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  1. For Creepers, I like to use 2 recharge IO's, 2 Nucleolus Exposures (accuracy and damage), and the damage procs from Impeded Swiftness and Explosive Strike. All parts of the Creepers (the initial pet, the bramble, and the vines) do slow and will be able to take advantage of the Impeded Swiftness proc; only the Vines' smash will trigger Explosive Strike, but it is used fairly often. The Hami-O's, unlike some sets, will enhance every aspect of the Creepers.

    I'd recommend shifting a few slots to Boxing so that you can slot Kinetic Combat and reach 45% smashing/lethal defense. Personally, I would drop slots from Hibernate. The 5% recharge bonus could be sacrificed to achieve better things. I'd also slot up Siphon Speed more as well, preferably with 2 recharge and 2 accuracy. You can drop the enhancement from Super Speed as well, replacing it with a much more useful stealth IO. When you are in combat Siphon Speed will address your movement needs.

    For holds, I generally like the following slotting. From Basilisk's Gaze: Acc/Hold, Acc/Recharge, Recharge/Hold, Acc/End/Recharge/Hold and from Essence of Curare Acc/Recharge/Hold. That'll give you 78% enhancement across the board in accuracy, hold, and recharge. However, it might be worth slotting some damage (via Hami-O's) into your single target hold since that seems a weak point for this build. The chance for +2 mag is nice when you need it, but that's only against bosses. Either the more enhancement overall or more damage would probably be more beneficial than the proc.
  2. Quote:
    Originally Posted by rian_frostdrake View Post
    one thing this thread has proven is that there should be a city of manga mmo... i'd be totally down with that.
    When there is City of Hidamari Sketch or City of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, I will be there... for the absurdity if nothing else.
  3. Quote:
    Originally Posted by StratoNexus View Post
    I can see normalizing the cast times a bit, although I am fine with how they currently are. I am actually still disappointed in the CM animation change. Totally happy that it is shorter. Very disappointed that it is the SB animation.
    I can't quite recall the old animation, but I do remember the rooting time making things a bit tedious. Wasn't it something like a hand raised out, palm down? It was something that appeared a bit more gentle and appropriate for a power called Clear Mind.

    Also, I had never really noticed the difference between cast time in Force Field v. Cold Domination and Sonic v. Thermal, but that is largely due to only having recently tried the new sets. So I did a comparison and it really did stand out. With nearly a second's difference per shield, two shields per ally, and typically seven allies to shield that makes a big difference, nearly 12 seconds. It certainly would be nice to see the cast times on those two sets reduced.
  4. Quote:
    Originally Posted by StratoNexus View Post
    I support the current setup not because I find it tedious, but because I find it fun. Since you find it tedious, you should play other sets. There are plenty out there that do not require buffing. Do not change the sets I find fun because you want them all to be like Radiation Emission (a set I find tedious).

    I wish AM would be changed to a 2 minute duration ally buff with a base 60 seconds recharge like Fortitude. I think Radiation Emission would be better that way.
    But how would I benefit from the recharge in AM? That would cause a great deal of consternation amongst fans of Rad.
  5. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Carnifax_NA View Post
    Erm, where's Adrenalin Boost?
    I'll echo this. Adrenalin Boost is an incredible power. With a single endurance modification IO it will allow Blasters, Defenders, and Corrupters to immediately begin recovering from their nukes. The regeneration is great for an aggro manager that is struggling to stay on their feet. Lastly, the 100% recharge boost is stellar for other controllers and other buffers and debuffers with powerful long charging powers.

    Since others have not comment much on the empathy side of things, I'll offer some advice. Over all, Empathy benefits a good deal from global recharge bonuses. Fortunately, so do control sets. Building for maximum recharge would be one of my goals with this combo. As for individual powers, my advice follows:

    Healing Aura: I generally use this to patch up the team after fights, and it's typically for a very small amount of damage. However, I find it isn't often my primary heal. That duty falls to Heal Other.

    Heal Other: In my experience, it is usually only a single target that needs a heal to bring them back from the brink of death. I would suggest moving a slot from Healing Aura to here. I find it less time consuming and more endurance friendly to quickly target those that need heals than trying to hit them in the aura.

    Resurrection: This power will cost nearly a quarter of your endurance bar when you must use. Fortunately, you have primary and secondary both directed a prevent that scenario from arising. The situations you'll need it should be rare, on those occasions I like to make sure it doesn't trash my endurance. My preferred slotting is a single endurance reduction IO rather than the recharge.

