Banshee Brides guide to a Sonic/Dark Corrupter.

P_E_Daner · 02-27-2006 05:41 AM

Well seems like it´s my turn to try my hands at a guide. Please forgive spelling and Greamma, My first language is not english.

First a little useless yada yada prattle, then Ill give you a round down of the primary/secondary with my oppinion on their usefullnes.

Back when CoH released the Sonic attacks I, like so many others, was thrilled about the Sonic Blasts. Thus I set out to make a toon, which I could feel was both thematically cool and fun to play. The choice then fell upon a making a Banshee in the form of a Dark/Sonic Defender and I actually made it to 22 before I got to frustrated with the defender play style of it. I.e. too little damage to solo properly, and the imho useless inherent ability.

Some time later CoV hit us, and all of sudden my idea of a Banshee reappeared.
First of all the idea of a undead creature as a hero was a little farfetched in the first place and secondly the Corrupter AT really worked out a lot better for me, since it made for a lot easier solo experience (I am from Denmark and thus I usually play at times where you guys are sleeping) while still being a good option to bring on a team and last but not least: A Banshee is better as a villain than as a hero

So without more of the yada yada prattling I give to you, my thought of a Sonic/Dark Corrupter (SDC from now on).

The SDC gives you a great package. You have rather good damage, A very nice secondary effect, team and self protection and a resurrection, which always is handy in the Pugs I tend to form, as well as imho cool looking powers and sound effects.
The SDC work great in both solo and team play and can even be used in PvP to have a good time. I wont lie to you though, its hard to solo with in pvp. (but not impossible) , but on a team it really shines. All in all, its a nice and funny toon to play with.
The only really sad thing about this combo is that there are so many powers from your primary/secondary sets that you would want to have and slot so you may not have that many powers and slots for you Pool powers.

Sonic Blast:
Without this I wouldnt be a Banshee. After all Banshees are infamous for their deadly scream.
This primary gives you mostly single target damage, a couple of powers for soft control, a cool Nuke and one of the most dangerous side effects Resistance to all types of damage. The res. means that when solo, your attacks will do more and more damage, which is nice, and when in teams this makes you a dangerous supporter since all of your team members attacks will also cause more damage. Although this is a very good thing it comes with a price. We pay for it with a 5% lower acc than other attack sets. This is rather annoying as long as you use TO and DO Enhancements, but will more or less forgotten once you hit SO enhancements. Personally I feel that I can get by with a single SO for ACC, but others swear that they have to use 2. If you plan on going for a lot of PvP. 2 would be required.

The Powers we receive are as follows:

Shriek

This is a pretty good tier one blast. It has a very good range, a fair recharge time and packs an ok punch. It is the first of the 3 single targets damage in the set and you will want to get all 3 of them, just take my word for it . In the early game it is a stable part of your damage output and later on it is also a stable part of your damage output It will be useful as a finishing blast or as an opener to lower the mobs resistance before hitting them with a more powerful blast.
Suggested slotting: 1-2 Acc. 3 Damage.

Scream

The second of your 3 single target damagers. Once again you have a good range, a reasonable recharge (just slightly slower than Shriek) and some nice very damage indeed. The Damage is DoT rather than a single number, but this is cool for 2 reasons. First it gives the res time to set in after the first tic of numbers and secondly the power of Scourge simply loves DoT powers. This is because Scourge checks for every tick to set in. This power will be your mainstay single target attack and will be the first I suggest you to slot up. It is also the first power I suggest taking at level 1. The reason I take this rather than Shriek is that the damage is substantial better, without having a to long recharge time.
Suggested slotting: 1-2 Acc. 3 Damage.

Howl

Heidi Hooo, here is a attack that is not single target This is a 90-degree cone attack with a damage that is the same as Shriek. The relatively low damage (compared to other peoples AoE attacks), combined with a longer recharge time is one of the reasons that it is rarely taken. If you intend to play solo most of then time this makes sense, BUT for those who plan on teaming a lot I will really advice to take this gem, your team-mates will love you for it for one very simple reason. Our -res. effect it is included in this power too and trust me res to 3-5 targets in a spawn is not a thing to shake your finger at, especially not if some lets loose with a firebreath after you use it.. Just remember that it causes a lot of aggro, so make sure the targets are angry with someone else than you (or held/feared/confused) before loosening the Howl. As an added bonus it has one of the coolest sound effects in the set
Suggested slotting: 1-2 Acc. 3 Damage.

