Miladys_Knight

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  1. Quote:
    Originally Posted by 3dent View Post
    In theory, yes... In practice...

    1) A single defender can only softcap if the rest of the team stay within the bubble all the time. Almost nobody does that for obvious reasons. (And let's not speak of those ninjas who somehow manage to ALWAYS be outside of LoS when re-bubbling time comes)

    2) The nature of softcap being that it is, 33.4% a troller with Leadership has. aren't even close to softcap. And again, it's only 33.4% if everyone is within the bubble.

    3) There's a little matter of bubblers themselves.

    All this is excellently solved by a second FF defender/troller on the team. Two defs' small bubbles stack to nice 46% (not to mention end drain resist... Carnies? Lol. Malta? ROTFL.) they can softcap each other and well, team split at the wrong time isn't guaranteed faceplant.

    Def+troller is still formidable, - although big bubbles (or just Maneuvers) are needed for softcap again, there are two of them, giving better coverage.

    Was on a random PuG team lately with my FF/Ice. It was nice enough as it was, but when a Stone/FF joined we pretty much got godmode.

    NO ONE'S life bar moved. EVER. I kid you not.
    I know how all this works of course. I have 3 FF defenders and 4 FF controllers.

    In regards to 1 - you are of course talking about squishies being on the team. It isn't hard at all for a squishy to come to the team with 10-12 ish % defense of their own either from a few small set bonuses or just from having it in a power of their own like manuvers, hover, and combat jumping. Tanks and scrappers are even more likely to have some defense. So unless you are only teaming with a random PUG full of newbs chances are your controller is going to be all you need to keep the team at the soft cap and the defender is only providing a pad against debuffs not the huge difference you are describing.

    In regards to 2 see my response to 1 above.

    In regards to 3 all of my FF defenders are soft capped to 2 positions (ranged and AoE) and have 32-35% defense to melee. If for some reason I need to go into melee a single small purple insp is all I need to ensure my safety for up to 60 seconds. All of my /FF controllers are soft capped to range, at 32-35% to AoE and 28-30ish to melee. They avoid melee by hovering (except for my Fire/FF that uses smoke to make up the difference).

    The ACTUAL difference between the 2 on teams is miniscule and consists mainly of how far over the soft cap the rest of the team is. Nothing more.
  2. Miladys_Knight

    What is it...

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Fleeting Whisper View Post
    IIRC, the buff pets come with 45% AoE defense, and -1000% resistance to all (and, like... 1 hit point).
    I think they actually have 2 hit points since I've had them have a half bar of health several times.
  3. Miladys_Knight

    What is it...

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Wiggz View Post
    I give up.

    I just had it up on my FF/Sonic Defender, the one toon I was SURE it would be beneficial on - a ranged character who could use a touch of endurance to offset my toggles and a bit of defense to add to what I'm getting from Manuevers and Dispersion Bubble. Moreover, I could actually buff it and bring its defense theoretically right near the soft cap.

    So I go hunting Tsoo solo for the 2nd costume mission - GREY Tsoo - and it gets killed three times before I manage the 20 I need. Ridiculous.
    Your forcefielder can bubble the pet. Bubbling should put it at or very near the soft cap (depending on your build). My FF/Dark/Dark does multiple missions with out having to cast it more than the one time at the beginning of each mission.

    I am going to guess that the RNG just hates you at the moment.
  4. You've destroyed your own arguement again here.....

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Montaugh View Post
    After a certain point more control just isn't needed nor is buffing. If a mob is locked down even an AV once its permalocked no addtional control effects matter. If it takes 4 controllers to acheive permalock that 5th isn't making lockdown any better. If it takes 4 controllers to acheive buff/debuff caps then that 5 controller adds absolutely nothing in terms of buff/debuffing and outside of fire, illusion or AOE epics does not add all that much additional and meaningful damage.
    and here.........

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Montaugh View Post
    The effects that matters.. +damage, -defense, -resistance, +end recovery, +acc, -regen help you to defeat foes quicker. These are the effects that both ATs leverage and in specific cases (+damage, -resistance) controllers leverage better because of the nature of containment.
    You are right it takes, 2, 3, 4, or even 5 controllers to provide enough lock down to stop every thing in it's tracks. It takes only 1 or 2 defenders to provide enough buffage/debuffage to cap most aspects. It also only takes 1 or 2 controllers to provide enough buffage/debuffage to cap most aspects (or near enough to the cap that the difference on a team is unnoticeable)

    Containment and 8 controllers provides a huge synergy that 8 defenders lack. I have played on 8 man defender teams and on 8 man controller teams. 8 controllers always feel faster to me.

