Frost's I6 Ice/Empathy and Kinetics Guide

Frost · 11-02-2005 04:27 PM

Introduction

Welcome, to yet another edition of Frost's rambling..er..I mean "Frost's Guide to Ice Control (and lot's of other Empathy and Kinetic stuff too!)" A lot has happened to controllers since I last updated this guide back for I4. This is a pretty extensive update of the contents to bring things in line with the introduction of containment, as well as Enhancement Diversification.

Just a quick note about who this guide is aimed at before delving in. I'm writing this guide as an introduction to Ice Control primarily. The Ice/ part of this guide will probably be useful to you no matter if you're an Ice Controller or an Ice Dominator, regardless of your secondary power set. The sections on Empathy and Kinetics are a look at both controller secondaries as seen through the filter of the Ice primary. I don't PvP much, so most of this content is going to be directed at those who are interested in PvE. If you are looking for hard numbers, you're looking in the wrong place for the most part. I don't enjoy massive number crunching, and I base most of my advice on play experiences. When I do have numbers for something, I'll give them out.

I might as well say this out front: I am not a fan of containment or building a controller to deal damage. I'm old school. I feel the role of a controller is primarily team protection and not damage dealing. Yep, I'm aware that control through damage is also a viable strategy, just not something I'm personally interested in. In this guide I'm going to be concentrating on the control aspects and viewing any extra damage that containment provides as a bonus. I'll try to cater to both camps and mention where containment can be made more effective, but I don't want to hide my bias towards the control side and away from damage dealing. The last thing I want to do is to present my views as the only way to do things. Now that you are aware of my bias, you can interpret the contents of this lengthy tome in the proper light.

Standard Disclaimer: All power choice and slotting advice in this guide is purely my opinion. Yours might be different. That's ok. There's many different ways of building a controller.

So why Ice Control?

Ice has many benefits as a controller or a dominator primary. Instead of concentrating on "hard" controls like a power set such as Mind Control does, Ice offers a mix of "hard" and "soft" controls. This becomes much more important in the wake of issue 5 and issue 6 which took an axe to the Area of Effect hard controls, thereby increasing the importance of the soft. Instead of trying to lock down every enemy in every group, Ice Controllers use slow and knockdown powers, combined with your more standard holds in order to keep a team safe. Every power in the Ice primary has a secondary effect which causes slows, either recharge speed, run speed or both.

Ice Control is one of the most team friendly controller power sets. It has large, visible power graphics, allowing your team to know exactly what's held and what isn't. This is in contrast to other set such as mind control who's graphical FX can sometimes be hard to see in the middle of a fight. At the same time, they're not quite as jarring or obstructing as earth's hold graphics. In addition to hold graphics, Ice's pet, Jack Frost is smart, with a smallish aggro radius, preventing him from running off and aggroing large groups.

The one thing Ice doesn't have is a really good way of doing direct damage to mobs. Unlike some primaries like Mind, Gravity and Illusion, Ice doesn't have an "attack" (levitate, lift and spectral wounds, respectively). You can jury rig chilblain, the single target immobilization to work as such if you desire, but if you're attempting to create a controller that acts as a damage dealer, you might be happier looking into something like Mind Control, at least before the epic power pools. I'm not saying that Ice can't deal damage, I'm just saying that there are probably better choices out there for you.

All right, you've got me convinced! What secondary should I choose?

There really is no "best" secondary. My general recommendation is to think about what you want to do with your controller and choose a secondary that most closely matches that goal. If you like more chaotic control, you might choose Storm for example. If you feel you want to be more of a debuffing controller, then Radiation might be more to your liking, and so on.

I personally have level 50 Empathy and Kinetics Ice controllers therefore the secondary power sets portion of this guide will be addressing those areas.

A note on a philosophical belief of mine about controller secondaries: I believe a controller secondary should exist to support the primary. The best controllers are set up so that they have a nice mix of primary and secondary power choices. Concentrating completely on one or the other seems to me to be ignoring the potential each power set has if they were working together. For example, Empathy controllers might have a temptation to ignore their primary mostly and slot out their healing powers. While this can be a viable build, you're missing much of the damage mitigation potential which removes the need to heal in the first place. Preventative action is generally more useful than reacting constantly to damage dealt by enemies. I don't mean to knock anyone who would choose to build a controller this way, as there are many of way to build a controller. I just wanted to get another one of my biases out in the open so you, the reader, can judge my words and make your own decision.

Empathy is the most healing oriented secondary available to a controller. You have three healing powers at your disposal and two powers which increase healing regeneration rate. In addition to the healing powers, you have access to some nice buffs, such as Fortitude, Clear Mind and Adrenalin Boost. An empathy controller can play the role of a healer pretty well on a small group, but in large groups, it can be too much for a controller simply concentrating on their secondary. This is why I recommend a good mix of powers between the two.

Kinetics is more oriented towards providing your teammates with useful buffs. While it does get a healing power, it's a much more situational heal due to it being a targeted AoE around an enemy. The main strength of kinetics is in you damage buffs and Speed Boost. Almost everyone loves fulcrum shift and speed boost, and with enhancement diversification, you can provide that extra oomph that's no longer possible without 6 slotted stamina and perma-hasten.

Hey, wait a second, who are you and why should I take anything you say seriously??

Warning, boring history ahead. If you don't care, might as well skip this part I started playing the game in May of 2004. My first character was a fire/fire blaster which I got to level 36 before realizing I hated him. Therefore, in November 2004 set out to make the exact opposite of a fire/fire blaster: a controller. I chose Ice because at the time, I rarely saw any of them and the powers looked interesting. I choose Empathy for my secondary because I wanted to be primarily team support and a friend of mine already had a kinetics controller. Three months and 440 hours later Frost Magus hit level 50. After playing a kheldian for a bit, I realized I missed controllers...Ice specifically. So I did it again. This time I went Ice/Kinetics after wondering for a while what it would have been like if I went that direction. I can't recall the exact dates for the second one, but needless to day, my Ice/Kinetics controller also hit level 50 in somewhere around 400 hours of play.

Yeah, I like Ice control.

Contact Information

Have any questions about anything you see in this guide? Comments? Feel free to contact me in game by sending a tell to @Frost. If I'm not online, I'll respond as soon as I get online to read your message. You can also post any questions/comments you might have to this thread and I (or someone else) will try to answer them for you.

Common Terms

To those unfamiliar with the controller archetype and what we do, some of the terms used below might be a little confusing. Therefore, here's a little glossary of sorts to help you out. Experienced controllers can most likely skip this part

AoE - AoE stands for Area of Effect. This means that the power will affect multiple targets within a certain area. Issue 5 brought with it AoE limits. In a nutshell, as it applies to controllers, a single attack cannot affect more than 16 enemies at a time.

Confuse - A confuse effect is another control which falls into the "soft" category. Confused targets will attack other enemies and, if they have any buff or heal effects, will use those on you.

Containment - Containment was added to controllers in Issue 5. It allows a controller to do double damage to any target which is held, immobilized or disoriented. This extra damage ignores the damage cap, and applies to all non-pet like powers. Pet-like powers include your level 32 pets, and things like Freezing Rain or Ice Storm. In the case of a

DoT - Damage over time. This refers to a power which deals its damage as a number of "ticks" over a certain time frame.

Enhancement Diversification - Commonly abbreviated ED, this is a change which took place in issue 6 which drastically changed the way the post level 22 game works. There's more in depth descriptions of enhancement diversification, but here's the short version. As you may/may not know, most SOs provide a +33% boost to a certain attribute of a power. Before ED, this boost was constant, no matter how high the total bonus in the power got. ED changed all that by switching to a system of diminishing returns. The first two SOs of the same type in a power provide a +33% bonus. The third provides something like a 23% bonus and the 4th, 5th and 6th provide only a 5% bonus. Therefore, in most cases it makes sense to avoid slotting more than 3 of the same type of enhancement in any power.

Hold - This is the most common controller effect. This type of control prevents the target from doing anything but standing there. It's the most pure form of control available. A held target cannot move, use powers or act in any other way. Holding an enemy sets up containment for your next attack.

Immobilization - This type of control effect prevents the target from moving, but still allows them to act. They can still use their powers and shoot at you, but they are rooted to the spot. Most immobilization effects offer resistance to knockback as well. Immobilizing an enemy sets up containment for your next attack.

Knockback - A knockback effect causes an enemy to be thrown backwards a short distance. This also knocks them down, causing them to spend time standing up and preventing them from shooting stuff at you while they're standing.

Knockdown - More desirable than knockback. This causes the enemy to fall down in place, and prevents them from doing anything while they spend time standing up.

PBAoE - This stands for Player Based Area of Effect. It is similar to Area of Effect, however the area which is affected is centered on the player instead of another target.

Pet - A pet is an AI controlled teammate of sorts which follows you around and helps you out. Most controllers get their pets at level 32, with the notable exception of mind which doesn't get a pet, and illusion, which get pets at 18.

