HotButteredSoul

Excuse me!! I took two travel powers! Siphon speed and inertial reduction. I ended up bumping IR up to 22 (I was in a tf with a tank with no travel power, believe it or not!!) in my build (right now he's 36 and shelved as my altitis knows no bounds).

I've loved my build, btw. Gets knocked around a bit, but really fun. At some point I may swap something out for hover. We'll see how things go.

Really a high octane toon to play. Enjoy yours!

My take:

* Siphon speed doesn't need slows, but they are great in PvP.
* IR is better than super jump. Why? No supression.
* If you're going the leaping pool route consider acrobatics. If you're like me you'll be running into melee range quite a bit.
* I'd take speed boost [EDIT: OOOOPS! I mean siphon speed] at 10 so you have a pseudo travel power early.

As usual, thanks for the clarification, _Brev_!!

This isn't new news to many. I suppose that makes it "olds". Nevertheless, the information in this guide needs an update since the 12/07/2006 patch has modified the controller experience.

The following quotes are lifted from the patch notes .

[ QUOTE ]

Controller Containment bonus is now identical when used on critters or players. When a damaging power is used on a character under the effects of a detrimental status effect, the damage caused will be twice the base damage. (Exception: Spectral wounds damage bonus remains lower, due to the nature of the power.)

[/ QUOTE ]

In other words, [EDIT: the rest of this paragraph was a misinterpretation by me. Brev fixes it below, so I have snipped it].

There has been lots of gnashing of teeth over the following:

[ QUOTE ]

Controller Ancilliary Powers:

The damage of these powers was made artificially high originally, to make them desirable. In general, the damage was set to be roughly equivalanet to that of a Blaster. When Containment was added later, this was not taken into account. As such, these powers all do roughly twice the desired damage under Containment conditions. This series of changes is aimed at bringing these powers closer to balance.
<ul type="square">[*] Earth Mastery Hurl Boulder: Base damage reduced from scale 3 to scale 1.64[*] Fire Mastery: Fire Blast: Base damage reduced from scale 2 to scale 1.1[*] Fire Mastery: Fire Ball: Base damage reduced from scale 1.6 to scale 1.05[*] Ice Mastery: Ice Blast: Smashing damage reduced from scale 0.8 to scale 0.2, Cold damage reduced from scale 1.2 to 0.8[*] Ice Mastery: Ice Storm: Removed unresistible PvP damage and added Containment.[*] Primal Forces: Power Blast: Smashing damage reduced from scale 0.8 to scale 0.2, Energy damage reduced from scale 1.2 to 0.8[*] Psionic Mastery: Psionic Blast: Base damage reduced from 2 to 1.[*] Psionic Mastery: Psionic Tornado: Base damage reduced from 0.35 to 0.175.[/list]
[/ QUOTE ]

Yep, most of the controller epic powers have been halved in damage scale. However, we Earth/Sonics, already stalwarts of woeful damage, smile compassionately at our soggy brethren's cheeks. For they have been nudged, some might tell you pushed, to follow our chosen seismic path of control over damage.

Please be sure to hug sobbers and gnashers wherever you find them. Console them with the knowledge and example of the Earth/Sonic and our team oriented ways.

You are a rare individual with brazenly good taste.

Enjoy the ride!

[ QUOTE ]
What would really help would be the ability to edit your guide, regardless of age, instead of just posting replies to it. If that could be made possible for that forum only it would be very cool.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'd love to be able to do this too.

Obviously, the epic portion of this guide now requires an update. As I am in the process of moving across the country (made it here, just need to get and unpack my stuff...) I have very little time at the moment. Stay tuned, however! The update will come.

Good luck with your blaster! I highly recommend posting this type of question in the blaster forum. You'll get more feedback posting AT-based questions in the associated AT forum.

[ QUOTE ]
Secondaries: There are 3 secondaries that are good for a team support emp: Psy, Rad, and Dark. I will go over the optimal powers from it.

[/ QUOTE ]
I would add Sonic. You get:
<ul type="square">[*]AoE knockback[*]Single target disorient[*]AoE sleep[*]and... most importantly... attacks that debuff enemy damage resistance (even level enemies take a 20% hit from defenders).[/list]Very nice!

Dear Apocalypse86,

Welcome to our exclusive club! Sonic Cage is fantastic in those teen levels. I'm delighted to hear you are using it responsibly. Kudos to you. Do not be surprised, however, if you find your dependence on it tapering off as the levels go by.

I'm very excited for you: 4 more levels until you have Earthquake triple slotted!

Now, to your questions:

1) Animate Stone's taunt is stronger than the aggro Disruption Field generates. When I DF'd my AS she generally kept aggro. Still, she lacks a taunt aura and uses AI, so an intelligent tank is a preferable anchor.

2) Sonic Cage drops a 7.45 untouchable on your target. Elite Bosses can be caged with a shot. GM's cannot. I have never dared try to Cage an AV since my teams would have had my head. I'll have to defer to the untouchable experts on that one. I'd be surprised if they could without stacking cages with another teammate.

3) Do you need a tank? Well, the answer to that question is, of course, no. I spent entire TF's without a tank and did just fine. Do I like traveling with a tank? Love it. Tanks take heat off, giving us more breathing room to operate.

4) If you expect Liquefy to be like a Slick power or Earthquake, you will be disappointed. Consider it a defense and to-hit debuff that can begin with a knockdown or short hold. (An aside: I forgot to mention in my guide that the defender version of Liquefy has stronger debuffs than the controller version: 35.7% for defense and to-hit debuff and 28% to recharge time).

You're welcome for the guide. Best of luck in your career as an Earth/Sonic. Make us all proud!

Dear Skydance,

Sorry, I have a headcold. I missed your well-stated point. Volcanic Gasses and Quicksand will not scare an AV out of its radius. Each will, however, aggro him or her at you. However, if the AV is busy beating on your scrapper friend, he won't stop and run away just because you dropped either of these two powers down. Instead, he'll kill your scrapper buddy and then come after you.

This is, of course, based on my own AV battle experience with this toon. AVs have always been intent on slaughter, not running.

Dear Skydance,

Thank you for the compliments! To answer your questions:

1) Volcanic Gasses is a pulse hold. As you mentioned, it's very accurate right out of the box. One of those pulses is bound to hit. The only times I ever saw problems with it hitting were on the 2 or so teams where an sk wasn't available to me and enemies were +5 or so. It's that good. If you find yourself in those kinds of situations often (which, frankly, weren't so fun for me since my contributions became somewhat limited) go ahead and pop an accuracy or two instead of a hold. Otherwise, don't worry about it.

That said, I would not rely on the first tick of Volcanic Gasses. When you lay it down enemies generally get a shot off at you before they succumb to your hold. If you can't lead with Stalagmites, hide behind a corner, use your tank, and so on, be careful leading with VG.

2) An AV can run out of your Quicksand or Earthquake. That's a good reason for you to...

3) ... consider taking at least one of your immobilizes. They tend to work better against AVs than holds. Rad, like Storm and Empathy, can be a tight secondary since it has many good selections. For that reason I can see you skipping one, but not both of the immobilizes. Moreover, you're going to want to drop fliers. Stone Cages or Stone Prison are perfect for that.

If really don't want Stone Cages, Stalagmites no longer sends disoriented enemies on such wild trips as it used to. You can get away without your immobilize and just Quicksand. I did from level 6 until 22.

However, if you forgo Stone Cages then Stalagmites and Volcanic gasses, two powers with rather long recharge rates, will be your only ways to set up AoE containment until you hit EMP at 38. That's quite a run. Stone Cages, with its fast recharge, is excellent for setting up containment.

