The Spiritual Guide to Illusion/Kinetics
By
AssaultZero,
Posted on: 2006-11-05 17:40 in Player Guides
why on earth would you rely on siphon speed for all those levels..
Erm....some nice thoughts here so thanks for the guide.
A couple of things:
1. Its worth pointing out that your slotting does not take into account Enhancement Diversification (ED) so many of your recommendations are off. Hasten for example only wants 3 slots. You may want to re-jig this post.
2. IMHO you could easily factor in a respec for an Ill/Kin. Like respecing out your travel power or decieve. It is a pain in the rear end in the early levels when you dont have SO +Accuracy to ensure you hit your target. And it does take a while to recharge.
3. Lastly it would be really insightful if you could include some of the strategies or gameplay techniques for your build. My impressions of ill/kin so far is that there is no cookie cutter build as it depends on your playstyle.
Actually, I had a travel power early on. But once I got Inertial Reduction, I respec'd it out. You can easily do that. But If there were people that followed this guide, that didn't have any respecs, they would have 2 powers less. But the new issue is coming out anyway, so if you wanna save it until a certain point to respec out your travel powers, be my guest.
Well, I have an Ill/Kin at 23 (and rocketing forward thanks to SOs) and have some hints:
A) Not a solo build! Even after Phantom Army on SOs, I still struggle without a team... With a team, things get much better. With another kineticist (or Illusionist, for that matter), the team gets that much better again.
B) Siphon Speed is a control in disguise, honest to gods! The -atk speed you deal to enemies with Siphon Speed is powerful, and the time that wild mob is snailing your way because youmade him slow is time you can cast two more buffs before holding him.
C) Also, Siphon Speed and Hasten are a combination to be reckoned with, Especially with SOs. Between the two you can easily have PA and Flash up for every fight. with recharge SOs and Hasten up, Siphon Speed can get reliably double-stacked for maximum Spectral machinegunning. (Note: Siphon Speed does not alter End recharge, just attack rate, be careful.)
D) Speaking of Flash, it is a great tool in the low levels when your tank is sweating a little more than Transfusion can remedy. It's possibly the earliest 'Oh sh*t' button you can find. Most builds hate Flash, but the Ill/Kin can turn it into a divine intervention in truly bad situations. I five slot it with three accuracies and two recharges...
My build isn't quite the same as the OP's, but that's really a matter of playstyle, I took Teleport for a travel power, for instance rather than fitness, and yes, I have to invest heavily in End Reduction enhancements as a result, not a biggie. (Group invis+teleport makes for very easy PvP as a squishy.)
All that is planned fails. All that is born dies.
All that is built crumbles. This will always be true.
But memories remain, And that is beautiful.
I have a couple questions. First off is it safe to assume I can use Siphon Speed and Inertial Reduction as travel powers (before and after a respec) and if not then what would be good powers to get rid of the allow speccing in super jump? And secondly, is this build adequate to use both before and after the 24 respec?
We'll, are you planning to get the travel powers? And then once you get a respec or Inertial Reduction, are you going to respec out any travel? Lemme just play the diffent situations out:
1.If your going to get travel powers, then at Inertial Reduction respec them out, I would consider taking out Increase Density and Siphon Speed. As much as I love those two, Increase Density isn't a big help unless someones held, and you already have a travel power, wether it be SJ,SS,Fly, or TP.
2. Your going to stick with Siphon Speed and Inertial Reduction with no travel powers. In the long run, this will save you powers, but at the moment, it sucks, Im aware. Siphon Speed can put you in danger so many times in equal lvl zones. But Inertial Reduction saves you from that. All is well.
[ QUOTE ]
1. Deceive- At first this power is fun, but when you get higher, you realize that this power is getting useless. It only affects one person, the people it kills takes out experience that you should get, and it's really long to wait for the deceived guy to kill anyone of his teammates making this power a waste.
[/ QUOTE ]
Surprised no one has pointed out that this is wrong if you use deceive as another control power rather than a "I'll let this guy beat up on his teammates" power that you seem to think it is. Just make the power part of your attack chain in a spawn, and switch targets after you deceived one. There are numerous posts in the controller forum where people break down just how much better soloing is with deceive vs. without. I have tested many, many, many times running missions with and without using deceive, and I consistently get 25-40% *MORE* XP per minute when I play using deceive than when I don't use it.
While you do get less XP for an enemy damaged by a deceived foe, since you can take out enemies much more quickly using this power, over time, you earn XP at a greater rate. XP earned per foe defeated is irrelevant - XP over time is all that matters. By using deceive, you can finish missions faster, so you get your mission bonus XP sooner. You can finish more missions in a play session, so you get more mission completion bonus XP, which yields higher XP/min rates.
I get that not everyone likes deceive. If people chose to skip the power because they have tried it, learned to use it effectively, and then decided they don't like it, that's fine. But please don't tell people to skip it because you lose XP. The power, when used properly, increases experience earned over time so greatly that you can cut many, many, many hours off your hero's lifetime trek to 50.