Slow - A slow effect is another form of control. This type of control is often referred to as a soft control, since it doesn't actually stop the target from doing anything, it just prevents them from doing it as often as they might have otherwise. Typically slows reduce the run speed and power recharge rate of the target.

Slow Cap - The slow cap is the maximum amount that something can be slowed before additional slows have no effect. An enemy can be reduced to no less than 10% of its normal run speed and 25% of its normal power recharge speed.

Ice Control

Chilblain (Ranged, Moderate DoT(Cold), Foe Immobilize, -SPD, -Recharge ) - Chilblain is your single target immobilization power, a pretty standard effect for a controller primary. It has a fast recharge timer and low endurance usage. Like most other controller immobilizes, chilblain prevents knockback/knockdown for 10 seconds on any target which it is used on, which makes it conflict with the knockdown power of your Ice Slick if not carefully used. It also has a -FLY component, allowing you to drop flying mobs out of the air so the melee types on your team can get at them. Chilblain sets up containment. Like most other ice powers, chilblain debuffs the run-speed and power recharge of its target.

Discussion
Immobilizations are always a hot topic for debate on the Controller forums. There's pretty much two camps: Those that believe they draw too much aggro to be truly useful and those who find them to be handy either for setting up containment or for certain situations like archvillain fights. I'm in the latter camp, personally. I've found that up until level 12, I use my immobilize extensively. However, after I get Ice slick, I tend to use it only on flying mobs that I have to drop down or Archvillains that tend to run around a lot during the fight. Keeping them in place can be very helpful, especially if they happen to be able to fly.

If you decide that you want to take an immobilization, then you have to decide if you want Chilblain (single target), Frostbite (AoE) or both. There are advantages and disadvantages to each. For Chilblain, its advantages are that it has a faster recharge and a lower endurance cost. It's also easier to use around an Ice Slick, since you can more accurately choose a single target hanging off the edge of the slick, without worrying about immobilizing the stuff on the Ice Slick, canceling knockback. The major disadvantage is that it doesn't set up containment as well as Frostbite does, if that's important for you.

Slotting
Chilblain really doesn't need a lot of slots to be effective. I'd recommend 1 accuracy enhancement for everyone. If you have extra slots, or find yourself using it a lot, you have a choice. If you're going for maximum control, immobilization duration is the way to go. If you're going for damage, then slotting this power for damage can really help your damage output ability.

On my Ice/Emp and Ice/Kin builds, I found I had a whole bunch of extra slots in the 30s and 40s, so I ended up 6 slotting this power on both builds with 1 accuracy, 3 damage and 2 immobilization enhancements.

Block of Ice (Ranged, Moderate DMG(Cold), Foe Hold, -SPD, -Recharge) - Block of Ice is your standard, single target hold, a staple power for all controller primaries. It does some minor damage, and sets up containment for later attacks. Also like most other Ice powers, Block of Ice debuffs the run speed and power recharge of its target for a time which extends past the duration of its hold.

Discussion
There's not really a whole lot to say about Block of Ice. It's one of the most used powers you're going to have available to you and I would therefore recommend taking it at level 1, right out of the character generator. I really can't imagine playing an Ice controller without Block of Ice.

Slotting
This power is probably going to be one which you should 6 slot. What you slot it with is going to depend a lot on your play style and how you use it. Its base accuracy is pretty high (95% to an even level minion), but I would recommend slotting at least 1 accuracy enhancement, just to be safe.

I am not a fan of slotting this power for damage. I feel it's more useful to use it for its control abilities and leave the damage dealing to powers such as Chilblain or an attack from one of the Power Pools.

With that in mind, I recommend slotting the rest of the 5 slots with a mix of hold duration and recharge. Due to enhancement diversification, I'd either go with 3 hold and 2 recharge or 2 hold and 3 recharge, personally. If you normally play in a larger group where the enemy mobs are going down pretty quickly, having the extra recharge allowing you to stack it faster on bosses to hold them (see the section on magnitude at the end of the guide). In smaller groups, having the longer hold duration can be important.

I'm personally using 1 accuracy, 3 hold and 2 recharge.

Frostbite (Ranged (Targeted AoE), Minor DoT(Cold), Foe Immobilize, -SPD, -Recharge) - Frostbite, like chilblain is an immobilization power. Unlike chilblain, it's an area of effect centered on the mob which you select as target when you use the power. It has a longer recharge than chilblain and uses a lot more endurance. It prevents knockback/knockdown for 10 seconds, making it conflict with the knockdown power of Ice Slick if not carefully used. It also has a -FLY aspect, allowing you to knock down large groups of flying mobs at the same time. Frostbite sets up containment. Like most other ice powers, frostbite debuffs the run speed and power recharge of its target.

Discussion
Most of the discussion on immobilization powers is contained in the chilblain section above. Instead of repeating myself, I'll address Frostbite here specifically. Frostbite's AoE nature can be considered both an advantage over Chilblain and a disadvantage. Disadvantage due to the fact that it's much harder to use Frostbite around an Ice Slick than it is chilblain, due to the less precise targeting that Frostbite offers. It can be an advantage due to the fact that it sets up containment on a large number of mobs at the same time. Another advantage is that it can combine very well with Arctic Air (see below) to provide something very similar to an AoE hold.

Personally, I recommend chilblain over Frostbite in almost all circumstances. It simply uses too much endurance and provides too few benefits when you factor in it's interaction with Ice Slick for me to make room for it in my Ice Controller builds. I find I use immobilizations very rarely post level 12, and then usually only for dropping a single flying enemy to the ground of for archvillain fights where there's only one thing to be immobilized. If you're concentrating on containment damage with AoE attacks and the fire epic pool in the 40s however, then Frostbite might be for you.

Slotting
Frostbite doesn't really need a lot of slots. Being an AoE attack, it has a lower base accuracy than a single target, so 1 or 2 accuracy enhancements would probably be a good idea. If you're planning on using it for damage, some spare slots might be spent here for damage enhancements. You might possibly want a few slots of recharge as well.

When I had this power, I was using 1 accuracy and 2 immobilize duration enhancements, which seemed to work pretty well for me. I might add another slot or two of recharge to that however.

Arctic Air ( PBAoE, Foe Confuse, -SPD, -Recharge, -Stealth) - Arctic air is an interesting power. It's based around the player, with its area of effect being just about the same size as an ice slick is. Instead of one very strong power effect, Arctic Air combines several weaker effects into one power, with powerful results. Arctic Air contains an auto-hit slow aura, along with pulses of confusion every so often. It also causes mobs to want to get out of its area of effect.

I've seen a common misconception that Arctic Air is all about the confuse and some thing it's not doing anything just because the mobs aren't attacking each other. The main point of AA is how the 3 effects (slow, confuse and the desire to leave the radius of the power) interact in slowing the incoming damage to a team. A mob inside of AA will either be trying to run out of it (slowly due to the slow), be unable to attack due to the fact that it's powers have not yet recharged, or he'll be under the influence of the confuse part of the power and will be attacking one of his friends instead of you. It's a subtle effect, but one with very noticeable results.

Discussion
If you've read previous versions of this guide, you might have noticed that my assessment of Arctic Air here is dramatically different from that which I've given before. The reason for this is Issue 5 and the AoE control nerfs. Now, it's useful to have a power which can act as a gap filler, and Arctic Air fills that gap nicely.

It can combine well with a number of ice control powers. Stacking it with either Ice Slick or Frostbite can create a virtual AoE hold and reduce the incoming damage from a group of mobs considerably.

Arctic Air does have two problems though. The first is its VERY endurance heavy. It can be hard to keep it running during a fight if you're also trying to use your other powers, at least before level 22 when you get single origin enhancements. Once the single origin enhancements come in, then it becomes viable to keep it running most of the time.

The second problem is that mobs tend not to like you very much when you stand in the middle of a group with AA on. I've noticed I tend to draw a lot of aggro while using it, which isn't too terrible since with Empathy and, to a lesser degree, Kinetics I can heal myself if necessary. For other secondaries, this extra aggro might be more of a problem. At least with AA going they won't be attacking you quite as often. I've found that the extra aggro usually isn't a big issue.

Arctic Air requires that you get into the middle of a fight and stay there in order to be most effective. If you find yourself staying out at range more often, I might recommend that you check out Shiver instead of Arctic Air.

Slotting
AA is EXTREMELY endurance heavy, even with the recent global endurance cost reduction. I find myself slotting it with at least 2-3 endurance reduction enhancements. I've also found that 3 confuse enhancements can go a long way in preventing a lot of incoming damage. I've had some fights where I could just sit in the middle of a mob and /em newspaper while the group took out the mobs around me. Of course most other fights required more active participation on my part Contrary to some hero planner software, you cannot slot fear duration in Arctic Air, and have not been able to since fear's effect was changed in I3.

Shiver (Ranged(Cone), Foe -SPD, -Recharge) - Shiver is a LARGE (almost 180 degree) cone area of effect slow power. There's not really much else you can say about it. It's pretty much a one trick pony.

