Jelloman2K

Thanks y'all for your answers!

Kosmos, your numbers make enough sense to me that I am using them in the build I am planning now. I was at +100% and thinking of dropping Hasten down to 2 slots, but I gave up a power with a 5% recharge IO set bonus instead (leaving me with 3 slots in Hasten and +95%).

Now I just wonder how close to perma my Disruptors and Widow will be...

More precisely, what I mean to ask is:

If I have a Spiritual Radial Alpha boost, Hasten running, X% global recharge from IO sets (and other powers, e.g., Mental Training), and 1, 2, or 3 level 50 common recharge IOs in Hasten, what are the 3 values of X that give me perma-Hasten?

It was in the neighborhood of 110% before alpha slots, with 3 recharge IOs. I'm wondering what that ED-limited +22%, and the +11% that ignores ED, does to the recharge of Hasten. I'm thinking it only needs 2 slots now.

I also wonder if there are any powers that were difficult to impossible to perma before i19, but now can be. I'm sure there are nice attack chains that are a little more achievable now. (Sadly, my AR blaster's dream attack chains of Buckshot-Buckshot or FA-FA are not quite in reach.)

Agree with Severe, it would suck if those problems continued thru the holidays.

Three cheers for the devs, working on a weekend a week before Xmas! Thanks devs!

Just to show a completely different approach, here's my petless hovercrab build after an i19 respec. I dropped the pets in my mid-40's and I've been perfectly happy with that approach. (Working on a 3rd build now with pets; my 2nd is a bane.) I have some expensive IOs in there I know, but only a couple purples. Now that I have a cardiac boost slotted, I probaby don't need the numina's and miracle uniques, or the PerfShifter proc, or the 2nd EndRed in Assault. No end problems any more.

I'm VERY happy I took the fighting pool. I also have it in the bane build. Very solid positional def (60/37/48), 58 S/L resist, 50 fire/cold, 42 nrg/ne/toxic (looking at the actual numbers in-game with a Cardiac Radial Boost giving me a slight DR enhancement).

This is definitely my toughest toon. It's not exactly a leveling build - 3 of the main attacks in his chain are the Mu AoEs. (Which are awesome.) This guy seriously rocks the ITF.

Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.90
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Arbiter Arbitrary: Level 50 Natural Arachnos Soldier
Primary Power Set: Crab Spider Soldier
Secondary Power Set: Crab Spider Training
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Mu Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Channelgun -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(3), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(5), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(5), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(36)
Level 1: Crab Spider Armor Upgrade -- S'fstPrt-ResKB(A), S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(50)
Level 2: Longfang -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(7), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(27), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(34), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(36)
Level 4: Combat Training: Defensive -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 6: Hover -- Zephyr-Travel(A), Zephyr-ResKB(7), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(19)
Level 8: Suppression -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(9), Posi-Dmg/Rng(9), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(11), Posi-Dam%(11)
Level 10: Tactical Training: Maneuvers -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFtn-Def(13), RedFtn-EndRdx(17), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(21), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(21), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(23)
Level 12: Venom Grenade -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(13), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(15), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(15), Posi-Dam%(17)
Level 14: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(43)
Level 16: Tactical Training: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 18: Super Speed -- Clrty-Stlth(A)
Level 20: Kick -- Acc-I(A)
Level 22: Mental Training -- Flight-I(A)
Level 24: Fortification -- Aegis-Psi/Status(A), Aegis-ResDam(25), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(27), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(37), Aegis-ResDam/Rchg(39)
Level 26: Tough -- Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(A), Aegis-ResDam/Rchg(31), Aegis-EndRdx/Rchg(31), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(31), Aegis-ResDam(33)
Level 28: Weave -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(29), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(29)
Level 30: Wolf Spider Armor -- ResDam-I(A)
Level 32: Maneuvers -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(33), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(33), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(36), RedFtn-EndRdx(40), RedFtn-Def(43)
Level 35: Tactical Training: Leadership -- GSFC-ToHit(A), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg(37), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(37), GSFC-Rchg/EndRdx(39), GSFC-ToHit/EndRdx(39), GSFC-Build%(40)
Level 38: Aim -- AdjTgt-Rchg(A), AdjTgt-ToHit/Rchg(40)
Level 41: Electrifying Fences -- GravAnch-Hold%(A), GravAnch-Acc/Rchg(42), JavVoll-Acc/Dmg(42), JavVoll-Dam%(42), JavVoll-Dam/Rech(43), JavVoll-Dam/End/Rech(46)
Level 44: Ball Lightning -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(45), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(45), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(45), Posi-Dam%(46), RechRdx-I(46)
Level 47: Static Discharge -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/Rng(48), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(48), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(48), Posi-Dam%(50)
Level 49: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 1: Conditioning
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Flight-I(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A), Mrcl-Rcvry+(19)
Level 2: Stamina -- P'Shift-EndMod(A), P'Shift-End%(23), EndMod-I(25), EndMod-I(34)
------------
------------
Set Bonus Totals:

