Oedipus_Tex

A portion of the Mastermind AI problem might be solvable by giving players a toggle that hits the pets with Mag 1000 Immobilize. Not "think about stopping where you are" but "even if you feel like moving, don't." That might cause other issues though. Like maybe immobilized enemies are dumb enough to stand there wanting to melee you and doing nothing when they could shoot a gun. <shrug> No way to know without seeing it first hand I guess.

From what I can see that build is fantastic. There are a couple of power choices I might not have picked myself, but overall its looking very good. Great work.

The two main things that I would maybe have done differently would be to try for some kind of Stealth (for incarnate stuff mainly) and tried for more single-target damage. You don't have a single target blast or a single target immobilize for damage.

Another small thing that you may or may not want to incorporate is +Defense for Jack Frost. He recently got a stealth buff that gives him base 25% defense to most attacks and 35% to Fire and Cold. Your Manuevers will boost him by 4. If you were willing to give up two slots of ER in Jack Frost, you could pick up +10% defense, bringing Jack up to around 39% defense.

This may drop your overall defense, depending on how/if you reconfigure. But if you are planning on taking Barrier (and IMO that is the Destiny power that makes the most sense for Ice in general and probably for this build as well), you will be soft capped most of the time if your defense is around 40%. It takes some doing to get up to T4, but we will have goals.. Up to you to decide.

But once again that is a very strong build if you decide to go with it and are ok with very low single target damage.

Dark Control really did seem to swipe the rug out from under Mind Control. Relative to Dark, Mind has range, Mass Confusion, and the sleep. Everything else is pretty much not that great, and you take some serious losses to get what you have. There is no reason, in the modern CoX that Mass Confusion needs the Recharge that it has, even if it means cutting the duration of the power.

I have three versions of the same character (The Cold Reader from the sig below): Mind/Cold troller, Mind/Ice Dom, Dark/Cold Controller. The final of the three is definitely the best of them so far, in terms of performance before IOs. I'm fairly sure he's going to destroy the other 2 builds once I IO him.

My old tactic for using my Mind/Cold character was to use Power Boost to try to use Total Domination for Containment. That only really worked after massive IO efforts to get Total Dom down to around 60 seconds. But as the incarnate stuff progressed the set backs against the character just became too great. At one time, Terrify was a somewhat fair replacement for an immobilize, but then came incarnate procs. And then came Dark Control with a much better fear AND the immobilize AND the pets AND the aggro-free single target confuse AND the significant debuff. The writing was really on the wall for me... luckily both concepts work for my particular character.

The one thing I will give Mind Control over the control primaries is it can use Mass Confuse discretely as an opener, then elect to spring the rest of its attacks when it wants. But Mind is so screwed in terms of damage relative to other Controller sets, and for seemingly no reason, that it just became more and more evident that I would be happier playing something else.

I betrayed my own intentions and rerolled the Cold Reader character from my sig from Mind/Cold to Dark/Cold. I was really worried about the wolf breaking concept, but I guess most people can forgive a sort of arctic-y wolf, and then the shields encase him in ice to make him a bit more unusual looking. Overall I think it works, but mainly just in this instance. The rest of the set does capture the feel of the character tho overall.

Fingers crossed that Force Field and Sonic Resonance get an Absorb power. That utility just seems so obvious for those sets. I might actually start playing my retired Force Fielder again.

It would also not be so horrible if the mini-bubbles that came from the big bubble (not the individually cast bubbles, the ones that show up when you go inside the big bubble) had a much longer duration.. like 1 minute. That way people would be protected as long as the just crossed paths with the bubble from time to time instead of having to stand inside it every second.

I agree that build needs some help. I will give you credit for at least trying though, instead of just asking for a build.

Here's a partial revision for you. A bit endurance heavy. Recommend the Agility alpha and probably Ageless. Soft capped to ranged in normal content before you hit your first enemy (important for AVs especially).

Also, suck it up and take Hasten. If you REALLY want to put Fly back in there in its place, you can do it, but realize your perma dom status depends on never getting hit with a single -Recharge debuff. And lacking that one power is seriously hurting your build.