Discussion
It seems most people either choose Shiver or Arctic Air and not both due to their overlapping effects. Shiver used to be my power of choice over Arctic Air, due to the fact that it's ranged. However, now that I find myself in melee range more often, I've dropped shiver and rely completely on Arctic Air.

When you combine this power with Ice slick, you can use it as kind of an AoE hold, due to the double slowing effect and shiver's power recharge reduction. It really reduces the amount of attacks coming from the slick. It's very handy before you get glacier if things start getting out of hand. It can really turn a fight around.

My recommendation would be, if you find you're playing in melee range, take Arctic Air. If Arctic Air isn't your cup of tea, then shiver might be up your alley.

Slotting
One of the best things about shiver is how few slots it needs to be effective. 1 accuracy SO pretty much covers any accuracy concerns you might have with it. You might wish to include 1 or two recharge SOs due to the fact they decreased it's duration in issue 5 (yeah, I haven't figured out why they did that one either...)

Ice Slick (Target( Location AoE), Foe Knockdown, -SPD) - Ice Slick is, perhaps the set defining power for Ice Control. It's a large, ranged, targetable area of knockdown and slow. Almost anything that's in the area of effect of an Ice Slick will be knocked down repeatedly and have their movement speed slowed.

It can do two things to a mob, knock them down, or knock them back. Knockdown is more desirable as this allows you to keep them on the ice slick where they will continue to be knocked down. There are two situations where knockback might occur. The first is when you stack Ice Slicks, something which isn't quite as common these days due to the shorter duration and increased recharge time that Ice Slick received in Issue 5. If you stack ice slicks (or an ice slick and an earthquake if you happen to be teaming with an earth controller), it becomes possible for knockback to occur, which is consider a Bad Thing(TM). The second situation that can cause knockback are mobs that are vulnerable to knockback, such as Clockwork or Rikti Monkeys. These types of mobs will get knocked back off the slick much, much more often than other types.

Discussion
There's a few tricks to using Ice Slick. The first is, your toon doesn't actually have to be able to see where their putting the ice slick, you just have to be able to move the camera so that you can see. This lets you hide around a corner and then drop a slick preventing the initial volley of shots that comes your way before they start falling down.

The second and most important thing to remember about ice slick is that IMMOBILIZE ON AN ICE SLICK IS A BAD THING!!! In most cases this is something you never want to do. Most immobilizes give a mob 10 seconds of knockdown/knockback protection, negating Ice Slicks main function for 10 seconds and letting them shoot at you freely. This is why I don't recommend Frostbite and why Chilblain becomes less useful from 12-40, as immobilizing a lot of stuff on an ice slick is generally a bad idea. Immobilization does have its uses though, epically if you're facing stuff that isn't affected by ice slick such as nemesis jaegers, or stuff that goes flying while on an ice slick, like Clockwork.

Ice Slick combines well with Arctic Air to create a virtual AoE hold.

Even though Ice Slick can be no longer permanent (there's about a 20-30 second downtime now, depending on if you're running hasten and how much of the recharge was under hasten's effects) without outside recharge buffing, please don't just pass it by! It's still one of the best powers in the set and can make a huge difference in a battle.

Slotting
Ice Slick is another one of those powers that doesn't really need a lot of slots. I'd go as far as to say 3 recharge enhancements are a must in this power. Anything else you might have extra in the later levels could be useful. I started throwing slots for range in here in the later levels under Issue 6 because I didn't have anywhere else to put them.

Flash Freeze (Ranged (Targeted AoE), Minor Dmg( Cold/Lethal ), Foe Sleep)- Targeted AoE Sleep. This power deals some minor cold/smashing damage to a number of mobs in an area centered on the target and then puts those that it hits to sleep. As opposed to the mind controller mass hypnosis, this power aggros the mobs you use it on, due to its damaging effect. This power will affect a maximum of 16 enemies.

Discussion
I guess it should be stated up front that I've never been a huge fan of sleep powers. People with AoE's tend to break the sleep without thinking about it and it requires some level of teammate familiarity with your power set, something which you can't really count on. Ice slick will also break the sleep effect, making this power slightly incompatible with it.

It does have some good points though. You can use it to effectively cut large spawns in half by sleeping some of them and taking on the rest, being careful of the slept mobs. You can also use it on patrols that happen to run into the middle of an already existing fight to delay them until you can finish off the first group.

Generally I've never felt that I've been in a situation where I really, really wanted a sleep power. My other control options were enough that I never picked this up on live (I've tested it on the test server though). It comes down to a play style choice. Some people enjoy it, other's don't. Only way to see which one you are is by trying it out. If you're looking for room in your build and have this power, this might be the one to cut in order to fit something else in.

Slotting
Since its AoE, having at least one accuracy enhancement in here can be a good thing. Other than that, 1-3 sleep duration enhancements, if you can spare them would be all I'd consider slotting here. If you use it enough, a couple recharge wouldn't hurt either.

Glacier (PBAoE, Foe Hold, -Recharge, -SPD) - Glacier is Ice Controls AoE hold power. As opposed to some of the other primaries (Mind and gravity in particular), Ice's AoE hold is player based, meaning you have to run into the middle of a group and then trigger it. It has a decent range (larger than the ice animation that appears after you use it). This power sets up containment. It also slows foe recharge and run speed, like most other Ice Control powers. Glacier can only be used while you have your feet on the ground. You can't use glacier in the air while jumping or while power such as hover or fly are activated. This power will effect a maximum of 16 enemies.

Discussion
Much like the immobilizes, there's a raging discussion in the wake of the AoE hold changes (less duration, longer recharge) in Issue 5 on the real value of Glacier and other AoE holds. Personally, I believe that having an AoE hold is a good thing. I think it's worth taking and 6 slotting for a couple of reasons.

The first is one of magnitude (see the section on magnitude below). If you happen to come across a boss, chances are good you want to lock it down as fast as you can to prevent unnecessary damage to your teammates. In order to lock bosses down in most cases, you need to stack two holds on them. Instead of waiting for Block of Ice to recharge, it's very helpful to have glacier to provide that second, immediate hold in order to get them held.

The second reason is an escape button. If things are going badly for your team, a 20-25 second pause in the action might be what they need in order to bring the odds back into their favor. If not, it'll allow those that need to run to flee without danger of being shot at and killed in their escape.

Glacier turned into a much more situational power, but it's still very useful in the situations that demand it.

One of the bad things about glacier is that you have to be pretty close to the mobs in order to use it, due to it being a player based hold. This disadvantage can be addressed by going the Super Speed/Stealth route with your power pools giving you effective invisibility to sneak in and get into position to use glacier without any return fire.

If you don't plan on taking Super Speed or Stealth, then you can do what I did with my ice/emp (who was without stealth and super speed). If there's a conveniently placed corner or object to hide behind, you can use that to drop an ice slick on the mob first and avoid the first large volley of incoming fire. After that you can trigger glacier without as much return fire coming at you. If that's not a possibility, I've found that running into the middle of a mob and hitting glacier as fast as you can sometimes hold them fast enough so that they won't be able to fire back at you. If it doesn't, the damage you take by just running in can be repaired easily enough by healing yourself with Healing Aura or Transfusion.

Slotting
I recommend 6 slotting glacier. It needs at least 2 accuracy due to the fact its base accuracy is somewhere around 55% to an even con minion, like all AoE hold powers are. 2 recharge is also pretty much required if you want to use it with any kind of frequency considering it's long recharge time. And 2 hold enhancements would round out the slotting since without enhancing its hold duration, the hold is uselessly short.

Jack Frost (Summon Jack Frost) - Jack Frost is Ice Control's pet power. Contrary to what you may have heard, Jack Frost does not suck. He's a smart, flexible pet which can be a great help to you and your team once you learn to use him. Like all the other pets, Jack Frost was changed in Issue 5 so that only one of him can be summoned at any given time. If you try to summon another one, your original Jack will die and the new one will replace him. Also, his duration has been increased so that he is effectively permanent. Jack will follow you up and down elevators and through portals, but he will not follow you to a different zone. You need to re-summon every time you zone.

Jack's Powers
Jack lives up to his name as a jack of all trades type pet. Generally, he hangs back at range and launches Ice Bolts at the mobs he's attacking. He doesn't quite do as much damage per hit with these attacks as with his melee attacks, but it recharges pretty fast giving you a constant stream of damage.

Sometimes, Jack will get really angry and head into melee range where he'll pull out his three other powers. Ice Sword and Greater Ice Sword are pretty damaging attacks. His greater ice sword does a ton of damage (I've seen him do 300+ a hit at times), but it has a slow recharge. It's much more common to see him break out the regular ice sword. His third melee attack is Freezing Touch, a hold power that does damage over time. Jack is pretty smart about when he uses his hold. he won't hold anything you already have held and he seems to like to help you stack holds on bosses when needed. I've seen him run in and drop the second hold on a boss many times for me. Jack also has a player based AoE slow, which is a version of Chilling Embrace, without the damage debuff that the tanker version gets. He also has a high resistance to cold and slow effects.