• 11% DamageBuff(Smashing)
• 11% DamageBuff(Lethal)
• 11% DamageBuff(Fire)
• 11% DamageBuff(Cold)
• 11% DamageBuff(Energy)
• 11% DamageBuff(Negative)
• 11% DamageBuff(Toxic)
• 11% DamageBuff(Psionic)
• 4.25% Defense(Smashing)
• 4.25% Defense(Lethal)
• 14.56% Defense(Fire)
• 14.56% Defense(Cold)
• 14.88% Defense(Energy)
• 14.88% Defense(Negative)
• 3% Defense(Psionic)
• 5.5% Defense(Melee)
• 19.25% Defense(Ranged)
• 16.75% Defense(AoE)
• 50% Enhancement(Accuracy)
• 50% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
• 18% FlySpeed
• 32.13 HP (3%) HitPoints
• 18% JumpHeight
• 18% JumpSpeed
• Knockback (Mag -8)
• Knockup (Mag -8)
• MezResist(Immobilize) 4.4%
• 24% (0.421 End/sec) Recovery
• 20% (1.073 HP/sec) Regeneration
• 8.82% Resistance(Fire)
• 8.82% Resistance(Cold)
• 3% Resistance(Psionic)
• 28% RunSpeed
• 5% XPDebtProtection

BTW I am not necessarily recommending the sets I slotted. They are just the ones I ended up with at 50.

As I play this MM I don't feel the need for accumulated set bonuses as much as I want the key powers I use to be most effective (like WoP, AC, and the heals). So I'm leaning toward frankenslotting more powers once I rebuild in i19. And to reclaim some slots I'll dump one of the two MM attacks I'm using mostly as set mules - probably Photon Grenade as it sucks major endurance... and just sucks period. I mostly like it because of the awesome sound effect.

That is somewhat similar to my build. I just updated it in Mids to prep for i19 so I'll post it here. I initially took Thunderstrike but dumped it later; running into melee all the time wasn't quite right for me. I have some vestiges of that left because I crafted a couple IO sets with melee defense. This whole thing was built fairly cheap...the Soulbound Allegiance proc was not cheap but it wasn't too bad. Looks like it's about 30-40M right now.

I plan on reworking this quite a bit after i19. I'll probably pick up Maneuvers and Group Fly. Group Fly is very cool with the robots. Also your slotting of defense into the protector bots is probably a good idea.

I have World of Pain frankenslotted. I plan to do the same to Anguishing Cry because it's such a great power; I'd like to max def debuff and recharge, get close to max on accuracy, and still leave room for the Achilles' Heel proc.

I have 3 attacks because I get bored without any. Electrifying Fences helps the Assbot kill stuff faster. But I care more about healing and using World of Pain and Anguishing Cry effectively.

Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.81
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Painbot: Level 50 Technology Mastermind
Primary Power Set: Robotics
Secondary Power Set: Pain Domination
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Speed
Ancillary Pool: Mu Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Battle Drones

• (A) Blood Mandate - Accuracy/Damage
• (3) Blood Mandate - Damage/Endurance
• (3) Blood Mandate - Accuracy/Endurance
• (9) Blood Mandate - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• (11) Blood Mandate - Accuracy
• (19) Blood Mandate - Damage

Level 1: Nullify Pain

• (A) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Endurance
• (5) Doctored Wounds - Endurance/Recharge
• (5) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Recharge
• (11) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Endurance/Recharge
• (17) Doctored Wounds - Heal
• (34) Doctored Wounds - Recharge

Level 2: Pulse Rifle Burst

• (A) Kinetic Crash - Damage/Knockback
• (40) Kinetic Crash - Accuracy/Knockback
• (40) Kinetic Crash - Recharge/Knockback
• (46) Kinetic Crash - Recharge/Endurance
• (48) Kinetic Crash - Damage/Endurance/Knockback
• (50) Kinetic Crash - Accuracy/Damage/Knockback

Level 4: Soothe

• (A) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Endurance
• (7) Doctored Wounds - Endurance/Recharge
• (7) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Recharge
• (17) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Endurance/Recharge
• (25) Doctored Wounds - Heal
• (34) Doctored Wounds - Recharge

Level 6: Equip Robot

• (A) Endurance Reduction IO

Level 8: Hover

• (A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range
• (9) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range/Endurance

Level 10: Photon Grenade

• (A) Stupefy - Accuracy/Recharge
• (43) Stupefy - Endurance/Stun
• (43) Stupefy - Accuracy/Endurance
• (43) Stupefy - Stun/Range
• (50) Stupefy - Accuracy/Stun/Recharge
• (50) Stupefy - Chance of Knockback

Level 12: Protector Bots

• (A) Blood Mandate - Accuracy/Damage
• (13) Blood Mandate - Damage/Endurance
• (13) Blood Mandate - Accuracy/Endurance
• (15) Blood Mandate - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• (15) Blood Mandate - Accuracy
• (19) Blood Mandate - Damage

Level 14: Swift

• (A) Flight Speed IO

Level 16: Health

• (A) Healing IO

Level 18: Assault

• (A) Endurance Reduction IO

Level 20: Stamina

• (A) Endurance Modification IO
• (21) Endurance Modification IO
• (21) Endurance Modification IO

Level 22: Suppress Pain

• (A) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Endurance
• (23) Doctored Wounds - Endurance/Recharge
• (23) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Endurance/Recharge
• (33) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Recharge
• (34) Doctored Wounds - Heal

Level 24: Fly

• (A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range
• (25) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range/Endurance

