Local_Man

Well, the "real numbers" in the game seem to suggest that Accuracy helps, but when a Dev says NOTHING will buff that accuracy, it at least leaves it up for doubt.

As for the 50%, you are mostly right, but not quite. Because of the unique two "chance for" holds in Choking Cloud, you get:

10% chance of no mag
40% chance of Mag 1 -- that does nothing but CAN stack with a Mag 3 hold to hold a Boss. (It might hold Rikti Monkeys.)
10% chance of Mag 2 -- that will hold only a minion
40% chance of Mag 3 -- that will hold minions and Lieutenants.

Add the Lockdown proc, and you get another 20% chance of adding Mag 2, so stacked with any other mag will hold minions and lieutenants. Since there is a 90% chance of at least Mag 1, you have a very good chance to hold bosses on one application of any other hold, even without the "overpower."

The power repeats these chances every 5 seconds. Fully slotted, the hold lasts for just about 15 seconds, long enough for three pulses. Given time, the odds become pretty good that most of the foes will be held just by standing in the area.

My oldest son, at around age 4, had a problem pronouncing the "R" in the word, "fork," such that is sounded, uh, not very nice. Our favorite moment came at a church pot-luck lunch, when he was wandering around the room of shocked church-goers stating in a loud voice, "I need a f . . k! I need a f . . k!" We quickly headed him off and explained equally loudly, "Oh, you mean a FORRRK?" "Yeah, a f . . k!"

A kind of sweet moment was when I was in a car driving my second son on a fairly long drive during sunset, heading west. As the sun hits just the right height to shine in his eyes, I hear a voice in the back seat, "Daddy! The Sun is Looking At Me!"

This is why I'm not a fan of powerleveling a character -- especially one where the player is not already familiar with the sets. You learn a lot of strategy working with the powers as you level up. You learn what they can and cannot do. You also learn what works with your particular playstyle, and how to adjust what you do to make the character work.

Earth/Storm has a great set of varied tools, and what you use of those tools changes depending upon the situation. Do you play aggressive or stay back in range? Do you have a large open area, or lots of places to hide? What are the resistances of the foes? Solo or Teamed, and if teamed, what is the team's make up? You play differently with a team of mostly ranged damage dealers vs. melee types.

In general, you have three ways to get an AoE "hold" on foes with Earth Control: Stalagmites + Stone Cages, Earthquake and Volcanic Gasses. Only Stalagmites+Stone Cages prevents all attacks on you. The other two may result in a few foes taking shots at you. All three can be followed with Quicksand and Freezing Rain -- Quicksand for a massive (25%) defense debuff that is autohit, and Freezing Rain for a large Resistance Debuff (30%) and more Defense Debuff. Plus, Freezing Rain will add to the knockdown in Earthquake.

Thunderclap can be used two ways: To stack the stun on Bosses, or two extend the stun on minions -- on its own, it won't stun anything higher than a minion.

Steamy Mist+Super Speed gives you full invisibility in PvE -- which is really nice to lead Rocky into battle to be your tank.

I view Hurricane as a situational power -- great to push foes into my AoE control zone (Herdicaning -- super speed works great for this), but it takes some practice to do it right.

Any */Storm has to be careful of knockback on teams -- or you will be hated by melee and AoE types. Stone Cages has -knockback, but only for 12 seconds. And Cages foes will still be pushed back by Hurricane's repel aspect. If you want to use Tornado as a damage power, you must use it on foes with -knockback (AVs, stationary items) or you have to spam Stone Cages every 12 seconds.

I added Fire for my APP -- mainly because "Ella M. Ental" needed Fire to complete her "Earth, Wind & Fire" concept. I can't help you much with the Villain PPPs.

Not sure about Burn, but I know about Choking Cloud. It will not accept Accuracy, but you can slot accuracy into the power with Set IOs and Hami-Os. Its accuracy can also increase from Global Accuracy.

Does accuracy do any good? We're not entirely sure. The general description on how the power works is that it checks for a hit first, then applies its two types of holds -- 80% chance of a Mag 1 hold and 50% chance of a Mag 2 Hold -- so accuracy helps. But there was once a response from the Devs regarding accuracy in Choking Cloud once that said that NOTHING could buff Choking Cloud's accuracy.

So, we're not entirely sure whether accuracy does anything, since the effects of the power have an additional random aspect. Personally, I try to get decent Global Accuracy, and don't worry about slotting Choking Cloud with Accuracy. I max slot for Hold because that extends the hold through more pulses, giving it a greater chance to hit in the long run. The Lockdown +2 Mag proc also adds a greater chance for the power to hit by adding an additional chance for 2 Mag when there is a 90% chance of at least Mag 1 hitting.

Apparently, at the Meet-n-Greet this past weekend in San Francisco, it was revealed that the target launch date for I-19 is 11/16 IF IT IS READY. If it isn't ready, it won't be until after Thanksgiving (meaning the last week of November or early December).