In the end, of course, it's all up to you. Good luck with your build!

Excuse me while I find some porous material to sponge up my melted grey matter.

5 stars and a job interview for you.

Noticed the first line turning echo off was missing from my post (but not my bat file... strange). Here it is again:
<font class="small">Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>
@ECHO OFF
REM configure
CLS
TITLE
COLOR 1F

REM Print hello
ECHO ************************************************** **************************
ECHO ******************** Sonic Resonance Bind Generator v1.1 *******************
ECHO ******************** by @HotButteredSoul *******************
ECHO ************************************************** **************************
ECHO * *
ECHO * This batch file generates a set of keybinds for CoX. *
ECHO * Once loaded, these keybinds will cast sonic barrier and sonic haven *
ECHO * on a teammate by simply pressing his corresponding number on the keypad. *
ECHO * In addition, left shift + numkey will cast clarity on the teammate of *
ECHO * same number. Enjoy! And thanks to StoryTeller for the initial version *
ECHO * of these binds for bubblers. *
ECHO * *
ECHO ************************************************** **************************
ECHO.

REM Ask for folder to make files in
SET folder=
SET /p folder=Type in a full path to create binds in (Default: c:\sonicbinds):
IF '%folder%'=='' set folder=c:\sonicbinds

REM Make folder
MKDIR %folder%

REM Make files
FOR /L %%n IN (1,1,8) DO ECHO numpad%%n "+down$$-down$$teamselect %%n$$follow$$powexec_name Sonic Barrier$$bind_load_file %folder%\SonicShields%%nb.txt"&gt;%folder%\SonicSh ields%%na.txt
FOR /L %%n IN (1,1,8) DO ECHO numpad%%n "+down$$-down$$powexec_name Sonic Haven$$bind_load_file %folder%\SonicShields%%na.txt"&gt;%folder%\SonicSh ields%%nb.txt
ECHO shift+numpad1 "+ $$teamselect 1$$follow$$powexecname Clarity"&gt;%folder%\load_sonic.txt
FOR /L %%n IN (2,1,8) DO ECHO shift+numpad%%n "+ $$teamselect %%n$$follow$$powexecname Clarity"&gt;&gt;%folder%\load_sonic.txt
FOR /L %%n IN (1,1,8) DO ECHO numpad%%n "+down$$-down$$teamselect %%n$$follow$$powexec_name Sonic Barrier$$bind_load_file %folder%\SonicShields%%nb.txt"&gt;&gt;%folder%\loa d_sonic.txt

REM Print goodbye message including hit key to exit message
ECHO.
ECHO Bind files generated.
ECHO.
ECHO Now run City of Heroes, log in as your sonic, and type
ECHO /bind_load_file %folder%\load_sonic.txt
ECHO.
SET anykey=
SET /p anykey=Please hit ENTER to EXIT...

REM Cleanup
COLOR
TITLE cmd
CLS
</pre><hr />

Dear Wolfie,

Thank you for your kind words and, more importantly, thank you for your alternative perspective.

Quicksand with 2 slows and 2 recharges seems like a good compromise. I ended up with 3 and 3 eventually, but /sonic is very friendly when it comes to enhancement slots. Empathy and Storm are much hungrier secondaries.

Both Empathy and Storm, arguably, have worthwhile selections for all nine tiers. I would say there is only one or even no power in each secondary I might do without. In Sonic Resonance, however, I can make cases for leaving out two or three powers and never missing them. Sonic provides just that extra space Stone Prison needs to call it a must-have if, as an Earth Controller, that is your chosen secondary.

As a Storm the build is so tight I can see leaving it out. As an Empath I can see the same, though without a self buff and no enemy debuff there remains a strong case for an Earth/Empath to take Stone Prison for those situations where he finds himself alone without his Wolfpack.

Great observation about the epic sets each having a unique power and thanks for your perspective on the sets.

Really looking forward to your Earth/Empath mini-guide!

Gotta love Enantiodromos for his contributions to the controller community on these forums. I just started a Fire/TA who I plan to run some splat with. If he keeps my attention that burning oil slick will be some serious fun.

You're in luck. The Dark/Dark scrapper has arguably the best guide ever written on any powerset combo. Enjoy:

The DM/DA Bible by The_Gamemaster

Content and style, an excellent guide. Thank you for writing it!

Dear Feint_of_Heart and Deceivius,

Thank you for your kind words! I'm glad you enjoyed it.


Dear Toasty,

Ever have the spinich salad for your appetizer, spend a nice dinner with friends, go out on the town, then return home to find a big fat piece of green between your upper incisors? Okay, maybe you haven't, but I know of somebody who has. No no it wasn't me. It wasn't! Don't look at me like that. Ok fine it was. Jeez.

Anyway, I thought, "why didn't anybody say something!?"

Thank you for the corrections! I have added them into the guide as per your instructions. I also adjusted the toxic resistance number to Earth's Embrace.

I find that if you must serve Gazpacho cold, you have some good options:
<ul type="square">[*]Gazpacho in Your Face: Arctic Air + Ice Slick + Liquefy as needed.[*]Gazpacho to Go: Frostbite + Shiver, add Liquefy as needed.[*]Gazpacho in Bed (aka on Your Back): Ice Slick + Shiver, add Liquefy as needed.[/list]Oooops. This isn't an Ice Guide. But what the heck! Stand by your controller brethren, I always say.

Thanks!

milk_weasel, thank you!

There was a problem and I have fixed it.
Please start from the beginning at step 1.
Do not worry, I have fixed the code in my posts.

Enjoy!

Great idea, Scots_Avenger.

For those who want to see the binds created by my
little batch file, I have put them below.

The code below assumes they are installed in the folder C:\CoH
When running my batch file, you won't have to worry about that.
It asks you for the directory to install them into and writes these
files out accordingly. But if you'd rather cut and paste from below,
you'll have to mess with the folder path yourself.

Also note, my batch file only uses standard DOS and batch commands.

It's not doing anything uncouth

The file load_sonic.txt loads all the bind files.
load_sonic.txt handles lshift+numpad mappings for Clarity.
The 16 SonicShields??.txt files handle Sonic Barrier and
Sonic Haven binds to the numpad. When you push
down on a number Barrier activates. When you let
go of the number Haven activates.

load_sonic.txt
<font class="small">Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>shift+numpad1 "+ $$teamselect 1$$follow$$powexecname Clarity"
shift+numpad2 "+ $$teamselect 2$$follow$$powexecname Clarity"
shift+numpad3 "+ $$teamselect 3$$follow$$powexecname Clarity"
shift+numpad4 "+ $$teamselect 4$$follow$$powexecname Clarity"
shift+numpad5 "+ $$teamselect 5$$follow$$powexecname Clarity"
shift+numpad6 "+ $$teamselect 6$$follow$$powexecname Clarity"
shift+numpad7 "+ $$teamselect 7$$follow$$powexecname Clarity"
shift+numpad8 "+ $$teamselect 8$$follow$$powexecname Clarity"
numpad1 "+down$$-down$$teamselect 1$$follow$$powexec_name Sonic Barrier$$bind_load_file c:\sonicbinds\SonicShields1b.txt"
numpad2 "+down$$-down$$teamselect 2$$follow$$powexec_name Sonic Barrier$$bind_load_file c:\sonicbinds\SonicShields2b.txt"
numpad3 "+down$$-down$$teamselect 3$$follow$$powexec_name Sonic Barrier$$bind_load_file c:\sonicbinds\SonicShields3b.txt"
numpad4 "+down$$-down$$teamselect 4$$follow$$powexec_name Sonic Barrier$$bind_load_file c:\sonicbinds\SonicShields4b.txt"
numpad5 "+down$$-down$$teamselect 5$$follow$$powexec_name Sonic Barrier$$bind_load_file c:\sonicbinds\SonicShields5b.txt"
numpad6 "+down$$-down$$teamselect 6$$follow$$powexec_name Sonic Barrier$$bind_load_file c:\sonicbinds\SonicShields6b.txt"
numpad7 "+down$$-down$$teamselect 7$$follow$$powexec_name Sonic Barrier$$bind_load_file c:\sonicbinds\SonicShields7b.txt"
numpad8 "+down$$-down$$teamselect 8$$follow$$powexec_name Sonic Barrier$$bind_load_file c:\sonicbinds\SonicShields8b.txt"
</pre><hr />

