Pilcrow's Phantom Army Guide

Pilcrow · 08-24-2005 09:18 PM

Pilcrows Phantom Army (PA) Guide

This guide began as a way to answer the question Should I Perma-PA? (meaning: should I slot 6 recharges into PA, which even with Hasten is not quite perma).

The short answer is: No. Put in at least 1 DMG enhancement. A typical build will get 74% more DPS and lose only 9% of PAs uptime for that one enhancement. Slotting for max damage per cast (1 ACC + 5 DMG) is also inadvisable, at least 1 recharge is more optimal because you get more uptime and more DPS (less per cast but the more frequent casts more than make up for it).

Caveat: If you want PA purely as a control, slot to perma.

Anyhow, this guide documents how I came up with that answer and tells you a lot of other stuff about PA. It even has a calculator to figure out the perfect PA slotting for your specific character. Aint that cute.

The guide is more about slotting PA than using it, so if you need that more basic tactical information, and the section on the basics doesn't cut it for you, theres a simple but nice Using Phantom Army Guide you can look at.

Anyhow, I hope you find it useful. If you get nothing else out of this guide, try to keep the following in mind
<ul type="square">[*]Perma-PA (all recharge) is probably a mistake. Slot for at least 1 DMG unless you want it to be a pure control.[*]If you typically fight even cons, slot DMG & RECH only. If you typically fight red and above slot 1 ACC in with your DMG and RECH.[*]Your goal is to have PAs recharge rate fit well with your typical combat cycle. A perfectly slotted PA that spends a lot of time unclicked, or that makes you delay combats waiting for recharge is a poorly slotted PA.[*]The worst slotting and the best slotting are within 20% of each other, so focus on fitting your playstyle.[/list]
Phantom Army Basics (as of Issue 5)

Phantom Army is unique in a few ways, even amongst pets. It is the only pet that does illusory damage, like Spectral Wounds does. That means that some of the damage it delivers heals back automatically a few seconds later. Furthermore, if you slot damage into the PA, it increases the amount of damage it does, but the healback remains the same, which gives you A LOT of bang from slotting for damage. And since the pets can be attacking while you are doing other things, you have even more incentive to slot these for damage.

But PA is also an invulnerable, but targetable pet. It controls enemies by taunting them, but shines as an absorber of the alpha strike by the MOBs, who concentrate their initial attacks on these invulnerable, targetable pets instead ofyou. Mid-combat, they are also fabulous for taking three MOBs essentially out of the fray and focusing their attacks on these three unkillable pets.

So, an eternal debate exists about how to slot these puppies. If youre into control above all else, you should slot them 100% for recharge so they are available as often as possible to absorb aggro. But if you were about control above all else, you probably wouldnt be an illusion controller in the first place.

On the other hand, PA is one of the best controls available to Illusion (or even to any controller in I5). So slotting it the traditional 1 ACC + 5 DMG to maximize the DPS may not be an ideal way to go, either.

So how do you decide which way to slot PA? Well, use this handy-dandy guide, of course!

The Ideal
First off, we have to figure what an ideal slotting of PA would be. Ideally:
<ul type="square">[*]PA would be recharged at the start of each combat to absorb the alpha strike[*]Each combat would last exactly 60 seconds so that none of your PAs damage was wasted because PA was up with no-one to fight[*]The time it takes you to rest or walk or buff or whatever until the next combat would be exactly the time it takes your PA to recharge so its ready to absorb the next alpha strike, but it never sat in your tray unused[*]PA will do the maximum possible damage while meeting those other conditions.[/list]
Now, youll never hit those conditions. But thats what you want to slot towards. A PA that is available at the start of more combats than not, but that doesnt spend a lot of time in your tray unclicked. Obviously, the big variable here is how much time your combats take. But no matter what the numbers show you, they arent as important as striving towards that ideal. If a slotting you see is 5% below optimum, but you have PA available to take the alpha 10% more often with the substandard slotting, then you came out ahead.

The reason people tell you to Perma-PA is that it maximizes the number of times its there to absorb your alpha strike. Thats an easy benefit to note and an easy slotting to get it. Same story with people who advise you to maximize DPS. Easy to know how to slot for that, and an obvious benefit.

Slotting towards the more complex ideal is less straightforward, because theres no set amount of time between combats. The key here is to make your best informed guess and play with it for a while. Then move up and down the chart of ideal slottings based on what your play experience tells you. Too much downtime on PA? Add a recharge in. Sits in your try unclicked too much? Replace a recharge with something else.

The Calculator
Its an excel spreadsheet that can be downloaded from here. I will try to keep it up there as long as humanly possible.

Some Results
For those who cant or dont want to download the spreadsheet, I'll follow this post with some results from the Calculator.

Assumptions Used
Most of what we know of Phantom Army comes from Gekos Post defending the changes to Phantom Army when Issue 2 changed them significantly.

From this post we know that:
<ul type="square">[*]PA has 75% accuracy[*]PA casts 1-4 decoys (3 each cast after I5)[*]Ranged attacks are a bit faster than melee attacks (10 ranged/cast vs. 7 melee). Between this and some testing it appears that a melee attack takes 8 seconds to cycle and a ranged attack takes 6 seconds to cycle. (I would love some additional testers, I had a hard time keeping the PA at range.)[*]Another little tidbit, it seems that the cycles for a ranged and melee attack are not intertwined. So if you could get the PA to come in and out of melee range, youd get extra attacks because it would cast the ranged attack, cast the melee attack when it would have idled waiting for the ranged to recharge, cast a ranged when it would have idled waiting for the melee to recharge, etc.[/list]
My testing of PA, which I would LOVE some people to confirm or deny, reveals the following:

PA seemed to attack about once every 4 seconds or so at range and a melee attack every 8 seconds. Gekos figures say a ranged attack takes 6 seconds and a melee one takes about 8 seconds. Thats not my experience in I5, but Im going to use Gekos implied numbers for ranged attacks in my analysis. Ill update that guide based on testing feedback from others.

