HK008

I disagree, and the issue about it's AoE immob is the least of the sets problems. I happen to like that the holds do -KB, but that was only due to my pairing it with Energy for that reason.

While I would never play a healing only anything at least this guy contributed to the team. There are times when kill speed is at an acceptable pace that someone like that can be more mindful of reactive defense. That's fine.

What I can't stand are /Pain players that don't heal at all, wait until a fight is over to heal, stay at ranged never healing melee, etc... The very worst case was a lowbie MM I grouped with that was so excited about his revive power he never healed anyone. If you died he would say "Wait, don't use that wakie I can revive you!". Then he would go back to setting his pets on aggressive, and only using dual wield over and over.

So while an all healing corr is a bit unorthodox there are far worse that you could group with.

Dominator's, and Masterminds have been my favorite AT villain side. Both of them really capture the flavor of bad guy, but Brutes do have their charm as well. I do still enjoy occasionally playing the mindless romp that is "SMASH" I find the other two AT's more satisfying.

My primary MM is a Necro/Dark. There is just something fun about sending a horde of undead to devour heroes, and Paragon PD agents while hurling dark magics about. It's pretty active maintaining control over my minions at times, and /Dark always has something for me to do.

Though my current favorite villain thus far is my Mind/Nrg Dom. It's probably the combination of name, Dr. Doom-meets-Lex Luther costume, and the combination of powers that make him feel like a typical comic book arch-villain. Mind controlling devices, and power suits firing concussive energy blasts are pretty standard. There is also a certain evil feel to using Confuse on "heroes". You take those that stand for good, and force them against their will to turn on their peers. Pretty sinister stuff! It's good wholesome fun for the entire family!

I have a Devil themed character waiting in the wings. He'll either be a Fire/ Dom of some sort, but I want to know how Demon Summoning will play out first. I also have a Plant/Earth concept ready to go, and I've used mid's to plan out the powers. I'm ready for that one! Should be a really fun pairing despite /Earth being a little lackluster. So many alts, so little time!

I agree with a lot of what Perwira suggests, but have a couple things to add.

The personal attacks that you can take maybe a benefit to you for the sake of boredom reduction. Pain can be very active during big fights, and especially on teams. Though there may be times you find you aren't healing much, and giving out more commands isn't needed. Firing an arrow may bring a smile to your face. I use the vet attacks when I get that bored, but you might not have them yet. Your Ninja will out damage you at all times make no mistake. If you do want an attack don't take all of them, and don't go nuts on slotting them. Usually I can find better things to spend powers/slots on, but there are a few exceptions, PD being a possibility. PD does provide buffs to make the attacks you have less pathetic, but it's not worth building for. If you really want an archery villain wait for Archery to arrive for Corruptors!

Conduit can be skipped, and Share Pain can be skipped (but really why do that?). Enforced Morale can also be skipped. If you solo a lot then you may not miss those powers. The bigger question though is what would you replace them with?

Leadership is something you can take or leave. Assault, and Tactics I would find worthwhile, but Maneuvers probably not so much. You just don't have much going for you in the realm of defense, and the little bit that you add from Maneuvers doesn't seem worth it.

Hasten, and Fitness are covered. As for the commentary on the other pools skip the ideas for everything else, and re-read the comments on Presence. Challenge/Provoke are very good choices for this combo. You can pull the heat off your paper tigers, and place it on yourself. In Bodyguard mode with the World of Pain, a patron resistance shield, and Suppress Pain running you are very tough. You can then get by a lot of conflicts with your area heal to mend any splash damage your ninja take while most of the damage just tickles you.

Oh, and take a peek at the patron options. You may want a resistance toggle from them. You may want a patron immobilize, and hold. Yeah, the Oni has these in his arsenal. He may not be the sharpest katana in the daisho sometimes so you can help him out. This also means with a hold of your own you can stack magnitude. None of the patron options are paramount, but I find the tools they bring very nice options for just about any MM build.

There ya go.

Elite bosses aren't that tough for many AT's to solo. However, when they go the next step up it's a night and day difference. You may pat yourself on the back for beating BAB as an EB. You haven't seen what he's capable of yet. Sorry to bring up BAB since you feel that is behind you. I'm just trying to help clear up what seems to me like a misconception here. Really the point that is trying to be made is that Elite Bosses aren't the toughest version of the respective NPC's. You can sub out BAB for any named NPC that has purple triangles floating around them. The end result is the same. Their EB version isn't the same fight as the full blown thing you'll find in a max difficulty setting. They can, and do become much, much, harder fights. Some that had hits that knocked your health below half will flat out kill you in one shot.