Note on a few powers I assumed you can blow a few enhancement boosters. These cost points/cash, so if you opt not to, some more minor revision is needed. Mainly Stamina, Hasten, the heal in Life Drain, Soul Drain, and Gather Shadows. You can reconfigure if you don't want to spend the cash or don't mind a little sacrifice in these powers (Hasten is a must-enhance tho or else drop a slot from somewhere and move it here to make it perma). You may also need to drop a damage proc in Living Shadows in favor of more endurance reduction, or enhance that slot with another EB.


Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.954
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Body of Darkness: Level 50 Magic Dominator
Primary Power Set: Darkness Control
Secondary Power Set: Dark Assault
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leaping
Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Dark Grasp -- AotDominator-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear(A), AotDominator-Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/Rchg(3), AotDominator-EndRdx/Rchg(3), AotDominator-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/EndRdx(5), AotDominator-Rchg/+Dmg%(5), AotDominator-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/EndRdx/Rchg(7)
Level 1: Dark Blast -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(7), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(9)
Level 2: Smite -- Mako-Acc/Dmg(A), Mako-Dmg/EndRdx(9), Mako-Dmg/Rchg(11), Mako-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(11), Mako-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(13), Mako-Dam%(13)
Level 4: Gloom -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(15), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(17), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(17), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(19), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(19)
Level 6: Living Shadows -- DarkWD-ToHitDeb/EndRdx(A), SipInsght-Acc/ToHitDeb(21), GravAnch-Hold%(21), Posi-Dam%(23), TotHntr-Dam%(23)
Level 8: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 10: Hover -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(25)
Level 12: Possess -- CoPers-Conf(A), CoPers-Conf/EndRdx(25), CoPers-Conf%(27), CoPers-Conf/Rchg(27), CoPers-Acc/Conf/Rchg(29), CoPers-Acc/Rchg(29)
Level 14: Boxing -- Acc-I(A)
Level 16: Fearsome Stare -- Cloud-ToHitDeb(A), Cloud-ToHitDeb/EndRdx/Rchg(31), Cloud-Acc/ToHitDeb(31), Cloud-Acc/Rchg(31), Cloud-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(33), Cloud-%Dam(33)
Level 18: Tough -- GA-3defTpProc(A)
Level 20: Heart of Darkness -- Amaze-EndRdx/Stun(A), Amaze-ToHitDeb%(33), Amaze-Acc/Rchg(34), Amaze-Acc/Stun/Rchg(34), Amaze-Stun/Rchg(34)
Level 22: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), Ksmt-ToHit+(36)
Level 24: Gather Shadows -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 26: Haunt -- S'bndAl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), S'bndAl-Dmg/Rchg(36)
Level 28: Shadow Field -- UbrkCons-EndRdx/Hold(A), UbrkCons-Acc/Hold/Rchg(36), UbrkCons-Dam%(37), UbrkCons-Acc/Rchg(37), UbrkCons-Hold/Rchg(37), Lock-%Hold(39)
Level 30: Engulfing Darkness -- Armgdn-Dmg(A), Armgdn-Dmg/Rchg(39), Armgdn-Dmg/EndRdx(39), Armgdn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(40), Armgdn-Acc/Rchg(40)
Level 32: Life Drain -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(40), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(42), Heal-I(42)
Level 35: Umbra Beast -- ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg(A), ExRmnt-Acc/Rchg(42), ExRmnt-Dmg/EndRdx(43), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(43), ExRmnt-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(43), ExRmnt-+Res(Pets)(45)
Level 38: Dark Embrace -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A)
Level 41: Dark Obliteration -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(45), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(45), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(46), Posi-Dam%(46)
Level 44: Midnight Grasp -- Hectmb-Dmg/EndRdx(A), Hectmb-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(46), Hectmb-Dmg/Rchg(48), Hectmb-Dam%(48), Hectmb-Dmg(48)
Level 47: Soul Drain -- Sciroc-Acc/Rchg(A)
Level 49: Weave -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(50), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(50)
Level 50: Spectral Radial Flawless Interface
Level 0: Freedom Phalanx Reserve
Level 0: Portal Jockey
Level 0: Task Force Commander
Level 0: The Atlas Medallion
Level 50: Agility Core Paragon
------------
Level 2: Swift -- Flight-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Mrcl-Rcvry+(A), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(50)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- P'Shift-End%(A), P'Shift-EndMod(15)
Level 1: Brawl -- HO:Nucle(A)
Level 1: Domination
Level 1: Sprint -- Clrty-Stlth(A)
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run