Shockwave

And while we are at AoE cones here is another one. This one is not for damage but is a soft control power. It has more or less the same size as Howl (as far as I have been able to test) Personally I dont use it. Firstly it will knock people off your Tarpatch (on the other hand it can also be used to knock stragglers back on to it) and secondly if you are teaming, knock back is often a means to controversy on a team. My last reason for not taking this one is purely because of the theme (I know some may shake their head at me now) but in my opinion when a banshee screams at someone they are not knocked back, they fall over with blood pouring from their ears.
Try it out on test for yourself before choosing it, just to see if it works for you.
Suggested slotting: 1 Acc.

Shout

And finally here it is. Our last single target damage dealer. This one will make their ears bleed . Only downside to it is the very very short range. You will have to get up close and dirty with it. Normally this wouldnt be a place corrupters like to be, but again with the help of all the other powers we have, you will be able to deal with it. Take or regret it!
Suggested slotting: 1-2 Acc. 3 Damage 1 Recharge.

Amplify

The sonic version of aim. It enhances your acc (a lot) and your damage (some) and does so for approximately 10 seconds. In my world I wouldnt go without it. Extra acc. when you need it (fighting bosses, AV´s etc.) is always handy and who doesnt want to deal more damage? I know I do.
Suggested slotting: 3 Recharge.

Siren's Song

This power is controversial. Once again its a cone of soft control (beginning to se a pattern heh). It deals a little damage(its insignificant really and not worth slotting at all) and put Lt´s and minions to sleep. The basic sleep duration is pretty long and the size of the cone is large. Solo this is a fantastic power. They will be slept for a long time and with your single attack chain you can mob them up one by one.
In teams it can be a pain. People will let loose with an AoE right after you use it and thus waking the mobs up.
My suggestion would be to take it if you solo mostly and to drop it in team´s unless your team knows not to wake up sleeping targets, but seriously few groups do. Another reason to go without it shows up in you secondary in the form of Fearsome Stare but I will get to that later
Suggested slotting: 2 Acc. 3 Recharge

Screech

This is one of the powers that I am not to crazy about. I have it atm. But I am proberly going to respect it out at some time. It will disorientate a single target (not a boss) and does a little (very little) damage. Others might differ in their opinion about it, so if you got some pointers on it, feel free to share with me . If you like to duke it out in PvP it will come in handy because a disorient will drop the toggles of your prey. So ultimately it comes down to whether you want a power just for PvP. I didnt, but thats because I took another power for that .

Suggested slotting: 1 Acc. 1 Disorient duration.

Dreadful Wail

Killing them softly with his song (sorry couldnt resist it)
Here is our nuke. Personally I love it. I scream at people and they drop dead, those who doesnt die, staggers around in disorientation. The damage varies from time to time because of the way the power checks against a % chance to let out more waves of energy damage and this can be a letdown, but I still love it. Some hate it for it, but really take it or at least try it at the testserver. Whatever you do dont just disregard it without a little test.
Suggested slotting:1 Acc. 3 Damage 2 Recharge.

This pretty much sums up my opinion of the Sonic blast. It doesnt have a single power that I will NEVER take, and that must mean that it has some useful and nifty powers (well it does in my book). The downside is less powers to use in the Pools, but I will just have to live with that and gladly do I might ad

Dark Miasma:
Using the powers of the shadows to cause terror and confound your foes, this set will offer you a wide range of abilities. All of them is useful both solo and in a team, so this is one of the secondary sets that will never force you to favour the one over the other. The set only has one power I wil never choose, so once again it makes for a good and interesting set. And the powers are:

Twilight Grasp

Well you dont get a choice about this one, and that is ok. Its a PBAoE heal that heals about 20% of your health, it has a ok area of effect to help your friends, so just tell them to get close to you when they are hurt. The only downside is that it has to hit, so remember to slot it for Acc. And dont be cheap with the slots here. 2 is better than 1. You really dont want to miss with your heal.
Apart from the heal it has a regen effect. This means that the target you use to draw the energy from will stop regenerating hit points for a short while. This is something, that isnt really useful against minions and Lt´s , but against Bosses, Giant Monsters, Elite Bosses, Heroes and AV´s it is a wonderful ability.
Suggested slotting: 2Acc. 1 Heal 1 Recharge.