Level 26: Assault Bot

• (A) Soulbound Allegiance - Chance for Build Up
• (27) Blood Mandate - Accuracy/Damage
• (27) Blood Mandate - Damage/Endurance
• (29) Blood Mandate - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
• (29) Blood Mandate - Accuracy
• (31) Blood Mandate - Damage

Level 28: World of Pain

• (A) Titanium Coating - Resistance/Recharge
• (31) Reactive Armor - Resistance/Recharge
• (31) Reactive Armor - Resistance
• (33) Adjusted Targeting - To Hit Buff/Recharge
• (37) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge
• (37) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff

Level 30: Hasten

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO
• (33) Recharge Reduction IO

Level 32: Upgrade Robot

• (A) Endurance Reduction IO

Level 35: Anguishing Cry

• (A) Shield Breaker - Defense Debuff
• (36) Shield Breaker - Accuracy/Defense Debuff
• (36) Shield Breaker - Accuracy/Recharge
• (36) Shield Breaker - Defense Debuff/Endurance/Recharge
• (37) Shield Breaker - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge
• (40) Analyze Weakness - Accuracy/Defense Debuff

Level 38: Painbringer

• (A) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Recharge
• (39) Harmonized Healing - Heal/Recharge
• (39) Miracle - Heal/Recharge
• (39) Miracle - Heal/Endurance/Recharge

Level 41: Charged Armor

• (A) Impervium Armor - Resistance/Endurance
• (42) Impervium Armor - Resistance
• (42) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/Endurance
• (42) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%

Level 44: Electrifying Fences

• (A) Enfeebled Operation - Accuracy/Recharge
• (45) Enfeebled Operation - Endurance/Immobilize
• (45) Enfeebled Operation - Accuracy/Endurance
• (45) Enfeebled Operation - Immobilize/Range
• (46) Enfeebled Operation - Accuracy/Immobilize/Recharge
• (46) Enfeebled Operation - Accuracy/Immobilize

Level 47: Tactics

• (A) Adjusted Targeting - To Hit Buff/Endurance
• (48) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Endurance
• (48) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge/Endurance

Level 49: Conduit of Pain

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO

------------
Level 1: Brawl

• (A) Empty

Level 1: Sprint

• (A) Empty

Level 2: Rest

• (A) Empty

Level 1: Supremacy
Level 4: Ninja Run
------------
Set Bonus Totals:

• 7.063% Defense(Smashing)
• 7.063% Defense(Lethal)
• 15.5% Defense(Fire)
• 15.5% Defense(Cold)
• 9.563% Defense(Energy)
• 9.563% Defense(Negative)
• 3% Defense(Psionic)
• 7.375% Defense(Melee)
• 16.13% Defense(Ranged)
• 19.56% Defense(AoE)
• 3% Enhancement(Stun)
• 11% Enhancement(Accuracy)
• 32.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
• 3% Enhancement(Immobilize)
• 12% Enhancement(Heal)
• 10% FlySpeed
• 15.06 HP (1.875%) HitPoints
• 10% JumpHeight
• 10% JumpSpeed
• Knockback (Mag -3)
• Knockup (Mag -3)
• MezResist(Confused) 2.5%
• MezResist(Held) 2.5%
• MezResist(Immobilize) 3.6%
• MezResist(Sleep) 2.5%
• MezResist(Stun) 7.45%
• MezResist(Terrorized) 9.1%
• 16% (0.267 End/sec) Recovery
• 6% (0.201 HP/sec) Regeneration
• 2.5% Resistance(Smashing)
• 3.78% Resistance(Fire)
• 3.78% Resistance(Cold)
• 1.875% Resistance(Negative)
• 2.52% Resistance(Toxic)
• 2.52% Resistance(Psionic)
• 13% RunSpeed

Some miscellaneous advice... I'll try to avoid repeating common advice and stick with my unconventional opinions:

Think about having a Bane 2nd build while you level. I waited until 50 to make a really nice Bane 2nd build but I wish I'd had it while leveling. It's a nice option to switch to a power set with very good stealth and very strong ST attacks, for those missions with a hero or just if you are trying to speed through a run of paper missions. I think you can put together a useful bane build for cheap; with a 2nd build you can focus on its strengths instead of overall balance.

Crabs have endurance issues. Be careful how many leadership toggles you take. My 50 crab has 8 toggles, it really sucks when he runs out of end, but I've fixed that problem now with a few tweaks to the build and it almost never happens any more.

The best crab powers are Fortification and TT: Maneuvers. Everyone sings praises of TT:M and it is awesome (ANY SoA that does not take it right away is dumb), but I think Fort is one of the best defensive toggles for any AT. Crab defensive powers are very good generally, including Tough and Weave. Crab builds are always tight but you won't regret taking Tough and Weave if you can fit them in. Well-slotted, TT:M + pool Manuevers + Weave puts you near 30% defense to all positions (40% ranged with CT: D), and Fort + Tough gets you close to 50% S/L resists.

You won't have access to any power to protect you from def debuffs, so going over the soft cap by 10-15% is a good plan.