Jack Frost doesn't get any benefit from containment. His attacks will do the same damage no matter what the current status of the enemy is.

Getting Jack Into Melee Range
In order for jack to be most effective, you have to get him into melee mode where he can use his sword, lay down holds and debuff the enemies with his chilling embrace. There's a couple ways of doing this. Either you can summon him right next to a mob (he will appear with the sword out and swinging), use Team Teleport to teleport him as well as yourself right next to whatever you want to attack or you can let either him or yourself get hit by something. Jack is VERY protective of you. He will see you get hit, whip out his sword and go put the hurt on whoever did that to his master.

Discussion
Right at 32, do not be discouraged at how jack performs. It can be very discouraging to see his damage and accuracy right at level 32. However, he's one of those things that really improve as you add slots to him.

If you're new to pets in general, it can be a little tricky to learn how to control their actions through your positioning and movements. Once you get the hang of the AI, you'll be able to direct him a lot better. It's a skill that needs to be learned through experience and really can't be taught to you from someone else.

If you ever feel the need to be lonely and wish to send jack to a melted, watery grave, you can use the /release_pets command to kill him off.

Slotting
Slotting Jack became a whole lot easier in Issue 5 since the developers removed recharge from the equation. While you can still slot recharge, the only time I would recommend it would be if your jacks seem to be dying off frequently. Since his duration is permanent, there's no need to slot him for recharge in most cases.

Instead, I'd go for a mix of accuracy and damage. Generally 1 accuracy should be enough for you to get by, but if you notice him missing more than you'd like, you might want to add another one. I'd recommend slotting 3 damage enhancements as well. Any more and you bump into Enhancement Diversification's diminishing returns. Any less and he's not doing as much damage as he could be doing. If you have extra slots, I would add a couple of hold enhancements as well. His slowing powers seem to slow enough without having to enhance that aspect enhancements.

Frost · 11-02-2005 04:27 PM

Empathy

Healing Aura (PBAoE, Team +Heal ) - This power is a player based AoE healing power. It will heal any ally or pet which is close enough to you when you activate it. It will also heal you. It's one of your main healing powers for the entire life of your character. It heals about half of what a similarly slotted Heal Other will heal for, but in an area, and not limited to a single target.

Discussion
Well, you kinda have to take it, so there's really no discussion on if it's good or not. In my experience, this power pretty much covered all of my healing needs when combined with the damage mitigation of my primary. It also has a bonus as one of the few healing powers in the game which will effect both you and your teammates. I use it a lot after running in and using glacier to return myself to full health.

Slotting
I slot this power with 3 heal enhancements. Any more and you're getting into the diminishing returns territory and it starts becoming a waste. Any less and it starts healing for too little to be truly useful. If you have extra slots, 1 or 2 endurance reduction enhancements might be handy in here.

Heal Other (Ally Heal) - Heal Other is one of the two options empathy has for single target healing. When compared to Dull Pain, it's heal is smaller, its endurance cost is larger, but it doesn't prevent you from being healed for a short period of time after using it (See the Dull Pain section for more details). It heals for about twice as much as a similarly slotted healing aura.

Discussion
This is another one of your main healing abilities. I grabbed this power early because of its ability to spot heal someone in trouble if I can't get to them for the healing aura.

I'm a believer in the idea that empathy controllers don't need all three heal powers that are available to them, due to their ability do mitigate incoming damage instead of just reacting to it like empathy defenders tend to do. I chose Heal Other over Dull Pain because I don't like the idea of not being able to heal myself. If I die in a fight, my ice slick goes with me, and in my experience, the rest of the team is soon to follow . I'd rather keep my options open for healing if I need to. The endurance cost and heal power of Heal Other isn't bad, and has been more than enough for my needs in most circumstances.

Slotting
Much like Healing Aura, I would go with 3 healing enhancements in this power. Anything more and you start running into diminishing returns. If you have the spare slots, I'd also put 1-2 endurance reduction enhancements in

Absorb Pain (Ally Strong Heal, Self Moderate DMG(Special) ) - Absorb Pain is one of the two single target ally heal options available to empathy. It differs from Heal Other in that it heals for a lot more and costs less endurance. However, it will deal a small amount of damage to you and prevent you from being healed for a short time, by any means. Effects like regeneration aura will allow you to gain back health while under the influence of dull pain.

Discussion
I'm not too thrilled about this power on a controller, as its tricky to use without potentially getting yourself killed, and, like I've mentioned before, with you control abilities, 3 healing powers really aren't necessary. Most people choose either this, or Heal Other. I prefer Heal Other, for reasons discussed in that section above.

Slotting
This power really doesn't need much slotting. A single heal enhancement gives you a massive heal, large enough for most situations you might come across.

Resurrect (Ally Rez) - This power returns a defeated teammate to life with full health and endurance. It also protects them from receiving additional experience debt if they happen to die again within a short period of time after being rezed.

Discussion
Teammates die. It's a fact of life. However, you can fix their problems by using this power This brings a defeated teammate back to life, with full health and endurance and no side effects. The downside of this power is that it has a pretty large endurance cost, but considering its effect, it's a nice price to play.

I would recommend taking this power at some point, but not at the expense of a control power. It's handy to have and can definitely change the face of a potentially hopeless situation when used in combat, but its far from essential.

Slotting
I really wouldn't put too much into slotting this power. It's good to have if you need it, but you really don't want to use it too often. Don't be the guy that advertises to his teammates that he's got 6 slotted Resurrect

Clear Mind (Ally +Res(Disorient, Hold, Sleep, Immobilize, Fear, Confuse), +Perception) - Clear mind will free your teammates from the effects of every status effect (Like sleep, holds, immobilize, disorient, fears and confuses) that a mob can throw at you, as well as grant them resistance to those status effects for a short time. It will also increase your perception, allowing you to locate enemies which are using stealth or invisibility powers on you, or if you get hit with a smoke grenade.

Discussion
This power is pretty much essential if you plan on teaming often in the 30+ game as almost every villain group in the game has a member which can inflict status effects on an unassuming group of heroes. Pre-30, its less useful, except against certain groups like the Tsoo or the Lost. It can safely be pushed back until later in the build, but if you have room earlier, by all means, take it.

Slotting
Clear mind doesn't really need any enhancements. It recharges fast, uses very little endurance and you can't really enhance any of its actual buff. I'd probably put 1 range enhancement so you can use it on people who are a little further away from you, and forget about slotting anything else into it. It just doesn't need it.

Fortitude (Ally +DEF, +DMG, +ACC) - This is one of empathy's set defining buffs. It does a little bit of everything, increasing the targets defense, damage and accuracy. The downside of this buff is a long recharge time. Without hasten or any recharge enhancements, you can keep it going on one member of your party.

Discussion
With the loss of perma-hasten in I6, this power has become less potent than it was in the past since you now have to devote some slots to recharge if you want to use this effectively on a team larger than 2-3 people. It's still a really nice buff though. This power not only works well with your teammates, but is a great buff to Jack Frost.

Slotting
The slotting on fortitude is going to vary greatly depending upon what you want it to do. I recommend slotting this power, with some sort of mix of defense buffs and recharge depending on how you want to use it.

To-Hit buffs are of limited use in this power, in my opinion. I've found that most people build in enough accuracy so that they don't really need a to-hit buff beyond what is included in the base fortitude buff.

In mine, I went with 3 defense buffs and 3 recharge. I like having it on multiple people. In order to keep it on 2-3 people at once permanently, you need at least 2 recharge enhancements considering the loss of perma-hasten. Adding any more defense buff enhancements and the diminishing returns starts to kick in. If you don't want to have it on multiple people, I'd recommend dropping some recharge slots out of it and using them in other powers.

Recovery Aura (PBAoE, Ally +Recovery) - Recovery aura is used to increase the rate at which you and anyone close enough to you regains endurance. The buff this power provides is very noticeable, and doesn't really need to be enhanced with recovery enhancements.

Discussion
Enhancement Diversification hit this power hard. Not only do we not have perma-hasten anymore, anything more than about 3 recharge enhancements is pretty much wasted. Instead of the 20-30 seconds of downtime the buff used to have, it now has quite a bit more and isn't even really close to permanent.

I'd still take this power, as when you can use it, it makes quite the difference. It can be the only thing between an endurance induced team wipe and a successful fight.

Slotting
I'm currently slotting this with 3 recharge enhancements and nothing else. The endurance recovery buff is large enough on it's own for me to use those three extra slots elsewhere.

Regeneration Aura ] (PBAoE, Ally +Regeneration) - This power works almost like recovery aura, except it buffs your health regeneration instead of endurance.

Discussion
Readers of previous versions of this guide might be surprised by what's to come. Be warned!

I used to be very critical of this power on controller builds, since by the time you could take it, you generally had enough control for it to be pretty much unnecessary. However, with the recent changes to control powers and the loss of perma hasten, I've been finding this power to be handy in larger, longer fights to keep people alive without having to spend my time healing. I wouldn't push a control power off to take it, but if it can be worked in at some point, I would definitely consider it.