[deleted duplicate post]

Tankers have a stackability problem. They are an AT designed with team utility in mind, but that role is quickly saturated. Worse, it can easily be saturated by an AT that does far more damage. To me, Tankers are actually among the worst off of the low-ish damage ATs because when other low damage ATs get together their low damage justifies itself. Tankers are the only AT where I personally feel pressured to leave the team after more than 3 join. Some people just want to increase the defense or offense of the AT, but IMO the problem is actually that Brutes and Tankers are too directly comparable in very simplistic terms and need to be pushed away from each other. The difference needs to harder to quantify than just "one has more defense, one has more offense."

Defenders and Corruptors also overlap to the point of uncomfortableness. They need to be pushed apart. Specifically, I am personally somewhat doubtful that Defenders actually fulfill their intended role as "ultimate support." They come across to me more like the Bard class of CoX, Jack of all Tradeoffs. I personally feel that the Defender AT should be pushed in a direction that is essentially Tanker: the AT that, with its superior buffs, is also the squishy that is most personally armored. The current set up makes this half true for a couple of powersets but it really isn't all that impressive in practice. I would push Defenders toward more classic D&D Clerics: not only good support, but good support wearing plate armor that adds significant (not just a couple of percentage points) survivability relative to the more mage-y types.

[Not that it's possible now, but if we were able to do Corruptors over from scratch, I would have made them Assault/Support instead of Blast/Support, removed the Assault utility power (Power Boost, Drain Psi etc) and replaced it with one power from each Control set (probably along the lines of Fire: Flashfire, Ice: Ice Slick, Earth: Earthquake, Plant/Thorns: Creepers, Psi: Terrify, Energy/Grav: Wormhole, and Elec: Synaptic Overload). Defenders would keep their blasts, and drop Aim in favor of a relevant Controller pet for them to support.]

Some recent changes to Ice Control's pet and the introduction of AT IOs make this somewhat challenging. Here are the major considerations. For some of the stickier issues I included a Q and A segment to explain the choices.

I have 4 Ice Control characters at 50 (more than any other type of character) so I am secure in saying that this build will greatly enhance the performance of the character. Both of these sets are kind of up hill battles for various reasons; a different pairing with the same strategy could undoubtedly conquer +4 enemies (this one probably lacks too much damage to do that) but it should still be much improved from its start-state.

Personal Mitigation Strategy: This build features the following:

• 40.5% Ranged defense
• 41.6% Psi Defense
• Mezz protection (small gap, often closed by +Recharge proc, use Enhancement Boosters to close part of what is seen in the Mids build).
• 54% Slash/Lethal resistance (with Cardiac) to help absorb blows that get through
• Aid Self to help patch up hits after they happen
• Combat Jumping for manuevering and fill in the Immobilize hole left by Indom Will

NOTE: I used Will of the Controller and not Superior Will of the Controller. I am not sure what the general obtainability of SWotC is, but values are better by making a switch for that.

Other Stats:

• Recharge: 101.3 before Hasten (NOTE: bug in my version of Mids is reducing the global recharge by the amount of -Recharge in Arctic Air)
• Accuracy: +70%
• End. Consumption: 1.47/second with Cardiac. Harsh, but welcome to Ice Control.

Q: Why 40% defense and not 45%?

• Flash Arrow has -7.2% -ToHit
• The low point on Barrier Tier 4 (the recommended Destiny power) is +5 defense
• Combined together, you are almost always soft capped in normal content and frequently are in Incarnate content as well. Carrying a few purples makes survivability in incarnate content very manageable to cover any remaining gaps.

Q: Why Ranged defense and not S/L?
Going for S/L defense usually means having low S/L resistance. With any amount of Defense you will still get hit from time to time. A major threat to Ice Control are attacks from enemies outside AA who aren't being controlled or slowed. Bonus: Barrier also has +Resistance, so we're really doubling down, and our "real" S/L resistance is actually around 60% much of the time, and much higher than that during Destiny's early phases.