RagManX
"if the market were religion Fulmens would be Moses and you'd be L. Ron Hubbard. " --Nethergoat to eryq2
The economy is not broken. The players are
[ QUOTE ]
We'll, are you planning to get the travel powers? And then once you get a respec or Inertial Reduction, are you going to respec out any travel? Lemme just play the diffent situations out:
1.If your going to get travel powers, then at Inertial Reduction respec them out, I would consider taking out Increase Density and Siphon Speed. As much as I love those two, Increase Density isn't a big help unless someones held, and you already have a travel power, wether it be SJ,SS,Fly, or TP.
2. Your going to stick with Siphon Speed and Inertial Reduction with no travel powers. In the long run, this will save you powers, but at the moment, it sucks, Im aware. Siphon Speed can put you in danger so many times in equal lvl zones. But Inertial Reduction saves you from that. All is well.
[/ QUOTE ]
Ahh, ok. I'll most likely take Super Jump until I can get Inertial Reduction, and then I'll respec out SJ and add in some other powers such as Decieve or Assault / Tactics. ^^;
OP: please redo your guide. It is not Enhancement Diversification (ED) compliant. Please look up what ED means. Your slotting is terrible.
I'll try to be constructive in my critique of this build...
1: Your powers aren't ED compliant. Remember the rule of three, no more than three enhancements of the same kind in any power.
2: You've failed to understand what illusory damage does. A goodly portion of the UNENHANCED damage heals back over time. The ENHANCED damage, however, does not. So if you slotted spectral wounds with 3 damage SO's, the damage from those would not heal back, only a portion of the BASE damage would. Same goes for Phantom army by the way.
3: You haven't done any research on decieve. It's an extremely powerful tool, people have used it to solo AV's by chain decieving bosses so the bosses take down the AV. Also, let's say a mob damages a foe 50% and you do the rest. You'd still get 80% of the xp, not 50%. As such, it speeds up fights and gives better xp over time.
4: It seems like you've done no research whatsoever. Read a bunch of other guides, try your build. I can tell you right now that your build is so sub-optimal it makes me weep.
-W
Currently playing:
Infinity;
Lady Breeze (50 fire/storm)
Virtue;
Moon-kiss (44 tri-form warshade)
Scarlet Whisper (33 sonic/energy)
Ravenflight (41 archer/elec)
[ QUOTE ]
I'll try to be constructive in my critique of this build...
1: Your powers aren't ED compliant. Remember the rule of three, no more than three enhancements of the same kind in any power.
2: You've failed to understand what illusory damage does. A goodly portion of the UNENHANCED damage heals back over time. The ENHANCED damage, however, does not. So if you slotted spectral wounds with 3 damage SO's, the damage from those would not heal back, only a portion of the BASE damage would. Same goes for Phantom army by the way.
3: You haven't done any research on decieve. It's an extremely powerful tool, people have used it to solo AV's by chain decieving bosses so the bosses take down the AV. Also, let's say a mob damages a foe 50% and you do the rest. You'd still get 80% of the xp, not 50%. As such, it speeds up fights and gives better xp over time.
4: It seems like you've done no research whatsoever. Read a bunch of other guides, try your build. I can tell you right now that your build is so sub-optimal it makes me weep.
-W
[/ QUOTE ]
I have to agree with this post. Just one small example -- Spectral Wounds. This is the kind of information people need:
Spectral Wounds is a blast of Psi damage, where the target is forced to "believe" he has been damaged. SW initially does over 4 BI in Psi damage (Don't have the exact numbers at the moment -- this is from memory.), but then it heals back Illusory damage of about 1.3 after a few seconds, leaving net damage of about 2.78. This is net amount is pretty standard damage compared to other Controller low level damage powers. NOTE: If you defeat the enemy before the heal-back, you get to "keep" the illusory damage.
However, the heal-back damage is handled differently when considering Containment. If you Blind first, you then do not get full double damage. The game assumes that the heal-back damage does not count, so it actually gives you 1.6 times the damage instead of double.
But this is the important part! If you add Damage Enhancements, the enhanced damage does NOT heal back. Therefore, Damage enhancements have more of an impact in Spectral Wounds than other damage powers. This means that it is very important to slot up SW for Damage as soon as you can. It should be slotted with 1 Acc, 3 Dam to start. You can add a second Acc if you are missing your targets, or add recharges. With 2 Recharge, SW comes back quickly enough so that you can do an attack chain of Blind-SW-SW. You can get in two shots of SW before the Containment bonus under Blind expires. If you have Air Superiority or an APP blast like Fire Blast, and if Blind has at least 2 hold enhancements, you can get an attack chain of Blind-SW-[Air Supp or blast]-SW all under Containment. So, final slotting should be:
1-2 Acc, 3 Dam, 0-2 Recharge. Mine is 1 Acc, 3 Dam, 2 Rech, even with Hasten.
LOCAL MAN! The most famous hero of all. There are more newspaper stories about me than anyone else. "Local Man wins Medal of Honor." "Local Man opens Animal Shelter." "Local Man Charged with..." (Um, forget about that one.)
Guide Links: Earth/Rad Guide, Illusion/Rad Guide, Electric Control
Wow, someone actually agreed with me.
