EricHough
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Quote:Good point on the epic - I tend to not take them into account because I get bored with characters by the high 30's, if I even get them that far. I also try to pick characters that maintain about the same playability level all along their career, so waiting until 40+ for extra AE or until I can slot a ton of +rech sets is not something I plan on.Originally Posted by Miladys_Knight
With enough +rech you can seemlessly chain Howl/Shockwave/Sirens/and Shiver. It's not a high damage AoE chain but it is an insanely safe one (for a blaster anyway). The electric Epic fills all the bills though, as it gives you an extra cone, an extra Hold, and the ability to stack a mag 6 AoE stun with EM Pulse and Dreadful Wail.
I went with a sonic/mm on one of my blasters because I was trying to find a primary that could leverage drain psyche a little more safely, approaching it from the other direction. Still haven't figured out how well that will work - got distracted in the low 20's.
I do agree that cold is probably the safest soloing secondary, although I would tend to award it a tie with devices - I think devices is little safer but the extra damage from build up makes up for a lot. -
While sonic/energy may be able to stack stuns thats only going to take out a single target and will require 2 hits to do it, niether very fast attacks (1.5s for screech and either 1.8 seconds for stun or 3.3 seconds for total focus). So yes, if you are willing to get into melee range of a boss for at least 1.8 seconds (doing NO damage) or 3.3 seconds for TF you can stack stuns. There is very little other mitigation in /energy.
Ice on the other hand is just purely defensive. Ice patch is awesome for keeping things out of melee - put it up just before the fight (for a very nice 22% defiance boost) and attack from behind it. Shiver is an incredibly large cone slow that floors an enemies movement speed, reduces their recharge considerably and is up every fight with no slotting. Chilling embrace is a nice melee slow field, although I find it get's toggled off way to often, so YMMV.
If you are looking for a purely defensive secondary I would suggest ice. However, mental manipulation will fill in the AE holes in sonic nicely with psychic scream and being able to sleep a group with siren's makes using drain psyche easy, a problem I had when I tried a fire/mental (I would go in to use drain psyche - then die from the alpha+beta strike due to losing the extra 'edge' you get from opening with an attack before aggro). While not as defensive being able to leverage Drain psyche for the regen in it gives you a huge boost, even without the extra end recovery you get from it.
So, if you want to be very defensive take ice - if you want to fill in the AE gap and live a little more on the edge, go with mental manipulation. Both will probably work well solo. -
Quote:Originally Posted by Profanation
I like a lot of the points that have been raised in this thread. I, too, have found it tough to stick with leveling my VEATS, and my highest one is a 29 nw. I really have not known why, I just lose interest in them quickly. I am not sure it for the same reasons expressed by the OP, but I find myself struggling to stick with one for any length of time.
Given that most people in the thread have highlighted "freedom to choose" (through respecs, dual builds, etc.) as a positive point of the game in general, I would advance the following suggestion: widen the range of levels that one could branch. Branching could open as an option as earlier as level 10 with a forced branch (and respec) if you have not done one already at lvl 24. Meaning, you can begin building your toon with branch powers as early as lvl 10, but if you get to lvl 24 and have not selected a branch, you would be forced to at that point, along with the forced respec. I would go one step farther to say that you could run a story arc at 42 to win the right to re-assign your branch, but other than that, branches are not respec-able normally, just like a standard AT primary or secondary.
While I like the idea of giving the option of 'branching' a little earlier than L24 the later options you list will actually make things more restrictive than they are now as doing a normal respec on a VEAT allows you to choose a different branch than you did initially. If the goal is offering more options, your suggestion looks like it does but all it really does it lock you into one branch except at 24 and at 42. -
Quote:Originally Posted by Socorro
Very true, but for completeness' sake I do wish another completely different Epic AT was availaible on each side to compliment what's already there. On the Red Side, it's easy: Khelds should be available as villains. I've run into too many Nova and Dwarf bosses trying to slap my hero down to believe that all Khelds are good guys
For Blueside: Longbow should be available as a near Mirror Image of the SoAs. Somewhat different powersets and looks (can't have those Arachnos backpacks, now can we...) but basically starting off very soldiery (guns, weapons, and such) before diverting into niche areas. Many people don't like how Longbow uniforms look... Well, other the the red and white colorations, they can actually look pretty cool. Like SoAs, you can be stuck with a uniform at first, but can color it as you see fit.
Vanguard can't really be a new AT at this point. Everyone can already join them and get their uniforms. Vanguard NPCs do have some nifty powers/looks that aren't available to PCs however, so some Epic Pools (perhaps requiring vanguard merits) that emulate these would be cool.