Ive Brawl Indexed Phantom Army on two different illusionist (lvl 18 and lvl 36) and come up with the following. Please let me know if you have different results:
[*]Melee: 6.09 - 4.83 autoheal = 1.26 [*]Ranged: 3.76 - 1.79 autoheal = 1.97

Finally, some other facts that are in my assumptions:
<ul type="square">[*]PA has a duration of 60 seconds with a recharge of 240 seconds. [*]Hasten is a 0.7 recharge effect and can be perma with 6 +0 SOs[*]I made some educated guesses on the recharge boost of AM, Siphon Speed, Etc. Precise numbers would be appreciated.[*]A +0 Recharge, DMG, or ACC SO delivers +0.333 Bonus[*]Accuracy caps at 95% and floors at 5%[*]Accuracy is computed as follows: Chance to hit = (1 + Acc SOs) * (Base ToHit * Purple_Patch - Defense of target + ToHit bonus)[*]Purple Patch Modifiers are as per Ladioss Sopp's spreadsheet[/list]
Caveats
I've done my best to test the numbers I've used, but it would be nice to have some others test and see if you get the same results. Specifically, there are a couple of things I'm hinky on because I haven't gotten confirming tests from others.:

<ul type="square">[*]The BI of PAs two kinds of attacks (melee and ranged)[*]The Attack rate of the ranged attacks (melee was pretty easy to get since they stayed still and spammed it, but ranged was hard to get because they kept closing to melee)[*]The formula for accuracy, especially purple patch issues[/list]
Let me know if your test results seem to differ or if you find an outright error in the guide or calculator.

Enjoy your decoys.

Pilcrow · 08-24-2005 09:29 PM

Some Results
For those who cant or dont want to download the spreadsheet, here are some results to guide yourself with. First, know what I used as my default setting in the calculator:

Basic Variable Settings
<ul type="square">[*]My results are based on +0 SOs slotted into PA[*]Results with Hasten, AM, Siphon Speed Etc. assume those are perma[*]I split attack time 50% melee, 50% ranged, this is one area where YMMV significantly[*]My results were calculated against minions[*]My results were calculated against even cons[*]My results assumed 0 DEF on the MOBs[*]Changing any of the three above items makes ACC more important to slot[/list]
Second, know that I played with some 2 ACC slottings, but they were always weak, even against +8 cons. So youll only see 0 ACC and 1 ACC items in my charts. I cant mathematically justify slotting 2 ACC.

Third, I want to stress that the difference between the worst possible slotting (perma-PA) and the best possible slotting is usually only 20%. I.E. perma PA is 80% as optimal as the most optimal slotting. The difference between the 1 DMG + 5 RECH slotting I recommend as your minimum slotting and the optimal slotting is usually only 10%. So in most cases as you play with different optimal slottings, you are moving within a pretty small range of values. Therefore, slotting to fit your playstyle/rhythm is probably MORE important than hitting the supposed optimum. After all, if the slotting you picked is missing ideal timing enough for you to notice, then its probably effecting you at least 1 in 10 combats.

Finally, and I cant stress this enough. These statistics are about balancing the uptime of PA with its DPS. But I dont want to leave the impression that damage is the way to go with PA. Their ability as an agro sink is a very powerful control, especially by I5 standards. I would advise you against a pure damage slotting as much as I would against perma-PA.

