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Anyone know if Phase Shift shuts off Steamy Mist as well?
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Not sure cuz i've not seen it in-game, but based on what we know, i'd say no. With the invisibility powers you can't have a power active that effects other players. Also mist is a toggle and i think with phase shifts you can't have any toggle powers up. Again i'm surmising from the information that's been thrown down already.
Since we've still not gotten a definite answer on this, and as I've got like 4 copies of ET on the Training Room, and they'll have free respecs to play with, I'll take some time soonish and find out for sure and update the results here.
The next revision of this guide will be done sometime after Issue 3 is live and running stable.
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Anyone know if Phase Shift shuts off Steamy Mist as well?
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Not sure cuz i've not seen it in-game, but based on what we know, i'd say no. With the invisibility powers you can't have a power active that effects other players. Also mist is a toggle and i think with phase shifts you can't have any toggle powers up. Again i'm surmising from the information that's been thrown down already.
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Phase Shift will not work with Steamy mists, but you can have other toggles on.
Any toggles you do have on, however, (hurricane, for example) will lose all effectiveness ouside of yourself (movement powers, for exemple, would not loose anything). If Steamy Mists could be used with Phase Shift, then it would do nothing but give you double stealth (the same reason Steamy Mists will not work with Stealth). You would have for Def and Res bonus, but since you can't be hit when Phase Shifted, it would matter little. Your teammates would get nothing from it, even if they are inside the graphical repesentation of the power.
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Since I published the 1.1 update of the guide, they re-added the ability to enhance range on Lightning Storm.
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So what does the enhanced Range do exactly for Lightning Storm?
Since the storm appears right over your head, it's not like you can summon it farther away from you.
But if it enhances the radius of effect for the storm, that would be interesting. And that's the only thing I can think of right now.
Kevin
Actually, it enhances the range of the lightning bolts that the storm throws. Sort of like if an Illusion Controller slotted Phantasm for range, it would affect their blasting distance. Although such a use would be silly for them, it's not a terribly poor choice for a Stormie; I know I got a pretty good use out of the Hydra damage/range enhancement I had, before it went red anyway.
I have found a valid and potentially powerful use for Tornado. It's challenging to pull off, but when done successfully the Tornado becomes in essence an AoE hold.
The premise that makes this possible is wrapped up in how Tornado chooses it's next target. When you first create a Tornado, it (apparently) creates a list of all mobs that are either in aggro range or already aggroed on you. When it switches targets, it will choose a mob from this list at random (whether it ran away or is still nearby).
To pull this off requires the use of Hurricane (Gale can make this easier, but is not absolutely necessary) and - most importantly - a corner. Specifically, a corner as close to 90 degrees as possible. Having a ceiling of some kind is even better, to prevent the mobs from being blown up and away.
The basic idea is that, if you can get all the mobs involved in the melee into the corner (or reasonably close) and keep them from running out with Hurricane before you put the Tornado so that the mobs are between the corner and the Tornado, then all the mobs on the Tornado's list will be blown into the exact same spot - the corner. Therefore, when it switches targets, the new target will be in the same spot as the old, so it will keep attacking the same place. Keeping Hurricane up and standing so its knockback is directed into the corner will ensure that any mobs knocked up and away by the Tornado will go into the corner rather than away from it.
The end result of this will be the sight of the legs of the mobs hovering 2/3 of the way above the floor and sticking out of the wall for the duration of the Tornado's lifetime. During that time, you can unload all your AoE attacks on them.
The biggest challenge to using this tactic is getting all the mobs into position before throwing Tornado - if even one gets past you, there will be a chance that he'll be the mob Tornado picks to go after next, dropping all the rest as it leaves the corner to go after him. Using Hurricane only to set this up is tricky (here's where Gale would be useful). Don't forget to also use good old fashioned tanker-style positioning tricks to get all the mobs in the right spot.
As an aside, I've repeatedly encountered a bug with Hurricane. It's inconsistant, but on occasion the logic used by the game to figure out the direction a mob should be knocked back from me will be reversed in value - meaning a mob in front of me will go towards and past me instead of being knocked directly away from me. (I've already bugged it.)
hiya.
that hurricane bug is a known issue.
it usually occurs when someone other than the user of hurricane has held or immobilized a mob and then hurricane is applied.
for some reason (bug, i'm sure) the game considers the caster of the hold/immob as the source of the repel of the hurricane and not the operator of the hurricane as the source of the repeal.
the result is, well, a mess for the storm summoner.
this has been a problem since i2 i think.
still waiting fo the devs to address it.
Thank you for this excellent guide. My first character (and hence the sentimental favorite) is a Storm/Psy Defender. He's only up to level 10 so far, but your guide will be a great help as I move forward with him.
One note I have - I've found a fun technique to use Gale in combination with Hover. If you're actually above an enemy, using Gale will result in pinning them to the ground just below you. This gives you the Knockdown effect, while keeping them close for short ranged attacks, or for other teammates to pummel them. Very handy for a persistent lieutenant who needs to be taught a lesson!
Excellent point. Im sure if Zealot comes around he will agree that hover/fly is quite useful beyond travel and character concept ideas. Hover is definetly your friend. Along the same line as with gale, if you cast the lightning storm while hovering above a group of mobs the KB of the storm will be lessened by the steep angle, again giving you a knock down instead of knockback.
I'd like to add that I have used Tornado and Lightning Storm in the Reactor during the respec tf. While it may be annoying to some teammates, (especially melee teammates who dont necessarily want villains scattered all over creation), but Tornado and Lightning do a pretty nice job of keeping villains from standing next to the reactor beating it down.