    (By the way kinetics is a bad example to use. It is ridiculously overpowered for both defenders and controllers but the controller has an advantage that everything but a kin/dark defender lacks, the ability to easily keep an entire spawn grouped to maximize debuffs and AoE target based buffs, like fulcrum shift.)
  5. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Candlestick View Post
    I'm actually curious what you would recommend. At first thought, I wanted to add more damage, but then that would start making Defenders and Corrupters far to similar(And when Going Rogue hits, I would not be surprised to see Corrupters vastly outpopulating defenders)

    The 1.25 modifier was just a simple thing I made up on the spot. I'm curious of any other solutions people have thought up for Defenders.
    There have been several threads on it in the defender forums.

    The problem with boosting the primary is that it would, in most cases, be white noise. Forcefields, as an example, would just allow you to buff the team over the softcap.

    Sonic would allow you to put even blasters and controllers over the resistance hard cap once they have their epic shields.

    Kins can all ready keep an entire team at the damage cap, etc., etc., etc.

    The other problem that the devs face fixing defenders is the disparity between mainly buffing primaries and debuffing primaries.

    While solo a buffer loses all the benefits of the team buffing powers. The "fix" is going to the expense of creating a "solo" build for the buffer. This is not required for the debuffer who has the full range of powers available solo or teamed. The 30% damage boost while solo did nothing to alieviate this problem and may have actually exacerbated it.

    As I have said in other threads when this came up, adding a buffable pet in either the inherent or the Epics would (mostly) solve this problem. It would allow the buffer to use their teammate only powers while solo, while adding only a tiny bit of damage provided by the pet to the debuffer's arsenal.

    The defender needs a fix that is a true fix. Touching the primary won't really make defenders any better (well a bit perhaps but not to the extent that they need repaired.) That means that the fix needs to be something that works with the secondary instead of the primary.

    The defender DPS could, for example, be fixed by increasing their global recharge slightly each time they activate a power from their primary or secondary power set. If the endurance decrease must be maintained to prevent violating the cottage rule it could be added to this mechanic. (ie: each time the defender activates a power it reduces the end cost of subsequently activated powers).

    Vigilance could be a simple toggle that provides a 30% boost to damage while toggled on that switches to a 30% reduction in end costs while toggled off. Better yet it could be a slider that the defender can set to give what ever ratio of damage boost to end reduction that the player wants.

    The biggest problem is that defenders are the only class that have/use buffs/debuffs that do not get an end cost free damage boosting mechanic built in.

    Corruptors get scourge, Controllers get containment, Masterminds get the damage provided by their pets that never cost them a shred of end once they are cast.

    Defenders just get ignored.
  6. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Montaugh View Post
    Why choose a controller over a defender?

    ..multiple defenders stack much much better then controllers stack. Sure you can look at specific examples like all fire/* or Illusion/* controllers but largely controllers do not stack all that well.

    Control as a function does not stack well. If a group is already held they don't need to be disoriented, knocked about, confused or slept nor can they be held more. Once under the effect of a mez its all about overriding the softer mez with a harder mez and about mez duration.

    Control stacking only comes into play when you can't lock down a foe and need to overcome Mez Resistance. Once something is locked it doesn't care that you have pushed the mez to 10 or 10,000 the result is still the same.. locked down for as long as the longest duration control that was applied last was.

    Control as a primary is unique not in the fact that it offers mezzing many other sets across all ATs offer mezzing and in some cases better mezzing then controller mezzing (sonic's cone sleep, dark and its fears, Ice and ice patch, Energy Melee and stun stacking for example). Control as a primary is unique in that it combines exceptional defense and offense in a single set. Taken by itself the control primary is all you need to play the game. A held mob does no damage and will die regardless of containment, containment just makes it less boring sub 32. As soon as the controller has control of his enemies he has won the fight and can not be defeated. Because of this design controllers solo extremely well and do so independant of their secondary set. The secondary set just improves on how much better a controller can solo by augementing their damage capabilities and the more powersets rad, and kin typically do just that.