You can skip Share Pain, but why would you? If you're soloing I can maybe see that, but it's a big heal which can be useful. The side effects aren't a huge deal on MM's. Bigger question is what would you take in it's place?

"I had friends who would grenade the entire mob right as I hit Dark Regen. Grenade isn't a bad power, per say, but it makes me cringe everytime.

And, with the whole mind dom thing, the synergy is a bit odd."

It's only bad if the grenade is used early-mid fight. The OP felt Buckshot wasn't enough so I brought up the grenade. Yeah, it would be better to wait for Flamethrower, and Full Auto. What I was thinking is if the Mind was using other controls it wouldn't be as big an issue, but you're right, I should have dumbed it down. Silly me for thinking outside of the box.

Oriand, all AoE's hog end, gain aggro, and break sleep. If you don't want to work around the KB of M30 that's fine. Then I would suggest skipping Ignite too. To be quite honest for what you are trying to do I would suggest not playing Assault Rifle at all. Sonic has a nice selection of single target attacks, and blooms early. You can fire single target shots without any annoying side effects that you might have to work around. Then you can have all groups with Mass Hynposis and pick them apart 1 by 1. You won't have redraw issues either! Sonic is just one choice that comes to mind. Ice isn't bad either. It also has some holds which will add more control which could be handy. Try out some other Corruptor's and see if you like those better. I don't think the AT is bad, but there are some combos that aren't for everyone. If you aren't liking it now drop the character while it is still low level, and find something else early. There is no point in running a character to the 30+ game and hating every minute of it.

Good luck!

"And I have no idea why HK008 would suggest M30 if you're duoing with a mind. That's a bit...bizarre."

No love for the grenade huh?

You look really hung up on the concept of doing damage. Kinetics will shine there once you get Fulcrum shift! Until then you've got to cut your teeth with the rest of set which isn't "wowing" you. Thing is Corruptors don't just do damage, and are balanced around that. They still do pretty good damage though, but like most AT's they take some time to flesh out. Anyhoo enough of that. On to more of my thoughts.

As for the Mind/Psi...

Confuse isn't needed as soon as it opens. Neither is Mass Hypnosis. Especially not with all the AoE potential between the two of you. Mesmerize (this can sleep bosses without domination up btw), Domination, and Levitate are enough to get you out of the low levels. She just needs to practice doing the following... Pick a target for a control. Hit that control button. Now, pause, and mouse/tab for a new target. Once a new target is found press control button number 2. Repeat. You don't need lightening reflexes or be the best at twitch games like FPSers. Sounds like she is button mashing, and she just needs some patience, and practice. Dominating isn't easy, but it isn't rocket science either.

If I were playing it (Which I am playing a Mind/Psi :P )...

1 Levitate/Psionic Dart
2 Dominate
4 Tk Thrust
6 Mind Probe
8 Mesmerize
10 Mass Hypnosis (But solo, and I find it helpful at times even though it can be overkill)
12 Hover
14 Fly (I like to take my travels early. It's an old habit.)
18 Health
20 Stamina (old Habits die hard, and stamina is my friend for spamming ST attacks/control)
22 Psychic Scream
24 Drain Psyche
26 Terrify (this is a big deal)

So that's me focusing on some damage, and control early. I have a love for Hasten, but with that character I have it at 30. Confuse is at 32, the usual time Dom's get most pets, and it's what I am used to. I really don't need it right now anyway.

Telekinesis is an endurance pig! I have it as a level 49, but I might switch it for something else. I'm not there yet, and I'll jump that bridge when I get to it.

For an AR/Kin...

1 Slug/Transfusion
2 Buckshot
4 Siphon Power
6 M30 Grenade
8 Burst, or whatever. I'm usually not a fan of T1 blasts if there is a better option.
10 Hasten
12 Swift
14 SuperSpeed
16 Health
18 FlameThrower
20 Stamina
22 Speed Boost
24 Siphon Speed
26 Ignite, most likely.