Legend
<ul type="square">[*]X sec downtime btw casts The amount of time between when the previous PA despawns and the first spawning of the next PA[*]available X% of play time If you cast PA every time it recharged, this is the % of time it would be there[*]X DMG per Cast (BI) - The total DMG the PA will produce (as a multiple of your base brawl a la the Brawl Index) in the 60 seconds it is active[*]X DPS (BI) The DMG per Second PA will produce not during a cast but during your entire playtime if you were to cast it each time it were active under ideal conditions;[*]X% of max uptime The uptime of this slotting vs. the maximum possible uptime (6 Slotted for recharge)[*]X% of max DPS The DPS of this slotting vs. the maximum possible DPS[*]X% of max optimization score The optimization score of this slotting vs. the max possible optimization score. The optimization score is computed by adding the % of max DPS and the % of max uptime[/list]
Without Hasten vs. Even Con Minions<ul type="square">[*]Perma - 23.05 sec downtime btw casts; available 72.24% of play time; 33.53 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.4 DPS (BI); 100% of max uptime; 41.12% of max DPS; 83.47% of max optimization score[*]1 DMG - 33.06 sec downtime btw casts; available 64.48% of play time; 63.9 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.69 DPS (BI); 89.25% of max uptime; 69.93% of max DPS; 94.16% of max optimization score[*]2 DMG - 45.92 sec downtime btw casts; available 56.65% of play time; 94.26 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.89 DPS (BI); 78.41% of max uptime; 90.64% of max DPS; 100% of max optimization score[*]3 DMG - 63.06 sec downtime btw casts; available 48.76% of play time; 124.63 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.01 DPS (BI); 67.49% of max uptime; 100% of max DPS; 99.07% of max optimization score[*]4 DMG - 87.06 sec downtime btw casts; available 40.8% of play time; 155 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.05 DPS (BI); 56.48% of max uptime; 100% of max DPS; 92.56% of max optimization score[*]1 ACC + 4 DMG - 123.05 sec downtime btw casts; available 32.78% of play time; 179.57 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.98 DPS (BI); 45.37% of max uptime; 100% of max DPS; 85.99% of max optimization score[*]1 ACC + 5 DMG - 183 sec downtime btw casts; available 24.69% of play time; 214.75 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.88 DPS (BI); 34.18% of max uptime; 100% of max DPS; 79.37% of max optimization score[/list]
With Hasten vs. Even Con Minions<ul type="square">[*]Perma - 7.9 sec downtime btw casts; available 88.37% of play time; 33.53 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.49 DPS (BI); 100% of max uptime; 33.15% of max DPS; 80.75% of max optimization score[*]1 DMG - 14.32 sec downtime btw casts; available 80.73% of play time; 63.9 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.86 DPS (BI); 91.36% of max uptime; 57.72% of max DPS; 90.41% of max optimization score[*]2 DMG - 22.16 sec downtime btw casts; available 73.03% of play time; 94.26 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.15 DPS (BI); 82.65% of max uptime; 77.03% of max DPS; 96.84% of max optimization score[*]3 DMG - 31.92 sec downtime btw casts; available 65.27% of play time; 124.63 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.36 DPS (BI); 73.87% of max uptime; 91.03% of max DPS; 100% of max optimization score[*]4 DMG - 44.44 sec downtime btw casts; available 57.45% of play time; 155 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.48 DPS (BI); 65.02% of max uptime; 99.64% of max DPS; 99.86% of max optimization score[*]5 DMG - 61.05 sec downtime btw casts; available 49.57% of play time; 185.36 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.53 DPS (BI); 56.09% of max uptime; 100% of max DPS; 94.66% of max optimization score[*]1 ACC + 5 DMG - 84.18 sec downtime btw casts; available 41.62% of play time; 214.75 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.49 DPS (BI); 47.1% of max uptime; 100% of max DPS; 89.21% of max optimization score[/list]
With Hasten and AM vs. Even Con Minions<ul type="square">[*]Perma - 3.03 sec downtime btw casts; available 95.19% of play time; 33.53 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.53 DPS (BI); 100% of max uptime; 30.47% of max DPS; 79.95% of max optimization score[*]1 DMG - 8.48 sec downtime btw casts; available 87.61% of play time; 63.9 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.93 DPS (BI); 92.04% of max uptime; 53.44% of max DPS; 89.14% of max optimization score[*]2 DMG - 15.03 sec downtime btw casts; available 79.97% of play time; 94.26 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.26 DPS (BI); 84.01% of max uptime; 71.96% of max DPS; 95.57% of max optimization score[*]3 DMG - 23.03 sec downtime btw casts; available 72.27% of play time; 124.63 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.5 DPS (BI); 75.92% of max uptime; 85.98% of max DPS; 99.2% of max optimization score[*]4 DMG - 33.02 sec downtime btw casts; available 64.5% of play time; 155 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.67 DPS (BI); 67.76% of max uptime; 95.43% of max DPS; 100% of max optimization score[*]5 DMG - 45.87 sec downtime btw casts; available 56.67% of play time; 185.36 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.75 DPS (BI); 59.53% of max uptime; 100% of max DPS; 97.76% of max optimization score[*]6 DMG - 63 sec downtime btw casts; available 48.78% of play time; 215.73 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.75 DPS (BI); 51.24% of max uptime; 100% of max DPS; 92.68% of max optimization score[/list]
Without Hasten vs. +2 Minions<ul type="square">[*]Perma - 23.05 sec downtime btw casts; available 72.24% of play time; 27.81 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.33 DPS (BI); 100% of max uptime; 35.74% of max DPS; 85.98% of max optimization score[*]1 DMG - 33.06 sec downtime btw casts; available 64.48% of play time; 52.99 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.57 DPS (BI); 89.25% of max uptime; 60.79% of max DPS; 95.04% of max optimization score[*]2 DMG - 45.92 sec downtime btw casts; available 56.65% of play time; 78.17 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.74 DPS (BI); 78.41% of max uptime; 78.79% of max DPS; 99.58% of max optimization score[*]1 ACC + 2 DMG - 63.06 sec downtime btw casts; available 48.76% of play time; 104.18 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.85 DPS (BI); 67.49% of max uptime; 90.38% of max DPS; 100% of max optimization score[*]1 ACC + 3 DMG - 87.06 sec downtime btw casts; available 40.8% of play time; 137.75 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.94 DPS (BI); 56.48% of max uptime; 100% of max DPS; 99.12% of max optimization score[*]1 ACC + 4 DMG - 123.05 sec downtime btw casts; available 32.78% of play time; 171.31 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.94 DPS (BI); 45.37% of max uptime; 100% of max DPS; 92.08% of max optimization score[*]1 ACC + 5 DMG - 183 sec downtime btw casts; available 24.69% of play time; 204.87 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.84 DPS (BI); 34.18% of max uptime; 100% of max DPS; 84.99% of max optimization score[/list]
With Hasten vs. +2 Minions<ul type="square">[*]Perma - 7.9 sec downtime btw casts; available 88.37% of play time; 27.81 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.41 DPS (BI); 100% of max uptime; 28.82% of max DPS; 81.62% of max optimization score[*]1 DMG - 14.32 sec downtime btw casts; available 80.73% of play time; 52.99 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.71 DPS (BI); 91.36% of max uptime; 50.17% of max DPS; 89.67% of max optimization score[*]2 DMG - 22.16 sec downtime btw casts; available 73.03% of play time; 78.17 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.95 DPS (BI); 82.65% of max uptime; 66.96% of max DPS; 94.79% of max optimization score[*]1 ACC + 2 DMG - 31.92 sec downtime btw casts; available 65.27% of play time; 104.18 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.13 DPS (BI); 73.87% of max uptime; 79.76% of max DPS; 97.33% of max optimization score[*]1 ACC + 3 DMG - 44.44 sec downtime btw casts; available 57.45% of play time; 137.75 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.32 DPS (BI); 65.02% of max uptime; 92.82% of max DPS; 100% of max optimization score[*]1 ACC + 4 DMG - 61.05 sec downtime btw casts; available 49.57% of play time; 171.31 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.42 DPS (BI); 56.09% of max uptime; 99.59% of max DPS; 98.64% of max optimization score[*]1 ACC + 5 DMG - 84.18 sec downtime btw casts; available 41.62% of play time; 204.87 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.42 DPS (BI); 47.1% of max uptime; 100% of max DPS; 93.2% of max optimization score[/list]
With Hasten and AM vs. +2 Minions<ul type="square">[*]Perma - 3.03 sec downtime btw casts; available 95.19% of play time; 27.81 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.44 DPS (BI); 100% of max uptime; 26.48% of max DPS; 80.73% of max optimization score[*]1 DMG - 8.48 sec downtime btw casts; available 87.61% of play time; 52.99 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.77 DPS (BI); 92.04% of max uptime; 46.45% of max DPS; 88.39% of max optimization score[*]2 DMG - 15.03 sec downtime btw casts; available 79.97% of play time; 78.17 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.04 DPS (BI); 84.01% of max uptime; 62.55% of max DPS; 93.54% of max optimization score[*]1 ACC + 2 DMG - 23.03 sec downtime btw casts; available 72.27% of play time; 104.18 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.25 DPS (BI); 75.92% of max uptime; 75.33% of max DPS; 96.53% of max optimization score[*]1 ACC + 3 DMG - 33.02 sec downtime btw casts; available 64.5% of play time; 137.75 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.48 DPS (BI); 67.76% of max uptime; 88.9% of max DPS; 99.99% of max optimization score[*]1 ACC + 4 DMG - 45.87 sec downtime btw casts; available 56.67% of play time; 171.31 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.62 DPS (BI); 59.53% of max uptime; 97.15% of max DPS; 100% of max optimization score[*]1 ACC + 5 DMG - 63 sec downtime btw casts; available 48.78% of play time; 204.87 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.67 DPS (BI); 51.24% of max uptime; 100% of max DPS; 96.53% of max optimization score[/list]

StaticDrifter · 08-24-2005 11:11 PM

Very thorough guide you have here Pilcrow.
It must have taken you a while.