Mental Training is nice while leveling, but once you're at 40 or so and dropping in IO sets, keep an open mind about whether you really need the 20% recharge. Your attack chain may not need it. I don't have it on my Bane but I do on my Crab. The best patron pool AoEs have a 32s recharge, so you'll want +recharge if you're relying on one of those. Bile Spray and Ball Lightning are both excellent - Bile Spray synergizes with VG to give more overall damage, but BL has a very fast animation time.

Like many crabs, I've never had a travel power and never felt like I needed one. With MT and Swift and Sprint and Ninja Run and some IO set +run bonuses, I run over 60mph.

Hover is awesome for crabs. If you use it you won't have to worry about capping your melee def - not that that's hard. You can enhance MT and Swift for flight speed.

I no longer have frag grenade at 50 but I leveled with it. My unconventional advice on FG is: it has a microscopic 10' radius and a huge end cost, so the notion that "it's an essential part of your attack chain" is hogwash. I think of it as a ST KB attack. A full Kinetic Crash set enhances damage by 68%. That's a great cheap set (including KB prot - the cheapest KB prot you can get!), and you sacrifice at most 10-11% overall damage to make FG a pretty good KB tool. Without slotting it for KB, it's just a mediocre tiny AoE attack that floors your endurance. With Hover, you can turn the KB into KD.

I was going for a +recharge pets build until the mid-40's, then I skipped the pets in a respec and I've never missed them. I won't deny that your ST damage suffers, but once I had Ball Lightning 6-slotted, my AoE attack chain killed minions & LTs so fast I hardly cared. Crabs shine on teams and a crab in the 40's should be teaming, where you should be focusing on maximizing your AoEs and leave ST damage to everyone else.

But of course you should try the pets for yourself. I have multiple high-level MMs and I generally dislike uncontrolled pets, though not all equally; I like Dark Servant and Fire Imps, hate Fly Trap, and am on the fence about most of the rest. The Spiderlings are meh, and the Disruptor Bots seem a bit squishy to me even with both maneuvers running. My main complaint about the pets is that I'm trying to do AoE damage and the pets run all over the place and draw aggro and make it tough to herd.

I leveled with Serum and even kept it in my first 50 respec, but once I softcapped my defenses and got over 50% S/L resists, I found I was using Serum maybe once a week, so I dumped it. It was mainly there as an answer to the question, "what power can I take at 49 that would be good with 1 or 2 slots?" My new answer is Wolf Spider Armor, but I don't feel strongly about that; they're both slightly useful.

My Crab is my toughest toon and my best inf-earner and farmer redside, though my only other 50 villains are MMs. He's a blast to play, hovering at high speeds with a 5-AoE attack chain (VG-BL-Supp-Static Discharge-EFences) and incredibly tough. Ideal for slow or fast ITFs - he can solo the cysts, though not super fast because the ST damage ain't great. My Bane build can take out a cyst in about 8-9 attacks, but he can't handle it alone because of all the stacked def debuff from the Dark Dwarf melee attacks. With the hovercrab I just ignore the Dwarfs.

Anyone else having a problem with the Fire/kin controller sets causing crashes? I can play other toons stably, but fire/kin crashes constantly. I've tried fiddling with graphics settings but no luck.

I've got an Nvidia 9800 GTX, running on 64-bit Vista.

Here's the build. I have not yet slotted the 3 expensive IOs (Numina's, Miracle, and the BotZ -KB). The rest was fairly affordable. I thought the Shield Breaker and the 4 ToD sets would break me but I was pleasantly surprised how quickly my modest bids turned around. The BotZ spd/end and the Shield Breaker Acc/End/Rechg were the only expensive things (>10M) IIRC.

It's an end-heavy build but not terrible.

And yes I realize I am one extra slot away from a lot more def in some of these sets. I had more then 45% ranged def and I wanted the full Gaussian's in tactics, so I pilfered 4 slots from the Red Fortune and Thunderstrike sets.

Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.621
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

