City of Heroes: Live Forum Archive

Oedipus_Tex

Legend

  • Posts

    3840

  • Joined

  1. Oedipus_Tex
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Redlynne View Post
    Considering that pretty much the only reliable place to constantly find +4 NPCs is on Mothership Raids, where due to Foe placement and spacing it is difficult (not impossible, but also not assured/easy) to find clumps of hostiles "worth" expending Total Domination and/or Mass Comedy on. Most TFs, in my experience, are not loaded wall to wall with +4 NPCs (like Mothership Raids are), and if they are, the TF quickly disbands and reforms for +0 NPCs. So in my experience, the +4 NPC is an uncommon situation ... and thus by definition, "situational" in applicability
    +4 is a standard option available to any team at any time. If you only do Task Forces and nothing else you would be unlikely to encounter +level enemies. I would imagine the vast majority of Controllers are not exclusively running the same 3 or 4 pieces of content over and over. At least, I am not. Not only have I definitely found myself face to face with +level enemies, I've also run into situations where one or another control flat out doesn't work, and I have to lean hard on the ones that do. When you encounter Nemesis robots who are protected from Sleep, Fear, and Confusion, a 12 (or even 24) second AoE hold on 80 second recharge isn't going to help you very much.


    Quote:
    At which point, we need to be honest with ourselves. Functionally speaking, Hasten is really only (massively) speeding up the AoE controls, because the single target attacks are already (without Hasten) pushing up against the lower bound of consecutive animation times. Without Hasten, my build takes about 20 seconds (or so) longer to recharge the AoE controls. That's a "performance hit" I'm perfectly willing to take (in my build), and I haven't heard any complaints from the TF Teams, Mothership Raiders or Hamidon Raiders I've been with about my "lack of Hasten" since I already have plenty of control and buff powers.
    I don't think anyone was being dishonest. Controllers (and Mind Controllers in particular) want Hasten because their best powers are on very long Recharges. 20 seconds is an eternity to wait for your best powers to recharge. I'm not trying to tell you what to do with your character, but I find the focus strange. I wouldn't comment except that we're currently giving advice to another player on how to create his build.


    Quote:
    Probably because my Terrify, slotted for Fear, rather than Damage, is "almost as effective" in mitigation terms as Total Domination and Mass Comedy (even against +4 NPCs) while being available far more often.
    Terrify is a great power. But it does not even sort of compare to either Mass Confusion or Total Domination as a control. On a fast moving team with damage flying everywhere, Terrify is good at rooting enemies until the team is ready to attack them. It basically functions like a Sleep power. While I can't tell you what you should so with your character, I will say if you joined my team and your strategy was to defend us with mainly Terrify I'd be looking to add another Controller or Dominator to the team, because Terrify simply will not cut it. IMO you are trying to use Terrify like Seeds of Confusion or Flashfire and unfortunately it just doesn't work that way (and I would still want Hasten to pull Seeds up ASAP because on powers like these every second counts). It would be sort of like an Illusion troller who skimped on Phantom Army to slot Spectral Terror.
  2. Oedipus_Tex
    Quote:
    Found that in way too many Team-8 combat situations, Power Boost simply took too long to deploy ... and was ultimately unnecessary due to steamroller speeds encountered on most PuGs (ie. the extra Mez Duration was almost always wasted). So I pulled it.

    While we should always use our personal experience as a guide to slotting, I want to point out that your experience here would be fairly atypical of most high level players. With your build specifically, in the case of Total Domination, your team would have to kill a group of +4 enemies in approximately 12 seconds in order not to feel the difference with Power Boost. That's because a +4 enemy reduces the duration of a control power by a little more than half.


    Quote:
    This build does not automagically assume Fulcrum Shift of 10 hostiles on a permanent basis. It also does not assume that it will be played at level 50 in perpetuity, and is therefore designed to Exemplar with maximum flexibility (from levels 24 and up). It also doesn't have Hasten ... and to be quite honest, it wouldn't be able to make "good use" of Hasten due to animation time constraints on the single target attacks. Yeah, the AoEs would recharge faster with Hasten, but that's a luxury that isn't "needed" in this build, given how it plays.

    Again I think this comes down to your personal play style. I personally would not advise ANY Controller to skip Hasten, under any conditions. Your build has Mass Confusion recharging in 103 seconds, and Total Domination recharging in 93 seconds, versus an average of 65-70 seconds I normally see in end game builds. This is your option, but I will say I'd feel better to be teamed with a Controller whose controls are active more often. Especially if you're steam rolling as much as you say. Even with Siphon Speed triple stacked, Mass Confuse is taking 83 seconds to recharge, which is about 18 seconds longer than my Mind/Cold build, and IMO should not be happening given that your +Recharge should completely outstrip other sets.
  3. Oedipus_Tex
    A dedicated pair of Empathy or Cold Defenders are just disgustingly overpowered, in part because they can boost each other's endurance to the point that one or the other can nuke (as in actual full crash nuke) every spawn. /Ice, in particular, becomes ridiculous, because its nuke hits for Blaster level damage.

    Adrenalin Boost from the Empathy set is: +100% Recharge(!!!), +800% Recovery, +500% Regen. And with two of you casting it on each other, it should be easy to perma with Hasten and some IOs. And that's just one power.
  4. Oedipus_Tex
    I was actually surprised that this game wasn't set up that way at first, honestly.