To the OP I just want to say, try studying up on your subject matter a bit more. Heck I run a lvl 45 ill/ff, and I can solo like a champ, and that's considering that there are no damagebuffs of any kind in forcefields. I really wouldn't want to take that build you've presented for a spin.
Currently playing:
Infinity;
Lady Breeze (50 fire/storm)
Virtue;
Moon-kiss (44 tri-form warshade)
Scarlet Whisper (33 sonic/energy)
Ravenflight (41 archer/elec)
I'm aware I over look ED. I even explain that, and said you can change it if wanted. But those extra slots just makes those powers all the better. After 3 slots, the percentage goes up about 2-5%, which in 6 slot situations would add about 12-30% more to the power. All in all, change it if you fell it's a waste, but I'm comftorble with it and I feel my powers have a little extra something.
[ QUOTE ]
I'm aware I over look ED. I even explain that, and said you can change it if wanted. But those extra slots just makes those powers all the better. After 3 slots, the percentage goes up about 2-5%, which in 6 slot situations would add about 12-30% more to the power. All in all, change it if you fell it's a waste, but I'm comftorble with it and I feel my powers have a little extra something.
[/ QUOTE ]
I realize you may feel somewhat attacked and maybe feeling you need to defend.....but seriously, you should really try some different slotting out on the test server. I think you will soon realize you are not letting your builds live up to their potential. If 6 slotting REALLY gave you an xtra 12-30% everyone would still be doing it. We arent. Cuz it doesn't. 
I have a LvL 48 Ill/Kin. He's uber fun and nothing has 6 slots of the same enhancements.(unless you are using DO's, which I do not, any longer.)
Solo'ing is a breeze and teaming is a great time as well.
Your guide is in need of I7/ED compliant suggestions. Your proposed build hinders your toons potential, imo.
Your purpose as an ILL/Kin is be a buff/debuff machine for your team and to mitigate damage via your pets by them attracting the foes attention away from you and your team long enough for you to get some hard controls on them, like flash or blind. Using your enemies "potentials" against them by sapping them dry to increase your teams "potentials". Spectral Wounds should be used as a "kill-shot" power only, in most cases. You dont wanna draw unneccesary attention to yourself. 
Alright now I'm confused. Does anyone have an effective pre-respec ill/kin guide I can follow? I'm a noob and I want to get the best out of my character. =(
[ QUOTE ]
Rejected Powers
There were some powers I rejected from my build that some people might disagree.
1. Deceive- At first this power is fun, but when you get higher, you realize that this power is getting useless. It only affects one person, the people it kills takes out experience that you should get, and it's really long to wait for the deceived guy to kill anyone of his teammates making this power a waste.
2.Repel- Again, this power might seem fun, but it's an endurance waster, and does no damage what so ever. Plus some people get annoyed when you knock an enemy away when they were going to attack.
3.Superior Invisibility- Group Invisibility already covers all the bases and more than this can do. Superior affects you, Group affects your team. All around it's better.
[/ QUOTE ]
1. Decieve - nothing I can say that hasn't already been said. It can be a great mitigation power and is often misunderstood, especially in terms of XP gain.
2. Repel - Again, can be used for mitigation and great for emergencies. While it DOES use a lot of endurance, you can keep bosses on their butts and unable to attack.
3. Superior Invisibility - I'm afraid I'm going to disagree with you strongly on this one. This power is called "superior" for a reason. While the invisibility suppresses when you attack, it comes back and fast (I think about 5-10 seconds, but going off of memory here). Also, when slotted for defense it can really increase your survivability (I can't count how often I see the message that the bad guys have "missed" me). And it can be turned off and on at will, unlike the group version. I actually have both and use them often (Come to think of it, I never turn SI off).
Unfortunately I'd have to disagree with almost all of the slotting you have selected (not meant to be disrespectful, but most of the choices there puzzle me). Like previous posters have mentioned, ED severly reduces the effectiveness of what you have (only 5% per slot after the 3rd). Some great suggestions there about different choices; I'll have to go look at my build to give specifics on what I have (lvl 47 and going strong).
The build I have solos with ease (teams can actually slow me down) and has been the most requested of all my toons by far. Tomorrow I'll take a shot at posting his specs.
I have love in me the likes of which you can scarcely imagine and rage the likes of which you would not believe. If I cannot satisfy the one, I will indulge the other.
Again, you can change the 6 six slots to 3 if you want, Im just saying what I have. And those who are talking about Spectral Wounds, I agree with you, but I don't care about damage I'm doing, I'm pretty much a support controller. I let my pets do the attacking. The only attacks I use are blind, to hold some people, and power blast, to knock-back people who are getting close to me. I don't use Spectral Wounds much; except when I get exemplered to a low level. If you wanna be a damage dealing controller, go ahead, slot away.
[ QUOTE ]
Again, you can change the 6 six slots to 3 if you want, Im just saying what I have. And those who are talking about Spectral Wounds, I agree with you, but I don't care about damage I'm doing, I'm pretty much a support controller. I let my pets do the attacking. The only attacks I use are blind, to hold some people, and power blast, to knock-back people who are getting close to me. I don't use Spectral Wounds much; except when I get exemplered to a low level. If you wanna be a damage dealing controller, go ahead, slot away.
