Belle's advice for the aspiring Sonic/Kinetics for I7
So youve decided to roll up a Sonic Kineticist. That in itself is a bold statement. Its shouting I want to have my teams plow through missions like a hot knife through butter! Well, if thats your goal, then welcome to flavor country. Ill be your tour guide, Belle. On your right, you see a group of +3 mobs that used to be standing ten seconds ago.
I) Your Primary, Sonic Attacks
II) Your Secondary, Kinetics
III) Your supplementary Power Pools
IV) Tactics and Metagame
V) My build
I) Your Primary, Sonic Attacks:
One of the most infrequently used primaries on Cities today, it excels not in its own damage output (which is still pretty decent), but in increasing the damage output of others! Here's a breakdown of your choices from your primary power set, and my opinions on each.
1) Shriek **
A fast activating, fast recharge but low damage tier one blast. Even with scourge, it doesn't amount to much. If you were any other secondary, I may recommend it, but your attacks should cycle fast enough without need for this if youre stacking Siphon Speeds and Hasten.
Recommended Slotting: 2 Accuracy / 3 Damage
2) Scream *****
Your bread of this blast set, don't leave home without it. It's a DoT, but that's more of an advantage than a disadvantage here, as you can see the -res component of Sonic Attacks working before your very eyes.
Recommended Slotting: 2 Accuracy / 3 Damage / 0-1 Recharge
3) Howl ****
Howl, our first AoE. This lovely little number does a little under Shriek damage to all who are caught in its fairly long range and 90 degree cone. Its use isn't just damage. It's great for softening up mobs so that your teammates can more easily dispatch them, and that's what makes this power shine. Also good to pull off in the middle and end of a battle, anything that it doesnt Scourge is probably a few hits away from defeat and softened up accordingly. Don't open up a battle with this unless you're sure that someone else is around to grab all the aggro it will generate.
Recommended Slotting: 2 Accuracy / 3 Damage / 0-1 Recharge
4) Shockwave *
Shockwave is a cone attack like Howl, but lower damage and no -res component. The payoff is a knockback effect to all in its cone. Personally, I skipped this power, as I found much better things to perform a group knockback and have all the mobs looking quite angrily at me afterwards. Plus, it annoys the melee types (i.e. the ones who are a /kin's best friend).
Recommended Slotting: 2 Accuracy / 1 Recharge
5) Shout *****
If Scream is your bread, then Shout is your butter. The most damaging single target attack that Sonic has, this nifty little number puts up two nice, large orange numbers of smashing/energy. The only weakness this attack has is a fairly long activation that roots you, so be careful if you want to use this in a potentially dangerous situation. This is the final blast attack that you'll get from your primary and nice to get at level 8, whereas Fire and Ice gets theirs at 18.
Recommended Slotting: 2 Accuracy / 3 Damage / 1 Recharge
6) Amplify **
AKA Aim. This little number practically caps your accuracy against anything short of a +4 Boss for ten seconds, and gives you a small damage boost, slightly larger than a Siphon Power. If you consider going into PvP, pick this power up, though neither Sonic Attacks nor Kinetics are all too great at PvP.
Recommended Slotting: 1-3 Recharge / 0-3 To-Hit Buffs
7) Siren's Song *****
Siren's Song, a very nice soft control power and panic button. Solo, it allows you to engage mobs one-on-one. On small teams, this usually shuts down at least one mob for five seconds, if not longer. On large teams, you can use it to de-toggle... say... a Nerva Spectral Demon Lord's Darkest Night, Behemoth Invincibility, Tsoo Sorcerer Hurricane, or Longbow Spec-Ops Stealth. Not to mention its usefulness if another mob lingers dangerously close, an ill timed patrol sneaks up on your group, or an ambush spawns as you're engaging another mob. Its duration is AMAZING out of the box; longer than even Mass Hypnosis of Mind Control. Unlike Flashfreeze or other AoE sleeps, it is quite clear to your teammates that the mobs are sleeping, with the zzz's floating above their hanging heads. Finally, if I had not sung this power's praises enough, it is a VERY wide cone; about 120 degrees, maybe more. You wont use it every battle, or even every mission, but it will save your cute little tush at least twice every level. I highly recommend this power because it helps shore up /kinetic's lack of control. Watch out for its long activation, though.
Recommended Slotting: 2 Accuracy / 1-2 Range Enhancement
8) Screech ***
Screech, a standard Mag 3 single target disorient. I plan to pick up my patrons single target hold, so having both would be a waste. Still, Ive seen this and similar powers put to good use, so if youve got a free power to grab down the line, this could be it.