    I have mixed feelings about it overall. The ability to operate without pulling aggro is one of the few advantages the buff heavy sets currently have over the debuff ones (and the ability to solo certainly isn't close to comparable).
  5. Oedipus_Tex
    I actually quite like the original build, with some minor tweaks. I've posted some possible ones below. This version is capped to both Ranged AND Slash/Lethal, and has enough Recharge to make Hasten perma. My main changes are:
    - Moved shields earlier in the build
    - Dropped Assault for a pet (I'd prefer to drop Fly and move some slots around to do this but kept Fly since you had it in the original)
    - Switched to Mace Mastery set, mainly for Web Envelop, which you can use to keep enemies inside your rain powers (I seriously doubt you will need Power Sink with Heat Loss around)
    - Changed slotting to Heat Loss to focus on Accuracy, End Mod, and Recharge
    - Moved assorted slots around to optimize overall build

    Note that you have less Resistance here than you did previously. You could switch to Leviathan mastery with very few changes if you wanted.


    Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.90
    http://www.cohplanner.com/

    Click this DataLink to open the build!

    Level 50 Mutation Defender
    Primary Power Set: Cold Domination
    Secondary Power Set: Ice Blast
    Power Pool: Speed
    Power Pool: Flight
    Power Pool: Fighting
    Power Pool: Leadership
    Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery

    Hero Profile:
    Level 1: Ice Shield -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(25)
    Level 1: Ice Bolt -- Decim-Acc/Dmg(A), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(3), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(5), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(5)
    Level 2: Ice Blast -- Decim-Acc/Dmg(A), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx(7), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(27), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(29), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(29)
    Level 4: Frost Breath -- Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(A), Posi-Dmg/Rng(7), Posi-Acc/Dmg(23), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(33), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(46)
    Level 6: Glacial Shield -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(36)
    Level 8: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(9), RechRdx-I(9)
    Level 10: Hover -- LkGmblr-Def(A), LkGmblr-Rchg+(11), DefBuff-I(19)
    Level 12: Arctic Fog -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(13), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(13), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(15), RedFtn-EndRdx(15), RedFtn-Def(40)
    Level 14: Boxing -- Stpfy-Acc/Rchg(A), Stpfy-EndRdx/Stun(17), Stpfy-Acc/EndRdx(36), Stpfy-Stun/Rng(40), Stpfy-Acc/Stun/Rchg(42), Stpfy-KB%(42)
    Level 16: Freeze Ray -- BasGaze-Acc/Hold(A), BasGaze-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(17), BasGaze-Acc/Rchg(21), BasGaze-Rchg/Hold(34)
    Level 18: Benumb -- Acc-I(A), RechRdx-I(19), RechRdx-I(43)
    Level 20: Tough -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), GA-3defTpProc(21)
    Level 22: Ice Storm -- Ragnrk-Knock%(A), Ragnrk-Dmg/EndRdx(23), Ragnrk-Dmg/Rchg(31), Ragnrk-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(31), Ragnrk-Acc/Rchg(33)
    Level 24: Weave -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(25), RedFtn-EndRdx(33), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(43), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(45), RedFtn-Def(46)
    Level 26: Sleet -- Achilles-ResDeb%(A), LdyGrey-%Dam(27), ImpSwft-Dam%(34), RechRdx-I(34), RechRdx-I(43)
    Level 28: Bitter Ice Blast -- Apoc-Dmg/Rchg(A), Apoc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(36), Apoc-Acc/Rchg(37), Apoc-Dmg/EndRdx(37), Apoc-Dam%(37), Apoc-Dmg(45)
    Level 30: Maneuvers -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), DefBuff-I(31), LkGmblr-Def(42)
    Level 32: Heat Loss -- Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg(A), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(45), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(46)
    Level 35: Infrigidate -- Acc-I(A)
    Level 38: Blizzard -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(39), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(39), Posi-Dmg/Rng(39), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(40)
    Level 41: Web Envelope -- Acc-I(A)
    Level 44: Scorpion Shield -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
    Level 47: Summon Disruptor -- ExRmnt-Acc/Rchg(A), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg(48), ExRmnt-Dmg/EndRdx(48), ExRmnt-+Res(Pets)(48), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(50), ExRmnt-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(50)
    Level 49: Fly -- Zephyr-ResKB(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(50)
    ------------
    Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
    Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
    Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
    Level 1: Vigilance
    Level 4: Ninja Run
    Level 2: Swift -- Empty(A)
    Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A)
    Level 2: Health -- Mrcl-Rcvry+(A)
    Level 2: Stamina -- P'Shift-End%(A), P'Shift-EndMod(11)
    ------------
    Set Bonus Totals:
    • 11% DamageBuff(Smashing)
    • 11% DamageBuff(Lethal)
    • 11% DamageBuff(Fire)
    • 11% DamageBuff(Cold)
    • 11% DamageBuff(Energy)
    • 11% DamageBuff(Negative)
    • 11% DamageBuff(Toxic)
    • 11% DamageBuff(Psionic)
    • 6% Defense(Smashing)
    • 6% Defense(Lethal)
    • 6% Defense(Fire)
    • 6% Defense(Cold)
    • 14.75% Defense(Energy)
    • 14.75% Defense(Negative)
    • 11% Defense(Psionic)
    • 6% Defense(Melee)
    • 19.75% Defense(Ranged)
    • 6% Defense(AoE)
    • 4.5% Max End
    • 33% Enhancement(Accuracy)
    • 3% Enhancement(Stun)
    • 106.25% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
    • 5% FlySpeed
    • 83.93 HP (8.253%) HitPoints
    • 5% JumpHeight
    • 5% JumpSpeed
    • Knockback (Mag -4)
    • Knockup (Mag -4)
    • MezResist(Confused) 2.5%
    • MezResist(Held) 2.5%
    • MezResist(Immobilize) 12.4%
    • MezResist(Sleep) 2.5%
    • MezResist(Stun) 2.5%
    • MezResist(Terrorized) 2.5%
    • 13.5% (0.225 End/sec) Recovery
    • 66% (2.802 HP/sec) Regeneration
    • 10% Resistance(Smashing)
    • 10% Resistance(Lethal)
    • 18.19% Resistance(Fire)
    • 18.19% Resistance(Cold)
    • 10% Resistance(Energy)
    • 10% Resistance(Negative)
    • 10% Resistance(Toxic)
    • 10% Resistance(Psionic)
    • 5% RunSpeed



