Myndstar

As a slight alternative, here is the build for my main, Lady Thalia. This build did benefit from a respec, but mostly for rearranging her slots after ED.

I have found this build gives me a strong solo-capable character that also brings a lot to a team. She can fill in as a almost-tank thanks to Phantom Army and regularly serves as a rapid-transit specialist.

Here is the build. I'll comment on a couple of specific power choices and tactics below.

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Exported from Ver: 1.7.6.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder
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Name: Lady Thalia
Level: 50
Archetype: Controller
Primary: Illusion Control
Secondary: Kinetics
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01) --> Spectral Wounds==> Acc(1)Dmg(3)Dmg(7)Dmg(9)Rechg(37)Rechg(40)
01) --> Transfusion==> Acc(1)Heal(5)Heal(11)Acc(17)Heal(29)
02) --> Blind==> Acc(2)Dmg(3)Dmg(7)Dmg(9)Hold(29)Hold(34)
04) --> Siphon Power==> Acc(4)Rechg(5)Rechg(13)EndRdx(43)Rechg(46)
06) --> Flash==> Acc(6)Hold(11)Hold(13)Acc(17)Rechg(34)Rechg(34)
08) --> Hasten==> Rechg(8)Rechg(15)Rechg(15)
10) --> Recall Friend==> Range(10)
12) --> Group Invisibility==> Rechg(12)Rechg(23)Rechg(46)DefBuf(48)
14) --> Super Speed==> EndRdx(14)
16) --> Swift==> Run(16)
18) --> Phantom Army==> Acc(18)Rechg(19)Rechg(19)Dmg(21)Dmg(21)Dmg(23)
20) --> Speed Boost==> EndMod(20)EndMod(27)EndMod(27)
22) --> Hurdle==> Jump(22)
24) --> Stamina==> EndMod(24)EndMod(25)EndMod(25)
26) --> Spectral Terror==> Acc(26)Fear(46)
28) --> Inertial Reduction==> Rechg(28)
30) --> Flurry==> Acc(30)Dmg(31)Dmg(31)Dmg(31)
32) --> Phantasm==> Acc(32)Dmg(33)Dmg(33)Dmg(33)Rechg(37)Rechg(40)
35) --> Transference==> Acc(35)EndMod(36)Acc(36)EndMod(36)EndMod(37)
38) --> Fulcrum Shift==> Acc(38)Rechg(39)Rechg(39)Rechg(39)Acc(40)
41) --> Indomitable Will==> Rechg(41)Rechg(42)Rechg(42)DefBuf(42)DefBuf(43)DefBuf(43)
44) --> Mind Over Body==> DmgRes(44)DmgRes(45)DmgRes(45)EndRdx(45)
47) --> Increase Density==> DmgRes(47)DmgRes(48)DmgRes(48)
49) --> Superior Invisibility==> EndRdx(49)DefBuf(50)DefBuf(50)DefBuf(50)
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01) --> Sprint==> Empty(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Empty(1)
01) --> Containment==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Empty(2)
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First, Lady Thalia is only 43rd level at this point so the last three power choices are speculative. As a kinetic, she spends most of her time right in the middle of the mobs so I will definitely be taking Mind Over Body for the Resistance. The last two slots will likely be used as indicated to catch a couple of good powers I missed early on, though I am still debating Improved Invis vs. Siphon Speed.

Regarding specific power choices, I went with super speed instead of Siphon Speed for two reasons: Primarily, I dislike relying on being able to hit a target to maintain my speed, especially since stealthing is something I do a lot with Thalia. Secondly, Thalia dates back to before Siphon Speed affected recharge rate so I've never gotten used to relying on it for a recharge boost.

Choosing against ID and Deceive were as much due to balancing which powers I wanted when as anything else. They are both good powers that can be very useful. Since Thalia is part of a fairly regular team which includes an Ice/Ice blaster and an empath, not having the extra control and buff weren't a big loss. Without that regular team I would have been very tempted to take Deceive instead of Recall Friend.