Q: Why Indom Will and not Clarion Destiny?
I've tried both. In my experience, Indom Will is better for two reasons. One, it adds substantial Psi defense that is otherwise impossible to get. Two, Ice Control is a very "vulnerable" set. Barrier helps close major survivability gaps between Glaciers. Additionally, Barrier is typically better for Jack Frost. See pet strategy below for more on how this all stacks up for him.

Q: Why leave a 10 second gap in Indom Will when 1 more Recharge IO could come close to closing it?
Use Enhancement Boosters on one of the two slots to close the gap further. (Do the same to Hasten and Stamina).


Pet Mitigation Strategy: On a small team, Jack Frost might actually make a difference. Keeping him alive is a lot easier now that he comes with some defense.

• Jack has native 25% defense to most attacks (and +35% to fire and cold)
• Pet defense sets bring this up to +35% and +45% defense
• Flash Arrow reduces ToHit by 7.75% (or around 3.4 against +4s)
• Barrier Tier 4's low point is +5%
• Result: Jack Frost is very hard to kill
• You also have Aid Other to patch him up if you need to
• Barrier and Aid Other come in handy with your Lore pets as well, which this combo otherwise might have trouble protecting

Cornerstone Assumptions: While you are free to make edits, there are a few things I wouldn't change:

• Arctic Air must have the Contagious Confusion proc. It's worth too much to pass on.
• Mezz protection is vital. The difference between Ice Control with and without mezz protection (and some defense, but you're going for that anyway) is night and day. That's not to say you can't do it, but the builds that have mezz protection will run circles around you.
• Ice Control is sort of evil in that it has low damage AND high endurance cost AND expects you to seek armor toggles to survive long. Cardiac Alpha is a blessing from on high. (Note the +Range in it is also very useful for extending the reach of Ice Slick around corners).
• Enhancement Boosters are your friend and allow you to get away with short-changing some powers that don't provide good bonuses (Stamina and Hasten in particular)

Q: Why did you skip...

...Shiver?
Shiver is an okay power. But it repeats a lot of what Ice already has, and conflicts to some extent with AA. The main use for Shiver is to hit ranged enemies with it so they run out of ranged attacks to use and run toward you. But Shiver's slotting options are un-ideal and I find I generally don't miss it. Besides, Psi Tornado will help a bit with keeping enemy Recharge in the penalty zone.

...Glue Arrow?
Glue Arrow's -Recharge, at -20%, is not worth much. The -run speed is more effectively covered elsewhere in this combo. This would be my last pick to add back to the combo.

...Ice Arrow?
With Block of Ice recharging less than half a second faster than it animates, IMO you are better off picking a more effective power.

...Flash Freeze?
If it having twice the recharge, shorter range, damage proc to prevent it from stacking with other sleeps, an opportunity for enemies to shoot you before the sleep ticks, and a requirement that the targets be on the ground hasn't convinced you to skip this, consider this: Ice is low in damage, so if you try to shore that up with an Interface proc (including the excellent one that does chance for Confusion) Flash Freeze procs a DoT that cancels this power's actual sleep effect. Skip this one and don't look back.

...PG Arrow?
This one was the hardest for me to skip. The mag 2 sleep in this power is, no doubt, mostly worthless, though I guess a little better now that the power is more like the Electric Control sleep patch. The only real draw is the -Damage, which is nice, but also only lasts 20 seconds. So the question I have is whether you would really want to spend animation time recasting this power that often. For me the answer was that I would rather have better personal survivability, a survivable pet, and a little extra damage. But you could swap this out with Chillblain (slotted as an attack here) if you like.


Two Personal Slotting Tricks: As requested in the instructions, here are 2 general tips for slotting:

• The invention of Enhancement Boosters means you can get away with much more stunt-slotting than before. In the build below, 5 EBs should be used on one slot in Stamina, Hasten, Indom Will, and Disruption Arrow. In addition, they could be used to shore up Aid Other and a few other powers where slotting is tight.
• When slotting Mule powers like Boxing, buy the lowest level IOs you can find for those slots. That way those bonuses apply even when you exemplar.

