Idris

You can use AS several times in a fight if you like. The mob is controlled, it's irrelevant how you kill it provided you can kill it before the control runs out. And the crits really are pretty nice as well.

The thing you need to watch out for is that the dom doesn't get too much aggro for that short while before the control is established. Yes you're squishy but the dom is even squishier so you need to at least share the aggro.

Anyway, you should give it a try if you get the chance. Can't hurt right? .

It's not the only reason but I think the chance is actually pretty good, at least looks that way for a dom viewpoint. But there's basically a great synergy between the ATs. You have heaps of damage and weak defenses, the dominator has weak damage but can protect you, while you can protect the dom by killing things before their control runs out.

What you need to do is befriend a nice dominator. Doms and stalkers make great duo partners. Your only problem is that there are a lot more stalkers than doms.

I have a new Ill/Kin controller and it looks like another very tight build, so I was wondering what powers in primary and secondary are skippable? I was thinking of skipping Flash and Group Invisibility from the primary and at least Repel and Inertial Reduction from the secondary.

In particular, how is Flash compared with other controllers AoE holds, say Glacier? I can't seem to find the current duration/recharge numbers.

For the record, the rest of the build is going to be taken up by Fitness (3 powers), Flight (2 powers, Fly + Air Sup at first and Fly + Hover after a respec, I just love the idea of siphon-speeded 3-slotted Hover), Hasten and eventually Psionics Mastery. Slightly considering dropping Hasten, though, as I have an Issue with long-duration click powers and there's already Siphon Speed.

This is supposed to be a soloable PvE build, and so far it's been very smooth sailing to 14. I feel very blasterish at the moment though, totally outcontrolled by my Ice Dom but outdamaging her by a mile as well, and safer.

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Exported from Ver: 1.6.8.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder - (http://home.comcast.net/~SherkSilver/index.html)
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Name:
Level: 15
Archetype: Controller
Primary: Illusion Control
Secondary: Kinetics
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Blind==> Acc(1) Hold(3) Hold(5) Rechg(7) Rechg(9) Rechg(11)
01) --> Transfusion==> Acc(1) Heal(9) Heal(13) Heal(13)
02) --> Spectral Wounds==> Acc(2) Dmg(3) Dmg(5) Dmg(7) Rechg(11)
04) --> Deceive==> Acc(4)
06) --> Siphon Power==> Acc(6)
08) --> Superior Invisibility==> EndRdx(8)
10) --> Siphon Speed==> Acc(10)
12) --> Air Superiority==> Acc(12)
14) --> Fly==> EndRdx(14)
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Sprint==> Empty(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Empty(1)
01) --> Containment==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Empty(2)
---------------------------------------------

Or anything with Psi damage... also I think Corruptors with Aim will be really tough for a MoG:er. Scourge, scourge.

Is that really the in-game description? Misleading much?

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With Domination I can 1-shot hold a boss 100% of the time. I can hold Heroes/Archvillains with 2 applications, sometimes 3 depending on their status RES.

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Er, was this an answer to my post? I know that, I have a dominator too.

As an aside, anyone know what mag resistance elite bosses have, or does it vary? It seems to me to be around 6-8 (3 normal holds or 2 with domination)

My ice dominator Jadis would be interested in this. She's currently at lvl27 or 28, can't remember exactly because I've been spending most of my time on the good side lately. I think it was 28 though

Give me a shout if it's tonight, my global handle is @Idris

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As a counterfoil to that I've had Speed Boost two days and last night I've started getting the "Speed Boost pls" requests while I'm busy AOEing things in combat.

Actually I suppose I'm agreeing with you really. With corrupters its a balance of primary and secondary. But I've had players on my team who believe that its my job to follow them around and make sure they're Ok...

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I agree with you too, those people are annoying. No AT in CoX should be forced to be someone else's babysitter

I took it in my I6 respec and am very happy with my decision. I don't think Stamina is necessary but it is certainly very convenient, and I actually wanted the prerequisites as well (Health is a nice little addition to my sadly nerfed regen rate and Hurdle gives wonderful combat mobility combined with Combat Jumping).

I don't think I could get by with just QR with my attacks slotted the way they are now (the best ones 1 acc, 3 dam, 2 recharge). Endurance drainers rarely give me much concern and as far as endurance goes, I could pretty much fight forever. So yeah, I think it's worth it.

And regen scrappers are cool

Honestly, it seems to me that the b145t3r syndrome is at least as common as the H34L0R one among corruptors. IMO anyone who focuses solely on just one facet of their AT is going to be less powerful overall than a person who chooses a more balanced build. And although this might get me some hate here, I think this is especially true for corruptors whose primary and secondary powersets are actually roughly equal in effectivity (both somewhat penalized compared with blaster/defender primaries, but both less penalized than, say, dominator or defender secondaries).

It just makes me wonder a bit why someone would skip the buff/debuff powers and focus solely on damage in a game where every AT does some damage, most do at least as much and buffs and heals are in very short supply.