    Clear Mind: Build for recharge and you won't need the enhancement here. I generally prefer an Endurance Reduction IO or range. The range makes it a bit easier to keep this on teammates who are spreading out.

    Fortitude: This is Force Fields' ally shields rolled into one power. With Psi defense. And +to hit. And +damage. It is, to me, the most essential power in Empathy. Out of the box, you may only be able to buff 2-3 teammates with it. However, a recharged focused build can keep it on 4-5 teammates. It's even better if you couple it with Power Boost (31% defense isn't too shabby), which will also boost the duration of your mezzes and the amount you heal. I'd definitely put 5 or 6 slots in this one.

    Recovery/Regen Auras: You've got the right idea with these. The more up-time you've got with your auras the better.

    Adrenalin Boost: I've already covered this one. I would most definitely find a way to fit it into my build.

    Pools and Epics: Hasten, as you can imagine, is an essential power in my opinion. Super Speed, as Local, noted can provide you with stealth though from a conceptual stand point I avoid it sometimes. The stealth pool is nice as a place to mule LotG's. Grant Invisibility isn't too bad for topping off some defense (with Power Boost), though I question the use of Phase Shift outside of PvP. Dying is unpleasant, but you can recover with Rise of the Phoenix. Personally, I like taking Leadership: it's got two places to slot LotG's and it's nice to use Vengeance before you rez someone.

    As for epics, did I mention Power Boost? It's generally useful for controllers by extending their control durations. Empathy also gets a nice boost from it; it makes your direct heals stronger and enhances the defense and tohit in Fortitude. A well-slotted Fortitude alone is only around 17% defense. With Power Boost, it's nearly 31%.

    Fire isn't a bad second choice. The damage is a good addition, especially if you have to solo a bit. Being able to rez one's self is nice as well. If you can come back quickly and bring a teammate along with Resurrection it may prevent a total team wipe.
  6. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Kokoro View Post
    * Note: I did not include Confusion powers, as some people hate how confused mobs fighting each other cuts into your XP. Personally, I like Confusion and consider it a "hard" control, but since some don't, I did not include it here. For similar reasons, I did not include Gravity's AOE Intangibility power.
    A bit of an aside, but I feel the need to quell this notion when it arises. Confusion doesn't cut into the experience earned. It generally enables you to earn experience faster. Even if the mobs deal 50% of the damage to one another, the team will gain 80% of the possible experience from that mob. As a general rule, experience per time invested will only increase with the use of confusion.

    If anyone argues otherwise, simply direct them here.
  7. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Spike_Tyson View Post
    Does it put out enough damage to farm?
    "Enough damage to farm" is really a subjective metric. Can it handle an x8 spawn? Probably so. Can it be done faster? Certainly. The only way to know if it can farm fast enough to your tastes is by running the build.
  8. I'm going to toss my support behind Force Fields. Dispersion Bubble will keep you from being detoggled and provides a bit of defense making it easier to softcap smashing/lethal. That, in turn, makes life in melee a bit easier. The ally bubbles will make your rather squishy pets a little sturdier. You could even leverage knockdown in Force Bubble due to the lack of -kb in the AoE immobilize.

    I'm finding, as well, that Electric is a very busy primary. Pairing it with a less active secondary could help to balance the work.
  9. Quote:
    Originally Posted by OmnipotentMerlin View Post
    Oh I do have that day job rez. But since fitness is inherent now and I am getting anyoed having to keep him logged out more often to get more charges. I did that to be a team player. Siphon Speed I was looking for just a bit more Recharge that set provides 3.75% recharge and the proc in that I see procing a lot since that is spammed all the time when it is up must keep it stacks as much as possible. I guess it is a price you pay trying to Perma PA. This way it is bearly Perma, I could put 5 slot Posi in fireball but I am already full on that recharge from sets.
    The slow proc in Siphon Speed will hit on average once every minute and twenty seconds (this is only if you're maintaining triple stacked Siphon Speed as well). For a -20% recharge buff on a single target, that's fairly infrequent. Now don't get the impression that I dislike procs, they do have their place. For instance, the proc in Fireball will have a chance to proc on multiple targets, can be fired every 10 seconds, and allows you a bit of damage beyond ED cap; that's an excellent place for one. However, the disorient proc in Spectral Terror, the damage proc in Flash, and -recharge procs are not overly useful.

