HotButteredSoul

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I'm still an unhitched gamer Woman...so now when's the guide for: "How to make your Hubby/BF less grumpy after you soundly thrash him in a game" come out?

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I believe it's universally understood that that would be a two word guide.

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The conundrum I face is my wife views the PC as an "evil and souless" box which is nothing but a bringer of porn....

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Well then, you'll have to go find and read the guide on that too!

Congrats on 50!!!

If you want to try another AoE nutso toon that needs a team to shine but can drop mad AoE damage, try a fire/fire or electricity/fire blapper. You'll have more AoE damage powers than your Spines/Dark. Some crazy crazy times....

Really nice guide!

A minor note about hotfeet: it does NOT affect recharge time. It damages, slows enemy movement, and has a -fly.

Arctic Air is similar, but it does not damage, it DOES slow enemy recharge, it can confuse, and it has -stealth.

Thanks for the great guide!

I find on my troller that Frostbite + AA is a fantastic combo. Together they destroy enemy recharge rates, and they keep those meanies from running out of your AA.

Glacier here, Ice Slick there, run over and frostbite and AA here. Wow... three sets of mobs controlled. It's a lovely thing.

_Brev_!!! I love this guide!!! Thank you thank you thank you. I, frankly, loathe the dwarf and nova forms for two reasons: 1) aesthetics. 2) homogeneity - I hate looking like everyone else!! If only I could dress up that lobster and squid!

Though it's a tough road, I prefer the idea of a Kheld that has only touched a human form and, therefore, has only that one at its disposal. Thanks for writing a guide to show me and others the way.

YAY!!! Thanks for the guide. Now I have some direction for General Gizmo.

Great to see a guide by a fellow Earthie! Huzzah! A very enjoyable read full with good information. Thanks! I loved it.

I have a few differences of opinion in the Earth powers, but I won't repeat here what I covered in my own guide.

Kudos!

Since Enan posted this in the controller forums it might go bye-bye, so I'm quoting it here for posterity and reference.
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So, I'm reading about VG, and wondering, what does it really, *really* do? And according to nofuture.com:

Essentially, it summons a number of pseudopets. The important ones are Volcanic Geysers.

6 x volcanic geyser pets, summoned at consecutive times (T=0, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50). The first five last 15 seconds, the final one lasts 10 seconds.

Every six seconds[1], each such pet casts Thermal Vent, a 30' range, 10' radius, 5 max target AoE hold mag 3 base duration 7.45 seconds, or in other words, 3 times (T=0,6,12), except the last one which only fires twice (T=0,6).

With no hold slotting, that's just slightly more than 2 small-AoE holds operating at any given second through the 60 second pseudospan of volcanic gasses, on average. 24.5% of the time, it's 3 of those holds out at a given time. With 3 holds slotted, it's an average of 3.74 such small-area holds in operation at a given time, with 4 such holds out 54.33% the time, five such holds out 23.0% of the time.

Now, it's interesting to compare this with the typical AOE. First of all, the Thermal Vent power itself looks to have an accuracy of 1.4. That compares rather favorably with a standard AoE hold's .8 accuracy. Second, the duration of the effect overall is 60 seconds. Fights rarely last a full 60 seconds, but in some sense at least, compared with the amount of time an AoE hold is influencing a fight-- 14.9 seconds, 60 seconds is long, long, long. Third... does it really give full coverage of that 60 second period of *time*? Well, yes. It always has at least one such hold out, and averages 2 at a time, even without slotting. Fourth, the area coverage? A standard RAoE hold is 20' radius, a PBAoE hold is 30'. This more resembles a RAoE. Two 10' disks are exactly half the area of a 20' disk. On the other hand, this area is split into two neat circles and may end up being applied within the 30' range of the pet, an ability that depends on the intelligence of the pseudopet to some extent, but as a practical matter might lead to better coverage than the 20' radius standard RAoE power. Fifth, magnitude-- if Volcanic Gasses lacks in reliable full area coverage... and I'm not sure I'd say that, one serious advantage it has as far as I can see is that in principle, vs a single target it might well stack all its holds up in one place, and have bosses held 90.2% the time after the sixth second. (Again, this even without hold slotting.)