[/ QUOTE ]
Sorry guy, this just doesn't wash. 6-slotted HEALTH? And you'd save a lot more endurance by simpling slotting up your attacks / powers with end redx than 6 slotting stamina.
Research. Test. Redo.
Don't post a guide when you yourself haven't mastered the basics. I know I'm coming off harsh, but I've written several guides myself and I feel that you need to be competent and knowledgeable about the powers you use before passing on that knowledge to others.
Everyone's getting their undies in a bundle, I posted this guide to help others, not to show off or put my build through the test. You all are looking over that factor; you rather put someone down then see that I'm trying to help those up and coming controllers. Even though I did 6 slot, you who are actually here to get some information on your new controller, you don't have to 6 slot it, 3 slot. But you will have some extra slots if you follow this build.
I think you're mistaken.
You've written a GUIDE, that means it's supposed to help others. What you've written isn't a guide. All you've done is post a rather poor build with some extreme wastes of slots that could easily be used better elsewhere.
Your guide doesn't help anyone at all. There are several things you've misunderstood about your core powers. We're merely trying to correct those mistakes. After all, when you put up a guide on the forums, you're asking for comments. We give them. You may chose to see this as a personal attack, but really, it isn't.
I applaud you trying to write a guide, but you haven't done any research into the subject matter, read other guides or gotten second opinions.
If anyone follows your guide and your build they'll be very badly off, waste a huge number of slots, underslot a lot of key powers and have a very skewed and at best, limited, understanding of what these powers do.
I'll post a sample build shortly that should show you a far more effective build. Try respeccing into it on test and give it a whirl, then come back to me.
Currently playing:
Infinity;
Lady Breeze (50 fire/storm)
Virtue;
Moon-kiss (44 tri-form warshade)
Scarlet Whisper (33 sonic/energy)
Ravenflight (41 archer/elec)
Here's the sample build, done in 4 minutes. Ignore the slotting order, but get your bread and butter first, ie blind, spectral wounds, decieve.
---------------------------------------------
Exported from Ver: 1.7.6.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder
---------------------------------------------
Name: Name Sampleman
Level: 50
Archetype: Controller
Primary: Illusion Control
Secondary: Kinetics
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Blind
- Accuracy(1)
- Accuracy(3)
- Hold Duration(3)
- Hold Duration(5)
- Recharge Reduction(5)
- Recharge Reduction(7)
- Accuracy(1)
- Accuracy(7)
- Healing(34)
- Healing(34)
- Healing(36)
- Accuracy(2)
- Damage(9)
- Damage(9)
- Damage(11)
- Recharge Reduction(11)
- Accuracy(4)
- Recharge Reduction(13)
- Confusion Duration(37)
- Accuracy(6)
- Damage(13)
- Damage(15)
- Damage(15)
- Recharge Reduction(17)
- End Reduction(8)
- End Reduction(46)
- Accuracy(10)
- Accuracy(17)
- Recharge Reduction(19)
- Recharge Reduction(19)
- Recharge Reduction(21)
- Run Speed(12)
- Flight Speed(14)
- Flight Speed(50)
- Healing(16)
- Recharge Reduction(18)
- Recharge Reduction(21)
- Recharge Reduction(23)
- Damage(23)
- Damage(25)
- Damage(25)
- Endurance Modification(20)
- Endurance Modification(27)
- Endurance Modification(27)
- Endurance Modification(22)
- Run Speed(37)
- Accuracy(24)
- Accuracy(37)
- Recharge Reduction(40)
- Recharge Reduction(40)
- Recharge Reduction(46)
- Accuracy(26)
- Recharge Reduction(29)
- Accuracy(28)
- Accuracy(29)
- Recharge Reduction(31)
- Recharge Reduction(31)
- Hold Duration(31)
- Hold Duration(33)
- Jump(30)
- Jump(43)
- Accuracy(32)
- Damage(33)
- Damage(33)
- Damage(34)
- Recharge Reduction(43)
- Accuracy(35)
- Recharge Reduction(36)
- Recharge Reduction(36)
- Endurance Modification(43)
- Accuracy(38)
- Accuracy(39)
- Recharge Reduction(39)
- Recharge Reduction(39)
- Recharge Reduction(40)
- End Reduction(45)
- Accuracy(41)
- Damage(42)
- Damage(42)
- Damage(42)
- Recharge Reduction(45)
- Recharge Reduction(44)
- Recharge Reduction(45)
- Recharge Reduction(46)
- Accuracy(47)
- Damage(48)
- Damage(48)
- Damage(48)
- Recharge Reduction(50)
- Recharge Reduction(50)
- Damage Resist(49)
01) --> Sprint
- Empty Enhancement(1)
- Empty Enhancement(1)
- Empty Enhancement(1)
- Empty Enhancement(2)
I took flight for two reasons. The first is I love fly, and you reach the speedcap with siphon speed. It also gives airsup which is great damage with containment. Also, if your intent was to use repel to keep a boss down, airsup will do the job with 2 recharge reductions, cost less end and hurt the guy a LOT more.