    Code: 
    | Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
|MxDz;1593;761;1522;HEX;|
|78DA9D944B4F135114C7EFED83D24E9F940A14CA53DEB4B4023E1726802620D58AC|
|695DA543A40933AD30C25D195F858AA0B63828FB8F50BF88A61A1468D2B776A4CF4|
|2B28F8D8D7F3180A64764EDAFF6F7AE67FCF3DF7DC3B4D5F9AF40AB1725848FF443|
|1B7B4949D54E7552DAF1AB5E9E572AE5CD035E11242C436C3D9F1E5F9F9C4845ECC|
|6727F58B058D2C4DD5A7B3396D41CD27A6E6D4EC38A42B87A6B445D550B57262F3C|
|693D1F562E2544955F30ADD1E2D161616CB3EBEC7DB82B610A05F336A0E722E2D16|
|4ACD474A853998D530964B65DDC8A67330411AF2ABC6E546286F0CBEC76CC2BC2A5|
|244A41029D1584F78B5F5C4215601BDC2768F719FE078C07848780D7669DA25DB6B|
|D81E657B0BDB5BD8FE06EC76D36E7F2170C29AE7845D4F08ED4F09F1678434D89D6|
|6994E2EB38BCBEC8446BB68E28ACD3548E6DA1D7083C16D1ADC3CC6C319EA5AC970|
|02722B6C702A1E7AE255185E82DFC708107AFD0409697D5C91D3778542C1152EEC2|
|AFBAE11FAAF336E10DEC25C011E650F7C821F3111FC4AA8FF4CE8F842C88086D867|
|0B45A9CC3A5ECE00C30ED387B968196E9094618F1DF10E8646CCCE46F6D9A8A57B0|
|9AD238C5142FB18C101891ACCD537F0EA1B79F5EDBCDE016EC2103721CEAB3F0963|
|9BCC499A702FC322FA91F2753CA6623A7654FB1E1E359BCD6A8E93AF2B41D83DCC4|
|8325284A12142084A8B993B17E32D6BE52DEBE77D9C055B9B946468BBC5436F13E2|
|7709D3A09D3CAFE8E4367E8050B75979371FB51E3E6A3D7CD47AF818F6F2A1D4A1A|
|77D66863ECE5082D020972506B92C034209737D89759A7A7883F18BF19790FACDF8|
|4350607D49F35027BFF3936F841647F5DD830F5C62C612C938AA2F9C9014398E1E2|
|EACE20E56DFAFFFBD5E7A37A774CF7A404FA36450CEA09C453987721E2587720165|
|0EA5B2561D1DD88F751D40398872082502F5899BE87429200A8A17C587E24709A00|
|451C2285194474A75453F60B094DBD7FFD31259DF1E9996F8C7B3B115927295BAED|
|B943485A5A3C6089A42C91514B64C412D9EAE93FB0F43656|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
  6. Oedipus_Tex
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mintmiki View Post
    thanks again for the help.

    Tex: it would take me some time (maybe a month), but I can scrap together the cash to buy a glad proc. The problem is that I don't think it's worth it to buy something that big for this particular toon. This toon is more about the buffage, not so much about the epic soloability.

    Before i19, I worked in some def. which made playing more bearable (wasn't getting 1shotted all the time). I'm just trying to get more bang for the buck atm in terms of def. The highest I'm able to do it is with around 20% across the board def (s/l, ranged, etc.) by subbing fly powers with leadership.

    I know about the stealth IO in sprint trick. But i hate having to click one more toggle than I have to. I'd rather sacrifice the slot.

    Are you soloing? You should very very rarely be getting hit. Power Boost would help tremendously there.

    If you're talking about during the ITF, I have personally found Ranged defense with supporting Slash/Lethal Resistance and a strategy for minimizing melee damage will carry you a lot further. In any case, the build I posted has 28.9% Melee/Slash defense for the 15 seconds Power Boost is up.. which it should always be at the start of a fight, given the ~32 second recharge. Enemies that are mass confused for 112 seconds or held for 48 seconds don't your survival chances hurt either. It is really hard to underrate what Power Boost does for a Mind troller.
  7. Oedipus_Tex
    BTW if you want to drop something for Recall Friend, drop Temp Invulnerability. I think you'll be a lot safer with Temp Invuln, but can understand why you'd want Recall Friend.
  8. Oedipus_Tex
    For what it's worth, here's how I might build it. Note that I've set up the build on the assumption that Siphon Speed is a priority for you and you can reliably keep it at least double stacked.

    Some of these changes are similar to what Local Man discussed. I also changed your suggested APP to Primal.

