Mr_Grumpums
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Posts
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My gateway from Melee into other sets was simpleL I rolled up a Fire/Kin corrupter.
Why? Because what attracted me to melee was that I could make the bad guys fall down, and I liked getting in there with the pack. Also, I'm a -very- fast paced player when I'm fully paying attention to the game (which sometimes doesn't happen, I'll admit), and having a character equally fast-paced made redside content a blast.
In practical terms, it's because you get to do the things you liked best about melee (Make the baddies fall down ded) combined with loads of support buffs that you should keep up when not blasting. In the early came, that isn't a problem. Transfusion and Siphon Power, then shoot stuff.
By the late game, however, you'll have learned all the most important things about playing a ranged/support toon: Positioning, proper targeting, watching allies for heal/recovery as needed, noticing when buffs are wearing off, and when to run like sin after everything goes bad.
You also have a never-ending supply of endurance after getting Transfusion, sky-high damage from your own buffs paired with Scourge (Rain of Fire is amazing for Corrupters), and built-in travel powers in the form of Siphon Speed and Inertial reduction, which gives the equivalent of Super Speed and Super Jump that are actually not suppressed in combat. Many, many Kins ignore these powers, but I love how much they add to gameplay. Slot IOs to softcap S/L/E and then boost Recharge. It's all you need, especially with Clarion Destiny to give mez protection.
A Fire/Time Corrupter will ultimately have less damage, but WAY more control than a Fire/Kin. Slows, debuffs, holds, as well as buffs to your own recharge, recovery, regeneration and defense. My Fire/Time Corr is softcapped against most everything and fires off constant controls and attacks. When he does take some small amount of damage, he can heal it easily. Way fun combination, but lacks the insane damage and speed of a Fire/Kin. -
I've had fun with my Blaster concepts.
Walker Gray - Smart-alec, half-human Sorceror from another dimension whose natural mystical talents lay in fire and psionics. Perfect Fire/MM Blaster, and he's later branched out into Mind/Fire and Mind/Energy Dominaters. Wicked fast AoE machine, with fun mez powers to boot.
Babel Wave - Neurology student whose body and mind were altered in an experiment gone awry. He can comprehend and speak in all languages as well as utilize the unusual waveform energy permeating his body for communicating by thoughts or even for self-defense. Sonic/MM Blaster, and a fun Cone monster.
Bodok - Mercenary who has, over the years, acquired an affinity for advanced technological weaponry. With a suit of bleeding edge armor and a hi Beam Rifle, he's not exactly subtle without highly specialized modified gear. Beam/Energy Blaster, and able to burn down ground of enemies extremely well from a safe distance.
Evil-Eyes - A young man who was kidnapped and unknowingly turned into the avatar for a Lovecraftian Horror in our dimension. The ritual also permanently altered his physical appearance, turning his skin blue with red sigils and his hair green. After returning to his plane of existence by sheer luck, he works as a private investigator, putting his strange and dangerous new powers to use locating missing people. All the while he lives in our world, the voice of his "patron" whispers in his ear, demanding violence and chaos. Dark/Dark Blaster. Nice Blaptroller, and a solid ST killer. -
Heh. Tenebrous Tentacles and Gloom are nice for Scourge, too. It's a great corrupter combo.
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Rad/Pain won't be a damage dynamo, but you'll have solid-to-awesome debuffs, decent heals, and decent buffs to throw around. Conduit of Pain is a risky way to give yourself a sweet little damage boost, and you can use it solo if you have a targetable pet (Like the Blue Whisp or the Power Oscilator) from your VIP awards.
From what I've heard, the Regen Toggle is next to useless on corruptors.
I've played /Pain into the mid-20s before deciding it wasn't my thing, but please don't let that dissuade you. Lv 50 /Pain Corrs can do some dangerous things and help keep parties alive through nasty stuff. -
Fire/Time is amazing. Also, while Power Build up is a NICE power to pair with it, you may consider Power Boost from Soul Mastery. Not only does it give the same defense increase that makes it so easy to softcap, but it'll also give access to Dark Embrace for an additional resistance toggle. Stacking that AND Tough on top of softcapped defenses AND solid healing PLUS Clarion for Mez protection? You're going to be outliving some Scrappers, Brutes, and Tankers. Not ALL, simply because you don't have their HP, but you'll be a hard character to take down from any range, especially in melee where Time's Juncture covers up most -Def debuffs that may come through.