With Hasten, and Siphon Speed you are burning a lot of your endurance due to attack spamming. Your endurance bar won't sustain that activity on any character that isn't a Regeneration Scrapper, or a Willpower Tanker (both get endurance recovery passives fairly early). Even those will have trouble pre-SO's running 90% recharge for 60+ seconds. Hasten also has an endurance crash, and that can be painful on low level characters. You need to be careful of it's use, and keep blue inspires at the ready when you see it flicker on your buff tray. I wouldn't take Beanbag or the Snipe. The first 4 attacks should be enough, and Flamethrower is pretty nice. Get Stamina at level 20, and by level 22 get single origin enhancements. You'll look back at your lowbie leveling career and laugh at it as most of your problems go away. Single Origins are that good.

Maybe AR/Kin isn't for you. Though I will remind you that the grass isn't always greener on the other side. A Blaster can run down on endurance pretty quick too if they spam attacks over and over. You also don't get the joy of having a Dominator with you.

"Performance has been... not good. We open fights with Mass Hypno, so I have to hold off on Buckshot until it wears off, leaving me with only two attacks to wear down enemies. Even using my full chain the damage is nothing to write home about. My girlfriend is pretty new and doesn't have the fastest reflexes, so I can't count on her controls to bail me out of trouble, leaving me dependent on my healing top stay alive. I die a lot, since my area attacks attract aggro without actually killing things. When we're not dying, I'm always the one running out of endurance since I have to attack and heal, while she doesn't heal and has Domination to refill her.

I know this build has a lot of pool powers that are doing nothing for me. I have two respecs saved and would happily use one if it would help but honestly I don't know what I could take. None of the powers I've skipped seem useful. Repel is an endurance hog, Sniper Rifle doesn't do that much damage, M30s would attract more aggro and use up endurance, and beanbag is worse than my partner's controls and another way to deplete my END. Plus, I'm gonna need Stamina to keep up with my girlfirend when she's running on Speed Boost and Drain Psyche. This was the build that convinced me Corruptors have a problem: apart form ym heal, I do literally nothing but damage, and not even good damage."

I'm not seeing a problem with the Corruptor here. I'm seeing Mass Hypnosis as the problem. I take it she is a Mind/Psi (you reference Drain Psyche). If she is using the AoE sleep what is she following up with? Psi Dart is pathetic for damage. There is a reason why you see no slots put into it on most Dom builds. So seriously what is she following up with? If she is finishing fights with endurance to spare she isn't getting the most out of her Dom, and I mean that. Psi has some AoE damage, and that will mesh with your AR AoE's. What you don't need to do is have a bunch of foes Slept hindering your combined efforts to do mass damage. You won't kill packs of mobs with just Buckshot. It's not your job to carry all the damage either.

Does she have Mesmerize, Dominate, Levitate, or Confuse? What does she have in her secondary? I think you both will get more out of your characters if she uses the single target controls a bit more than leaning so heavy on the Mass Hypnosis. That's a good power, but hindering your AoE damage is just making fights last longer. Terrify will be good for her to open with later on, and won't interfere with your damage. In the meantime I would suggest using Mesmerize on a tough target, and then pull the rest away from it. Then use a combo of Dominate to hold, Levitate to knock up, and maybe even Confuse one. The key here for her is not to focus single target controls on just one target. Dominate one, and then target another for the Levitate etc... When Dominate comes back up use it on a target that is not held. That way you can use cones etc... on the stuff with the single target controls without fear of it breaking, and save the slept target for last. She may need to reapply the sleep to the tougher target so keep that in mind depending on your killing speed. I'm stilling leveling my Dom's, and they are fairly new to me I'll admit. Though what I have found is that the Dom is best played very aggressively. That's one of the things that keeps me red side is that all the AT's are very "in your face" as a playstyle. Trying to be more laid back with any villain AT is really short changing the experience. Though I guess some MM combos can afford to be more laid back, but I hate those power combos anyway.

Enjoy your lowbie Corruptor by a change in group tactics. No single AT destroys lowbie content. Not even MM's.

If CoX were a fast food place

Weatherby "Excuse me miss. I didn't get a toy with this happy meal for my kid. Could you give me one?"

Dev "You want another toy?"

Weatherby "No, I didn't get one the first time."

Dev "You bought the happy meal right?"

Weatherby "Yes."

Dev "Then you got a toy."