I find the spreadsheet to be a little cluttered. Other than that I really like how you stressed to the reader to find their optimum as opposed to the optimum. And you have lots of numbers to back your claim also.

Well done.

TopDoc · 08-25-2005 01:12 PM

I've been meaning to test PA and Phantasms for a long time, but haven't ever bothered. My Ill/Rad is 50. But I do have the tools, and it isn't hard. I could get accurate animation and recharge times, BI, range, etc. But there's so many other things to test. Hmm...

Most of your assumptions look correct. I'm not sure about the Purple Patch numbers, having never tested them. But your Accuracy calculation just isn't logical. Why should your Accuracy Enhancements modify your opponent's Defense? Specifically, I would expect you to be able to counter my massive Defense with your massive Accuracy Enhancements. But if your base ToHit is 75%, and I have 75% Defense, it doesn't matter how much Accuracy you have. The right half of the calculation is 0.

The same applies to ToHit buffs and debuffs. If I put a ToHit debuff on you for 75%, it doesn't matter how much Accuracy you have.

Despite that, I think you may be right. With 6 slotted Radiation Infection, people rarely hit me in the arena. And I've heard that SR Scrappers are notoriously hard to hit in PvP. I would expect people with lots of Dam/Acc HOs to be able to hit me or an SR scrapper, but it may not matter.

Now this is something I really DO want to test. It's a pretty major change in the way I expected things to work.

Goodbye and thanks for all the fish.
I've moved on to Diablo 3, TopDoc-1304

Pilcrow · 08-25-2005 01:44 PM

Anything you can figure out about accuracy would be great to get into This thread.

If we get to some consensus, we should probably make a guide out of it.

Accuracy is deuced odd in this game.

Local_Man · 08-25-2005 04:48 PM

Pilcrow--

Thanks so much for the hard work! Awesome job!

At level 38, I have my PA with 5 recharge and one damage (with Hasten and AM), and I wanted to know if I needed to change the enhancements. You confirmed that I have exactly what I want out of them! Available almost all the time, but as much damage as I can get. Enervating Field would then increase the damage by 40%, right?

An interesting question for you . . . for those Ill/Kin controllers, what does Siphon Speed or Speed Boost do to the recharge? (I know a Kin can't cast Speed Boost on himself, but what effect would it have on another Ill controller?)

LOCAL MAN! The most famous hero of all. There are more newspaper stories about me than anyone else. "Local Man wins Medal of Honor." "Local Man opens Animal Shelter." "Local Man Charged with..." (Um, forget about that one.)
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Pilcrow · 08-26-2005 08:22 AM

The calculator has a slot for that, and I'm about 80% confident I have the right number (0.2) for siphon speed. I put .5 for Siphon Power though and it should be .35. I need to fix that.

Anyhow, just plug some true's into the calculator and fix the speed boost number and you'll know. Though AM is .30 and Speed Boost is .35, so the AM numbers will probably be almost the same.

Starfox_NA · 08-31-2005 12:00 AM

[ QUOTE ]
An interesting question for you . . . for those Ill/Kin controllers, what does Siphon Speed or Speed Boost do to the recharge? (I know a Kin can't cast Speed Boost on himself, but what effect would it have on another Ill controller?)

[/ QUOTE ]

Speed Boost is supposed to be 50% recharge. But the Phantom Army itself is unaffected by buffs, so Speed Boost and Fulcum Shift doesn't affect it at all. I say Rad is better than Kin as a secondary for Illusion.

Frosts_Bite · 08-31-2005 01:30 AM

Awesome guide Pil!! You made me feel really good about how I have my PA slotted: 3dam, 2rech, 1acc
Nice job!!

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VA_Belle · 09-01-2005 08:00 AM

FAN-TASTIC!! Thanks for a great job with this. As a noob 'troller working my way up, I've marked this post for my use when I finally hit 18.

TiberiusGarett · 09-01-2005 09:33 AM

Excellent Pilcrow.
I've been thinking about optimal slotting for my playstyle and with Ill/Rad for one of my controllers I had gone with 4 recharge 1 acc and 1 damage, I think I may swap it to try 1 acc, 2 dam and 3 recharge. I've noticed with containment I sometimes don't even summon them (depends on team size and spawn size), I'll enervate/blind/spectral wounds my enemies down fast enough.

Flash_Freeze · 09-07-2005 10:16 PM

What happens if you add a fully slotted Tactics to the mix? An Ill/Kin Troller really benefits from the ACC boost in Tactics since so many powers depend on a successful hit on a target.

I have about 12 ACC slots in all my powers. Using Tactics, I can free up 7 of them. Granted, I use 2 powers instead of the 7 slots, which is now causing me problems figuring out the new build.

The way I see it, 3 dam 3 rechrg should do the trick.

Pilcrow · 09-09-2005 11:24 PM

[ QUOTE ]
What happens if you add a fully slotted Tactics to the mix? An Ill/Kin Troller really benefits from the ACC boost in Tactics since so many powers depend on a successful hit on a target.

I have about 12 ACC slots in all my powers. Using Tactics, I can free up 7 of them. Granted, I use 2 powers instead of the 7 slots, which is now causing me problems figuring out the new build.

The way I see it, 3 dam 3 rechrg should do the trick.

[/ QUOTE ]

Good comment. I included some 2 ACC slottings in my analysis and they were always poor performers, even against +8s. So, I can't really justify more than 1 ACC enhancer.

Because Accuracy essentially caps at 1 SO (and 6 slotted tactics approaches 1 SO as I recall), having 6 slotted tactics says that you should replace the accuracy enhancer with a DMG or Recharge one. And lucky you, BTW!

Q_Arkhan · 09-12-2005 07:50 AM

Actually, 22.5% for your enervating field, in I5

Hardship · 09-15-2005 01:19 PM

[ QUOTE ]
What happens if you add a fully slotted Tactics to the mix? An Ill/Kin Troller really benefits from the ACC boost in Tactics since so many powers depend on a successful hit on a target.

I have about 12 ACC slots in all my powers. Using Tactics, I can free up 7 of them. Granted, I use 2 powers instead of the 7 slots, which is now causing me problems figuring out the new build.