The only problem I see here is that the dev's have been pretty regular about creating things that work for both sides equally. While your suggestion gives something to both sides, on the villain side it isn't 'new', which will leave some players unhappy and on the hero side it represents a lot of new dev work that doesn't benefit both sides. As much as I like your suggestions I suspect that any new epic archetypes, if there are any, will be a general one (or two) that can be played by either side - maybe something introduced after Going Rogue that is specific to Praetorian earth. -
Quote:The problem is that it's difficult to get a personal supergroup going on one account. Not creating the supergroup but inviting your other characters into it since you cannot do offline invites to SG's. So just to get to this point you have to trust someone, just like you do currently for inf transfers, or you have to get a second account, which solves the inf transfer problem as well.Originally Posted by ShadowsBetween
Actually, if all your Alts are in a personal Supergroup, it's fairly easy to (sort of) transfer INF and IO recipes. If you think outside the box a little. The key is the storage items in the Workshop.
To the OP - folks have been asking this question for years now. I don't know WHY the dev's make it so hard for sure, although you can guess that they are trying to sell extra accounts (I don't know if I believe this is the reason but its the only really valid one I can think up). Folks will throw out all kinds of RP reasons as to why inf tranfers shouldn't work but that is basically bullsh*t - any RP reasons that let you spend influence in the first place or transfer it to someone else's character tend to counter the RP reasons for not allowing offline transfers between characters on your own account.
If you CAN get a personal supergroup started and all your characters invited into it, Shadows suggestions are good. The safest way is to get the SG started and then before you actually do anything in the SG add a friend from the game to the group (or a friendly stranger) and get them to invite in all your active characters. That way it doesn't matter if the outside char tries to loot your base or whatever, since there is not going to be anything there. After that the only trick is adding new characters to the SG.
While I personally would cheer if the started allowing offline SG invites or offline inf tranfers (or a personal 'bank' account that all charaters can access, like EQ2 does) I am an alt-o-holic who has 2 accounts and plays on a couple different servers so I solved the problem the expensive way, except that I would have wanted the two accounts anyways. I DO have a personal SG just like Shadow suggested and it is awewome for IO and salvage storage, plus I have teleporters to pretty much all the zones. -
Quote:Originally Posted by Justice Blues
But it is very irritating, you have to go talk to him, to get any farther with the contact that sent you, but as soon as you do talk to him, his arc is open and you either put up with him on your list or run the missions.Quote:Originally Posted by DarkEther
His arc starting without you having to ask about missions is annoying. Worse is Mercedes Sheldon in the Midnight Club, who's arc appeared without even ever talking to her, even to say "leave me alone".It used to be that as soon as a contact with an 'active' arc (i.e - one that gave you the story arc immediately, rather than force you to take non-arc missions first) was added to your list it would show up with the arc active. They DID change this, sometime after Mercedes Sheldon was first introduced, although I don't remember exactly when they fixed it. So if story arcs are showing up as started as soon as a contact adds to your list (like sheldon or any of the unlockable ones villainside) I would bug it.Quote:Originally Posted by NekoNeko
Yes, I've been kvetching about this for years.
At least now it seems this has been fixed for major story arcs. I believe you actually have to take the first mission now to get the book icon on major story arcs, but I haven't done any extensive testing to see if this is true. But yes, it is still a problem on the minor story arcs, but at least it's a little less of a hassle since you can have unlimited minor arcs open at once (at least I think it's unlimited).
As for getting the arcs when you talk to them - I have found that if you talk to the contact but don't actually ask about available missions, you generally will not activate the story arc. So for the contacts that you where given 'talk to' missions, click on them, bring up their dialog and then exit immediately without asking them anything, although it might be safe to buy insp's from them. -
Quote:Interesting, I don't think I have ever failed this one. On my archery/dev blaster and illusion/rad controller I just stealthed it, on my dm/sr scrapper I just ignored the mobs and clicked all the glowies and on my db/wp scrapper I also basically ignored the mobs unless they where near a glowie and only killed them when I had no other choice. I did almost fail it on my db/wp, but only because I went past one glowie without realizing it and had to go back. I think I had like 20 seconds left on that one.Originally Posted by IanTheM1
Tina McIntyre, stop the Lab Raid or something like that. Not Malta, Anti-Matter Clockwork. That's the only mission in the entire game that's meant to be failed. FWIW, you get an SO for completing it, as I recall.