    For my ill/kin, I've found the Leadership pool very useful way to contribute to teams. Maneuvers and Vengeance both offer a place for a LotG: +7.5% recharge and Tactics is slotted with Adjusted Targeting for another 5% recharge bonus. Aside from all three being useful team buffs, I find the additional tohit in Tactics very useful when Kinetics' powers rely on hitting the enemy. Consider this as well. With inherent Stamina, more people are taking their ally and self rezzes just as you have done. However, other sets pay a much smaller opportunity cost to do so. With a 7 second cast time and a 4 second interrupt, Resuscitate is pretty much relegated to after combat use where inspirations and the temp rez will do the job as well. If the fighting is still going you'd probably do better to focus on keeping other teammates alive rather than taking a chunk of time to revive one. It may sound a bit blasÄ—, but other teammates are likely to have a better rez anyway.
  10. I question the usefulness of the Medicine pool. You can heal yourself and allies when enemies are around. When they are not damage can be restored by resting. The only thing you gain from the pool is the ability to revive allies. Bear in mind there is a day-job power that will grant you a rez, not as powerful but still useful nonetheless.

    I also advice this. Procs are most useful in short-recharge AoE's. In AoE's the will have a chance to fire on every enemy hit. Of course, if a power cycles faster that will also mean more chances for the proc to fire. The damage proc in Flash, for example, will provide you with very little extra damage. Also, be observant of the rate of fire of some procs. The Unspeakable Terror proc only fires 2% of the time, far less than any other procs, with negligible results.

    Lastly, consider the opportunity costs of some of the sets you have slotted. Siphon Speed, for instance, really only needs accuracy and recharge. The set you have slotted enhances slow, damage, endurance, and range while only provide a good enhancement in accuracy. Two accuracy and two recharge IO's may suit the power better; in fact, this slotting would bring it up nearly 4 seconds sooner.
  11. Assault does buff Creepers. You can confim it by adding the Pet Combat channel to one of you tabs and toggling it on when you have a Creeper Vine out.
  12. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Miladys_Knight View Post
    Even with max control and procs it still isn't worth it. Just sayin'.
    Agreed. I proc'ed the hell out of it just for giggles, but it's tiny radius keeps those from firing. It's a pretty worthless addition to the Psi epics.
  13. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Oedipus_Tex View Post
    Good build overall.

    Personally I wouldn't skip Power Boost either. In the current build boosts the duration of the Confusion from AA from 5.5 seconds to 8 while it's active. With just one Recharge IO in this build it would be up almost half the time. Glacier's ~31 second duration is on same level enemies; against +4s it's closer to 15 seconds. Power Boost brings that up to about 25 seconds on +4s.
    Power boost is a hard sale for me in this build. It may have utility against higher conning enemies, but they represent a small part of the typical play time. The mindset of more rewards with less time encourages most players to stick to lower settings in TF's, running tips, and pugging. It may be a consideration later when we have more content like the current Incarnate TF's that force players against +4 conning enemies.


    Quote:
    Oblits in Ice Sword Circle may crash your endurance bar hard, since there is so little endurance recovery in there.
    You're right that is a hefty endurance cost. Shifting around some slots let me frankenslot ISC without losing softcap and only a marginal amount of recharge. Some good advice there.

    Quote:
    I would personally take Hibernate over Hoarfrost, especially since you don't have slots to devote to it.
    I'll leave that decision up to him. I'm fairly bad at timing Hibernate so I find myself dying before its activation completes. Even if Hoarfrost is only up 2/3 of the time I like the extra hit points.

    Quote:
    Arctic Air can be slotted with 5 pieces from the Coerc Persuasion set, with the final one Endurance, netting those bonuses with only a slight increase in endurance costs, and increasing the duration of the confuses. With Power Boost the total duration becomes 8.7 seconds.

    Unsure about the Accuracy in Boxing. I assume that's a mistake. I would consider either putting that into Stamina for the proc, putting it in Combat Jumping for a Kismet, or putting it in Ice Slick to add Range. The reason I like Range in Ice Slick is that that power makes a fantastic opener from around a corner.
    After seeing Knight's build, I realized that was a better slotting for AA. I think I couldn't see the forest through the trees while chasing recovery bonuses. The extra slot in Boxing was also a mistake. That slot went to Stamina for the proc.

    As for the Kinetic Combats, their influence price is often disproportionate to their alignment merit costs. At one point the Dam/End recipe was selling as high as 150 million, but it only costs 1 alignment merit.

