Graile

I think DP ends up being sort of middle-of-the-road when compared to the rest of the primaries. It has been one of my favorites to level up but keep in mind that I also like Elec/ too *wink* *wink*

I took a dp/kin to mid 20's before moving on to another alt and it worked well. I didn't have any problems soloing. /kin isn't known or its great mitigation while leveling so be sure to take Supressive Fire (DP's Hold). Team-wise, well...everyone loves a /kin with SB but I did feel like I was adding to the team.

I've also paired it with /Rad, /Dark, but my favorite so far is /Traps. I like to jump into the middle of the mob spawn and throw out Hail of Bullets with wild abandon. /Traps has great defense and debuffing with lots of tricks which keeps my alt-itis in check.

/Kin wants to put you into Melee range and DP works great from there too. It only has the one cone, Empty Clips, which some have argued has questionable use. I reccommend it though for some extra AoE power. It will also take a Achilles proc which helps.

As far as the different ammo types go, I didn't use any of the special types soloing at first because the random knockback was a great help. Once I started to develop a little, I switched to the Fire ammo and never looked back.

The only issue I really have with DP is that some of the animations seem to take a while. It could just be me but you do get locked into an animation while waiting for the power to kick in. That doesn't sit well with a kinetic's frenzy-like pace. I'm not sure how big of an issue that is in the higher levels.

Overall, it's a fun and flashy set. It's not the best but each power has a use and I was always excited to get the next level's power and that can't be said for a lot of other primary sets.

To get Piercing Rounds to give you the -Res debuff, you can't use any of your special ammo, correct? Corruptors still get it at a -15% debuff which isn't too shabby.

Also, I can't seem to get it to hit "up to three enemies" very often. The mobs don't seem to be nice enough to line up for me. I try to like it (mostly because everyone else seems to) but I just have a hard time using it is all.

If you exclusively team, yeah, I wouldn't use Supressive Fire very much either. Sorry, I didn't realize that the build was solely for teams.

I've been leveling a DP/Traps corr. and overall, I really like your build. I too love the idea of soft-capping Defense and then adding in a hefty dose of Resistances.

The Hold proc in Acid Mortar is wonderful.

The Lockdown proc in Poison Gas Trap is also all sorts of fun-ness.

I want to put in a good word for Supressive Fire though. I tend to get a lot of runners and it gets pretty annoying to lay your traps only to have the mobs go, "eek, run away!" I tend to use Supressive Fire on one before he can leave. It's not looking like this will go into my final build because there's too many toggles that I would probably get more use out of but I think I will really miss it.

Triage Beacon is another one I'm just partial to. It brings out the Healer (tm) in me and I feel better when it's out even though I don't think it's every swayed the tide of battle by being out. But I sure do like to see that glowing triangle of comfort. And nothing brings a team of squishies closer together than that pulsating triangle.

I haven't tried the Achilles in Empty Clips. I do put one in Acid Mortar although I have seen some builds where they 6 slot Shield Breaker instead for the Defense bonus.

Traps is a lot of fun to experiment with in regard to procs. Add in Pistols and you can get all sorts of combos.

I hear that Oppressive Gloom in Dark Mastery works well with Trapsters. That might help me to skip Suppressive Fire...

What do you think of Piercing Rounds? It seems to make everyone's build but to me, it takes forever to fire off.

One preference of mine: replace the three procs you have in your ST attacks to the Devastation: Chance to Hold. I read through AWRocketman's guide to an Ice/Kin and he has great advice on the build. I tried respec'ing out the Devastation procs and really missed them.

Especially leveling up, those Hold procs were life-savers plenty of times.

I'm looking at playing around with an Assault Rifle character and know very little about the set other than it seems AoE-focused.

Does anyone have some thoughts on how it might pair with the Storm secondary? It seems like the only thing people pair it with is either /dark or /traps (if you can find people with an Assault Rifle in the first place!)

I hear Archery works well with Traps but I can't say that I've ever seen it in action. I know you've already veto'ed it but Fire/Traps is a lot of fun. I'm doing Pistols/Traps now and it's been very effective and entertaining up through 30 so far.

Archery is fairly easy on the blue bar for primaries and its counterpart, Trick Arrow is endurance light.

I have a couple of /traps corruptors that I've debated skipping Stamina on as well.

You're not liking your DP/Traps? It's my latest "new main" (re: alt) and I think it's a lot of fun. I put a couple of procs into Acid Mortar and have a nice single target attack chain in Executioner/Dual/Pistols. AOE damage is decent with Empty Clips and Bullet Rain. Granted, I haven't taken him up to those high levels where everything might change but he's a lot of fun.

That said, with the primaries you have left to pick from, I'd probably go Archery or maybe Assault Rifle. I prefer /Dark for a secondary over /Cold just because /Cold can take a while before it gets the "fun" toys.

I was thinking about an elec/storm combo too to mess around with. Looking at the above progression, I prefer super speed over hover on my /storms because it goes great with steamy mist giving you enough invis to fly through a lot of missions if you prefer. Freezing Rain should be taken as soon as it becomes available and slotted right away with some Recharge.

