Mid_Boss

Decided to post this because this is my favorite controller combo. I have a 50 (which I went with fire epic) and I have a second one that just hit 35 (which I'll go with earth epic)

First of all you might be asking "Midboss, you sexy dynamo, why earth/storm??" If not you should be. Earth/Storm is the best crowd control power combo in the game and gains that crown very early to boot. Forget Stalagmites (until later) what you want is the Earthquake + Freezing Rain 1 2 punch. Both have a good chance of knocking enemies down. Together and some enemies may never be on their feet long enough to attack. This includes bosses. On top of that Earthquake debuffs accuracy while freezing rain debuffs resistance and they BOTH debuff defense making your mez aoes hit much more reliably. Throw in stalagmites and snow storm and you're all the control your team could ever ask for in early levels.

And it only gets better later on when you add Thunderclap to the mix. Yes yes I know what you're thinking "*snrk* Thunderclap?? No one takes that piece of monkey dung. You're a noob!"

Take that little thought, ball it up, and throw it in the trash can. Yes, Thunderclap is questionable at best with most builds. But for earth/storm it's a must. Why? Stalagmites is a mag 3 stun which makes it affect Lts and minions but not bosses. Thunderclap is a mag 2 stun which makes it only affect minions. But put them together and you have mag 5 aoe stun which is enough to nail bosses.

So what do we have so far? Enemies are bouncing up and down, their defense is floored, their accuracy is lowered, they're slowed, and now they're getting hit by mag 5 aoe stuns.

Hurricane is a great power though I very rarely use it for normal fights. What I do use it for is AV fights since it doesn't push AVs around so they just stand in it while it floors their accuracy. Combine that with the -acc of earthquake and they aren't hitting anything.

Now many people take the mass immobilizer power early on just for the sake of throwing some, any, damage into the mix. This is a mistake. The earth mass immob stops knockdown so all of a sudden your earthquake and freezing rain aren't bouncing your enemies and every enemy now will ignore the fire/fire blaster and focus on killing YOU because immob aoes draw stupid amounts of aggro.

The mass immob IS usefull later on when you've got both stun powers and have a chance to survive using it. With this power you can launching Tornado and Lightening Storm allowing them to damage without throwing your enemies all over the place.

Speaking of Tornado, this is yet another must have for AV fights since AVs are immune to knockback this pet just sits on them for several hundred points of damage over time.

Good but not necessary powers.

O2 Boost: Hey, people are going to get hit no matter how awesome you are. This also cures stun, adds resistance to endurance drain, and increases perception for when you're team gets blinded.... I honestly don't see why anyone who teams would skip this power.

Steamy Mist: Adds defense, adds resistances, gives stealth, has a wide area of effect.....

OK so maybe these powers are better than good. They're fantastic. But not 100% necessary.

Quick Sand: With all the knockdown and the slow of freezing right and snow storm the only thing this has going for it is that it's another -defense hit to your enemies which you really don't need since you already have plenty of -defense.

Salt Crystals: Mass sleep attack... some may claim to like sleep attacks. I think they're more delusional than console fanboys. With your own aoes you'll wake up your enemies, forget the aoes of you allies.

Volcanic Gasses: ... This is a great power. But I don't have room for it and I already have plenty of stun aoe. I may swap thunderclap for this after seeing how well Fissure works since thunder requires you to be in melee range and has a long animation at which point I'll turn on hurricane and leave it on since I wont be jumping into melee for thunderclap.

Drawbacks of the Earth/Storm.... No damage until late 30s. Which means you NEED to team at all times. Until you get lightening storm, tornado, and earth pet you're almost completely devoid of damage. But at the same time you make any team rock so it's not THAT big of a problem.


Epics: Any epic would do well with this build... Most go with fire because... well after 30+ levels of having no damage you kinda want to do some killing. Psi adds damage and mez protection. Primal has Conserve power (thunderstorm and maz immob eat a lot of endurance) and Power Boost to make those stuns last extra long.

But which one would I suggest? Earth epic. Shield is defense based adding to your -acc powers and it has a self heal making you one safe little controller. But really what's so great about this? Fissure! A mag 2 aoe stun power. That's right. A third aoe stun. Between the three of them you can keep entire spawns (including bosses) permanently stunned.


Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.4006
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Level 50 Magic Controller
Primary Power Set: Earth Control
Secondary Power Set: Storm Summoning
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Flight
Ancillary Pool: Stone Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Fossilize -- UbrkCons-Dam%:50(A), UbrkCons-EndRdx/Hold:50(3), UbrkCons-Hold/Rchg:50(5), UbrkCons-Acc/Hold/Rchg:50(7), UbrkCons-Acc/Rchg:50(9)
Level 1: Gale -- FrcFbk-Rechg%:50(A)
Level 2: O2 Boost -- Dct'dW-Heal:50(A), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg:50(3), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx:50(5)
Level 4: Snow Storm -- EndRdx-I:50(A)
Level 6: Hasten -- RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(7), RechRdx-I:50(9)
Level 8: Swift -- Flight-I:50(A)
Level 10: Steamy Mist -- RedFtn-Def:50(A), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx:50(11), TtmC'tng-ResDam:50(11), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx:50(23), EndRdx-I:50(23)
Level 12: Stalagmites -- Amaze-ToHitDeb%:50(A), Amaze-EndRdx/Stun:50(13), Amaze-Stun/Rchg:50(13), Amaze-Acc/Stun/Rchg:50(15), Amaze-Acc/Rchg:50(15), Acc-I:50(37)
Level 14: Health -- Heal-I:50(A)
Level 16: Freezing Rain -- RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(17), EndRdx-I:50(17), LdyGrey-%Dam:50(25), Achilles-ResDeb%:20(25)
Level 18: Earthquake -- RechRdx-I:50(A), ToHitDeb-I:50(19), DampS-ToHitDeb/Rchg:50(19), Achilles-ResDeb%:20(34), LdyGrey-%Dam:50(37), DarkWD-ToHitDeb/Rchg:50(43)
Level 20: Stamina -- EndMod-I:50(A), EndMod-I:50(21), P'Shift-End%:50(21)
Level 22: Hover -- DefBuff-I:50(A)
Level 24: Fly -- Flight-I:50(A)
Level 26: Hurricane -- ToHitDeb-I:50(A), ToHitDeb-I:50(27), EndRdx-I:50(27), EndRdx-I:50(29), FrcFbk-Rechg%:50(33)
Level 28: Thunder Clap -- Stpfy-Acc/Stun/Rchg:50(A), Stpfy-EndRdx/Stun:50(29), Rope-Acc/Stun:50(34), Stpfy-Acc/Rchg:50(37), Rope-Acc/Stun/Rchg:50(48)
Level 30: Stone Cages -- GravAnch-Hold%:50(A), Posi-Dam%:50(31), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(31), Posi-Dmg/Rng:50(31), Posi-Dmg/Rchg:50(34), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx:50(39)
Level 32: Animate Stone -- SvgnRt-Acc/Dmg:50(A), BldM'dt-Acc/Dmg:50(33), S'bndAl-Dmg:50(33)
Level 35: Tornado -- Dmg-I:50(A), Dmg-I:50(36), RechRdx-I:50(36), EndRdx-I:50(36), Achilles-ResDeb%:20(43), LdyGrey-%Dam:50(50)
Level 38: Lightning Storm -- Apoc-Dam%:50(A), Apoc-Dmg/EndRdx:50(39), Apoc-Dmg/Rchg:50(39), Apoc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(40), Apoc-Acc/Rchg:50(40), ExStrk-Dam%:20(40)
Level 41: Fissure -- Amaze-Stun:50(A), Ragnrk-Dmg/EndRdx:50(42), Ragnrk-Acc/Rchg:50(42), Ragnrk-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(42), Ragnrk-Dmg/Rchg:50(43), FrcFbk-Rechg%:50(45)
Level 44: Hurl Boulder -- Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(A), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(45), Thundr-Acc/Dmg:50(45), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx:50(46), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(46), FrcFbk-Rechg%:50(46)
Level 47: Rock Armor -- RedFtn-Def:50(A), RedFtn-EndRdx:50(48), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx:50(48)
Level 49: Earth's Embrace -- Dct'dW-Rchg:50(A), Dct'dW-Heal:50(50), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg:50(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Containment



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They all told a great story with a single image. Loved it

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Im trying to wrap my brain around a Toggle based confuse power.

[/ QUOTE ]

Think Artic Air, but with damage instead of slows. This still leaves the squishy blaster very vunerable to those hard hitting melee attacks as it is clear it is neither 100% reliable nor does it have a high enough mag to confuse the bosses. Still a very nice sounding power. Before we get all bogged down with the gloom and doom of the "They get an I win button", lets see how the devs tone things down for the blasters. After all, do trollers heal as well as fenders? Do Fenders blast as well as blasters? I'm licking my chops to play this toon, but I fully expect for the pre-existing powers to be scaled down a bit.

[/ QUOTE ]

That confuse aura is going to be really sick with Contagious Confusion which will cause a 33% chance of a mag 2, 8 second aoe confuse to fire off for each enemy in the area of effect every 10 seconds. That means there will be an excellent chance to confuse minions and a small chance to confuse LTs and Bosses.

