Miladys_Knight

My wife has been selling level 35 crafted commons and many of them go for as much as 1,000,000 each.

I didn't believe her at first and had to look at her market screen over her shoulder. Sure enough she'd sold a dozen of them on Labor Day for 1,000,000 each.

Ice/
Elec/

Paired with:

/Earth
/Energy
/Elec

are all fine choices

/thorn is also good and has a lot of AoE. It animates too slow for my taste though.

I'll give my nod to Earth/TA with an APP of primal. You have the ability to lock down entire boss spawns long enough for most teams to completely eliminate them.

If you enjoy melee range controlling I'd give Ice/Rad an honorable mention. Slotting Artic Air with a contagious confusion proc, and Choking Cloud with a lock down proc, make an Ice/Rad a monster.

Edit - Doh forgot to mention Grav Anchor proc in Frostbite.....

Dark/Dark/Dark is a classic. It's a classic for a reason. It works very, very, well.

I hadn't really laid this out in a spreadsheet but it was pretty obvious without even having done so. My bronze rolls were consistant money earners. Sliver stunk (the RNG hates me) and gold, well gold there are far too many clinkers in the pool especially considering how many tickets they require.

That said I doubt that this post will change the market much. Most of the serious marketeers have all ready figured most of this out. I think the effects will be minimal. The people interested in farming tickets are all ready farming tickets.

There may be a few exceptions. That would be those folks who enter the ticket farming market and those that leave the ticket farming market.

I myself am a member of the later. With few exceptions my toons are all ready outfitted with all the IOs that I want (including seconds builds). I have several storage bins filled with high value IOs that I may use in the future on new toons/builds.

What am I rolling now? Gold. Not because they are the best sellers. I have enough influence to pretty much buy what I want and I'm not an OCD marketeer interested in hoarding influence. My influence has a purpose when I have enough (or a little more) to meet that purpose I don't "need" more and my focus shifts. Right now I have all the rare Pool As that I want (actually a huge surplus) from rolling bronze. It doesn't take long at all to get to that point. Silvers are cheap. They are usually over supplied by the market anyway and can be had for a pittance. Even the ones that are expensive aren't all that expensive.

Gold is my bottle neck. In an hour of ticket farming I can roll gold 6-7 times. Even on my fastest TFs or solo flashbacks the best I can usually do is about a merit a minute (this gets worse after the first TF due to diminishing returns) that translates to 3 gold rolls per hour.

Time is also a factor on A-merits. 3 days (because it is artificially limited by the devs) and 40 million influence allows me to produce 15 gold rolls (don't forget to include in this opportunity cost the 90ish minutes it takes to run 10 solo tip missions and a morality mission over 2 days, the additional 100 minutes spent earning 100 merits, and the 4ish non-marketeering hours that it takes to earn 40 million influence from farming to convert the merits into Amerits). I can roll gold 15 times every day in less than 3 hours.

I'd go with an Earth/TA controller.

In the Primary you do very little damage but can apply massive debuffs and controls.

In the secondary the only power that does "direct" damage is Acid arrow. All the other powers are non-damaging with the exception of Oil Slick Arrow (which you can choose not to light, but if one of your teammates does "oops, oh well"). EMP Arrow does massive damage to robots only. You can get away with that for a damage passive character.

The secondary also gives you lots of extra control to stack on the primary.

Primal as your APP just makes the primary and secondary more controlling without increasing your damage output.

Storm/Rad for massive -rech and -res and -to hit.

Here you go, as promised, with the following caveats and information....

Ice/* Doms (especially ranged caster types) get very little benefit (comparitively speaking) from either Domination or Power Boost since neither help slows and we are forgoing both Glacier (since it is PBAoE) and Flash Freeze (since sleeps break as soon as you deal damage and the damage in Flash Freeze isn't worth it as an AoE damage power). In this build you'll mainly use Domination as a break free/mez protection/Boss tool or free endurance refill.

You have a single target attack chain and an AoE attack chain that you can use depending on what you are up against.

You have a few choices of opening power and follow up.