I really like Short Circuit but I typically wait a while to take it. It's a great endurance drain to mobs but only after you give it some slots including 2-3 End Mod. It will most likely take 2 applications to drain a mob completely so I throw in Hasten to get it up quicker. Now if you just want to use it as a damage power...

Elec can be light on damage so I slot the two attacks right away with an Acc, two Dam, and -End. I leave Gale alone at one slot but I do like to use two...one for an Acc and one for a Proc of some kind. Most people don't care for it but it has saved my bacon before so I'm kind of partial to it.

I go with two -End in snow storm and steamy mist but they still drain my blue bar far too quickly for my taste so I don't use them very often.

I haven't went beyond level 20 with this so I don't know how this advice would hold up past that. I absolutely love Freezing Rain though.

I made one for GR too. I hit 22 and I...just...can't...leave...yet. I'll give you my advice for up to that level then.

I have much more experience with Traps than I do with the Pistols. The only really skippable power is the last one, Time Bomb. I wish I could skip Web Grenade but no luck there. I have a Fire/Traps Corr that doesn't use Caltrops very much but it has been wonderful on this guy so I would take it as soon as you can. I put a proc in its one lonely slot I gave it so far. Also get Acid Mortar and Force Field Generator as soon as available. I will eventually take Triage Bacon-Beacon but not until much later when I give it some slotting. Poison Trap is good too but you could be fine without it if something else caught your fancy.

I'm not too familiar with Pistols and when trying out a new set, I usually just take everything that comes along and then respec out of what I don't like later. I've taken everything up through Executioner's Shot. People on the forums don't seem to care for Empty Clips but if you can line up the cone, it's great on those missions where you try to kill everything you can in three minutes. I also used it a lot to kill gray'ed out Seers when I went hunting for that badge. However, Bullet Rain is much better. Supressive Fire probably won't make my final build if I ever go that far but for leveling, I've enjoyed the mitigation.

Swap Ammo can wait a bit but the extra damage the fire rounds give you is nice and if you plan on teaming, changing rounds gets rid of the knockback that teams don't like. Solo, I alternate between fire, Toxic, and knockback rounds depending on what I remember at the time.

For Pool Powers, I haven't taken Stamina because I wanted to try out the Pistols powers and honestly, I've been okay without it. I wish I were brave enough to try and go the whole way without it but I don't have that kind of...well...stamina. I've only taken Hasten which I feel is a must-have for any /Traps that isn't tricked out with ungodly recharge. I did take Super-Speed at 22 just because I wanted to tool around Praetoria looking for exploration badges. Eventually, I'll get some +Stealth from somewhere which goes great with any /Traps.

He's been fun so far soloing and contributes a lot to teams. As a side note, don't feel bad if you use Acid Mortar and your team moves quickly on to the next spawn outside its radius. The last two teams I was on each thanked me for "great placement" when those pesky ambushes tried to sneak up on us from the rear but got sidetracked attacking the Mortar instead, giving us time to bring the battle to them.

Hope that helps!

So getting back to trying to answer the original questions:

1) No, don't shelve your Arch/TA. Instead take a look at it from a different perspective and how you're playing it because it can be a very powerful toon. Luminara has a great guide in the Defender section on this which might help.

2) Yes, they can solo same level bosses as well as anyone else. Arch/TA often takes more strategy though than just "blast-blast-blast-until-dead" mentality. There's definitely lots of jumping around.

I agree with Tangler. You can start with your Entangle Arrow to keep him in place and follow up with Ice Arrow. Then start your attack chain and on your second Ice Arrow shot, he should be held. The problem I have with bosses is keeping them off of me while I try to get rid of the rest of the spawn. Glue Arrow helps with that but they always seem to get to me anyway.

A single boss shouldn't be a problem though for an Arch/TA. Do you have Hasten? That will help cycle your hold if you're having problems getting your shots off.

I heard that Grav was getting some attention too and wanted to get a few levels on one in hopes that it would really pay off. I've tried in the past but lost interest after a few levels with Grav alts. I have no idea what the end result will be but I do enjoy the set.

Thanks for the thoughts on Crush/Lift/Propel. Lift is a fun power to watch but not nearly as fun as Propel so I can get rid of Lift. I originally took Lift for the bit of mitigation but I usually like the hard-hitting powers better.

I usually play villains but recently have been looking at Controllers and their power sets. But since coming Hero-side, I can't imagine not taking Super Speed. I swear my hero alts are skinnier than my villain alts simply because of all the running that they have to do. /Storm makes it all that much nicer with a little cloudy fog to run around with.

Is it typical to take either Crush or Lift but not both? I like both but I want to fit in Propel as well. With all the toys that grav/storm seems to have, I can't seem to get them all in. What are the skippable powers in the later levels? Is the AoE hold worth it? Skip Tornado maybe?

Oh, and I was messing around with the idea of slotting proc-heavy into Crushing Field for some nice AoE damage? Do you think that's a viable strategy?

Thanks in advance for the info.