Just to take it to an extreme, an Earth/Kin running Hasten and Siphon Speed 3-slotted, and Volcanic Gasses slotted: 3 recharge, 3 hold. VG will provide, when cast, 60.3 seconds of 4+ total magnitude. Or looked at another way, average 374 feet squared of coverage split into 3 or 4 patches, of 3 mag apiece, at very good accuracy, over 60 seconds. With Hasten and Siphon Speed every ~23 seconds, the 240 second base recharge of volcanic gasses with 3 recharge redux, cuts down to ~ 87 seconds. The only dismaying thing would be, despite being able to have VG out ~70% of the time, you're not often likely to have wave upon wave coming to you and your VG patch, in most scenarios.

[1] This, I really don't know for sure; I assume that if there's a target, the pet automatically casts the power with no delay. Every such pet has a leeway of about 3 seconds in its casting scheme, however, even if they don't. So... ? ::shrug::


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An utterly fantastic effort and a joy to read. Thanks Tal_N!!!

My Earth/Sonic teamed extensively with Darkfin's Ill/Storm around a year ago. Boy that was a thrill. Ill/Storm is a fantastic combination if you understand the intricacies. I don't think a person could avoid understanding them after reading this guide.

A suggestion: don't write your guides in notepad! Or do. I actually found the typos rather entertaining. My two favorites are (with my own interpretations):

"bear miniumum" - the sideshow freak midget bear!
"Concierge (Family)" - the Family NPC that will arrange tickets for the theater for you and then bonk you over the head.

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One note you should add to VG is that the max number of targets it will hold at a time is 5 unless the mobs are right on top of one another. If a held target is destroyed it will choose a new target and begin pulsing. When I got it I expected it to capture all in the AOE, but that is not the case.

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Good ole' Enan did a little writeup on this here:

http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showf...=0&gonew=1

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The bio can explain why some may look weird. Also, many of my heroes are dark, brooding sorts. More Batman or Punisher like.

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The part of the guide that covers this is here:
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3. You can almost interject or substitue black, white or grey(silver)into any combination. For example you could choose Blue and Orange (Like Sister Cinder) and add in black or white to the outfit and it will still look good. Or you could do a three color scheme with Blue, Red and instead of Yellow substitute black or white and it will still be pleasing.

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Of course, you can do two substitutions as well: a three color combo with blue and grey and black. Ta da... the brooding version of Batman.

That said, I agree that there are good looking heroes that can be made that don't follow the guidlines put forth here. However, those that can make such costumes are in no need of a guide. This guide is great for the aesthetically impaired who, with a little guidance, can make a nice little outfit for their favorite toon.

I still remember the field trip to JPL. My introduction to a computer, which was a keyboard with a paper printout, excited me beyond Saturday morning cartoon levels. Imagine my joy when the tech loaded up a Star Trek game where the bridge crew asked for instructions and I provided them. The printout was then torn from the machine and handed to me... it's in a box somewhere.

Pong and then Atari never spun my wheels.

Intellivision, however... oh my.

And then there was Wizardry.

I finally bought myself an Atari 800XL as a teenager. Played a game called Universe, that I loved. Anyone else ever try it?

http://free-game-downloads.mosw.com/.../universe.html

Dear Antaean,

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it!


Dear Skary in Skyway,

Oooooh. How I love both storm and sonic. That is a right difficult decision to make. I have a 35 storm defender, so I know how much fun they are. Nevertheless, I must back my chosen horse and say Earth/Sonic!! Whichever you do, enjoy.

I love that you made this guide. Thank you!

Good question, Mikoto!

Fortunately, there is some information out there for the fledgeling /sonic resonance corruptor.

Some say there are /sonic resonance controller guides. Rumor has it they are packed full of information on the sonic resonance set. The corruptor and controller versions of those powers, down to the level they become available and the endurance costs, recharge, range, and so on... are almost identical. The only major difference has to do with control type powers. Sonic cage has a higher magnitude in the controller version as does the knockback in sonic repulsion.

Check out the controller guides for sonic information: http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showflat....e=0&fpart=1

Good luck with your toons!

Joe, thanks for reviving the guide that I used to lay the groundwork (pun intended) to grow the Earth side of my controller.

