Local_Man
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I took a look at your build and made a few changes. I was able to add an extra 10% recharge and add two Chance for Build Up procs, and increase your damage in a few areas. Especially with the Chance for Build Up in Phantom Army, this build should increase your damage by quite a bit.
A couple of quick notes: The third Recharge in Mutation was only giving you less than two seconds faster recharge -- I moved that slot. Since you have perma Hasten with 2 Recharge, I moved the third one from there, too. I removed the third -knockback in SI, and moved some slots around to give you 5 Red Fortunes in SI. You had NO EndRdx in SI, which would have used up your blue bar in no time. I gave you capped EndRdx, so you can run it almost all the time. I also added some endRdx into Deceive.
I also changed out Fallout for Fire Armor. The resistance armor should help your survival by reducing incoming damage. That plus your heal should keep you alive most of the time.
Another thing you could do is take the -knockback out of Combat Jumping to add an Achilles Heal -Resist proc to Rad Inf. but I did not make that change.
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.81
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Level 50 Magic Controller
Primary Power Set: Illusion Control
Secondary Power Set: Radiation Emission
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Teleportation
Ancillary Pool: Fire Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Blind -- BasGaze-Rchg/Hold(A), BasGaze-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(3), BasGaze-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(11), BasGaze-Acc/Rchg(13), Thundr-Acc/Dmg(46), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(48)
Level 1: Radiant Aura -- Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx(A), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(33), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(33), Dct'dW-Heal(34), Dct'dW-Rchg(37)
Level 2: Spectral Wounds -- Decim-Acc/Dmg(A), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(5), Decim-Build%(5), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(9), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(43)
Level 4: Deceive -- CoPers-Conf%(A), CoPers-Conf/EndRdx(15), CoPers-Conf/Rchg(15), CoPers-Acc/Conf/Rchg(17), CoPers-Acc/Rchg(23)
Level 6: Accelerate Metabolism -- Efficacy-EndMod(A), Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg(7), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(7), Efficacy-Acc/Rchg(17), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc(25), Efficacy-EndMod/EndRdx(25)
Level 8: Hover -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), Krma-ResKB(9)
Level 10: Superior Invisibility -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(11), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(37), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(40), RedFtn-Def(45), RedFtn-EndRdx(46)
Level 12: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), Krma-ResKB(13)
Level 14: Fly -- Flight-I(A)
Level 16: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(40)
Level 18: Phantom Army -- ExRmnt-Acc/Rchg(A), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg(19), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(19), ExRmnt-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(21), S'bndAl-Dmg/Rchg(21), S'bndAl-Build%(23)
Level 20: Radiation Infection -- DarkWD-ToHitdeb/Rchg/EndRdx(A), DarkWD-ToHitDeb/EndRdx(27), DarkWD-ToHitDeb(27), DarkWD-Slow%(29)
Level 22: Enervating Field -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(46)
Level 24: Lingering Radiation -- Acc-I(A)
Level 26: Spectral Terror -- U'spkT-Acc/Rchg(A), U'spkT-EndRdx/Fear(29), U'spkT-Fear/Rng(31), U'spkT-Acc/Fear/Rchg(31), U'spkT-Stun%(31)
Level 28: Mutation -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(40)
Level 30: Recall Friend -- Range-I(A)
Level 32: Phantasm -- ExRmnt-Acc/Rchg(A), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg(33), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(34), ExRmnt-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(34), HO:Nucle(37)
Level 35: Flash -- BasGaze-Rchg/Hold(A), BasGaze-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(36), BasGaze-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(36), BasGaze-Acc/Rchg(36), Para-Acc/Hold/Rchg(45), Para-Acc/Rchg(45)
Level 38: EM Pulse -- BasGaze-Rchg/Hold(A), BasGaze-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(39), BasGaze-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(39), BasGaze-Acc/Rchg(39)
Level 41: Fire Blast -- Decim-Acc/Dmg(A), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx(42), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(42), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(42), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(43), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(43)