Currently, my build is similar to the one posted above. Once I have a couple 5-6 billion saved (to afford those painful Apoc and Ragnarok IOs), I plan on adding a couple of purple sets and going villain for a couple of days for Patron access.
I'll say here, though, that Fire/Time's -Regen is a teensy bit underpowered. You'll need to spam those powers heavily, as well as your attacks. I even went Musculature (Not needing recharge due to IO bonuses+Hasten+Chrono Shift) for added damage and endmod because the end drain from spamming those powers can be rough. In long fights, it's often worth it to detoggle Maneuvers and trust Time's Juncture to keep you alive at slightly below-softcap levels. -
Hi there, Kitiara! Welcome back to CoH!
I hope you don't mind, but I'll suggest you go with either a /Traps, /Cold, /Radiation, /Dark, or /Time corrupter. These sets all offer a variety of ways to weaken enemies, as well as protect yourself and allies from an assault.
In terms of damage, I heartily recommend Fire Blast. It deals the most damage, but also has a high endurance cost. Power sets like /Radiation can help ease the endurance cost of power by raising recovery.
Personally, I absolutely love my Fire/Time Corrupter, but I've also hears wonderful things about Sonic/Radiation or Sonic/Traps. Another wonderful combination, both for theme and fighting ability, is Dark Blast/Dark Miasma.
Paring things down, I would play either a Fire/Time Corrupter or a Dark/Dark Corrupter if I wanted to enjoy playing solo. Both have excellent heals, powerful debuffs and very solid damage. -
I picked the following Incarnate powers on my Ill/Rad:
-Alpha: Spiritual (Recharge focus)
-Interface: Reactive (Damage proc focus)
-Judgment: Pyronic (Damage focus)
-Destiny: Barrier (Duration focus)
-Lore: Phantoms (Damage focus)
I think you can see from the get-go what I was aiming for, can't you?
Spiritual Alpha was chosen because of the boost to recharge and healing. I stand by this choice, even with Agility now available. The boost to my Ill/Rad's heal is noticeable, and with Perma PA levels of recharge he's able to keep most others on the team alive in tough spots while spamming his healing aura as needed.
Edit: HA! That sounded awfully formal! Sorry about that. I was half-awake when I typed this. :P
Reactive Integration, with all other options considered, is the overall best fit for an Ill/Rad controller simply because the other Interface powers that (in this player's view) aren't worth using. Teeny endurance drains aren't going to help you like they can and electric controller, and the Psy Interface is a joke with a 2 second duration confuse mez and a chance for MINOR damage. Reactive's moderate fire DoT, when utilized by Phantom Army, REALLY adds up. Tossing in your own attacks just sweetens the carnage.
Pyronic Judgment was, I freely admit, partially a concept choice. My character had picked the Fire APP, as well as Reactive Interface. If I wanted to be able to stay at range as an incarnate and use this power, Pyronic was one of my three choices (The others being Ionic and Cryonic). Also, with Pyronic essentially being a giant version of Fireball, I had an easy time using it versus hunting ideal targets for Ionic or properly lining up from a distance with Cryonic. Also, Pyronic works just as well in melee, while other sets are more of an "either/or: proposition.
Barrier Destiny was easy: I wanted to survive when things go awry, as so often occurs
when concerning the affairs of mice and men. At Tier 4, it's up almost constantly, making it a great team buff as well as a personal survival power. I felt no need for the tree that would grant the power to Rez a few people because my Ill/Rad has Mutation for a rez. Also, he heals just fine with his Alpha-boosted aura, and Ageless would hardly improve the recharge rate that he had, especially with Accelerate Metabolism. If you're playing it right, no clarion will ever be needed, and the new teleport thing, while cool, could be a bit of an aggro creator for everyone inside. .