I put 2 range enhancements in Ice slick for one purpose. That is so that you can cast it from outside Mob perception range if you have Stealth and Super Speed running. They won't get much of an Alpha Strike since most of the spawn will start flopping before they are even aware of you.

The build has 34% ranged defense so the few that get shots off at you will most likely bounce off. You then move in and hit them with Shiver and Frost Breath to floor their recharge.

After this you can use Frostbite (to keep the spawn in your AoEs), Melt Armor (if it is recharged, you should get to use melt armor every other spawn), Rain of Fire, and Fireball. If you continue to cycle Shiver, Frost Breath, and Frostbite every time they are up you'll keep the entire spawn's recharge floored (up to +3 level mobs) and should be able to wipe out most of the foliage with your AoEs and then switch to your single target chain to finish off bosses and tough lieutenants.

If you are impatient you can pop a small purple insp to soft cap yourself vs ranged and open with Frostbite instead of Ice Slick. This may not be the best plan against mobs with lots of AoE (like Nemesis) but should work fine against everything else. Ice slick as an opener will work against spawns heavy in AoE provided they aren't KD immune/resistant.

You'll use your single target hold against serious threats to proactively take them out of fights (if its a boss that is the serious threat, Domination + Block of Ice will solve that problem in one cast.)

You have 2 safety nets that you can use, Aid Self if you find you have taken too much damage to be comfortable and Phase Shift as an escape power. (you can also Phase then Aid Self so you can safely heal without worrying about getting interrupted.)

If you prefer flying to leaping you can replace Combat Jumping with Hover and Super Jump with Fly keeping the exact same slotting for the powers in question.

If you want to dispense with Super Speed (because you've decided to fly rather than jump) you can put a +stealth IO in Sprint and use that in combination with Stealth instead. You can then move that power choice to later in the build and select a 1 slot wonder like Resuscitate (or after I21 you can take all your APP powers so RotP would be a viable choice) and have a slot to play around with.

Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.942
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Ice Caster: Level 50 Magic Dominator
Primary Power Set: Ice Control
Secondary Power Set: Icy Assault
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Medicine
Power Pool: Concealment
Ancillary Pool: Fire Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Block of Ice -- Lock-Acc/Hold(A), Lock-Acc/Rchg(3), Lock-Rchg/Hold(3), Lock-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(5), Lock-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(5), Lock-%Hold(7)
Level 1: Ice Bolt -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(7), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(9), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(9), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(11), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(11)
Level 2: Frostbite -- TotHntr-Acc/Rchg(A), TotHntr-EndRdx/Immob(13), TotHntr-Acc/EndRdx(13), TotHntr-Immob/Acc(15), TotHntr-Acc/Immob/Rchg(15), TotHntr-Dam%(17)
Level 4: Ice Sword -- Mako-Acc/Dmg(A), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx(19), Mako-Dmg/Rchg(21), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(21), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(23), Mako-Dam%(23)
Level 6: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), Zephyr-Travel(25), Zephyr-ResKB(25)
Level 8: Shiver -- P'ngTtl-Acc/Slow(A), P'ngTtl-Acc/EndRdx(27), P'ngTtl-EndRdx/Rchg/Slow(27), TmpRdns-EndRdx/Rchg/Slow(29), CtlSpd-EndRdx/Rchg/Slow(29)
Level 10: Ice Blast -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(31), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(31), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(31), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(33), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(33)
Level 12: Ice Slick -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(33), Range-I(50), Range-I(50)
Level 14: Super Jump -- Zephyr-Travel(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(34)
Level 16: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(34), RechRdx-I(34)
Level 18: Super Speed -- Zephyr-Travel(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(48)
Level 20: Frost Breath -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(36), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(36), Posi-Dmg/Rng(36), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(37)
Level 22: Stimulant -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 24: Aid Self -- Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx(A), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(37), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(37), Dct'dW-Heal(39), Dct'dW-Rchg(39)
Level 26: Stealth -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 28: Grant Invisibility -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 30: Phase Shift -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 32: Jack Frost -- BldM'dt-Acc/Dmg(A), BldM'dt-Dmg/EndRdx(39), BldM'dt-Acc/EndRdx(40), BldM'dt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(40), BldM'dt-Acc(40), BldM'dt-Dmg(42)
Level 35: Invisibility -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 38: Bitter Ice Blast -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(42), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(42), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(43), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(43), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(43)
Level 41: Rain of Fire -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(45), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(45), Posi-Dmg/Rng(45), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(46)
Level 44: Fire Ball -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(46), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(46), Posi-Dmg/Rng(48), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(48)
Level 47: Fire Shield -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A)
Level 49: Melt Armor -- AnWeak-Acc/Rchg(A), AnWeak-Acc/Rchg/EndRdx(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Domination
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A), Mrcl-Rcvry+(17)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(19)