Level 44: Fire Ball -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(48), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(48), Posi-Dmg/Rng(50), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(50)
Level 47: Fire Shield -- ImpArm-ResDam(A), ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx(50)
Level 49: Rise of the Phoenix -- RechRdx-I(A)
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Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Containment
Level 2: Ninja Run
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Quote:I don't agree with this . . . as far as I could understand it. If you have a fast-moving AoE focused team, then most of the time you don't need confuse, but if you use it, confused foes (a) won't have time to do all that much damage, (b) you will be pretty sure to do damage to every foe, even foes targetted by confused foes, so you will be getting bonus XP you didn't earn while you kill foes faster, and (c) those confused foes will not be doing damage to you or your teammates.Originally Posted by EvilRyu
This is how I have always viewed confuse. On teams when the foes are really hard then its an insurance policy that you wont die. Chances are if you are in this situation you need to turn down the difficulty anyways. Second the damage done is xp leeching but I find on teams that have alot of aoe having the confuse foes fight is just bad. For the most part they would not have died any faster because it would have been overkill damage. So in the case with aoe heavy teams I wouldnt use it. What it boils down to is this, is the xp lost from confuse going to be more or less than the total debt the team would have gotten from that encounter? Since debt is like almost non-existent these days it takes away from the utility that confuse brought to the table. For solo this is a different matter. I found it extremely valueable on redside due to mobs having insane control resistances and domination not always being up. So thats pretty much the one thing to rely on. Now that we have a choice for doms being on blueside I find myself not needing it as much.
And even better . . . a smart use of confuse powers can take foes who use mez, debuff and buff powers out of the fight before it begins. So those things that can slow you down (or even stop you) can be gotten rid of with Confuse.
For example: Don't you think you will kill stuff faster if those Earth Thorn Casters are using their Quicksand on the foes instead of on you? and getting the Ruin Mages to throw Earthquake on the foes instead of you and your team? -
Quote:The problem with Poisonous Ray is that it won't fit into the repeatable attack chain. Fire Blast and Ice Blast have a 1 sec. activation and an 8 sec. Recharge, and do about 30 points of damage (before enhancement and Containment). Poisonous Ray has a 2 Sec. activation, 24 sec. Recharge and does 52 damage with half of it as Damage over Time over 9 seconds. Overall, the APP blasts do more damage due to the faster recharge, and the Blind-SW-Blast-SW that takes about 4 seconds and can be repeated over and over, allowing you to kill stuff faster and take advantage of the illusory damage in SW. Poisonous Ray would have an attack chain of Blind-SW-Blast-SW-Blind-SW-<nothing>-SW-Blind-SW-<nothing>-SW, and then the DoT may allow the heal-back of the illusory damage from Spectral Wounds.Originally Posted by Edana
If willing to make the trip to villains to get it Mace Mastery has a single target blast with a -res debuff. The recharge is longer and has a bit of redraw so your attack chain is looser; less direct damage for more debuff.
I haven't personally tried it, but looking at the numbers and understanding how Illusion works, I'm pretty sure the APP blasts will be better.
The problem I see with Plant's Confuse is that it is a one-shot cone. You have to get in just the right position for maximum effectiveness, and then anybody missed is a problem. To then use WoC, you would have to run in to the tightest bunch and wait for the pulses to hit. WoC as a small pulsing confuse aura really needs to be teamed with another pulsing aura to make it work with any degree of effectiveness -- just stacking confuse won't make WoC any less "sucktacular" or it would be effective with Mind's Mass Confusion, too.Quote:I would add Plant/ to the list since the extra mag 2 stacks nicely with the every-spawn mag 3 Seeds of Confusion. -
I can tell you from experience that having at least two Electric Control teammates will be great. My Elec/Rad teamed with my buddy's Elec/Elec Dominator through much of Praetoria, and stacking Endurance Drain is very effective. Plus, the double Static Field meant that the team was getting double Recovery.