Tar Patch

This is an absolutely must.
You place a dark patch on the ground, which will do all of these evil things: Slow your enemies, negate their ability to fly and jump, and last but absolutely not least: It will lower their res. All this in one power !
This makes for a very useful power both solo and in a team. Just remind your team to try not to push the mobs out of the patch.
It is useful in both PvE and PvP play and I really cant see a single reason to skip this power.
Suggested slotting: 3 Recharge

Darkest Night

Team and personal protection. You target is surrounded in shadows and now becomes an Anchor. (look anchor up in the guides if you dont know what it is) Him and his nearby friends will have their acc and damage output severely reduced. With 3 Tohitdebuffs this baby will protect you and your friends against a lot damage hitting you, and the damage that do gets through will be lower than usually. Whats not to like about this? Well it is a toggle and as such has a constant drain on your endurance, but an Endreducer or two will make you smile again. (And Stamina is my friend, I know, I know, some purists will hate me, but I swear by Stamina for some toon´s and this is one of them)
Suggested slotting: 3 ToHit Debuff 1 End. Red.

Howling Twilight

Sometimes the friends bites the dust and when they do this one will come handy. Unlike other resurrection powers this one can actually revive the entire team if you are still alive to use it. It has a PBAoE and all fallen friends within its range will be raised with full health and Stamina. The downside is that you have to use a mob to fuel the power. (I use Recall friend for this purpose) Apart from the rez. the power will also disorient the target and all of his friends close by (again we are talking about the minion and Lt´s here). The power can be used just for the disorient, but it isnt really a stable choice for that because of its rather long rechargetime.
Suggested slotting: 1 Recharge.

Shadow Fall

Another useful toggle, for both you and the team. It provides a stealth effect that is even better than the normal stealth. It also gives you a small (tiny actually) amount of defence. Last and not least at all, the power will give resistance to Negative, Energy and Psionic.
At the later levels teammates and yourself will love it alone for the psionic resistance, since its a rather common thing to encounter and so precious few people has protection from it. So just take it, slot it and love it.
Suggested slotting: 3 Resistance 1End. Red.

Fearsome Stare

Uhhh yeah. To call this baby the jewel of the set would be an understatement.
You will have a very large cone of effect, which will cause fear to your foes. While under this effect they will cower and shake in fear, and even unslotted they do so for rather long. It is almost like a hold effect, although they will have a chance of retaliating if attacked, then they will return to cowering. Apart from this very useful ability, they will be affected by a penalty to their acc. so even when they attack back they will have a harder time of hitting, which is always nice.
This is the one power in the set that you CAN NOT AVOID, to do so would be a huge waste of potential. And this power btw is the reason that I didnt go with the otherwise useful Sirens Song.
Suggested slotting: 1 Acc. 3 Fear Duration. 1 Recharge.

Petrifying Gaze

This is the only hold that you will gain access to (unless there will be holds in the Patron powers). Its magnitude is strong enough to affect Llt´s and minions, but in order to affect bosses, you will have to apply it 2 times. There is nothing special about the power, but single target hold is always nice to have. I especially like to lockdown those pesky Longbow Nullifiers, and Arachnos Night Widows.
Suggested slotting: 1Acc. 2 Hold Duration 3 Recharge.

Black Hole

My mother told me that if you cant say anything nice, you shouldnt say anything at all, so I wont!

Ah ok, Ill say a little. This is without doubt the most boring/useless power of the set.
It takes a group of enemies out of action for about 15 seconds. They cant affect you and you cant affect them. You do this at the price of a HEAVY endurance cost though. It can be used as a Oh Crap button, but seriously there are so many other powers out there that is better to take in order to avoid Oh Crap situations, so it´s really a waste. Feel free to disagree, and if you do then please enlighten me
Suggested slotting: If you take this power I would suggest either End Red. or Recharge. But seriously, dont waste your slots on this one.