BANE build: Level 50 Natural Arachnos Soldier
Primary Power Set: Bane Spider Soldier
Secondary Power Set: Bane Spider Training
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Bash -- T'Death-Acc/Dmg(A), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx(3), T'Death-Dam%(3), T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(5), T'Death-Dmg/Rchg(5), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(7)
Level 1: Bane Spider Armor Upgrade -- ResDam-I(A)
Level 2: Combat Training: Defensive -- DefBuff-I(A)
Level 4: Combat Training: Offensive -- Acc-I(A)
Level 6: Build Up -- RechRdx-I(A), AdjTgt-ToHit/Rchg(7), AdjTgt-Rchg(9)
Level 8: Combat Jumping -- Zephyr-Travel(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(9), Zephyr-ResKB(11)
Level 10: Tactical Training: Maneuvers -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(11), RedFtn-EndRdx(19), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(25), RedFtn-Def(25)
Level 12: Poisonous Ray -- Ruin-Acc/Dmg(A), Ruin-Dmg/EndRdx(13), Ruin-Dmg/Rchg(13), Ruin-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(23), Ruin-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(23)
Level 14: Pulverize -- T'Death-Acc/Dmg(A), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx(15), T'Death-Dmg/Rchg(15), T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(17), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(17), T'Death-Dam%(19)
Level 16: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 18: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A), Mrcl-Rcvry+(40)
Level 20: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(21), EndMod-I(21)
Level 22: Kick -- Acc-I(A)
Level 24: Cloaking Device -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFtn-EndRdx(29), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(36), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(40), RedFtn-Def(40)
Level 26: Shatter -- T'Death-Acc/Dmg(A), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx(27), T'Death-Dmg/Rchg(27), T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(29), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(31), T'Death-Dam%(34)
Level 28: Placate -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(43)
Level 30: Surveillance -- ShldBrk-DefDeb(A), ShldBrk-Acc/DefDeb(31), ShldBrk-Acc/Rchg(31), ShldBrk-DefDeb/EndRdx/Rchg(36), ShldBrk-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(37), AnWeak-Acc/Rchg(37)
Level 32: Crowd Control -- Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(33), Oblit-Dmg(33), Oblit-%Dam(33), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(34), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(34)
Level 35: Tough -- Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(A), Aegis-ResDam/Rchg(36), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(37), Aegis-ResDam(43), Aegis-Psi/Status(46)
Level 38: Weave -- RedFtn-Def(A), RedFtn-EndRdx(39), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(39), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(39), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(48)
Level 41: Mace Blast -- Ruin-Acc/Dmg(A), Ruin-Dmg/EndRdx(42), Ruin-Dmg/Rchg(42), Ruin-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(42), Ruin-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(43)
Level 44: Shatter Armor -- T'Death-Acc/Dmg(A), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx(45), T'Death-Dmg/Rchg(45), T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(45), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(46), T'Death-Dam%(46)
Level 47: Tactical Training: Leadership -- GSFC-Build%(A), GSFC-ToHit(48), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg(48), GSFC-ToHit/EndRdx(50), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(50), GSFC-Rchg/EndRdx(50)
Level 49: Tactical Training: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 1: Conditioning
Level 0: Ninja Run
------------
------------
Set Bonus Totals:

• 23.5% DamageBuff(Smashing)
• 23.5% DamageBuff(Lethal)
• 23.5% DamageBuff(Fire)
• 23.5% DamageBuff(Cold)
• 23.5% DamageBuff(Energy)
• 23.5% DamageBuff(Negative)
• 23.5% DamageBuff(Toxic)
• 23.5% DamageBuff(Psionic)
• 10.6% Defense(Smashing)
• 10.6% Defense(Lethal)
• 10.6% Defense(Fire)
• 10.6% Defense(Cold)
• 2.81% Defense(Energy)
• 2.81% Defense(Negative)
• 21.3% Defense(Melee)
• 5.63% Defense(Ranged)
• 16.6% Defense(AoE)
• 20% Enhancement(Accuracy)
• 20% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
• 5% FlySpeed
• 108.4 HP (10.1%) HitPoints
• 5% JumpHeight
• 5% JumpSpeed
• Knockback (Mag -4)
• Knockup (Mag -4)
• MezResist(Confused) 2.5%
• MezResist(Held) 13.5%
• MezResist(Immobilize) 20.1%
• MezResist(Sleep) 2.5%
• MezResist(Stun) 4.7%
• MezResist(Terrorized) 5.8%
• 5% (0.09 End/sec) Recovery
• 3.78% Resistance(Fire)
• 3.78% Resistance(Cold)
• 3% Resistance(Psionic)
• 10% RunSpeed
• 4.5% XPDebtProtection

Just to follow up, I'll post the final build I went with. I'm fairly happy with it, though it's not quite as survivable as my ridiculously tough hovercrab primary build.

I ended up skipping VG, I wanted to just have fun with the melee stuff, and I use P-Ray and Mace Blast to shoot down runners. The only AoE I took was Crowd Control. I had no idea how incredible it is! I've never had a 180-degree melee cone before. Build Up followed by CC from stealth knocks my socks off. In fact if I respec I might try to add more recharge and/or Hasten so I can CC more often, or Web Envelope just to keep things clumped for Placate-CC.

Here's the general reasons I avoided the other AoEs.

1. WAWG - Redraw and tiny radius
2. Heavy Burst - Redraw
3. Venom Grenade - Redraw
4. Frag Grenade - Redraw and tiny radius
5. Mace Beam Blast - Tiny radius
6. Mace Beam Volley - Low damage
7. Web Envelope - no reason, I might take it if I respec
8. Disruptor Blast - Knockback and so-so damage

I dislike the 10' radius targeted AoEs so much that I am planning to drop Frag from my hovercrab build as well, probably replacing it in my attack chain with Static Discharge. I need to respec the crab anyway to replace Serum (almost never needed or used) with Aim, and to move a 4th slot into Stam for the PerfShifter +end, because 8 toggles and a 5-AoE attack chain makes for major endurance issues.

Painbot
Robotics/Pain Domination

Assault Bot:
Iron Maiden

Protector Bots:
The Rack
Heretic's Fork

Battle Drones:
Thumbscrew
Waterboard
Spanish Boot

The title says it all. Please apply the streakbreaker to Hami-O drops, synthetics, etc. The only Hami-O I have ever received is a Centriole. Every time. I just spent over two hours on an STF, and I foolishly thought, "This time it will be different." 37 merits that I could have had, down the drain.

Thanks!

Great guide, thanks for the info (even after all these years)! The info about the 5x stacking in Aegis was illuminative... I was confused about how that was working.