How does a Grav/Storm play, say in PvE solo and teaming? I really like both sets but have limited experience with them and have yet to take either into the higher levels.

If you want to venture outside the /kin box, I've had fun with an elec/rad/mu sapper. I haven't tried any PvP (nor do I care to) but for PvE, it works well. On teams, I can spread the debuffs around along with a nice buff in AM (and the rez is appreciated too). Sapping is kind of pointless when teamed because the typical spawn won't last very long.

Solo, I run +1/4 usually and the sapping is nice. Hasten/AM is popped, I jump in, EMP the spawn, toss a debuff or two, use my two AoE's for damage and sapping, and then fill my bar to the brim with Power Sink. I focus on the boss in the spawn and the little guys tend to get killed off with the AoE's that I throw. I don't know if it counts for anything, but those electric shots tend to make the mobs have seizures so while they're doing that, they're not hitting you with whatever endurance they have left.

I have an elec/kin at 36 that has been fun sapping too but I seem to have more fun with this guy. Just a thought if you don't have your heart set on /kin.

I actually like Energy/Kinetics. I have one at 28 now and while it does take some getting used to, it's not too bad. I wanted to try something with Energy/ but knew that groups don't care for it very much but everyone like a /kin in the group so I figured I'd still get invites =)

There is a learning curve and je_saist is right about needing to manage the kb. It is annoying to try and throw your heal as you accidentally knock the mob out of range. I don't know how it will be when he makes it to the higher levels but for now, he's been pretty entertaining.

Can you elaborate a bit on how Wormhole works? I've never seen one in action and from the description, I can't tell if teams would love you, hate you, or even wait for you to use it...

I used it on my Widow from time to time but I think that was because I was always trying to see how much he could handle. I recently turned him into a fort to see how they played and although I would have wanted it while leveling up, I really don't need it at 50. When I get hit, I get hit hard and there's that moment of panic as you see how far the green bar goes down and you're like, "stop...stop...geez," and you're grabbing at a green insp. but it doesn't happen that often. I specced out of it mostly because when I really wanted it, I would get interrupted.

Get your hps up and your regen up as much as you can and that should be just fine.

My vote would be for dark/dark. It lends itself to all sorts of themes and has plenty of eye-candy effects. There are very few powers to shy away from and they almost all have their uses (avoid Black Hole). It can solo and team well. Enjoy levels 1-20 and get a feel for how it plays and then take Fearsome Stare and watch your face slowly turn into a big grin as you use it for the first time and realize that you now have an entire spawn cowering in fear.

I've played dark/rad and enjoyed it as well. I agree with everyone else about taking Kinetics. It's very fun but not for the new or feint of heart. Dark/Storm works well together and although I haven't seen very many, I imagine dark/cold would be a good pairing as well.

As a new player though, I would pick a secondary that has some sort of heal in it to help you along so /dark and /rad would be my picks. Yes, you get one in the dark primary but not for a very long time and it's not much of one at that.

There's a very good Ice/Kin guide by AWRocketman that you should read. It's pretty much dead on for advice.

Ice/Kin is a lot of fun but you almost have to be a bit spastic/manic in the way that you play it. Ice attacks refresh very fast and when you throw in Hasten and Siphon Speed, you find yourself clicking them quickly. Throw in a few kinetics buttons and your fingers are flying over the keyboard.

I didn't take Repel on mine yet but I would really like to just because I get a kick out of it and it's very satisfying to Repel something into the corner and watch it bounce around like a guppyfish.

For Ice, skip Frost Breath and Bitter Freeze Ray. If you have an opportunity though, try each one out. They both take a bit too long to use and I did debate keeping the Bitter Freeze Ray but opted out. It was nice pulling with it and following up with your other Freeze Ray but I eventually had other things I wanted to pull with and didn't need it.

In Kinetics, Repel was mentioned as being skippable but everything else should be taken. I do take Increase Density just for IO's and it's not the end of the world (or your team) if you don't take it.

As far as pools go, you don't have to take Stamina once you have Transference but I wouldn't recommend it. I mash all those buttons too fast not to have it. Hasten was mentioned and is great to have. You can get it mighty close to perma. Hover is good to take and with Siphon Speed, you can fly at a pretty good clip with just it. On teams, Sprinting is always too slow and Super Speed is too fast and I bump into walls and miss doorways. Siphon Speeding Hover is perfect. Also, find a spot for Air Superiority early on and you can get rid of it later if you want. It's a great attack that causes some knockdown and has saved my bacon plenty of times before.

For the Patron, get the Defense Shield from Mr. Scorpion Guy. I haven't tried any of the others with Ice/Kin though so you might think differently. I much prefer +Def over +Res if I have a choice.

Hope that helps!

I have to agree with taking Fearsome Stare earlier as well. Fearsome Stare is a great power and one of the few that I will take at level 20 instead of Stamina when it becomes available. I always cheer whenever any of my /darks hits 20th and I can get that power. You run up to the spawn, glare at everyone harshly enough to put the fear of corruptors into them and then you can walk around them all as carefree as Hiro Nakamura across a busy highway at rush hour.