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.954
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

arbiter hawk: Level 50 Magic Controller
Primary Power Set: Ice Control
Secondary Power Set: Trick Arrow
Power Pool: Medicine
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Psionic Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Block of Ice -- BasGaze-Acc/Hold(A), BasGaze-Rchg/Hold(3), BasGaze-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(3), BasGaze-Acc/Rchg(5), HO:Perox(5), Dmg-I(7)
Level 1: Entangling Arrow -- Acc-I(A)
Level 2: Frostbite -- WotController-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear(A), WotController-Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/Rchg(7), WotController-EndRdx/Rchg(9), WotController-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/EndRdx(9), WotController-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/EndRdx/Rchg(11), WotController-Rchg/Dam%(11)
Level 4: Chilblain -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(13), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(15), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(15), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(17), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(17)
Level 6: Arctic Air -- CoPers-Conf(A), CoPers-Conf/EndRdx(19), CoPers-Conf%(19), CoPers-Conf/Rchg(21), CoPers-Acc/Conf/Rchg(21), CoPers-Acc/Rchg(23)
Level 8: Aid Other -- Heal-I(A)
Level 10: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), Zephyr-ResKB(50)
Level 12: Ice Slick -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 14: Aid Self -- Numna-Heal/EndRdx(A), Numna-EndRdx/Rchg(23), Numna-Heal/Rchg(25), Numna-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(25), Numna-Heal(27), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(27)
Level 16: Flash Arrow -- Cloud-ToHitDeb(A), Cloud-Acc/ToHitDeb(29), Cloud-Acc/Rchg(29), Cloud-ToHitDeb/EndRdx/Rchg(31)
Level 18: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(31)
Level 20: Acid Arrow -- Acc-I(A), Achilles-ResDeb%(31)
Level 22: Boxing -- Stpfy-Acc/Rchg(A), Stpfy-EndRdx/Stun(33), Stpfy-Acc/EndRdx(33), Stpfy-Stun/Rng(33), Stpfy-KB%(34), Stpfy-Acc/Stun/Rchg(34)
Level 24: Tough -- GA-3defTpProc(A)
Level 26: Glacier -- UbrkCons-Hold/Rchg(A), UbrkCons-Acc/Hold/Rchg(34), UbrkCons-Acc/Rchg(36), UbrkCons-EndRdx/Hold(36), UbrkCons-Hold(36)
Level 28: Disruption Arrow -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 30: Weave -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(37), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(37)
Level 32: Jack Frost -- ExRmnt-Acc/Rchg(A), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg(37), ExRmnt-Dmg/EndRdx(39), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(39), C'Arms-+Def(Pets)(39), EdctM'r-PetDef(40)
Level 35: Oil Slick Arrow -- Ragnrk-Dmg/Rchg(A), Ragnrk-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(40), Ragnrk-Acc/Rchg(40), Ragnrk-Dmg/EndRdx(42), Ragnrk-Dmg(42)
Level 38: Mental Blast -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(42), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(43), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(43), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(43), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(45)
Level 41: Indomitable Will -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), RechRdx-I(45), RechRdx-I(45)
Level 44: Psionic Tornado -- Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(A), Posi-Acc/Dmg(46), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(46), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(46), Posi-Dam%(48), FrcFbk-Rechg%(48)
Level 47: EMP Arrow -- BasGaze-Acc/Hold(A), BasGaze-Acc/Rchg(48), BasGaze-Rchg/Hold(50), BasGaze-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(50)
Level 49: Mind Over Body -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A)
Level 50: Cardiac Core Paragon
------------
Level 2: Swift -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Health -- Mrcl-Rcvry+(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), P'Shift-End%(13)
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Containment
Level 1: Sprint -- ULeap-Stlth(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run

I think the pool customization just needs to have a price put on it, in terms of justifying the expense.

I will say this: I don't really plan on buying gloves for my characters anymore unless they are just part of a pack. It's not worth it, since they just end up covered by Hasten hands the whole time.

I'm going to sound like I'm splitting hairs, but I think when we talk about "Survivability" that it would be more technically helpful to talk about "Survivabilities." IMO staying alive is not a single yard stick measurement, and treating that way potentially traps all of the ATs into an eternal game of balance shuffleboard. Survivability is an estimation of a number of different kinds of things, and specifically an assumption about how frequently players encounter certain threats.