    Unlike Local Man, on Mind builds I usually do aim for the Rannged cap. That's because of Terrify and its tendency to let enemies shoot at you. Having Ranged defense gives you a lot more leeway to fire Terrify indiscriminately on teams. Using Energy Torrent first knocks some of them over, so they're less likely to shoot back as well. And the knockdown proc in Terrify itself helps too.

    I did skip Mesmerize. At high levels it is not really something that IMO fits into an attack chain anymore because Dominate, Levitate and your single target attack recharge so quickly. If I had one more open slot I'd have taken than and put a single Accuracy or Accuracy/Damage in it, because it can sometimes be used for sleeping AVs and the like. If you fight a lot of elite bosses you may want to reconsider my choice there. I find Mesmerize is not very useful on teams, except as a blast power. If you make a seperate exemping build, I would pick it up there.

    Note that I've also placed some focus on slotting for Accuracy. This is critical on a Kin. Based on my calculations, the current build retains about 95% ToHit all the way up to +4 enemies in all powers except Mass Confusion (which has 89%) and Total Domination (which has 87%).

    Also note that this build could be improved by making use of the extremely expensive Gladiator's Armor +3% defense piece. Acquiring this IO may or may not be feasible for you. It is mostly sold off market, for over 2 billion influence. Taking it would let you shift slots away from Boxing to other places.

    FYI I took Hover instead of Combat Jumping because you had Fly type powers in your original build. I would probably take CJ for myself, but it's really up to you. I find immobilization protection keeps me alive more than the ability to fly, mainly because the need to fly can be covered by a jet pack. Both powers have the same defense and slotting.

    I also assumed you've been around long enough to have the Prestige Sprints vet award. I like to slot a +Stealth proc in these. That way when I use them to go inviso, there is a very clear and obvious graphic showing that I'm hidden. Running the sprint with Super Speed will make you invisible.

    If you can't afford Ragnarok's for Terrify just yet, at least try to get the proc. It's usually cheaper than the other set pieces and is very effective in this power.


    Here is the build:


    Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.90
    http://www.cohplanner.com/

    Click this DataLink to open the build!

    Mind Kin: Level 50 Natural Controller
    Primary Power Set: Mind Control
    Secondary Power Set: Kinetics
    Power Pool: Leadership
    Power Pool: Speed
    Power Pool: Flight
    Power Pool: Fighting
    Ancillary Pool: Primal Forces Mastery

    Hero Profile:
    Level 1: Levitate -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(40), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(40), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(40), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(43), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(46)
    Level 1: Transfusion -- Numna-Heal/EndRdx(A), Numna-EndRdx/Rchg(17), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(25), Numna-Heal/Rchg(46), Numna-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(48), Numna-Heal(48)
    Level 2: Dominate -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(3), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(5), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(5), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(13)
    Level 4: Siphon Power -- Acc-I(A)
    Level 6: Confuse -- CoPers-Conf(A), CoPers-Conf/Rchg(7), CoPers-Acc/Conf/Rchg(7), CoPers-Conf%(13), CoPers-Acc/Rchg(36), CoPers-Conf/EndRdx(37)
    Level 8: Mass Hypnosis -- FtnHyp-Sleep/Rchg(A), FtnHyp-Acc/Sleep/Rchg(9), FtnHyp-Acc/Rchg(9), FtnHyp-Sleep/EndRdx(11), FtnHyp-Plct%(25)
    Level 10: Siphon Speed -- Acc-I(A), RechRdx-I(11)
    Level 12: Maneuvers -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(50), DefBuff-I(50)
    Level 14: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(15), RechRdx-I(15)
    Level 16: Super Speed -- Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(A), Zephyr-ResKB(17)
    Level 18: Total Domination -- UbrkCons-Hold/Rchg(A), UbrkCons-Acc/Hold/Rchg(19), UbrkCons-Acc/Rchg(19), UbrkCons-EndRdx/Hold(21), UbrkCons-Hold(21)
    Level 20: Speed Boost -- EndMod-I(A)
    Level 22: Hover -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def(23), Ksmt-ToHit+(23)
    Level 24: Boxing -- Stpfy-EndRdx/Stun(A), Stpfy-Acc/Rchg(37), Stpfy-Acc/EndRdx(37), Stpfy-Stun/Rng(39), Stpfy-Acc/Stun/Rchg(39), Stpfy-KB%(50)
    Level 26: Terrify -- Ragnrk-Dmg/Rchg(A), Ragnrk-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(27), Ragnrk-Acc/Rchg(27), Ragnrk-Dmg/EndRdx(29), Ragnrk-Knock%(29)
    Level 28: Tough -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A)
    Level 30: Weave -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(31), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(31), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(31), RedFtn-Def(34), RedFtn-EndRdx(36)
    Level 32: Mass Confusion -- Mlais-Acc/Rchg(A), Mlais-EndRdx/Conf(33), Mlais-Acc/EndRdx(33), Mlais-Conf/Rng(33), Mlais-Acc/Conf/Rchg(34), RechRdx-I(34)
    Level 35: Transference -- P'Shift-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(A), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(36)
    Level 38: Fulcrum Shift -- RechRdx-I(A), Acc-I(39)
    Level 41: Power Blast -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(42), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(42), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(43), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(43)
    Level 44: Energy Torrent -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(45), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(45), Posi-Dmg/Rng(45), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(46)
    Level 47: Power Boost -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(48)
    Level 49: Temp Invulnerability -- Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(A)
    ------------
    Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
    Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
    Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
    Level 1: Containment
    Level 4: Ninja Run
    Level 2: Swift -- Empty(A)
    Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A)
    Level 2: Health -- Mrcl-Rcvry+(A)
    Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A)
    ------------
    Set Bonus Totals:
    • 8.5% DamageBuff(Smashing)
    • 8.5% DamageBuff(Lethal)
    • 8.5% DamageBuff(Fire)
    • 8.5% DamageBuff(Cold)
    • 8.5% DamageBuff(Energy)
    • 8.5% DamageBuff(Negative)
    • 8.5% DamageBuff(Toxic)
    • 8.5% DamageBuff(Psionic)
    • 3% Defense(Smashing)
    • 3% Defense(Lethal)
    • 3% Defense(Fire)
    • 3% Defense(Cold)
    • 22.06% Defense(Energy)
    • 22.06% Defense(Negative)
    • 3% Defense(Psionic)
    • 3% Defense(Melee)
    • 29.88% Defense(Ranged)
    • 3% Defense(AoE)
    • 3% Enhancement(Stun)
    • 75% Enhancement(Accuracy)
    • 78.75% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
    • 6% Enhancement(Heal)
    • 6.5% Enhancement(Confused)
    • 12% FlySpeed
    • 38.15 HP (3.751%) HitPoints
    • 12% JumpHeight
    • 12% JumpSpeed
    • Knockback (Mag -4)
    • Knockup (Mag -4)
    • MezResist(Held) 3.3%
    • MezResist(Immobilize) 2.2%
    • 29.5% (0.493 End/sec) Recovery
    • 32% (1.359 HP/sec) Regeneration
    • 10.4% Resistance(Fire)
    • 10.4% Resistance(Cold)
    • 12% RunSpeed