Good summary. The only thing I would add is that Earth's pet makes a significant difference -- because of his Seismic Smash, Earth might be slightly better at single target damage. Rocky is also a better tank -- l took Super Speed to go with my Steamy Mist so I can easily lead him into the fight to draw aggro.

Plant certainly has better AoE damage. Plant relies more on positioning, since Seeds is a cone, so invisibility is a huge help too. Creepers can be used as a Alpha Strike absorber, but not as reliably as Rocky. Plant's pet, Twoey, is fairly squishy and isn't as much of a game changer as Rocky.

Both sets are a heck of a lot of fun to play.

I have used Bonfire on the towers over a dozen times, and had teammates do it too a bunch of times, too. Never had a problem. We just make sure that the Repairmen are killed off. Most of the times I do the STF, there are at least four of us on voice chat, so we have no problem coordinating to make sure they get killed off.



That's a valid point, but the Invuln Tank I usually team with (Call Me Awesome) is softcapped with only one foe in range, so that's not a problem. Folks are far more likely to get killed by those copies most of the time -- and it is not a problem for the tank to pop a small purple if needed.



Agreed. Any situational power should be used or not used depending upon the make-up of the team. These kind of strategies are suggestions only, and need to be adjusted depending upon the team.

It especially works with EM Pulse on the big ring of Robots . . . and THEN Bonfire.

When giving advice to someone asking for it . . . I generally try to recommend the kind of build and powers that the majority of players prefer. If I have my own quirks or preferences (like Bonfire), I try to make it clear that it is my opinion which is not necessarily shared by everyone. Thus, if you have a specialized build that is designed for your playstyle, I think it is a good idea to explain your playstyle and the unique aspects of your build. And I try to assume that not everyone has billions and billions to spend getting tons of purples. It is wonderful if you can, but I don't assume that for someone asking for build help.

My Fire/Rads are kind of all-purpose builds . . . but I did not get the mega-expensive damage purples. I have some of the cheaper ones -- a few in Fire Cages (Chance for Hold) and Choking Cloud (4 hold ones) and a couple of the pet ones for Fire Imps. Without spending billions on them, my builds are very effective. I did not cap Defense or Recharge or anything else, and yet it provides a great combination of control and damage. I often don't need to even use Flashfire or Cinders, especially if there is a decent tank on the team . . . Tank goes first, then I hit Fire Cages and run in, pop Char on the one or two who aren't held while the foes roast. Tank can then run on to the next group while I clean up.

I understand the dislike for knockback -- misused, it can be very frustrating. For example, last night, I was on my Arrows Blaster doing an ITF. At one point there was a huge group gathered by the tank, ready for my Rain of Arrows. I pop Build Up and Aim, and then fire off Rain . . . just as somebody fired of a huge PB AoE knockback power, sending the huge group of foes out of my targetted area. Ugh. I have certainly teamed with Fire Controllers who misused Bonfire -- some try to lock down foes with Fire Cages to counter the knockback, but some always get missed. Bad Stormies are infamous for uncontrolled knockback. However, controlled knockback can be a wonderful tool.

To me, Bonfire is a situational power. I only use it where the knockback will be helpful or at least not a problem. It has a lot of strategic uses. The Towers are a great example of one of those situations. Throw it on the Tower, and it sends the Repairmen flying back while doing some DoT on the Tower. Another use in the same TF: Throw it on Dr. Aeon to knock back his spawned copies while the team beats on him -- it reduces the damage taken by teammates from the copies while doing some damage to Dr. Aeon. Another: Throw it on Lord Recluse to knock back his spawned minions. Several uses in the ITF and many other TFs. You can pretty much throw it on any AV or fixed item with knockback protection, or use it to block doors and hallways -- it is great to protect your back from ambushes.

In my opinion, this build needs some work, too. I can't go all the way through it, but a few quick points:

Radiation Infection: You can save a lot of slots by using 3 Enzyme HOs in RI.

LR: The Tempered Readiness set's bonuses are too low to make slotting up LR worthwhile. Those slots can be put to better use.

Choking Cloud: I can't see your numbers, but I bet you don't have capped Hold. That is important to making a more effective use of the power.

Getting Mezzed is the biggest weakness of a Fire/Rad, which is why both of mine use Indomidible Will. If you could get your Defense up high enough, then Defense will help some (but not all) mez powers from hitting you -- but I go for IW instead.

PFF still shows up in Mids Builder, but it has been removed from the Mace PPP for Controllers in game and replaced with Focused Accuracy. If you were counting on it -- don't.