    Well, here is a revised build. I appreciate the feedback so far.

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

    Click this DataLink to open the build!

    Level 50 Magic Dominator
    Primary Power Set: Ice Control
    Secondary Power Set: Icy Assault
    Power Pool: Fighting
    Power Pool: Concealment
    Power Pool: Leaping
    Power Pool: Speed
    Ancillary Pool: Ice Mastery

    Villain Profile:
    Level 1: Block of Ice
    • (A) Basilisk's Gaze - Recharge/Hold
    • (19) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Recharge
    • (19) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Hold
    • (21) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge/Hold
    • (21) Essence of Curare - Accuracy/Hold/Recharge
    Level 1: Ice Bolt
    • (A) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage
    • (3) Decimation - Damage/Endurance
    • (3) Decimation - Damage/Recharge
    • (13) Decimation - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge
    • (31) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
    Level 2: Ice Sword
    • (A) Kinetic Combat - Accuracy/Damage
    • (15) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Recharge
    • (15) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance
    • (17) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
    • (40) Accuracy IO
    Level 4: Ice Sword Circle
    • (A) Scirocco's Dervish - Accuracy/Damage
    • (5) Scirocco's Dervish - Damage/Recharge
    • (5) Multi Strike - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
    • (7) Multi Strike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
    • (7) Multi Strike - Accuracy/Endurance
    Level 6: Arctic Air
    • (A) Coercive Persuasion - Contagious Confusion
    • (9) Coercive Persuasion - Accuracy/Confused/Recharge
    • (9) Coercive Persuasion - Confused/Recharge
    • (11) Coercive Persuasion - Confused/Endurance
    • (11) Coercive Persuasion - Accuracy/Recharge
    • (13) Endurance Reduction IO
    Level 8: Shiver
    • (A) Tempered Readiness - Accuracy/Endurance
    • (34) Pacing of the Turtle - Accuracy/Endurance
    Level 10: Boxing
    • (A) Kinetic Combat - Accuracy/Damage
    • (17) Kinetic Combat - Knockdown Bonus
    • (25) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance
    • (25) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Recharge
    Level 12: Ice Slick
    • (A) Recharge Reduction IO
    Level 14: Tough
    • (A) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%
    Level 16: Stealth
    • (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
    Level 18: Combat Jumping
    • (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
    Level 20: Frost Breath
    • (A) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage
    • (31) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
    • (34) Positron's Blast - Damage/Recharge
    • (37) Positron's Blast - Damage/Endurance
    • (37) Positron's Blast - Chance of Damage(Energy)
    Level 22: Hasten
    • (A) Recharge Reduction IO
    • (23) Recharge Reduction IO
    • (23) Recharge Reduction IO
    Level 24: Super Speed
    • (A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Knockback Reduction (4 points)
    Level 26: Glacier
    • (A) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Hold
    • (27) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Recharge
    • (27) Basilisk's Gaze - Recharge/Hold
    • (29) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge/Hold
    • (29) Essence of Curare - Accuracy/Hold/Recharge
    Level 28: Frostbite
    • (A) Enfeebled Operation - Accuracy/Endurance
    • (37) Enfeebled Operation - Immobilize/Range
    • (45) Enfeebled Operation - Endurance/Immobilize
    • (45) Enfeebled Operation - Accuracy/Immobilize/Recharge
    • (46) Enfeebled Operation - Accuracy/Recharge
    • (50) Enfeebled Operation - Accuracy/Immobilize
    Level 30: Weave
    • (A) Gift of the Ancients - Defense/Endurance
    • (31) Gift of the Ancients - Defense/Endurance/Recharge
    • (33) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
    • (34) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
    Level 32: Jack Frost
    • (A) Expedient Reinforcement - Accuracy/Recharge
    • (39) Expedient Reinforcement - Accuracy/Damage
    • (39) Expedient Reinforcement - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
    • (39) Expedient Reinforcement - Damage/Endurance
    Level 35: Ice Slash
    • (A) Kinetic Combat - Accuracy/Damage
    • (36) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance
    • (36) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Recharge
    • (36) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
    • (40) Accuracy IO
    Level 38: Bitter Ice Blast
    • (A) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage
    • (40) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
    • (42) Decimation - Damage/Endurance
    • (42) Decimation - Damage/Recharge
    • (42) Decimation - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge
    Level 41: Sleet
    • (A) Undermined Defenses - Recharge/Endurance
    • (43) Touch of Lady Grey - Recharge/Endurance
    • (43) Touch of Lady Grey - Chance for Negative Damage
    • (43) Pacing of the Turtle - Endurance/Recharge/Slow
    • (46) Achilles' Heel - Chance for Res Debuff
    Level 44: Frozen Armor
    • (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
    • (45) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance/Recharge
    • (46) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
    Level 47: Ice Storm
    • (A) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage
    • (48) Positron's Blast - Damage/Endurance
    • (48) Positron's Blast - Damage/Recharge
    • (48) Positron's Blast - Chance of Damage(Energy)
    • (50) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
    Level 49: Hoarfrost
    • (A) Recharge Reduction IO
    ------------
    Level 1: Brawl
    • (A) Empty
    Level 1: Sprint
    • (A) Empty
    Level 2: Rest
    • (A) Empty
    Level 1: Domination
    Level 4: Ninja Run
    Level 2: Swift
    • (A) Empty
    Level 2: Hurdle
    • (A) Empty
    Level 2: Health
    • (A) Miracle - +Recovery
    • (33) Numina's Convalescence - +Regeneration/+Recovery
    Level 2: Stamina
    • (A) Endurance Modification IO
    • (33) Performance Shifter - EndMod
    • (50) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End