With all the /psi blasters and plant/ controllers that are going to be out I bought a dozen Contagious Confusions while they're still bargain basement cheap.

[ QUOTE ]
I HATE that we have to pay for these I will, but still HATE
it please DONT make any pay for sets in the future, I'm a
the type of gamer that LOVES to get everything and if stuff
like this continues, I'm sure I wont be able to keep finding
the money and such a dissapontment of not haveing the
"Cool" stuff will cause me to frustrate me into leaving the
game.

[/ QUOTE ]

/signed

I'd suggest changing Force Bubble... I'm afraid to because there are some hard cores out there that dig pushing enemies around and there's tons of people that resist any and all changes to the game... They like having useless powers, unbalanced ATs, inherents that are useless... what are these people? Masochists? ... Or as they're called in game "PvPers".

Well here goes anyway. How about instead of force bubbles repelling enemies, it be turned to a big mobile debuff. Enemies within it suffer a reduction to their accuracy, slowed movement, and every once in a while, get knocked down. This would cause a lot of aggro onto the force fielder though... maybe it could give the guy a 10% defense/resistance bonus to make up for it.

Keeping enemies at range is not a defense at all. Many enemies don't even try to use their melee attacks and all of them have a range greater than the diameter of the Force Bubble. This is a throwback from the days of Stateman's dream that keeping enemies at distance is a form of defense which... doesn't work!

I remember building my earth/storm controller. I resisted for the longest time taking my mass immobile until I finally gave in and took it so I could out damage defenders by giving my enemies knockdown immunity and unleashing tornado and lightening storm on them. Well I hardly ever use it unless I'm on a very defensive team. I could either have earthquake and freezing rain knocking them down and rendering them helpless or I could use stone cages... and DIE!

[ QUOTE ]
anyone remember the first DnD movie?

[/ QUOTE ]

Not if we can help it.

Recluse: THIS IS SPARTA!

*Kicks Statesman*

--------------------------------

Statesman: "What happen!?"

Synapse: "Someone set us up the bomb!"

Recluse: "Greetings gentlemen. All your base are belong to us."

----------------------------------

Recluse: "Fools! I will destroy you all! Ask me how"

---------------------------------

Recluse to Assembled Troops: "You are my selected elite. I have have assembled you here to initiate my most diabolical plan... EVER! The first step, we will perform West Side Story on Broadway. Mako is handing out scripts as we speak. If you don't get a script raise your hand and you WILL be destroyed.

Now turn to page 63 and lets begin... Follow with me now... I Feel Pretty... Oh so pretty...

Arachnos Troops sing allong: "I feel pretty...."

------------------------

Recluse: "Me!? I am the great Lord Rec-"

Laharl: "Who cares who you are? From now on. Your name is Mid-Boss!"

------------------------

Recluse: "Kame... hame.... HAAAA!"

-----------------------

Recluse: "I'm writing a paper, on the PC and it was like Bleep Beep Beep BEEEP. And then, like, half of my paper was gone. And I was like... huh?

It devoured my paper. It was a a really good paper. And then I had to write it again and I had to do it fast so it wasn't as good..... It was kind of.... a bummer..."

-------------------------------------------

Recluse: "What ever happened to the Backstreet Boys?"

Ice/Storm? I've never tried Ice so I don't know what would go good with that one... Well ice/storm with Arctic Air/Glacier/thunderclap all requiring you to be in the thick of things I'd go with an epic that gives the most protection and that would be either ice (hibernation) or psionic (mez protection)

So the villain EAT isn't going to be Khelds? .... Now I'm excited... I mean... having Khelds would have been fine. I've never played them myself, not my style (PB have knock back like energy blasters. Being a controller for so long, I've learned to loath Knock Back with a passion... infact Knock Back is annoying to everyone BUT the energy blaster... and WS just don't interest me.) But something other than Khelds means something entirely new and I'm all for that!

I can't wait to see what they have in the works!

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.20
http://www.honourableunited.org.uk/mhd.php