Three would be even better. I would suggest an Elec/Rad Controller and then two Elec/whatever Doms, but an Elec secondary will further add to the endurance drain. Or you could go with two Elec/Rads and one Dominator if you feel you have enough damage. (An Elec/Rad controller does very little damage.) At that point, your damage dealers will be fighting statues after the first few seconds. The AoE Immob + Radiation Infection will almost be as good as a hold since they won't be able to move and won't be able to hit your team much. Plus, the Rad has AM and a back-up heal. -
I found Shield to be a bit squishy until higher levels. Shield Charge, once fully slotted, has a significant impact on how you play the character.
My Shield characters got a lot better once I was able to add in Tough and Weave, and then get most of my IOs in there for a softcapped or nearly softcapped build. Now, it is amazingly durable. I still have to be careful of Defense Debuffs. Leveling up, you really need to think of Shield as more of an offensive set than defensive -- the damage buff from AAO is significant.
My Broadsword/Shield scrapper was pretty easy to softcap . . . thanks to Perry taking care of the Melee defense. I only needed to add Ranged and AoE Defense. Last night, I just got my Elec/Shield scrapper up to 50. I still need to get some IOs to finish his build, as he is at 46% Melee, but 42% Ranged and 43% AoE. My plan will get 46% across the board.
It looks as though you need some EndRdx in a few places, and 2 Recharge in Active Defenses. Your damage set can make a difference -- some mitigation in the damage set can really help. -
You could always take your pets, but buff the team before your pets. Or don't buff them at all. If the pets die, who cares? They were dead to begin with, and you can just re-summon more.
If you want to play a support character, then fine -- support first. But skipping valuable powers just makes you gimped. Not "unplayable," but gimped. -
As repeated over an over again in these forums, City of Heroes/Villains is not all about "end game" content. It is about the journey. If you are rushing to level, you are missing most of the best stuff in the game.
The best thing to do is to try to form your own teams. Use the search function. Set up a macro to invite anyone who is looking for team. One I use is:
/macro Team, t $target, Are you interested in joining a team doing level $level missions?
I can just click on a person whose "looking for teams" flag is up and click the Macro. The Macro will send the person a tell message inserting my current level. -
Quote:Actually, "--All You Zombies--" was written in 1959, while "Stranger in a Strange Land" was published in 1961. Heinlein had apparently plotted out the plot of Stranger (but not written it) 10 years before it was published.Originally Posted by Smersh
I believe that Svanberg is correct. Fun fact: it was originally published under a pseudonym.
Heinlein later revisited the concept with the short story "All You Zombies," as well. But that was clearly an example of post-Stranger in a Strange Land Heinlein. -
The only characters I would consider taking World of Confusion with might be (a) an Ice Controller who can stack it with Arctic Air; (b) An Elec/Rad who can stack it with Choking Cloud and Conductive Aura, or; (c) best of all, an Ice/Rad. It is useless by itself, and can only be effective with certain stacked combinations.
Take a look at my Ill/Rad guide when you are re-slotting. It may give you some good ideas. One of the reasons I suggest people take Deceive at level 4 is that while leveling up, they will get the chance to see how effective Deceive really is. When folks take it in later levels, so many other things are going on that folks don't really focus on how good Deceive is. I see folks say, "I don't really use it," because they took it at 35 instead of 4. You can take one tough foe out of the fight for over 30 seconds with one quick 2 second animation. Not only that, you can turn him into your temporary ally. It has tons of great uses. -
I use my 20 month old Asus laptop to run CoH all the time -- and its numbers are not as good as that newer model. I have been happier with Asus than most other laptop brands.
I'm not a computer geek . . . but wanted to share my experience with the Asus brand.
You might want to post this over in the Tech forum. The guys who hang out there seem to really know their stuff. -
We know there are a few basketball courts in the city zones, but I don't recall seeing any other sports facilities.
Except for those parks with an arch at each end . . . perfect for two players with Repel to play "Hellion Soccer." -
Absolutely get Deceive over World of Confusion. Why? Because Deceive is awesome and World of Confusion is terrible. Deceive lets you take a troublesome foe out of the fight before it begins -- WoC has an itty-bitty AoE that forces you to be in melee, and then it is only mag 2 and you have to stand in melee hoping that the pulsing power will hit before you get smacked. The Contagious Confusion proc helps, but not enough to make WoC worthwhile. On the other hand, the Contagious Confusion proc in Deceive is great, as you get an aggro-free ranged Mass Confusion about a third of the time.