Decieve is really great out of the box, both as a ghetto hold as well as a way to speed up fights, thus netting you faster xp.
Flash is taken later as it really needs heavy slotting and SO's to be really useful.
Inertial reduction was thrown in for the funfactor. If you like, you can respec out of fly when you get it, but beware exemping. Not having a travelpower suddenly is no fun.
Take it for a spin. See if this isn't hugely more effective.
Currently playing:
Infinity;
Lady Breeze (50 fire/storm)
Virtue;
Moon-kiss (44 tri-form warshade)
Scarlet Whisper (33 sonic/energy)
Ravenflight (41 archer/elec)
As a slight alternative, here is the build for my main, Lady Thalia. This build did benefit from a respec, but mostly for rearranging her slots after ED.
I have found this build gives me a strong solo-capable character that also brings a lot to a team. She can fill in as a almost-tank thanks to Phantom Army and regularly serves as a rapid-transit specialist.
Here is the build. I'll comment on a couple of specific power choices and tactics below.
---------------------------------------------
Exported from Ver: 1.7.6.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder
---------------------------------------------
Name: Lady Thalia
Level: 50
Archetype: Controller
Primary: Illusion Control
Secondary: Kinetics
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Spectral Wounds==> Acc(1)Dmg(3)Dmg(7)Dmg(9)Rechg(37)Rechg(40)
01) --> Transfusion==> Acc(1)Heal(5)Heal(11)Acc(17)Heal(29)
02) --> Blind==> Acc(2)Dmg(3)Dmg(7)Dmg(9)Hold(29)Hold(34)
04) --> Siphon Power==> Acc(4)Rechg(5)Rechg(13)EndRdx(43)Rechg(46)
06) --> Flash==> Acc(6)Hold(11)Hold(13)Acc(17)Rechg(34)Rechg(34)
08) --> Hasten==> Rechg(8)Rechg(15)Rechg(15)
10) --> Recall Friend==> Range(10)
12) --> Group Invisibility==> Rechg(12)Rechg(23)Rechg(46)DefBuf(48)
14) --> Super Speed==> EndRdx(14)
16) --> Swift==> Run(16)
18) --> Phantom Army==> Acc(18)Rechg(19)Rechg(19)Dmg(21)Dmg(21)Dmg(23)
20) --> Speed Boost==> EndMod(20)EndMod(27)EndMod(27)
22) --> Hurdle==> Jump(22)
24) --> Stamina==> EndMod(24)EndMod(25)EndMod(25)
26) --> Spectral Terror==> Acc(26)Fear(46)
28) --> Inertial Reduction==> Rechg(28)
30) --> Flurry==> Acc(30)Dmg(31)Dmg(31)Dmg(31)
32) --> Phantasm==> Acc(32)Dmg(33)Dmg(33)Dmg(33)Rechg(37)Rechg(40)
35) --> Transference==> Acc(35)EndMod(36)Acc(36)EndMod(36)EndMod(37)
38) --> Fulcrum Shift==> Acc(38)Rechg(39)Rechg(39)Rechg(39)Acc(40)
41) --> Indomitable Will==> Rechg(41)Rechg(42)Rechg(42)DefBuf(42)DefBuf(43)DefBuf(43)
44) --> Mind Over Body==> DmgRes(44)DmgRes(45)DmgRes(45)EndRdx(45)
47) --> Increase Density==> DmgRes(47)DmgRes(48)DmgRes(48)
49) --> Superior Invisibility==> EndRdx(49)DefBuf(50)DefBuf(50)DefBuf(50)
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Sprint==> Empty(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Empty(1)
01) --> Containment==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Empty(2)
---------------------------------------------
First, Lady Thalia is only 43rd level at this point so the last three power choices are speculative. As a kinetic, she spends most of her time right in the middle of the mobs so I will definitely be taking Mind Over Body for the Resistance. The last two slots will likely be used as indicated to catch a couple of good powers I missed early on, though I am still debating Improved Invis vs. Siphon Speed.
Regarding specific power choices, I went with super speed instead of Siphon Speed for two reasons: Primarily, I dislike relying on being able to hit a target to maintain my speed, especially since stealthing is something I do a lot with Thalia. Secondly, Thalia dates back to before Siphon Speed affected recharge rate so I've never gotten used to relying on it for a recharge boost.
Choosing against ID and Deceive were as much due to balancing which powers I wanted when as anything else. They are both good powers that can be very useful. Since Thalia is part of a fairly regular team which includes an Ice/Ice blaster and an empath, not having the extra control and buff weren't a big loss. Without that regular team I would have been very tempted to take Deceive instead of Recall Friend.