Slotting
I'd slot this power with 3 recharge enhancements and then as many heal enhancements as you can spare in your build. It's not critically important to place heal enhancements in here, but they do make a noticeable difference.

Adrenalin Boost ( Ranged, Ally +End, +Regeneration, +Recharge, Res(Slow) ) - Adrenalin Boost is basically a souped up Recovery Aura/Regen Aura and Hasten, all in one handy power. It also gives your target a resistance to slowing powers (both recharge and run speed).

Discussion
AB major buff and highly recommended for everyone to take. It also works on your pets, but is of slightly limited use, due to its long recharge time.

Blasters will love you for this power. Heck, everyone will love you for this power. It's essential in my opinion. It's great with a blaster on the team that uses their "big boom" type attacks. You can just hit them with this and they'll be able to keep right on fighting as their endurance will recharge. It's also handy for hitting someone who missed your Recovery Aura.

Unfortunately, it's no longer possible to make this power permanent on one person, due to the loss of perma-hasten and the diminishing returns on recharge enhancements. However, it's still a good power to have around if someone needs endurance or a little boost to their recovery rate.

Slotting
I slotted this power with 3 recharge enhancements. I had some spare enhancement slots in my build, so I used those for heal enhancements to buff up the heal aspect of the power. The endurance part can stand on its own, but the heal is a little pokey for my tastes. Slotting of this power beyond the 3 recharge enhancements is going to be based very heavily on your play style and slot availability

Kinetics

Kinetics is a very nice secondary with some very nice buffs included. Kinetics requires that, a lot of the time, you be in much closer to the combat than if you had another secondary for buffs such as transfusion, transference and fulcrum shift. Since it's the case that kinetics buffs are very melee oriented, your best teammates are generally scrappers and tankers who are going to be in melee range. Its fun trying to tell a blaster to get closer to combat so that I can heal him .

Here's my take and recommendations on the kinetics powers.

Transfusion (Ranged, -Foe End, -Foe regen, Team heal) - Transfusion is the most powerful AoE heal in the game, healing for even more than what an empathy defender/controller can manage. However, it has two downsides, both stemming from the fact that its effects are centered on a mob. First, you have to hit your target in order to heal. This makes it a somewhat unreliable healing mechanism because there's always a chance that you can miss. Secondly, the healing radius, while somewhat large, is still closer to the mobs than most ranged attackers (blaster, kheldians, some defenders and most other controllers) like to be. It can be hard to convince some of these people to come in closer to the mob for healing.

The size of the graphical effect changes depending on the size of your target, but the healing radius stays the same. A Rikti Monkey produces a really small graphical effect, and a giant monster produces a HUGE one, but the actual distance from the target that a teammate can be in order to get healed never changes.

Another quirky thing to note about this power is that if you use it on a target which dies while your character is carrying out the transfusion animation, the graphical effect occurs, the power counts as used, but nobody gets healed. For that reason its best to try and target a minion (easier to hit) which is close to full health so you have a better chance of getting the heal off.

Now, lets discuss what this power does to the target, the most important effect being the -regen. This slows down the targets natural health regeneration abilities, which makes taking down bosses, elite bosses and arch-villains much easier. I was able to solo the Arch-villain Terra (I know, not a big deal since she has normal boss hold resistances) fairly quickly using this power to debuff her regeneration rate while jack helped to debuff her hit points This is a VERY welcome change to transfusion in issue 4.

The -Foe End part of this power is barely worth mentioning as it's not really a huge effect. Just a small little sliver of endurance drain, and kinetics has better powers with which to do that draining with.

Slotting
As far as slotting goes, I would recommend 2 accuracy enhancements, mostly because missing with this power is a Bad Thing(TM) and I like to make sure I can hit with it. 3 heal enhancements will effectively max out the amount of healing you can get from this power without running into enhancement diversification's limits. If you find you're running low on endurance or really need this power up in time, adding a recharge or an endurance reduction enhancement couldn't hurt.

Siphon Power (Ranged, -Foe DMG, +Team DMG) - Ah, here's the first one of kinetics big buffing powers. Siphon power is the baby brother version of fulcrum shift. Here's how it works: Target a mob and activate the power. That mobs damage gets reduced by 25%, and every teammate and pet within a certain radius around you gets a 25% boost to their damage output. The important thing to remember about this power is that you have to position yourself before you use it so that you're near most, if not all of your teammates and pets, allowing you to buff them all.

Slotting
I prefer to leave this power with its default slot early and use those other slots in other, primary powers. I'd probably put an accuracy enhancement in the default slot. Later, once you start having slots you're not sure what to do with, this would be a nice place to put them. But once you get to Fulcrum Shift, a lot of early slots in this power aren't really all that important.

Repel (PBAoE Knockback) - Repel is one of those fun powers. In a nutshell, when you have this toggle power running, an enemy that gets close to you will get knocked back away from you. Each time a villain gets repelled away from you, you will use more endurance, in addition to its toggle endurance cost.

Discussion
This power is good in certain situations. It's handy to have if things are getting a little to close to you for comfort, since it lets you clear out an area around you in an emergency. It's also a good thing to have if you want to bounce something onto your ice slick.

I skipped it, mostly because I had other things I would rather have. It's also a pretty heavy endurance user although it's better now, in I6, than it has been previously.

Slotting
I'd probably slot this with a couple endurance reduction enhancements, and if you really want to have fun, you could throw in some knockback enhancements just for kicks

Siphon Speed (Ranged, -Foe Speed, -Foe Recharge, +Self Speed, +Self Recharge) - Siphon speed is an interesting power that does a lot of stuff. It' reduces foe run speed and recharge while buffing your own run speed and recharge. Its recharge buff is 20% and both buffs will stack with themselves if you manage to use it multiple times.

Discussion
My feelings on this power have changed with Issue 6. Without perma-hasten, I'm going to take anything I can get to buff my recharge speeds. Siphon Speed does that for me. Its buff isn't to the degree of hasten's buff. However, every little bit helps I managed to fit it into my build by dropping stealth. A concession I didn't really want to make, but after thinking about it I ended up deciding that the Siphon Speed buff was much more useful than the benefits that stealth gave to me.

Siphon Speed allows you to potentially operate without a pool travel power if you wish to do so, but I don't recommend it, personally. It increases your speed right up with that of super speed after stacking it a couple times. The only problem with this power is that...well...you need a mob to use it on. With that requirement comes another one: you need to actually hit the mob you want to use it on. This power causes aggro, so the only place siphon speed will get you quickly if you run around trying to zap deep purple stuff with it is the hospital.

Slotting
I recommend an accuracy enhancement and a couple of recharge enhancements to allow you to stack this power easier and increase the usefulness of its recharge buff. I have it slotted 1 accuracy, 3 recharge.

Increase Density (Ranged, +Res( Hold, Immobilize, Disorient, Knockback, Smashing/Lethal damage), -SPD) - Increase Density is kinetics status effect reducing power, being able to break someone out of every effect except for sleeps, confuses and fears. In place of this protection, it has a couple of additional benefits that Clear Mind doesn't have. First is Knockback protection, useful for those Dark Armor scrappers in your life . Second is the substantial resistance to smashing/lethal damage which it provides.

It has a few drawbacks. First is its short duration. The duration makes it hard to keep going on everyone on the team while fighting and controlling at the same time. I use it more as a reactionary action than a preventative buff. It also slightly slows the target. The -SPD effect has been toned down a bit and is barely noticeable, and is easily offset by the speed increase of Speed Boost.

Slotting
I've found that Increase Density is fine with its default slot, which I'm using for a damage resistance enhancement. It has a low enough recharge time where additional slots in that area aren't necessary.

Speed Boost (Ranged, Ally +SPD +Recharge +Recovery) - This power is your one of your signature buffs as a kinetics controller. This increases the run speed of the target, their power recharge rate and their endurance recovery. It also has a really short recharge time, allowing you to keep it going on an entire team and your pets as well with hardly any more effort on your part.

Discussion
One of the major plusses of this power is that it will buff your pets as well. Yes, it effects your pets. A speed boosted jack frost is a scary sight indeed

I've noticed that with speed boost, Jack has a better chance of going into melee range, since he sometimes runs into a mob before he even realizes there's anything there.

Now, some people don't like speed boost. Mostly these people are uninformed about what it does. They think that the only thing it does is increase run speed, which is untrue, as it also buffs their endurance recovery and recharge rates. Usually explaining this to them clears things up and creates a new speed boost convert Other times you get those people who have trouble controlling their characters while speed boosted or otherwise request that you don't give it to them. It's usually a good idea to ask if anyone minds being speed boosted if you're joining a new team with people you haven't teamed with before. If someone says they don't want it, spread the good word about what it does for them, and if they still don't want it, respect their wishes.