Recommended Slotting: 2 Accuracy / 1-3 Disorient Duration / 1-2 Recharge
9) Dreadful Wail ****
Your nuke, while not the greatest, gets the job done against +2 mobs. It does mostly smashing damage to all those around you and useful if that mob needs to drop NOW. As a bonus, anything short of a boss will be disoriented for a short time if not defeated. Excellent synergy with Transference and Fulcrum Shift.
Recommended Slotting: 1 Accuracy / 1-2 Damage / 1-3 Recharge
II) Your Secondary, Kinetics
Most corruptor secondarys protect your team, or debuff enemies to the point where they no longer pose a major threat. Kinetics is different. Kinetics protects your team by empowering your teammates with unbelievable offense. Being the closest powerset to achieve near-perma Hasten is always a plus, too!
1) Transfusion *****
A power you have to take, but that doesn't mean it sucks. Quite the opposite, actually. Transfusion is tied for the strongest heal available to corruptors, and it's an AoE heal to boot! However, it does have some significant drawbacks. One, it requires you to hit a mob, meaning that even at the highest levels, there's a 5% miss chance that could spell doom for a teammate. Secondly, the heal is centered on the mob, which means that targets that want to be healed must be within about twenty feet of the target. Finally, there is a small, half second delay from activating the power to the mob creating a heal aura, meaning that if someone defeats or knockbacks the targeted mob, then they're out of luck. Still, even with all those drawbacks, this is one of the few ways you can actively aid in the defense of your team. A nice little bonus is that this power does significant damage to AVs due to its regen secondary effect, which is rated at about -50% regen rate.
Recommended Slotting: 2 Accuracy / 2-3 Heal / 1-2 Recharge
2) Siphon Power ****
Early on until level 37, you will be using this power to buff you and your teammate's damage potential. It gives you and those within 20' of you a 20% damage buff, and debuffs the targeted mob by that much. Post 38, you'll use it to debuff a particularly troublesome boss, or as part of the debuffing routine for an EB/AV, or if you feel like theres nothing else for you to do. With three recharges and stacking Hasten and Siphon Speeds, you can stack three of those beautiful buff icons. Watch your endurance usage, though. This one's a little heavy.
Recommended Slotting: 2 Accuracy / 1-3 Recharge / 0-1 Endurance Reduction
3) Repel *
Repel produces a melee-range aura around you, pulsing about four times a second. If anything approaches you, they will be knocked back. I don't recommend this power, as it doesn't suit the /kin's play style at all. You could, however, keep a single target in knockdown stun, or push them back into nasty AoEs. It currently sits in my tray, collecting dust.
Recommended Slotting: 1 Endurance Reduction
4) Siphon Speed ****
This power is very useful to you. It debuffs a mob's Run Speed and Recharge rate, while buffing your run speed and recharge rate. What makes this power shine is that if you stack this with Hasten it will bring Hasten's downtime to anywhere from 15-30 seconds, allowing for near-perma-Hasten. Remember those days? Good. Pick up this and Hasten, you won't regret it. One more thing of note: You can use this as a passable travel power with Sprint, thus saving some power choices for more combat-oriented uses.
Recommended Slotting: 2 Accuracy / 3 Recharge
5) Increase Density ***
This power targets a single ally, providing them protection against most status effects except for sleep, as well as giving them a fairly large resistance to Energy and Smashing attacks for one minute. Use it to free up your mezzed "squishies" or give a nice amount of resistance to your Brute. Just remember it's got a fairly short duration, and it is a pain to apply to an entire team. Your teammates won't care about the -speed penalty if you apply the next power...
Recommended Slotting: 1-3 Damage Resistance
6) Speed Boost **********
The reason why people invite /kin's to teams. This little doozy affects a single target, giving them the benefits of Hasten and Stamina for its beneficiary. Yes, that's right. Hasten and Stamina. Brutes and stalkers will love you for this as their heavy hitters will come back faster. Dominators can control more efficiently, being able to spam their ST and AoE controls faster. Masterminds can get out their long recharge powers faster. If you don't take this power, then you must not team often. One drawback is that boosts running speed by a large amount... fast enough for some people to have control problems with their characters. I've always found more than one endurance modification in this power as overkill, as most of your teammates have their own ways of managing their endurance, Of course, if you have slots to spare, feel free to dump some here.