Phantoms for Lore were also an easy choice. The damage tree for the whole set grants you what is essentially two fire blasters with a few utility powers (like extra resistance and flight). Other pets might offer the same level of damage and perhaps even support, but I like that they can fly and are fairly smart, as well as solid damage dealers. Concept also, admittedly, played a role in my selection.
My Ill/Rad's build is almost identical to the build posted in Local Man's guide, though I'm looking to invest in upgrading it soon with Purples in a few places. Currently, the only differences are a single chance for buildup proc replaced with a regular enhancement (it didn't fire off enough for my liking) and Group Invisibility replaced with Afterburner.
I figured that Teleport Friend and Superior invisibility will always be more useful than Group Invisibility, in the long run. Also, my Ill/Rad can motor around at 87 mph.
This build has solo'd Lusca, along with every other GM in the game he's encountered (the exceptions being Hami and Winterlord, because Hami is impossible to solo and Winter Lord runs away). His Incarnate powers are used regularly and to great effect. I personally wouldn't change any of his unlocked and applied incarnate powers, despite the newly opened additional choices. -
Personally, I'm enjoying my Elec/Psy/Mace dom at level 38. No, it isn't Perma. In fact, it's running primarily on SOs because I'm a little low on inf right now.
When domination hits, Psychic Shockwave becomes a mez in its own right, not just my primary means of AoE damage. Because of how Electric Control works with Conductive aura in melee, I skipped Psychic Scream because the cone, while one my my favorite attacks on my Fire/MM Blaster, isn't as effective in melee range.
What's left is a fast cycling ST chain and a quick-recharging PBAoE attack with a stun of high enough magnitude to add another layer of control on top of my dominator's AoEsleep patch, chain confuse, endurance drain (no attacks if they have no end), chain knocldowns, and outright AoE Holds with Paralytic Blast.
Also, Drain Psyche.
Also, Gremlins to add to the sapping, knockdown, and damage.
Psychic Assault isn't going to outdamage a /Fire Dom, but with Drain Psyche to boost your survival and extra control, you've got a fun, powerful character. -
I don't see a whole lot wrong with your build, but it's very different from the one I'm running. You could throw in a -KB Proc pretty easily into Super Jump without sacrificing other bonuses, by the way.
This is my build, for comparison with yours. Power Build up and Farsight together with IO bonuses ensure softcap to just about everything. Went with musculature for additional damage, since his recharge was pretty solid with just IOs. I might go for one of the newer Alphas instead, however, if the boosts are right.
Concept on this toon is a hero who manipulates quantum fluctuations. Super speed is him accelerating time around himself.
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.952
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Level 50 Magic Corruptor
Primary Power Set: Fire Blast
Secondary Power Set: Time Manipulation
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Power Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Fire Blast- (A) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage
- (3) Decimation - Damage/Endurance
- (3) Decimation - Damage/Recharge
- (5) Decimation - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge
- (5) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
- (A) Accuracy IO
- (A) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage
- (7) Positron's Blast - Damage/Endurance
- (7) Positron's Blast - Damage/Recharge
- (9) Positron's Blast - Damage/Range
- (9) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
- (11) Endurance Reduction IO
- (A) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Endurance
- (15) Doctored Wounds - Endurance/Recharge
- (17) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Recharge
- (17) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Endurance/Recharge
- (19) Doctored Wounds - Heal
- (A) Dark Watcher's Despair - To Hit Debuff
- (19) Dark Watcher's Despair - Recharge/Endurance
- (21) Dark Watcher's Despair - To Hit Debuff/Recharge/Endurance
- (21) Dark Watcher's Despair - To Hit Debuff/Endurance
- (A) Celerity - +Stealth
- (A) Recharge Reduction IO
- (A) Recharge Reduction IO
- (23) Recharge Reduction IO
- (A) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage
- (23) Positron's Blast - Damage/Endurance
- (25) Positron's Blast - Damage/Recharge
- (25) Positron's Blast - Chance of Damage(Energy)