The way I see it, 3 dam 3 rechrg should do the trick.

[/ QUOTE ]

It was my understanding that PA didn't benefit from Leadership. Way back when I had Leadership on my Illusion controller, I could swear that it made no difference to PA. The Phantasm was buffed by it, but not PA. Has that changed?

Pilcrow · 09-20-2005 04:10 PM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
What happens if you add a fully slotted Tactics to the mix? An Ill/Kin Troller really benefits from the ACC boost in Tactics since so many powers depend on a successful hit on a target.

I have about 12 ACC slots in all my powers. Using Tactics, I can free up 7 of them. Granted, I use 2 powers instead of the 7 slots, which is now causing me problems figuring out the new build.

The way I see it, 3 dam 3 rechrg should do the trick.

[/ QUOTE ]

It was my understanding that PA didn't benefit from Leadership. Way back when I had Leadership on my Illusion controller, I could swear that it made no difference to PA. The Phantasm was buffed by it, but not PA. Has that changed?

[/ QUOTE ]

Nope, I just forgot that PA was unbaffable in my greedy wish to put another DMG enhancer in there.

Curses!

VA_Belle · 09-21-2005 06:14 AM

[ QUOTE ]

Nope, I just forgot that PA was unbaffable in my greedy wish to put another DMG enhancer in there.

Curses!

[/ QUOTE ]

You were baffled?

Pilcrow · 09-21-2005 07:04 AM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

Nope, I just forgot that PA was unbaffable in my greedy wish to put another DMG enhancer in there.

Curses!

[/ QUOTE ]

You were baffled?

[/ QUOTE ]

Now that would be a fun control power.

You BAFFLE Mortifiator, he has no idea what he should be doing anymore and randomly performs actions
Mortificator does jumping jacks
Mortificator attacks Heroguy for 6.57 HP
Mortificator attacks Mire Eidelon for 6.57 HP
Mortificator is Resting
Mortificator chooses scissors

Meh, kind of like confuse in dumb mode.

Cry_Havoc · 10-18-2005 12:22 PM

Now that would be a fun control power.

You BAFFLE Mortifiator, he has no idea what he should be doing anymore and randomly performs actions
Mortificator does jumping jacks
Mortificator attacks Heroguy for 6.57 HP
Mortificator attacks Mire Eidelon for 6.57 HP
Mortificator is Resting
Mortificator chooses scissors

Meh, kind of like confuse in dumb mode.

[/ QUOTE ]

Sweet idea. Have the mob/mobs randomly select one of the emotes available and execute it for a set period of time. A mix between Immobolize and a Hold.

Being a member of Pinball Wizzards Freedom & Justice, I know there is an all Kinetics super group. Is there an all Illusion super group? Imagine 8 Phantasms + 8 Decoys + 24 Phantoms.

VA_Belle · 10-20-2005 06:29 AM

Possible effects of Baffle:
<ul type="square">[*] Mortificator plays boombox and dances - 30%[*] Mortificator randomly heals one of your teammates - 30%[*] Mortificator taunts you in L33T - 30%[*] Mortificator spams Local for p/l while using CoV panhandling emote - 10%[/list]

Pilcrow · 10-20-2005 03:19 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Possible effects of Baffle:
<ul type="square">[*] Mortificator plays boombox and dances - 30%[*] Mortificator randomly heals one of your teammates - 30%[*] Mortificator taunts you in L33T - 30%[*] Mortificator spams Local for p/l while using CoV panhandling emote - 10%[/list]

[/ QUOTE ]

<----ROTFLOL

Pilcrow · 10-22-2005 08:44 AM

UPDATED FOR ED, THE NEW: Pilcrows Phantom Army (PA) Guide

This guide began as a way to answer the question Should I Perma-PA? (meaning: should I slot 6 recharges into PA, which even with Hasten is not quite perma).

The short answer was: No. Put in at least 1 DMG enhancement. Under ED the answer is now EMPHATICALLY NO! 6 slotting PA for recharge is a fool's bargain. A typical build will get 86% more DPS and lose only 2% of PAs uptime for that one enhancement. Slotting for max damage per cast (1 ACC + 5 DMG) is also inadvisable, at least 1 recharge is more optimal because you get more uptime and more DPS (less per cast but the more frequent casts more than make up for it). Under ED you want to lean towards a slotting with no more than 3 of the same enhancement. So, 1 ACC, 2 DMG, 3 RECH and 3 DMG, 3 RECH are the new "best" builds.

Caveat: If you want PA purely as a control, slot to perma.

Anyhow, this guide documents how I came up with that answer and tells you a lot of other stuff about PA. It even has a calculator (Updated to include ED) to figure out the perfect PA slotting for your specific character. Aint that cute.

The guide is more about slotting PA than using it, so if you need that more basic tactical information, and the section on the basics doesn't cut it for you, theres a simple but nice Using Phantom Army Guide you can look at.

Anyhow, I hope you find it useful. If you get nothing else out of this guide, try to keep the following in mind
<ul type="square">[*]Perma-PA (all recharge) is probably a mistake. Slot only 3 recharge 2-3 DMG and 0-1 Accuracy unless you want pure control.[*]If you typically fight even cons, you can get away with slotting DMG & RECH only. If you typically fight red and above slot 1 ACC in with your DMG and RECH.[*]Your goal is to have PAs recharge rate fit well with your typical combat cycle. A perfectly slotted PA that spends a lot of time unclicked, or that makes you delay combats waiting for recharge is a poorly slotted PA.[*]The worst slotting and the best slotting used to be within 20% of each other, but even under ED everything except pure recharge and pure damage are withing 25% of the ideal, so it's still best to focus on fitting your playstyle.[/list]
Phantom Army Basics (as of Issue 5)

Phantom Army is unique in a few ways, even amongst pets. It is the only pet that does illusory damage, like Spectral Wounds does. That means that some of the damage it delivers heals back automatically a few seconds later. Furthermore, if you slot damage into the PA, it increases the amount of damage it does, but the healback remains the same, which gives you A LOT of bang from slotting for damage. And since the pets can be attacking while you are doing other things, you have even more incentive to slot these for damage.

But PA is also an invulnerable, but targetable pet. It controls enemies by taunting them, but shines as an absorber of the alpha strike by the MOBs, who concentrate their initial attacks on these invulnerable, targetable pets instead ofyou. Mid-combat, they are also fabulous for taking three MOBs essentially out of the fray and focusing their attacks on these three unkillable pets.