Some points that I think should be kept in mind (sorry for all the italics, not trying to be pushy, just trying to clarify certain specific viewpoints):

- IMO survivability should not be thought of just in terms of whether your hit points hit zero. One form of Survivability is the measurement of presumable threat: "Looking at this group, what kind of risk am I likely in?" To torture the English language a bit, Survivability isn't just about actually surviving. It's also about surviving comfortably and the security of knowing survival is likely before it happens. In the context of Tanking specifically, it also means granting peace of mind to other players who also expect you to survive. This sense of Survivability might be thought of as like a Credit Score, and more is always better, whether you end up needing it or not. In other words, in asking for balance review I'm not only asking with my own characters in mind. There is an impact on which ATs I will trust to do certain kinds of jobs even when they are played by someone else.

- There are also parallel Survivabilities. Death patches are one example. It is possible to conceive of a character with low armor values who is immune or highly resistant to death patches. "Survivability" does not have to mean just better or worse armor values or Hit Points/healing. It is in fact possible, if we so desire it, to make Scrappers, Brutes, Tankers, and Stalkers each individually excel at different Survivability situations just as Stalkers specifically excel in the arena of single target damage.

- Survivability in the context of having a tank really does not scale well. IMO Tankers are, at their core, a very team-y sort of AT, but they are also one of the least effective when stacked with their own kind. Tankers are the self-only personification of the Defender AT without the stackability. That is specifically why I suggested having Tankers function as limited, explicit force multipliers, specifically by giving them powers that increase the capabilities of allies. That is, after all, part of what supposedly justifies the low damage modifiers of Controllers and Defenders.

- Just increasing Damage or armor values back and forth for the various melee ATs is never going to fix them. It's just going to keep pushing the balance see-saw up and down.

- In any case, I do see the argument that Brutes should have a 85% Resistance cap as valid. I spoke of "Survivabilities" and while it's unlikely for a Brute to cap everything, capping to one source and then playing to that strength most of the time is very achievable. In fact it is part of the reason Brutes make such desirable farmers.

I'm not sure how the game classifies it, but I consider Mutation to include the possibility of both "being born" or "being transformed." The Toxic Avenger would be a probable example of Mutant for me. So would Godzilla (assuming the "created by atomic bomb" origin is used.) Both are essentially Mutation accidents that are the indirect results of Science or Technology. I tend to think of Mutation, in general, as being undirected, where Science is intentional--however this really gets convoluted if the powers the Science character was trying for are different than what s/he ended up with. So there is a lot of flow between categories.

Two different lists here for me: first one is which sets match comic book expectations, second list is what stands out about City of Heroes compared to every other MMO.

COMIC BOOK THEME
Controller: Gravity/Time
Defender: Force Field/Energy
Blaster: Fire Ice Elec or Energy, no particular secondary
Corruptor: Rad/Rad
Tanker or Brute: Invuln/SS or Shield/SS
Scrapper: Street Justice/Super Reflexes
Stalker: Ninja/Ninja
Dominator: Mind/Psi

UNIQUE TO COX (combos more or less unduplicated/rare in MMO-dom in either gameplay or theme, thus "definitive" in that duplicating the play style of these characters in most other games is hard)
Controller: Ice Control/Radiation
Blaster: Radiation Blast/Fire Manip
Dominator: Electric Control/Earth Assault
Scrapper: Spines/Fiery Aura
Stalker: Electric/Electric
Tanker: Dark Armor/Ice Melee
Defender: Storm Summoning/Beam Rifle
Brute: Titan Weapons/Regen
Corruptor: Dual Pistols/Dark Miasma

Well you could always just say the robot performs science. So maybe it started with electrical processes, but the robot is smart enough to build its own chemical/biological enhancements. Or the "robot" could be a human infected with nanobots, or the reverse: an electrical robot "infected" by a mortal mind. As soon as you come up with a hard category, its difficult not to find an example that can break it, hence the need for a lot of subjectivity.

Gremlins built with Endurance Modification are more than fine. Anyway, if the Electricity pet looked like, I don't know, a big Mountain Lion with electric bolts shooting out of it I probably wouldn't like Electric Control either. For me the more abstract the pet the better.