- (27) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
- (27) Endurance Reduction IO
- (A) Lockdown - Accuracy/Hold
- (29) Lockdown - Accuracy/Recharge
- (29) Lockdown - Recharge/Hold
- (31) Lockdown - Endurance/Recharge/Hold
- (31) Lockdown - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge/Hold
- (31) Lockdown - Chance for +2 Mag Hold
- (A) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage
- (33) Decimation - Damage/Endurance
- (33) Decimation - Damage/Recharge
- (33) Decimation - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge
- (34) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
- (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
- (34) Red Fortune - Defense/Endurance
- (34) Red Fortune - Endurance
- (36) Red Fortune - Endurance/Recharge
- (36) Red Fortune - Defense/Endurance/Recharge
- (36) Red Fortune - Defense
- (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
- (37) Luck of the Gambler - Defense
- (37) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Recharge
- (50) Kismet - Accuracy +6%
- (A) Empty
- (A) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%
- (37) Steadfast Protection - Knockback Protection
- (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
- (39) Gift of the Ancients - Defense
- (39) Gift of the Ancients - Defense/Endurance/Recharge
- (39) Gift of the Ancients - Endurance/Recharge
- (40) Gift of the Ancients - Defense/Endurance
- (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
- (40) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
- (40) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance/Recharge
- (42) Luck of the Gambler - Defense
- (A) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff
- (42) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge
- (42) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge/Endurance
- (43) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Recharge/Endurance
- (43) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Endurance
- (43) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Chance for Build Up
- (A) Achilles' Heel - Chance for Res Debuff
- (45) Touch of Lady Grey - Chance for Negative Damage
- (45) Touch of Lady Grey - Recharge/Endurance
- (A) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Endurance/Recharge
- (45) Doctored Wounds - Endurance/Recharge
- (46) Doctored Wounds - Recharge
- (46) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Recharge
- (46) Doctored Wounds - Heal
- (A) Recharge Reduction IO
- (A) Obliteration - Damage
- (48) Obliteration - Accuracy/Recharge
- (48) Obliteration - Damage/Recharge
- (48) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
- (50) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
- (50) Obliteration - Chance for Smashing Damage
- (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
- (A) Accuracy IO
Level 0: Born In Battle
Level 0: High Pain Threshold
Level 0: Invader
Level 50: Musculature Radial Paragon
Level 0: Portal Jockey
Level 0: Freedom Phalanx Reserve
Level 0: Task Force Commander
Level 0: The Atlas Medallion
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Level 1: Brawl- (A) Empty
Level 1: Sprint- (A) Empty
- (A) Empty
Level 2: Swift- (A) Empty
- (A) Numina's Convalescence - +Regeneration/+Recovery
- (11) Miracle - Heal
- (A) Empty
- (A) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End
- (13) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Accuracy
- (13) Performance Shifter - EndMod
- (15) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Recharge
Set Bonus Totals:- 10.5% DamageBuff(Smashing)
- 10.5% DamageBuff(Lethal)
- 10.5% DamageBuff(Fire)
- 10.5% DamageBuff(Cold)
- 10.5% DamageBuff(Energy)
- 10.5% DamageBuff(Negative)
- 10.5% DamageBuff(Toxic)
- 10.5% DamageBuff(Psionic)
- 9.25% Defense(Melee)
- 6.13% Defense(Smashing)
- 6.13% Defense(Lethal)
- 5.5% Defense(Fire)
- 5.5% Defense(Cold)
- 6.13% Defense(Energy)
- 6.13% Defense(Negative)
- 3% Defense(Psionic)
- 9.25% Defense(Ranged)
- 8% Defense(AoE)
- 6.3% Max End
- 8% Enhancement(Heal)
- 2.5% Enhancement(Held)
- 36% Enhancement(Accuracy)
- 87.5% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
- 10% FlySpeed
- 120.5 HP (11.25%) HitPoints
- 10% JumpHeight
- 10% JumpSpeed
- Knockback (Mag -4)
- Knockup (Mag -4)
- MezResist(Held) 2.2%
- MezResist(Immobilize) 7.7%
- MezResist(Stun) 2.2%
- MezResist(Terrorized) 4.4%
- 16% (0.27 End/sec) Recovery
- 20% (0.89 HP/sec) Regeneration
- 9.43% Resistance(Fire)
- 6.93% Resistance(Cold)
- 10% RunSpeed
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I'd personally pick Beam Rifle, but that's more because of an intense dislike for Dual Pistols.