Recommended slotting: 1 Endurance Modification
7) Inertial Reduction *Its a travel power*
It gives you and all of your allies the benefits of an unsuppressable Superjump. A great substitute for an actual travel power, if you've been relying on Siphon Speed for 20 levels. It will expire about one second before it recharges if youre not under the effects of Siphon Speed or Hasten, so watch out.
Recommended Slotting: 1 Jump Speed
8) Transference *****
Ready to kiss your endurance problems goodbye? It's Transfusion all over again, this time with Endurance. If you have been applying Speed Boosts to your team, then your teammates shouldn't need this often. However, you can't speed boost yourself, so that's where this power comes in. One great benefit of this power is that it will drain a fairly large chunk of endurance from its target, enough to floor an even con boss if you slot it with three endmods, or enough to drain a +2 boss when combined with Transfusion. Some schools of thought say that you can respec out of Stamina after you get this, but thats phooey, especially if you want to run your Patron shields.
Recommended Slotting: 2 Accuracy / 3 Endurance Modification / 1 Recharge
9) Fulcrum Shift *****
Youve waited 37 long, hard levels for this power. Is it the holy grail of Kinetics? Why, yes
yes it is. Remember Siphon Power? This is an AoE version of it. You target a single mob, and that mob and all other mobs within about 20' of him gives off a small PBAoE buff to any ally close to them. Furthermore, you radiate one of those buff icons too, worth about 40%. Each of those lovely little icons represents about a single red inspiration in strength, and you can get up to ten of them, plus one for your own. One application could damage cap any AT but a Brute! This power replaces Siphon Power in use when you get it. Just make sure that you and at least one of your teammates are in position to receive the buffs.
Recommended Slotting: 2 Accuracy / 3 Recharge / 0-1 Endurance Reduction
III) Your supplementary Power Pools
Concealment: Not necessary by any means. Take for concept. Or if you want to be annoying in PvP with Phase Shift. Dont say you heard it here, but I find the idea of casting Grant Invisibility on Lord Recluse in Recluses Victory quite amusing.
Fighting: I suppose you could go for Tough and stack Resistance with a Patron shield, but I don't think it's worth the two powers and the endurance drain.
Fitness: Swift/Hurdle>Health>Stamina. I hate having to take it, too. But take it. And slot it. You'll need it to be effective.
Flight: Fly is a nice, safe travel power with two great prerequisites. Air Superiority goes in very nicely with your semi-melee playstyle, and will allow you to permajuggle a single target given Hasten or Siphon Speed. Hover provides pseudo-knockback protection and gives you nice combat maneuverability, with it's weakness of slow flight speed overcome by Siphon Speed. You can also ignore Hover and go Air Superiority -> Fly for your travel power AND knockback protection, if you have Transference to help you cut back on the endurance cost and you know how to manage Flys drift and suppression mid combat. Thats a lot of endurance and potential slot usage, though.
Leadership: Corruptors give the best numbers for Leadership powers in CoV, using the same numbers as Controllers. It gives you a way to put your endless fountain of endurance to use once you get Transference and empowers the teammates that are fighting the current mobs at +4 or +5. If you go this route, you can take out some accuracies in your single target buffs, though I'd still recommend two accuracies in Transfusion and Transference. I'd go Maneuvers ->Tactics, mainly because Assault is going to be overshadowed by Fulcrum Shift at the later levels. Also, it gives you a place to put your slots when the post 40 game comes. Vengeance is a nice buff, but it involves the defeat of a teammate, making it highly situational. All of the leadership toggles are a bit costly, so you may want one or two endurance reductions in them.
Leaping: This pool gives you, IMO, the best travel power in the game, as well as protection to immobilize from Combat Jumping and hold/knockback protection from Acrobatics. Nice if you don't like to be mezzed, but you can survive without it.
Medicine: You have Transfusion so you don't need Aid Self/Aid Other. You have Increased Density, so you don't need Stimulant. Carry a few awakens with you if you want to rez people.
Presence: You don't need aggro. Taking three powers just for Invoke Panic doesn't seem efficient to me.
Speed: Hasten. Take it, if nothing else. It's like having two non-ED affected SO recharges in all your attacks about 4/5th's the time, if you stack Siphon Speeds. Superspeed is a good travel power, if you can handle the lack of vertical movement.
Teleportation: Teleport Foe is the greatest pulling power in the game. Recall friend is more convenience than useful for you (as opposed to a rezzer), and Teleport as a travel power is difficult on some gaming machines. Take at your own discretion.