    Code: 
    | Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
|MxDz;1603;754;1508;HEX;|
|78DAA594594F534114C767DA62E9465BA1500A05645FA49400AE0F260215959A0A8|
|81B50AFE5024D6A4B6E4BA24FE2F2687CF215B73797A8895B8C1FC1E817D0AFE012|
|5CDE4C3DCBB494F4D11BF8FFE69E3967CE99D3991BBD3CE61462FD90909ED19496C|
|DC64733E99C9149A574C37A42CBAD195AAA329A4C2FB61C4FA6AD4288E6ADF9826B|
|08E70B2FFE92F9C36B4B4B2188D373C944D67B34BDA21B7A3A172A0CDCB10C044FE|
|ADAA26E645792AB767A9F5ED5F545070D23A9E4F24ACEC5631C26D3CB81F1D56422|
|14339297B4543C9231127A361ED5B239DDB8E287F246E0FF9114EAC957880DC0A0E|
|8BACBB8C7B84FE87D40E87F4818C728A9A24E4A3479A608FE5942FF34616086718A|
|F058AA2088929CCBC4B94C9CCBC2B92C9CCBC9B9221062A6B8BC3007C8F404DE2AD|
|44215732634ED98672C109C1AA12D4E68BF40780A51568EB2584F93A9F20CE32CC1|
|7E8EE03F4F9800779B34A1BBB4715E7B1FC10BAB3878F726878FB63658C36822875|
|67070290717C7546D431B38B8B914E9FE4CE93C5F08CF20CCAB8AF48E9369678471|
|845033C118231C03F76A7617D52DB4B60DD6F6A9E43EAEAE96ABABFD0BC6A090E05|
|0A7BA57B74E33ED5719D7089DD71937784F3709CF41EB5561F543943C30CC182134|
|EE61EC259821490357211AEA24E6B58029A80E4DD04E8B3639184E868BB0AB8AD0E|
|626BC006D56D5366F92A9E527E317E33747FD61708327E1A55535B8F50E1F86DB84|
|28CC74483A4EB2839D3BF9D7FD6016A25B65EAE6E3D9C3C7B3878F67CFB6ABD0CBC|
|77313BE087DAA2F7D2FC9B4FB15E335E30DDF9CB7844F9024A40A0B71FA01C64798|
|09AB8E85C3B499464BF172C21F3C62B2CC12B3142F959064096EF9FCD7F3CE5958C|
|73665079D4189A1CCA2CCA1CCA32CA0682817511228F9F7C568F73E2C683FCA0194|
|83283E0FC82DF4B43A401C284E14174A158A1BC583528D1240D940C9DB3CF849E01|
|D7E8535A42CDDFFB732CBF7520B5E992EF1A3D4C417275CD6DB5E4BF133074DA0E3|
|3358E6345C66192AB36C35F51F49D838D0|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
  9. Oedipus_Tex
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Morganite View Post
    I have been lead to believe that to get PPPs on a hero, you need to go full-villain and then do a patron arc. I *think* at that point you keep access to them even when respeccing again as a hero, but I'm not certain.

    Correct.
  10. Oedipus_Tex
    Recolorable powers in the Earth sets easily stand in for Ice, so that may be an additional option. Ice Control/Earth Assault would basically end up looking like sledgehammers made of ice and giant snowdrifts, and should pair well once endurance is under control.

    I also have a Dominator character who is supposedly made of icicles, so his powersets are Ice Control/Thorns. Unfortunately the thorns still leave a green trail of poison behind them, but what can you do?

    Sonic Attack is another set that recolors fairly easily, though the sound effects may not totally jive. You didn't mention Defenders, but Ice/Cold/Leviathan is a very good set up there too.
  11. Oedipus_Tex
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow View Post
    In short: Yes, it is.