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Being as ridiculously in love with Time's Juncture as I am, I heartily suggest you pick a secondary that works well in the middle of a mob.
Unfortunately, that takes /Sonic out of the running.
I'm running a Fire/Time Corrupter and loving every second of it. His endurance management is the only problem, and I plan on solving that with IOs.
I don't see how /Rad would lose out much in terms of pure damage when compared to /Fire, and it picks up piles of -defense along the way. For a defender, I'd go Time/Rad. -
Hey Witch!
As a wildly opinionated player, I'm not a huge fan of redaw.
At all.
Personally, I'd pick Willpower. You get resistance, regeneration, and defense built in. I personally like the idea of the AoE Parry power because it lets you build up Momentum for your big attacks constructively. Willpower will likely end up being the most overall survivable set to pair with Titan Weapons.
My second choice would be Electric Armor. Energize now and again isn't a big deal. I never notice it on my Claws/Elec Brute and I've got it set on auto. Then again, redraw on claws isn't much of a bother. You don't have defense built-in, but it's possible to softcap S/L/E with the right primary and plenty of cash. TW/Elec would have greater endurance management than a TW/WP due to Energize and Power Sink. My /Elec Brute runs full out at all times and never burns through all the endurance he has. Another small thing of note is the recharge/movement speed boost from Lightning Reflexes. It doesn't seem like much, but it's noticeable on a brute. -
I'm going to be giving an opinion that a lot of people might look down on, but here goes:
How about a Sonic Blaster?
Sonic Blast gives small damage debuffs along with its attacks, and that's pretty nice, but the important thing to keep in mind if Siren's Song when solo. It's a wide cone heal that makes soloing a great deal more viable. On teams, the -res debuff is still noticeable, and you're able to cut loose without worrying quite so much about aggro.
Sonic/EM Blasters can Siren's Song an enemy, then walk up and utilize /EM's melee powers to take them down one at a time. Safe and effective.
Fire Blast gives lots and lots of damage, and it a nice set for players who like their AoEs. It may lack mitigation, but...FIRE FWOOSH! I went Fire/MM on mine in order to be able to have an additional Cone attack to use, as well as make use of Drain Psyche and other utility powers that add to his survival. -
What's there to say? If you've hit 50, you know a lot of how it works.
Elec Control: As a while, the set offers layered holds, mezzes, knockdowns, and the added bonus of ridiculous Endurance draining potential. Its main weakness is a lack of raw damage. Slot for recharge, defense, and recovery. The ideal Alpha for endmod is either Musculature or Agility. Musculature adds much needed damage, and Agility adds recharge.
-Electric Fence: ST immobilize. Proc it for damage if you need an attack. Also, it can be set for endmod as another sapping power, of which you have many.
-Tesla Cage: Your ST Hold, aka the power you'll be using from level 1-50. Still great for sapping, also. Double tap it on bosses to lock them down. Slot with 4 Basilisk's Gazes for extra recharge, and recharge is good.
-Chain Fences: Great power for Electric control with a wide array of IO options to choose from. Personally, I'd either put in a set that boosts recharge/defense or frankenslot it for recharge and proc damage so that you can kill faster. Ideally, I'd include a Gravitic Anchor: Chance for Hold proc while I'm at it. You're a controller, after all. Control is good.
-Jolting Chain: I love this power, but it doesn't need much in the way of slotting. An accuracy, maybe an IO boosting Accuracy and Recharge, or a Decimation: Chance for Build up if youhave plenty of Accuracy and Recharge in your build from IO bonuses.
-Conductive Aura: Again, another beautiful key power. Stay in melee range to maximize its effect and sap enemy endurance down to nothing. Again, it also doesn't need much in the way of slots. A single Endmod is fine. Add a set if you have the slots for it, I suppose, but I didn't have the room in my build.
