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Vimes_NA

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  1. Vimes_NA
    The -kd problems aren't exclusive to Ice Control, it's just that Ice is more dependent on it's KD power than other sets. Earth, grav, elec, and to a lesser extent mind use KB as damage mitigation (plus various support and damage sets), and even where the aoe immob doesn't prevent KD the sets don't get along well with controllers/doms who do have -kd. I don't think the solution should be specific to ice control. One possibility would be moving -kb from immobs to holds, but that would be a pretty big change. Making immobs change KB to KD, brief hold, or brief disorient might work, but I don't know how viable that would be from a programming perspective.
  2. Vimes_NA
    This change makes a lot of sense to me, but I think it should be accompanied by a balance pass on damage powers with recharges of 4s or less with particular attention to damage per animation time. Many of the fastest recharging powers have very poor DPA and are using the fixed chance procs as a crutch to achieve performance levels on par with slightly slower recharging powers.
  3. Vimes_NA
    Your options for aoe containment are total domination, mass hypnosis, TK, and fissure from stone mastery. That's really it. Terrorize does more damage than psi tornado, so it's the better choice to get containment on if you have to pick. Mass hypnosis and terrify have about the same base cooldown while tornado recharges about 2x as fast, so there's not really much point in saving psi tornado until mass hypnosis is up.
    If you really focus on recharge you could get total domination and mass confusion down to about 60s recharges and then alternate them between groups for confusion damage and containment damage.
  4. Vimes_NA
    My first love in this game has always been the control sets, and I really love electric control on paper, but in the field I'm finding it to be disappointing for reasons you mentioned. It's low on damage for controllers, lowers damage on dominators thanks to the long animation times, most of your control options don't work well large teams, and your main controls/mitigation don't benefit from domination (end drain, knockdown, and psudopets from static field and synaptic overload). In short, it's really not a very team friendly set.
  5. Vimes_NA
    I'd like to see -kd changed for immobs across the board because it's unwieldy for lots of sets, particularly when teaming. Earth, grav, ice, mind, and electric all have kd powers as part of their mitigation, as well as the support sets force field, storm, cold, kin (although almost nobody uses repel), sonic, and trick arrow. Various blast, melee, app, ppp, and pool powers use it as well.
    After that, get rid of the damage on flash freeze as others have said and the set will be much more functional. Extra damage and powering up shiver a bit would be nice, but I see those as more quality of life rather than pressing issues.
  6. Vimes_NA
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Riverdusk View Post
    Everyone went to plant control.
    If there is a cheat button in the game, it's called "seeds of confusion."
  7. Vimes_NA
    With fade+shadow fall+manuvers you could get them to about 25% defense, 35% if you're using power boost on fade, at which point I'd take the defense over the resists. The -to hit also stacks with it, although I consider it unreliable thanks to being resisted heavily at times.
    I don't think those uniques are worth slotting (aside from set bonuses) on a controller though because we're not dependent on our pets like masterminds. You also don't have the controls to save them from their own stupidity, and sometimes you'll need to dismiss them to keep them from causing problems. The best defense for pets is your primary/secondary set. The next best thing is recharge.
  8. Vimes_NA
    When using "auto-arrange all slots" in any build the slotting section on the upper right turns black (everything above the inherent powers), and trying to remove any power using the power list on the left gives me the "can't remove inherent powers" error. I can still save the build and it will load normally, and loading a new build or clearing the current build fixes it.

    edit: resolved w/ new build
  9. Vimes_NA
    Controller-Darkness Affinity-Soul Absorption: The 100% regen and 50% recov on is scaling with the number of enemies when only the 18.75% regen and 9.38% recov should be scaling. The target limit is 10 when it should be 16. Accuracy is currently not being displayed.