I understand they have a small chance Mag4 holds, so that occasionally a controller can 1-shot hold a boss. Of course, most of the time you can't even tell when it happens because the magnitude is wasted on minions/lts or a stacked hold.

Dominators don't get these but it's not like it seems like an awesome ability

Guys at the US forums were doing some testing and dominator single hold duration seems to be 80% of the controllers holds. Hold durations increase with level. Nobody seems to have accurate numbers on the duration of the AoE hold but it seem that the percentage might be less than 80% there. I'd be up for comparing numbers on test sometime if some Ice controller is interested.

Magnitudes are equal, except for Domination and controller's random ability to get critical holds with +1 Mag.

I think it depends a lot on the set. I don't think I could ever do it as Ice unless I become a blaster lite and slot my quick blasts with ridiculous amount of recharges.

Maybe they charge forward like brutes

Well, technically she isn't a controller in the CoH sense either because she lacks the buff/debuff secondary

Anyway, I think I would have a really tough time to get Domination up if I built my Ice/Ice like that, but Plant doms seem to be easier in that respect. Whenever I team with a plant dom I get jealous of how fast they get it up

There's actually a great thread about controller/dominator hold times and mags on the US dominator forum (which is otherwise a horrible place where every long thread eventually derails into a flamewar on whether we are teh gimp). Anyway this one is worth a read, they're trying to make an analysis on control efficiency, factoring in controller criticals and domination "ideally used", meaning it's up as soon as it recharges.

Some thoughts here. Take these with a grain of salt though, my /Fire brute is only lvl16.

I haven't quite worked out my playstyle in teams. It has to vary a lot depending on other team members. If there's someone with good defensive buffs/debuffs or a dominator, I can tank. If there isn't, I simply can't survive out there. In that kind of teams I try to play more like a slightly sturdier scrapper.

To be honest, I mostly solo. My brute has to be the best soloist I ever had this early (and my main is a Regen scrapper). Large teams slow me down and kill my Fury. That's ok if there's some buffing about so I can play a more defensive role, but without buffs it's just painful, feeling squishy and doing sad damage. Soloing with a brute is super fun, rushing through mob after mob, Fury bar high, the only thing stopping me is running out of endurance. Duoing is grear too, especially with Corruptors or another Brute.

Speaking of endurance, Blazing Aura is somewhat of a hog. If you want to be a teamster it's probably a good idea to take it early, but be prepared to run out of endurance if you try to maintain any kind of Fury at the same time (and Blazing Aura is a thing of beauty on high Fury). Some brutes apparently don't slot any damage early on, but ionstead slot even the small attacks with endurance reduction. Sounds like a good idea, but when I'm in trainers and duals I tend to use whatever drops I happen to get, except accuracies which I buy.

Take Acrobatics for knockback protection. I can't wait to get it, feel like I'm constantly on my back. /Fire is definitely lacking on status protection, but leaping pool helps to fill the holes.

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...which is just what an awaken does.

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I don't know what game you're talking about, but awakens aren't that good in CoH.

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You must be playing a different game to me then.

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So they do restore your endurance?

Some people like to base their power selections at least partly based on concept. Not everyone is a power gamer but it hardly makes them stupid.

And as far as I know, even the 3rd tier Awaken gives you NO endurance, which is hardly back on your feet and in the fight within seconds unless you happen to be carrying a few blues as well. And tier 3 Awakens can't even be bought anywhere that I know of.

As for MoG, some people really dislike it for a number of reasons. There are entire threads of MoG-hate on US forums. I don't have an opinion either way, I haven't picked it up yet but I intend to give it a try, because it seems potentially useful in case I have to tank non-psi AVs.

I have an ice/ice and while I like it, there are a few problems. Some general, some with specific powers.

I don't mind the primary (except for the AoE hold which IS a joke). However, I'm lucky to have Power Boost in my secondary, and Domination makes up for decreased hold durations. So there I think it's a draw with controllers, with Power Boost maybe even putting me a bit ahead in some cases. But not all secondaries have Power Boost.

The secondary is a bit different story. People are comparing the low levels to soloing with a pre-containment controller. This is telling. IMO it should be considerably easier, because we have an assault secondary that's almost ALL about damage. Controllers have very few powers where damage is the primary effect. Ice control in particular is low on damage. I have all the powers from my secondary at this point (lvl26) so I think I should be able to solo at least as well as an offensively built Defender. I don't think I do that. It's getting progressively better, but with 40 levels in the game it's kind of bad if I feel underpowered for over half of them.

Solo, my secondary kill things slowly and eats up all my endurance. Stamina was completely mandatory. Before it I could blow my entire endurance bar fighting 3 even level minions using nothing but Block of Ice and the single target attacks from my secondary. Now that I've got a mix of SOs and DOs and Stamina 3-slotted with SOs, I still run out of endurance a lot if I run Arctic Air (slotted 3 SO endred but still a hog). Also, despite having 5 attacks from the secondary, I still have nowhere near an attack chain.

