Graile

What difficulty setting do you use for your corruptor? There's a thread going on over in the Brutes section talking about this and it got me wondering about how different everyone's corruptor settings have been looking.

It's a very fun combo and you can have all sorts of explosive goody-ness with it. I'd skip Fire Breath (I just don't care for it much), Blazing Bolt, and Inferno from the primary and Time Bomb from the secondary. Fire/ is a pretty up front what-you-read-is-what-you-get power set while /Traps is the opposite and it requires a bit of a learning curve.

For your offense, I like Flares although some skip it, Fire Blast, and Fireball. Those three alone can make short work of spawns. Throw in Rain of Fire and you're golden while the other guys are burned.

For your defense, Rain of Fire acts okay for making the mobs run. FFG really brings up your survivability which, if you are into slotting IO sets, look for +Ranged Def. I went with Mu for my Patron just for the +Res shield so I have some very respectable defenses that allow me to set Trip Mines with little worry if I have to. Seeker Drones are great for soaking up Alpha Strikes as well. Acid Mortar and Poison Trap are great. I'm assuming you sort of know this already since you have a MM with traps. I don't think there's much difference although I haven't messed with the MM version.

I did take the Medicine pool along with Triage Beacon which is probably over-kill but I had the pool slots handy.

Finally, solo vs. teaming: It does solo slowly at first but it's well worth it in the end if you can stick with it. I'd say by the mid to upper 20's, you should be living the good...errr...bad life in style.

Hope it helps!

My Archer is up to 26 now and I've been satisfied with the damage output so far. I don't have Rain of Arrows yet and I hope I'm not dissappointed in it like Masta_X is. I don't go into the "hardcore" numbers but tend to focus more on the "feel" of the set and I can't help but wonder if Archery feels weaker simply because it's not, for the most part, as flashy as some of the other sets.

I know Snap Shot has been brought up about damage out put and it is pretty puny but I do so love those fast shots that Scourge. And I do have a hard time setting up my cone for Fistful of Arrows (not sure why) but all those Scourging orange numbers that occasionally pop up gets me all tingly.

But getting back to RoA, from reading other posts, it's one of the big reasons you take Archery and I hope it lives up to the hype. Do you have it slotted at all? I'm assuming 3 damage IO's would be the standard or if you get into sets, 5 slots worth of Positron would help.

You guys are all making me nervous about whether what little time I have to play will be well spent leveling up an A/TA corruptor. I usually get alt-itis when I get into the 20's so it probably won't matter anyway =). So far I'm a big bad 8th level and I'm tearing the place up!

I get what's being said about the faults of the two power sets but has anyone tried to work around those? I'm hoping that IO slotting might help and was curious what opinions there were on what to slot for. My first guess would be to slot for +Ranged Defense? +Recharge next maybe? I'm planning on taking the Medicine (I hate not having heals) pool along with some Stamina (I hear it's optional according to Luminara's guide though) and I think I'll pass on Hasten in going along with the guide.

Thanks for the replies and advice. I have spent the last day at work hiding in the office reading Luminara's guides (the most comprehensive I've ever read...) and I feel like a celebrity answered my question!
I don't know anything about these two power sets but I'm hoping they're entertaining enough to carry me through the double xp weekend coming up.

I'm playing around with one and was wondering which powers could (or should!) be skipped in your opinion...

Thanks for the help!

With Fearsome Stare, it's great "out of the box" and with a bit of slotting, it will be back up before it wears off. Zem's description is pretty accurate. You fear them and then you can either dance around with your bare costume in front of the whole spawn or you can proceed with wiping them out one by one. It makes solo'ing so much easier. As you work your way up in levels, you will use some of your other secondaries less and less but The Stare is always a great way to lead off your attack. When you do attack a Fear'ed mob, he does get to take a pot shot at you which does make people nervous but it really has very little effect and you go on about your merry way.

I take it before Stamina just because once I have it, moving up to 22 to then pick up Stamina is a breeze.

And an aside note, I might have to try putting an Acc IO in my Servant. I have never tried that and I have been perfectly happy with his DW slotted set but if you say that it works much better, then I'm game to try.

I would definitely take Fearsome Stare before level 26. I would take it as your 20th level pick and Stamina at 22. Try to get a temp travel power so you can put off Super Speed for a while. Even Hasten I think can wait a bit if you want to bump up Ice Storm. That might depend on how often you plan on teaming vs going solo though.

In Twilight's Grasp, if you are only going with invention IO's, I would take out the Heal and put in another Acc. I hate missing with that power more than any other that I can think of.../kin's Siphon Speed comes in second maybe.

I agree with Muon...your whole leveling life will change when you get Fearsome Stare. Take it at 20 even before Stamina. For slotting, I am of the camp to slot it with the Glimpse of the Abyss set. You can leave out the proc in the set or put it in for some extra +Psi defense.

There are all sorts of IO slotting strategies for your Dark Servant. I've been experimenting with putting the Dark Watcher's Chance for Recharge Slow into several powers to see how effective that is but ol' Fluffy's current slotting for me is Four pieces of Dark Watcher and two Dampened Spirits.