Dark Servant

Well its not a kitten, but its still a pet. You own very personal pet ghost to help you terrorize the neighbourhood. Most people refer to this pet as Fluffy (just like a kitten).
This power changes a lot of things for you: All of sudden your enemies will miss a lot more often, cower in fear more often, heals will be used to assist you, sometimes someone gets held and dark tentacles will reach from the ground to immobilise and damage you enemies. What is not to like about that?
In a set with so many good things in it, this is another power that I really wouldnt want to do with out.
Suggested slotting: 1 Acc. 3 ToHit Debuff 1 Heal

So that covers our Primary and secondary powers. What else to get?

Well most people prefer to get a travelpower of some sort. This will take 2 powers to get. Since I wanted a Banshee I went for Hover/Flight for thematically reasons. I 3 slotted the hover for combat flight and I pretty satisfied with it (though I miss the days of 6 slotted hover just like everybody else). Flight is 3 slotted for speed as well.

Other pool powers of interest is:

Fitness.
In my book I really needed stamina. With flight, Darkest night, Shadow fall and the happy glee of using my screaming abilities I really couldnt do without it. Others might do fine, bus seriously I couldnt find 3 other powers I would rather have.

Teleportation.
I went for Recall Friend. I may or may not respect out of it again at some point. The reason I took it is for the times when you need to tp. a friend to you in order to rez. him. Its also handy when you are the first to get to the mission, although that doesnt happen all that often with flight

And that is it. My very own undead spirit.
It´s a debuffing, healing, screaming maniac and I absolutely love it. Hopefully you will to.
I hope the guide has been somewhat usefull to you.

Questions, critic and suggestions are welcome

Best regards Poul

Natsuki · 02-27-2006 07:07 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Shockwave

And while we are at AoE cones here is another one. This one is not for damage but is a soft control power. It has more or less the same size as Howl (as far as I have been able to test) Personally I dont use it. Firstly it will knock people off your Tarpatch (on the other hand it can also be used to knock stragglers back on to it) and secondly if you are teaming, knock back is often a means to controversy on a team. My last reason for not taking this one is purely because of the theme (I know some may shake their head at me now) but in my opinion when a banshee screams at someone they are not knocked back, they fall over with blood pouring from their ears.
Try it out on test for yourself before choosing it, just to see if it works for you.
Suggested slotting: 1 Acc.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is a common misconception imho. That it is not meant for damage. It deals 79% of the damage that Howl does. Which, if you factor in the corruptors -15% Res from Howl. (i.e. doing a Howl->Shockwave) then it's doing 90% of the damage that Howl does with the same slotting. The knockback can be rather annoying, yes. But, most of the time there's going to be a handy corner to 'launch' foes into, which with planning can make Tar Patch, Darkest Night, and other debuffs even more effective than normal.

Otherwise, I like your guide.

[ QUOTE ]
Siren's Song

This power is controversial. Once again its a cone of soft control (beginning to se a pattern heh). It deals a little damage(its insignificant really and not worth slotting at all) and put Lt´s and minions to sleep. The basic sleep duration is pretty long and the size of the cone is large. Solo this is a fantastic power. They will be slept for a long time and with your single attack chain you can mob them up one by one.
In teams it can be a pain. People will let loose with an AoE right after you use it and thus waking the mobs up.
My suggestion would be to take it if you solo mostly and to drop it in team´s unless your team knows not to wake up sleeping targets, but seriously few groups do. Another reason to go without it shows up in you secondary in the form of Fearsome Stare but I will get to that later
Suggested slotting: 2 Acc. 3 Recharge

[/ QUOTE ]

I still have yet to get a Sonic with this power, well that is to say to lv 18. So I don't know just how potent the damage is. If it is close to Shockwave in damage (as some hero planners say, although, they Shockwave at half of it's real power..), then I'd almost think you could slot Damage in this power as well. Use it as a kind of AoE damage w/ toggle dropping. But, that's just speculation on my part, hehe.

I can just see in my mind. Setting up the debuffs, Howl, Shockwave into corner, then Siren's Song putting them all asleep for a little while until the next batch of AoE (from yourself or teammates) washes over them.