    Defenders I feel stack very well, and better then controllers. Their primary and secondaries are always going to be useful no matter the combination. Even if they offer the same primaries their secondary effects of blasting will always be useful unlike similiar controllers or a control/defender combo using a similiar buff/debuff set. Defenders are far more powerful then people give them credit for. There are some defenders that solo better then others just as there are some controllers which solo better then others. What I find hinders defenders is the beleif that they are "The Teaming" AT and the fact that people make pure builds. A balanced defender with a mix of primary and secondary powersets is hands down better then a defender that takes only two attacks and dips heavily into the pools. You can't defeat an encounter by using only the buff/debuff powersets, you must use your secondary powerset and the more attacks you have the faster your target dies.

    I do wish defenders could self buff though.. only specific abililities though the various shields, the mez protections and maybe the fort like effects.
    Your arguement is self destroying since controllers have defender primaries as their secondaries. The various caps also make your arguement moot.

    A single FF defender can keep the team at the defense soft cap. More defense doesn't make you any safer it's just a pad against debuffs. A controller can almost do this solo as well.

    Same goes for resistances your sonic/ can help you hit the hard cap on resistances when you have your own resistances.

    A single kin can cap damage, etc etc etc,

    The problem is that the controller can do it almost as well and can lock down the entire spawn on top of it.

    Controls DO stack where buffs and debuffs hit the caps.

    2 controllers can alternate AoE controls and keep every thing locked down (some controllers with massive set bonuses can do this by them selves.)

    More controllers just make it better. Stacked mezzes lock down bosses, more stacked mezzes lock down EBs, yet more stacked mezzes lock down AVs even when triangles are up.

    The best a defender can do is reduce incoming damage to 95% controllers can make it 100%.
  7. Well again that depends on your play style, what you are having trouble with if anything, and your budget.

    There are several ways to tighten up your build but some of them may not fit your playstyle or budget.
  8. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Wiggz View Post
    ...which is why I'm posting in the Controller forum rather than the Defender forum.

    My first characters were defenders and some are still among my favorites - the new color options have allowed 'Bubblegum Pink', a FF/Sonic to fulfill my manga festish quite admirably -but lately I've been sporadically leveling three different */Rad controllers (Ill/Rad, Earth/Rad and Plant/Rad) and have gotten all of them into the high 20's or low 30's and I from that experience I have to ask - why would a team EVER want a defender over a controller?

    Now I'm assuming all things are equal, that the builds are adequately put together and the players behind the characters are adequately skilled... but when I think of the effectiveness of my old Rad defender compared to that of my current rad controllers, I can't imagine wanting to trade my ability to shut down entire groups of foes for a little 'pew pew'.

    I'm sincere in wanting the perspective of other players - what REAL advatages does a defender - the penultimate 'team' toon - offer a team over a controller?
    There isn't any reason, at all, ever, to roll a defender over a controller except for play style or concept.

    The small amount of buff/debuff lost by controllers due to AT modifier is more than made up for by the controls in the primary. If you team with a regular set of folks that use IOs giving set bonuses there is even less reason.

    Candle's right. The defender AT needs an entire revamp ala the stalker and dom revamps. I disagree with his proposed solution though.
  9. If you want a challenge try Psi/Fire. It's quite a bit less awesome than and much less survivable than a Fire/Fire......
  10. Quote:
    Originally Posted by streetlight View Post
    Regarding Sonic, I had planned a Sonic/Sonic & FF/DP combo, but we really wanted three soft-capped defenses for both characters without having to pick up weaker sets just for defense. That meant a pair of FF/*. The gain to teammates from the second FF/* will be negligible, but the gain to the FF/* characters is pretty big.

    I can definitely see dropping PFF in the final build, possibly for another attack. Executioner's Shot seems okay, but I'd probably go with Piercing Shot (big resistance debuff, chance for multiple targets) over that. Hail of Bullets might not have a crash, but it does have some hefty self debuffs and the +DEF effect isn't going to do anything for this character, so it's out, too.

    I am likely to reslot Hover with BotZ -KB, Karma -KB, LotG 7.5%, Freebird +Stealth, and Freebird +Flight. That should give the best possible bonuses while keeping mobility up.

    I am curious as to why someone would pick Repulsion Field over Force Bubble? RF seems to have ridiculous endurance cost and provides KB instead of Repel, which would be more resisted, correct? FB also has a HUGE radius. It's not that I see myself using either a lot (could probably go without either, truthfully), but FB sounded like a good panic button. Am I missing something?
    So I suppose that a build like the one found below is unsuitable?