If you plan on taking stamina in your build as well as speed boost, you have a bit of a puzzle They both become available at level 20, so you need to choose which one to take at 20 and which to push back. Personally, I took stamina at 20 and speed boost at 22, as I felt I would be more helpful to the team if I actually had endurance to use my controls. This also allowed me to get stamina slotted earlier than I would have if I took Speed Boost at 20 instead. The choice is up to you, however.

Slotting
Slotting Speed Boost is tricky. It's really good enough with its default slot being used for endurance recovery. If you have extra slots though, I would recommend dumping them into here and adding more endurance recovery enhancements, up to a maximum of 3.

Inertial Reduction (Ally +Jump) - Here's another one of the fun powers of the secondary. This is pretty much Super Jump in a click form. In addition, it effects you, and anyone standing near you, letting you give travel powers to those who have none

Discussion
This power is not strictly necessary, and the only time I would recommend that you seriously take a look at getting it is if Super Speed was your only travel power. Inertial Reduction can be used to give super speed the vertical movement powers which it lacks.

Slotting
The default slot on this power is fine, which I used for a jump enhancement. Its effect is perma already, even without hasten, and it doesn't stack with itself, so putting a recharge in doesn't really help much.

Transference (Ranged, Foe -END, Ally +Recovery) - This is another one of your staple powers as a kinetics controller. Basically, this power works like transfusion, but instead of giving you health, it will give you endurance. This power will also drain a substantial amount of endurance from the target, usually draining them down to zero, while properly slotted, can restore a full bar of endurance to you.

This power has the same drawbacks as transfusion. You have to hit a mob for it to work, and you have to be close enough to the mob in order to gain any benefit from it. If the target dies while you are performing the animation, the power counts as used, the graphic effect is carried out, but you won't get any endurance from it.

Now, this power has a some discussion associated with it: can Transference replace stamina? The answer to that is, well, yes, with a few notes. This is especially true in I6 with the globally reduced endurance costs. If you're not planning on taking stamina, Transference makes your life a whole lot easier to manage. If you do take stamina, and are planning on respecing out of it once you get to level 35 and have transference, Here's a couple things to think about. The first would be that transference needs to hit. If you don't hit, you don't get endurance, and usually it will miss at the absolute worst time. Second would be if you exemplar down below level 35, you will no longer have transference, and you will no longer have the stamina which you were used to at those levels. This can hurt a bunch.

If you don't plan on exemplaring, and don't mind living on the wild side, no stamina and just transference can be a very workable thing. I personally wouldn't be able to do it because of my play style, however, if you want to try it, it can work. I'd recommend testing it out on the test server first and seeing if you like it or not before taking the plunge live. With a little experimentation, you can figure out which combination is right for you.

One note though. If you're running some endurance sapping toggle powers (like Arctic Air), I'd recommend going stamina and then respecing out of it at level 35. Without stamina, Arctic Air can suck you dry of endurance fairly quickly while you're doing other things in a fight.

Slotting
Transference is a definite 6 slot power. 3 endurance recovery enhancements will get you almost a full bar of endurance from one enemy. Therefore I recommend using 3 endurance recovery enhancements along with a combination of accuracy and recharge. I recommend 2 accuracy and 1 recharge, but your mileage may vary. Another thing you might do is swap an endurance recovery enhancement out for another recharge.

Fulcrum Shift (Ranged (Foe AoE), Foe -DMG, Team +DMG) - Fulcrum shift is THE kinetics power. This is your signature move and can really make a huge difference in fights. If you want to imagine Fulcrum Shift, take siphon power, make it hit more than one enemy per use and then buff your team for each enemy that it hits. Sounds good right?

Well, its a little more complicated than that. In order to get buffed by Fulcrum Shift, your teammates/pets/yourself need to be standing near the enemies which were hit with it. If you fire it off at a group of 10 villains from maximum range, you'll notice you only get buffed once (You get a buff for yourself as well as one from the enemies). However, if you fire it off while standing in the middle of the 10 villains, assuming it hit everything, you'll end up with 11 kinetic transfer icons in your buff bar. This power will affect a maximum of 16 enemies.

This power is great for use with scrappers and tankers as they will be in the thick of things where they can get the most benefit from Fulcrum Shifts abilities. Ranged attackers need to be trained to head into melee range when everything is being controlled so they can get their buffs if they want them. Its part of the weird things they need to do in order to effectively play with a kinetics controller.

Fulcrum shift can also be used to buff Jack Frost, as long as he closes to melee range. Like I said in the speed boost section, this happens fairly often with an ice/kin build.

Slotting
Fulcrum shift is a power that deserves slotting resources. I recommend 2 accuracy, and 3 recharge.

Frost · 11-02-2005 04:28 PM

Power Pools

With the primary and the secondary out of the way, lets take a look at some of the power pools which might be of interest to you.

Fitness - Might as well list this one first Stamina can be your friend. Even with the loss of perma-hasten and the endurance reduction across the board, if you take Arctic Air, then Stamina will be very, very useful to you.

It's definitely possible to get by without stamina, however it requires a certain play style and slotting choices due to the endurance hungry nature of controller powers, I recommend taking it and 3 slotting it as soon as you can, no matter which secondary you choose. If you're taking Arctic Air this recommendation turns almost into a requirement.

A stamina-less empathy build it a little rougher now than it used to be. While recovery aura helps, there's going to be a fairly sizeable amount of time where you're not going to have that buff helping you out. In that gap it is very possible to burn through your entire endurance bar and not have enough left to use Recovery Aura again when it recharges. I still recommend still keeping stamina, although this is a play style choice. Try it out, see what works for you, if you want to. Since you do have recovery aura and your buffs at that point in the game aren't exactly endurance heavy, its not as critical to slot stamina quite as early as it is with some other types of builds. I would recommend that you 3 slot it eventually.

With Kinetics, its more doable to make an Arctic Air using controller without stamina once you get transference. I personally wouldn't do it, for reasons discussed in the transference section above. However, unlike empathy, you have a long way to go until you can get some sort of endurance buffing power for yourself (level 35 for transference vs level 28 for recovery aura). And since speed boost is very endurance hungry to keep it up on a team, I recommend spending the 2 slots the level after taking stamina so you can get it 3 slotted.

Speed - Since we just covered fitness, lets cover speed too Hasten, while not able to be permanent anymore, is still a pretty useful power in many circumstances. I find myself using it when faced with a large group of bad guys, multiple bosses or if there happens to be some additions to the fight that the team wasn't expecting. If I need my AoE hold sooner, I'll also use hasten to buff up my recharge rate in order to get it to come back up quicker.

I still recommend taking it, but if you don't desire to, the difference in effectiveness between those controllers with it and those without it has been greatly reduced.

Super speed is the only travel power I'm going to mention here in the power pools section. This power is good to have due to the fact that paired with stealth, it makes you invisible to most mobs. This is handy for using Glacier, since you need to be pretty close to the group of mobs you want to hold in order for you to use it.

Leadership - The leadership pool powers allow you to buff your teammates, as well as your pets. The notable power from this pool is tactics. I'm not sure if tactics, at this point is still worth taking. You're using two power choices and 3 slots for what calculates out as roughly a half SO buff to accuracy. I would rather take those two slots, grab a couple extra controls or something from my secondary and save the slots and my endurance. However, some people still find it useful to take though. For PvP purposes (and increasingly, PvE), it gives you a +perception buff, allowing you to see stealthed or invisible enemies further away than you could without it.

A note here about vengeance from this pool: it can't be used on dead pets. Sorry

Concealment - I'm mentioning this power pool for one power. Stealth. When paired with super speed, as I mentioned earlier it will make you invisible to most mobs and allow you to get into position to use Glacier without attracting unwanted aggro.

Teleportation - Ah, teleportation. Recall Friend is a pretty useful power from this pool, mostly for pet positioning. It's useful for teleporting jack into melee range so you can either buff him with fulcrum shift on an ice/kin build, or so that his Chilling Embrace can help you control/slow the mobs down. Now that pets can use elevators and portals, Recall Friend is no longer required to get your pets to follow you though office and lab maps.

Magnitude and You: Fighting Bosses and Archvillains

There's been a lot of confusion from new controller players about how holds work in relationship to bosses and archvillains. Ever wonder why you sometimes can't hold something with just one hold? The answer lies in magnitude.

Each enemy class (minion, lieutenant, boss, elite boss and archvillain/hero) has a certain resistance to holds which must be overcome in order for them to be held. This resistance is measured numerically. Minions have a magnitude of resistance of 1, lieutenants are 2, bosses are 3 and elite bosses are, I believe 6 from my informal testing. In order for something to be held, the magnitude of the holds that are stacked on it at any given time must be greater than its magnitude resistance.

Controller holds are all magnitude 3 with a chance of getting a "critical hold", which adds 1 to the magnitude. Lets look at what happens when a controller goes to hold various mob types.

If a hold is applied to a minion or a lieutenant, then they are immediately held. The mag of the hold (3) is greater than the mag resistance of the enemy ( 1 and 2 respectively).