I think the OP definitely has a point though - based on other feedback it sounds like the mission he failed has badly designed objectives, as it sounds like the mission makes you think you need to save the generators but you can't save them yourself, just not trigger their destruction. -
Quote:That's not accuracy that's screwed up, its the random number generator which has a high tendency to result in streaks of similar numbers. That's the reason that streak breaker code exists but I tend to agree with you that even with the streak breaker the RNG really needs to be re-worked.Originally Posted by Monkey_King
I swear, they really have nerfed accuracy. My scrapper is rocking a 95% accuracy rate, but the number of hit rolls I get over 95 is just ludicrous sometimes. Here's three angry smiley faces to show how serious I am about this
Back on topic, I'm getting more recipe drops than I ever did before. I hadn't even noticed that the drop rate was screwy, so it's been like Christmas for me the past few weeks.
What gets me is NOT my streaks of misses but when the RNG streaks positively for the bad guys - when my softcapped SR scrapper is hit 3 times in a row, you know the RNG is borked.
To the OP and P_P - as other folks have noted, one mission or even one night of playing does not always make statistically significant data. If you really believe that the drop rate is borked under any circumstances you need to gather the kind of data that the community used to prove the last drop bug to the devs. We are probably talking 5-6 digit kill numbers (10,000+) in order to get decent statistics. -
Quote:A proc in a damage toggle should check each mob in the area at 10 second intervals. So when you start it up it will check for each mob in the area, then every 10 seconds after that - it also has to hit the mob, so I suspect that means that it will only go off on the damage tick. If you can slot the same proc in an attack power that you use more often than 10 seconds, especially if its an AE attack power, you will get more possible activations. A single target power might break about even with a damage toggle depending on how many targets are in the damage toggle each time and how often you use the single target attack. For example, once you have reasonable recharge in it ripper would probably be a better choice for a proc then quills - spine burst, however, might not be unless you can get the recharge under 10 seconds.Originally Posted by Garuta
And exactly how often DO the procs go off? I'd like to know as I've been pondering the same thing.
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Quote:From a roleplay standpoint that makes sense - from a game mechanics standpoint however I find it extremely annoying, especially with the preponderance of lethal only sets (and many AT's that have almost NOTHING but lethal - like scrappers until recently).Originally Posted by Fleeting Whisper
Because lethal (and smashing) are easy to justify critters having resistance to; they're simple physical trauma, and just about any sort of armoring will afford some protection from that.
You could always go farm Carnies
Most PnP RPG's I have played that try to balance damage types make lethal more effective if you don't have armor - which justifies the reduced effectiveness against armor (I am thinking gurps here specifically) which has always felt reasonable to me. After all, there is a reason knives are considered deadly weapons more often than a club. If CoX lethal attacks did more damage or there was a reasonable balance of lethal vulnerable to lethal resistant enemies I would consider it ok - but throwing out a RP justification for what almost feels like a nerf doesn't work for me. -
I have to second fury flechette's suggestion - it's a lot cheaper to frankenslot attacks with set IO's than most people think as most of the main attack types have SO many sets that you will always find something cheap. The exception to this is Targetted AOE which only have 3 sets, one of which is rare (positron's blast) but few melee characters have powers that use these.
Also - with the slotting you proposed you are going to burn through end like crazy, even with stamina and QR. Having both is nice to balance your toggles and speed up general end recovery but real end use is in attacks and with no end reduction slotting you WILL notice it. The slotting FF suggested will buy you a lot in end use. -
Quote:The catch is you could say the same thing about willpower and stone melee, super strength (knockdown in just about every attack) or martial arts (dragon't tail does knockdown). Indeed, SM and SS do as much or more knockdown than dual blades. You could also say the same thing about dual blades and SR, which only has one click power just like WP.Originally Posted by BrandX
Dual Blades knockdown only helps Willpower's survival, giving WP time to regen. Not to mention, the only click power of WP is the tier 9. Having no powers to click, and instead just toggleing up and going, is very good for Dual Blades.
I specifically remember that dual blades came out because it was the the top set picked in a forum poll - edging out radiation melee I think. I don't know if WP was picked to compliment DB but they certainly don't have the kind of synergy fiery aura has with fire melee due to fiery embrace. Due to the way DB was selected I suspect that willpower came about also due to a poll, but I don't remember for sure.
Do you mean that energy/energy is a good example of synergistic sets or not a good example?Quote:I also would call it fair to mention Energy/Energy for synergy. After all, Energy Aura came out 6 issues later.
What pairing? Katana/broadsword synergize with any def based set due to the parry/da and with any set that has no click powers that force redraw but that seems accidental to me.Quote:Not to mention alot of the older sets have changed through the issues, as well as some of the sets (Katana/Broadsword) having their own pairing.