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  14. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Miladys_Knight View Post
    Please don't skip Power Boost. It's a key power.

    As you can see when Power Boost is active the S/L defense on this build will be 47.3% without Stealth.

    Power Boost will be up 1/2 the time but you only really have to use it prior to one of your long term AoE mezzes or just prior to taking an Alpha.

    This is the build I will be moving into for my Ice/Ice/Ice Dom. (once I'm finished Alpha slotting and updating my toons that are higher priority)
    I do love Power Boost, but with Ice it seemed unnecessary. Other than boosting the occasional AoE hold, it doesn't offer much to the build. On other builds that can't reach the softcap alone I'll use it. Heck, I'll even use it with Tactics as a mini-Aim.

    Regardless, with my current slotting and Domination in effect, Glacier is lasting about 30 secs. On teams, that's more than enough time to clean up a spawn. I'm not sure on the solo damage output of this build, but it seems like Sleet and Ice Storm used in tandem will deal significant damage to most mobs. Even if the hold breaks before they're all defeated it should be enough that their ranks have been thinned.

    Quote:
    Strategies:

    I skipped Jack. He doesn't last long enough especially against +4/8x mobs and he will wander around, use poor choices for targeting, and is VERY likely to aggro another spawn.

    I skipped Frost Breath because I only used it once in most encounters as all the other powers are PBAoE or can be use as such.

    I took Frostbite instead of Chillblain because of the Grav anchor proc and the self stacking AoE -rech of Frostbite. It's also handy to keep the entire spawn in the Area effect of Sleet, Ice Storm, and Arctic Air. A single Power boosted Frostbite while domination is up will keep all of the mobs immobilized for 96+ seconds which is longer than the encounter will (usually) last.
    In my experience with an Ice/Rad troller I found Jack quite helpful. He's not the best behaved pet, but I never had substantial problems with him either. Sometimes it was helpful to have the body to throw into a mob and eat the alpha whether he survived or not. Imps and Gremlins are the real trouble makers when it comes to pets. I think you discredit Jack by putting him up against +4/x8 mobs. Running +4 seems more an exception for when things are going really well and the team wants more challenge. Even Stony will begin to buckle faced with +4 mobs.

    I do like the AoE immobilizes using the Grav. proc, but I'm already bordering on a very price prohibitive build for him. I may consider the AoE immobilize for the simple reason of keeping enemies within the Ice Storm for it's full duration. Even with an unslotted duration near 30 seconds, it should suffice with one or two applications.

    Quote:
    *Against foes that are not sleep resistant:

    Use Stealth + SS to position yourself. Power Boost > Flash Freeze > Block of Ice on Bosses and lieutenants that are high damage dealers > Shiver > Move into melee and allow Arctic Air to take hold > Sleet > Ice Storm > Ice Sword Circle. Use single target attacks to finish off bosses and lieutenants cycling in Ice Sword Circle every time it recharges.
    I tried this with my Ice/Rad. The results were not good. The damage in the sleep requires the actual sleep to come after a brief delay. That's enough that several enemies can cue up an attack that will land before they fall asleep. It also requires detoggling AA to get into position, which means more time retoggling it after the fight has begun.