Take a look at my Ill/Rad guide for some ideas on how to use Deceive even on teams.
Personally, I would make a few different choices on the rest of your build.
Blind: See if you can fit in two more slots for Damage. Since you should use this a LOT, that damage adds up even for a team-oriented player.
Spectral Wounds: If you can find another slot here, the Chance for Build Up proc is nice -- replace one of the other enhancments with a Acc/Dam Hami-O for a little more accuracy and Damage. But that's very optional.
Mutation: I plan to throw a single Recharge in it and that's all. The buff is strong enough without further enhancment. I would also move it way back (and move Deceive early in the build).
Phantom Army: I prefer the Expediant Reinforcement set over Call to Arms because it is a level 50 set so it provided more enhancement. Then you can use the Dam/Rech and the Chance for Build Up proc from Soulbound -- that will cap your Damage and Recharge, and the proc hits a LOT since you have three pets who can activate it.
Ling Rad: A single Accuracy is all it needs if you have additonal Global Recharge and Global Accuracy. The Endurance cost is not so high that it needs 2 EndRdx -- that is EF.
Do you really need two -knockback IOs? One handles about 95% of the knockback. Two will get you up to about 98%. The difference isn't worth a slot to me.
You took Mutation, Maneuvers, Tactics, Fallout, and Vengence, and skipped Flash. I would take Flash over any of those. An AoE Hold is very useful for a team build, and if you have both Flash and EM Pulse, you can use Flash as often as it is up while keeping EM Pulse for a "panic button" power.
Fallout: It is a very, very situational damage power with a great debuff. You slotted it as a debuff power. Slot it for damage if you keep it, as it can do a lot of damage. My Ill/Rad guide discusses how situational it is. I probably will not add it to my Ill/Rad, even though I do have it on my Earth/Rad. Similarly, I'm not a big fan of Vengence even though it provides a huge team buff -- but I would take Vengence before Fallout. (And move EM Pulse to 38.)
APP power set: Consider taking a single target blast from Fire, Ice, Primal or Psi. The goal is to get an attack chain of Blind-SW-Blast-SW. That can add up to a lot of damage, and allows you to kill lower level foes fast enough to keep illusory damage, too. I prefer Fire and then Ice, then Primal over Psi. There are a lot of foes in the higher levels who are resistant to Psi damage (like all robots), and having a blast of a different damage type makes it much easier to defeat those foes.
If you stay with Psi, you should slot Indomidible Will with Recharge -- IW is the main reason to take the Psi pool. However, my Ill/Rad very rarely gets mezzed -- Phantom Army and Phantasm draw most of the aggro, and I frequently use Deceive to take foes with Mez powers out of the fight before it begins. -
Quote:That sounds nice, but the animation time will have to be adjusted for each power . . . or the animation times will have to be standardized for each kind of blast. The work involved may not be justified by the benefits.Originally Posted by Angelic_EU
How about alternating animations? One or two or even three animations for one power, then alternating between them. For example, for Broadsword - Headsplitter, there can be a back hand or a forehand swing; or a single hand hit or a both hand hit. Alternating between them makes fighting sequence more interesting to watch.
Alternative movement animations would be nice too. I always want some of my characters to float like a Mu without the trouble of taking hover (hover mimicks it but sometimes the fly mechanism is just not themetically necessary anyway).
Also, adding inertia/momentum into the moment animations (e.g. sprinting, ninja running, SS, SJ) would be indeed very welcoming too. Fly has inertia in the form of a gliding stop. I always wonder why the others don't have something similar.
Introducing different alternating 'en-garde' and taunt animations would be very good too.
I suppose a 6-year-old animation system does need some updating to make it more fluid and dynamic - and perhaps life like.