Problem I see here is that "most" of the powers you've selected are PBAoE which puts you in the thick of things instead of far away as a caster.

I've got a range focused Ice/Ice/Fire build. I'll post it for you when I get home from work.

If you are relying on the sleep from Sirens Song you can skip Ice Patch. The KD from Ice patch will break the sleep.

The whole reason for making a Sonic/Ice is so that you can stack sleeps since Frozen Aura does not have a damage component.

Shiver, Sirens Song, Shockwave, and Howl all have differing cone widths and ranges. Trying to get an AoE attack chain that meshes well is..... a challenge.

The hold graphics of Frozen touch looks almost exactly like the graphics of Chillblain. This can lead to some unexpected damage being received.

Sirens + Shiver + Screech so that the target you wake up and stun at the same time staggers dunkenly toward you to be bludgeoned by Ice Sword is Pure win.

Sirens + Frozen Aura + Amplify + Build Up + Dreadful Wail kills almost every thing it hits. Every thing it misses stays asleep long after you begin recovering endurance again.

I reccomend electric as your APP. Static Discharge will help round out your AoE attack chain, Shocking Bolt will give you a fast animating ranged hold to stack with Freezing touch for handling bosses (alas Shocking Bolt's hold graphic is as non-obvious as that of Freezing Touch).

For IOs and sets I recommend as much ranged defense as you can get (it's not possible to soft cap but you can get within 1 small purple insps worth). Stuff that reaches melee range will either be slept, slowed, or controlled but the alpha strike will nail you since they get to launch it before they fall asleep. You won't need a lot of recharge as most of this power set combination's powers have lengthy animations (I skipped hasten and still have a fairly fluid attack chain.)

I'll just throw this out there. Just like changing APPs this is a BAD idea. If the devs are going to do this they need to give us a branching tier 9 and let us choose our tier 9.

Guidelines that "should" be followed.

Crashing nukes should be fast activating PBAoEs that do massive damage and they should be on long timers.

Non-crashing nukes should be (non)/TAoEs/cones that do about 1/4 the damage by comparison and recharge 4 times faster.

Doing that means that no-one loses their playstyle.

Grav/FF controller.

My theory behind my plant/TA was nothing that makes the mobs do less damage to themselves while they are confused.

With that in mind I skipped:

Glue Arrow - since that gives the mobs - rech and slows their ability to damage each other.

Poison Gas Arrow - since this reduces the damage that the mobs do to each other.

I didn't skip flash arrow even though it provides a hit debuff as the hit debuff is relatively minor. I get great mileage out of Flash Arrow while soloing since the -perception means that a miss with seeds won't chain aggro the other mobs. That means the confuse is applied to the mobs before the alpha rather than just after.

I also find Flash Arrow useful on Master of TFs and on PUGs with inexperienced players.

Flash Arrow has just a single end reducer in it since it lasts 60 seconds.

Entangling got a single HO Endo.

Also don't forget to take magic or tech origin so that you can ignite your own Oil Slick Arrow. If you did forget don't despair any renewable temp power that does energy damage (like the rune of warding for instance) will do the trick or you can take the Fire APP.

IIRC a Dark/DP defender using chem rounds can keep a spawn a little over -50% damage and can do so at range. Like all teamed defenders the damage sucks though.

It can proc on each target. The % chance to proc is pretty low. You are actually better off just slotting set bonuses that give +regen.