    Quote:
    *Against foes that are sleep resistant:

    Use Stealth + SS to position yourself. Power Boost > Ice Slick > Shiver > Block of Ice on Bosses and lieutenants that are high damage dealers > Shiver > Move into melee and allow Arctic Air to take hold > Sleet > Ice Storm > Ice Sword Circle. Use single target attacks to finish off bosses and lieutenants cycling in Ice Sword Circle every time it recharges.

    *Against foes that are both sleep and KB resistant:

    -When Glacier is available - Use Stealth + SS to position yourself. Power Boost > Move into melee > Glacier > Sleet > Ice Storm > Ice Sword Circle. Use single target attacks to finish off bosses and lieutenants cycling in Ice Sword Circle every time it recharges.

    -When Glacier is down - Use Stealth + SS to position yourself. Power Boost > Frostbite > Shiver > Frostbite > Sleet > Frostbite > Ice Storm > Block of Ice on Bosses and lieutenants that have not been held by the Grav Anchor Proc > Shiver > Move into melee > Ice Sword Circle > Use single target attacks to finish off bosses and lieutenants cycling in Ice Sword Circle every time it recharges.
    I found opening with Glacier isn't bad since it takes effect immediately. Both Glacier and AA have a good radius that will let you hit a large part of a spawn without being in the middle of them. Superspeeding in will even give you a tick of confusion sometimes before the enemies are aware of you. Of course, if the group looks particularly nasty I'd toss Jack out as a snackrifice or lead him unwittingly into the mob while I stealth.

    For me, the difficult part of Ice has always been dealing with the initial strike. Being a bit clever with the pet helps to defuse it, and learning to stay on the heels of the main aggro magnet helps as well.
  15. My friend is trying another dominator after not making much progress with an Earth/earth dom. He's decided to go all ice for thematic purposes and I offered to provide him with a build to shoot for at level 50. Ice/Ice/Ice wouldn't be my first recommendation, but it does seem like an effective combo. It certainly seems like it'll have a few growing pains on the way and endurance management may be a bear until it reaches high levels of recharge.

    I'd appreciate any play style tips that I could pass on to him as well as advice on this tentative build.

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

    Click this DataLink to open the build!

    Level 50 Magic Dominator
    Primary Power Set: Ice Control
    Secondary Power Set: Icy Assault
    Power Pool: Fighting
    Power Pool: Concealment
    Power Pool: Leaping
    Power Pool: Speed
    Ancillary Pool: Ice Mastery