    edit: scaling has resolved in new version, target limit and accuracy display have not.
  10. Vimes_NA
    Thanks for the replies, #4 it is.
  11. Vimes_NA
    If you want to build defense, you might considering putting the full cloud sense pack in fluffy.
    I wouldn't recommend the chance for buildup proc in haunt. Since it only cycles through 2 attacks, one that does low damage and one that does no damage, it's less effective than slotting a damage proc.
  12. Vimes_NA
    I decided to make an elec/ dominator because I hadn't made an electric control character before and I have too many controllers (as much as such a thing is possible). After much agonizing I settled on dark assault to go with it (I liked the balance of melee, mitigation, and aoe). So I leveled it up a bit and got a power I've never had before. Night Fall.
    Head-->desk
    A lowish damage cone compensated for by a short recharge is just fine when you don't have a busy aoe lineup. Make it deep+narrow though and it combines terribly with melee and pbaoe attacks.
    So now I'm reevaluating my aoe plans. I want to stick with an APP instead of a PPP and I don't want to pick up fire mastery, so here are the main possibilities I'm rolling around:
    1. learn to live with night fall in melee and accept that I'm only ever going to be hitting a few targets with it. Sleet from Ice Mastery will make up for it, and it does have a pretty cool animation. Ice mastery also makes for a very survivable dominator.
    2. drop night fall, pick up psi mastery for link minds+psi tornado. This has the advantage of helping me build my defenses while fitting a force feedback proc into my regular attack chain. It's a bit hard on the endurance bar though.
    3. drop nightfall, pick up primal mastery for energy transfer+energy torrent. This gives me a high damage melee attack with even better dpa than smite (with life drain the health cost isn't a problem) and a wide cone that can also take the force feedback proc. Easier on endurance than psi mastery, but not such a great choice for defenses. I'd probably just rely on CC+life drain for defense and build for pure recharge.
    4. drop night fall, get some procs into electric fences and use it like an attack in addition to it's end drain/immob effect. Stick with Ice Mastery for sleet and survivability.
    So, any thoughts? What are the rest of you doing for aoe damage?
  13. Vimes_NA
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MechaCrash View Post
    Why no Nightfall? It's a pretty nice cone attack. I understand being short on powers, but I don't think Nightfall is one to skip.
    It's a 20 degree cone, making it very difficult to hit more than a couple of enemies with it. It also does unremarkable damage and has a longish cast. Considering that the set has two great melee attacks and the other aoe is a pbaoe, I'm having a hard time making it useful.
  14. Vimes_NA
    Hasten on everything, various picks for building defense (combat jumping, manuvers, hover, tough+weave) and/or slotting LotG (vengeance, concealment pool), and sometimes tactics. Occasionally medicine, though I hate taking it.
  15. Vimes_NA

    Staff 'n stuff

    POST-ACTION

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by BrandX View Post
    Not sure if they did it, but I think Scrappers would have the draw of higher +DMG bonus from Form of Body, over Stalkers/Brutes.
    You get the same % damage bonus for being at FotB lvl 3 (12.75%), and the +damage from using it as a finishing move is proportionally the same (eg, on sky splitter it adds +20% damage).
  16. Vimes_NA
    Well, gravity is a high st damage low aoe control set, so I'd recommend anything that is going to help deal with crowds (control, debuffing, or team wide buffs). Dark, storm, time, or ta (I'd wait to see if it gets improved though) would be my first choices. It's worth noting that grav's immob doesn't have -kb, which makes it particularly synergistic with TA (oil slick arrow) and less so with storm's tornado (but helpful with freezing rain).
  17. Vimes_NA
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by DrGamma View Post
    I played a DA scrapper (not as tough as a tanker or brute) before IOs and I always thought it was silly good... It just got better with IOs, so I never could figure out where this "DA Sucks" thing came from (aside from its use in jest, of course), so whenever I see someone come out with that opinion, I ask why they have it with honest curiosity... I really can't see it. If anyone knows, tell me!
    When CoH first came out dark embrace, murky cloud, and obsidian shield didn't stack. Fear made enemies run away instead of cowering, and all dark armors toggles cost maybe 33% more to run than the equivalent in other sets. It was legitimately bad then (except against psi enemies, where it rocked), though not as bad as most thought, particularly when you paired it with dark melee to help with end management. I remember somebody came up with the idea of 6 slotting whirlwind with recharge (this was before ED) so we could use it to pulse knockdown, which helped a lot .
    *shrug* I guess some people heard that it was bad then and just latched onto the idea.
  18. Vimes_NA
    I like the ice pool, but not for ice storm. It's on a 2min cooldown that kind of ruins its damage over time potential, in addition to being a psudopet and so not benefiting from containment and needing to keep enemies in the patch for 15s to do its thing.
  19. Vimes_NA
    It should actually be a great combo for soloing. Rather than adjust your build, I modified my dark/time/primal into a gravity build to give you some ideas. It has good damage, control, softcapped ranged defense, end use/management, tons of recharge, and more than soft capped accuracy against +4s.

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

    Click this DataLink to open the build!

    Level 50 Magic Controller
    Primary Power Set: Gravity Control
    Secondary Power Set: Time Manipulation
    Power Pool: Teleportation
    Power Pool: Speed
    Power Pool: Flight
    Ancillary Pool: Primal Forces Mastery