On paper, Poison is actually extremely competitive. It offers huge -Resistance debuffs. As in -63% Resistance to a single target on a Controller.

The problem is that the delivery method is ridiculous: to do that, you have to first hit the enemy with Envenom, then lure a second enemy within a few feet of the first and hit it so that the effect splashes, and do all of this while standing within 15ft of the target. Against an AV, especially on a trial, standing within 15ft is grade-A stupid, especially on a set with no heals, mezz protection, defense, or resistance.

If Posion's PBAoE effect lasted 30 seconds after enemies left the cloud, you'd only have to run in and out every so often to replenish it. In fact, you'd be rewarded for bouncing all over and tagging as many enemies as possible. It would totally transform the set.

But I also think the set needs better -Regen, and also that a second cast of Envenom should stack the Splash effect on the main target without having to lure another target nearby. I mean, what is the point of being a single target specialist and then having your single target debuffs beat by sets that gave little up? The -Regen should be at least -200% per cast.

Personally I see most robots as Tech.

I use Science mainly for "Biological" characters created by or maintained through Scientific means. For me Science generally = biological processes, Tech = electrical processes.

FYI to me Science also overlaps heavily with Mutation; I seperate the two by asking whether the character is something that "happened through an accident nature" (Mutation) or "happened through the action of intelligent agents" (Science). Mainly it only really drives the flavor of the character and the distinctions are subtle. Same with Tech/Sci in a lot of cases.

I sincerely hope that Absorb mechanic finds its way over to Force Field some sort of way.

I just hate the wolf. It's a deal breaker for me conceptually. Skipped Beast Mastery for similar reasons (well, that and because I really don't like Masterminds, but the Dire Wolf is my least favorite pet in the game.)

I have no idea if this would work well.

My main advice for Mind Control is to take Power Boost from the primal APP so you can set Containment with Total Domination.

Mind Control, IMO, has it pretty bad thanks to the nature of Incarnate buffs. All of the extra damage incarnate powers bring comes from DoTs that break your AoE sleep Containment. This is a huge boost for the AoE immobilize powers and a huge penalty to Mind Control, which IMO is pretty unfortunate. Spectral might help some, but the DoT would probably break as much Containment (from sleep) as it would fix. The hard mezz in power boosted Total Domination is at least fairly reliable... unfortunately even the best builds will still only be able to do it once every 60 seconds or so.

One possible out is whatever the next Incarnate slot brings. One of the powers supposedly adds "more control"... if that means more Containment, it could help out the set. However, the AoE immobilizes at this point in the game are pretty much indefensibly overpowered, so I'm not sure Mind will ever completely catch up again barring major changes to the nature of content or a radically game changing incarnate power.

EDIT: Should have added that the main place this might help you is if you solo Elite Bosses and/or AVs. Mind Control generally can't set Containment on these easily, so being able to immobilize them with a barrage of single target attacks could help. Although in a number of cases, I just found it easier to avoid these kinds of enemies or Confuse them from afar when forced to deal with them.

Poison isn't terrible but it's also not really remarkable. The set suffers from a kind of whiplash-y change in strategy at level 38, where suddenly a set that was primarily cone based adds a PBAoE power. Poison also shoulders three very average powers from heal sets (a single target heal, a anti-mezz, and a rezz). The single target heal travels in a very slow arc and in many cases the recipient might just die before it hits them. And for some reason, Antidote doesn't proliferate damage resistance to your whole league like Increase Density does.

Overall the set feels to me like it is one "good" power away from being great. As it is kind of the arena with Trick Arrow and Sonic Resonance, not so awful as to be unplayable, but really not that great either, and convoluted in terms of what it is trying to do. Unless you happen to play it on a Ice, Elec, or Fire troller the sudden introduction of a 15ft radius PBAoE at level 38 is a truly nasty surprise if you weren't expecting it. Where Radiation has a power like this, it is optional enough to preserve the set overall; Poison really needs its toggle and the whole set suffers for it. (One suggestion at the time of the last beta was for the cloud to last a while after you "touch" an enemy with it, but this wasn't done, so to get the effect you have to stand within 15ft of enemies all the time.)