Level 50 Magic Controller
Primary Power Set: Earth Control
Secondary Power Set: Storm Summoning
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fitness
Ancillary Pool: Fire Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Fossilize <ul type="square">[*] (A) Hold Duration IO: Level 50[*] (3) Hold Duration IO: Level 50[*] (5) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 50[*] (7) Accuracy IO: Level 50[*] (7) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50[*] (11) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50[/list]Level 1: Gale <ul type="square">[*] (A) Accuracy IO: Level 50[/list]Level 2: O2 Boost <ul type="square">[*] (A) Healing IO: Level 50[*] (3) Healing IO: Level 50[*] (11) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 50[/list]Level 4: Snow Storm <ul type="square">[*] (A) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 50[*] (5) Slow IO: Level 50[/list]Level 6: Quicksand <ul type="square">[*] (A) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 50[*] (21) Slow IO: Level 50[/list]Level 8: Hasten <ul type="square">[*] (A) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50[*] (9) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50[*] (9) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50[/list]Level 10: Hover <ul type="square">[*] (A) Flight Speed IO: Level 50[/list]Level 12: Stalagmites <ul type="square">[*] (A) Disorient Duration IO: Level 50[*] (13) Disorient Duration IO: Level 50[*] (13) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50[*] (15) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50[*] (15) Accuracy IO: Level 50[*] (21) Accuracy IO: Level 50[/list]Level 14: Swift <ul type="square">[*] (A) Flight Speed IO: Level 50[/list]Level 16: Freezing Rain <ul type="square">[*] (A) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50[*] (17) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50[*] (17) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 50[*] (25) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 50[/list]Level 18: Earthquake <ul type="square">[*] (A) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50[*] (19) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50[*] (19) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 50[*] (25) To Hit Debuff IO: Level 50[*] (48) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 50[/list]Level 20: Health <ul type="square">[*] (A) Healing IO: Level 50[*] (46) Healing IO: Level 50[/list]Level 22: Stamina <ul type="square">[*] (A) Endurance Modification IO: Level 50[*] (23) Endurance Modification IO: Level 50[*] (23) Endurance Modification IO: Level 50[/list]Level 24: Fly <ul type="square">[*] (A) Flight Speed IO: Level 50[*] (50) Flight Speed IO: Level 50[/list]Level 26: Volcanic Gasses <ul type="square">[*] (A) Hold Duration IO: Level 50[*] (27) Hold Duration IO: Level 50[*] (27) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50[*] (31) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50[*] (37) Damage Increase IO: Level 50[*] (40) Damage Increase IO: Level 50[/list]Level 28: Thunder Clap <ul type="square">[*] (A) Disorient Duration IO: Level 50[*] (29) Disorient Duration IO: Level 50[*] (29) Accuracy IO: Level 50[*] (34) Accuracy IO: Level 50[*] (34) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50[*] (34) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50[/list]Level 30: Steamy Mist <ul type="square">[*] (A) Resist Damage IO: Level 50[*] (31) Resist Damage IO: Level 50[*] (31) Defense Buff IO: Level 50[*] (37) Defense Buff IO: Level 50[*] (37) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 50[*] (43) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 50[/list]Level 32: Animate Stone <ul type="square">[*] (A) Damage Increase IO: Level 50[*] (33) Damage Increase IO: Level 50[*] (33) Accuracy IO: Level 50[*] (33) Accuracy IO: Level 50[/list]Level 35: Tornado <ul type="square">[*] (A) Damage Increase IO: Level 50[*] (36) Damage Increase IO: Level 50[*] (36) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50[*] (36) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 50[/list]Level 38: Lightning Storm <ul type="square">[*] (A) Damage Increase IO: Level 50[*] (39) Damage Increase IO: Level 50[*] (39) Accuracy IO: Level 50[*] (39) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 50[*] (40) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50[*] (40) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50[/list]Level 41: Fire Blast <ul type="square">[*] (A) Damage Increase IO: Level 50[*] (42) Damage Increase IO: Level 50[*] (42) Accuracy IO: Level 50[*] (42) Accuracy IO: Level 50[*] (43) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50[*] (43) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 50[/list]Level 44: Fire Ball <ul type="square">[*] (A) Damage Increase IO: Level 50[*] (45) Damage Increase IO: Level 50[*] (45) Accuracy IO: Level 50[*] (45) Accuracy IO: Level 50[*] (46) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 50[*] (46) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50[/list]Level 47: Fire Shield <ul type="square">[*] (A) Resist Damage IO: Level 50[*] (48) Resist Damage IO: Level 50[*] (48) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 50[/list]Level 49: Consume <ul type="square">[*] (A) Accuracy IO: Level 50[*] (50) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50[*] (50) Recharge Reduction IO: Level 50[/list]------------
Level 1: Brawl <ul type="square">[*] (A) Empty[/list]Level 1: Sprint <ul type="square">[*] (A) Empty[/list]Level 2: Rest <ul type="square">[*] (A) Empty[/list]Level 1: Containment



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</pre><hr />




This is my character's build. As you can see for those of you who are fan of stone cages (don't ask me why) or Hurricane or a you can easily do away with Hover and Fly and get Super Speed instead leaving you an open slot for a power of your choice.

If you don't like the idea of jumping into a mob to use Thunder Clap you could do away with that and replace it with a Leadership or Stone Cages or Hurricane.