    Villain Profile:
    Level 1: Block of Ice
    • (A) Basilisk's Gaze - Recharge/Hold
    • (19) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Recharge
    • (19) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Hold
    • (21) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge/Hold
    • (21) Essence of Curare - Accuracy/Hold/Recharge
    Level 1: Ice Bolt
    • (A) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage
    • (3) Decimation - Damage/Endurance
    • (3) Decimation - Damage/Recharge
    • (13) Decimation - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge
    • (31) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
    Level 2: Ice Sword
    • (A) Kinetic Combat - Accuracy/Damage
    • (15) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Recharge
    • (15) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance
    • (17) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
    • (40) Accuracy IO
    Level 4: Ice Sword Circle
    • (A) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
    • (5) Obliteration - Accuracy/Recharge
    • (5) Obliteration - Damage
    • (7) Obliteration - Damage/Recharge
    • (7) Obliteration - Chance for Smashing Damage
    • (17) Obliteration - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
    Level 6: Arctic Air
    • (A) Coercive Persuasion - Contagious Confusion
    • (9) Coercive Persuasion - Accuracy/Confused/Recharge
    • (9) Malaise's Illusions - Endurance/Confused
    • (11) Malaise's Illusions - Accuracy/Endurance
    • (11) Cacophony - Accuracy/Confused/Recharge
    • (13) Cacophony - Accuracy/Endurance
    Level 8: Shiver
    • (A) Tempered Readiness - Accuracy/Endurance
    • (34) Pacing of the Turtle - Accuracy/Endurance
    Level 10: Boxing
    • (A) Kinetic Combat - Accuracy/Damage
    • (25) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance
    • (25) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Recharge
    • (31) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
    • (40) Accuracy IO
    Level 12: Ice Slick
    • (A) Recharge Reduction IO
    Level 14: Tough
    • (A) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%
    Level 16: Stealth
    • (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
    Level 18: Combat Jumping
    • (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
    Level 20: Frost Breath
    • (A) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage
    • (34) Positron's Blast - Damage/Recharge
    • (37) Positron's Blast - Damage/Endurance
    • (37) Positron's Blast - Chance of Damage(Energy)
    • (37) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
    Level 22: Hasten
    • (A) Recharge Reduction IO
    • (23) Recharge Reduction IO
    • (23) Recharge Reduction IO
    Level 24: Super Speed
    • (A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Knockback Reduction (4 points)
    Level 26: Glacier
    • (A) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Hold
    • (27) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Recharge
    • (27) Basilisk's Gaze - Recharge/Hold
    • (29) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge/Hold
    • (29) Essence of Curare - Accuracy/Hold/Recharge
    Level 28: Chilblain
    • (A) Accuracy IO
    Level 30: Weave
    • (A) Red Fortune - Defense
    • (31) Red Fortune - Defense/Endurance
    • (33) Red Fortune - Endurance
    • (33) Red Fortune - Endurance/Recharge
    • (33) Red Fortune - Defense/Endurance/Recharge
    • (34) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
    Level 32: Jack Frost
    • (A) Expedient Reinforcement - Accuracy/Recharge
    • (39) Expedient Reinforcement - Accuracy/Damage
    • (39) Expedient Reinforcement - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
    • (39) Expedient Reinforcement - Damage/Endurance
    Level 35: Ice Slash
    • (A) Kinetic Combat - Accuracy/Damage
    • (36) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance
    • (36) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Recharge
    • (36) Kinetic Combat - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
    • (40) Accuracy IO
    Level 38: Bitter Ice Blast
    • (A) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage
    • (42) Decimation - Damage/Endurance
    • (42) Decimation - Damage/Recharge
    • (42) Decimation - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge
    • (43) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
    Level 41: Sleet
    • (A) Undermined Defenses - Recharge/Endurance
    • (43) Touch of Lady Grey - Recharge/Endurance
    • (43) Touch of Lady Grey - Chance for Negative Damage
    • (46) Achilles' Heel - Chance for Res Debuff
    • (50) Tempered Readiness - Endurance/Recharge/Slow
    Level 44: Frozen Armor
    • (A) Red Fortune - Defense
    • (45) Red Fortune - Defense/Endurance/Recharge
    • (45) Red Fortune - Endurance
    • (45) Red Fortune - Defense/Endurance
    • (46) Red Fortune - Endurance/Recharge
    • (46) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
    Level 47: Ice Storm
    • (A) Positron's Blast - Damage/Recharge
    • (48) Positron's Blast - Damage/Endurance
    • (48) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage
    • (48) Positron's Blast - Chance of Damage(Energy)
    • (50) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
    Level 49: Hoarfrost
    • (A) Recharge Reduction IO
    ------------
    Level 1: Brawl
    • (A) Empty
    Level 1: Sprint
    • (A) Empty
    Level 2: Rest
    • (A) Empty
    Level 1: Domination
    Level 4: Ninja Run
    Level 2: Swift
    • (A) Empty
    Level 2: Hurdle
    • (A) Empty
    Level 2: Health
    • (A) Miracle - +Recovery
    Level 2: Stamina
    • (A) Endurance Modification IO
    • (50) Endurance Modification IO


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  16. The grim prophecy has come true! NOoooooo!
  17. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Griff Mender View Post
    As illusion however its a very simple matter of superior invis and using deceive to stealth objectives. You can save the power pick by using that combo. It's foolproof even against rikti drones and other anti stealth types cuz you can simply deceive them before they attack you and walk on past.
    But it is substantially slower than firing Flash Arrow at a mob and moving on, especially when you hit a mob with 3-4 drones. In such a case I'm often detected before all of them can be confused. It's also worth noting that two other mobs that pierce stealth also come with confuse protection, namely Nemesis Snipers and Rularuu eyes.
  18. I just started my TA, but I think Flash Arrow will find its uses. In particular, it's good for stealthing objectives. It's not unusual to find a glowie that's surrounding by enemies. Flash Arrow will let you debuff the enemies perception enough that your stealth suppressing won't put you at risk.

    Also, it carries an unresistable 5% tohit debuff so it works fairly well against AV's, at least those that are even level.