    Hero Profile:
    Level 1: Lift -- Decim-Acc/Dmg(A), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(3), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(5), Decim-Build%(5), FrcFbk-Rechg%(7)
    Level 1: Time Crawl -- Acc-I(A)
    Level 2: Gravity Distortion -- HO:Perox(A), HO:Perox(7), HO:Perox(9), G'Wdw-Dam%(9), NrncSD-Dam%(11), ImpSwft-Dam%(11)
    Level 4: Temporal Mending -- Numna-Heal(A), Numna-Heal/EndRdx(15), Numna-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(15)
    Level 6: Propel -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(17), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(17), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(19), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(19), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(21)
    Level 8: Teleport -- Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(A), Zephyr-ResKB(21)
    Level 10: Crushing Field -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(23), JavVoll-Dam%(23), Posi-Dam%(25), TotHntr-Dam%(25), ImpSwft-Dam%(27)
    Level 12: Time's Juncture -- DarkWD-ToHitDeb(A), DarkWD-ToHitDeb/EndRdx(27), DarkWD-ToHitDeb/Rchg(29), DarkWD-ToHitdeb/Rchg/EndRdx(29)
    Level 14: Dimension Shift -- EndRdx-I(A)
    Level 16: Distortion Field -- Lock-%Hold(A), SWotController-Rchg/Dmg%(31), NrncSD-Dam%(31), G'Wdw-Dam%(31), GladNet-Dam%(33), UbrkCons-Dam%(33)
    Level 18: Gravity Distortion Field -- Lock-Acc/Hold(A), Lock-Acc/Rchg(33), Lock-Rchg/Hold(34), Lock-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(34), Lock-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(34), Lock-%Hold(36)
    Level 20: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(36)
    Level 22: Temporal Selection -- Heal-I(A)
    Level 24: Time Stop -- BasGaze-Acc/Hold(A), BasGaze-Rchg/Hold(36), BasGaze-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(37), BasGaze-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(37)
    Level 26: Wormhole -- SWotController-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear(A), SWotController-Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/Rchg(37), SWotController-EndRdx/Rchg(39), SWotController-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/EndRdx(39), SWotController-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/EndRdx/Rchg(39)
    Level 28: Farsight -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), HO:Membr(40), HO:Membr(40), HO:Membr(40)
    Level 30: Hover -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(42), Zephyr-Travel(42)
    Level 32: Singularity -- HO:Nucle(A), HO:Nucle(42), HO:Nucle(43), S'bndAl-Build%(43)
    Level 35: Slowed Response -- Achilles-ResDeb%(A), AnWeak-Acc/DefDeb(43), AnWeak-DefDeb/EndRdx/Rchg(45)
    Level 38: Chrono Shift -- Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg(A), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(45), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(45), Numna-Heal/Rchg(46)
    Level 41: Conserve Power -- RechRdx-I(A)
    Level 44: Energy Torrent -- Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(46), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(46), Posi-Dmg/Rng(48), Posi-Dam%(48), FrcFbk-Rechg%(48)
    Level 47: Temp Invulnerability -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), GA-3defTpProc(50), HO:Ribo(50), HO:Ribo(50)
    Level 49: Power Boost -- RechRdx-I(A)
    Level 0: Marshal
    Level 0: Born In Battle
    Level 0: High Pain Threshold
    Level 0: Invader
    Level 0: Freedom Phalanx Reserve
    Level 0: Portal Jockey
    Level 0: Task Force Commander
    Level 0: The Atlas Medallion
    ------------
    Level 2: Swift -- Flight-I(A)
    Level 2: Health -- Panac-Heal/+End(A)
    Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
    Level 2: Stamina -- P'Shift-End%(A), P'Shift-EndMod(13), EndMod-I(13)
    Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
    Level 1: Containment
    Level 1: Sprint -- ULeap-Stlth(A)
    Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
    Level 4: Ninja Run



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  20. Vimes_NA
    TK only takes end, range, and recharge. I don't think you can slot any kind of set IOs in it.
  21. Vimes_NA
    Well, not the dark app. Because it doesn't exist.
    Fire is going to do more damage until you get up to 6+ stacks of soul drain, and then it's going to do more single target damage but a bit less aoe damage. If you use your cone immob as part of your single target damage chain to fill in gaps, the single target difference may disappear.
    Shields are the same.
    End powers are the same.
    Pet vs. self rez. I prefer the pet, but patron pets are only a small boon.
  22. Vimes_NA
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Darth_Khasei View Post
    It works on fades def and it is indeed AWESOMESAUCE.
    And you say this from experience with the version that has the res, correct? If so, ! I hope they get PB working with things like cold domination's shields too.
  23. Vimes_NA
    I believe that power boost doesn't work on fade because it has a res component.
  24. Vimes_NA
    Imo there are so many team buffs flying around in incarnate content that you don't need to softcap yourself for it.
  25. Vimes_NA
    I don't even like playing fire, but I see it as the default set in most cases. I still kind of see things from the city of blasters days though.

    Blaster: fire/fire
    Brute: fire/fire
    Controller: ill/rad
    Corruptor: fire/thermal
    Defender: emp/...anything
    Dominator: plant/fire
    Mastermind: Robotics/FF
    Scrapper: claws/regen
    Stalker: ninja blade/ninjitsu
    Tanker: invuln/ss

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by PleaseRecycle View Post
    Everyone made an energy/energy blaster at launch. I checked and not one person didn't.
    I am officially not a person. I made an elec/elec.