Again, good guide.

I myself am playing a recently started 'Banshee', though mine is an android instead of undead, so she's Sonic/Radiation actually.

EDIT:
[ QUOTE ]
Petrifying Gaze

This is the only hold that you will gain access to (unless there will be holds in the Patron powers). Its magnitude is strong enough to affect Llt´s and minions, but in order to affect bosses, you will have to apply it 2 times. There is nothing special about the power, but single target hold is always nice to have. I especially like to lockdown those pesky Longbow Nullifiers, and Arachnos Night Widows.
Suggested slotting: 1Acc. 2 Hold Duration 3 Recharge.

[/ QUOTE ]

Just a nitpick. 1 acc 3 hold 2 recharge is better. (Read Dominator/Controller guides )
Pet gaze base is: 16 rec, and 20 dur.
Pet gaze 2 hold 3 recharge: 8.21 rec, and 33.33 dur.
Pet gaze 3 hold 2 recharge: 9.6 rec, and 38.99 dur.

Damage Proc Mini-FAQ

Just noticed Damage Proc Mini-FAQ wasn't working with new forums, it's been updated.

P_E_Daner · 02-27-2006 11:13 AM

Hi Natsuki.
Thank you for your input, I´ll try to give my oppinon on them

This is a common misconception imho. That it is not meant for damage. It deals 79% of the damage that Howl does. Which, if you factor in the corruptors -15% Res from Howl. (i.e. doing a Howl->Shockwave) then it's doing 90% of the damage that Howl does with the same slotting. The knockback can be rather annoying, yes. But, most of the time there's going to be a handy corner to 'launch' foes into, which with planning can make Tar Patch, Darkest Night, and other debuffs even more effective than normal.

You are absolutely correct that with the debuff og Howl it will get to del almost the same damage as howl. In my oppinoin that just isnt good enough. This is because Howl´s damage is the same as our tier 1 blast, and while this is ok for a single target blast I really find it lackluster as a AoE. IMO the Sonic is a build primarely for single targets, so if you want to go the AoE route I would suggest fire instead. Oter than that its a good inpout if people has the powers/slots to spare and really want to make the Sonic set a little more AoE orientated.

I still have yet to get a Sonic with this power, well that is to say to lv 18. So I don't know just how potent the damage is. If it is close to Shockwave in damage (as some hero planners say, although, they Shockwave at half of it's real power..), then I'd almost think you could slot Damage in this power as well. Use it as a kind of AoE damage w/ toggle dropping. But, that's just speculation on my part, hehe.

Well this is thinking out of the box (which is good in my mind ;D ) It could perhaps make a AoE Sonic a option, but I am not sure if its a road I would like to go. You have activated my curiosity though, so I think I am going to play a little with on test, just for the fun of it.

Just a nitpick. 1 acc 3 hold 2 recharge is better. (Read Dominator/Controller guides )

You are right on this one (and this proves taht should have been better at the proofreading. It is in fact the way I usually slot my holds. Thank for catching it

Best regards
Poul

Natsuki · 02-27-2006 01:33 PM

Yup, basically just wanted to say that Sonic's have a variety of ways they can be used. =)

My Sonic Blaster uses the AoE method, quite devastating firing BU then Aim, then Howl-> Shockwave. But, like I said I don't have a sonic above 18 yet. =(

Damage Proc Mini-FAQ

Just noticed Damage Proc Mini-FAQ wasn't working with new forums, it's been updated.

P_E_Daner · 02-27-2006 02:39 PM

A blaster you say!
Now that is a entirely different ballpark.
The fact that you have acces to both Build Up and does more base damage than a corrupter makes a huge difference.

Your points are still valid and interesting though, but with only Aim (or the sonic equilance) I simple cant make the AoE´s do the burst damage taht you can as a blaster with BU + Aim.

Best regards
Poul

YoYoPop · 03-01-2006 06:29 PM

Piepgrass...