My 35 Storm Summoning defender found your secondary section right on as well. Nice insight into the Stalagmites + Thunderclap approach. Sounds good on paper, but....

Thanks for the additional info, medic_brietz and Fractured_Golem!! I had never tried sonic cage on an AV (as I previously mentioned), just EBs. Good to know!

And, indeed, sonic repulsion is great for protecting targets, whether they be reactors, artifact cases, or squishies. Thanks for noting that!

Shak, thanks for the thoughtful and informative guide. My Claws/DA is 33 and a joy to play. I plan on taking all the Claws powers except confront.

I'm going to throw my hat into the "take spin" pile. You must understand, however, that I love big teams and rarely solo. Were I more of a loner I'd possibly skip spin.

However, on an eight member team it is fantastic to jump next to the tank, surrounded by enemies, and pop follow-up and then spin. I love it when it multi-crits. For us darkies, with death shroud running, that experience is especially satisfying.

I start with FU and then spin, then pick the toughest guy around and roll through my single target attack chain until spin is ready again. Between spin and DS, there is very little left by the time I'm done with "tough guy." I think, on big teams, taking spin makes you more energy efficient.

As far as spin generating aggro.. it will. But if you're traveling on a big team with a capable defender and/or controller, you should be ok.

I love claws! *hugs Night Grizzly*

Hooray for the sonic resonance collective!

I have a MA/SR. Rooftop Raider, awhile ago, became one of my favorite CoX players when he posted his MA/SR approach and build in the scrapper forum.

I have always found MA way too kick-heavy. Rooftop Raider found a way to build an MA that punched and kicked and still performed well. I love how mine looks when I play him the RR way. Of course, I favorite threaded that post. I suggest you do too and add a post to the thread about how much you love it to keep it alive.

Check out his posts here:

http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showf...art=2&vc=1

Maybe Rooftop will make a guide for us in case this thread gets cleaned away. He could call it, "Look MA!! Hands!!"

Siphon is a great power. The defender version will drop an even level enemy's damage resistance by 30%. Disruption field does 30% and the damaging sonic attacks do 20%. That means you can drop a target's damage resistance by 80%. Getting a boost to gross damage by your team on your target of that much is pretty excellent. Even just 30% is great. Sure a 10 point attack doing 13 doesn't seem like much. But taking out an enemy faster over the course of your defender career adds up. And when that 100 point blaster attack does 130, you notice.

This guide is almost 2 years old. There have been some vewy vewy important changes to fiery aura since then....

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One note you should add to VG is that the max number of targets it will hold at a time is 5 unless the mobs are right on top of one another. If a held target is destroyed it will choose a new target and begin pulsing. When I got it I expected it to capture all in the AOE, but that is not the case.

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Really good point. Volcanic Gasses isn't your typical AoE control.

I believe there are cases where you can hold more than 5 enemies. Please correct me if I'm wrong. In my experience I see enemies get held and sometimes released while new ones get held. Sometimes more are held, sometimes less.

My understanding (which again, might be flawed) is:
<ul type="square">[*]Each pulse of a hold is for 7.45 seconds. Pop some hold enhancements in there and you can get a 14+ second hold per pulse.[*]During the course of the 1 minute duration of VG, there are actually six cycles (pulses) of gysers that are dispatched. Each one lasts 15 seconds (hmmm.. about the same length as its hold fully slotted) except for the last one, which lasts 10.[*]The first gyser is dispatched when you cast the power. The next five are each started, one at a time, at 10 second intervals.[/list]What does this mean? This means that there are 25 seconds of overlap during VG where you have two gysers going (the ranges are 10-15, 20-25, 30-35, 40-45, and 50-55). And it's each gyser that has a limit of 5 enemies held. Does the subsequent gyser automatically target the enemies that are already held? This I do not know. If it doesn't, there's an opportunity for fluctuation of 5-10 enemies held at max as VG runs its course if, and only if, you slot hold durations or fight criminals quite a bit lower in level than you. Otherwise, you're definitely capped at 5.

Gyffes!!!

Thank you for the guide and congrats on hitting 50! It was a pleasure to cross paths and fight crime with Gyffes back in August. Between the /Rad and Earth/ defense debuffs I think our teams ran at a 95% clip for accuracy! Good times.

And good work!