This pretty much has everything. Lots of control with some damage thrown in at the end. Could certainly do better with IO sets but I figured I'd keep it simple. I have a lot of endurance reductions on powers that don't really need them but the powers that really do need them don't have room for them. So -end slotting up on the smaller powers makes up for it.

And lastly, the fire epic is easily replaced by one of your choice. The one that comes to mind first is Stone for the Fissure attack giving three, count em, three mass stun attacks.

[ QUOTE ]
Some good information in there, but I think it could still use a little work. Some things that I would have liked to have seen, being that I am in the process (slow process, but process!) of making an Earth/Storm myself, would be:

You mention that Stone Cages isn't worth taking and that Tornado is an issue because it tosses mobs around. What about the synergy using both at the same time? Cages will prevent the mobs from being knocked back by Tornado and unleash some serious damage (if you slot for that) or more control in Stun.

What about the stun attacks (Stalagmite, Fissure, and Thunderclap) plus an immobilization synergy? That is essentially a hold (Stun + Immob).

Some of the other power combinations have similar synergies that would be nice to cover in your guide.


I think information like this would be helpful for your guide. Also some slotting advice, possible builds perhaps?

[/ QUOTE ]

About the stone cages + tornado combo. I had the same idea you did and while it looks good on paper... it doesn't pan out in game. Man did that tick me off. Here are some reasons 1: The immob ruins your KD combo, I can't stress how powerfull this combo is 2: It does smashing damage, which is highly resisted 3: Unless enemies are standing right next to each other, it only hits one at a time 4: It doesn't stay on one enemy for more than a moment. The thing has an attention span of a five year old on crack on Christmas morning. Yes, it's great for throwin in some damage on an Arch Villain but other than that I can count on one hand how many time I used the Stone Cages + Tornado thing before I threw Stone Cages away.

As for Stun + immob you have quicksand and snow storm that brings enemies to such a slow rate of movement they might as well be immobilized. Immob just isn't worth ruining your earthquake+freezing rain KD combo.

So you want to be an earth/storm? Welcome to my favorite controller combo.

Earth

First thing you should know about this set is that it has some of the best control powers in the game, but the worst damage which is the opposite of fire which has the best damage but worst control. When building your earth/storm do not slot for damage, lightening storm will be your damage dealer later. Until then your role is completely support.

Stone Prizon- I am not a fan of immobilization at all. Mostly because there is not an enemy I've seen that doesn't have a long ranged attack... meaning these powers get you killed and do nothing to protect your team, making powers like this skippable. But for an earth/storm they're not only skippable, but a really... REALLY... REALLY bad idea! Why? You've already got quicksand and snow storm to slow your enemies to a crawl so they are your immobilization power. Immobilization powers also stop knockdown which is the bread and butter of an earth/storm. As I've said to controllers I've teamed with who insisted on ruining my earthquake/freezing rain combo with their immobilization powers "Would you rather have them immobilized and still killing you or on their backs and helpless?" If they insist on doing them after that I typicaly quit the team.

Fossilize- A must have power. I fully slotted this.

Stone Cages: Please see Stone Prizon for my opinion on this. There's only one time when I wish I had this and that's when fighting slow immune enemies (werewolves). Some people will take this and slot it for damage. That is a mistake. If you take this tactic, please, whenever you're in debt and your team is wiped, think of me and how I said "I told you so"

Quicksand- A powerful slow power that, even without slow slotted, brings enemies to a crawl. It also has a pretty big -def debuff. I usually lead off with this to make sure my Stalagmites hit if we have a tank to take alpha. If there's no tank, Stalagmites are the first attack and this is the last. Unlike other slow powers, this only slow movement. It does not slow attack rate.

Salt Crystals- If you're a fan of sleep, then take this. I'm not, so I didn't.

Stalagmite- A must have power! Stun only stops your enemies from attacking and not from moving around.. but you've got plenty of powers to keep them from moving around anyway. It will only stun LTs and minions, but if you use it with Thunderclap you can stun bosses too.

Earthquake- Get this! Get it as soon as possible this is the begining of the end for your enemies. It sits in one place and repeatedly knocks your enemies on their backs and it also has a -acc debuff on it making enemies miss more. With freezing rain to knock them down even more often you're pretty much all the control your team could ask for against most enemies. There ARE exceptions though which I will warn you about. Perma flying enemies (Arachnos drones, Rikti drone, hover bots) are immune to knockdown. Arachnos spider bots get up from being knocked down so fast that they might as well be immune.

Volcanic Gasses- I love this power and fully slotted it. Why? Well it's your "Oh so of a-" power for when the trash hits the fan and your team has taken on a few too many enemies or they're too spread out for you to lock them down with your other powers.