SonicShields1a.txt
<font class="small">Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>numpad1 "+down$$-down$$teamselect 1$$follow$$powexec_name Sonic Barrier$$bind_load_file c:\CoH\SonicShields1b.txt"</pre><hr />
SonicShields2a.txt
<font class="small">Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>numpad2 "+down$$-down$$teamselect 2$$follow$$powexec_name Sonic Barrier$$bind_load_file c:\CoH\SonicShields2b.txt"</pre><hr />
SonicShields3a.txt
<font class="small">Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>numpad3 "+down$$-down$$teamselect 3$$follow$$powexec_name Sonic Barrier$$bind_load_file c:\CoH\SonicShields3b.txt"</pre><hr />
SonicShields4a.txt
<font class="small">Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>numpad4 "+down$$-down$$teamselect 4$$follow$$powexec_name Sonic Barrier$$bind_load_file c:\CoH\SonicShields4b.txt"</pre><hr />
SonicShields5a.txt
<font class="small">Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>numpad5 "+down$$-down$$teamselect 5$$follow$$powexec_name Sonic Barrier$$bind_load_file c:\CoH\SonicShields5b.txt"</pre><hr />
SonicShields6a.txt
<font class="small">Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>numpad6 "+down$$-down$$teamselect 6$$follow$$powexec_name Sonic Barrier$$bind_load_file c:\CoH\SonicShields6b.txt"</pre><hr />
SonicShields7a.txt
<font class="small">Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>numpad7 "+down$$-down$$teamselect 7$$follow$$powexec_name Sonic Barrier$$bind_load_file c:\CoH\SonicShields7b.txt"</pre><hr />
SonicShields8a.txt
<font class="small">Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>numpad8 "+down$$-down$$teamselect 8$$follow$$powexec_name Sonic Barrier$$bind_load_file c:\CoH\SonicShields8b.txt"</pre><hr />
SonicShields1b.txt
<font class="small">Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>numpad1 "+down$$-down$$powexec_name Sonic Haven$$bind_load_file c:\CoH\SonicShields1a.txt"</pre><hr />
SonicShields2b.txt
<font class="small">Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>numpad2 "+down$$-down$$powexec_name Sonic Haven$$bind_load_file c:\CoH\SonicShields2a.txt"</pre><hr />
SonicShields3b.txt
<font class="small">Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>numpad3 "+down$$-down$$powexec_name Sonic Haven$$bind_load_file c:\CoH\SonicShields3a.txt"</pre><hr />
SonicShields4b.txt
<font class="small">Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>numpad4 "+down$$-down$$powexec_name Sonic Haven$$bind_load_file c:\CoH\SonicShields4a.txt"</pre><hr />
SonicShields5b.txt
<font class="small">Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>numpad5 "+down$$-down$$powexec_name Sonic Haven$$bind_load_file c:\CoH\SonicShields5a.txt"</pre><hr />
SonicShields6b.txt
<font class="small">Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>numpad6 "+down$$-down$$powexec_name Sonic Haven$$bind_load_file c:\CoH\SonicShields6a.txt"</pre><hr />
SonicShields7b.txt
<font class="small">Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>numpad7 "+down$$-down$$powexec_name Sonic Haven$$bind_load_file c:\CoH\SonicShields7a.txt"</pre><hr />
SonicShields8b.txt
<font class="small">Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>numpad8 "+down$$-down$$powexec_name Sonic Haven$$bind_load_file c:\CoH\SonicShields8a.txt"</pre><hr />

Exactly.

1) Open notepad or your favorite text editor.
2) Copy the code.
3) Paste the code into your text editor.
4) Then save the file as sonicbinds.bat
5) Quit your text editor
6) Double click on the sonicbinds.bat file
7) Follow the instructions.

The binds generated are for your numpad, 1 through 8
and left-shift + numpad, 1 through 8.

numpad means the set of numbers on the right side of your
keyboard.

Any binds you've already planted there will be overwritten.

Your other binds will be fine.

Here you go:

I Feel the Earth… Move… Under My Feet II
A Guide for the Earth/Sonic Controller, v 1.0

“Dear HotButteredSoul,”

Being such a rare species, I decided to start a support network for Earth/Sonics and the issues they face. Some have contacted me in need of dire help. Here are some of their letters. I hope they may help you along your journey as well:

Dear HotButteredSoul,

I have no idea what all this accuracy, defense, and to-hit mumbo jumbo is all about. I even graduated college and I still don’t get it. You should explain things better you jerk!

Confused in Croatoa

Dear Confused,

Uh… honey? Is that you? Hmmmm.

You are not alone. 25% defense debuff… 10% to-hit debuff… doobey doobey doo debuff. What does it all mean!?!? I have a great recommendation for you. Read Arcanaville’s Arcana's Guide to Defense v1.4 - Updated for I7.

This will clear things up. In a nutshell: dropping an enemy’s defense boosts your ability to hit. Thus, Earth Control powers boost to hit %.

Good luck!

Dear HotButteredSoul,

If Earth powers drop defense, and defense lets you hit more often, why slot accuracies at all? Save those slots for something better! I like to use mine in brawl. ROTFLMAO!! Not really!

Tommy in Talos

Dear Tommy,

There are those Earth Controllers who, via liberal use of Quicksand, forego extensive accuracy slotting. As you pointed out, you can do this too. You’ll find you hit quite often with 0-1 accuracies in your powers in PvE if you drop a quicksand first.

Should you do this?

It’s up to you. I don’t. I like to be as flexible as possible. You never know where the enemy is coming from. If you are relying on the availability and deployment of Quicksand to allow your other powers to hit… well.. in my book you’re limiting your ability to handle the randomness that are large team missions. I prefer to have any attack slotted so that it will hit a +4 with a high degree of certainty without the Quicksand requirement. One thing Earth/Sonic does well is allow for slots. I highly recommend you consider putting two accuracies in any power that will take them, except for volcanic gasses and liquefy. One will do in single target powers, but two is always better. With one you’ll miss more often in PvP and against those purple people eaters. And who likes missing? Nobody.

My advice, whenever you want to try out a new idea, go to the test server and try it out. It helps quite a bit! Good luck.

Dear HotButteredSoul,

I don’t trust you. So I went ahead and used Sonic Siphon on an enemy and recorded all the numbers. Guess what? I only got a 20.25% boost in damage. You said it would be 22.5% You’re a liar! How dare you!