    Including the 5.46% defense provided by manuvers from the Sonic/ toon your forcefielder's defense numbers are:

    Smashing/Lethal - 34.26
    Fire/Cold - 45.86
    Energy/Neg - 47.46
    Psi - 30.06
    Melee - 35.56
    Ranged - 54.26
    AoE - 53.96

    Meaning that as far as defense goes your only weakness (other than psi) is to melee ranged Smash/Lethal attacks (a single small purple insp will put you over the softcap. Hover obviates the need for the insp.)

    Most defense debuffs are ranged. You have a 9% pad (that's about what a single machine gun will do) against defense debuffs.

    Your resistances with the sonic shields applied will be in the neighborhood of:

    Smash - 75% (cap)
    Lethal - 75% (cap)
    Fire - 60.2%
    Cold - 60.2%
    Energy - 75% (cap)
    Neg - 55.5%
    Toxic - 55.5%
    Psi - 0

    (switching to Psi mastery will give you similar numbers but with psi resistance 31.7% instead of 0)

    Power sink solves your endurance problems much more effectively than conserve power.

    Without spending a single fraction of a point of endurance on mitigation or even turning on a toggle your team will run numbers of (your sonic/ friend's numbers [excluding resistances from an epic shield] in parenthesis):

    Defense

    Melee - 49.92
    Ranged - 49.92
    AoE - 49.92

    Resistances

    55.5% - Smash - (23.8%)
    55.5% - Lethal - (23.8%)
    55.5% - Fire - (23.8%)
    55.5% - Cold - (23.8%)
    55.5% - Energy - (23.8%)
    55.5% - Neg - (23.8%)
    55.5% - Toxic - (23.8%)
    0% - Psi - 0%

    Your Sonic/ friend's numbers (using just SO's, no set bonuses) will be the worst of the team with numbers slightly better than a fully IO'd Shield Tanker's. The rest of your team (yourself included - so long as you remain at range) will have mitigation comparable to a fully IO'd Granite Tank.

    I'm not really certain why you don't think that's enough mitigation even as a simple duo and insist on double Forcefields but hey, what do I know?

    Edit - BTW if one of you plays /dark, the to hit debuffs from the cone attacks (which stack btw) can add up to what amounts to another 36% defense vs even con mobs (18%ish against +4s).

    Edit Edit - The numbers listed above for you are better than what you would have while solo inside PFF. The only difference being that the higher defense numbers on PFF give a much larger pad against defense debuffs, BUT you can't shoot while PFF is up.

    Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.707
    http://www.cohplanner.com/

    Click this DataLink to open the build!

    Level 50 Technology Defender
    Primary Power Set: Force Field
    Secondary Power Set: Dual Pistols
    Power Pool: Flight
    Power Pool: Fitness
    Power Pool: Teleportation
    Power Pool: Leadership
    Ancillary Pool: Electricity Mastery