Some specific tactics/tips I've gotten some good use out of include:
<ul type="square">[*] Invis the team, move into a group of enemies without aggroing them. Then drop Phantom Army (to soak their alpha strike without too much scatter), followed by Fulcrum Shift. This helps maximize the benefit of Fulcrum Shift by allowing the whole team to get its full benefit. Dropping PA first also prevents me from taking an FS-induced faceplant. [*] When the team is trying to crank missions quickly and we have a 'click the glowy' or 'take out X and his minions', Thalia is often able to scout ahead and locate our objective while the rest of the team chews on mobs closer to the entrance of the mission. Depending on the mob density at the objective, she often has the oomph to take care of it herself, allowing us to move to the next mission, and if she doesn't she can recall friend the team to her to handle it.[*]Group Invis is very valuable even when not stealthing a mission. The tactical advantage of being able to position your team before the fight starts cannot be ignored, especially if you have a melee heavy team.[*]On missions where you are trying to protect an object from destruction, Spectral Terror can be a life saver, especially if the attackers are primarily melee based. The AoE Fear in a power that recharges fast enough (with hasten) that I basically keep it in place all the time really helps shut down the attackers before they can take out object.[*] Resist the urge to keep your pets (speaking primarily of Phantasm) on the map all the time. An illusionist's pets are a powerful tool, but is one that can cause as many problems as they solve. Because they are 'uncontrolled' (as opposed to a MM's pets), they can very easily cause a fight to spill over into nearby groups of mobs. Their knockback can also cause problems with scatter. This point of caution is especially true if you are teamed with a group that relies on tight groupings and precision tactics. Now that I have fulcrum shift on Thalia I often don't use Phantasm unless I really need to because it tends to scatter mobs before I can get into them and drop FS.[/list]
How would this build do power wise? I messed up a little on my character from 1-9 so far (my current level) so this is based off of my current build and adding to it. Tell me if this would be effective.
Note: I will be respeccing to fix lvl 1-9 at 24.
---------------------------------------------
Exported from Ver: 1.7.6.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder
---------------------------------------------
Name:
Level: 50
Archetype: Controller
Primary: Illusion Control
Secondary: Kinetics
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Spectral Wounds==> Empty(1)
01) --> Transfusion==> Empty(1)
02) --> Blind==> Empty(2)
04) --> Siphon Power==> Empty(4)
06) --> Flash==> Empty(6)
08) --> Superior Invisibility==> Empty(8)
10) --> Siphon Speed==> Empty(10)
12) --> Deceive==> Empty(12)
14) --> Swift==> Empty(14)
16) --> Hasten==> Empty(16)
18) --> Phantom Army==> Empty(18)
20) --> Health==> Empty(20)
22) --> Speed Boost==> Empty(22)
24) --> Stamina==> Empty(24)
26) --> Spectral Terror==> Empty(26)
28) --> Inertial Reduction==> Empty(28)
30) --> Hurdle==> Empty(30)
32) --> Phantasm==> Empty(32)
35) --> Transference==> Empty(35)
38) --> Fulcrum Shift==> Empty(38)
41) --> Power Blast==> Empty(41)
44) --> Temp Invulnerability==> Empty(44)
47) --> Power Boost==> Empty(47)
49) --> Conserve Power==> Empty(49)
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Sprint==> Empty(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Empty(2)
01) --> Containment==> Empty(1)
---------------------------------------------
Take a travelpower at 14. It'll be a pain to live on siphon speed, especially when travelling through purple territory. I highly recommend fly because it gives you vertical movement, you reach the speedcap with siphon speed, and you can take airsuperiority which is VERY good for damage. I'd say if you have blind, spectral wounds, airsup and decieve, those powers alone will make you an eficient soloer and good on teams, and siphon speed just makes life a lot easier.
Take siphon speed at 10, air sup at 12 and flight at 14. If you want a different travelpower, such as superspeed, take hurdle instead of swift. You'll need the additional vertical movement more than you need the extra speed.
Move swift/hurdle to 16, healtrh to 20 and stamina to 22, then speedboost at 24.
In my opinion hasten is unnecessary because a well-slotted siphon speed will do a great deal of what hasten does (3-slotted for recharge it can be double-stacked) as well as act as a VERY efficient soft control, especially on a boss.
Slot flash conservatively until you get to SO's, it really doesn't begin to shine until that point.
From what I can see, you don't really need to respec, it's definately a viable build up to lvl 9 (and further). It's not the exact way I'd have done it, I'll freely admit that, but not bad at all.
Currently playing:
Infinity;
Lady Breeze (50 fire/storm)
Virtue;
Moon-kiss (44 tri-form warshade)
Scarlet Whisper (33 sonic/energy)
Ravenflight (41 archer/elec)
The Spiritual Guide
oubles the secondary of attacks? Yes sir! The secondary effects of attacks would be holds, heals, etc,etc. With this on, I can heal for 801 hit points, not bad eh? Downside? Only lasts about 7 seconds. So try to pull off some kind of hold before it runs out.
o I notice this power? Not really. Since I didn't take travel power pools, I got almost everything I needed, so again, this is just to take up space. I use it at least when I buff before battle, and spawn my pets.
Illusions and Kinetics... a power set most of us enjoy and love. I love it so much; I decided to create a guide based off my toon Spirit Aid. This is my first guide, so the setup isn't perfect yet.
Basics
Before I go over the build, I would like to discuss the main role of an illusion and kinetics controller. First of all, damage... youre not supposed to be some kind of blaster, youre not expected to be one either. Clearly you are holds and buffs. This is obvious because you only have two direct attacks, Spectral Wounds, and Blind. You don't have to worry about damage, because your Phantasm will cover for you in the damage area. But for only two attacks, you can do some damage when their held so you can do double damage. Even though you have pets, and you can solo, its preferred to team with people... you'll have a better chance.