Animate Stone- The worst pet in the game. Horrible attack speed, low damage. It's meant to be a tank and it can take a good amount of damage but I've never seen it hold aggro at all. But, any pet is worth taking.


Weather

Weather is pretty controller-ish on it's own. Combined with earth and... wow. It can also make up for Earth's lack of damage.

Gale- You take this because you have to. I can count on one hand how many times I've used it. I've got too many other powers to focus on than this which is a pretty crappy power in my opinion. People will tell you it's good for gathering enemies up and keeping them in your holds. I've never had a problem with either of these things.

O2 Boost- I took it and I slotted it for -end and healing. It cures stun and sleep, and gives allies resistance to endurance draining attacks from your enemies. It's a solid power.

Snow Storm- Slows your enemy's movement and attack rate which are always good things. It also stops flying which is a must for earth controllers because all of our powers require enemies to be on the ground.

Steamy Mist- A great power which gives a bit of defense to all forms of attack and some resistance to energy/fire/cold and it gives some stealth on top of it all. I slotted it for both defense and resistance and it really helped keep me alive.

Freezing Rain- Get this power as soon as possible! It slows movement, it slows recharge, it knockdowns, it does some damage, it makes enemies take more damage, it slices, it dices, it the perfect holiday gift! Pretty costly on your endurance though I have 2 recharges on it and 2 -endurance. This with earthquake devistates enemies.

Hurricane- Well, plus side is that it has a massive -acc debuff on it. That's all the good I can say about it. I never took it and even if I had I can't think of a time when I'd have needed it.

Thunder Clap- Wish the animation time weren't so long. But other than that it's a solid power. It will only stun minions but if you use it with Stalagmites you can stun bosses too. You see every control power has a "Mag" rating on it which determin who it can effect. Thunder Clap is a "Mag 2" power which Stalagmites is a "Mag 3" power. Here's how it works, to stun pets (Rikti monkeys) you need mag 1. To stun minions, you need mag 2. To stun LTs you need mag 3. To stun bosses you need mag 4. So to stun a boss, you'll need more mags than what Stalagmites or Thunderclap give alone. But mags add up, so together these two powers will stun bosses which is a great great thing. But isn't required because your earthquake and freezing rain will already be knocking them on their butts so many times they'll be lucky to get a few shots off in the whole battle.

Tornado- This power is both really good... and really really bad. It depends on the situation. It summons a tornado pet which runs around throwing enemies around like a puppy with a chew toy. For a controller, this is really bad because you need your enemies grouped together in one spot to control them all. BUT! It does have it's uses! And that's on enemies that are immune to Knockback such as Arch-Villains. For these guys the tornado can't knock them back. So what does it do? It sits on them like a sumo-wrestler doing a lot of damage. I slotted it for damage and recharge just for when I fight Arch-Villains.

Lightening Storm- Ahhh you're first, and maybe your last, taste of damage with your earth/storm controller. It summons a storm cloud which will lash out with lightening bolts at your enemies. A must have power.

And that's it! That's all you need to know for being possibly one of the most uber controllers in the game.

Epic Pools

Which epic pool should I take? That's a good question. I've been wondering that for the last 40 levels and I still don't have an answer for you. Any one of the epic pools would work great for an earth/storm.

Fire Mastery: You're already ubered for control. This set if for those hungering for some damage on top of it. But unlike other sets, it doesn't give you any more control.

Ice Mastery: Please see Fire Mastery.

Primal Forces: A lot of people take this one to make their holds last even longer with Power Boost. To be honest, in most of the teams I've been in in late game, fights go so fast that most of the enemies are dead before my un-Power Boosted holds wear off. Besides, it does nothing for your earthquake/freezing rain combo.

Psionic Mastery: Many people also take this one. It gives mez protection in the form of Indomitable Will, and an auwsome attack in the form of Psionic Tornado. I'd only take it if you find you're really having problems with being stunned, held, etc.

Stone Mastery: .... Oh man... Fissure... Fissure man! A THIRD mass stun attack! It's so tempting... It really is! But the damage shield looks like crap (like all earth shield powers) and Hurl Bolder has a stupid long animation time. Earth's Embrace increases max HP but with a third mass stun and all your Knockdown powers who could possibly still be attacking you? I'm really torn between fire (I'm sick of not doing any damage) and this.

Well since they now have a considerably bigger team to work on planned features we'll actually get what they've been planning/promising/talking about for the past two years.

But in past issues they had a pitifully small team and had to do whatever pleased the most people. Those who played villain side were a minority. Those who had lvl 50 villains to unlock an Epic AT with were a vast minority. Without this trade in ownership and increased development team, I'd have said we're getting an Epic AT when hell freezes over. But now... maybe there's hope.