Patron Powers: I went Black Scorpion for concept and the defense based shield, which will detoggle less (defense means attacks that would normally hit you would miss, and quite a few mezzes are affected by this) and the Arachnobot Disruptor. Having a Speed-boostable pet is very nice, and Hasten and Siphon Speed should help with the downtime. His weakness is his fairly long drawtimes of the mace for his AoE Immobilize and his single target hold. I cant really comment on the other patrons.
IV) Tactics and Metagame
Here's the meat and potatoes of the guide, where I'll discuss some play techniques and my playstyle on teams. Your mileage may vary; I found these tactics to be most efficient.
You're going to want to team very often, as all of your powers benefit a team greatly. One of the most important things to remember is that you have so many options available to you. Do you blast? Buff your team with a Siphon Power? Hit a heal? All of these decisions you will have to make on-the-spot and that makes for a very active, fun playstyle.
Opening Move (buff/debuff phase): Your opening move should be a team buff or Siren's Song, depending on your team's friendliness to sleepers. Remember, you can buff and heal off of a sleeping target without waking him! After that, Howl is a good choice to start the utter decimation of your opposition, or you can hit a boss with Transferrence to drain his endurance, then Transfusion to heal those around him and take off that sliver of endurance that may be left. Just make sure someones covering your aggro.
Mid-Battle (attack phase): As a Sonic, you'll want to lay your own brand of smackdown on a target that needs to die fast. That usually means aiding others in defeating a boss. Laying down two stacking -res goes a long way towards defeating a boss. Keep an eye on your teammate's health bars as well. Repositioning here is also important; you'll frequently find yourself hopping out to catch many targets with Howl and coming back in for a Transfusion. One benefit of moving around so much is that you will get a feel of how the battle moves around you, and be first to respond mentally if something starts to unravel.
End Battle (cleanup phase): At this point, there are only a few more stragglers. Use this time to lay a siphon speed for yourself, a siphon power for the next battle, and to Speedboost teammates. It's more time-efficient to do this now, as the battle's already decided and your teammates can easily take out a pair of wounded minions without your help.
Whats a /kin? : Not everybody knows that Fulcrum Shift is da bomb, or that they need to be close to a mob to receive a heal, or that youre capable of recovering all of an allys endurance after a nuke or power crash. Having a bind or two that quickly explains Get close to the mobs for Fulcrum Shift and heals! does wonders for you and your teammates. Communicate; a few words that takes five seconds to type can save a team wipe that takes five minutes to recover from.
Scourge and You: Scourge, our inherent power, is very useful to many corruptors. However, our primary blast set does not synergize well with it. Because all of our Sonic attacks give a -res, you'll generally want to hit them with a weak -> strong attack chain (Howl->Scream->Shout for me), as opposed to a strong -> weak chain (for maximizing scourge percentage). Ive never tested out which is better for an optimized DPS, but I like to leave Shout and its long activation for last to see if theres something more important for me to do.
Nuking: This is a very simple combo; run in, Fulcrum Shift, Dreadful Wail. Hit a blue inspiration, Transfusion if needed, and Transference. Full endurance after a nuke, good for when a second mob is aggroed and Siren's Song won't do. Also, good simply for expediting the mission by removing a large chunk of the opposition. And fun, too!
The Zen of Positioning: Positioning, positioning, positioning! Its the most important abstract concepts to master for a Son/Kin. Learn how to place yourself to catch the maximum number of targets for your cones. Learn where to place yourself so that many others can enjoy Siphon Power. This is where learning to manage your speed comes into play. If you find it difficult to maneuver with varying degrees of Siphon Speed, consider picking up Hover. Also, learn to pick a good target for your Transfusions and Transferences.
R u Helar?: You, by no means, are a primary healer, despite the strength of Transfusion. However, its important to keep our teams on their feet, so we have to play with all the toys we get. You should always look to heal a teammate when they are at 2/3 or lower health. It's better to overheal than to try to play catch-up and flirt with the 5% miss chance.
Whoa, thats a lotta mobs: There are some situations where you will be called on to pull a mob. The best pulling power in your arsenal is Siphon Power, giving you and your team a nice little buff.
The AV: Against an EB/AV, keeping the target debuffed is usually more important than doing damage. Keep laying down the Siphons and Fulcrums, the damage transfers will be worth more to your team than your own damage, even including scourge. And keep teammates alive around the AV with Transfusion and Increased Density, if applicable. Of course, if the opportunity presents, hit him with an occasional Scream or Shout. As tempting as it is to scourge for big numbers, just make sure that you and the team stay alive.
