Rikefort
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Posts
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Joined
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Hi everyone,
I have an Ill/Emp Controller and really enjoyed the control aspect of it, but wished I could solo a bit more effectively, and lock down targets easier (Ill is a little light on the hard control powers).
So i have some questions. First, I liked the Mind power set. I found Confuse to be very useful playing Ill/, so I'd like to take advantage of it as a Dom as well. Is there any big downside I'm missing that should stop me from playing Mind? Otherwise, I'll assume it's a reasonably well functioning set.
From a quick examination in Mids, it seems that Mind is a really ST oriented set. What I mean is that it has lots of AoE control, lots of ST control, but that it has more soft AoE control, with ST Sleeps and AoE Sleeps, i feel it would be better to melt enemies one at a time, rather then attack with AoEs and wake the sleeping.
So from this perspective, what secondary would let me do the best ST damage, keeping my enemies slumbering? Also any other comments or tips are well appreciated!
Thanks!
Edit: Another thought occurred to me; If i use mass hypnosis and it misses, is aggro drawn? What if i put a range enhancer or two, and/or use stealth? -
It's worth pointing out that in the discussion of Whirling Mace vs Fault, i was saying which I'd prefer not which is better for mitigation.
As for damage, yes SM has the better single target damage. I was talking AoE, because in a game like this, AoE is much more applicable for the majority of the content than ST.
I think you have to consider damage at some point, even if we're just talking mitigation, because if you can do enough damage, you can mitigate by killing.
I was under the impression that Mag 3 stuns a boss, but I suppose that is my mistake, which makes Seismic a much better power.
Still, went considering AoE potential and damage potential, WM pulls ahead. -
Quote:Here is the analysis I did of the sets:Originally Posted by Hopeling
But IMO, SM is just the king in [mitigation]
Stone Mallet beats Pulverize, they are equal except with 50% KD vs 20% Stun.
Jaw Breaker out performs Heavy Mallet, they are equal, both providing 75% KD. However Jaw Breaker costs less endurance, recharges quicker, and has a higher accuracy. HM does more damage, but only marginally, giving JB the edge.
Seismic Smash beats Clobber, but in practice not by much. Clobber has the advantage in recharge, and although Seismic has much better accuracy & somewhat better damage, the real different is a mag 4 hold versus mag 3 stun. In practice I don't think its a noticible different between the two controls. Particularly when you consider that WM has other powers offering stun, to stack with the mag 3 provided by clobber. We can say that Seismic is marginally better.
The next closest comparisons are Tremor vs Crowd Control. CC beats Tremor hands down, having lower recharge, much higher damage, better accuracy, less endurance use, less activation time, and a 100% KD instead of 80%.
It's very easy to get CC to hit all enemies, so Tremor really has no advantages.
At that point, it's just worth pointing out Shatter & Whirling Mace. Whirling Mace stacks stun, with a 30% stun aoe. We could compare Fault to Whirling, but they are pretty different. I think Whirling wins though, almost on recharge alone. The fact that it does decent damage and decent mitigation pulls it ahead.
Shatter is off by itself, but its a crucial part of WM. What makes Shatter so good is its 100% KD and ability to hit multiple targets.
The conclusion i draw from this is simple. While Stone Melee may appear to have more crowd control, the answer is they are either tied, or WM may squeeze out a lead.
The reasons that afford WM more control than SM, is the reduced recharge, stacking stun, and 100% KDs.
There will be cases when SM beats WM in KD during a fight, but if SM gets unlucky, there could be a streak where they do not get any KD. This means that the minimum level of mitigation is lower for SM than WM.
On the other hand, in the best cases, WM will be putting out more damage and more control. Assuming WM can hit all targets during Shatter and Crowd Control, as well as get 30% of the enemies stunned with Whirling, and perhaps a lt stunned by stacking Whirl with Pulverize, it will provide more mitigation due to the AoE nature of its 100% KDs. SM will be able to KD the group around them every 7 seconds, and stun them every 11, but outside of that it can only do ST mitigation. And KDs don't stack magnitude, so your only hope for a guaranteed mitigation is to use Seismic. So WM also performs better in larger groups.
I'm sure there are times where SM beats WM. It's obvious the sets are close, and so there will definitely be cases of SM performing better. But i think the consistently lower recharge, lower endurance use, and better accuracy makes WM the more enjoyable set. -
I'm glad you brought up Warmace, Necro.
I took a look at WM vs SM. I think WM might have the edge.
WM has more guaranteed knockdown compared to SM, and almost all of the attacks have higher accuracy, less endurance use, and shorter recharge. Also some of the comparable ST attacks are cones in WM. For example Shatter is similar in many ways to heavy mallet, but can hit more than one foe.
I'm thinking even though WM has less KD attacks than SM, its high chance to KD and faster recharge makes up the difference. -
Yep, i think it will be. At 16 now, and its already fun with just RttC, the mallets, and fault.