    In long form: "Speed Boost," in the sense of "a boost of/in speed" is a compound noun. If you're reading it as a verb, in the sense of "to speed-boost someone," then you are reading it as a slang shorthand. The proper phrasing of this as a verb clause is actually the inverse: "to boost speed." Now, "boost speed" itself can be read as a compound noun, but not within the context of Kinetics -> Speed Boost.

    The proper question here should be how you can marry kinetic energy.

    Well while we're off topic..

    I agree that it's a noun, but different reasons. Speed Boost is the name of a thing (the power). We could argue whether it's more officially a proper noun or just a "title," but essentially Speed Boost is a noun for the same reason The Sun Also Rises or As I Lay Dying are. Or "Dominate," "Mesmerize," and "Confuse" are, even if they aren't nouns in normal English.

    [EDIT: Note that it can also act like a verb, though. Similar to how the word "sleep" can be a noun or verb: "Sleep is my favorite thing." (noun) "Sleep in peace." (verb)]
  12. Oedipus_Tex
    Unfortunately, Mind/Kin is a case where I'm not really sure where to begin. That's because most Mind builds would probably slot attacks with damage sets. Because Kinetics can max damage out so easily, however, I'm not sure it's worth it here. Do you typically find yourself capped for damage?
  13. Oedipus_Tex
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by BrandX View Post
    If they're thinking DM is overhyped, it may just be because they've run into a lot people not playing the set optimally.

    The thing is that I, at least, view "hype" as a measure of distance in performance between the set and other sets. I think few people question whether some of the sets they've mentioned are good. What they (or at least I) question is whether they are so clearly superior to other alternatives that we should see 10 of them to every 1 of another.
  14. Oedipus_Tex
    Mind Control is a very strange beast. I kind of like that about it. Different combinations of your mezzes create different effects, and if you're sly, you can work that to your advantage.

    The essentials are:

    Hold: Enemy cannot not move, does not fight back, drops toggles

    Confuse: Enemy can move, uses buffs on you and attacks/debuffs on enemies, does not alert to your presence

    Sleep: Enemy cannot move, does not fight back, drops toggles, effect disappears if Hp change or if knocked down/back/repelled, if Mass Hypnosis does not alert

    Afraid: Enemy cannot move, has a chance to shoot back one time or run when attacked


    But when you layer the effects you get interesting combos:


    Mass Hypnosis (sleep) + Total Domination (hold) = Anything Total Dom misses stays asleep and won't attack you just then

    Mass Confuse (confuse) + Terrify (afraid)= Everything takes one last swing at each other and stops attacking. Each time you hit them after this they attack each other exactly once or try run away.

    Terrify (Afraid) + AoE knockdown blast = Everything that falls over misses its chance to shoot back or run

    Mass Hypnosis (sleep) + Confusion (confuse) = Ability to confuse each enemy individually before waking them all up at once, so they don't kill each other in the meantime

    Mass Hypnosis (sleep) + Mass Hypnosis (sleep) = Slept bosses before you even start the fight. More viable solo than on teams. Much more powerful on Dominators but still useful on Controllers. A much more viable tactic on massive Recharge builds. But as long as you keep spamming Mass Hypnosis there's no reason you can't take each boss out 1 by 1.

    Mass Hypnosis (sleep) + Terrify (afraid) + AoE Blast = (If both Blasts are in quick succession of each other) Double damage from BOTH blasts. This is a critical skill to master at higher levels for maximum damage.

    Mass Hypnosis (sleep) = Ability to tell if the enemy you've got selected is centered enough in the mob that Mass Confusion or Total Dom will hit all/most of their allies.

    Mass Confusion (confuse) + Confusion (confuse) = Same as acting as if your Confuse is in Domination mode (mag 6 instead of mag 3). Useful against enemies like Malta that have mag 3 Confuse protection, so that 1 cast of Confusion catches them. Also works on bosses.

    Dominate + Levitate + Dominate = Way to juggle a boss so it stays out of the fight while you stack mezzes. Also works well with Confusion.
  15. Oedipus_Tex
    Chillblain slotted as an attack will help you a lot. Make sure you slot some damage in your single target hold and single target blast as well, and you should do ok if you Benumb him at every opportunity. What may be getting you down are the clones he spawns, who buff his regen. I have read that you can no longer pull him into the hallway as easily so that can be a barrier. Lots of -Recharge might slow down his clone rate; I'm not sure, but hit him with all of that you've got anyway to slow his blasts.
  16. Oedipus_Tex
    I think what's hyped in general is performance versus AVs and on farms. Almost as if the rise from lvls 1-50 isn't a significant part of the game. Or THE game, until very recently.

    [EDIT: Removed accidental quote]
  17. Oedipus_Tex
    I'm concerned by the fact that you say you have the full Fighting pool by level 30. I think this is the bulk of your issue, especially since you've said you've not neglected your Empathy side. You can get the full Fighting pool, but it's much more worth it in a final build than a leveling up one in my experience.

    Mind/Empathy is going to be a somewhat tight build. What I'd recommend is focusing more on the Mind side than the Empathy. Specifically the power I'd consider passing over is Resurrect.

    For most of the Mind powers, I would take them at the lowest level they become available.

    For someone who teams occasionally, the power order I'd recommend is as follows (note that it does get the full Fighting pool by 30, but drops Resurrect and picks up Hasten. Super Speed is there for the Stealth.):

    Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.90
    http://www.cohplanner.com/

    Click this DataLink to open the build!

