a buffer or healer. It is especially a good departure from playing a buffing set.
Ice/Storm Controllers work well with all ATs, even ones with knockback, however they bring extra tools to the table when protecting ranged ATs.
Early in your career your playstyle will be somewhat static but by high levels moving around while your foes are in slow motion will more resemble what these sets are about. This set requires a lot of endurance and besides your main control combo it blossoms late if you want to solo effectively.
Synergy with Jack Frost
Frosts guide has more detailed information about getting Jack into melee. Storm Summoning operates primarily at range and is not a buff set, getting Jack into melee may be a little difficult. Some of the time you may have to accept that he will operate more often at range than melee, but thats ok because you have Freezing Rain, Tornado and Lightning Storm!
On to the powers.
Gale (Ranged (Cone) Minor DAM (Smash), Foe Knockback)
Gale is the first ability in the storm set and you must take it. Gale does minor damage and will knock back foes. Can be used to protect ranged ATs and also blow foes back into walls.
Discussion
Not a very useful power. It has some fun factor early on, but with much bigger and better powers there is not much use to this. The damage is nonexistent. You can use this to knock foes back onto your Ice Slick or away from you but with a longish activation time its not that effective and there are better tools for that.
Slotting
1 Accuracy
This power really doesn't need much slotting. You have other priorities
O2 Boost (Ally Heal +Res(Disorient, Sleep, End Drain))
O2 boost is a single target heal with some status resistance to Sleep, Disorient. This is the only heal you get. Can be useful as a backup heal on a team and is useful to heal Jack.
Discussion
A mediocre heal, its only single target and doesnt affect you. Its strongest point however is the status resist that you can put on ATs with no Mez protection. O2 Boost is usable and will become a little better once you know what enemies you are fighting and what status effects they have.
Overall this is a somewhat skippable power, you may also consider getting the medicine pool to replace this.
IMO if you team a lot then this is a good backup heal but you will never be a healer, which can be a good thing.
Slotting
3 Heal, 0-2 Endurance Reduction.
I would recommend 3 slotting heal and adding some endurance reduction because its a little endurance heavy. O2 Boost has good recharge and range so adding those isnt necessary.
Snowstorm (Ranged (Targeted AoE) Foe -Speed, -Recharge)
Snowstorm is a targeted AoE toggle that reduces the foes speed and recharge. Very useful for extra damage mitigation or filling in the control gaps in tough fights.
Discussion
Low Levels - Snowstorm starts out as a very good ability because you dont have many control options. The endurance is heavy but the anchor getting killed or turning it off when you are over the hump of the battle is also useful.
Mid Levels - It loses some of its luster at middle levels because you have other controls to fill in the gaps. During normal fights the mobs are usually mezzed for most of it and groups usually defeat them too fast for snowstorm to be too effective.
High Levels - Snowstorm once again becomes a great tool due to being very useful against AV's and in long tough fights. On top of all your slows and recharge, this helps bring AVs to a crawl. It will also take the edge off adds or tough fights vs purples.
The drawbacks are that it uses much endurance so you may have to turn it on and off pre stamina. Snowstorm also has all the usual issues related to anchors.
Snow Storm, Arctic Air or Shiver?
These are the powers that have the most redundancy in this combination. IMO you dont need all three, your foes will hit the slow and recharge caps easily, pick two. If you stay at range then you may opt for Shiver, if you play in melee then Arctic Air may work better. If you have the medicine pool then using Arctic Air is less dangerous.
Slotting
1-2 Endurance Reduction, Optionally 0-3 Slow
Snowstorm is an endurance hog, you may have to turn it on and off pre stamina of course someone may defeat the anchor. The default slow is pretty good and it will stack with all the other slow goodness you have. If you can afford extra slow slots at high levels they will come in handy against AVs.
Steamy Mist (Toggle: PBAoE, Team Stealth, +DEF, +Res(Fire, Cold, Energy, Confuse))
A self toggle that grants team stealth, minor defense and resistance. This power has many uses. Useful for positioning and starting fights, also great if you want to stealth missions, you can stack this with Super speed for invisibility. The resistance is noticeable but the defense is minor. You may want to consider delaying it until after stamina because its also an endurance hog.
Slotting
1-2 Endurance Reduction, 3 Damage Resistance, 0-2 Defense Buff
Post Stamina and SOs you will be able to run this all the time. If you want to slot defense I would suggest doing so only if you have free slots because its a very small bonus.
Freezing Rain (Ranged (Location AoE), Minor DoT(Cold), Foe -Speed, -Recharge, -DEF Res)
This is the set defining power for Storm Summoning. Freezing Rain amplifies the damage of your team, makes it easier to hit your foes and adds more soft control in the form of slow, reduced recharge, chance of knockdown and foes will try to run away. Ice Control synergizes very well with Freezing Rain and can nullify the negative aspects of this power (Scatter).
Discussion
The major issue that defenders have with this power is the ability to keep the mobs in the rain, Ice Controllers have many tools to do this but the most notable one is Ice Slick.
Ice Slick + Freezing Rain: This is it, your AoE hold that will be available every fight and you get it at level 16(Try to take it at 16). You can alternate them if you choose to but together they are devastating. The added slow and knockdown further mitigate damage from your Ice Slick. Add in a Snow Storm, Shiver or Arctic Air and your foes will hate you but they will be too busy flopping around or trying to crawl out of your arctic zone. You can also cast Freezing Rain around corners just like Ice Slick for a nice one two punch. You can also liberally apply Freezing Rain on top of Glacier or Frostbite if the need arises.
Even though there is a damage component, it is so small that it has very little effect. This is a control/debuff power not a damage power.
