Kitty_Hellfire

according to my planner it's 54.28% to SL and about 33% to whatever extra dam type ur epic sheild covers.

I took black hole as my lvl 49 power on my dark corrupter just as it doesn't really need slots and there was nothing else i wanted. I haven't actually found an opportunity to use it well yet but i'd imagine it would be of most use while solo or just as a panic button. Being able to phase that extra mob of longbow that someone has carelessly agroed while your on another mob could well be quite useful (assuming fearsome stare is still recharing).

As i say, people can build however they like. I'm currently play an ice/ice tank and i have 2 unslotted attacks (one is boxing as a prereq) so she cant kill a fly, but has a full compliment of defensive powers and agro holding abilities. I did this because my damage simply isn't needed. It's a totally team-oriented toon, the only secondary i have atm is icepatch which i consider an addition to my primary defences rather than an attack. Same goes for emps in most cases, if your on a team where you need the empath to be doing damage then theres something seriously wrong with your team composition. I prefer to max out what i am good at rather than trying to get good damage out of an emp or from ice melee.

Conversely some of the worst players i've ever teamed with are also emps. How many times have a teamed with a "pure" emp build where noone has fortitude, mezzes wear off before you can get a clear mind and theres narry a RA in sight. Honestly if you cant do the one thing your built for then you might as well be a spectator. This is why i find playing my emp troller so intense/tiring, i want to do both well and i want everyone fully buffed and healed and i want to use all my controls. If i'mfeeling lasy i'd play my blaster, theres far less concentration involved.

I think a lot of (primarily) new players veer toward empaths because they are similar to archetypes in other games and seem easy on the surface. They really arent though, this is why when i meet a really good empath they go straight on my GF list.

Commendations go to;

Mother's love
Eros
Puritan
Mistress Heal
PowerMed
Dr Buffem Stuffem
and many many other great emps who pull thier weight just by being the faster healing fingers in Paragon.

woot, grats Brimmy! You should have said you were going for 50 and i would have been there

There is no worst powerset combination for controllers really, just more challenging or ones with less synergy. Illusion/storm doesn't really gel that well together but i still enjoy it (plus it does rock in pvp). Other ATs can have genuinely bad combinations though i think, like radiation with energy blast etc (just personal opinions but i cant see why you'd want to knock things out of your own debuffs). One would think illusion/rad would have a tough time of it but as people have been saying, apparently it works quite well.

Plus "powerful" is also a matter of perspective. For damage, for fire/kin rocks socks off, but for team protection/buffage my earth/emp (who couldn't kill time) is equally great.

It's not your imagination, thunder clap is pretty much pants. Even fully slotted with SOs it's not impressive. I dont see why it can't at least have a higher inherant acc as it will only stun minions anyway. Still, i'd give it a try anyway, you might like it, different strokes and all that.

This bug is the one that has p**sed me off more than any other recently. It is game-breaking for tanks and there really is no good excuse why it hasn't been fixed yet as it should get the highest priority. I've built my ice/ice tank with no damage and a ton of agro holding and self preservation powers to make her the ultimate agro holder and now i find she cant even do that half as good as she should.

Personally i like to get 2 taunts, EA and icepatch off before the team attacks, but unfortunately people just dont give you that chance, the second the alpha has passed they pounce and they completely ignore me using the "ready" button. I'm finding this very annoying as if people take agro or die i still feel responsible even if it was through thier own error. With this bug there really isn't any margin for error now, anything i haven't actively taunted and higher than a minion will instantly forget chilling embrace, icicles, ice patch and EA in favour of a fireball.

In answer to the original question, as "pure" as you want to be. In fact the more your personal build choice annoys narrow minded min/maxed people the better imo. If i were ever kicked from a team before having actually done anything just based on someone not liking my build, i'd count myself lucky and make a mental note to avoid any future PUGs with that person as they are clearly missing some important genetic material.

I decided to roll an earth/emp controller rather than an emp defender because a) i like controllers and b) i thought i'd get bored just with the emp side and c) unfortunately since ED defender damage simply isn't all that, especially if you have a primary that can't buff it's own damage.

I've found that on teams that aren't fully optimised for seemless, non-stop, debt-free gameplay (i know it's strange but apparently they do exist) i can get so absorbed in the emp side of things i actually end up neglecting my controls, so i can see how just buffing and healing is a full time job sometimes. If i'm on a team where i'm the only support toon in a bunch of damage dealers, it can be extremely taxing to keep everyone alive, and there would certainly be very little if any time when a blast would be beneficial.