So, an eternal debate exists about how to slot these puppies. If youre into control above all else, you should slot them 100% for recharge so they are available as often as possible to absorb aggro. But if you were about control above all else, you probably wouldnt be an illusion controller in the first place.

On the other hand, PA is one of the best controls available to Illusion (or even to any controller in I5). So slotting it the the new "ideal" under ED: 1 ACC + 3 DMG + 2 RECH to maximize the DPS may not be an ideal way to go, either.

So how do you decide which way to slot PA? Well, use this handy-dandy guide, of course!

The Ideal
First off, we have to figure what an ideal slotting of PA would be. Ideally:
<ul type="square">[*]PA would be recharged at the start of each combat to absorb the alpha strike[*]Each combat would last exactly 60 seconds so that none of your PAs damage was wasted because PA was up with no-one to fight[*]The time it takes you to rest or walk or buff or whatever until the next combat would be exactly the time it takes your PA to recharge so its ready to absorb the next alpha strike, but it never sat in your tray unused[*]PA will do the maximum possible damage while meeting those other conditions.[/list]
Now, youll never hit those conditions. But thats what you want to slot towards. A PA that is available at the start of more combats than not, but that doesnt spend a lot of time in your tray unclicked. Obviously, the big variable here is how much time your combats take. But no matter what the numbers show you, they arent as important as striving towards that ideal. If a slotting you see is 5% below optimum, but you have PA available to take the alpha 10% more often with the substandard slotting, then you came out ahead.

The reason people tell you to Perma-PA is that it maximizes the number of times its there to absorb your alpha strike. Thats an easy benefit to note and an easy slotting to get it. Same story with people who advise you to maximize DPS. Easy to know how to slot for that, and an obvious benefit.

Slotting towards the more complex ideal is less straightforward, because theres no set amount of time between combats. The key here is to make your best informed guess and play with it for a while. Then move up and down the chart of ideal slottings based on what your play experience tells you. Too much downtime on PA? Add a recharge in. Sits in your try unclicked too much? Replace a recharge with something else.

The Calculator
Its an excel spreadsheet that can be downloaded from here. I will try to keep it up there as long as humanly possible.

Some Results
For those who cant or dont want to download the spreadsheet, I'll follow this post with some updated for ED results from the Calculator.

Assumptions Used
Most of what we know of Phantom Army comes from Gekos Post defending the changes to Phantom Army when Issue 2 changed them significantly.

From this post we know that:
<ul type="square">[*]PA has 75% accuracy[*]PA casts 1-4 decoys (3 each cast after I5)[*]Ranged attacks are a bit faster than melee attacks (10 ranged/cast vs. 7 melee). Between this and some testing it appears that a melee attack takes 8 seconds to cycle and a ranged attack takes 6 seconds to cycle. (I would love some additional testers, I had a hard time keeping the PA at range.)[*]Another little tidbit, it seems that the cycles for a ranged and melee attack are not intertwined. So if you could get the PA to come in and out of melee range, youd get extra attacks because it would cast the ranged attack, cast the melee attack when it would have idled waiting for the ranged to recharge, cast a ranged when it would have idled waiting for the melee to recharge, etc.[/list]
My testing of PA, which I would LOVE some people to confirm or deny, reveals the following:

PA seemed to attack about once every 4 seconds or so at range and a melee attack every 8 seconds. Gekos figures say a ranged attack takes 6 seconds and a melee one takes about 8 seconds. Thats not my experience in I5, but Im going to use Gekos implied numbers for ranged attacks in my analysis. Ill update that guide based on testing feedback from others.

Ive Brawl Indexed Phantom Army on two different illusionist (lvl 18 and lvl 36) and come up with the following. Please let me know if you have different results:
[*]Melee: 6.09 - 4.83 autoheal = 1.26 [*]Ranged: 3.76 - 1.79 autoheal = 1.97

Finally, some other facts that are in my assumptions:
<ul type="square">[*]PA has a duration of 60 seconds with a recharge of 240 seconds. [*]Hasten is a 0.7 recharge effect and can be perma with 6 +0 SOs[*]I made some educated guesses on the recharge boost of AM, Siphon Speed, Etc. Precise numbers would be appreciated.[*]A +0 Recharge, DMG, or ACC SO delivers +0.333 Bonus[*]Accuracy caps at 95% and floors at 5%[*]Accuracy is computed as follows: Chance to hit = (1 + Acc SOs) * (Base ToHit * Purple_Patch - Defense of target + ToHit bonus)[*]Purple Patch Modifiers are as per Ladioss Sopp's spreadsheet[/list]
Caveats
I've done my best to test the numbers I've used, but it would be nice to have some others test and see if you get the same results. Specifically, there are a couple of things I'm hinky on because I haven't gotten confirming tests from others.:

<ul type="square">[*]The BI of PAs two kinds of attacks (melee and ranged)[*]The Attack rate of the ranged attacks (melee was pretty easy to get since they stayed still and spammed it, but ranged was hard to get because they kept closing to melee)[*]I believe I have the right formula for accuracy, but I'm not positive[/list]
Let me know if your test results seem to differ or if you find an outright error in the guide or calculator.

Enjoy your decoys.

SuperChris · 10-24-2005 11:25 AM

Thanks for the update, I looked at this when you first put it up, but I was so far away from PAs that I kind of filed it away for later research.

I think 3/3 rech/dmg is going to be the way I go when I get my PA, Trix is mostly a scraptroller anyway, so I'll want a balance between damage and aggro management, especially when I solo.

Of course if they're missing too much, then 3/2/1 rech/dmg/acc is probably going to be the way to go.

Pilcrow · 10-25-2005 07:47 AM

Some Results
For those who cant or dont want to download the spreadsheet, here are some results to guide yourself with. First, know what I used as my default setting in the calculator:

Basic Variable Settings
<ul type="square">[*]My results are based on +0 SOs slotted into PA[*]Results with Hasten give it as a .49 boost to reflect that it is no longer "perma"[*]AM, Siphon Speed Etc. assume those are perma[*]I split attack time 50% melee, 50% ranged, this is one area where YMMV significantly[*]My results were calculated against minions[*]My results were calculated against even cons unless otherwise noted[*]My results assumed 0 DEF on the MOBs[*]Changing any of the three above items makes ACC more important to slot[/list]
Under ED, slotting more than 1 ACC became a good idea against +2 and better MOBs. You'll see that in the results.