    Hero Profile:
    Level 1: Deflection Shield -- HO:Cyto(A), HO:Cyto(3), HO:Cyto(3)
    Level 1: Pistols -- 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: Dual Wield -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(13), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(13), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(15), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(15), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(17)
    Level 4: Force Bolt -- FrcFbk-Dmg/KB(A), FrcFbk-Rechg%(5), FrcFbk-Acc/KB(5), FrcFbk-Rchg/KB(7), FrcFbk-Rchg/EndRdx(21), FrcFbk-Dmg/EndRdx/KB(21)
    Level 6: Insulation Shield -- HO:Cyto(A), HO:Cyto(17), HO:Cyto(19)
    Level 8: Hover -- Zephyr-Travel(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(25), Zephyr-ResKB(25), LkGmblr-Def(27), LkGmblr-Rchg+(45)
    Level 10: Swap Ammo
    Level 12: Dispersion Bubble -- HO:Cyto(A), HO:Cyto(23), HO:Cyto(23)
    Level 14: Fly -- Zephyr-Travel(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(19), Zephyr-ResKB(27)
    Level 16: Swift -- Flight-I(A)
    Level 18: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A), Mrcl-Rcvry+(29)
    Level 20: Stamina -- P'Shift-End%(A), P'Shift-EndMod(29), EndMod-I(31)
    Level 22: Empty Clips -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(31), Posi-Dmg/Rng(33), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(33), Posi-Dam%(34)
    Level 24: Bullet Rain -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(33), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(34), Posi-Dam%(34), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(37)
    Level 26: Repulsion Bomb -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(40), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(40), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(40), Posi-Dam%(42)
    Level 28: Recall Friend -- Zephyr-Travel(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(42), Zephyr-ResKB(43)
    Level 30: Maneuvers -- HO:Cyto(A), HO:Cyto(31), HO:Cyto(43)
    Level 32: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A)
    Level 35: Tactics -- GSFC-ToHit(A), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg(36), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(36), GSFC-Rchg/EndRdx(36), GSFC-ToHit/EndRdx(37), GSFC-Build%(37)
    Level 38: Suppressive Fire -- Lock-Acc/Hold(A), Lock-Acc/Rchg(39), Lock-Rchg/Hold(39), Lock-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(39), Lock-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(42), Lock-%Hold(43)
    Level 41: Electric Fence -- HO:Endo(A)
    Level 44: Charged Armor -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(45), Aegis-ResDam/Rchg(45), Aegis-EndRdx/Rchg(46), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(46), Aegis-ResDam(46)
    Level 47: Shocking Bolt -- Lock-Acc/Hold(A), Lock-Acc/Rchg(48), Lock-Rchg/Hold(48), Lock-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(48), Lock-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(50), Lock-%Hold(50)
    Level 49: Power Sink -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(50)
    ------------
    Level 1: Brawl -- Acc-I(A)
    Level 1: Sprint -- Run-I(A)
    Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I(A)
    Level 1: Vigilance
    Level 6: Ninja Run
    Level 10: Chemical Ammunition
    Level 10: Cryo Ammunition
    Level 10: Incendiary Ammunition



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  11. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Krogoth View Post
    Hail of Bullets has no self debuffs, I assume you are reading that from mid's which would make it a Mid's Display issue (Those debuffs are for the different damage types, -25% enemy damage if you use chemical and -25% enemy recharge if you use cryo).


    The huge radius of Force Bubble makes it much more situational than Repulsion Field. I think of it this way: Repulsion field can act as a self protection tool while Force Bubble is an enemy positioning tool.
    Force bubble is range 50. Turning it on eliminates all your AoEs except for Bullet Rain. (You'll find that with your current range slotting of 51.5 feet that Empty Clips will wind up being a single target attack that may or may not fire when you click it depending on Mob movement.) It also eliminates the ability to use Executioners Shot.
  12. Miladys_Knight

    What is it...

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Wiggz View Post
    ...about the non-attacking veteran buff pets that can actually pull aggro away from my BLASTER?

    I want to like it, to enjoy this heralded veteran reward and find a modicum of usefulness for it, but so far the only character I've had who has managed to have one survive a single encounter is my FF/Energy defender.

    What a waste of something that really could have been nice.
    Are you invisible or stealthed while it is not?

    Are you kiting so that it follows you and then after you jump back it's ahead of you?

    Do you pull around corners so that it winds up being in front of you?

    If you do any of these things the mobs see the vet pet first and attack it first. All you have to do to pull aggro off of it is deal damage.

    I don't have any trouble keeping it alive solo now but it did take some practice.
  13. Properly slotted Arctic Air + Shiver + Frostbite will put +4s at the -rech cap. That's the same as reducing incoming damage per unit time by 75%.

    In other words it's like having 75% damage resistance to all damage types.

    What you need then to survive is a way to mitigate the alpha strike. Ice slick is tailor made for that job.
  14. If you have the Entropic Chaos procs in your tier 1 and 2, you can fire them while you are asleep and if they proc it will break the sleep.
  15. I would suggest that one of you switch primaries and go with sonic/ (preferably /Dark).

    A forcefield defender can soft cap themselves to 2 positions (ranged and AoE) with Dispersion Bubble, Manuvers, Hover (which takes care of melee defense being low) and set bonuses.

    The Sonic/ can be kept at the defense softcap to all positions just by being bubbled by the bubbler and staying in dispersion bubble. With a few set bonuses they can roam farther apart. The forcefielder gets the added benefit of Sonic Shields, Epic armor, AND Sonic Dispersion.

    As a hovering Duo you could simply stay at range, the /dark keeps everything immobilized and grouped with T_T and torrent while the /Sonic keeps everything grouped and debuffed with Shockwave and Howl.