In teams, especially teams larger than, say, 3, my secondary is little more than a tool for me to achieve domination. That's kind of sad.

I've come to the conclusion that increasing our damage would be bad and stepping on corruptors' toes. However I feel that the endurance cost of our secondary should be brought in line with the damage. I also wouldn't mind a recharge time reduction for some powers. Ice Sword Circle is particularly atrocious with the animation time sky-high as well.

Things are getting better. I was able to raise my reputation to 1 above Villainous. But I'm 26 and won't pretend that the early levels were not a pain, and it's still not great. The primary is alright and makes a difference in teams small and large (or so I flatter myself at least) but the secondary is definitely lacking.

Hey, if you want to gimp yourself for 24 levels, go ahead and leave it out

It's just that I don't much like cone blasts either because I'm too lazy to position myself before using them. Flashing Steel is a totally different story.

It's a melee cone, doesn't cost that much and recharges pretty quickly. You can use it like single target attack, only it hits the mobs beside your target as well. I wouldn't leave it out, Lotus Drops is a lot more situational.

Edit: also your damage on levels 1-25 will be extremely lacking

If I can make it I'm definitely interested to come along with my ice dominator Jadis. She's 24 at the moment. Will come to the contact to see if there's space in the team, but there's good chance RL will interfere.

level 41 katana/regen here too, feeling strong and happy with my build at the moment (have in fact felt strong and happy ever since I got Integration at 16, despite the nerfing that has been going on since). It's extremely strong soloing and in small teams and does well in larger teams too, provided I don't have to take the alpha strike. I went with the Fitness pool after my i6 respec and have been extremely happy with that choice.

I have all the attacks except Gambler's Cut, slotted 1acc, 3dam and 1-2 recharge. I can attack constantly without having to use all my attacks in the chain, sometimes DA is not needed, sometimes Lotus Drops would be a waste.

So here's what I think about the attacks. I have never had Gambler's Cut so I can't really comment on it, but I understand it does similar damage to DA but quicker. I had the single target taunt (Calling the Wolf) for a while and it had really stylish animation but not that much use because the range was so short.

Sting of the Wasp - the vanilla attack that's been in constant use. Using it a bit less now that I've got the two big hitters but it's still got a firm place in my single target chain

Flashing Steel - a nifty melee cone that does only slightly less damage than SotW. Take it, slot it

Build Up - 3-slotted this but slotting can wait. most useful on boss fights and with the AoE if you're taking that.

Divine Avalanche - a great parry move that stacks! Definitely recommended as it really makes a huge difference and goes well with Regen. I've slotted mine 2acc, 3defbuff, 1 recharge. The damage is tiny but you're not taking it for damage anyway. it works pretty well with just 1 acc, so it's a good idea to take it early IMO.

The Lotus Drops - this is your melee PbAoE. Some people don't take it but I've personally found it lots of fun and well worth it. The damage is a bit more than SotW, It does one bit hit and 3 ticks of DoT per target. Unlike some other sword circles, the activation time is not too bad.
Soaring Dragon - now we're really talking about an attack. This is great. It does pretty reliable knockup and great damage. The one downside is that you can't hit the foes when they're in the air, but this gets them out of the fight for a looong time

Golden Dragonfly - even nicer! Increased chance to crit, pretty reliable knockdown and great, great damage. The nice thing about katana's big hitters is that the recharge and end cost isn't that bad at all, so you can use them all the time. It's a very narrow cone but getting the mobs queued up for it is pretty hard so I hardly ever think about it. It's always a great surprise when it does hit multiple opponents. And my only annoyance with this was just fixed in the latest patch. It used to not connect to moving or knocked-down targets so I couldn't use it on runners or immediately after SD.

All in all, kat/regen is a great choice, very strong if not all that versatile as there are no ranged attacks or debuffs or even that many AoEs. All katana attacks are supposed to have a def debuff, but I can't say it feels that noticeable.

Divine Avalanche adds some versatility and greatly increased survivability. Stack it and you can play a mini-tank sometimes.

Hope this helps some. Katana FTW!


Edit: uh oh, Statesman is posting here as we speak. What I meant to say, obviously, is that Kat/Regen is totally gimped, I can't solo and feel useless on teams.

Or Rise of Phoenix!

It seems a bit off that other powersets get better self-rez than Regen, but I'll take what I can get

I took Revive for concept but ended up liking it a lot, despite all the bashing it gets.

If you're not against self-rezzes of any kind, Revive is pretty good. You resurrect with no disorient, 50% of your endurance and about 75% of your health (not sure of the exact amount but it's around there). Turn Integration back on and you're back in battle. It can be slotted for endurance recovery, heal and recharge, but I wouldn't bother unless there's nothing else to spend the slots on.

And it's great for concept. I love being that scrapper who just won't die. I love imagining how annoyed the mobs must be

Regen brute would be so insanely overpowered that there's not even a word for it. Brutes need to have some downtime to balance Fury.

I don't think regen scrappers are really overpowered at all in their current state, although they are still very nice.