I just have one comment: the strong statements that the Numina/Miracle/RegenTissue procs are "totally wasted" in click powers such as Healing Aura are just wrong. Depending on your build and what you're doing with it, you may very well be firing Healing Aura regularly. It's not that hard to remember to do it every two minutes. The upside is that your Healing power is probably also well-enhanced for healing, thus improving the unique IOs' regen bonus; and you don't have to waste slots on Health if your build is tight. Numina's and Miracle both have decent set bonuses so it will help in achieving those also. (Of course, if you are laying out big inf or merits for these uniques, you are probably very interested in more regen, so you may be putting extra slots in Health anyway.)

I did take Shatter, it's at 26 there.

Thanks for the response though.

I'm thinking about going to the test server and trying out a wacky build with most of those AoEs I haven't used before: Mace Beam Blast & Volley, Web Envelope and Disruptor Blast. Though now I notice that Mace Beam Blast has that tiny 10' radius, which really annoys me (on Frag grenade and WAWG, also Electryifying Fences which my Crab has). Web Envelope and Disruptor Blast are only a 15' radius, still not great, but not as annoying as the 10'.

Here's the first draft build I came up with. This is for level 50, not leveling up. The cost is not a big problem... I didn't put purples in here but those Touch of Death sets are expensive, as is Shield Breaker, these days.

I want to find a way to fit VG in. No idea what to drop, maybe Placate but it's so nice to have that extra crit. Maybe CJ, but it's a good chunk o'DEF with BotZ, and I worry about my maneuverability in combat without it. I already gave up MT, though there seem to be a lot of people on these forums who consider MT optional unless you need +recharge.

Also thinking about dumping the 6th slot out of the two Red Fortunes and 2 Thunderstrikes (losing 10% ranged def) and putting those 4 slots into TT:L so I can put a full Gaussian's in there. That will give me 2.5% more def to all 3 positions, plus it makes TT:L much better. Also might make sense to replace the Reactive Armor in Tough with Aegis since my AoE def is only 44.8 and melee and ranged are over 60.

Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.621
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

BANE build: Level 50 Natural Arachnos Soldier
Primary Power Set: Bane Spider Soldier
Secondary Power Set: Bane Spider Training
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Bash -- T'Death-Acc/Dmg(A), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx(3), T'Death-Dam%(3), T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(5), T'Death-Dmg/Rchg(5), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(7)
Level 1: Bane Spider Armor Upgrade -- ResDam-I(A)
Level 2: Combat Training: Defensive -- DefBuff-I(A)
Level 4: Wolf Spider Armor -- S'fstPrt-ResKB(A)
Level 6: Build Up -- RechRdx-I(A), AdjTgt-ToHit/Rchg(7), AdjTgt-Rchg(9)
Level 8: Combat Jumping -- Zephyr-Travel(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(9), Zephyr-ResKB(46)
Level 10: Tactical Training: Maneuvers -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(11), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(11), RedFtn-EndRdx(19), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(25), RedFtn-Def(36)
Level 12: Poisonous Ray -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(13), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(13), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(23), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(23), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(25)
Level 14: Pulverize -- T'Death-Acc/Dmg(A), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx(15), T'Death-Dmg/Rchg(15), T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(17), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(17), T'Death-Dam%(19)
Level 16: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 18: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A), Mrcl-Rcvry+(40)
Level 20: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(21), EndMod-I(21)
Level 22: Kick -- Acc-I(A)
Level 24: Cloaking Device -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(36), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(37), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(40), RedFtn-Def(40), RedFtn-EndRdx(43)
Level 26: Shatter -- T'Death-Acc/Dmg(A), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx(27), T'Death-Dmg/Rchg(27), T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(29), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(31), T'Death-Dam%(34)
Level 28: Placate -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(29)
Level 30: Surveillance -- ShldBrk-DefDeb(A), ShldBrk-Acc/DefDeb(31), ShldBrk-Acc/Rchg(31), ShldBrk-DefDeb/EndRdx/Rchg(36), ShldBrk-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(37), ShldBrk-%Dam(37)
Level 32: Crowd Control -- Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(33), Oblit-Dmg(33), Oblit-%Dam(33), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(34), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(34)
Level 35: Tough -- RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx(A), RctvArm-ResDam/Rchg(48), RctvArm-EndRdx/Rchg(48), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(50), RctvArm-ResDam(50)
Level 38: Weave -- RedFtn-Def(A), RedFtn-EndRdx(39), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(39), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(39), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(48)
Level 41: Mace Blast -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(42), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(42), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(43), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(43)
Level 44: Shatter Armor -- T'Death-Acc/Dmg(A), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx(45), T'Death-Dmg/Rchg(45), T'Death-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(45), T'Death-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(46), T'Death-Dam%(46)
Level 47: Tactical Training: Leadership -- GSFC-Build%(A), GSFC-ToHit/EndRdx(50)
Level 49: Tactical Training: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A)
------------

I'm working on a second Bane build for my 50 crab. To avoid redraw and stay in theme, I avoided all the Arachnos Soldier powers in my first draft, and I took no AoEs except Crowd Control, but then I realized I should take Venom Grenade since it's one of our best powers.