In fact, just thought of it: how about customerisable animations? Perhaps a simple example would be having a number of different blast animations that are adaptable to all the non-weapon using blasts (e.g. left hand blast, right hand blast, arm holding still blast, arm pushing forward blast, both hands blast, both arm holding still blast). For example, a Fire Blast blaster can use a left-hand blast to shoot Flares, then right-arm-holding-still to do Fire Blast, then both hands to Fire Ball, etc. Players could arrange a left-right-left-right sequence for their blasts. Or a one-arm Fire Blaster who shoot only from the right (perhaps a robotic) palm. Or a pyro-psychic who generates fire blast by putting both hands next to the temples (a bit like Dominate from Mind Control).
Like colour taintable powers, players can choose from an option list what sort of animation to assign to each power at the Tailor. Some of those blasting animations are already in existence. The idea is to generalise them so the players can choose what sort of animations should go with the powers and theme of the character.
It suddenly opens up a wider possibility of character customerisation and more personal game play experience. -
I had the same problem on an Nvidia 9800
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Quote:I just don't accept the argument of "Poor players are a good excuse for a bad build." Here on the forums, people come looking for suggestions from experienced players. Those recommendations should be beneficial to most players and should assume that the player becomes at least moderately competant. If someone dislikes a particular power due to his or her unique quirks or preferences, don't recommend skipping that power unless you have a reason to believe that the questioner has similar quirks.Originally Posted by Edana
Definitely true in the case of defenders, corruptors and controllers, neglecting the other power set doesn't improve their team contribution with the support set. I've just teamed with a few too many MMs that never used a buff or heal on anything other than their own pets. Poor players for not being able or willing to prioritise differently when teamed than solo maybe, but they were fully using both pets and their support set and not contributing any team support. Remove the pets and you are still only getting benefit from a little over half a character, but it's one that is contributing to the team, not soloing in the same map.
Now, it is a valid point to say, "While Static Field is preferred by most, I skipped it because I can't stand the graphics. I felt that my character was playable and very effective even without Static Field. I made up for its absence by . . . "
Personally, I think petless masterminds are kind of silly. If you want to play pure support for a while (and contribute less to the team than you could), then simply don't pull out the pets. But I don't accept the argument that justifies a gimped build like a petless mastermind by saying that it makes poor player be better a support player. If someone wants to make a petless MM as a challenge or for a concept, that's fine -- but that person should warn potental teammates that he/she is missing powers that most would consider essential. -
Quote:Maybe not "unplayable," but certainly "severely gimped." Can you imagine a Plant Controller without Seeds of Confusion? (I teamed with one -- I couldn't believe it. And he was far less effective that he would have been with Seeds.) An Illusion Controller without Phantom Army?Originally Posted by Edana
I doubt there are any powersets that become unplayable through the removal of just one power.
Some powersets have a key power that makes the powerset effective. In some cases, it is a combination of a few powers. Skipping one of these powers will substantially reduce the effectiveness of the character -- but any character can be "played" with four maxed out power pools. A few folks have proved it by leveling up joke characters.
As for Static Field, I find it becomes nearly as important as Flashfire on a Fire Controller or Ice Slick on an Ice Controller. Not only is it a great Alpha mitigation power and continual AoE control power, but its secondary effect of helping you and the team recover endurance makes it useful on every group of 3 or more. -
Quote:With an Ill/Storm, it virtually would have been an "I win" button. Cast Phanty, PA, Lightning Storm and Tornado, then bubble up so nothing can hit you.Originally Posted by Scin_Device
PFF would have been amazing on an illusion controller. *sob*
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Basically, Defense buffs and debuffs both work in the powers if you could slot them. Normally, you can't slot a Defense Debuff power in a Defense power. If you could, you would choose the Schedule A Defence Debuff over the Schedule B Defense buff.
But Hami-Os allow you to slot them into any power that will accept any part of the enhancment . . . so an Enzyme has ToHitDebuff/DefenseDebuff/EndRdx. Since Defense powers will accept EndRdx, you can slot the Enzyme in the power, where the Defense Debuff applies to enhance the Defense buff.