    Any teammates that you added would be nigh unkillable tanks with all the stacked buffs and double stacked mez protection.
  16. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Silverado View Post
    It's the 3rd best single target damage set for blasters, right after Fire and Sonic
    It "should" be the top (or at the very least tied with fire) single target blast set since it gives up so much of it's AoE damage.
  17. Quote:
    Originally Posted by infoseeker View Post
    psi is the most range friendly of the primaries right? that could be one perk.
    No, AR's Tier 1 and 2 out range Psi.

    Archery's tier 1, 2 and 3 are all 80 feet
  18. Miladys_Knight

    Ice/? Dominator

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Alpha_A View Post
    Thanks for the replies, everyone. Now it's even harder to choose! There are too many good choices.

    I'm torn between Ice/Elec and Ice/Earth. Has anyone played either one of these?

    Thanks in advance.

    ~Alpha
    Yep I have an Ice/Stone.

    Ice Patch to limit the alpha, shiver + AA to get the mobs at the -rech cap and then just smash.
  19. There are also some very good guides in this very forum
  20. Miladys_Knight

    Ice/? Dominator

    I'll vote for Ice/Stone as both primary and secondary are nice melee focused sets. It does work better on fewer high level mobs than on lots of -1s or even cons.

    A Norse theme is also a perfect fit (think Frost giants)
  21. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Chrome_Family View Post
    So has anyone actually tested artic air + WoC together? I am reading all the feedback and I appriciate it, but I haven't heard anyone talk about there expereince using both of these powers together? (along with choking cloud)

    IMO I have artic air on other toons (slotted with purple set) and the confuse duration and hit ratio still seem low. I was hoping by stacking WoC with Artic Air that it could make the confuse attribute more potent.

    Again this is a concept build and I am looking to see if anyone has tried this and what the result was.



    Yeah squeek this is something I am debating on.. and its something that is keeping me from rolling this toon.
    To answer your question though, yeah I have.

    I played around with all the EPPs on test before settling on //Ice (for theme reasons).

    On a team you won't need the extra confuse in WoC because the mobs won't last long enough for it to make a difference. Solo you can't afford to have it (and you still don't really need it) since you need other powers for dealing damage.

    The Ice primary confuse can't really be used on the mobs to inflict damage to each other (unlike the plant primary) because the mob recharge rates are all down to 25% max. Adding /Rad into the mix makes it worse since the mobs can barely hit each other at this ultra slow rate and they do lots less damage to each other.

    It would be extremely painful to try to solo the toon to 50. It's a hugely powerful force multiplier on a team though (even if it's a duo. That's how I leveled mine. Grandma Squeak and I teamed up. She ran her Claws/SR and I used my Ice/Rad. It didn't take us long to hit 50 at all and the ice/rad filled in the gaps in /SR while she was leveling.)

    My Ice/Rad/Ice has it's primary team focused build done. I'm extremely safe while solo and even safer while teamed (only mezzers are a potential problem). I'm working on a heavily proc'd solo build for the toon but not very diligently since it's a lot of work for not a lot of solo results.

    Ice/Rad is awesome for teams though and there are enough folks in JU to help you along so that you don't have to worry about soloing.
  22. If you put the Lock Down proc in Choking Cloud, the Contagious Confusion proc in Artic Air, and slot Shiver for slow and rech, WoC will be entirely redundant.

    Every thing near you will be at the -rech cap, at the -run speed cap, confused or held before you activate a hold. Ice Slick lets you mitigate the Alpha, Rad infection, + Manuvers puts your team's (and your) defense at the soft cap against even cons. 12-15% additional defense to all positions (easy to get) will put you at the effective soft cap against mobs all the way up to +3s. Any damage that does happen to get through you can repair with Radiant Aura.

    The contribution of WoC to all of that is like throwing a can of gasoline in with a nuclear missle in an attempt to increase the damage.

    The only thing an Ice/Rad/? won't be doing much of is defeating stuff. You get a little single target damage with your hold and Jack. Even taking //Fire as your Epic won't let you kill stuff very fast.
  23. I pull out my Energy/Energy/Force blapper first.

    If it's a team setting that needs support instead of damage then depending on what they are up against it's either my Kin/Ice/Power defender, FF/Dark/Dark defender, Plant/TA/Fire controller, or my Ice/Rad/Ice controller.
  24. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Nethergoat View Post
    I'm wondering if, once all this sinks in, a new generation of 'casual gamers' will be less hostile and conspiracy minded about the market. Any thoughts?
    I'm guessing that would involve magic and ponies as a solution to the market hostility Goat.