Slotting
3 Recharge Reduction, 2-3 Defense Debuff, 0-1 Endurance Reduction
You may be tempted to slot for damage but its so minor that it is not worth it. You and your team will get more mileage out slotting recharge reduction and def debuffs. Start out with the recharges so it is available every time Ice Slick is ready. Fill in the defense debuffs when you have free slots.
Hurricane (Toggle: PBAoE, Foe -Range, -ACC, Repel, Knockback)
A self toggle that repels most foes from you and applies a tohit debuff.
Discussion
A powerful but tricky power that requires some practice to master. This can be the difference between success and defeat; it will furthermore drive your teammates nuts if used improperly. The acc is noticeable when slotted. There are quite a few ways to use this power and as an Ice Controller you have quite a few tactics to use. Hurricane will even repel foes if they are immobilized or held. Apply Frostbite if you want them to stay.
Tactics
Squishy Saver and the Impenetrable Hallway
With this on you can stand in the back and protect ranged ATs from melee. The scatter that occurs is not bad in these situations because control/aggro of the mobs has been lost. The graphic can be a little annoying for ranged attackers but not as much as that Freak Tank trying to bear down them. Another tactic is to stand in the middle of a hallway and block access to the mobs. Very useful if you want split the enemies up, or if they are trying to get past you towards the Blaster in the back.
Swirl Tactics and Crey Volleyball
Lets face it, the foes will get knocked off your slick more often that we would like. The best benefit of this power is the ability to knock foes back onto the Ice Slick even from your own Lightning Storm! You can simply run around your Ice Slick in a swirl (Superspeed really helps here) you can also use the swirl method to gather up foes or you can place a Lightning Storm on one end of your slick while you stand on the other side for fun playing Volleyball with your foes!
Kiss:
It takes a little practice but getting close to the enemies without repelling you can apply the debuff effect. If you want to make it easier then you can apply Frostbite for the knockback resistance. Remember that the knockback resistance is temporary and you will repel held or immobilized foes.
Wall Control:
You can corner foes in indoor settings to knock them up against a wall while applying the tohit debuff. Very effective tactic, which is something Storm Defenders should master, practice this a lot before you try this on a team because this power is the #1 reason Storm Defenders are hated on teams but you have other tools that are easier to use to lockdown foes.
Slotting
1-2 End Reduction, 2-3 toHitDebuff
Endurance usage as usual is the most notable problem, the tohit debuff is noticeable once slotted up but shouldnt be a priority over your primary powers.
Thunderclap (PBAoE Foe Disorient)
This is a MAG 1 disorient, which means it will only disorient minions. Thunderclap also requires you to be in melee. Its not a bad power per say because most groups consist of minions anyway, the extra mitigation could come in handy.
The problem is that you dont have another disorient to stack with it and being in melee could be dangerous especially without a self heal.
Thunderclap can be useful to fill in some control gaps if you feel like you need it but IMO its not that necessary.
Slotting
2 Acc, 2-3 Disorient, 1-2 Recharge
Accuracy and Disorient would make the most sense, fill in recharges if you have spare slots
Tornado (PBAoE Minor DAM (Smash), Foe Knockback, Fear, Disorient, Defense DeBuff) A swirling tornado of destruction that chases enemies around and tosses them in the air. Tornado has a disorient, defense debuff, fear as well as major knockback components.
Discussion
Tornado is difficult to use but you have the tools to harness this power. Dont let the minor damage listing fool you, this ability does its fair share of damage. The damage is applied like a very fast acting DoT. The PBAoE is small but if effective against clustered foes. The disorient and fear components are difficult to notice. This power takes a particular playstyle in mind and is skippable if its not to your liking.
Tactics
Frostbite(Glacier) + Tornado + Freezing Rain
Ice Control has a few powers with kb but the easiest one to implement is Frostbite which has a 10 second kb in it. The Tornado will rip through foes with this tactic especially if you add Freezing Rain to the mix. Remember to reapply Frostbite because the Tornado will last longer than 10 seconds. You can also begin the fight by using Glacier, however it wont be available every fight.
The problems with Tornado are that it switches targets quite often and that its not a great ability to start a fight unless you start with Glacier, the return fire from Frostbite will hurt. On a team setting its not that great both because IMO you should be controlling first and second the return fire from Frostbite will get you killed. If you start a fight with Ice Slick then you know that following up with Frostbite + Tornado is not a good idea. That said Tornado is a very good ability if you solo with any frequency.
Tornado
.Solo
Tornado by itself is very good to put on an AV, it wont toss them around, will do good damage and add in some defense debuff. Furthermore it likes to stick to AVs and usually wont go after minions.
The only other situation that I would consider dropping a Tornado without Frostbite is if the team is about to wipe it may give you some time to get away.
Slotting
1 Accuracy, 3 Damage, 0-2 Recharge Reduction, 0-2 Defense Debuff, 0-2 Endurance Reduction
This power works best as a damage power, the other effects add up but are difficult to gauge their effectiveness, slot at least an accuracy and some damage, fill in the rest to your liking.
Lightning Storm (
Ranged DAM High (Energy), Foe -End) You summon a stationary cloud that primarily deals damage and knockback. Has some minor endurance drain too. The AoE radius is small it usually hits 2-3 foes.
Discussion
A very good power that does AoE damage when foes are clustered. This power is great because its another source of damage that does not need to be managed. It gets even better with Freezing Rain.
Can be used in hallways, doorways or to position around the backline to keep people off ranged ATs. Can be used on one side of the Ice Slick while you stand on the other with Hurricane (See Hurricane notes) or Gale.
Slotting
3 Damage, 0-1 End Reduction, 0-3 Recharge
Damage is the priority, fill in gaps as you see fit. Lightning Storm has large accuracy bonus so the Acc is not required. The endurance drain is minor and not worth slotting.