However, if a boss is the target, one hold just won't do it. With just one hold the mag (3) is equal to the mag resistance (3), meaning the boss is still able to move. If a second hold is applied, then the magnitude (6) is greater than the mag resistance and the boss becomes held. If the first hold ended up being a critical hold, the mag (4) is greater than the mag resistance (3), so the boss is held in one shot.

An Archvillain/Hero has two modes of hold resistances. They can either be high, or low. When the resistances are high, their magnitude is so high that it is almost impossible to hold them solo. When their resistances are low, they get dropped to regular boss hold resistances (IE, 2 stacked holds will hold him). During a fight, the resistances of an AV change between the two modes. These are indicated by little tiny purple arrows which are completely obstructed in most AV fights. If these arrows are pointed up, then the resistances are high. If they are pointed down, then the resistances are low.

My builds

Ice/Empathy
This is not the only way you can build an Ice/Empathy controller, but here's my build, respected for I6 and enhancement diversification.

As you can see, I went with fly, and no stealth on this build, pushing stamina back to 22. Ice slick got 6 slotted due to the number of enhancement slots I had free towards the end here.

---------------------------------------------
Exported from Ver: 1.6.7.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder
---------------------------------------------
Name:
Level: 50
Archetype: Controller
Primary: Ice Control
Secondary: Empathy
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Block of Ice==> Acc(1)Hold(3)Hold(3)Hold(5)Rechg(5)Rechg(7)
01) --> Healing Aura==> Heal(1)Heal(7)Heal(11)EndRdx(19)EndRdx(39)
02) --> Heal Other==> Heal(2)Heal(11)Heal(19)EndRdx(21)EndRdx(40)
04) --> Chilblain==> Acc(4)Dmg(34)Dmg(36)Dmg(36)Immob(36)Immob(37)
06) --> Hover==> DefBuf(6)
08) --> Arctic Air==> EndRdx(8)EndRdx(9)EndRdx(9)ConfDur(21)ConfDur(37)ConfDur(37)
10) --> Resurrect==> Rechg(10)
12) --> Ice Slick==> Rechg(12)Rechg(13)Rechg(13)Range(40)Range(40)Range(43)
14) --> Fly==> Fly(14)Fly(15)Fly(15)
16) --> Hasten==> Rechg(16)Rechg(17)Rechg(17)
18) --> Swift==> Run(18)
20) --> Hurdle==> Jump(20)
22) --> Stamina==> EndRec(22)EndRec(23)EndRec(23)
24) --> Fortitude==> DefBuf(24)DefBuf(25)DefBuf(25)
26) --> Glacier==> Acc(26)Acc(27)Hold(27)Hold(29)Rechg(29)Rechg(31)
28) --> Recovery Aura==> Rechg(28)Rechg(31)Rechg(31)
30) --> Clear Mind==> Range(30)
32) --> Jack Frost==> Acc(32)Dmg(33)Dmg(33)Dmg(33)Hold(34)Hold(34)
35) --> Recall Friend==> Range(35)
38) --> Adrenalin Boost==> Rechg(38)Rechg(39)Rechg(39)Heal(46)Heal(46)
41) --> Ice Blast==> Acc(41)Dmg(42)Dmg(42)Dmg(42)Rechg(43)Rechg(43)
44) --> Frozen Armor==> EndRdx(44)EndRdx(45)DefBuf(45)DefBuf(45)DefBuf(46)
47) --> Regeneration Aura==> Rechg(47)Rechg(48)Rechg(48)Heal(48)Heal(50)Heal(50)
49) --> Ice Storm==> Dmg(49)Dmg(50)
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Sprint==> Empty(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Empty(1)
01) --> Containment==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Empty(2)
---------------------------------------------

Ice/Kinetics

With this build, I went with more of a powergaming approach, taking super speed, stealth and the psi epic pool. Again, Ice slick is 6 slotted due to the fact I had too many free slots floating around.

---------------------------------------------
Exported from Ver: 1.6.7.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder
---------------------------------------------
Name:
Level: 50
Archetype: Controller
Primary: Ice Control
Secondary: Kinetics
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Block of Ice==> Acc(1)Hold(3)Hold(3)Hold(5)Rechg(5)Rechg(7)
01) --> Transfusion==> Acc(1)Acc(11)Heal(11)Heal(15)Heal(19)
02) --> Siphon Power==> Acc(2)Rechg(43)Rechg(46)Rechg(46)
04) --> Chilblain==> Acc(4)Dmg(25)Dmg(25)Dmg(31)Immob(31)Immob(31)
06) --> Hasten==> Rechg(6)Rechg(7)Rechg(15)
08) --> Arctic Air==> EndRdx(8)EndRdx(9)EndRdx(9)ConfDur(37)ConfDur(40)ConfDur(42)
10) --> Siphon Speed==> Acc(10)Rechg(17)Rechg(17)Rechg(19)
12) --> Ice Slick==> Rechg(12)Rechg(13)Rechg(13)Range(40)Range(43)Range(43)
14) --> Super Speed==> Run(14)
16) --> Swift==> Run(16)
18) --> Hurdle==> Jump(18)
20) --> Stamina==> EndRec(20)EndRec(21)EndRec(21)
22) --> Speed Boost==> EndRec(22)EndRec(23)EndRec(23)Run(50)
24) --> Increase Density==> DmgRes(24)
26) --> Glacier==> Acc(26)Acc(27)Hold(27)Hold(29)Rechg(29)Rechg(34)
28) --> Inertial Reduction==> Jump(28)
30) --> Stealth==> DefBuf(30)
32) --> Jack Frost==> Acc(32)Dmg(33)Dmg(33)Dmg(33)Hold(34)Hold(34)
35) --> Transference==> Acc(35)Acc(36)EndRec(36)EndRec(36)EndRec(37)Rechg(37)
38) --> Fulcrum Shift==> Acc(38)Acc(39)Rechg(39)Rechg(39)Rechg(40)
41) --> Indomitable Will==> Rechg(41)Rechg(42)Rechg(42)
44) --> Mind Over Body==> EndRdx(44)EndRdx(45)DmgRes(45)DmgRes(45)DmgRes(46)
47) --> Psionic Tornado==> Acc(47)Dmg(48)Dmg(48)Dmg(48)Rechg(50)Rechg(50)
49) --> Recall Friend==> Range(49)
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Sprint==> Empty(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Empty(1)
01) --> Containment==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Empty(2)
---------------------------------------------

darminiam · 11-03-2005 12:11 PM

Thanks for remaking this to fit into I6. You can tell that you put in a lot of work into remaking this guide. It's frank, well organized and a breeze to search through. Your original guides are what got me to make my Dominator and made me feel confident that I made the right choice.

I was going to ask if you plan to make a Dominator one, but a lot of these things already apply to Dominators minus the containment. Thanks again.

Frost · 11-03-2005 01:59 PM

Glad you enjoyed it And yes, I weep thinking how much time I put into that

Sockem · 11-05-2005 12:31 PM

Good job again Frost. Only thing I'd like to add is the following...

[ QUOTE ]

Increase Density (Ranged, +Res( Hold, Immobilize, Disorient, Knockback, Smashing/Lethal damage), -SPD) - Increase Density is kinetics status effect reducing power, being able to break someone out of every effect except for sleeps, confuses and fears. In place of this protection, it has a couple of additional benefits that Clear Mind doesn't have. First is Knockback protection, useful for those Dark Armor scrappers in your life . Second is the substantial resistance to smashing/lethal damage which it provides.

[/ QUOTE ]

ID also resists energy damage and makes your buffed teammate Immune to Repel effects (mainly in PvP).

Currently roleplaying, badgehunting, and laughing at the PvPers of CoX. lol, PvP.

Truedusk - Human Rogue

Frost · 11-05-2005 12:44 PM

Ack, I knew there was something I forgot to change in it. Had that in my notes of stuff to fix in a new version but must have skipped it. Thanks for pointing it out.

Lacrimosa · 11-05-2005 03:32 PM

Just thought I'd mention that, as an Ice/Kin, I have Ice Slick six-slotted. With the extra 15%, I can maintain it permanently so long as Hasten is up and I hit regularly with my Siphon Speed. That extra 15% pushes me just over the edge.

I rarely need it, though. I've been fighting whites and yellows since ED, and they're all completely wiped out by the time I would need that extra slick.

Frost · 11-05-2005 03:38 PM

Yeah, I would rather slot it for something like range with those extra slots so you can put it down from around a corner more often to avoid the alpha strike if you don't have a tank with you. Usually everything is dead/almost dead by the time the slick recharges

Rigel_Kent · 11-05-2005 04:48 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Shiver (Ranged(Cone), Foe -SPD, -Recharge) - Shiver is a LARGE (almost 180 degree) cone area of effect slow power. There's not really much else you can say about it. It's pretty much a one trick pony.

[/ QUOTE ]
Shiver's really taken a whipping the past few issues. The devs hate click slow debuffs.

Anyway, I would mention one other important cap on its potential. Despite its enormous size-- largest cone in the game bar none-- it can target only 10 enemies at once.