    As for patron pools, it seems that Mace Mastery is the only PPP that offers energy damage. It's also got a nice defense based shield and an additional pet.
  19. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Rikis View Post
    When I was beginning to fear a lack of communication from the devs due to the BaBs and Castle's departures.
    Wait... wuh? When did Castle leave? I recall a bit of reaction when news broke about BaBs, but I haven't heard a peep about this.
  20. ketch

    I want names

    If this is a suggestion to get rid of the timer then count me as /signed. Totally unneeded and annoying change.
  21. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Mortimer_NA View Post
    Could someone explain how Power Boost works with FFs dispersion Bubble? If you have a recharge on PB of 32 seconds and the effect duration is 15 seconds, does the boost to DB last for just those 15 seconds? For that matter, what of the little bubbles? Sorry to post such a newbie question but I just want to make sure I understand this correctly.
    Click powers, like the Deflection Shield and Insulation Shield, will be boosted for their full duration. Toggle powers like Dispersion Bubble will only be boosted for the 15 second duration of Power Boost.

    No worries about asking questions. It's the best way to learn and we welcome people with good attitudes.
  22. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Griff Mender View Post
    Ok so I was working on my Mind/Rad build in mids. And while i can get perma hasten and AM pretty easy and cheap, I saw the recharge times on the mass confusion, total dom, and mass hypnosis were still a little long for my liking. (down to like 60 seconds-ish) That seems a long time for your controls recharge wise, or is it just me? I've been playing my ill/rad for a long time and it never seems like im waiting on anything so having to wait 60 seconds on a recharge seems a little high. what's everyone elses opinion?
    That's about the same as my Mind/Rad/Primal. Really, it's not too bad. I've got Mass Confusion and Total Domination both recharging in 60 seconds with EM Pulse backing that up with a 74 second recharge. With a good amount of recovery and Conserve Power I can EM Pulse and still use my toggles without slowing down. I tend to Mass Hypnosis + Total Dom one mob, use Mass Confusion the next, then Mass Hypnosis + EM Pulse the next in the line with Total Dom coming up shortly after to repeat the cycle. Occasionally, I'll need to fall back on Terrify if the team is moving exceptionally fast.

    Also, what is your recharge on Mass Hypnosis? With 211% recharge, I've got it down to 11.22 seconds, which really is more than I need it to be.
  23. I'm curious to hear a bit more about Mind/Sonic. On paper I don't see much synergy between the sets and it appears to be a very weak solo'er, though I may be overlooking something. Losing out on its best debuff when solo seems like a pretty significant blow against it. Bear in mind, I have played a mind/emp, which also loses out on a lot solo, but the powers that remain seem more useful than what you would find in mind/sonic. If nothing else, I do like the way the visual from mind and sonic mesh.

    Fire/cold seems like a potential combo. With some tinkering in Mid's I made a build that could grant the Imps around 40% defense, enough to bottom out the enemies tohit after an application of Smoke. I agree Heat Loss would make running Hot Feet much less painful. It's also a nice thematic coupling, much better than any idea I could come up with to justify ill/cold.

    At the moment, I'm favoring Earth/Sonic, Fire/Cold, and Plant/TA. They all seem potent with some nice conceptual pairings too. Thermal still has me stumped. I'm a bit curious about Mind/Thermal as low-aggro buffers, but I'm cautious about its solo performance. I often see talk of pairing Thermal with Elec, but I don't feel a single target -recovery debuff will do much to alter its performance as a sapper.
  24. Quote:
    Originally Posted by Skyster View Post
    Don't give up on the toon, just make up your mind that this toon will be something you play when you're really in the mood to play a support role.

    I can't help but think of my Mind/Storm. Poor ol' Rerun. I never play her. She's just perma-lodged at like 35. More buttons than a stealth bomber, very compicated to play. All you really have is *strategy*. She's got no damage. Some of her most important powers cause (an INEXPLICABLE) XP loss, unlike MM's. (Yes, that means confusion, and the damage caused by your confused mobs taking away from the XP. Totally wrong IMO.)
    Woah, back up the ponies. Confusion never causes XP loss. It may decrease the potential pool of experience available if you do woefully poor damage. In fact, confusion allows you to gain XP for damage that you didn't do. As long as you've dealt 50% of the damage to the mob you'll earn 80% of the potential experience. Do more than 50% of the damage and you'll gain nearly 100% of the experience. The experience you gain over time will be increased by facilitating easier defeats, particularly when you confuse mobs that will debuff their allies or buff you.

    This myth has been around for a long time, but refuted for nearly just as long.