Name: Hellbrats

Currently Recruiting: We are currently recruiting

RP Level: RP-intensive

Theme/Concept: An academy for young villains to learn to be the best (or worst) they can be. We hold classes (performing missions with a teacher) and field trips (paragon bank raids).

Activity: We have about fifteen member currently.

Requirements for Membership: You must log in once in fifteen days or risk being removed.You're expected to be in SG mode until it starts cutting into your infamy. After that time it's optional.

We have a school uniform but it's only required to be worn within the base and during classes and field trips.

Leadership: Professor Powers

In-Game Contact(s): @Dorian @Noi Desilhouette

Out-of-Game Contact(s): pm Darkauthor here on the forums

URL: http://www.guilduniverse.com/sentinelsunited We are an spin off from the Young Sentinels. They are letting us use their message board to post RPs, assign classes etc.

Coalition(s): Cladestine Coalition of Chaotic Criminals (or C4 for short)

Other Details: All ages of character are accepted. Adult characters perform as teachers while young characters are students.

[ QUOTE ]
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To everyone who's worried about NCSoft mismanaging COH and turning it into Lineage, can I point to Guild Wars?

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Dear New NCSoft Overlords,

PVP SERVER WITH AUTOLEVEL TO 50 PLZ

love, some of your players

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*em raises hand*

yes plz.

[/ QUOTE ]

And their own board where they can complain constantly about some imbalance, in their eyes, caused their 1337 stalker, scrapper, controller, or whatever else they're playing getting owned some how by someone else. That way the rest of us don't have to see it.

Thanks Ryu. I'll make those changes.

I found a very out of date Ice/Cold corruptor build on here and figured I'd post a more updated one.

Why Ice/Cold? Ice/cold offers just about everything you could ask for. Buffs, debuffs, holds, crowd control, and damage.

Here's the lowdown.

Ice Blast

Ice Bolt/ Ice Blast- Both are solid attack powers. You have to take one so which one? That's up to you. Personaly, I took both. Ice doesn't have a sniper so you'll probably want more single target damage.

Frost Breath- Utterly skippable. Heavy endurance cost. Long cast time. Narrow cone. Short range. Moderate damage. There are much better powers to choose from.

Aim- Solid power. Yes, it does affect your rain powers, but only for as long as the duration of aim. I'd say it's a must power.

Freeze Ray- A hold power. Can't really go wrong with this no matter what the intent of your corruptor is. I grabbed it as soon as possible.

Ice Storm- A must have power. Combined with snow storm or sleet to hold your enemies down, this is a great group damage power. Scourge kicks in with this power making it a lot more powerful for you than blasters.

Bitter Ice Blast- Shorter range than Bolt/Blast but higher damage AND a 10% accuracy debuffer on it. A sweet power.

Bitter Freeze Ray- Mixed opinions on this one. While having a second hold is always a great thing, the animation time, while recently decreased, is still significant. I still took it to keep those bosses out of my face.

Blizzard- Perhaps one of the best nukes in the game.... IF you can hold your enemies in one place. Lasting for 15 seconds, it does huge damage over time and has a 20% accuracy debuffer on it. You can quickly recover from using your nuke by using Heatloss which will be explained later. An auwsome combo would be Heatloss + Sleet + Blizzard. This attack isn't for enemies immune to slow like werewolves. They'll just run out of it and you'll have wasted your endurance.

Like Ice Storm, Scourge can kick in with this power making it do some insane damage. With the accuracy debuff on it, it's probably not going to get you killed like other nukes. It's my favorite nuke in the game.


Cold Domination


Infridgidate- An excellent power. Not only does it slow an enemy to a crawl, it also decreases their fire damage by 30% and their defense by 25%. Slot it how you want. I just threw on a couple accuracies. If you're having the pre-Heatloss endurance blues, I'd throw an endurance reducer on it too, it's a little endurance costly.

Ice Shield- Ice Shield the power you'll love and hate. Here's why you'll hate it. You gotta baby sit this buff, making sure it's not going out on your team mates and it's ugly as heck. Here's why you'll love it. Giving your team mates extra defense, no matter how ugly it is, is always a good thing and when they're not dieing, you're not dieing. If you plan to team a lot, like I do, grab this.

Snow Storm- A great power for holding enemies in your Ice Storm. But after I got Sleet... I found I hardly ever used it. Grab it early game, then ditch it when you get Sleet.

Glacial Shield- Same as Ice Shield. Together with Ice Shield you give your party a decent defense boost to all forms of attacks.

Frostwork- Here's the bad, the duration is only 2 minutes. You'll be babysitting this one a lot. It's a thankless power which most people don't even know about. Here's the good! It's the only target power which increases the max HP of a team mate which can go far in keeping that team mate alive... Brutes... I'm looking at you...