I agree that ice/ice for tanks was probably designed to be synergistic on purpose - but keep in mind these are original sets just like fire and dark so Umbral's point that these where designed back when the dev's where thinking of pairings still holds.Quote:Ice/Ice stacks slows. Ice Patch keeps enemies on their feet, not attacking, and thus not breaking through the defenses. Tack on those added slows.
I am not sure what your point actually is here - I just thought it should be pointed out why DB was created and that it really had nothing to do with willpower other than comign out at the same time. -
Quote:
Originally Posted by Panzerwaffen 
All that set-up is mostly a waste of time. My bots/traps tactic was generally open with Seekers from range, then charge into melee, drop Mortar & PGT, then start spamming Web Grenade and/or a patron immob. Maybe toe-bomb with a trip mine or two, but by that point everything is pretty much defeated anywayQuote:Originally Posted by Eiko-chan
Even if you do it by closing instead of pulling, you're still trying to make sure the fight is taking place right there, and not all over the place.
I find pulling as an MM to have a two problems:
1) If you stay in bodyguard mode while pulling your pets aggro the instance something attacks you back, which is basically as soon as you open fire. This means the pets tend to not follow you back to the kill zone and even worse, draw off mobs you haven't directly aggro'd. To prevent this you have to switch to passive follow or passive stay, turning off BG mode, which brings up problem 2.
2) After pulling in passive mode switching back to BG (defensive follow) results in a 10 second or so delay before the pets will respond to aggro on you or them.
So, in order to successfully pull you and your pets have to survive the incoming fire until they start firing back, or you have to put them into attack mode and survive whatever aggro you gained without BG mode. Not impossible and in some cases worth the effort but in the end I prefer panzerwaffen's tactic of moving the fight to the mobs.
I WOULD suggest practicing both tactics as there are times a pull is better - dragging that EB into a minefield for instance. -
Quote:
Originally Posted by StrykerX
How to build Thugs / Traps:
1) Take all 3 pet summons and both pet upgrades. Slot Enforcers with two Defense IOs.Unless you need to slot some end reduction, go with Common IO's. If you want some extra end reduction and havn't gotten enough from pet damage IO's, one DEF/END might be ok - but the real goal is to get the enforcers manuevers up to the point where you are softcapped. Now, I have done that with just 1 common DEF IO but I also took manuevers and slotted it up, so without that you might need two common def IO's to hit the softcap.Quote:Originally Posted by Savethworld
Common IOs or invention IOs? If invention which ones? -
Honestly I don't think it was the AE changes that pulled everyone out - I think it was the changes to the rest of the game. Specifically the difficulty level changes and super side kicking.
Preveiously the AE was the only place where it was easy to form groups out of characters that had a wide variation in levels as you could set the level range on an AE arc and everyone would be SK'ed up to the minimum level of the arc. With the new auto side kick mechanics this ability was extended outside of the AE and was actually made better, as folks can even earn XP while exemplaring. So now that grouping is FAR easier outside AE people are more willing to try other things.
Also prior to i16 the most efficient farming method was to put together a full group of 8 in order to maximize the amount of mobs in a mission. This was a lot easier in the AE as everyone was in the same place, there was no travelling between missions and all the amenities where nearby. With the new difficulty levels the serious farmers don't NEED extra players to pad their missions - so they are off soloing TV missions or battle maiden missions set to 8 players and don't need pads, thus pulling those players and all the door sitters that used to pad thier missions out of the AE.
Really, the only change that impacting any kind of farming was the nerfing of boss only farms. However I suspect that had a lot less overall effect than most people think, since boss only farms where ONLY efficient for certain builds - the classic farm builds (fire/kin, fire/psy, etc) probably get more benefit from minion/LT farms -which they can get now by setting thier diffuclty to +4/x8 and no bosses. I think if you actually polled folks who did boss farms you will find most of them did them for the challenge OR because they bought into the "boss farms are l33t" meme and mistakenly thought they where the best way to farm.
The last change to the AE, nerfing custom mobs probably did absolutely nothing to impact farming in AE as you can still fill maps with custom groups of standard mobs and get full xp as long as you include 1 of each type (minion, LT, Boss) in the custom group. This still allows you to pick a mob type that is easy for you to farm (say, fire weilding CoT demons for /fire armor characters ) and be fairly safe - and since the new difficulty settings work in the AE those who are farming there are probably doing it solo so you wouldn't even notice them. The REAL impact of this change was to butcher story focused arcs that relied on custom mobs - with the reduced XP I bet those arcs are getting NO play anymore, thus killing the one thing that the AE was intended to do.