Gameplay
Now to discuss how to play as one.
(Use these powers if you have them). Before you enter battle, make sure you buff everyone. Everybody on the team gets speed boost, and the tanks get Increase Density, ID boosts damage resistance, plus you don't want your tank getting held. Then use Group Invisibility to buff Defense and just to make them invisible. After that, make sure you have your pet, Phantasm, out and awake. Don't create your Phantom Army just so soon, they are time limited, so do it during battle. Once engaged into battle, first use Fulcrum Shift, so they don't die before you have the chance to use it, then use your holds, Spectral Terror, Flash, or Blind. After that, you can squeeze in some attacks. During battle use Transfusion just to heal most of the people around enemies. Also use Transference; it saves lives one by one.
Continue holding, attacking, healing, and buffing if necessary. Most of your team should be alive and you can make a huge difference.
THE BUILD!
Finally, what you've been waiting for, the way to create your very own.
Level 1:Spectral Wounds/Transfusion
Spectral Wounds:
This is your highest damage dealing attack. Spectral Wounds does High Damage, but almost a quarter of that damage is healed back by your enemy, because it's fake damage. It has a moderate recharge, but when it's your only attack, it seems like forever when youre a low level.
Enhances- 1 Damage 1 Accuracy
Transfusion:
Transfusion is one of those powers that come along, and its great. This is the third best heal in the game, next to Absorb Pain and Heal Other. But there is a catch; its a PBAoE (Point Blank Area of Effect). It's not like heal aura where you can activate it whenever and wherever you are, it need's an enemy. And the heal comes off the enemy, making it harder for those long range attackers to get a heal. But still, those tankers and scrappers will be in love with you. If slotted correctly, some people just get you on the team to be a healer, which is still pretty hard.
Enhances- 3 Heal 2 Accuracy
Level 2:Blind
Blind:
Yay, your first hold. It only holds one person, but it holds like a king. Once you use this power, any other move done to the held person will be double damaged, yay! This will result in quicker death to enemies.
Enhances- 2 Hold 1 Accuracy
Level 4:Siphon Power
Siphon Power
Here's a power that helps. Siphon Power is a damage buff; you steal an enemys damage, and disperse it to your teammates near you. Great power, it can also be stacked with Fulcrum Shift.. double yay!
Enhances- 2 Accuracy
Level 6:Flash
Flash:
Flash is a double-edged sword. It's a great hold... when it hits. Flash is your first group hold, but you have to be in the group because its a PBAoE. Flash is like blind to everybody, but if not slotted right, it will miss most of everyone. If youre lucky you'll hit maybe 5, but thats a risky chance considering everyone you miss, will attack you. Because it's a major aggro magnet. Use this power when the tank already has the enemys attention
Enhances- 2 Hold 2 Accuracy 1 Recharge
Level 8:Swift
Swift:
Yes, yes, yes, I know.. at level 8 Superior Invisibility is available, but were going to skip that, you'll figure out at level 12 in the guide. Get swift just so you can build yourself to Stamina later. Not much else you can do.
Enhances- 2 Speed
Level 10:Siphon Speed
Siphon Speed:
A travel power within itself. Not only does this make you faster than Super Speed, or close to it, but it boosts all your powers recharge, and boosts your endurance recovery. But very, very dangerous in a high leveled zone. First of all, you need to steal the speed from an enemy, which also means youre engaging into battle once you use it. If the enemy your trying to steal it from is a purple, try to run away as quick as you can once you get the speed.
Enhances- 2 Accuracy 1 Recharge
Level 12:Group Invisibility
Group Invisibility:
Whoa, whoa, whoa Spirit Aid, wheres the power to get a travel power? Well, you don't need one; you already have Siphon Speed. Now, the reason I said not to get Superior Invisibility, is because of this baby. Not only does it make you invisible, but it makes your team invisible. So it would be a waste to have Superior Invisibility and this. Downside... it has a time limit. So make sure you keep your eye on the Invisible power icon under your experience bar, if it starts blinking, warn your teammates, and stay away from baddies. You can still use this power by yourself in danger zones.
Enhances- 3 Recharge Reduction
Level 14:Hasten
Hasten:
Is this maybe just the best power pool power..ever! Possibly. Hasten speeds up your recharges on powers by almost 2 times. Downside? It has a longer recharge. Way back when, before Issue 5, there was an actual thing called Permanent Hasten, and it was great. But when a so called Enhancement Diversification came into play, Perma-Hasten became extinct. So we try our best to keep perma-hasten, but there's still a gap in-between not having hasten.
Enhances- 6 Recharge Reduction
Level 16:Increase Density
Increase Density:
A buff that resists holds, immobilize, sleep, etc..etc. Really helpful against enemies that can hold, but it wears off really fast. But there is a special treat within this power... it boosts Damage Resistance to lethal and smashing... great to use on Tanks. So during battle, use this on a tank.