I want to stress that the difference between the worst possible slotting (perma-PA) and the best possible slotting is usually only ~30%. I.E. perma PA is 70% as optimal as the most optimal slotting. So in most cases as you play with different optimal slottings, you are moving within a pretty small range of values. Therefore, slotting to fit your playstyle/rhythm is probably MORE important than hitting the supposed optimum. After all, if the slotting you picked is missing ideal timing enough for you to notice, then its probably effecting you at least 1 in 10 combats.

Finally, and I cant stress this enough. These statistics are about balancing the uptime of PA with its DPS. But I dont want to leave the impression that damage is the way to go with PA. Their ability as an agro sink is a very powerful control, especially by I5 standards. I would advise you against a pure damage slotting as much as I would against perma-PA.

Legend
<ul type="square">[*]X sec downtime btw casts The amount of time between when the previous PA despawns and the first spawning of the next PA[*]available X% of play time If you cast PA every time it recharged, this is the % of time it would be there[*]X DMG per Cast (BI) - The total DMG the PA will produce (as a multiple of your base brawl a la the Brawl Index) in the 60 seconds it is active[*]X DPS (BI) The DMG per Second PA will produce not during a cast but during your entire playtime if you were to cast it each time it were active under ideal conditions;[*]X% of max uptime The uptime of this slotting vs. the maximum possible uptime (6 Slotted for recharge)[*]X% of max DPS The DPS of this slotting vs. the maximum possible DPS[*]X% of max optimization score The optimization score of this slotting vs. the max possible optimization score. The optimization score is computed by adding the % of max DPS and the % of max uptime[/list]
Without Hasten vs. Even Con Minions
<ul type="square">[*]Perma - 57.03 sec downtime btw casts; available 51.27% of play time; 33.53 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.29 DPS (BI); 100% of max uptime; 29.9% of max DPS; 67.3% of max optimization score[*]1 DMG - 59.8 sec downtime btw casts; available 50.08% of play time; 63.9 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.53 DPS (BI); 97.69% of max uptime; 55.67% of max DPS; 79.45% of max optimization score[*]2 DMG - 62.71 sec downtime btw casts; available 48.89% of play time; 94.26 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.77 DPS (BI); 95.37% of max uptime; 80.18% of max DPS; 90.95% of max optimization score[*]3 DMG - 65.82 sec downtime btw casts; available 47.69% of play time; 120.54 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.96 DPS (BI); 93.02% of max uptime; 100% of max DPS; 100% of max optimization score[*]1 ACC + 3 DMG - 87.06 sec downtime btw casts; available 40.8% of play time; 139.65 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.95 DPS (BI); 79.58% of max uptime; 99.12% of max DPS; 92.58% of max optimization score[*]1 ACC + 4 DMG - 123.05 sec downtime btw casts; available 32.78% of play time; 145 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.79 DPS (BI); 63.94% of max uptime; 82.68% of max DPS; 75.96% of max optimization score[*]1 ACC + 5 DMG - 183 sec downtime btw casts; available 24.69% of play time; 150.28 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.62 DPS (BI); 48.16% of max uptime; 64.55% of max DPS; 58.39% of max optimization score[/list]

With Hasten vs. Even Con Minions
<ul type="square">[*]Perma - 35.5 sec downtime btw casts; available 62.83% of play time; 33.53 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.35 DPS (BI); 100% of max uptime; 28.74% of max DPS; 67.1% of max optimization score[*]1 DMG - 37.31 sec downtime btw casts; available 61.66% of play time; 63.9 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.66 DPS (BI); 98.13% of max uptime; 53.75% of max DPS; 79.16% of max optimization score[*]2 DMG - 39.2 sec downtime btw casts; available 60.48% of play time; 94.26 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.95 DPS (BI); 96.27% of max uptime; 77.79% of max DPS; 90.71% of max optimization score[*]3 DMG - 41.19 sec downtime btw casts; available 59.29% of play time; 120.54 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.19 DPS (BI); 94.37% of max uptime; 97.51% of max DPS; 100% of max optimization score[*]1 ACC + 3 DMG - 54.32 sec downtime btw casts; available 52.49% of play time; 139.65 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.22 DPS (BI); 83.54% of max uptime; 100% of max DPS; 95.65% of max optimization score[*]1 ACC + 4 DMG - 74.65 sec downtime btw casts; available 44.56% of play time; 145 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.08 DPS (BI); 70.92% of max uptime; 88.15% of max DPS; 82.9% of max optimization score[*]1 ACC + 5 DMG - 104.07 sec downtime btw casts; available 36.57% of play time; 150.28 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.92 DPS (BI); 58.2% of max uptime; 74.98% of max DPS; 69.41% of max optimization score[/list]
With Hasten and AM vs. Even Con Minions
<ul type="square">[*]Perma - 25.91 sec downtime btw casts; available 69.84% of play time; 33.53 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.39 DPS (BI); 100% of max uptime; 28.15% of max DPS; 67.07% of max optimization score[*]1 DMG - 27.37 sec downtime btw casts; available 68.68% of play time; 63.9 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.73 DPS (BI); 98.33% of max uptime; 52.75% of max DPS; 79.07% of max optimization score[*]2 DMG - 28.87 sec downtime btw casts; available 67.51% of play time; 94.26 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.06 DPS (BI); 96.67% of max uptime; 76.5% of max DPS; 90.62% of max optimization score[*]3 DMG - 30.46 sec downtime btw casts; available 66.33% of play time; 120.54 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.33 DPS (BI); 94.97% of max uptime; 96.11% of max DPS; 100% of max optimization score[*]1 ACC + 3 DMG - 40.72 sec downtime btw casts; available 59.57% of play time; 139.65 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.39 DPS (BI); 85.3% of max uptime; 100% of max DPS; 96.97% of max optimization score[*]1 ACC + 4 DMG - 56.05 sec downtime btw casts; available 51.7% of play time; 145 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.25 DPS (BI); 74.03% of max uptime; 90.12% of max DPS; 85.91% of max optimization score[*]1 ACC + 5 DMG - 77.08 sec downtime btw casts; available 43.77% of play time; 150.28 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.1 DPS (BI); 62.67% of max uptime; 79.07% of max DPS; 74.18% of max optimization score[/list]
Without Hasten vs. +2 Minions
<ul type="square">[*]Perma - 57.03 sec downtime btw casts; available 51.27% of play time; 27.81 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.24 DPS (BI); 100% of max uptime; 26.23% of max DPS; 68.44% of max optimization score[*]1 DMG - 59.8 sec downtime btw casts; available 50.08% of play time; 52.99 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.44 DPS (BI); 97.69% of max uptime; 48.82% of max DPS; 79.44% of max optimization score[*]2 DMG - 62.71 sec downtime btw casts; available 48.89% of play time; 78.17 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.64 DPS (BI); 95.37% of max uptime; 70.32% of max DPS; 89.84% of max optimization score[*]1 ACC + 2 DMG - 65.82 sec downtime btw casts; available 47.69% of play time; 104.18 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.83 DPS (BI); 93.02% of max uptime; 91.4% of max DPS; 100% of max optimization score[*]1 ACC + 3 DMG - 87.06 sec downtime btw casts; available 40.8% of play time; 133.23 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.91 DPS (BI); 79.58% of max uptime; 100% of max DPS; 97.38% of max optimization score[*]2 ACC + 3 DMG - 123.05 sec downtime btw casts; available 32.78% of play time; 139.65 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.76 DPS (BI); 63.94% of max uptime; 84.21% of max DPS; 80.33% of max optimization score[*]2 ACC + 4 DMG - 183 sec downtime btw casts; available 24.69% of play time; 145 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.6 DPS (BI); 48.16% of max uptime; 65.87% of max DPS; 61.83% of max optimization score[/list]