In conclusion it seems to me that the real change here was that the devs took the lessons learned from the AE and applied them to the rest of the game, allowing folks to group easily and farm dev designed story arcs and paper/scanner missions with the same ease that the AE previously allowed. If they had stopped there or JUST made the changes to kill the boss only missions things would have been fine - but the real AE killer was making custom mobs which tend to be a lot more challenging than normal mobs worth less XP, killing any story based arc that relied on custom mobs. -
Quote:I think replacing time bomb with something like the blasters gun drone would be cool without being overpowered - much easier to use and probably more usefull for a defender or corruptor than a blaster.Originally Posted by Rush_Bolt
I'd love for that to happen as well...
... but considering how buggy OSA is to ignite correctly, I doubt it'd ever happen. If we're wishing for ponies though, I think a best OMGAwesome! solution is to sub in a reskinned Omega Maneuver. -
Quote:Thanks again.Originally Posted by TRTerror
Yes.
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IO stands for invention origin enhancement - for more information on invention origin enhancments check out this list of guides:
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showt...379#post578379
There is a lot of information there but if you have never really dealt with IO's, I would recommend reading through it. If you have specific questions on inventions or the market try the market and inventions forum (http://boards.cityofheroes.com/forumdisplay.php?f=584)
For soloing, the first build I posted will work - you can replace the common IO's in the build with standard SO's. In the case of the attacks I would slot 1xACC, 3xDAM and an end reduction or a recharge reduction, or you could slot 1xACC, 2xDAM, 1x END RED and 1xRecharge Reduction.
I haven't slotted SO's in attacks since IO's first came out so I am not sure the best SO slotting other than the generic suggestions I gave above. If you slot everything with recharge you will find yourself running out of end really quickly, if you slot everything with end reduction and no recharge you will find yourself killing things fairly slowly. Sticking with just SO's you might have to slot only 2 damage SO's so you can slot both end reduction and recharge.
Generic advice that may not be obvious for dark miasma:
1) Make sure you have enough accuracy in twilight grasp to make sure it hits. At least one SO is good, 2 is better if you can spare the slots. If you plan on fighting a lot of +2 or higher opponents 2 SO's worth of accuracy is pretty much required.
2) Fearsome stare is your best friend - it says its a fear power but it's really a to hit debuff that also fears. Slot it with accuracy, recharge and to hit debuff, probably in that order.
3) Slot tar patch with 3 recharge reduction SO's or L25+ IO's and you are good to go. If you expect to face a LOT of +2 or better enemies you could slot it with one slow enhancment.
4) Howling twilight is labelled a rez power - but it's really an auto hit AE stun that ALSO happens to rez fallen allies. While the stun is only high enough to affect minions it also has a mag 3 afraid which will make LT's run away and it has a lot of -regen which will prevent enemies from regenerating. Its on a long time but if you can squeeze it in and slot it with recharge it makes an excellent panic button, even solo.
5) In toggles one end reduction IO is probably enough - if you have a lot of slots to spare and are really tight on end you can slot a second, slotting a third is a total waste. If you are tight on end you are better off slotting end reduction in your attacks. -
Quote:Well, the introduction of VEATs does show that the dev's are willing to design an AT that can solo AND contribute to a group, so if we can come up with a suggestion that doesn't increase the group power of a defender, doesn't spark a chain of other AT's asking for the same increase and is reasonable and easy to implement there is a chance it might get implemented.Originally Posted by je_saist
One of the tips that pops up every-now and then on the loading screen is something to the effect of : Not all archtypes are built to solo
The defender Archtype really isn't built to be a solo class. Yes, there are some can can tweak their powers with IO's and come up with a build that can reliably solo. Yes, upping the damage to fit what's advertised would also help defenders to solo.
However, the devs have proven in the past they'll take drastic measures (like turning Defiance off on Blasters) to force archtypes to fit into the envisioned rolls. So while a lot of players realize that negligence desperately needs a rework... I highly doubt any anti-mez or the like is in there. Any rework to a defender's inherent is probably going to be very much focused on teaming.
In the same way, I somewhat doubt that the devs will up defender damage. I would expect them to just re-label the damage to low and just leave the class alone.
Since I absolutely cannot stand playing defenders as they currently exist (barring one unusual combo - traps/sonic) I will always push for some kind of change. Not changing defenders won't drive me away from the game or anything, it just means I will continue to avoid them. I do think that the dev's are going to have to serously re-think defenders when going rogue hits and corruptors can cross over - while the base damage capability of corruptors is about the same as defenders (once you factor in the higher debuffs) the corruptor inherent is JUST good enough to make them better. Scourge makes a lot more difference than I think a lot of people realize. -
I don't know if its actual damage that needs to be increased so much as the abyssal DPE ratio needs to be improved. Currently defenders pay the same end for attacks as everyone else but do considerably less damage. EVen when they can use thier primary to increase the damage they do it is at a further end cost. Its this factor and the near total lack of decent mez protection that has reduced the soloability of defenders to the point where I cannot play them, as I mostly (like 99% of the time) solo.