This is a nice looking but very expensive build . . . It has one huge problem and a few smaller problems. The huge problem is NO CHOKING CLOUD, which I consider to be a key power for Fire/Rad. Choking Cloud works best if it is Frankenslotted to some degree as it needs Max Hold and max or nearly max EndRdx -- I think I have 4 Unbreakable Constraints, a common EndRdx and the Lockdown +2 Mag Proc for CC in one of my two level 50 Fire/Rads. (No access to the game or Mids right now.) The other one has three Unbreakable Constraints (Hold, Hold/EndRdx and the damage proc), the Lockdown proc, an EndRdx and another Hold/EndRdx from another set. I miss out on a few bonuses, but having the power slotted effectively is more important to me.

While there are a few malcontents who don't like Choking Cloud on a Fire/Rad, the majority of experienced players consider Choking Cloud to be a key power for the build. If you are going to go anywhere near this expensive, you really should re-do the build to include Choking Cloud at 28.

Also, EF needs 2 EndRdx. Personally, I would take Bonfire over Mutation or several other powers you have. (I'm not a big fan of the Fighting Pool or Leadership, but that's personal choice.) Bonfire has many great uses in the end-game, including using it as a combo power under AVs to add a little damage while keeping other pesky foes away. There are all sorts of great places to use Bonfire in the Statesman's TF, for example -- it is wonderful on the Towers to knock back the Repairmen while adding some damage. Since the upper level TFs will become much more popular with Issue 19 and the Incarnate stuff, it is worth considering.

Remember last year at Christmas, we got a bunch of free transfers. If you can hold out until then, you can move him to a lesser used server.

I moved several of my 50s who get little to no playtime to servers where I don't spend as much time. I'm glad I kept them, and still pull them out from time to time.

I thought Rosemary Harris did a nice job as Aunt May. She was a little too preachy, but that was the script, not the actress. Cliff Robertson was great casting as Uncle Ben, too. He has that natural ability to show a kind heart, and still feel like he is a common man. Of course, the absolute best casting in the Raime films was J.K Simmons as J. Jonah Jamison -- he was perfect.

I'm not thrilled with Sally Field or Martin Sheen. They just don't feel right in the parts.

There were some things that the Raime films did right -- including the casting of many of the minor characters. I had no problem with the organic webs. It simplified the movie version of the story and avoided a complication that the core of the story simply didn't need. Most of the public would not know or care about the difference between the organic webs and the web shooters, and the organic webs allowed for a nice couple of scenes when they first showed up.

I did have a problem with Spidey (a) growing up too fast (b) not having enough wise-cracking. I always felt that the wisecracks are an important part of the character, and why nobody would ever think that meek, wimpy Peter Parker would ever be Spidey. You have a bright kid who always wanted to say things but never did because he would have gotten the snot beaten out of him by the bullies. Then he puts on a costume and becomes powerful . . . he finally has the chance to say all those things he always wanted to say.

I really hope they bring back J. K. Simmons. They should treat him like "Q" from the Bond films -- he should stay the constant.

That question is pretty vague. An Earth/TA is probably the single best AoE controller in the game. It has pretty much every kind of AoE control other than Confuse, and often multiples.

If you are looking for damage, then Fire/Kin is certainly popular for good reason, but it is not that strong on AoE control. Fire/Kin is great for killing large numbers of low level foes, which is why it is popular among the folks who like to farm, but it is not as strong against tougher foes.

The key is to take an educated guess at which of the foes will live longest, and use that one for your anchor. EF in particular can be cast quickly and provides a nice 22.5% Resistance Debuff -- helping the team kill everything faster. Pick an anchor in the front, and the debuffs act like a "Kill me first" sign. Pick the toughest boss, and many scrappers and tanks feel that it is there job to take out the toughest foes first, so that one goes down fast. Often the best choice is a Lieutenant near the back.

On fast-moving teams, I use EF on most groups, LR on large groups and save RI for really tough foes. Pick the right anchor and the debuff will be around for most of the battle. My Ill/Rad guide has some suggestions on choosing your anchor.

This is one of the reasons that I strongly recommend max-slotting for Hold. The pulses are every 5 seconds. The unenhanced Hold at level 50 is 7.45 seconds. If you max slot for Hold (95%+), you will extend that Hold to almost 15 seconds . . . three pulses (actually very close to three pulses with the difference being minimal, and any set bonus extending Hold will put it over). Anything less, and you only extend it through only two pulses.

Extending the Hold through three pulses means that you have a much higher chance of Choking Cloud being a "continual" hold -- which I see as the main purpose of the power as one of the two toggle holds in the game. If you start with some other kind of AoE control that keeps the foes occupied through several pulses, then your chances of hitting with the Hold increases over time. Add some global accuracy and that Lockdown +2 Mag proc, and the power becomes very effective.

Which is why my Fire/Rad controllers use Indomidible Will from the Psi APP to avoid most mezzes. Any controller who uses Choking Cloud as a significant part of its strategy should seriously consider taking Indomidible Will.

You jumped in the bath???


Elmo say . . . "Toggles Good!"