Thanks for letting me know I didn't TOTALLY screw up choosing to make an SDC

...oh... and I really appreciate the content of your post too... thank you VERY much for laying this all out... great job

TacRedline · 03-05-2006 11:31 PM

I am considering a Sonic/Dark for PvP... (Already have an Ice/Rad)

Rope_on_Fire · 03-10-2006 10:06 AM

thank you for taking the time to spell out alot of technical aspects. P.S. your english is probably better than mine.

Mr_Squid · 04-05-2006 12:05 PM

Thank you very much for this excellent guide. In all likelyhood, I will be rolling up a Sonic/Dark of my own next week. I only have one question.

Siren's Song or Fearsome stare?

One is a cone sleep, the other is a cone fear.

I know sleep gets knocked off as soon as the opponent is attacked, but I can get the power much earlier and it does a bit of damage as well. They are both great powers, but together they seem a little redundant. So if you had to pick one, which one would you choose?

P_E_Daner · 04-06-2006 02:54 AM

Thank you for the kind words.

It really depends on 2 things.
1. Do you team often
2. Are you planning on using Howl alot.

If you say yes to those two I would go for the Fear.
If you on the other hand tend to solo alot and/or focus on singletarget damage I would go for the sleep.

To be honest I recently respecked and ended up having both powers.

Hope you will have a fun time with your SDC.

Best Regards
Poul

If you are going for only one of them

Well to be honest i ended up taking both.

Kagenushi · 08-07-2006 12:55 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Thank you very much for this excellent guide. In all likelyhood, I will be rolling up a Sonic/Dark of my own next week. I only have one question.

Siren's Song or Fearsome stare?

One is a cone sleep, the other is a cone fear.

I know sleep gets knocked off as soon as the opponent is attacked, but I can get the power much earlier and it does a bit of damage as well. They are both great powers, but together they seem a little redundant. So if you had to pick one, which one would you choose?

[/ QUOTE ]

Fearsome stare. Because if they are hit while asleep they wake up and attack. Feared targets will attack back but then go back to cowering. And like many Dark powers this has a -Acc part to it. I use a similar version on my Mind/Psy Dom and it works wonders.

Really the Synergy between Sonic and DM is a thing to behold. With Tar Patch reducing a mobs Res and you doing it through attacks your damage starts to scale pretty fast, and if you can keep up the attacks and not stop the -res stay longer. The duration tends to be pretty short and this is the reason I took howl is to have a continuous attack chain.

One of the few spots I really have to comment on the guide is the heal. Like any heal you really want to get the most bang for your buck. So try to make sure you have enough to 5-6 slot it. 5 slots, 2 Acc, 3 Heal. 5 Slots 2 Acc, 3 Heal, 1 End redux. Doing this you will get (depending on your level of course) around 350-400 Point heals.

Entropy: Not just a fad, it's the future!

To YOU I'm an atheist. To God, I'm the Loyal Opposition.

Photons have mass!? I didn't even know they were Catholic...

P_E_Daner · 08-08-2006 01:26 PM

[ QUOTE ]

One of the few spots I really have to comment on the guide is the heal. Like any heal you really want to get the most bang for your buck. So try to make sure you have enough to 5-6 slot it. 5 slots, 2 Acc, 3 Heal. 5 Slots 2 Acc, 3 Heal, 1 End redux. Doing this you will get (depending on your level of course) around 350-400 Point heals.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree with you that 5 or 6 slotting it is nice, but I find it hard to get all the slots I want in to it untill at the rather late stage of the game (40+)
My suggested slotting of 2 acc 1 heal and 1 recharge is a (imho) the minimum needed if you want some good milleage out of the power, but it cant be denied that when you have the slots to do it, 5 or 6 slotting it is the way to go.

Cheers
Poul

Chill_Out · 08-30-2006 11:09 AM

Thanks for the guide! I rolled a Sonic/Dark last night, took her out for a spin and had a blast leveling up in Mercy. Glad to have your advice to reference

P_E_Daner · 08-30-2006 10:08 PM

I am glad taht you found it usefull and that you made a Sonic/Dark. There arent that many of us.

Have fun, and if any questions come up, feel free to ask here or in a pm.

Cheers Poul

P_E_Daner · 12-13-2006 01:00 PM

I am working a updated version of the guide.
If anyone has questions, feedback or ideas then please share them here so that I can concider it in my guide

Cheers
Poul