skip any powers that state in any way: freeze ray, frost breath or ice storm in their titles.
the sets work well together.
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skip any powers that state in any way: freeze ray, frost breath or ice storm in their titles.
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Wow, I don't agree with any of that. I have no experience with Dark/Ice specifically, so maybe that is good advice for that particular combination, but all of those powers can be good in general. I believe Ice Storm is the highest-damaging AoE attack available to Defenders short of nukes. Freeze Ray is a fast-animating, fast-recharging, decent length single-target hold. I will admit that Frost Breath isn't extraordinary or superlative, but I wouldn't call it bad, either. I would peg it as a middle-of-the-road AoE blast, which makes it quite useful if you're looking to increase your AoE damage output.
So, I love Ice Storm. It's not the fastest for animation times, but it does do a relatively large amount of damage if the enemies say in the area, and with Tar Patch and Fearsome Stare, you shouldn't have any trouble with that.
I love Freeze Ray. If a build is very tight, I could see skipping the hold, since Dark has a lot of mitigation already, but really, I think it's rare for a single-target hold to be a bad choice. There is almost always some enemy around that you really really don't want acting, and Freeze Ray is a lot more reliable than to-hit debuffs at guaranteeing that inaction. Bitter Freeze Ray, on the other hand, is quite skippable.
Frost Breath is okay, and I tend to take it. I won't gush about it, though. It's another AoE attack. I like AoEs. It's not horrible.
I can only speculate upon the combination of Dark/Ice, so I won't say anything about that here. Those are just my thoughts on Ice Blast for Defenders.
Bye, everybody!
*Champion*
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skip any powers that state in any way: freeze ray, frost breath or ice storm in their titles.
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Wow, I don't agree with any of that. I have no experience with Dark/Ice specifically, so maybe that is good advice for that particular combination, but all of those powers can be good in general.
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Yeah, I have a Dark/Ice and I can tell you those powers work great with Dark primary, and in much the way you speculate in the rest of your post. To wit:
Freeze Ray is a better hold than PG, but with both, you have instant held bosses. Who'd want that, right? 
Ice Storm is indeed a very good AoE damage power (indeed, one of the best non-nukes Defenders get), and it slows mobs, which can be stacked w/Tar Patch to make sure things aren't running out of their radii. In fact, lead off w/that combo and follow up w/Blizzard to see real meltage (er, frostage). Frost Breath is much maligned, but actually a very good cone, though I can see skipping this for defenders (love it on my Ice blaster though).
Anyway, I have a Cold/Dark and his "evil" twin, a Dark/Ice, and I love both combos to death (usually, the enemy's). Highly, highly recommended combo. As for what can be skipped, that really depends on what you want out of your build. For max debuffage, a lot of ppl skip even the hold powers (this might be where the 1st reply comes from), but I think having 2 ST holds is far too powerful an ability to ignore (again, insta-held bosses!). However, more than 2 aren't really necessary, so I'd skip Bitter Freeze Ray for sure. Black Hole, of course, can easily be skipped out of Dark, and you'll likely have a tight build since all the rest of the powers are tasty, so I'd likely recommend you skip Frost Breath. Unless you're going for a more offender build w/lots of AoEs, in which case FB is a must. Other than that, really, not a lot of skippable powers I'm afraid.
An Offensive Guide to Ice Melee
Hey there - I've started a Dark/Ice, which I'm loving.
I'm just curious, why is Freeze Ray better than Bitter Freeze Ray? I looked at the stats in game and they do the same hold, mag, and duration, but BFR does more damage.
I didn't look at the cost, activation, or recharges though. Is that why one is better? Thanks!
Bitter Freeze Ray has a longer activation and is therefore poo-pooed by the PvP community. On my Ice/Cold corruptor, I did take it for stacking on bosses. It's not great damage but it is damage.
I have a level 23 Dark/Ice defender and love her to death. I took the click dark powers before stamina and am catching up the toggles after. I have to chime in: fearsome stare > tar patch > ice storm is a superior attack chain - slowed, tohit and resistances debuffed.
I haven't taken frost breath, but it sounds like a solid alternative to black hole.
Triumphant Defenders Forever
Psylenz FF/Psi, ArticQuark Storm/Rad, Symon BarSisyphus Bots/psn, Max VanSydow Thugs/Dk, Cyclone Symon Bots/stm, Blue Loki Ice/Cd, Widow 46526
HelinCarnate:OMG it is so terrible. I have the option to take 3 more powers but no additional slots. Boo F'ing hoo.
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Freeze ray is generally considered better than bitter freeze ray because it activates quicker (1s vs 2.5s), costs less endurance (6.9 vs 15.2), and recharges quicker (10s vs 20s). The damage bitter freeze ray deals is not usually considered very important, given that you rarely have room to enhance it (since you are usually slotting for the power's primary purpose as a hold) and thus it ends up being 2/3rds of an (enhanced) ice bolt's damage on a timer 5 times as long. Oh, and it comes in as the second from last power in the set instead of the fifth.
In general, for an ice/dark, I'd take freeze ray and petrifying gaze. Petrifying gaze isn't usually considered a spectacularly good power, but it's not bad either, and it *is* a better hold than bitter freeze ray. It's got the same duration, costs less endurance, and animates and recharges faster. Not to mention that it comes in at level 18 instead of level 35, allowing you to hold stack on bosses much earlier in your career.
@MuonNeutrino
Student, Gamer, Altaholic, and future Astronomer.
This is what it means to be a tank!
See, I've tangled with Dark in the past on a Corr and on a MM, and I've found that there's just nothing like sweet, sweet debuffahol that Dark can give me. That being said, I've never used Ice Blast, not on any of my characters. I'm interested in it over Psy because of the slows in addition to recharge debuff. How well would the two work together, and what can be skipped?