Weatherby "No I didn't. I just told you I didn't get one, and would like one now."

Dev "So you want another toy?"

Weatherby "Can I speak to your manager?"

Dev "Sure." goes off to get Castle

Castle "What's the problem?"

Weatherby "I didn't get a toy with this happy meal. Can I get one now?"

Castle "So you want another toy?"

Weatherby "NO! I want the one I should have gotten in the first place!"

Castle "You bought the happy meal right?"

I'm playing a Nin/Storm as well. I'm absolutely loving it! I mostly solo, but I will share what I know from my teaming experience, and good sense with the set.

Storm is very heavy on knockback effects. It is very easy to knock foes around, and move them out of area of effect powers (like your wifes fireball/rain of fire/tar patch, your freezing rain etc...). Learn to position yourself so that you are facing a wall/corner that might not scatter the targets so much then use Gale. Gale can be used to sweep foes within it's nice cone range. I use it to control mob placement before I start laying down other effects. You can do this with Hurricane as well, but I find it a bit more risky. Just ease your way into the bad guys while Hurricane is running, and be mindful of your position relative to the target. Does it sound it takes practice? Well it does! Practice with Gale as you leveling, and you will get a basic understanding of what to expect out of Hurricane (it's point blank area, so it can throw mobs that are behind you the opposite direction). Hurricane does have a nice to hit debuff with it so it's useful for that effect. Tornado, and Lightening Storm are potentially big damage for you, but can throw foes around if you don't pay attention. Those 4 powers are the knockback powers, and take the most practice. Eventually, if you want a Patron, Mu offers Electric Fences that can negate the knockback. You can plant the fences on a target, and summon a Tornado on it. Sounds like Win right? It is! The other Patrons offer nice stuff too, but I like Mu for the effects plus theme.

While you are leveling up I would suggest you rotate your use of Freezing Rain with your wife's Tar Patch. They have long cooldowns and both reduce resistances. If you leap frog them while you move from group to group you should hopefully have one of them up most of the time. That will go a long way towards making packs of baddies easier to take out. Snow Storm will be up for you just about every group most likely, and you should use it as much as possible. You and your wife might want to pick a target as your "anchor". Let her place Darkest Night on it with your Snow Storm. Then you both leave it alone as best you can despite all the splash damage. Once the other targets are down you can then finish off the anchor. I like Bosses/LT's for this since they have more hit points, and the debuffs those powers provide will effect more minions as I tend to clean them up. Since the bigger baddy at that point is pretty much neutralized I save them for last with little fear of retaliation.

I think that covers the bulk of Storm in a nut shell. With Ninjas make sure you watch over them, and be mindful of who they are attacking. I use the advanced pet controls, and usually I just select a few staple commands to drag onto my tool bar. I have an all pets passive, follow, go to, and attack. Then I get more specific. I like to keep the Genin on defensive most of the time, but I have specific go to/attack/follow etc.. for them. I have that for my Jounin, and Oni as well so I can move them specifically if I want. I also have aggressive modes set up for just the Jounin/Oni so I have more flexibility in my offensive/defensive game plan.

You'll have enough to do managing your spaz ninja, and storm powers that you can skip the 3 archery powers. You can skip Thunder Clap too if you like, but most of the Storm powers are worth taking once you learn how to use them.

Things for the Fire/Dark. Flares, Blazing Bolt, and Inferno I find skippable. Inferno is big damage, but it drains endurance. Some like nukes others don't. Look into the Corrupter forums for the various opinions on tier 9 blasts. Blazing Bolt is a sniper attack, and I also find those lackluster. Again you can find more on that in the same forum. As for the /Dark side of things she should look to take most of the secondary except Black Hole. She could skip Petrifying Gaze, but even without damage I happen to like the Hold it does. It can also stack later on with a Patron Hold, and that is just good times. Otherwise she should take everything else. Slot Twilight Grasp with 1-2 accuracy then a combo of heal, recharge, and endurance. Oh, and she shouldn't be scared of mixing it up in melee range with your pets. That way she can heal them with the Twilight Grasp. If she takes damage you can heal her with O2 Boost. This should be pretty easy from the get go with Darkest Night + Snow Storm. Even easier later on if she Fears a group first. A big focus for her is going to be to hit debuff. Powers that should get that enhancement are; Darkest Night, and Dark Servant (aka Fluffy). You can slot Fearsome Stare for to hit debuff or fear duration. Fear would probably work best since she can help lockdown several targets at once for a good bit of time. Between your Hurricane, and her powers to hit debuff should be good. She should take Tar Patch, and try to time it's use with Rain of Fire (that combo of powers alone will kill most groups). Even if you don't expect your MM to die often she should take Howling Twilight. I see so many /dark users skip this because it's a resurrection power. That's only PART of it. It's a disorient, and it halts hit point regeneration for a time. It's worth it for that last part on tough opponents so that they don't naturally heal faster than you can damage them. The fact it can revive an ally is just a nice side effect. When playing my Necro/Dark I'll often use this power if my party is alive. Oh did I mention it's auto hit? Yeah, unlike Thunder Clap that has a hit check with a penalty Howling Twilight just does it's effects regardless. Pick a target, and debuff a group. Yay! It just has a long recharge as it's set back, but it's worth having.