-Static Field: This is another one of your set defining powers. Personally, I'd throw in the Purple Sleep set for the IO bonuses. It also has the advantage of being one of the cheapest purple sets to buy. I tried the one Chance to heal IO proc (the name escapes me), but found that it only takes effect once, and the heal is too minor to be worthwhile for this power.
-Paralyzing Blast - I'd put in a 6-slot of Lockdown or a 5-slot of Unbreakable Constraint. It's a ranged targetted AoE hold. You know what it does, and what it's for.
-Synaptic Overload: Your chain AoE confuse. SLOT CONTAGIOUS CONFUSION INTO THIS POWER. TAKE THIS POWER.
-Gremlins: Your Sparkies. Their damage isn't great, but they're handy to have around and give nice control. Besides, the damage they DO deal is welcome, and increases with Reactive. I'd 4-slot these bad boys with Expedient Reinforcement. That's all you need, unless you want to add more endmod.
Radiation: This is a Jack of all Trades set that lends itself well to controllers in any range. Slot for recharge so that you can make Accelerate Metabolism Perma.
-Radiant Aura: PBAoE heal. Good place for Numina's convalescence or Doctored Wounds. You won't be an Emp, but don't shirt on the heal. 5 slots
-Radiant Infection: Great -Defense and -ToHit debuff that makes you better able to dodge blows and affect enemies. Works well in any range, as long as the anchor stays alive. You -can- put a set into it. Personally, I'd only do so if I had plenty of other IOs and still room for more. This power doesn't need many slots to be effective.
-Accelerate Metabolism: One of the best buffs in the game. Raises regeneration, recovery, damage, recharge, and even resistance to some mezzes for its duration. Slot to make this Perma.
-Enervating Field: I find myself using this more often than Radiant Infection. It makes enemies take more damage, deal LESS damage, and also animates faster than Radiant Infection. 2-3 endurance reductions are all you need.
-Mutation: Awesome rez. One recharge slot.
-Lingering Radiation: Personally, I'd skip the slow sets you could put here and just give it some recharge with maybe a touch of accuracy if have to have it.
-Choking Cloud: Helps hold enemies down while you're in melee range and sapping them down into uselessness. Decent power. A Lockdown: Chance for Hold proc might help out tremendously.
-Fallout: Highly skippable. It requires, not just any team mate but a -dead- team mate for use. You aren't that hard up for damage.
-EM Pulse: Lovely PBAoE flash of light.
Pools: GET HASTEN. If you want to softcap, there's the Fighting. Leadership is always nice, as is fighting. Hover/Combat Jumping are good LotG: Recharge mules.
APP/Patrons: I'd grab Mu Mastery for the sake of theme.
Incarnate: I'd get the Musculature Alpha for endurance modification and added damage. Either Reactive or the new Preemptive Interface that saps enemies. Barrier Destiny would be nice. For Lore pets? I'll leave that to you. -
Dark Melee delivers big, rapidfire numbers of Single Target damage. Also, it gives you Soul Drain, Dark Consumption, Siphon Life, and Touch of Fear. All of these are widely loved powers, minus Touch of Fear, which is still a nice power to have around.
Soul Drain is a PBAoE power that deals a tiny amount of damage to the enemies it hits, but increases your damage into the stratosphere for each enemy it hits. For half a minute, you deal enough damage to consistently one or two-shot enemies, including bosses. It's hard, but you can even make it permanent if you're a VIP and slot heavily for recharge.
Siphon Life is one of the coolest melee attacks in the game. You reach out your hand and yank it back, as if tearing something away from the enemy. Your opponent takes big damage, and you get a chunk of health restored. This don't ever fill your health meter to full, but it can be made part of a regular attack chain, and you SHOULD make it part of your regular attack chain. It's one of the strongest powers int he set.
Dark Consumption is like Soul Drain, only it restores your endurance by a good bit for every enemy in its range.