I think it will really shine with the full set and gloom. That way i can choose to use the mallets etc, and gloom for some really nasty ST damage, but at the same time If i feel the need I can go heavy on the KD to regen to full -
Thanks for the input guys.
I like the idea of building for defense / hp.
I think i've settled on Stone Melee. With /WP you've got enough endurance for the powers, and SM gives you two aoe knockdowns, which seem like the best form of mitigation from the primaries. Might give you enough time to do aid self when needed as well.
I also think it has enough Single Target damage to take down tougher targets while letting the minions stick around for the regen boost, keeping them knocked down most of the time. -
I'm a big fan of /WP, I just love how it plays, and how well rounded the set ends up being.
What I can't settle on is a primary. I played SS/ on my old account, but coming back to the game I think i'd like to stay away from it.
Besides that, what is your opinion on the best primary, or top few, and why?
The way i see it, Willpower really thrives off of being in a big crowd, and if you can somehow stop incoming damage, survivability really skyrockets.
From my experiences with SS/WP, I found that for example, using Footstomp was amazing for survival, because you could get the full huge regen bonus from a group of mobs, with none of the damage for a few seconds when they get knocked down.
I'm also unsure of which direction to take WP when it comes to IOs. I don't have much influence, since this will be only my 3rd character on this account. Is it worth trying to enhance regen, def, or resist? I don't think i'd be able to cap defense, given the influence i have. -
I'm not really aiming to stealth missions. It's not a matter of getting to objects using it, its more about managing threat in combat. If all i can do is buff my pets and wait for the best, I don't want to be attacked. I figured if I was stealthed, I would have less threat. And perhaps if my minions go down, i might be able to get away before taking threat.
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Great, thanks for the answer. I'll just disregard it then.
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Good to know, thanks everyone. I learned Jounin has its own buffs, sometimes for 50% def, so I'm not too worried.
Even running on highest difficulty, while it may be less effective than a def buff, it's still pretty effective. -
According to Mids, Jounin can be slotted with -Tohit enhancements.
Which of their powers gives -tohit, and how much? I didn't have any luck finding such a power in CityofData
Thanks -
Is a power which debuffs tohit, the equivalent to a power that buffs defense?
I am looking at /Time Manipulation for a Ninjas MM.
Ninjas already have great defense, and the +15% def from foresight puts the Jonin at about 30% Def(All). However Time's Juncture can give -15% Tohit. If this was equivalent to +Def, it would give Jonin the equiv of 45% Def(All).
Does anyone know the relationship between the two? -
I'm not sure what would be wrong with a /sonic, just about to roll one myself.
You get equal resistance that therm gets, but instead of ST buffs, you get -Res powers.
-Res to all your enemies is really equal to +Dmg, which means all of your minions do more damage, instead of just one with thermal.
Yes, there is no heal. But you could take Aid Other if you really felt you needed one. If you get a pairing like DS/Sonic i think the demons would do a good job of healing each other, at least most of the time.
So while i have yet to play a /Sonic to very high levels, I can't see anything wrong with the set, maybe you just didn't enjoy it on a corr? Are there some numbers that make you worried its not effective?
As i've hinted, I'll be going DS/Sonic for my next MM. Pairing sonics +res shields with DS's res shields is a nice synergy. It also works nicely that Sonic has -res and so does DS. When i quickly calculated it, with both shields and my bubble running, and a shield from the demons, your looking at about +58% res, thats in addition to whatever their innate res is (which scales with level). My main role will be to command demons in stealth, throwing out aid other and debuffs when I need to, and of course I'll grab the leadership pool of powers for even more fun.
EDIT: I've looked up the values on CityofData. (These are all @50, "capped" means 90% res)
Demonlings, Ember Demon: Will have Capped resistance to whatever element they are. All will have 84% Res to SL, and 70% to whatever their opposite is.
Hellfire Gargoyle: 89% SL, Capped Tox, 70% Cold, 83% Fire
Demon Prince: ~55% Res (all), 10-15% Def.
If you consider the most damage will be in the form of SL, the majority of your minions will take from 10-15% damage. If you run a mission catered to fire resistance, your going to stroll right through. -
Alright, thanks for the info.
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I all i have a few questions about a /Force Fields MM, and about the Stealth/Invisibility powers.
If i have PFF toggled, can I still command pets? Do they still count if they are in bodyguard mode? Basically, I'm thinking i could use it to tankermind really easily (which is why I assume these things do not function).
If I can't use PFF to tankermind, my next best bet is to get all aggro off me. I will have bubbled my minions, so they will be tougher than me.
With that in mind, I was wondering if I had stealth or invisibility on, and just commanded my pets, would that break stealth or invis? Or would I remain effectively aggro-less? What about if I gave an inspir to a pet?
One other concern is the toggles in FF, particularly Repulsion Field and Force Bubble. How much aggro would these produce if I had them toggled and were stealthed? Give that my pets would all be attacking.
Thanks for all your help