Most of the best empaths i've teamed with have tended to be of the "pure"-emp variety. These are people who keep a constant watchful eye and can have your health refilled before you realise you've been hit. These people also tend to be the types who tend to carry the full weight of responsibilty for the teams survival on thier shoulders, and HATE losing teammates. I happen to think i do a pretty good job of both controlling and healing/buffing but theres no doubt a talented "pure"-emp will do it better. I've frequently lost teammembers due to being caught in a long enimation, such as for earthquake or quicksand while someone got 2 hitted. ATs like blasters only need get hit a couple times to be eating floor so any distraction on the part of the defender can result in a heal coming in a second too late. I've also seen on many occassions careless emps using absorb-pain to heal a teammate after blasting something. That little tickle then results in the emp getting agro with no way to heal themselves.

This is a pretty pointless discussion though really, people play how they wanna play and if someone else doesn't like it then boo-hoo for them, you certainly shouldn't worry about it. The only time i bring judgement on a player is if i simply think they are playing badly, like emps who take fort but never use it (personal pet peev #1). On a large team emp is often a full time job but having some blasts can make things more interesting for the defender if things are going very smoothly and they find they have noone to heal inbetween buffs, it's personal choice if you can stand to play this way or not.

Also i prefer not to think of it as a "pure"-emp standing around doing nothing until someone needs healing, and rather as a "pure"-emp who's watchingcarefully, ready and free to act at a moments notice for when things unexpectedly to belly up (sue me i'm an optimist).

Firsty, the slow res from fog will protect you from one slow effect, like most slow res powers. This means one sand or one set of caltrops. The problem of course is that annoying mobs that use slows tend to spam them in large amounts...don't get my started on those KoA cows.

Secondly, a note on my build. I specced out of snow storm for several reasons;
1) I couldn't fit it in with everything else i wanted
2) It was one too many toggles and really tipped my end into the unmanageable area.
3) the slows from sleet, heatloss, ice storm etc are more than sufficient to slow a mob to a crawl. Not good if you exemp of course, but i dont tend to
4) My brute friend took the AoE web grenade from black scorpian, so it isn't needed as a snare

Also, annoyingly, hasten is VERY useful with these sets to get your best powers coming back a lot faster. It kinda ruins my icy cold look but i had to make a consession to get a decent attack chain going with my slotting of 2 acc 3 dam 1 end in my attacks. Also SS stacks with fog for invisability, which i find very handy for keping out of trouble while my heavily-buffed brute herds for me

This build is lethal in pvp btw if your at all interested. Mine is a mostly PvE but PvP-capable hybrid kinda build, so i'd hate to see what i could do with a pure PvP build.

sure that wouldn't apply to poison as well? seems to work in the same way

[ QUOTE ]
was liking the sound of the Sleet, Ice storm, Blizzard combo alot :P

[/ QUOTE ]

So you should, it really is the Mutts. I shall pop up my build for your comparison. Bear in mind i duo with a ss/inv brute, so i've taken all the buffs, works a charm.

---------------------------------------------
Exported from Ver: 1.7.6.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder
---------------------------------------------
Name: Lady Hellfrost
Level: 50
Archetype: Corruptor
Primary: Ice Blast
Secondary: Cold Domination
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Ice Bolt==> Acc(1)Acc(3)Dmg(5)Dmg(9)Dmg(15)EndRdx(34)
01) --> Infrigidate==> Acc(1)Acc(17)EndRdx(50)
02) --> Ice Blast==> Acc(2)Acc(3)Dmg(7)Dmg(7)Dmg(11)EndRdx(33)
04) --> Ice Shield==> DefBuf(4)DefBuf(5)DefBuf(29)
06) --> Swift==> Run(6)
08) --> Freeze Ray==> Acc(8)Acc(9)Hold(11)Hold(17)Hold(27)Rechg(31)
10) --> Hasten==> Rechg(10)Rechg(45)Rechg(46)
12) --> Ice Storm==> Dmg(12)Dmg(13)Dmg(13)Rechg(15)Rechg(27)EndRdx(31)
14) --> Super Speed==> Run(14)
16) --> Hurdle==> Jump(16)
18) --> Bitter Ice Blast==> Acc(18)Acc(19)Dmg(19)Dmg(23)Dmg(31)EndRdx(34)
20) --> Stamina==> EndMod(20)EndMod(21)EndMod(21)
22) --> Arctic Fog==> EndRdx(22)EndRdx(23)DmgRes(34)DmgRes(36)DmgRes(36)
24) --> Aim==> Rechg(24)Rechg(25)Rechg(25)
26) --> Glacial Shield==> DefBuf(26)DefBuf(42)DefBuf(43)
28) --> Benumb==> Acc(28)Acc(29)Rechg(37)Rechg(37)Rechg(43)EndRdx(45)
30) --> Frostwork==> Heal(30)Heal(39)Heal(50)
32) --> Blizzard==> Dmg(32)Dmg(33)Dmg(33)Rechg(39)Rechg(40)Rechg(40)
35) --> Sleet==> Rechg(35)Rechg(36)EndRdx(37)
38) --> Heat Loss==> Rechg(38)Rechg(39)Rechg(40)
41) --> Shark Skin==> EndRdx(41)DmgRes(42)DmgRes(42)DmgRes(43)
44) --> Spirit Shark Jaws==> Acc(44)Acc(45)Hold(46)Hold(46)Rechg(48)Rechg(48)
47) --> School of Sharks==> Acc(47)Acc(48)EndRdx(50)
49) --> Recall Friend==> Rechg(49)
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Sprint==> Empty(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Empty(1)
01) --> Scourge==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Empty(2)
---------------------------------------------