Touch of Fear does zero damage, but it inflicts the Fear status on enemies. It doesn't seem like much, but it animates fast and also lowers the enemy's chance to hit you. Oh, you can also stack its effects when facing strong enemies, making you able to Fear Elite Bosses.
If you're returning from long ago, when Dark Melee was considered the biggest joke in the game, then stop thinking like that. It's been revamped into a beastly set.
There are a lot of sets that would work for a secondary on your concept. It would depend on -how- this ancient warlord still lives and walks amongst us. You could pick Dark Armor, Fiery Aura, Energy Aura (customized black to match Dark Melee), Regeneration, Willpower, Invulnerability, Super Reflexes... -
My first villain to hit 50, and this was a long time ago, was a Fire/Kinetics Corrupter. It's also the character I've kept continuously playing and enjoying over the years on this game. He's got a ridiculous amount of infamy thrown into his build, which has been redone numerous times.
What I'm saying here is that I love the Fire/Kinetics combo, and I've never felt the need to make another kinetics character.
I'm also aware that this isn't a "perfect synergy" character. He has no way to stop attacks short of attacking first, more violently than the other guys. That's why I softcapped his S/L/E defense.
If I had to roll another one, though, I would probably choose either Sonic, Radiation, or Electricity.
Radiation gives defense debuffs, gets boosted damage from Kinetics, and has some nice "Up close and personal" powers. Also, its strongest ST blast is a nice stun. What I don't like about it is that it's essentially a weaker version of its Fiery counterpart, and lacks anything other than the one stun that you can use to keep yourself alive and in the middle of the fight.
Sonic gives sexy -Res debuffs to stack with your damage buffs as an offensive double whammy. It also gives you Siren's Song, which is a solo player's godsend (Fulcrum Shift doesn't wake up enemies, by the way). With Siren's Song as a automatic "Pause" power, you can hop into melee only when needed unless you're fighting EBs/AVs/GMs, as well as take enemies apart one at a time with Sonic's ST blasts. More protection and variety than Radiation, but the damage isn't super stellar.
Electricity's main problem is damage, and Kinetics will help it through that problem with relative ease. It also comes with sapping potential, two nice attacks which can be used for Melee AoEs, and a hold. Taking your Kin sapping into account and slotting for endmod? You'll be looking at a lot of enemies who are suddenly out of gas. This is a combo I'd suggest you pair with the new Agile Alpha, which boosts endmod, recharge, and defense.
Of the three, I'd personally try out the elec/kin. It won't deal the raw damage of my Fire/Kin, but it will at least have endurance draining. Heck, maybe the dinky pet that Elec Blast gets is affected by Kinetics buffs.
For your concept, you might like Rad/Kin, though, and I hear good things about it. Just isn't my thing. -
I'm thinking that a Bots/Traps MM would be the best bet, also. Great debuffs, stacking FFG with the Support Bots, etc.
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My Dark/Dark/Mace Blaster bounces in and out of melee when solo, and hands out at the fringes of melee on teams. While it isn't the best for killing huge piles of opponents at once, at least not at the moment, I have higher hopes for the future when I can add procs to Tenebrous Tentacles.
With decent recharge, and by that I mean enough recharge to make Soul Drain Perma, you really don't need more than the two Cones unless you -have- to have a constant AoE chain. I always find myself using Drain Life or Abyssal Gaze in any case, and usually by the time I'm done the cones are ready again to throw enemies across the room and then lock them there.
In the end, my build relies heavily on Soul Drain, Defense, and solid IO bonuses in order to keep shelling out damage, and I think it's got a nice enough combination of single target, AoE, Ranged, and Melee attacks to make for a well-rounded blaster.
I'm still trying to decide on whether or not to get Clarion (and which branch of Clarion to take) or Barrier for his Destiny. Reactive with Tenebrous Tentacles' DoT ought to be fun, though as will being able to Void Nuke, regular nuke, pop a blue insp, retoggle Scorpion Shield/Weave, and then get a full Blue bar in the next mob with Dark Consumption. -
The way I'd played, Shadow Maul stopped being useful in the mid-30s. Even with its defiance boosting power, the animation time is so long, and its damage is so low, that I was better off cranking up my recharge via IOs and subbing an ST Blast in to throw together a Melee chain rather than punchapunchapunchapunchapunchapunchapuncha. Especially with Soul Drain on a shorter recharge time, I didn't really feel the need to do anything but use my fast-animating attacks while they could one-shot minions and some Lieutenants.