I currently have Darkest Night slotted with four Dark Watcher pieces as well (including the proc).

How about Shadow Fall? Does anyone have an efficient way to slot that one?

1) I can't say that I would ditch Blizzard if you go solo. Fearsome Stare + Tar Patch + Blizzard (or Ice Storm) = Happy Spawn Fun-ness. Solo or teamed. Re-applying your toggles is annoying but if you go with Mu for your patron, you can offset that some and really, everything is hurting pretty badly that you probably won't need them soon anyway.

2) If you do go with the Dual Build idea and you're pressed for what to change out, I agree that your ST Holds are much more solo friendly than on teams. I think you could still get by with one build though unless you're really wanting to take a lot of pool powers other than travel and Stamina.

3) Keep Howling Twilight though. Really, all of the powers in /dark are great except for Black Hole and they all have their place. The /dark guides out there are right when they say to think of it as an attack power that, oh-by-the-way, rezzes everyone nearby.

4) Yes, Dark Servant is that good.

5) As far as Hover/Fly goes, I take Hover to put in some Knockback protection but I go with Hasten/Super Speed. You will be perfectly comfortable in melee range with Darkest Night running and if you run into problems, you have two rains to get them running, Ice/'s slows, and Tar Patch already to make sure they don't get to you any time soon.

6) Speaking of travel powers, it is a very tight build (I even like Frost Breath for Ice/Dark) so fitting in two travel spots is difficult. Try to get those temp travel powers to get you through the early levels so that you don't have to take whatever you pick until that later years.

This is my first attempt at slotting my Widow. If anyone could offer some advice as to what I might change, I would greatly appreciate it. I do have a budget but I can be patient in getting some of the more expensive IO sets.

Thanks!


Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/

[u]Click this DataLink to open the build![u]

Graile: Level 50 Natural Arachnos Widow
Primary Power Set: Night Widow Training
Secondary Power Set: Widow Teamwork
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Speed
Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Poison Dart -- Dev'n-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Dev'n-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(3), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(9), Thundr-Acc/Dmg(34), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(34), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42)
Level 1: Combat Training: Defensive -- LkGmblr-Def(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(5)
Level 2: Strike -- T'Death-Acc/Dmg(A), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx(3), T'Death-Dmg/Rchg(7), T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(9), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(15), T'Death-Dam%(36)
Level 4: Tactical Training: Maneuvers -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(5), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(7), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(25), RedFtn-Def(33), RedFtn-EndRdx(42)
Level 6: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 8: Follow Up -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg(A), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx(11), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(11), C'ngImp-Dmg/Rchg(37), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(39), Acc-I(50)
Level 10: Indomitable Will -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 12: Lunge -- C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg(A), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx(13), C'ngImp-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(13), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(15), C'ngImp-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(43)
Level 14: Health -- Mrcl-Heal(A), Mrcl-Rcvry+(23), Numna-Heal(23), RgnTis-Regen+(40), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(43)
Level 16: Dart Burst -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(17), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(17), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(29), Posi-Dam%(34)
Level 18: Slash -- Mako-Acc/Dmg(A), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx(19), Mako-Dmg/Rchg(19), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(25), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(29), Mako-Dam%(31)
Level 20: Stamina -- Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg(A), Efficacy-EndMod(21), EndMod-I(21)
Level 22: Foresight -- S'dpty-Def(A), S'dpty-Def/EndRdx(37)
Level 24: Mind Link -- LkGmblr-Def/Rchg(A), LkGmblr-EndRdx/Rchg(31), AdjTgt-Rchg(31)
Level 26: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(27), RechRdx-I(27)
Level 28: Super Speed -- Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(A), Zephyr-Travel(40)
Level 30: Mask Presence -- S'dpty-Def/EndRdx(A)
Level 32: Spin -- Sciroc-Acc/Dmg(A), Sciroc-Dmg/EndRdx(33), Erad-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(33), Erad-Acc/Rchg(37), Erad-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(39), Erad-Dmg/Rchg(43)
Level 35: Tactical Training: Leadership -- AdjTgt-ToHit(A), AdjTgt-ToHit/Rchg(36), AdjTgt-ToHit/EndRdx/Rchg(36), AdjTgt-EndRdx/Rchg(39), AdjTgt-ToHit/EndRdx(40)
Level 38: Mental Training -- Run-I(A)
Level 41: Gloom -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Dev'n-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(45), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(45), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(46), Dev'n-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(48)
Level 44: Soul Tentacles -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(45), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(46), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(46), Posi-Dam%(48)
Level 47: Summon Widow -- C'Arms-Acc/Rchg(A), C'Arms-Acc/Dmg(48), C'Arms-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(50), C'Arms-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(50)
Level 49: Tactical Training: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A)
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Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- ULeap-Stlth(A)
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 1: Conditioning
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I am working on my first Epic and opted for a Widow. I was wondering how necessary Hasten is. Is it pretty much a given that I should take it?

Thanks!