Bummed in Brickstown

Dear Bummed,

There’s one thing I didn’t mention in my guide. It can get rather complicated for some, so I didn’t go into it. Frankly, it is covered in great detail in iakona’s Power Data Standardization v2.0 (Issue 7). If you check that article you will discover a table called “COMBAT MODIFIERS.” Combat modifiers are adjustments to your powers based on the number of levels your enemy differs from you. Ever notice that you do more damage and longer holds against enemies that are lower level than you? Enemies that are higher level than you take less damage and are held for shorter times. This applies to damage resistance as well. An enemy one level above you applies a 0.9 combat modifier to your powers. That means, a 22.5% resistance debuff against an even level enemy becomes a 22.5% * 0.9 = 20.25% resistance debuff. From that alone I know you were fighting an enemy +1 to you. Just so you know, +2 has a 0.8 modifier, +3 a 0.65, and +4 is 0.48. Yep, against a +4 your Sonic Siphon will do a 10.8% damage resistance debuff instead of 22.5%. Check out the table in iokona’s post for more information.

Good luck.

Dear HotButteredSoul,

For the life of me, I cannot find a team!! I use deodorant. Am I doing the wrong thing? Please help!

Alone in Astoria

Dear Alone,

First of all, get out of Dark Astoria. Nobody goes there anymore. Now, a team is more important to a well-fed and exercised Earth/Sonic than almost any other toon. Soloing, though necessary at times, is not the strength of this combo. Thus, it is important to polish some of your interpersonal skills to find and work on a team. You must also strive to be a good teammate. The basics of working within a team is covered nicely in PhiloticKnight’s The Combat Handbook v2.0.

To find a team, I recommend the following process.
<ul type="square">[*]Join an active super group. A polite player with a good character concept has an easy time finding super groups. Go to the SG NPC in Atlas to see how the SGs on your server are ranked. Then write emails to the ones that look good. Also, check the forums for your server for SGs and make contact. It’s worth your while. Be sure to join your SG’s chat channel.[*]Check your server forum for your server chat channel. Join it and add it as a tab on your interface.[*]When you find good teammates, /friend them. When you find exceptional teammates ask them if you can global friend them. If they say yes, do it.[*]When you login, set your team window to “looking for ….”[*]Check your sg, friends, and global friends lists. Advertise your availability on your server chat channel. See if you can get on a pre-existing team.[*]Pull up the team window and select a level range you fall into. Do a search. Notice there are bright and dimmed names. Bright names are names of people not yet on teams. If there are enough bright names, send tells and ask if they’d like to join you for a team. Soon you’ll have a team and you’ll be the leader! Now you can make them do your missions.[*]If there aren’t too many bright names, look for dim names. Since the dimmed names are already on formed teams, maybe you can join up! Send these people tells and ask “Hi! I’m a lvl XX controller lft. Do you have room for another?” If they say no, say “good luck bringing those criminals to justice! If you get an open spot, please consider me.” It’s the classy move and you will get invites this way.[/list]Good luck. With this advice I’m sure you’ll make new friends and find enjoyable teams.

Dear HotButteredSoul,

I don’t think my team appreciates me. They never talk to me. I stand in the corner and cry, and even then they won’t approach and ask me how I’m doing. If only somebody would smile in my general direction. I’m not asking for much. I don’t know if I can take the isolation anymore. What do I do!??

Lost in the Land of the Lost

Dear Triple-L,

This might be difficult to hear, but it’s good well-documented advice: instead of waiting for someone to perform an action you want them perform, do it yourself. In other words: don’t wait for them to talk to you. Talk to them! Why? Letting your team know what is what is an important skill for the Earth/Sonic. Here are some messages I have /bind’d to allow for ease of chatting:
<ul type="square">[*]“The Earth’s vibrations call to me…. A $target is near.”[*] “Please wait a moment for your triple slotted Seismic Shields!”[*] “$target may I use you as a Disruption Field anchor? It will reduce the damage resistance of every enemy you’re near, which means we all do more damage. When you see red shields on them you’ll know it’s working.”[*] “Seismic Dispersion is up! Stay close for mezz and damage resistance protection.”[*] “I am going to Salt Crystal (sleep) that mob. Use only single target attacks on the ones I miss, please.”[*] “If you get mezzed, type your team number. For example: 2. I will Clarity you.”[/list]Just these few will complete change your communication experiences with your team. If you want to make your own bind, just pick a key, say ‘b’, pick a message such as a warning message, and use the following command:

/bind b “say I’m picking up the vibrations of a $target. Beware.”

Just make sure the key you select isn’t already bound to something you need and use. Enjoy.

Dear HotButteredSoul,

I’m getting carpal tunnel syndrome shielding my team. I’m about two influence away from respec-ing out of those darn things forever! Also, my friends complain that it takes me too long to Clarity them when we’re in the middle of a crazy fight. I’m going as fast as I can but my wrist hurts!! What else can I do? I hate this buff-bot deal. I haven’t yet, but I’ve been having dreams where I log into City of Heroes and I roll a Spines-Regen scrapper. Please help!

Shieldless in Skyway

Dear Shieldless,

Putting shields on your teammates can be an annoying process. Now now.. I did it until level 50, so you can too. One thing you’ll learn from a /regen scrapper is that they will love you forever if you shield them. They will no longer fear alphas. To ease your clickfest use a bind or two. Fortunately for us, Storyteller published a set of bind’s on FF shields in The Incomplete and Unofficial Guide to /bind.

I have altered them to meet the needs of a Sonic. The result? If you want to shield a teammate, simply press the number corresponding to his team number on your numpad. It usually works, though sometimes you have to hit the key a few times to get both shields on her. Try it out and see what you think.

Regarding Clarity and quickly firing clarity off on a mezzed mate: often, a teammate will type “zzz” or “held” if he is mezzed. Then you have to find the teammate, select him, and activate Clarity. Precious seconds go by. Instead do this: use my binds to bind lshift-numkey to Clarity a member of your team. Now tell your team to type their corresponding team numbers if they get mezzed. For instance, teammate #6 types “6” if she gets feared. As soon as you see “6”, you hold down “left shift” and press “6” on your numpad. Boom, she’s back in the game.

Want these binds? I have written a batch file to make them for you. Please check out my post Sonic Resonance Bind Generator v1.0 to get them. Good luck!

Dear HotButteredSoul,

I love this game. I love Earth. I love Sonic. I hate people. I only play at 3am when nobody else is on. It’s a good thing too. I hate people. Why do MMORPG’s have to let other people play them. I hate that. I hate that I even have to write you this letter. That is, assuming you’re a person. I like mice. They make good companions. Anyway, I’m going to solo my Earth/Sonic. I don’t care what you say. I’m soloing him. Will I die of old age before I’m done or can I do this?

Hermit in the Hive

Dear Hermit,

Compared to other controllers, Earth/Sonic is the turtle of soloing. If you owned a VW van you already know the mindset to use. You’ll get there, just don’t worry about when. In spite of all my teaming, you’ll be happy to know I did solo my Earth/Sonic a fair amount, especially to run through contact missions to get to badges. That’s right.. not only can you solo an Earth/Sonic, I did it. Patience is a virtue. Then again, so is chastity. Hmmm.. maybe you shouldn’t be listening to me at all.

Earth gets two damage powers worth mentioning: Fossilize and Stone prison. Both have 1.0 damage scale. It’s not much but that’s enough to let you solo. In a mission, when you run into that lieutenant and a minion, you simply:
<ul type="square">[*]1) Fossilize the leut[*]2) Stone Prison the minion[*]3) Fossilize the minion[*]4) Stone Prison the minion[*]5) Repeat steps 1-4 until minion is dead, then focus all attacks on leut[*]6) Sprinkle with Seismic Siphon as needed[/list]As you go up levels you can modify this chain. For instance, at 12 you can put Stalagmites as step 0, then do steps 1-6.