My, the floor is cold: Dont be surprised if you find yourself facedown on the ground. Being a kineticist is one of the most dangerous jobs out there, and theres little room for error. Learn what you did wrong, or if it was just a series of lucky hits in quick succession. Change your playstyle accordingly. Theres always a best way to approach a situation, as you have many tools at your disposal. If something seems impossible, remember that inspirations can fill in cracks in your armor.
Binds and macros:
/macro SB? "team Does anyone NOT want Speed Boost? [Increased attack rate/Endurance Recovery/Movement Speed]$$e whistle"
This useful bind asks if anyone on your team does not want "the crack." Some people actually cannot handle the increased speed on their systems, or simply find the drawback as too much. Besides, its always polite to ask first.
/bind numpad1 "teamselect 1$$powexec_name Speed Boost"
/bind numpad2 "teamselect 2$$powexec_name Speed Boost"
/bind numpad3 "teamselect 3$$powexec_name Speed Boost"
...
/bind numpad8 "teamselect 8$$powexec_name Speed Boost"
This bind makes Speed Boosting an entire team much easier. If you open up your team window, you see that your teammates are numbered. Just hit the corresponding key on your number pad, and you'll send a SB their way!
/bind lshift+numpad1 "teamselect 1$$powexec_name Increased Density"
...
/bind lshift+numpad8 "teamselect 8$$powexec_name Increased Density"
This works with the same premise as above, just that you hold your left shift key when pressing the numpad to hit them with an increased density. Alternately, you can...
/bind numpad0 "powexec_name Increased Density"
to just Increased Density the last target of your Speed Boost with the touch of the 0 key.
V) My build
This is the build I currently plan to respec into, planned to level 40. Past that, you should have an idea of what you want to shore up with your last powers and slots. This build may not be the best one to suit your style, nor is it the most optimized one. It does, however, fit in with my playstyle and having that synergy is the best kind you can have.
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Exported from Ver: 1.7.6.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder
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Name: Decibella
Level: 41
Archetype: Corruptor
Primary: Sonic Blast
Secondary: Kinetics
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01) --> Scream==> Acc(1)Acc(3)Dmg(5)Dmg(7)Dmg(9)
01) --> Transfusion==> Acc(1)Acc(3)Heal(5)Heal(7)Heal(9)Rechg(29)
02) --> Siphon Power==> Acc(2)Rechg(11)Rechg(11)Rechg(13)
04) --> Howl==> Rechg(4)Acc(13)Dmg(15)Dmg(15)Dmg(17)
06) --> Hasten==> Empty(6)Acc(17)Rechg(19)
08) --> Shout==> Acc(8)Empty(19)Dmg(21)Dmg(21)Dmg(23)Rechg(23)
10) --> Siphon Speed==> Acc(10)Rechg(29)Rechg(31)Rechg(31)
12) --> Hurdle==> Jump(12)
14) --> Health==> Heal(14)
16) --> Increase Density==> DmgRes(16)
18) --> Siren's Song==> Acc(18)Acc(25)Range(25)
20) --> Speed Boost==> EndMod(20)
22) --> Stamina==> EndMod(22)EndMod(27)EndMod(27)
24) --> Maneuvers==> EndRdx(24)
26) --> Tactics==> Rechg(26)TH_Buf(31)TH_Buf(33)TH_Buf(33)
28) --> Inertial Reduction==> Jump(28)
30) --> Hover==> Fly(30)Fly(33)Fly(34)
32) --> Dreadful Wail==> Acc(32)Dmg(34)Dmg(34)Rechg(36)Rechg(36)Rechg(36)
35) --> Transference==> Acc(35)Acc(37)EndMod(37)EndMod(37)EndMod(39)Rechg(39)
38) --> Fulcrum Shift==> Acc(38)Acc(39)Rechg(40)Rechg(40)Rechg(40)
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Sprint==> Empty(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Empty(1)
01) --> Scourge==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Empty(2)
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Pay no attention to the order I slotted the powers in, I've gotten lazy with Heroplanner. Ive taken out a few accuracies from my recommended slotting due to Tactics, but left some with two Accuracy if they are absolutely vital to hit or suffer an accuracy penalty. Also, some attacks have two accuracies on the chance that Tactics gets detoggled through mezzing. For some variation, you can remove Inertial Reduction and Leadership for Combat Jumping, Super Jump, and Acrobatics. Hover can be swapped for Air Superiority, which allows you to lock down a boss if need be.
All in all, you really cant go wrong with your Sonic/Kinetic corruptor if youve been paying attention up to this point. Just keep the main premise alive, and youll do just fine.