I'm on a Dark/Dark/Mace Blaster, though. I bounce in and out of range as needed, trusting Scorpion Shield, IO defense bonuses and my ToHit debuffs to keep my Blaster alive. -
I agree with Gavin wholeheartedly. A plant/Fire dominator is a very good character to learn on.
That being said, Elec/Elec is a perfectly strong combination. -
I've got an Elec/Ice Dom who primarily acts as crowd control...But the crowd never lives for long. He also has Rebirth, which he's used numerous times to keep team members from dying off while he lays down the law.
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There are a LOT of good Dominator choices out there.
For a NEW Dom, I'd suggest Plant control. It gets Seeds of Confusion at level 8, and Seeds is basically a cone version of Mind control's Tier 9 on a much shorter recharge (enemies will attack one another and turn into a big angry riot of confusion). Plant also has pretty solid damage for a control set, especially if you spam Roots, the AoE Immobilize power, anc Carrion Creepers. The only thing you might not like is that a lot of its powers require you to be in the ground to use.
Mind Control is always a strong option. It's got a nice combination of control and damage and pairs well with most Secondaries. It's also one if the best sets for creating a "Permadom" build that slots enough global recharge bonuses from IO set to make Domination recharge before its effect runs out.
Just about anybody will tell you that the best ranged secondary for Dominators is /Fire, and they'd be right. It gets solid damage from the get go, and you don't have to go into melee for fear of missing out on damage. It also has Embrace of Fire (like build up for fire attacks that raises them by a large amount), which turns the Fire Ancillary Power Pool into a source of terrifying carnage.
Electric Assault is a great set for wading into melee and dealing damage to mezzed or otherwise preoccupied foes. It can also drain endurance as a secondary effect, which means it pairs well with Electric Control.
Personally, I love my Electric/Ice Dominator, but it was a long, occasionally tough road to 50 and its current Permadom build. I'm currently toying with a Mind/Fire Dominator for the sake of variety, but eh. -
Do we actually have info on our Almighty Developers putting something new out for Doms?
Well...I'd guess if it's being ported to Dominators exclusively, then it would have to either be a new Secondary or Illusion Control. Any control set that is given to Dominators and not Controllers would raise a storm of outrage. -
Okay, well as far as Mace Mastery goes, I'm actually fairly happy. I threw in a few sets to boost recharge (only 25%, since this isn't a lv 50 build), as well as the Force Feedback: Recharge proc for Umbral Torrent. Previously, I'd been running at +0/x3 and having some trouble. Now I'm pretty easily able to run +0/x4 missions. Soul Drain is amazing, and with only 22% s/l defense I'm finding this build to be fairly survivable. I won't lie and say that I'm able to easily skip Drain Life in my attack chain at all times, but I'm still fairly happy with Scorpion Shield.
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I just cranked my Katana/Regen Brute up to lv 30 after soloing First Ward in its entirety (First Ward's arcs come highly recommended, by the way). Now that he's getting close to his big boy powers, I was wondering a few things:
-How does a Katana/Regen Brute stack up against a Katana/Regen Scrapper?
-What epic/patron would you recommend for a good balance between functionality and minimization of redraw? I get enough redraw from Regeneration as is.
-What would you say that the best brute Katana ST and AoE DPS chains are?
-What numbers should I be shooting for in my build for defense, regeneration, recovery, resistance, accuracy, and/or recharge?
-What Incarnate powers would you suggest for a Katana/Regen Brute? From what I can see, Spiritual Alpha is a definite must because it boosts both recharge (for bringing heals back up faster) and healing/regeneration in general. I COULD try for Rebirth Destiny to pile on even more regeneration and play like an old-timey Regen Scrapper from days gone by, but I don't know the current numbers for regeneration/HP caps...