While the introduction of traps to defenders, which fixes the mez issue without having to sacrifice soloability, has encouraged me to start a traps/sonic defender and I am having a reasonable amount of fun with that character that is one combo out of many. None of the other primaries with real mez protection are very good solo as FF gives up ALL offensive debuffing and really only has a few solo usable powers and sonic, while it has some offensive debuffs still has far to many powers only usable on allies. However, after seeing how vehemently everyone was against any kind of mez protection in the 'mez protection for all' thread I have given up on that point which means that the only thing to improve in defenders is the DPE or overall damage.
I do think that improving the inherent is the way to go with this - something that will either increase damage while solo (and possibly do something else while grouped) or reduce end costs in a predictable, reliable way would be very usefull. Someone had previously suggested a buff similar to defiance on each power that stacked end reduction - I think they had suggested 5% end reduction per power with a cap at 25%. I believe they had also suggested a similar buf to global recharge and that the primaries do one of the buffs and the secondaries do another but I can't remember who suggested it and thier exact suggestion. This is one of the best suggestions I have seen so far and about the only one that I suspect the dev's will get behind - increasing the overall damage is NOT going to happen, as an increase in defender damage will result in a cry for an increase in corruptor damage which will then propogate downstream as blasters cry about how they are no longer the damage kings, etc, etc.
So what we really need to do is get as many folks behind a reasonable inherent change as we can and start pushing that very hard - that strikes me as the only way to get any changes to the AT.
EDIT: A note on mez protection: My real problem with lack of mez protection on defenders is the fact that so many of them are still dependent on offensive toggles that WILL drop when mezzed, even if the mez is just a 1 second sleep. This is what prevents me from playing rad defenders, despite the great debuffs in rad as the only way to keep all your debuffs from dropping is to pro-actively suck down a break free when fighting a mezzing mob and there is no way to keep enough break free's around for this. Even storm suffers from this to an extent - while FR is a nice debuff that is not a toggle it still mostly prevents damage through the KB. Snow storm and hurricane, which are the primary damage prevention debuffs in storm are also going to drop at the first sleep or stun. Dark is about the only set that offers enough damage increase AND non-toggle dependent damage mitigation to make it worth playing solo for me, as 2/3 of the mitigation is in fearsome stare or tar patch and only darkest night will drop on mez. -
I suspect no one has replied because you haven't really specified enough information so we could give you build advice. You really need to be specific about how you want to build, especially if you are talking an IO'ed out build. Do you want to do a recharge heavy build, a ranged def capped build, a PvE or PvP build? Do you solo mostly or group mostly.
My fire/dark is currently L32 and here is her build - it is not a 'super' build by any means and currently is mostly focused on either slotting for maximum enhancement value through frankenslotting or on recharge with a little ranged def for those sets I have been able to put together:
Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.601
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Level 48 Magic Corruptor
Primary Power Set: Fire Blast
Secondary Power Set: Dark Miasma
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Flight
Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery
Villain Profile:
Level 1: Flares -- Decim-Acc/Dmg(A), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(3), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(5), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(27)
Level 1: Twilight Grasp -- Acc-I(A), Empty(34), Empty(36), Empty(37), Empty(37)
Level 2: Fire Blast -- Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(A), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(5), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(7), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(7), Thundr-Acc/Dmg(27)
Level 4: Fire Ball -- AirB'st-Acc/Dmg(A), AirB'st-Dmg/EndRdx(9), AirB'st-Dmg/Rchg(9), Det'tn-Acc/Dmg(11), Det'tn-Dmg/Rchg(11)
Level 6: Tar Patch -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(17), RechRdx-I(17)
Level 8: Darkest Night -- DarkWD-ToHitDeb/EndRdx(A), DarkWD-ToHitdeb/Rchg/EndRdx(23), DarkWD-ToHitDeb(25), DarkWD-ToHitDeb/Rchg(25)
Level 10: Rain of Fire -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(13), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(13), Posi-Dmg/Rng(15), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(15), Empty(34)