I'm getting wordy with my information over load, but hopefully something in my wall of text helps you. A Necro/Dark wouldn't be a bad pair with her Fire/Dark. Just major over kill on the debuffs. At least with Ninja/Storm you will bring a high damage primary with a high damage secondary to her high damage primary, and heavy debuff secondary. I really doubt you will have much trouble in mowing things down.

Good luck!

Have you played this character yet to 50? You have little to no accuracy in your secondary powers that require hit checks. You skipped two really good powers in /Dark (Howling Twilight, and Fearsome Stare). Howling Twilight isn't just a combat rez. It's a pretty good debuff. With Fearsome Stare on my Necro/Dark I'm more than willing to start combat if some Brute wants to act like a sissy and not engage first. You're really missing out.

Petrifying Gaze needs more slots. You'll want it to actually hit if you are looking to stack holds. Your Twilight Grasp is also poorly slotted. You'll want some accuracy, healing, endurance, and recharge. You have more than enough to hit debuff options in your other powers. Hasten doesn't need 4 slots. It's not up enough to warrant that investment. Health and Stamina are also over slotted for little gain. You can get by with the base slot and 2 more in Stamina. You can take or leave Health. I have mine with the base slot +2 for a hit point increase from sets.

I'd skip Nightfall. It's damage is garbage with your AT modifier, and you have no slots in it. Let your minions do the heavy lifting. You're the brains, and you will have enough to do already with /Dark, and managing the Arsonist/Bruiser.

You'll get more out of your pets if you take 2-3 Acc/Dmg, and 2-3 Acc/Dmg/End IO's from multiple sets instead of one full set bonus. You can make up the set bonuses with better slotting in your secondary powers, and maximize the use of your pets. Your Enforcers should have 2 of the Acc/Dmg, and Acc/Dmg/End to taste, and 2 defense buffs for their leadership toggles. Gang War you can make a complete mule for all 4 pet uniques. The Bruiser can also benefit from the same Frankenslotting suggestion. The purple set is overrated for MM's for the most part.

Back to the drawing board with that build if you are looking to optimize it. Thugs/Dark is pretty powerful, and you can squeeze a lot more performance out of it.

I skipped this power, and so far it's not planned in my build. I do have one free power choice that I am not locked into. I think right now it's sniper blast at level 49 to eventually mule some IO sets. I've even considered Propel just for the occasional giggles of hurling a forklift.

I know there is a lot of hate for DS, and it can annoy teams. I mostly solo with my Grav and I am just looking to pick some brains for clever uses of the power. I'd like to be optimistic that having a long lasting hard control that opens at level 12 isn't absolute crap due to some terrible mechanic. There have to be some clever uses for this power right? Anyone? Bueller?

I'm no expert, but I have some thoughts. I'd consider dropping Static discharge/Detonator for Hasten. Recharge is your friend for more poison trap and acid mortar love. It's good for trip mine too! You don't need it to be perma, but it can be awesome for big fights.

Your protector is a bit light on accuracy for my tastes, but that is just my opinion. I'd probably skip the heal IO in favor of some more accuracy, but I'm a huge fan of making my pets accurate. Pets like the protector benefit from exploring potential of Hami-O's. You may not have the cash now, but I find them more valuable to MM's than peicemeal use of the purple set. Overall the build looks pretty solid to me. Good luck!