Which Bane AoEs are worth taking? Are any of them terrible? With Mace Mastery my options are:

1. WAWG
2. Heavy Burst
3. Venom Grenade - Going to add this. Redraw be damned, it's too good.
4. Frag Grenade
5. Mace Beam Blast
6. Mace Beam Volley
7. Crowd Control - The only melee AoE... taking it.
8. Web Envelope
9. Disruptor Blast

FYI, I am skipping the pets. I dropped them from my crab and never looked back. (If I solo with the crab, I'm probably farming and want to herd, which the pets prevent because they scatter the aggro and the enemies all over the place and I have to chase down runners with my lousy ST attacks.) I'm sure there are situations where the pets are useful to a Bane - boosting ST damage is obviously not needed, but drawing away aggro might sometimes be helpful.

It depends on what you're up to, what kind of missions/TFs etc. you are running. For a Crab, ST damage is mediocre and the pets help with that. A Bane should have no problems with ST damage.

Personally I leveled my crab to the mid-40's focusing on +recharge and the pets. Then I respecced to a Tough/Weave and AoE-only build, with IO sets focusing on defense, and I am very happy with the result, except for the endurance issues. I can tag along quite safely with tanks or brutes as they spike through the ITF missions, I can even go spike on my own but it's tougher. Tankers and Brutes get def debuff resistance; spiders don't. (I haven't figured out a way to get any at all, I don't see IO sets offering any.)

If you are soloing I'm sure the pets are great, but on a team that's rolling fast, I find it a pain to keep track of what they are doing, what aggro they are drawing, etc. I have two level 50 MMs, I don't really want to play a crabstermind.

Sorry all my advice is about a crab. But the only thing I really miss from the pets is the extra ST damage, and Banes are not going to miss that at all.

WHOAH I did not mean to write that much.

The short version: 1 vote for Mind/TA, based on experience. It's fun. It doesn't really play like any other AT.

I just hit 47 with my Mind/TA and she is a blast to play, probably my favorite hero to play on a good team. I've never seen another Mind/TA. I see more Mind/ controllers than /TA.

Mind/TA is like a Swiss Army knife toon, you have so many tools. It is also one of the best holders around. You have 2 excellent ST holds and 2 excellent AoE holds. (Yes /rad gets one of the best AoE holds too, but I like EMP arrow a bit more than EM Pulse... though I really appreciate the huge radius on EM Pulse right at that moment in an ITF when the 3rd wave of robots wakes up around the computer in the 3rd mission.)

You can run Posi TF exemped down to 15 and, assuming you took total dom at 18 or 20, you can hold an entire 2-boss spawn at that level without any of them ever getting a shot off - because Mass Hypnosis is the ultimate setup. Honestly I think it's the 3rd most generally useful control power in the game (after Seeds of Confusion and Mass Confusion, slightly ahead of OSA, Earthquake, and Flashfire). People who say it's useless on teams, well that's because you're hanging back like a blaster, or firing it at a spawn that your team is already fighting. With Mind/ and /TA both, you should be thinking about the *next* spawn, before your team gets to it. It might be useful to fire Mass Confuse or Total Dom AFTER the spawn has unleashed their alpha on your team, but it makes so much more sense to do it before. The main thing about Mass Hypnosis is it's a no-brainer. Open with it every time, unless you know someone is about to unload another AoE. Trust me, when teammates see you mass sleeping every spawn, their tactics often change. And if not, there's no downside; you're not drawing aggro.

When the team is rolling fast, I just spam AoE debuffs and hold bosses & LTs & runners (or Levitate bosses for mitigation). But more often my strategy is to go ahead to the next spawn, and before the team gets there:

1. Mass Hypnosis
2. Sleep or Hold anyone MH missed, if needed
3. Glue Arrow
4. Ice arrow a boss and then Dominate to stack the holds, or just hold 2 LTs
5. Disruption Arrow

... so the whole spawn is still sleeping or held, but they are very nicely softened up. When a teammate arrives to take aggro, I'll quickly fire in Acid Arrow, then other powers as necessary... PGA or OSA if the spawn is going to live more than 3 seconds or so - which they often don't, after the massive slows & def+res debuffs from Acid, Glue, and Disruption. Note that the knockdown from OSA breaks sleep. (Note also that OSA has a huge def debuff.)

I ran the Sister Psyche task force today on a team with a healer, 3 blasters & 3 scrappers... it went very well, and on the kill-alls I was mostly able to employ that strategy of running ahead of the rest of the team and softening up the spawns. Mind/TA has SO many tools that it's easy to adapt to different teams - whether there's a tank or not, whether there are other controllers, etc. Unlike some of the "heavier" control sets, you can work great with a tank.

Usually I save the AoE holds for oh-!%$# moments like a second spawn being aggro'd. At the start of an AV fight (or tough EB) I'll use one of them if they're both up, mostly to help stack hold mag on the AV. I also have full Lockdown sets in my holds, so I often hold bosses with just one. It's nice to hold an EB by firing just two powers. It's also nice when your team aggros the extra spawn or two, chaos ensues, and you quickly hold them all - bosses included - by firing your two AoE holds back to back.

If you do go /TA: when you are fighting an EB/AV, don't forget the lowly Flash Arrow and Entangling Arrow. Flash Arrow's -tohit is unresistable, as are the jump/fly suppression in Glue and Entangling Arrow. Between Acid, OSA, Flash, Entangle, Glue, Disruption, PGA... that's a heavy amount of debuff on an AV, and all of it (except entangling) is AoE to boot.