Enhances- 3 Damage Resistance
Level 18:Phantom Army
Phantom Army:
Yes! Your first line of pets. You spawn 3 phantoms to do your bidding. Again, Downside? Limited Time and they do fake damage like Spectral Wounds. But all the damage is healed back. This is the one-way express train that allows you to Solo, but expects some mistakes and deaths here and there. Long recharge, so good thing you have Hasten.(On this slotting I said 3 recharge, the only reason I didn't put damage or accuracy is because their damage is fake, and I mostly use them for decoys, or fake tanks so I or my team can do damage without getting hurt.
Enhances- 3 Recharge
Level 20:Speed Boost
Speed Boost:
This buff is often referred to as "crack". Because once people get it, they love it and want more. Speed Boost obviously makes teammates faster, but it also boost's Endurance recovery and power recharge. Kind of like Siphon Speed.
Enhances-(I 6 slotted it with Endurance Modifications, but you can 3 slot it with Endurance Mods. instead.)
Level 22: Health
Health:
Again, we are now building ourselves to Stamina. Plus not much else powers out there to get. It speeds up your healing regeneration.
Enhances- 6 Heal
Level 24:Stamina
Stamina:
This is a gem. Cherish it. It speeds up your Endurance Recovery.. which is awesome fantastic. No more running out of Endurance!!
Enhances-6 Endurance Modification
Level 26:Spectral Terror
Spectral Terror:
Not necessarily a hold, but good enough. You summon yet another pet shaped like a skull in a cloud that scares everyone around it. Some enemies might run away because their so scared. Really helpful when Flash isn't recharged. It also has a shorter recharge then Flash, added with Hasten; you'll be able to use it before the first disappears.
Enhances- 2 Accuracy 2 Fear
Level 28:Inertial Reduction
Inertial Reduction:
You've been slaving through Siphon Speed for about 18 levels now, and your getting sick of almost having near death experiences trying to use it. But Wait! Inertial Reduction is here to save your life. You can activate a power that gives you and everyone around you Super Jump!
No more stealing speed, you can just use it whenever! Thank God.
Enhances- 2 Jump
Level 30:Hurdle
Hurdle:Actually, you don't need to get this. I got this because I didn't feel any other power pool that I wanted, and we took the good powers we could get. So this was just to take up space, plus vertical movement doesn't hurt.
Enhances- 2 Jump
Level 32:Phantasm
Phantasm:Yay! A pet! This maybe just the best pet out of the Controller options. It has long range energy attacks, plus a cone attack, and it can fly! Phantasm makes up for your lack of damage attacks; it's like having an energy blaster on your team. I nicknamed mine Chubbz, but you can't really put your nickname on their name titles.
Enhances- 4 Damage 2 Accuracy
Level 35:Transference
Transference:Just like Transfusion, except raises your endurance. I love this power personally. Not that I ever run out of endurance, but I can save alot of teammates from running out of endurance to fight.
Enhances- 3 Endurance Modification 2 Accuracy
Level 38:Fulcrum Shift
Fulcrum Shift:Wait, what's that noise? Is that the noise of this move OWNING everything on the field. This is just like Siphon Power, except it affects the person you used it on, and everyone around him. Tankers most of all love this, so they can do major damage. It's harder for other Archetypes like blasters to get it, because its a close range booster, you have to be in the mob basically. A fulcrum shift does go around the caster though, but it is only one, just like siphon power. If you're closer to the enemies, you can get more Fulcrum.
Enhances- 4 Accuracy 2 Recharge Reduction
Level 41:Primal Forces->Power Blast
Primal Forces:I took Primal Forces for my Epic Power because it went along together more than the others to illusion and kinetics. Plus my Phantasm has energy moves, so I could be in unison with him.
Power Blast:Another attack that does great damage, very helpful.
Enhances-3 Damage
Level 44:Temporary Invulnerability
Temporary Invulnerability:Now you can take some damage for a back-up. I always have this on in battle, sometimes if I'm lucky; I can keep up with the tank... sometimes.
Enhances- 3 Damage Resistance
Level 47:Power Boost
Power Boost
Enhances-3 Recharge Reduction
Level 49:Conserve Power
Conserve Power
Enhances- 1 Recharge Reduction
Rejected Powers
There were some powers I rejected from my build that some people might disagree.
1. Deceive- At first this power is fun, but when you get higher, you realize that this power is getting useless. It only affects one person, the people it kills takes out experience that you should get, and it's really long to wait for the deceived guy to kill anyone of his teammates making this power a waste.
2.Repel- Again, this power might seem fun, but it's an endurance waster, and does no damage what so ever. Plus some people get annoyed when you knock an enemy away when they were going to attack.
3.Superior Invisibility- Group Invisibility already covers all the bases and more than this can do. Superior affects you, Group affects your team. All around it's better.
Conclusion
Well I hope my guide can help you. So far I've been told how great I help out the team. If you don't like it, you can tell me what I did wrong. You might have some slots extra; you can assign them where you want. Some people might disagree on me 6 slotting things, and thats alright. I just 6 slot or slot them more then 3 because I want to make sure my powers are top notch.
You Can Find My Build At www.coh.gameamp.com Also. The one there is a little different, I messed the slotting up on that one.