Level 12: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 14: Health -- Heal-I(A)
Level 16: Hover -- Krma-ResKB(A)
Level 18: Blaze -- Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(A), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(19), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(19), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(21), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(21)
Level 20: Fearsome Stare -- Cloud-Acc/ToHitDeb(A), Cloud-Acc/Rchg(23), Cloud-ToHitDeb/EndRdx/Rchg(31), Cloud-ToHitDeb(31)
Level 22: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(29), EndMod-I(29)
Level 24: Fly -- Flight-I(A)
Level 26: Aim -- RechRdx(A)
Level 28: Shadow Fall -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 30: Petrifying Gaze -- EoCur-Acc/Rchg(A), EoCur-Acc/EndRdx(31)
Level 32: Fire Breath -- Empty(A), Empty(33), Empty(33), Empty(33), Empty(34)
Level 35: Howling Twilight -- Empty(A), Empty(36), Empty(36)
Level 38: Dark Servant -- Empty(A), Empty(39), Empty(39), Empty(39), Empty(40)
Level 41: Soul Drain -- Empty(A)
Level 44: Dark Embrace -- Empty(A)
Level 47: Power Boost -- Empty(A)
Level 49: Soul Storm -- Empty(A)
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Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Scourge
This is a solo build so I took all 3 single target attacks so that I would have good AE and a decent single target attack chain. Because of this I put off firebreath until just now and some of my slotting is more oriented towards solo protection - for example the slots in darkest night are there mostly to get the +5% global recharge from the Dark Watchers despair set, while the extra to hit debuff would be usefull in a group having those 3 slots in twilight grasp to improve the heal would also be fairly usefull. When grouping regularily you also won't need all 3 single target attacks - you could get by with just fireblast and blaze and probably fit in firebreath earlier or take leadership powers. This charater does have an alternate group build although I haven't played it much so I can't say how usefull it is - here is that build:
Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.601
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Level 48 Magic Corruptor
Primary Power Set: Fire Blast
Secondary Power Set: Dark Miasma
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery
Villain Profile:
Level 1: Fire Blast -- Empty(A), Empty(3), Empty(5), Empty(7), Empty(9)
Level 1: Twilight Grasp -- Nictus-Acc/Heal(A), Nictus-Acc/EndRdx/Heal/HP/Regen(19), Nictus-Heal(29), Nictus-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(29)
Level 2: Fire Ball -- AirB'st-Acc/Dmg(A), Det'tn-Acc/Dmg(3), AirB'st-Dmg/EndRdx(5), Det'tn-Dmg/Rchg(7), Det'tn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(9)
Level 4: Tar Patch -- RechRdx(A), RechRdx(11), RechRdx(11)
Level 6: Rain of Fire -- AirB'st-Acc/Dmg(A), Det'tn-Acc/Dmg(13), Det'tn-Dmg/EndRdx(13), Det'tn-Dmg/Rchg(15), AirB'st-Dmg/Rchg(15)
Level 8: Darkest Night -- DarkWD-ToHitDeb/EndRdx(A), DampS-ToHitDeb/EndRdx(17), DampS-ToHitDeb(17), Empty(34)
Level 10: Swift -- Empty(A)
Level 12: Hover -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 14: Fly -- Flight-I(A)
Level 16: Health -- Empty(A)
Level 18: Blaze -- Ruin-Acc/Dmg(A), Ruin-Dmg/EndRdx(19), Ruin-Dmg/Rchg(21), Ruin-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(21), Mael'Fry-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(23), Ruin-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(31)
Level 20: Fearsome Stare -- Hror-Acc/Rchg(A), N'mare-Acc/Rchg(23), DampS-ToHitDeb/Rchg(25), DampS-ToHitDeb/Rchg/EndRdx(25)
Level 22: Stamina -- Empty(A), Empty(27), Empty(27)
Level 24: Shadow Fall -- Empty(A)
Level 26: Howling Twilight -- RechRdx(A), RechRdx(31), RechRdx(31)
Level 28: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 30: Tactics -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 32: Fire Breath -- Empty(A), Empty(33), Empty(33), Empty(33), Empty(34)
Level 35: Inferno -- Empty(A)
Level 38: Dark Servant -- Empty(A)
Level 41: Soul Drain -- Empty(A)
Level 44: Dark Embrace -- Empty(A)
Level 47: Power Boost -- Empty(A)
Level 49: Petrifying Gaze -- Empty(A)
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Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Scourge
This build dropped flares and spread the slots around to the heal and other powers more usefull in group. I also picked up assault and tactics as well as howling twilight for both the group rez AND the AE stun. It is not as well IO'ed as the other build, mostly because I solo a lot but I have frankenslotted the attacks a much as possible.
In both cases the goal was to capitalize on the combo of tar patch + RoF as that is the really cool combo in this build. In the solo build I don't plan on taking inferno - nuke's are not as usefull when solo because anything you don't kill with the nuke will definitely finish you off. In a group it can be usefull which is why the group build has it as a L35 pick.