Some specific tactics/tips I've gotten some good use out of include:
<ul type="square">[*] Invis the team, move into a group of enemies without aggroing them. Then drop Phantom Army (to soak their alpha strike without too much scatter), followed by Fulcrum Shift. This helps maximize the benefit of Fulcrum Shift by allowing the whole team to get its full benefit. Dropping PA first also prevents me from taking an FS-induced faceplant. [*] When the team is trying to crank missions quickly and we have a 'click the glowy' or 'take out X and his minions', Thalia is often able to scout ahead and locate our objective while the rest of the team chews on mobs closer to the entrance of the mission. Depending on the mob density at the objective, she often has the oomph to take care of it herself, allowing us to move to the next mission, and if she doesn't she can recall friend the team to her to handle it.[*]Group Invis is very valuable even when not stealthing a mission. The tactical advantage of being able to position your team before the fight starts cannot be ignored, especially if you have a melee heavy team.[*]On missions where you are trying to protect an object from destruction, Spectral Terror can be a life saver, especially if the attackers are primarily melee based. The AoE Fear in a power that recharges fast enough (with hasten) that I basically keep it in place all the time really helps shut down the attackers before they can take out object.[*] Resist the urge to keep your pets (speaking primarily of Phantasm) on the map all the time. An illusionist's pets are a powerful tool, but is one that can cause as many problems as they solve. Because they are 'uncontrolled' (as opposed to a MM's pets), they can very easily cause a fight to spill over into nearby groups of mobs. Their knockback can also cause problems with scatter. This point of caution is especially true if you are teamed with a group that relies on tight groupings and precision tactics. Now that I have fulcrum shift on Thalia I often don't use Phantasm unless I really need to because it tends to scatter mobs before I can get into them and drop FS.[/list]

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I do see one needed change to make it more melee centered. Inertial reduction should give at least the caster knockdown, knockback resistance. It is hard to take advantage of Fulcrum shift when you get knocked back before you even get your buffs.

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Nah. True it is annoying getting knocked back as you fire Fulcrum Shift, but that is part of the challenge (and possibly a subtle balancing point given how useful the power is). Besides, given its name and what Inertial Reduction does, I'd say it would make just as much sense for it to be a Self +Knockback...as in, if you have inertial reduction in effect it is easier for you to get knocked around. And as amusing as that would be from time to time, I don't think we want to see it happen.

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Would you still stand by the power selection after I7? I've always wanted to use a mace tanker, and your guide seems like a pretty good start. Just wondering if there were any mods since all the new updates and bugs and whatnots...

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I've been playing around with an Ice/Mace Tanker and been having fun with it. Haven't gotten very far yet but Mace seems pretty decent so far. It does really help that they JUST recently swapped the order that you get access to Clobber and Jawbreaker. Gives you 3 solid attacks as early as 4th level.

It's interesting...on my brute I've actually find it very hard to get my fury full when teamed with moderate to large groups, especially if there are masterminds present. Between the tendency to stop and rest between fights and not being able to engage many targets before the 'mob' wipes the floor with them, I find my fury never really has a chance to build up.

A couple of other interesting ideas...

Tech/Necromancy...you use nanites to animate the bodies of the dead...the ghosts are the nanites in independant swarm mode that do not remain viable for long without a physical body to house them...as to the look, you are animating dead bodies...might as well keep with the theme...

Mutant or Magic/Robotics...you learned a few things from the clockwork and your robots actually work because your own mental powers animate them.

Tech/Ninja...you can use the nanite idea to explain the 'supernatural' capabilities...or claim that you are ninja tech support that finally got frustrated with job and are out to get some satisfaction...

Any of them could possibly be justified as having been given the minions by an outside source.

I did like the feel I got fighting the named heroes (as opposed to the longbow goons) of there actually being someone playing that character and that person occasionally doing things to make the experience fun for the players.

I understand the difficulty of awarding the badges retroactively on a general basis due to processing time and manpower issues. I understand (if disagree with) the concept that they removed our souvenirs because it appeared that some people weren't getting them despite the fact that many of us were.

On the other hand, I will be submitting requests via the support system for the badges I did not receive. (I will be including the text from the petitions that I sent when I was denied the souvenir in the first place).

I will be doing this not because I'm upset that they won't be giving it to me automatically. I will be doing this because of the major screw-up they had in communicating with their own people when the souvenirs stopped. In effect, they had indicated a way to correct an ingame problem, corrected that problem several times for me and others and then haphazardly started turning people away with no communication or consistency to the reason why.

If they had come out with a official statement when I4 released or shortly thereafter indicating that this is the way it is we're sorry but after X date no more souvenirs will be granted for TFs regardless of the presense (current or future) of badges for those TFs, I would have been unhappy but would have dealt with it. Instead, it was never documented, lots of people got their souveners via petition (including people who petition at the SAME TIME as people who were declined), while suddenly some people weren't, then their was the haphazard application of form letters that eventually made it around to all of the gms.

They screwed up. Therefore I am going to petition. I will be turned down and I will move on. That does not change the fact that I think that they are being highly unfair to those of us who were already in the support system (handling the problem the way were told to handle it) when they realized that someone had forgotted to give the gms a clue. We at least, should receive our badges. It would go a long way toward repairing this significant smudge on their otherwise exemplary support reputation.

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Well my wife DID just have a baby this morning.



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GRATZ!

An interesting tactic some friends and I have been experimenting with is using a confused target as your anchor. The idea is that the mob that has been confused will attack other mobs thus keeping the anchored power near those other baddies. Our experiments have shown that it can be a little hit or miss depending on the distribution and location of mobs in the area, but when it works it really works well.