Since you are determined to solo Earth/Sonic instead of something saner like Grav/Rad, you might do well to slot damage in both Fossilize and Stone Prison. Another help: take a pool attack like Air Superiority or Flurry. If you can get a temp power or Veteran Reward that does damage, do it. Once you get 3 damage SOs in each of those three powers you’ll be able to take down an even level minion in just three hits. This chain: Prison-&gt;Fossilize-&gt;melee attack works wonders. You set up DoT and containment, then do burst damage with your next two attacks. You’re no scrapper, but it works.

That said, there is a light at the end of the tunnel: level 33. At that point you can have Animate Stone with three damage SOs. Changes everything. You can even respec out of that melee power if you want to. Of course at 41 you finally get damage powers as well. Once you build those up you can respec out of Animate Stone if you’d like to. Good luck on your slow journey. I hope you like the smell of flowers.

Dear HotButteredSoul,

I have read your guide and it was long. You really need an editor. Even so, I’m going to grow myself an Earth/Sonic. Her name will be Karmen Gaia. I just don’t know what to do now. How did you build your Earth/Sonic? I need any guidance I can get.

-Karmen in Kings Row

Dear Karmen,

Builds are based on needs. The magic of this game is everyone can build something different that works. The differences depend on what you want. Do you want to PvP a lot? A little? Not at all? Will you fight purples often or limit yourself to easier prey? What is your concept? Will you team as much as possible or will there be a significant amount of soloing? What powers appeal to you? I made some specific decisions. First, I wanted to PvE mostly, but PvP whenver I wanted to. I wanted to be able to contribute against +4 opponents. I wanted to be a controller first and use my secondary secondarily, so I built out my primary first. I liked the idea of a jumping toon since I imagined her using the Terra Firma to catch and catapult her into the sky. I liked the Stone Mastery powers conceptually over the others. I wanted to build a toon that leveled without needing a respec. With that in mind, I picked up SherkSilver’s Character Builder and built the following toon. It worked out great for me. I hope this helps:

---------------------------------------------
Level: 50
Archetype: Controller
Primary: Earth Control
Secondary: Sonic Resonance
---------------------------------------------
01) --&gt; Fossilize==&gt; Acc(1)Acc(3)Hold(5)Hold(5)Rechg(7)Rechg(7)
01) --&gt; Sonic Siphon==&gt; Acc(1)Acc(9)
02) --&gt; Stone Prison==&gt; Acc(2)Acc(3)
04) --&gt; Sonic Barrier==&gt; DmgRes(4)DmgRes(11)DmgRes(17)EndRdx(37)
06) --&gt; Quicksand==&gt; Slow(6)Slow(9)Slow(11)Rechg(37)Rechg(40)Rechg(43)
08) --&gt; Combat Jumping==&gt; Jump(8)
10) --&gt; Hurdle==&gt; Jump(10)
12) --&gt; Stalagmites==&gt; Acc(12)Acc(13)Rechg(13)Rechg(15)DisDur(15)DisDur(17)
14) --&gt; Super Jump==&gt; Jump(14)
16) --&gt; Health==&gt; Heal(16)
18) --&gt; Earthquake==&gt; Rechg(18)Rechg(19)Rechg(19)Range(46)Range(46)Range(46)
20) --&gt; Stamina==&gt; EndMod(20)EndMod(21)EndMod(21)
22) --&gt; Stone Cages==&gt; Acc(22)Acc(23)EndRdx(23)
24) --&gt; Sonic Dispersion==&gt; EndRdx(24)DmgRes(25)DmgRes(25)DmgRes(31)EndRdx(34)EndRdx(34)
26) --&gt; Volcanic Gasses==&gt; Rechg(26)Rechg(27)Rechg(27)Hold(36)Hold(36)Hold(36)
28) --&gt; Sonic Haven==&gt; DmgRes(28)DmgRes(29)DmgRes(29)EndRdx(37)
30) --&gt; Disruption Field==&gt; EndRdx(30)EndRdx(31)EndRdx(31)
32) --&gt; Animate Stone==&gt; Acc(32)Dmg(33)Dmg(33)Dmg(33)Acc(34)
35) --&gt; Clarity==&gt; EndRdx(35)
38) --&gt; Liquefy==&gt; Rechg(38)Rechg(39)Rechg(39)TH_DeBuf(39)TH_DeBuf(40)TH_DeBuf(40)
41) --&gt; Hurl Boulder==&gt; Acc(41)Acc(42)Dmg(42)Dmg(42)Dmg(43)Rechg(43)
44) --&gt; Rock Armor==&gt; DefBuf(44)DefBuf(45)DefBuf(45)EndRdx(45)
47) --&gt; Earth's Embrace==&gt; Rechg(47)Rechg(48)Rechg(48)Heal(48)Heal(50)Heal(50)
49) --&gt; Acrobatics==&gt; EndRdx(49)EndRdx(50)
---------------------------------------------
01) --&gt; Sprint==&gt; Jump(1)
01) --&gt; Brawl==&gt; Acc(1)
01) --&gt; Containment==&gt; Empty(1)
02) --&gt; Rest==&gt; Rechg(2)
---------------------------------------------


Dear HotButteredSoul,

Last night I went into Siren’s Call for some PvP. I went up against a corruptor named “Hyper-Cricket” who jumped all over the place. I tried to Fossilize and Stone Prison her, but nothing worked. She didn’t even attack me at first.. she just kept jumping and laughing and jumping and laughing. I thought I was watching a how-to cheerleader video. That was until she disoriented me and sent me to the hospital. What happened?

Stunned in Siren’s

Dear Stunned,

All I can say is, please see and sign this thread: http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showf...Number=6514287 It’s a bug. It definitely discourages PvP fiends from going the Earth Control route. Of course, if this gets fixed we might be back in business. That said, I find that toons EVENTUALLY stop jumping for a moment. And when they do, you strike. I still manage to have fun in PvP. I hope that you do too.

Good luck.

Dear HotButteredSoul,

Throughout your guide you make suggestions about using powers together. Can you give me any other tips on the strategy of the Earth/Sonic? I would love some guidance! And after all, you wrote a guide.

Foolish in Faultline

Dear Foolish,

Like builds, tactics really depend on the person executing them. The tactics I’m comfortable with may not be the ones you’re comfortable executing. Moreover, tactics change based on terrain, enemy abilities, team composition, and the number of mai-tais you’ve consumed. My basic suggestions:
<ul type="square">[*]Learn how to rotate Fossilize to hold 2-3 targets at a time.[*]Learn how to place your targeted powers, Earthquake, Quicksand, Volcanic Gasses, and Liquefy, into enemy locations while you are out of their line of sight. This is key.[*]If there’s an active tank on the team, wait for him to get the aggro before you engage the enemy.[*]Use Earthquake and Quicksand together. You have the option of adding Volcanic Gasses or Liquefy to that mix.[*]Use Stalagmites and Stone Cages together. Add Volcanic Gasses or Liquefy to the mix.[*]Pick a target you want to Fossilize before you lay down your AoE controls. Once your AoE’s go down, you’ll still have that target selected.[*]When you get a new power, practice with it! If it’s an attack power, practice on lower level victims. Get a feel for it. If you’re not sure what to take, copy your character to the test server and try out some powers. Read CuppaJo’s How to get on the test server (and char copy tool) to learn how to do this.[*]Have fun![/list]Hope that helps.

Dear HotButteredSoul,

Dag nabbit! I read your guide and I’ve had this BLOODY SONG STUCK IN MY HEAD FOR TWO DAYS NOW. Hate you… so much… right now… -_-

Luminara in the Lumiverse

Dear Luminara,

Big apologies. You will be happy to know that this condition is easily fixed. Simply toss Isaac Hayes’ Hot Buttered Soul into your CD player and all will be rectified.