One important note - I absolutely hate superspeed as a villain travel power due to the rough terrain and the fact that I suck at steering while at SS speeds - I constantly get stuck on low walls, little rises in the terrain, etc. So I almost never take hasten unless the build absolutely requires it or I have no other power to take. This character's concept called for fly as a movement power anyway, so I took hover + fly. On a fire/dark you would probably benefit from hasten so if you are ok with superspeed that would be a good choice for a movement power.
If you want examples of an uber, IO'ed out L50 build you should probably specify your end goal. When focusing on high powered IO builds it is best to have a final goal in mind.
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Quote:Wow - thanks, I assumed the system would count the buff from the proc as an 'external' buff. That is really cool, guess I may be changing my ill/rad's slotting fairly soon.Originally Posted by Local_Man
Yes, it works because it is slotted in the power itself. PA get the benefits of enhancements slotted in the power itself. That's why you can slot PA for damage and accuracy.
The slotting mentioned by Mr. Enigma is probably the best overall. I have that slotting mentioned in my Ill/Rad guide. But it only works at level 50 -- the earlier slotting I mentioned will work leveling up.
Just to make sure - have folks doing this actually observed the proc going off and increasing damage in the pet combat log? -
Quote:Does the build up proc actually do anything for PA? Considering that they are immune to any buffs you might put on them I can't see why a buff from a proc would work either.Originally Posted by Mr_Enigma
At lvl 50 I find the best slotting to be Expedient ReinforcementAcc/Rech, Acc/Dam, Acc/Dam/Rech, End/Dam/Rech combined with Soulbound Allegiance Dam/Rech, Chance for Build Up.
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Quote:My error then - should know better than to take a single reply out of context.Originally Posted by TRTerror
Must be some language difficulties then since i have not claimed that my playstyle is everything. I am merely offering a different view as most people in this thread seems tot hink it must be picked.
Could you please direct me to where i have said such a thing?
EDIT: If you are talking about my reply to Psiphon it was merely a retort to his post that you cant solo higher difficulties without spooky.
Still, any analysis of how necessary a power is should always include specifics as to how it works and it's benefits. Anyting other than that doesn't feel helpfull, at least to me. I definitely like to hear what tactics, build or playstyle allows you to skip a power though, more information is always better. I certainly don't use it as often as I used to on my illusion/rad now that phantom army is close to perma, but for the occasional time that PA drops in the middle of a boss fight its nice to have as a fallback.
I mostly wanted to point out the actual numbers involved in spectral terror - as Rodion pointed out it is easy to miss out on knowing the true effects of spectral terror in part because the in game numbers don't include the pet powers. I discovered how effective it is in a similar manner - one of the hero's you go up against in mayhem missions in an illusion controller. I can't remember what level range but it was either 35-39 or 40-44. I first ran into him with my DM/Regen stalker and nearly got my *** kicked as regen has no fear protection so between that and the HUGE debuff I nearly bought it. (He was like +2 levels to me, so the 30% to hit debuff was more like 40%) -
Quote:True, but that doesn't mean that skipping a very usefull power is the smartest way to play. You could probably solo a character who took nothing but pool powers and the 4 powers from your primary/secondary that you have to take - I wouldn't find that fun but someone might.Originally Posted by TRTerror
I ran it on Invincible with no problems at all. No power is mandatory, learn to adapt.
Clearly, you feel you do fine without Spectral Terror which is great - as long as you are having fun you shouldn't change the way you play. However, what appeals to you may not appeal to other folks and acting like your playstyle is the only acceptable playstyle is dishonest and may mislead someone who doesn't understand the powerset into thinking they SHOULD skip the power. The fact is that spectral terror is a very good power - it can contribute almost as much to your survivability as phantom army mostly due to 2 factors:
1) Spooky can stack fears up so even bosses can be easily feared
2) Spooky has a lot of to hit debuff - more than most folks realize.
I am using redtomax as a reference here and he could be wrong but usually he is not - according to tomax spooky has 2 attacks, an AE fear that does a -15% to hit debuff and a single target fear that also does a -15% to hit debuff. So spooky can stack up as much as -30% to hit debuff on a single target and as it fires off its single target attack every 6 seconds so it can hit multiple targets. This is also the reason that bosses can be easily feared as the two attacks allow spooky to stack fears.
A 30% to hit debuff is a lot for a controller, even radiation infection only does 25%, although it can be enhanced and spectral terror's to hit debuff can't. Even the base 15% from the AE fear is going to add to your survivability.
So, while you can certainly play without spectral terror, just as you can technically play without any power, there are also a lot of good reasons to take it.