    Level 48 Magic Controller
    Primary Power Set: Mind Control
    Secondary Power Set: Empathy
    Power Pool: Fighting
    Power Pool: Speed

    Hero Profile:
    Level 1: Levitate -- Empty(A)
    Level 1: Healing Aura -- Empty(A)
    Level 2: Dominate -- Empty(A)
    Level 4: Heal Other -- Empty(A)
    Level 6: Confuse -- Empty(A)
    Level 8: Mass Hypnosis -- Empty(A)
    Level 10: Mesmerize -- Empty(A)
    Level 12: Boxing -- Empty(A)
    Level 14: Hasten -- Empty(A)
    Level 16: Clear Mind -- Empty(A)
    Level 18: Total Domination -- Empty(A)
    Level 20: Fortitude -- Empty(A)
    Level 22: Super Speed -- Empty(A)
    Level 24: Tough -- Empty(A)
    Level 26: Terrify -- Empty(A)
    Level 28: Recovery Aura -- Empty(A)
    Level 30: Weave -- Empty(A)
    Level 32: Mass Confusion -- Empty(A)
    Level 35: Regeneration Aura -- Empty(A)
    Level 38: Adrenalin Boost -- Empty(A)
    Level 41: [Empty]
    Level 44: [Empty]
    Level 47: [Empty]
    Level 49: [Empty]
    ------------
    Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
    Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
    Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
    Level 1: Containment
    Level 4: Ninja Run
    Level 2: Swift -- Empty(A)
    Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A)
    Level 2: Health -- Empty(A)
    Level 2: Stamina -- Empty(A)
    ------------
    Set Bonus Totals:


    Code: 
    | Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
|MxDz;1046;439;878;HEX;|
|78DAA5D2DD4A024114C0F15954C4D454444C4D04A39B2EA4A8E8C38B20330812A4A|
|2AB4A36DB74605B65778BBCEB017A85EEFBA2BA8D9EA98F37D8CE391E359AEE1AF4|
|CFCE6F67161DAD5D6E4484B85A135ABC62EA8ED3A8742CD7EE98A661076A7A4B364|
|550085118E96041A926AD93C124FDE3FEFAF9E969A97AD6D5DD762FB165B50DDBB0|
|DCD2E0225AEFC0DE4DD96ABBD26A8DD16CB76B1827E1FE0D13EF24E87ACBBA908E3|
|C96A6747BD96A57364B755B9EE96663B363370DA751D31DD7B07B13F0F916E17DA7|
|091E1EBC60887945EE4134168D6401A63E161FC90348802540F20812640992DC828|
|45842241A2C08B384498A20519628C912EC8AB1C4489E40122C09926590244B9264|
|0A9E93624991F840D25A5FD224CF30CBF09A0CC90A488E2547E2875D79DE9527798|
|15981D7144856418A2C459232C834CB3489F7C798F4FF3EE96D45EAFEDF679F1FAD|
|F9D7788D0C9E13DA1983EE61EA987DCC01E6107384D131C79826C67B1BEE8E2DE30|
|75AC1AC62CA98541C728D2B83F8FB8631114C14338E8961E29824268BB9C178A1F8|
|F0DFE5BDC33334EDE7F7FF50E453912F456695939D51644E910545E615199DE8378|
|4325CBC|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
  18. Oedipus_Tex
    The -ToHit (and -Defense) in Liquefy are exactly identical to Radiation Infection or Darkest Night. Liquefy is basically an unmovable version of those powers with 1/3rd to 1/6th the uptime that adds a small chance for knockdown (3% per pulse versus 5% in Freezing Rain, 8% in Earthquake or 9% in Ice Slick), a remote chance for a negligible hold (4 seconds long on minions only), and about 40 damage. The damage and hold, from what I can gather, are one-time and do not pulse. Some part of the power has a ToHit check but I'm not sure which part, I'd guess the Hold and Damage.

    IMO Liquefy is "ok." It's not world changing and it's not terrible, it just is. If Radiation Infection had a 300 second recharge time and a small chance to knockdown I'd feel the same way.

    [EDIT: Added sentence to end and corrected recharge time from 500 to 300]
  19. Oedipus_Tex
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by BrandX View Post
    I would love to run in this quarter, if you're saying Cold Domination is popular!

    Or are you saying, in this corner you run, Sonic Renosance is really hyped up?

    To me there is a difference between popularity and hype. Maybe some folks on this thread missed it, but the recent "best Controller" discussions about Ill/Rad vs Ill/Cold are part of what was on my mind when I started this thread. Also, the Cold vs Force Field holy war that erupted a few months back that I'm sure will be featured on an A&E documentary in a few years (I dare not provide a link lest battle lines be redrawn). And there are the various "what is the best Scrapper/Tanker/Controller?" threads that spring up continually. Of course it could also just be I'm fried by the number of times we've been asked to "Rate my Fire/Kin" on the Controller boards, which people no doubt rolled after hearing it was the "best" Controller. As sometimes the poster admits him or herself.

    As for, Sonic Resonance, I'd call what it has "sleeper hype." It's the kind of set where a subset of people will go "Even though you don't see many of them, Sonic Resonance is actually really powerful if you learn to play it right." Essentially the Appeal to Infinite Skill if I were to make up a name for this phenomena; most of us should be familiar with it from discussions about knockback. I rolled two characters on that type of advice. My experience with it was that it was oversold, even if not by a very large number of people (as I said in my original post on the subject).
  20. Oedipus_Tex
    I have only done this TF once, with a heavily IOed Mind/Cold Controller. A few observations.