It is an exploit, but nobody expects it to be fixed anytime soon. -
Quote:Originally Posted by BenRGamer
Actually, that's not entirely true. Mace Mastery is probably the best choice for a n APP/PPP for a Perma-PA build. It has a single target attack, Poisonous Ray, that has a -Res component as well as an AoE attack, two good defensive based shields to put an LotG in (for now, they'll probably replace PFF if they haven't already), and a pet. I think I'll switch to that one.
For the endurance problems, I was trying to save on slotting, but I could always take out some of the slots in Radiant Aura for it.
And, once i19 comes out I intend to replace Fitness with Fighting (and move Hasten/Fly up) to get some added def/res, and I'll replace the Flight in fly with Blessing of the Zephyr: Knockback Protection.
And, I also changed around Blind. I added a slot to it and put Thunderstrike in there instead so I could get some added recovery, too.
The point of the single-target attack is to fit into the Blind-SW-Blast-SW attack chain that can be continually repeated with Blind setting up Containment. Fire Blast and Ice Blast from the APP sets animate in 1 second and recharge in 8 (before slotting and global bonuses). Poisonous Ray has a 2 second animation and a 24 second recharge, which makes it unsuitable for the attack chain.
The attack chain is important because it helps you take advantage of the illusory damage in Spectral Wounds (and PA and Phanty's Decoy) by being able to kill off lower level foes quickly. One attack chain will usually take care of minions, and 2-3 can handle a lieutenant.
The Ray does about 65% more damage, but recharges 4 times longer. This means that Fire Blast does overall more damage. By getting to keep the illusory damage as well, you can increase Illusion's overall damage substantially. Plus, a smaller, faster attack chain means that you don't waste damage by hitting a foe with excess damage.
PFF in the Mace Mastery has already been replaced with Focused Accuracy -- which I consider to be pretty useless.
Admittedly, the AoE damage from Mace seems to do more than Fireball, but that is far less important than the single target blast. Besides, if you really want AoE damage, Ice APP has TWO AoEs in Ice Storm and Frost Breath. And Ice has a defense-based shield that can take a LotG Recharge.
While I can't say for sure that the Fire and Ice APPs are better than the PPPs for an Ill/Rad, since I haven't tried them, but looking at the numbers and my experience with Ill/Rad, I strongly suspect that the APP sets will be better overall. -
Actually, the "feeling like a superhero" thing can really vary depending upon the character, and what you mean by "feeling like a superhero." Some super heroes can do huge amounts of damage. Some are invulnerable. Some have amazing powers to control and distract foes.
Want to feel powerful? Try a level 50 Elec/Shield scrapper, fully IO'ed out to softcapped defenses -- gather a large group, Build Up-Lightning Rod-Shield Charge! Zip-BLAM-BLAM and the entire group is down. I might have to use my other attacks to clean up a straggler or two.
If I want to feel as though I can withstand anything, I pull out my softcapped Invul/Axe tank or my Stone/Fire Tank. Either one of those can stand in large groups of foes and laugh at the feeble attempts to harm him.
My Controllers have a wide range of amazing abilities that can completely neutralize groups of foes, or sometimes a single foe. My Ill/Rad with Perma-PA can handle almost any situation, as long as I pay attention to what I'm doing.
The Inventions Enhancements have gone a long way to bringing back that "superhero" feeling . . . but it takes some work and thought to get there. If you are on a level 40 Fire/Fire Scrapper, you're not there yet. -
You didn't give much guidance in your post. Just a few suggestions here and there:
Whether it is worth IO'ing out your character is up to you. Will it make the character more fun for you? I have a few characters where IO'ing out the character makes a huge difference, and others where the difference is not all that significant. The key is whether there are certain attributes which, if significantly enhanced with IO sets, will make a big difference. For example, getting perma-PA on my Ill/Rad made a huge difference. Softcapping Defense on a few characters has made a huge difference.
There are a lot of choices depending upon your playstyle. If you play with fast-moving teams with a good tank, then Recharge is probably your best bet. If you like to solo, then Defense may be your best option. If you are really active, you may need to focus on Recovery since many of the Storm powers are very demanding of endurance. Personally, I mostly prefer to slot Controllers for Recharge. High Recharge means that your AoE controls are up more often, and allows you to stack them. High Recharge will also allow you to get out more than one Tornado or Lightning Storm, I believe.