Dear HotButteredSoul,

Okay, I just hit level 10 with my Earth/Sonic. I cannot fathom that you actually dinged 50 with such a toon. This guide is simply one huge lie. May I meet you in person and ask you about this?

Polygrapher in Peregrine

Dear Polygrapher,

No. But you can check out my City Game Tracker page for my 50, Seismic. I also wrote a “Ding 50” post which will be here until it’s erased by the forum Gods. It’s the original I Feel the Earth Move post. Enjoy!

Dear HotButteredSoul,

Could your guide be any longer? How about putting a sock in it? Gimmie your address so I can come over and feed your keyboard to my anaconda. If I’m in a good mood you WON’T be next.

Annoyed in Atlas

Dear Annoyed,

End of Guide.

Anyone else, please feel free to write a Dear HotButteredSoul letter here. I will do my best to respond.

Happy CoX’ing!

Epic Powers

I wasn’t able to find a thorough guide to Controller Epics. So, what the heck, I wrote my own.

For me, theme really decides what epic powers I’m going to take. As far as what is most effective, it can depend on what you’re up against. For you number crunchers out there, reference Colex’s Enemy Resistances – Damage and Mez, for a breakdown of what our enemies stand up to. As far as how epic powers fit with the Earth/Sonic controller, here’s some information:

Fire Mastery

Not a bad choice. Tap into the soft magma center of the Earth and redirect some into your enemies’ eyeballs. You get some damage, a shield, and some endurance. The nice part is the damage, which has been sorely lacking your first 40 levels. Remember to contain your target before you toss out a Fire Ball or Blast. It’s like auto-crits every time! And who likes to do critical hits? Yep.

Fire Ball
Available at Level: 41
Accuracy: 1
Range: 80
Endurance: 18.98
Recharge: 32
Radius: 15 feet
Damage Scale: 1.4 Fire Damage + three (80% chance) 0.1 Fire Damage ticks (3.9 + up to three 0.277777 BI)

“Hurls an exploding Fireball that consumes a targeted foe, and all nearby enemies. Anyone in that explosion is burned and set ablaze.”

This finally makes you a blastroller. If you take this pool, take this power. Cook dinner for your friends.

Recommended Slotting: 1-2 accuracies, 3 damage, 1-2 recharge

Fire Blast
Available at Level: 41
Accuracy: 1
Range: 80
Endurance: 6.5
Recharge: 8
Damage Scale: 2.0 Fire Damage + four (80* chance) 0.1 Fire Damage ticks (5.555556 + up to four 0.277777 BI)

“Sends a Blast of Fire at a targeted foe and sets the target on fire for a short period of time. Slower recharge rate than Flares, but more damage.”

A very nice blast. Again, if you take this pool, take this power and let your inner pyro-child be free. Great for crème brulee.

Recommended Slotting: 1-2 accuracies, 3 damage

Fire Shield
Available at Level: 44
Endurance: 0.16/tick
Recharge: 2
Duration: toggle

“While this power is active, you get a good resistance to Lethal, Smashing and Fire damage. Fire Shield also provides minimal resistance to Cold damage. You must be level 44 and have Fire Blast or Fire Ball before selecting this power.”

It’s up to you if you want to take a shield. This one will give you 27.5% resistance to smashing and lethal damage, around 42.9% if you triple SO it. Factor in Seismic Dispersion and you have around 61% resistance to both. Nice. In addition you get 20% resistance to fire and 10% to cold. Slotted up those numbers are around 31% and 15.6%. I’d take it, even though it makes you look like a 80 year old lady’s birthday cake.

Recommended Slotting: 3 damage resistance, 0-1 endurance reducers

Consume
Available at Level: 47
Accuracy: 1
Range: Player Based AoE
Endurance: 0.65
Recharge: 360
Radius: 20 feet
Damage Scale: 0.4 Fire damage (1.11111 BI)

“You can drain body heat from all nearby foes in order to replenish your own Endurance. The more foes affected, the more Endurance is gained. Foes suffer minimal Fire damage. You must be level 47 and have two other Fire Mastery Powers before selecting this power.”

Isn’t this one of the best power names? CONSUME… dun dun DUN!!! Anyway, it’s not a terribly useful power to the Earth/Sonic. First of all, we don’t have too much in the way of endurance issues if we triple slot Stamina. Second of all, you have to run into melee range to use this power. That’s actually fine, considering most enemies are locked down when you’re around. Still, a very optional power.

Recommended Slotting: 3 recharge, 1-2 accuracies.

Ice Mastery

Well, there could be ice on the Earth when it moves. There often is! Technically, an avalanche can be a large slide of snow instead of or in addition to rocks. So that global warming avalanche concept toon from Greenland could very well go this route. A little less damage than fire, but it’s better if you like the color blue. Let’s investigate:

Hibernate
Available at Level: 41
Endurance: 0.16
Recharge: 240
Duration: 30 seconds, but can be toggled off before then.

“When you activate this power, you encase yourself in a block of solid ice, making yourself invulnerable, though you are frozen solid and cannot act. While Hibernating within this block of ice, you heal damage and Recover Endurance at an incredible rate.”

Fire this up and you’ll look like a frozen caveman in a costume. Strange it’s called hibernate. Animals hibernate in caves, not blocks of solid ice. This power should have been called “Frozen Caveman!” Anyway, you can’t be knocked around, you can’t be hit, you can’t hit anything or buff anyone, and you get back your health and endurance. In other words, it’s a great big blue panic button: a big blue sonic cage that you shoot at yourself. Nice to have, but rarely used. Very optional pick. Your inner paleo-anthropologist will love it, though.

Recommended Slotting: 3 recharge

Ice Blast
Available at Level: 41
Accuracy: 1
Range: 80
Endurance: 10.66
Recharge: 8
Damage Scale: 0.8 Smashing Damage + 1.2 Cold Damage = 2.0 (5.5555556 BI)

“Ice Blast hurls shards of ice at foes and Slows their attacks and movement for a time. Slower recharge than Ice Bolt, but more damage.”

Gives a meanie frostbite and slows him down a bit. Not a bad power to get for a little damage dealing if you go the Ice route. Note that containment damage is all cold damage. In other words, hit a contained victim and you’ll do 0.8 smashing, 1.2 cold and then another 2.0 of cold damage for containment for a grand total of 4.0 damage. I can hear the toes hitting the operating room floor now.

Recommended Slotting: 1-2 accuracies, 3 damage.

Frozen Armor
Available at Level: 44
Endurance: 0.16/tick
Recharge: 2
Duration: toggle

“While this power is active, you coat yourself in rock hard Frozen Armor. The hardness of the Frozen Armor offers good defense to Smashing and Lethal attack as well as reduces Cold damage. Also, Fire attacks deal slightly less damage.”

Fire up this armor and you get protection. Even better: you can jump into a giant glass of rum and coke and do a cocktail imitation. This armor provides you with 13.5% defense to smashing and lethal attacks, 21% if slotted out. Since Seismic Dispersion is a damage resistance shield, these don’t stack. However, Frozen Armor provides another 30% resistance to cold and 10% resistance to fire. If you slot damage resistance you can boost these up to 47% and 15.6%, and they will stack with your big big rings.