So obviously my vote is for Mind/TA! You can solo at any level if you need to. I think Mind/ and Plant/ win out for safe soloing because of the usefulness of the AoE sleeps, and their short recharge - you can get them to perma easily even with DOs. Mes-Lev-Dom is a decent ST attack chain, better than any other controllers except Grav (Mind's Levitate does like twice the damage of Grav's Lift, but Grav also gets Propel). Add Confuse at the low levels and you should wade through those LT+minion spawns faster than most other solo controllers, and it will only speed up after you get Acid Arrow at 20. (Though by 21, a fire controller can 3-slot Stamina and then run Hot Feet continuously, which probably makes for the fastest pre-pet controller soloing, though not exactly safe.)

I'm not sure how well Fire & TA synergize... TA is all ranged stuff, so running in with Hot Feet seems counterproductive (though once you've laid in Glue and Disruption and Acid Arrow, that Hot Feet is going to be pretty awesome)... Flashfire would be a great pairing for sure... AoE immobs work well with TA, though once you hit everything with glue arrow they tend to stay clumped anyway.

Looking at your build.... even with 37.5% recharge and hasten... I'm still kinda shocked you couldn't find another slot for a second recharge for BU. It's going to add more damage than a 2-3% global damage buff. I guess I'm just used to working in Aim and BU into every attack chain... usually alternating them, though I do love firing PB-Aim-BU-Ice Storm-Blizzard. A decent 3-slotting for BU is Rechg + TH/Rechg from Adjusted Targeting plus a recharge IO, for +97% recharge, +16% to-hit, and +2% global damage in only 3 slots.

Speaking of recharge... and having just leveled up my ST-heavy ice blaster... you have almost no recharge in your Psi Tornado? I'll admit I don't max recharge on my Ice Storm and Blizz, but I found room for a 6th slot for each of those, to allow a 5-set plus a recharge IO, so at least it's over 60%. Planning a respec at 50 now, I'm strongly leaning toward maxing Ice Storm for damage and recharge and not bothering with a set (also leaving more room for procs). I may leave 5 positron's blast in blizzard since of course I don't always use it when it's up. Since I currently have eight 6-slotted ice powers and I'm planning on adding Frost Breath (skipped it while leveling), I need the slots.

It's just that I often find myself in team situations where things are rolling so fast that ice storm becomes my most useful attack. It's why I'm adding Frost Breath to my main 50 build, ice/nrg is so short on AoEs. Though to be honest, high ST blaster damage is very useful when there are lots of runners or things missed by other people's AoEs, like on an ITF with no tank (or a team that's melting faces so fast that herding is a waste of time).

I'm getting rid of the full Gaussian's from Aim since it's more useful overall to cap recharge on Aim, and I can sure use the 3 or 4 slots that will save me.

That's a tradeoff question that every blaster will face when trying to boost defense with IO sets: is it really worth wasting 3 slots to 6-slot a Gaussian's, just for 2.5% on the 3 positional defenses? The Gaussian's set bonuses are all nice, I'm not scoffing at the 2.5% rec and damage that come at (4) and (5). But if you're just slotting Aim/BU/Concentration/Tactics for effectiveness, 3 slots is enough, often 2 is fine. And a full level 50 Gaussian's only boosts recharge 73.78%, which is leaving 7-8 seconds on the table for a base 90s recharge power. I want my BU! (In Tactics that recharge is just wasted.)

Also, I realize you've taken 4 pools already, but other blaster builds going for defense will do well taking both CJ and Hover and putting a full Zephyr in each. 2 powers and 4 extra slots give +3.5% Def(all), +6.26% Def to ranged and AoE, and 8 points of KB prot. It's a good starting base. Also if you take both, you probably don't care about how well-enhanced CJ is for +jump, so you can put an entire level 10 Zephyr set in there; then you've got KB prot and a bit of defense even when exemped down to 10.

Oh LOL, forgot you were the OP, Valentyna.

I just hit 50 on my Ice/Nrg/Cold blaster yesterday during a mothership raid, and for most of her 40's (and even 30's) she had very high ranged defense. And that was an excellent choice for leveling. Just make sure (I guess I don't really need to say this) that you have Hover. I found that as I hit the high 40's, I was feeling the lower AoE defense. A lot more minions have AoE attacks at those levels.

If you have Hold powers (Ice has 2) the full Lockdown set will give you 2.5% AoE AND 3.75% ranged def, and also make the power a useful hold. Especially useful for ice with the 2 holds, because a full Lockdown set brings hold duration and recharge over 80%... plus the +2 mag proc! With hasten and a little recharge you can perma-hold 2 bosses at the same time, which is darn useful for a blaster. PB-Aim-FR-BFR-FR holds EBs very nicely, you don't even need the 3rd shot if the proc fires on either of the first 2, and the proc also helps if one of those 3 misses. All great for killing green mitos too.

And, as Valentyna pointed out, definitely drop a 3rd slot for the full Zephyr in those travel powers. The extra 3.13% AoE def and -4 KB are worth it. I bought some Zephyr -KB IOs back in the I14 crazy days, but now those mostly seem to be selling for 9 figures so I used merits to get the level 10 version... so nice to exemp down to level 15 and have solid KB prot still.