    1) I believe we had a Tanker on our team. He did a good job keeping Battle Maiden away from the squishies. A Tanker is definitely welcome here for the extra HP. Heals are very useful in this fight, from what I could see, both for squishies and meleers.

    2) I found jumping (with Combat Jumping + Super Speed) to be much safer than either flying or running.

    3) I only had about 30% Slash/Lethal defense. Eventually got cornered by swords and died. But only once. In any case, the swords at least appear to have protection to Sleep, Hold, Fear, and Confuse. I wonder if Force Bubble would work well though.

    4) It seemed safer in general to hang out at the edges of the map than the center. That way if a flame did erupt, the actual area it covered was diminished by the edge of the map and teammates would be less likely to accidentally run into it. However, what I'm not sure of is whether the flames actually target your current location, or drop randomly, or both.
  21. Oedipus_Tex
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by BrandX View Post
    This sounds less like "What do I think is over hyped" and more of a "this is what I think sucks"

    Sonic Renosance just isnt an overhyped set.

    Cold Domination, for all the love it's given, doesn't seem popular, from what I've seen.

    Perhaps we run in different quarters
  22. Oedipus_Tex
    A few of my own.


    Sonic Resonance
    There isn't any set in the game that performs so badly, IMO, that I would never play it. But at least of the "buff/debuff" sets out there this one comes the closest for me. And while it doesn't exactly have an army of PR reps on the boards or in game trying to sell it, for some reason the set seems to get a free pass from a lot of people because it "has debuff."

    There also appears to be what I can only describe as a kind of cooperative mythology surrounding Sonic Resonance, as it is often said that it is "good on teams that are already soft capped." Well, ok, if you did happen to min/max your team or got lucky in that way Sonic R might add... something. That is if Thermal Radiation didn't exist. Sonic Res, for what it's worth, feels like the off-tank of buff/debuff sets. The only time it's good is when you probably didn't need it.


    Cold Domination
    Actually Cold Domination is quite a nice set. What I want to address specifically is the notion that Cold Domination is a replacement for Force Field. It's not. I'm not going to say Force Field isn't a set that could use some buffs. But anytime someone says they would "always take a Cold over a Force Field" I'm left with the immediate impression they are someone who has little first hand experience with the relative strengths and weakenesses of an actual support set, and is viewing both sets only in light of what they would provide for their best characters on the toughest fights in the game. Ironically, it is this same focus that IMO tends to elevate Sonic Resonance higher than it really deserves.


    Defender Blasts in General
    I'm going to catch heck for this, but I guess I'm a risk taking guy. Defender blasts are not exactly "low damage." But over and over again I see statements about "Defenders who know how to buff and also do damage." Well, truthfully, Defender damage is not that great. It is not even kind of great. Like it or not, when you play a Defender, you become a buff bot of sorts. It's not that you shouldn't blast--especially if your blasts have useful debuffs. But the notion that the average team really cares whether their Empathy or Force Field Defender is constantly blasting is at least partially unfounded. At the least, you could probably get away with having ~2 good single target attacks and an AoE or 2, and the only people who would really care are the ones who troll power selections in order to bait you with insults. Anything you add above that should be viewed as more less what they are, tools for soloing.


    Fire/Kin Controllers
    Already brought up by others. It's not that this is a bad character. It's just that what it's good at is pretty lame, and once you hit 50 even a poorly run toon could outmarket what this guy spends hours earning the hard way.


    Illusion Control
    Actually Illusion Control is a great set. But I agree with others that what it's good at is not really control. This character is basically a type of Mastermind. We can quibble about the definition of what control is all day, but in the end Illusion still can't lock down a series of ambushes like the other Control sets can, and that is becoming more and more necessary in newer content.
  23. Oedipus_Tex
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Wyatt_Earp View Post
    But AVs don't resist -Resist debuffs in the same way that they do most other debuffs. A 30% resistance debuff means that the team will do 30% more damage to an even level AV.
    I was refering to -Regen on a +4 AV. I agree that AVs don't have in-born resistance to -Resistance, unless they have an armor power that grants resistance. But some AVs never spawn at even level, and always at level 54, so you will never actually get the 30% debuff, but closer to 15%. This effects both Regen and -Resistance I believe.

    In short, AVs don't natively resist -Resistance, but they still get benefits of the Purple Patch just like any normal enemy. As far as I'm aware very few things ignore the Purple Patch; the knockback in Repulsion Field and Repel appears to be one (it always knocks enemies the same distance--I'm actually unclear on whether Knockback IOs have any effect at all).
  24. Oedipus_Tex
    Keep in mind that the 75% number is what you'd get on a same level AV. On a TF like Apex (I think) where the AV is forced to level 54, I think the actual value should be reduced by 85% [EDIT: Correction, 87% due to higher level AV] and then again by 52% because of the purple patch.

    I also think -Resistance is affected by the purple patch.
  25. Oedipus_Tex
    The way the Sleet debuff works is weird because of a bug. The full mechanics of it all continue to elude me but my basic understanding is the resistance debuff fades immediately if the enemy is inside the rain pet when it vanishes. So if my understanding is correct, the only way to stack Sleet's debuff is if the AV runs out of the patch before it expires.

    (There have been some discussions about having Castle fix this bug, but given the overall ridiculous power of Sleet, it seems likely to me the proper "fix" should probably be to just remove any lingering debuff at all. At least for the Cold set. Storm Summoning is in a slightly different situation and maybe deserves the stackability given the huge nerf Lightning Storm took when pet recharge got "fixed.")