Recommended Slotting: 3 defense, 0-3 defense resistance

Ice Storm
Available at Level: 47
Accuracy: 2
Range: 60
Endurance: 19.5
Recharge: 120
Radius: 25 feet
Damage Scale: Lots of little ticks totaling 2.3 Cold Damage (6.39 BI) per target
Duration: 15 seconds

“Shred your foes with this Ice Storm. This power deals a lot of damage in a large area and can Slow all affected targets movement and attack speed.”

This sends your enemies running, albeit slowly. Of course, after you’ve Earthquaked, Quicksanded, Volcanic Gassed, or maybe even Stone Caged them, that isn’t a problem. Muahahaha.

Lots and lots and lots of little ticks of damage ensue. Take it. Use this power whenever you are feeling merciless. Containment does not boost Ice Storm’s power. A shame. Why? It’s considered a summoned pet.

Recommended Slotting: 3 damage, 3 recharge.

Primal Forces Mastery

What a name! Say it in your best Austin Powers voice, “primal forces mastery, baby, YEAH!” Earth and sound… these are primal things. This choice really should fit into any concept, especially Rock Your World Woman. How useful is it? To me, not very. This is the one epic controller set without an AoE damage attack. If you’re interested in staying the route of control over damage, this is the way to go. Read on:

Conserve Power
Available at Level: 41
Endurance: 97.5
Recharge: 600
Duration: 90 seconds

“You can focus for a moment to Conserve your Endurance. After activating this power, you expend less Endurance on all other powers for a while.”

This gives you a major discount to endurance costs of your powers for a minute and a half. This is a great thing, especially if you’re a Spines/DA scrapper, a Broadsword/DA scrapper, an Ice/Energy blaster, and so on. You, however, are not. And if you read this guide and built your toon accordingly, you have minimal endurance issues. Definitely optional. On the other hand, if you’ve put together a build that relies on Seismic Repulsion, a very nice tool to have.

Recommended Slotting: 3 recharge

Power Blast
Available at Level: 41
Accuracy: 1
Range: 80
Endurance: 10.66
Recharge: 8
Damage Scale: 0.80 Smashing Damage + 1.2 Energy Damage = 2.0 (5.5555556 BI)

“A much more powerful, yet slower version of Power Bolt. Power Blast sends a focused beam of energy at a foe that can knock him back.”

Ka-POW! This is all the damage Primal Forces Mastery gives you, so you better take it. Note that containment damage on this power is all energy. In other words, if you hit a contained enemy with it, you’ll do 0.8 smashing damage, 1.2 energy damage, and then another 2.0 of energy containment damage. That’ll leave a mark!

Recommended Slotting: 1-2 accuracies, 3 damage.

Temp Invulnerability
Available at Level: 44
Endurance: 0.16/tick
Recharge: 2
Duration: toggle

“When you toggle on this power, you become highly resistant to Smashing and Lethal damage.”

I like this armor. Makes you look angelic and pure. Otherwise, the other resistance armors are arguably preferable since they cover a wider range of damage types. It stacks with Seismic Dispersion and helps your survivability. It gives you 30% resistance to smashing and lethal damage, 47% if you slot it out and it stacks with Seismic Dispersion.

Recommended Slotting: 3 damage resistance, 0-1 endurance reducers.

Power Boost
Available at Level: 47
Endurance: 9.75
Recharge: 120
Duration: 15 seconds

“Greatly boosts the secondary effects of your powers. Your powers effects like Disorients, Holds, Immobilizes, Heals, Defense Buffs, Endurance Drains, Knockbacks and more, are all improved.”

A main reason people take Primal Forces Mastery and it’s a good one. All of those controls you have… well.. now they are even BETTER. Pop this, lock down three spawns, and read a book. It’s that good. All your mezzes are more than doubled. Yummy. This is also the price you pay for not going another epic route: you don’t get an AoE damage power. You get this instead. It’s up to you….

With the amount of control I already had, I found this power to be a bit redundant. Others swear by it. I, however, am not a big fan of Power Boost for the Earth/Sonic.

Another very important point: Power Boost does not affect damage resistance. Your lovely ringlet shields are not boosted by this power. So sorry. Your damage resistance debuffs? Not boosted by this power. So sorry. I checked duration and magnitude and neither were boosted by this power.

Recommended Slotting: 3 recharge

Psionic Mastery

Okay.. you’re a creative lot. If you can figure out a concept that marries Earth, Sonic, and Psionic I’d love to hear it… in another thread. It wasn’t my concept, but if you can figure one out, this is a fine power set to get into. You get some good defense and two nice damage powers that do psi damage. Nice for PvP. Terrible if you hate pink.

Indomitable Will
Available at Level: 41
Endurance: 19.5
Recharge: 360
Duration: 90 seconds

“Activating this power greatly boosts your resistance to Sleep, Disorient, Fear and Hold effects for 90 seconds. Indomitable Will also grants a high defense to Psionic based attacks.”

A cute little defense power for yourself. With Seismic Dispersion you’ll be hard pressed to fall under the effects of any mezz. A big boost in PvP! PvE it’s not such a big deal. You get a pink aura and 22.5% defense to psionic attacks as well. Slotted out that’s around 35% defense! Nice.

Recommended Slotting: 3 recharge, 3 defense

Mental Blast
Available at Level: 41
Accuracy: 1
Range: 100
Endurance: 6.5
Recharge: 8
Damage Scale: 2.0 Psionic Damage (5.5555556 BI)

“This basic attack does moderate Psionic damage, and can slightly reduce a target's attack speed.”

Long ranged and painful, this is one of my favorite blast attacks. In PvP most people don’t have psionic protection… oh how they will rue this power. Add to this a 30% drop in recharge rates for your victim and you have a very nice attack.

Recommended Slotting: 1-2 accuracies, 3 damage.

Mind Over Body
Available at Level: 44
Endurance: 0.16/tick
Recharge: 2
Duration: toggle

“When you toggle on this power, you empower your Mind Over Body to become highly resistant to Smashing, Lethal and Psionic damage.”

One of the most loved armors in the epic sets. This provides 27.5% damage resistance to smashing and lethal and 20% resistance to psionic damage. Finally! Psionic damage resistance!! Slot this out with SOs and you’ll have almost 43% and 31% respectively. Plus, your aura gets pinker and you might mistake yourself for cotton candy. The best effect: it will hypnotize you into playing CoH for another 17 hours straight. Turn it on and type /e yoga. You are now the Zen Master Earth Mover.

Recommended Slotting: 3 damage resistance, 0-1 endurance reducers.

Psionic Tornado
Available at Level: 47
Accuracy: 1
Range: 100
Endurance: 23.14
Recharge: 20
Radius: 20 feet
Damage: 5 * 0.35 Psionic Damage ticks = 1.75 (4.86 BI)

“Unleashes a whirlwind of Psionic energy on a target, tossing nearby foes into the air. The Psionic Tornado damages foes and Slows their attack speed.”

A beauty to behold… I always wondered what a tornado of psionic energy looked like. Then I got married and found out. This power definitely captures the essence of one. For a good trick, stone cage your targets and then drop this on them. Lots of psionic damage later they’ll be crying pink tears of pain. If you don’t lock your victim down, they’ll go flying about from the knockup. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Arguably the best epic AoE a controller can take as far as function is concerned.

Recommended Slotting: 1-2 accuracies, 3 damage, 0-2 recharge.

Stone Mastery

If you want to stick to the Earth theme, here you go. Stone Mastery is rather maligned in the controller forums. Does it deserve the poor press? In my opinion, no. There are at least two worthwhile selections, one crummy one, and one downright ugly one. Here’s what the powers do:

Fissure
Available at Level: 41
Accuracy: 1
Range: 20
Endurance: 12.74
Recharge: 20
Radius: 15 feet
Damage Scale: 0.9 Smashing Damage (2.5 BI)

“This powerful stomp can cause a seismic disturbance. This will crack the Earth itself and send a Fault towards a targeted foe. Affected targets take moderate damage and may be thrown in the air and possibly Disoriented.”