Animate Stone: Rocky already has high resistance, but adding even more makes him more durable. So try to get one or maybe both of the Pet Resist procs in him.
With Earth/Storm, you don't need to slot Freezing Rain for Defense Debuff since your primary already has a ton of -Defense (especially Quicksand). So that makes Freezing Rain a great place for procs. 2-3 Recharge, the Achilles Heal Chance for -Resist and 2-3 damage procs can really be effective.
Purple sets are really expensive right now, but some of them are worth it. If you use Stone Cages a lot, then the Chance for Hold in the Immobilize purple set is great. -
I'm not sure what you mean by "have a take on this." There are quite a few controllers who can be designed to work in melee. The most common is Fire/Kin, but Fire, Ice and Electric all have auras that make them work well in melee. And all sets have some kind of AoE mez power that lets you attack foes who can't fight back - at least for a little while.
If you can effectively use your powers to stay at range, it is usually safer to stay at range. But any controller can be designed as a melee character. -
Well, you have perma-PA with that build. By choosing the Villain PPP over the APP, you are able to get another pet, but you miss out on a single target blast that will allow you to have the attack chain of Blind-SW-Blast-SW. I suspect that the build with a better single target attack chain does more damage, but I haven't tested it. Your build is also quite a bit more expensive than mine, but if you have it and want to spend it, that's fine. I would love to fit some of those purple sets in my build, but I'm not willing to farm to get them.
A couple of things I see -- It appears that Endurance may be a significant issue. With everything except Fly running, your Recovery is 4.2/sec, and your toggles use up 2.2/sec. That doesn't leave you much endurance for battle. You are not capped on EndRdx for Superior Invis. I used 5 Red Fortune + the LotG Recharge in SI, which let me cap EndRdx.
Enervating Field really needs 2 EndRdx unless you have NO endurance issues at all. There are a few places you could take a slot from.
In Health, if you replace the Regen Tissue proc with a Numina's Heal, you will actually get MORE Regen due to the set bonus. The improvement is only about 4% though.
Ling Rad is perma in a Perma-PA build. With no Recharge at all, its recharge is about 29 sec with a duration of 30 sec. What it really needs is an Accuracy in the default slot. You want to be able to hit those AV's, don't you?
Personally, I would prefer to put some Damage in Blind since it is used so much. I six-slotted it with the Baz Gaze+an Acc/Dam Hami-O and a common Damage.
I'm not sure the Steadfast +3% Defense is doing you all that much good since your defense is only 12-17%. However, you are lacking any kind of knockback protection, so you may want to consider changing that to the -Knockback IO. In any even, you probably want to fit in at least one -knockback IO somewhere. -
Quote:Maybe if there was no number there, something in the game's code would divide by zero . . . and the universe would collapse?Originally Posted by Sailboat
All the pet and pseudo-pet powers have an accuracy listed even if they're auto-hit. Maybe they are required to have a value for that and it doesn't really matter what that value is?
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NO NO NO! Confuse never, ever "steals XP."
A foe defeated by a confused foe does not award XP to you because you never earned it -- you didn't do any of the damage. But nothing takes away any XP you earned. As far as you are concerned, that foe never existed. At worst you could say that confusion can reduce the amount of XP available to be earned from a particular pool of foes. Since there are fewer foes to kill, you complete missions faster and get those mission bonuses faster. At worst, there is a reduction in XP that is available to earn . . . but you can always do another mission. Unless you are doing a limited number of Kill-all missions, it really doesn't matter.
AND, as long as you (and/or your team and/or your pets) do SOME of the damage to the target of the confused foe, then you get BONUS XP -- you get XP that you did not earn by getting some of the XP earned by the confused foe. So you are not only having to do less damage to defeat a foe, but you are getting bonus XP for defeating that foe.
This is one of the worst misconceptions in the game. I run into it all the time. I even wrote a long section about it in my Illusion/Radiation guide.