With Hasten vs. +2 Minions
<ul type="square">[*]Perma - 35.5 sec downtime btw casts; available 62.83% of play time; 27.81 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.29 DPS (BI); 100% of max uptime; 24.98% of max DPS; 68.1% of max optimization score[*]1 DMG - 37.31 sec downtime btw casts; available 61.66% of play time; 52.99 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.54 DPS (BI); 98.13% of max uptime; 46.72% of max DPS; 78.93% of max optimization score[*]2 DMG - 39.2 sec downtime btw casts; available 60.48% of play time; 78.17 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.79 DPS (BI); 96.27% of max uptime; 67.62% of max DPS; 89.29% of max optimization score[*]1 ACC + 2 DMG - 41.19 sec downtime btw casts; available 59.29% of play time; 104.18 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.03 DPS (BI); 94.37% of max uptime; 88.34% of max DPS; 99.55% of max optimization score[*]1 ACC + 3 DMG - 54.32 sec downtime btw casts; available 52.49% of play time; 133.23 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.17 DPS (BI); 83.54% of max uptime; 100% of max DPS; 100% of max optimization score[*]2 ACC + 3 DMG - 74.65 sec downtime btw casts; available 44.56% of play time; 139.65 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.04 DPS (BI); 70.92% of max uptime; 88.99% of max DPS; 87.13% of max optimization score[*]2 ACC + 4 DMG - 104.07 sec downtime btw casts; available 36.57% of play time; 145 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.88 DPS (BI); 58.2% of max uptime; 75.83% of max DPS; 73.03% of max optimization score[/list]

With Hasten and AM vs. +2 Minions
<ul type="square">[*]Perma - 25.91 sec downtime btw casts; available 69.84% of play time; 27.81 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.32 DPS (BI); 100% of max uptime; 24.47% of max DPS; 67.17% of max optimization score[*]1 DMG - 27.37 sec downtime btw casts; available 68.68% of play time; 52.99 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.61 DPS (BI); 98.33% of max uptime; 45.85% of max DPS; 77.81% of max optimization score[*]2 DMG - 28.87 sec downtime btw casts; available 67.51% of play time; 78.17 DMG per Cast (BI); 0.88 DPS (BI); 96.67% of max uptime; 66.5% of max DPS; 88.05% of max optimization score[*]1 ACC + 2 DMG - 30.46 sec downtime btw casts; available 66.33% of play time; 104.18 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.15 DPS (BI); 94.97% of max uptime; 87.07% of max DPS; 98.24% of max optimization score[*]1 ACC + 3 DMG - 40.72 sec downtime btw casts; available 59.57% of play time; 133.23 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.32 DPS (BI); 85.3% of max uptime; 100% of max DPS; 100% of max optimization score[*]2 ACC + 3 DMG - 56.05 sec downtime btw casts; available 51.7% of play time; 139.65 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.2 DPS (BI); 74.03% of max uptime; 90.98% of max DPS; 89.05% of max optimization score[*]2 ACC + 4 DMG - 77.08 sec downtime btw casts; available 43.77% of play time; 145 DMG per Cast (BI); 1.06 DPS (BI); 62.67% of max uptime; 79.97% of max DPS; 76.98% of max optimization score[/list]

Local_Man · 10-25-2005 08:30 AM

Nice update, Pilcrow. I tried the link to the calculator, and it came up as a dead link. However, that may be because I tried from my office computers, which have all kinds of Firewalls.

I have a high-level Ill/Rad, but my spouse wanted us to set up a pair of characters to team always. So, I made an Ill/Kin and she is an Ill/Rad. (They have matching costumes, too -- really nausiating!) Great synergy between the two, as Illusion Controllers complement each other, unlike most other controllers. This weekend, we went from level 16 to 20. She said, and I agree, that no other AT is affected with a substantial change by one power as the effect that PA has on Illusion Controllers. At level 17, we tried a mission, with a tank, that caused a team wipe. After hitting 18, picking up our PA, resetting and going in without the tank, the mission was no problem. Our six (count 'em! Six!) marshmallow men (and women) made all the difference.

At 19, we both slotted two recharge, one damage. If we alternate, we can just about keep PA out constantly. I presume we will end up with three recharge, three damage. ED sure seems like it reduces the options, where the only choice is whether to replace a damage or a recharge with an accuracy.

Do you think we will ever get any pet controls, other than the "Dismiss Pets" command? Positron's guide to MasterMinds on the CoV boards make it clear that we will never get the level of control over pets that the MasterMind has, but it kind of suggests that we may get some kind of command ability. Any thoughts?

LOCAL MAN! The most famous hero of all. There are more newspaper stories about me than anyone else. "Local Man wins Medal of Honor." "Local Man opens Animal Shelter." "Local Man Charged with..." (Um, forget about that one.)
Guide Links: Earth/Rad Guide, Illusion/Rad Guide, Electric Control