Possible knockback and about half the targets get disoriented. Makes for a nice opening salvo: stalagmites -&gt; stone cages -&gt; fissure. You may actually disorient some bosses. It looks darn cool too, especially when your enemies fall over! Chance to disorient is a coin-flip. That said, it’s a very optional power, and its pathetic range isn’t a strong point. It’s worse than all the other epic AoE’s, expect for primal forces, which doesn’t have one.

Recommended Slotting: 2 accuracies, 3 damage, 0-1 disorient.

Hurl Boulder
Available at Level: 41
Accuracy: 1
Range: 40
Endurance: 11.7
Recharge: 10
Damage Scale: 3 Smashing Damage (8.9999993 BI)

“You are able to tear up a chunk of ground beneath your feet and Hurl it at an enemy. This attack is close ranged, deals moderate damage, and can knock foes back.”

This is the power that drops the jaws of the Stone Mastery nay sayers. “Oh, stone is bad?” you’ll coyly blurt. Then you’ll fossilize some poor minion as your disruption field anchor works nearby, spit out a seismic siphon, then pluck a rock out of the ground, and drop it on him for over 530 points of damage. I’ve done 600 with other teammates’ debuffs and buffs active, and there are stories of 1000+ tosses in the forums. Just ask ValkyrieRising. Gretchen has this too, but because yours benefits from containment, it’s twice as good as hers. The downsides are the terribly long activation time (almost 4 seconds), the short range, and that the damage type is smashing. The upside is the fact that your little bitty controller is now chucking rocks and making Rikti Pancakes. Arguably the best single target epic power. Take it and love it.

Recommended Slotting: 2 accuracies, 3 damage, 1 recharge.

Rock Armor
Available at Level: 44
Endurance: 0.16/tick
Recharge: 4
Duration: toggle

“Your skin becomes stone while this power is active. Stone Armor makes you highly resistant to Smashing and Lethal attacks. They are less likely to land and affect you.”

This is some goofy looking armor. There’s no way around it no matter how you dress it. You’ll fire this up and say, “dang, I’m funnier looking than Lord Recluse in a Miracle Bra.” People will ask you what pig farm you just crawled out of. The really mean ones will say things like, “oh… so you must be ‘the fan’ that everyone talks about.” Nevertheless, you’ll receive the benefits of 14.4% defense to smashing and lethal damage. With 3 SOs you can up this to almost 23%. Take it if you can stand the look. Most people can’t. On the other hand, it’s good on Halloween as a tank costume.

Recommended Slotting: 3 defense, 0-1 endurance reducers.

Earth’s Embrace
Available at Level: 47
Endurance: 13
Recharge: 360
Duration: 120 seconds

“You are so connected to the Earth, you can draw upon its power to add to your own health. Activating this power increases your maximum Hit Points, and grants you resistance to Toxic Damage.”

All that work for Mamma Gaia has paid off and she loves you for it. For two minutes you get a heal, a few hundred extra health, and 20% resistance to toxic damage. Add to that a very cool activation graphic and you’ve got a power you definitely want. Just remember, with the 2 second cast time you want to pop this off when you’re orange or healthier, not red. It’s not a bad idea to start this before a difficult battle, simply for the extra hitpoint benefit.

Recommended Slotting: 3 recharge, 3 health

The Power Pools
Everybody has an opinion about power pools. That makes them like… like… livers. Everybody has one. And doesn’t everybody like liver? On my Earth/Sonic I found with a wide variety of yummy powers to take, I only had room for 5-6 pool powers in my build. You can make room for maybe 1-2 more if you really need to. Just ask yourself: do I really need to?

[u]Concealment[u]
Being able to stealth missions and sneak up on groups to Salt Crystal them are nice perks. I say, if it fits your concept and if you’ll be soloing lots, get a concealment power or two. During my career, these are perks I never really missed. Still, nobody will make fun of you if they see these in your build.

[u]Fighting[u]
If you’re going to be soloing lots, go ahead and take an attack power. Boxing is a nice once since it recharges quickly. However, I prefer Flurry or Air Superiority. Don’t waste a power selection on Tough or Weave. Leave those for the scrappers and tanks. My advice: avoid this set. I did and look at me today!

[u]Fitness[u]
I love Stamina. How you get to it, I don’t care. I highly recommend you get there, however, and by level 20. If you’re going to get Super Jjump or Super Speed as your travel power, try Hurdle. Flight, take Swift. Teleportation? Up to you. There are those who don’t take stamina. They save three power slots, but they suffer more downtime, especially when using AoE’s and toggles like Disruption Field. If you’re traveling with friends who can boost your endurance for your entire career, consider skipping this pool. I highly recommend you take it.

[u]Flight[u]
Flight is one of the coolest travel powers, in my opinion. More than any other power I feel like a hero when I fly. It’s a good for the Shadow Shard as well. Three slotted flight speed in Hover makes for a great combat knockdown protection combat-time power. The only drawback to floating in the air? You need to land to fire off Stalagmites. Air Superiority is a nice melee attack for the soloing Earth/Sonic. Some take it and respec out once they get Animate Stone. If you go for this pool, I wouldn’t blame you.

[u]Leadership[u]
Assault will give your mates a little extra damage output. In PvP it provides resistance to taunt and placate. Tactics gives a bit of a to-hit boost, as well as a boost to perception, confusion, and fear. Vengeance is a fun boost when one of your teammates takes a dirt-nap. If you take it be sure to make a macro to make you scream “You killed Kenny!!! You b*#)ard!!” when you launch it. Overall, nice things to have. Definitely consider the former two for PvP builds. However, to-hit boosts aren’t so important with the amount of defense debuffage at your fingertips. The Assault damage boost is minimal past level 21. You won’t miss this set if you avoid it like I did, at least in PvE. Nobody will complain if you take it, however.

[u]Leaping[u]
Immobilization protection, knockback and hold protection, and a fast travel power. I went with this set and loved it. Enjoy! Just remember to put an endurance reducer or two in Acrobatics.

[u]Medicine[u]
Leave this up to the empaths, rads, kins and darks. I did. Frankly, many defender and controller toons make an effort to grab a heal. Fine. Let them heal the team. The Earth/Sonic can worry about the things she was born to handle!

[u]Presence[u]
It’s actually kind of fun to Provoke a spawn around a corner and into your Death Soup. Then again, a Seismic Siphon to the boss tends to do this just as well, but it does not open up the fear powers of this set. Fear powers are fun. Run away!! Run away!!! Then again, you have lots of control powers already that sport longer durations. For PvP, it’s nice to fear opponents. Note that fear does not generate containment. I voted no. If you want to be different and scary, do it.

[u]Speed[u]
Hasten is great for getting those long-to-recharge powers back. However, if you take the majority of your AoE controls, you won’t be wanting for something to do. I didn’t take Hasten and I led an exciting life. Flurry is a great pick for the soloing Earth/Sonic pre-32 (and even beyond). It does decent damage and will speed up your defeat all missions. Super Speed goes well with Salt Crystals. Hit your SS, select an enemy, tap ‘F’ to follow, and activate Salt Crystals as soon as you’re near him.

[u]Teleportation[u]
Good for PvP. I especially love the teleport foe into Death Soup tactic. It’s really mean, frankly. It makes me smile. Another good travel power for the Shard.