Often, with one Shiver, I might successfully debuff 8, "Miss" 1, and get "Unaffected" on 1 phase shifted enemy. Everything else will be treated as though it were out of range.

Lacrimosa · 11-06-2005 08:03 AM

I think that one of us is misunderstanding the way that the AoE cap works (heck, it could be me). To my understanding, the AoE cap means that a power will hit a maximum of ten targets, not attempt to hit a maximum of ten targets. In your case, so long as you have over ten targets in your target group, every miss will generate another to-hit roll, until ten to-hit rolls have been made successfully.

It's the main reason why I pulled an accuracy out of Shiver in I5. I don't want it to hit the same mobs consistently - I'd rather it hit a scattered array of various mobs, so that, the next time I fire it off, it has a better chance of less redundancy.

Frost · 11-06-2005 08:11 AM

Hmm..there was a detailed explanation by one of the devs as to how the AoE cap worked..just can't remember who posted it now. Drat.

Hippokrates · 11-14-2005 12:34 PM

Frost,

Love your guide, very informative.

Got any insight on Ice/Ice Dominator?

Frost · 11-14-2005 12:48 PM

Thanks for the comment

Well, as far as Ice/ goes, A lot of the above stuff applies to dominators as well, assuming you're looking to do more of a "primary for controling, secondary for damage" setup instead of a "use everything for damage" deal.

With my Ice/Ice I took more of a controllerish approach while still ending up with a build which is able to solo while still being able contribute damage in a team setting. I can post what I came up with later, when I get home.

I'm skipping Ice Sword Circle due to either a bug or an intentional animation time that farrr too long. Instead I'm going more of a single target blast aproach, with the two single target melee sword attacks. It's working out pretty well.

Arctic Air works very well for dominators, and I'm combining it with Chilling Embrace from /Ice for even more slows and control. Aparantly I'm told that combination makes it hard for brutes to build up fury.

Frost · 11-15-2005 09:04 PM

Here's my ice/ice dominator.

It's working pretty well for me so far at level 28. From 12 to 22, the endurance management was a bit rough, but that cleared up once I got SOs (the first three I got were devoted to AA's end reduction slots.

---------------------------------------------
Exported from Ver: 1.7.0.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder
---------------------------------------------
Name: dark frost
Level: 40
Archetype: Dominator
Primary: Ice Control
Secondary: Icy Assault
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Block of Ice==> Acc(1)Hold(3)Hold(3)Hold(5)Rechg(5)Rechg(7)
01) --> Ice Bolt==> Acc(1)Dmg(9)Dmg(9)Dmg(19)Rechg(31)Rechg(34)
02) --> Chilblain==> Acc(2)
04) --> Ice Sword==> Acc(4)Dmg(7)Dmg(11)Dmg(19)Rechg(31)Rechg(37)
06) --> Hasten==> Rechg(6)
08) --> Hover==> DefBuf(8)
10) --> Arctic Air==> EndRdx(10)EndRdx(11)EndRdx(17)
12) --> Ice Slick==> Rechg(12)Rechg(13)Rechg(13)
14) --> Fly==> Fly(14)Fly(15)Fly(15)
16) --> Ice Blast==> Acc(16)Dmg(17)Dmg(21)Dmg(21)Rechg(34)Rechg(34)
18) --> Swift==> Run(18)
20) --> Hurdle==> Jump(20)
22) --> Stamina==> EndMod(22)EndMod(23)EndMod(23)
24) --> Power Boost==> Rechg(24)Rechg(25)Rechg(25)
26) --> Glacier==> Acc(26)Acc(27)Hold(27)Hold(29)Rechg(29)Rechg(31)
28) --> Chilling Embrace==> EndRdx(28)
30) --> Stealth==> EndRdx(30)
32) --> Jack Frost==> Acc(32)Dmg(33)Dmg(33)Dmg(33)
35) --> Greater Ice Sword==> Acc(35)Dmg(36)Dmg(36)Dmg(36)Rechg(37)Rechg(37)
38) --> Bitter Ice Blast==> Acc(38)Dmg(39)Dmg(39)Dmg(39)Rechg(40)Rechg(40)
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Sprint==> Empty(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Empty(1)
01) --> Domination==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Empty(2)
---------------------------------------------

Hippokrates · 11-16-2005 08:01 AM

Thanks for the Build post, Frost.

So far, Master Bing Xue has the same Power choices at Level 4. Will try to report more as I experience it (only about 2 hours to date).

wyldchyld · 11-19-2005 02:34 PM

Frost, as always, damn great guide! I'll always feel that Ice is the most underrated controller/dominator set there is. I'm not sure if you know anything of the */Fire side of Dominators, but I'm planning on an Ice/Fire PvE build. I'm more of a team player, so any insights would be greatly appreciated. Thanks very much again.

Kyriani_Virtue · 11-20-2005 09:00 PM

[ QUOTE ]

Arctic Air works very well for dominators, and I'm combining it with Chilling Embrace from /Ice for even more slows and control. Aparantly I'm told that combination makes it hard for brutes to build up fury.

[/ QUOTE ]

I took Chilling Embrace and I'm wishing I hadn't.

I have Arctic Air's slowness effect enhanced up to 82%, and I seem to be at the cap. Chilling Embrace provides no noticeable additional speed decrease. (Shiver doesn't either, but it's ranged, so it still has uses.)

I suppose CE might be useful if you slotted AA purely for fear/confuse, but the slowness seems much more useful to me, and AA has a larger radius. Basically, CE seems intended for dominators who did not take Ice as a primary but want something similar to AA.

Frost · 11-20-2005 09:18 PM

Well, I actually like CE and AA together in some cases. Espically if there's a large group of people in melee range with me. I don't use it all the time though, but it pretty much stops them in their tracks.

My build is posted above

War_Bird · 11-21-2005 09:09 AM

Frost Great guide thank you very much. I now have fallen in love with my Ice/Empathy controler. I ran some decent size teams on Sat night 5-7 man/woman. Did a bunch of hunting and doors and wow I can sure kick some @$$. My Bread and butter is Frost bite and Artic Air this is one amazing double soft control. with this I rarely had to do any healling. which was good since my end is at a premium right now. I love Frost bits AOE effect combinded with AA that way they can not run away. AA is also great for controling the amount of mobs we had to face. Man I am only lvl 7 and I can not belive how well this build preforms. LvL 20 will be a great thing with Stamina. I think that Prof. Icen Burg could truly be my fav Controler I have built. So if your looking for some control with some Heally love then look up the Prof. on Justice. If I am on I do love to team

Great Guide Frost

MowDownJoe · 11-26-2005 10:56 AM

Might want to note this before any other Ice controllers try to solo Terra: she was given the typical AV hold resists now. There are also little portal-like objects in the mission as well, but that's something else.

Frost · 11-28-2005 04:52 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Might want to note this before any other Ice controllers try to solo Terra: she was given the typical AV hold resists now. There are also little portal-like objects in the mission as well, but that's something else.

[/ QUOTE ]

Awwww crap. I knew I forgot to take something out. Thanks for pointing that out..just fixed it in the master copy.

Actually that whole section about AV soloing should have been removed.

Hippokrates · 12-07-2005 08:30 AM

So, Master Bing, my Ice/Ice Dominator has nearly made it to 24 now. I'm generally happy with my build to date, and have found the advice/discussions useful here and on the Doms board (thanks again, Frost, for your continued insight).

I took Shiver over AA, since I'm finding myself mostly at range. It works great with Ice Slick, but is very useful even without.

However, the effect duration of Shiver seems to be quite short, especially given the longish recharge time. Also, the visual on the activation (the effect is a little clearer) in determining which mobs are in the cone is not very clear to me (could be my slower machine though).

I'm too lazy to use the great planners out there, but here's a list of Ice/Ice powers at 23:

Chillblain 4 slots
Block of Ice 6 slots
Ice Slick 3 slots (recharge, of course)
Shiver 1 slot

Ice Bolt 6 slots
Ice Sword 2 slots (auto)
Ice Blast 3 slots

Thinking about taking Power Boost at 24; any advice out there?

Thanks again to all you frosties out there!

Frost · 12-07-2005 08:40 AM

Take Power boost as soon as you're able to. It's one of the main reasons for picking /Ice.

I haven't actually taken out the stopwatch or anything, but using powerboost + domination + glacier pretty much means that everything in a mob is going to be held for the duration of the fight. It's great for those tricky boss fights or an area where there's a lot of mobs.

Powerboost does so much else as well. Can't really go wrong with it. I've got it slotted with 3 recharges now and I use it pretty much whenever it's finished recharging.

vestansan · 12-24-2005 10:04 AM

Thank you Frost for you guide, I'm using it for my Sonic/Kenitics corruptor. I have some different ideas about some of the powers but I have to agree with you about most of the powers and the slotting for them. I have Transfusion and Sphion Power both six slotted already but that's just me.

I haven't gotten to Transference or Fulcrum Shift yet but I can't wait to get them. Just two more levels for Transfernece for me.

Again thanks.