I have an Ice/Storm controller and it is pretty cool to throw out an Ice Slick and Storm Cloud to protect the reactor, then unleash a series of Tornados and Jack Frosts to entertain the villains. You can basically sit back and watch the fun.
Im not saying this solely justifies taking these powers but I feel they do have their moments of glory and the reactor is one of them. Very situational powers for sure, but I like them.
Anyway, just my opinion. 
Very nice guide. I have a level 35 Ill/Storm controller and everything is exactly how i see it. except for Steamy Mist which i respeced out of because i had Team Invis.
"NO....No clowns" - Positron
50s: Smasha (SS/SD Brute), House Rules (Mind/Thorn Dom), Wind of Mind (Illusion/Storm Controller), Coraxa (Kat/Inv Scrapper), Summer's Dream (Fortunata)
Let me start of by saying that I completely hated Tornado.
Until I was out of decent power choices at 49, and decided on a whim to take it. Now, I am rethinking that 'hating it' thing. Why?
Because in certain situations the damage ticks from Tornado come *very* fast.
Situation #1: this is when the mob is immune to kb/kb and the tornado just 'sits' on top of them damaging them. (Almost all AVs do this now)
Situation #2: this is very easy to make happen. Any recent Immob on the target will prevent kb/kd for about 10 seconds or so and have the same result. Not absolutely sure about holds, but they may also give the 10 sec kb/kd resist.
Note that for either situation to work there cannot be other mobs nearby or the Tornado will go wandering.
Anyhow, once I get my third respec, Ill copy to test and let you guys know how much damage a 6 slotted tornado on the fast damage tick does 
i've got my tornado 6-slotted for pvp.
it does about 20-22 per tick.
is nice when your opponant is trapped in a corner.
and it really helps vs AVs.
I'm pretty sure that Steamy Mist doesn't debuff your runspeed any more. If it does, it's completely imperceptible to me. Great guide!
Well, this guide is from Issue 1. A few things have changed since then.
For more detailed information on powers since then, look here. For Storm Summoning mentality, check MightScourge's Guide.
Nice guide.
I had the misfortune to enter COH with a storm def, and the instincts of a 20-yr gamemaster to make one chr and stick to it. The storm's unique combo of agro / no-defense made for a very squishy squishy back in those days, tho either I fixed the chr or the devs did. Couple that with the fact that I was playing it to-concept, ie. "heals make no sense for weather powers" and I had a few problems. Nevertheless, playing it these days fairly effectively. Comments:
1. Tornado: Can't figure the behaviour either. It usually tops the bad guy near to me or that I aim it at, and after that, any other villains it happens to hit are gravy. I usually use this as a later attack chain if I'm truly out of all the good stuff, - snow storm, freezing rain, etc.etc.
2. Hurricane: Lord I wish they'd fix the graphic, it looks so stupid, but I have grudgingly begun to use it.
3. "God of Air": I have macro'd my boy so that he is in constant flight with the super air macros I found on the forums. I am in constant hover, with key combos that allow me to switch to flight easily and back again. The upshot is that, in all but the tighest caves I am constantly in flight. This is wonderful for the squishy storm in terms of defense, but also gives a great vantage point for a def to fire off debuffs heals and other things - I highly recommend that.
4. Thunderclap: I'm truly baffled what to do with this. It never seems to hit, it just looks cool. Could we siphon some cool off the thunderclap and give it to hurricane? I have one slot acc and one slot duration, but still no go.
5. Lightning Storm: Ya, that stationary cloud (I call him Fluffy) is cute, but it not following you is a killer for teams. Fine for soloing tho when you need a dose of extra firepower
6. Freezing Rain: I dunno if anybody mentioned this, but I call this my "mage smasher" power. Battle Cry: NO MORE MAGIC for you! The knockdown is great against shaman and COT because it prevents them casting all those nasty little spells of theirs. Love that.
7. Mist: Either I'm well slotted or something, but I don't notice any slowing in my movement rate. Mind you, as stated, I really can't tell any benefit from Mist, either. It's suppoesd to buff defense, so I keep it up for the team. Hope it works..
I really have to have one of the devs explain to me one day, tho, how mobs KNOW I'm the source of all their troubles? If a big tank punches them, ok, if I shoot a lightning bolt in their face, ok, but when rain comes down on their heads, how do they know to go pound the blue guy in the back -- and go round the angry tank to do it? The logic behind that I'll never figure out. Don't hit me! I'm only a thunder god! I'm squishy!
I thought this guide was for issue 11. We should probably either update this guide or remove it from being threaded at the top. It has a lot of old information in it.
Because of its title its easy to think its the most up to date info instead of some of the oldest.
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I thought this guide was for issue 11. We should probably either update this guide or remove it from being threaded at the top. It has a lot of old information in it.
Because of its title its easy to think its the most up to date info instead of some of the oldest.
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If you look at the Guide to Guides or the guide index at the top of each of the AT forums, you will see the issue number during which the guide was written next to the guide name. That said, not much has been changed in Storm Summoning so the guide should still be valid.
very good guide, zealot. it has helped me a lot.
one note, however.
i don't think tornado works on AVs the same way it works on underlings. i use it whenever i fight AVs or Monsters and have never seen a tornado throw or disorient either.
now, just because i haven't seen it doesn't mean it doesn't happen...
but...
i think they might be so resistant to its effects as to basically ignore them. at least as far as knockback and disorient are concerned.
if anyone knows different, i'd love to hear about it and how you're slotting your tornado.
thanks.