Artic Fog- A great power which buffs you, and anyone near you. It increases defense to all attacks a little and increases resistance to energy/fire/cold significantly. I slotted this one up. 2 defenses, 2 resist, 1 endurance. With the aoes you'll be throwing, you'll be everyone's favorite target and this can go a long way in keeping you alive.

Benumb- A very very powerful single target debuffing power. A must for bosses, elite bosses, and pvp. Reduces regeneration 500%, reduces damage 50%, reduces control powers (hold, disorients, sleep, etc) by 55%. A must have power. Unfortunatly, it's one of those "quiet" powers no one will ever know you used. So while everyone is patting themselves on the back and thanking the radiation guy for the debuffs in taking down that boss. You get to stand in the corner wondering why you can't kill them all.

Sleet- Ahhh Sleet! How I love this power. This really turns the set around. First of all, it knocks your enemies down, repeatedly. It also slows them, and decreases their defense and damage resistance 30%. So not only are they being knocked down and slowed, they're also taking 30% more damage from you and your party. Slot this with some recharges, some slows (optional) and kick snow storm to the curb.

Heatloss- Say goodbye to all your endurance woes. This is possibly one of the sickest powers in the game. Let's get the obvious out of the way. It's an AOE so it can hit multiple enemies. For every enemy it hits, you regain some endurance AND your endurance recovery rate is increased. This is also one of those "quiet" powers I mentioned earlier. Let's get into the non-obvious benefits of Heatloss. First of all, it slows the movement of your enemies, big deal. Secondly, it decreases their damage resistance by 30%, much better. AND it slows the recharge of their powers by a whopping 300%, freakin whoa!



Additional Powers


Leaderships- Ice/Colds have a lot of solid powers to choose from. You probably wont have any room for these. But if you do, Manuvers will stack on the defense bonus of your Ice shields making your team mates more survivable. Assault... well... Assault is good for anyone. Any time.

Super Speed: You wont have any powers to waste and you'll always want Haste. So I just took Haste and super speed.



Patron Pools


Soul Mastery: This is the power set you'll want. Sould Drain will improve your damage. Dark Embrace, with your Artic Fog, will give you resistance to most forms of attack. Soul Storm... you'll have three holds. Sweet. Mistress? ... I've never seen someone take one of the summon powers... That a pretty good sign that they're pitiful.

The other Patrons just give you things that are inferior to
Soul Mastery or you can already do with your Ice/Cold powers.

So to wrap thing up. Being an Ice/Cold corruptor is being a jacks of all trade and a pretty sick debuffer. Don't expect much thanks though since most people will have no idea what you're doing. If it doesn't involve green healing numbers going up over their heads or some big flashy graphic, most people are clueless. But... YOU'LL know who the real !@# kicker in the team is....

*ninjas the mysteriously ticking two year birthday cake*

*.... Now has a mysteriously ticking stomach*

Wow. The advent of weapon based characters is upon us....

By those stances and look of the swords, it looks plausible that the dual sword set will have more multiple target damage moves than the other sets.

There's no telling yet if the different ATs get different looking swords. Those characters shown all look like scrappers. They're certainly heroes at any rate. So it's too soon to pass that particular judgement.

Edit: And yes the swords do look way too big. Realisticly, there's a reason why dual swords are typicaly smaller than single handed sword. With dual weapons you want speed and manuverability and your off hand (left hand if you're right handed, right hand if you're left) isn't as fast or comfortable as your right so an even smaller and lighter weapon is typicaly used in that hand to compensate. In the days of yore when rapiers were used for dualing it was common to have either a small light shield or a dagger in the left hand. Very few opted to have a sword in their off hand. (I don't know if this is because swords were expensive or because they just knew better. Perhaps both.)

To some it up. Yes. They're freakin huge. Way too big.

While a cool concept with a lot of room to be fleshed out, the gang it self is weak. They're really just trolls minus the huge rocks of squishy smashing pain. When a group I'm in gets a warrior mission I don't think for a second we're going to have any trouble with it. They could use fleshed out and buffed up.

Actually, since they all about the Greek stuff. Shouldn't they be worshipping Statesman?

Hah! What's with all the whining about villians not having strike forces spread out through the levels? I've been playing for 6 months and have yet to complete a strike force. EVER! When I first started playing on heroes I got in on a few but they always went HORRIBLY. Chaotic, no direction in the group and the group always team collapsed half way through the first freakin mission! After the third time of this I decided I was NEVER touching that crap again.

No strike forces for villains? Awww Awwww gonna cry... here it comes.... almost there! .... Nope can't do it.