Ok was just wondering if anyone has the definative answer to what stacks with itself from the trick arrow set.

I'm aware that acid arrow wont stack with itself, but does glue, disruption and poison stack from the same defender?

My advice is get rid of him. I have a lvl 50 earth/emp troller and i had mr. Poo for a good 10 lvls before i just had to bite the bullet and put the poor sod out of his misery. I found him next to useless both on teams and solo...which is still excessively painful and pointless on an earth/emp pet or no pet. Think i was able to get the rez, or possibly regen aura in his place, FAR more useful.

bah humbug

Just as well i rolled a defender instead then, only 38 lvls till my nuke, cant wait.

would that be a "yes it does containment damage" or a "no, it doesn't, booo" ?

Does the damage caused by oil slick when lit benefit from containment? Would seem if it does that the damage would be quite awesome.

not at all no, but i'll bear it in mind anyway, ta

How does that work? poison is -damage, not -damage resistance.

Was thinking of my tank though -20% dam is equivilent to +20% res to everything is it not? unless i'm getting the concept wrong, so that would beef up his sheilds....in theory.

Anywho i expect i'll have far more free power slots as ice/ta than grav because there's fewer useful powers in the primary, so i might be able to fit in in.

[ QUOTE ]
I have Poison Gas arrow as I wanted to test it. I've satisfied myself that its a waste of time so I'm dropping it as soon as I can. The 60% chance of a 7 second sleep just isn't worth it, even solo.


[/ QUOTE ]

What about the -damage though? As i may be duoing with a resistance set tank, surely that would help out?

Well i think my duo partner wants to roll a fire/fire tank, so i figured this might be a good combo. Also i like the idea that it might take longer than 10 seconds to kll a mob, so i might get a chance to use all my TA powers this time round with my defender i found the animation times of TA just couldn't keep up with the pace of the team, and i felt a bit useless. I like TA but it just feels so sluggish. I know it has lower debuff values, due to the lighter end costs and fast recharge, but i also feel it needs faster animations, because you need to use lots more powers to do what other sets do with one or two.

incidentally, which origin is it that has a power that can light oil patch again? Shouldn't be a prob with a fire/fire tank but i'd like to have a backup.

I've always wanted to do something with TA, but my defender was an astonishing disappointment, so i'm thinking it may work better as a controller secondary. Ice is the only primary i've not tried and looking at it there seems to be a lot of potential synergy between the sets.

Shiver and glue arow for a massive slow, 2 KD's in ice slick and oil slickand assorted -res debuffs to throw on top of it. Also, alot of the powers are locational placed powers and so tend to affect everything in the area, ignoring the aoe cap (afaik), so this combo could control and debuff very large groups.

Am i way off base with this or would it work like i think? comments, suggestions, random insults...

np hun i'm always more than happy to offer non-specific, untested and vague advice to anyone

Um feel i must point out my storm/nrg suggestion was almost entirely sarcastic...just so i take no responsibilty at a later date Sure it could be made to work but i cant really think of a set with less synergy with storm, but then some people like using kb as damage mit, it's just never worked for me.

Um, not sure what that would do, but i'm pretty sure it'd be overkill. I'd test it out, stick 3 slots in it to start with and try it with 3 intang against low lvl mobs if yo can find em. lvl difference shouldn't affect the mag. Would be hard to find a low lvl EB though, so maybe an even con EB after popping a few yellows. See what diff it makes and if it's pointless just make the encs 2 acc 1 intang.

EDIT: pretty sure it can phase players in pvp without intang slots. I *think* in that case the encs just increase how long it lasts...maybe.