Advice on Fire/Sonic

Hi all,

I'm taking a stab at my first Fire/ Controller. I know that Fire/Kin and Fire/Radiation are pretty much the standard, so I've tried something a little different with Fire/Sonic. I've done Earth/, Illusion/, and Ice/ before, but Fire is totally new to me.

What I'm finding right now is that I'm getting a ton of use out of the /Sonic side of the build, and not a whole lot of Fire/. I think a lot of it is I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be doing with the powers I have. Am I shooting for damage? Control? Both? Outside of Flashfire, I'm not seeing a lot of potential yet for either.

The character is currently level 26. Here's the build plan going forward. Any advice is appreciated!

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/

[u]Click this DataLink to open the build![u]

Primary Power Set: Fire Control
Secondary Power Set: Sonic Resonance
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Fire Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Char -- Acc-I:50(A), Acc-I:50(3), Hold-I:50(3), Hold-I:50(5), RechRdx-I:50(5), RechRdx-I:50(7)
Level 1: Sonic Siphon -- Acc-I:50(A), Acc-I:50(15), RechRdx-I:50(19)
Level 2: Sonic Barrier -- ResDam-I:50(A), ResDam-I:50(7), EndRdx-I:50(9)
Level 4: Fire Cages -- Acc-I:50(A), Acc-I:50(11), EndRdx-I:50(15), Immob-I:50(36), Immob-I:50(46)
Level 6: Sonic Haven -- ResDam-I:50(A), ResDam-I:50(9), EndRdx-I:50(11)
Level 8: Hurdle -- Jump-I:50(A)
Level 10: Hasten -- RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(36)
Level 12: Flashfire -- Acc-I:50(A), Acc-I:50(13), Dsrnt-I:50(13), Dsrnt-I:50(19), RechRdx-I:50(31), RechRdx-I:50(31)
Level 14: Super Speed -- Clrty-Stlth:50(A)
Level 16: Disruption Field -- EndRdx-I:50(A), EndRdx-I:50(17), EndRdx-I:50(17)
Level 18: Health -- Heal-I:50(A)
Level 20: Stamina -- EndMod-I:50(A), EndMod-I:50(21), EndMod-I:50(21)
Level 22: Sonic Dispersion -- ResDam-I:50(A), ResDam-I:50(23), ResDam-I:50(23), EndRdx-I:50(36), EndRdx-I:50(39)
Level 24: Cinders -- Acc-I:50(A), Acc-I:50(25), RechRdx-I:50(25), RechRdx-I:50(31), Hold-I:50(37), Hold-I:50(40)
Level 26: Hot Feet -- EndRdx(A), EndRdx(27), Dmg(27), Dmg(34), Acc(37), Slow(37)
Level 28: Bonfire -- RechRdx-I:50(A), Dmg-I:50(29), Dmg-I:50(29)
Level 30: Assault -- EndRdx-I:50(A)
Level 32: Fire Imps -- RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(33), Acc-I:50(33), Acc-I:50(33), Dmg-I:50(34), Dmg-I:50(34)
Level 35: Tactics -- EndRdx-I:50(A)
Level 38: Liquefy -- RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(39), Acc-I:50(39), Acc-I:50(40), DefDeb-I:50(40), DefDeb-I:50(42)
Level 41: Fire Ball -- Acc-I:50(A), Acc-I:50(42), Dmg-I:50(42), Dmg-I:50(43), EndRdx-I:50(43), RechRdx-I:50(43)
Level 44: Fire Shield -- ResDam(A), ResDam(45), ResDam(45), EndRdx(45), EndRdx(46), S'fstPrt-ResKB:30(46)
Level 47: Consume -- RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(48), Acc-I:50(48), Acc-I:50(48), EndMod-I:50(50), EndMod-I:50(50)
Level 49: Fire Blast -- Acc-I:50(A), Dmg-I:50(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Containment



<font class="small">Code:[/color]<hr /><pre>| Copy &amp; Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
|MxDz;1425;616;1232;HEX;|
|78DAA593D96EDA401486C76087B085AD248484B2050221A1E 4AECB45A526AD14294|
|8A8A9BAA8691190496209196493AAB9EB4DAB2E79855E7579 87AA0F47CF99734C4C|
|7B590BFECF3373FE7F666C4FFBED7E448877F78516DF1BF61 CA7BB37B226F668389|
|4B6D1EE9D9983C5B6B4A5757621034288FCF5A85BD87C64DA D26DAC7BC61F5C9C9E|
|368F469639E8EECB3E341207D639664D9AEE4DA4335201134 B3A4E48358EC6529EC|
|4D4EDA1EC9D48DB3937C709D53EB0DE988ED93787E6E432F1 706C0E68EA76CF9948|
|FB3203CBABC3FFBD26F89A1A220BD8153E464541673414160 8CFAE5D3E762D11925|
|4F01C0A342ED0B6C94A582C2A7C80513F15E87EB28638880A CA55851DC20B283738|
|CFE0204288CA17E07907D48C5311A8A9AE127405C9A305695 965C227280CF3A6C33|
|46B84D1A25D106E36BC28435E945C221AF461D74B088AD1AC BE182D243E87007812|
|EC496CD0BAA12BC59E544175DD98C3310CA6A9404FD32697E 750A6EC2AE13394AEF|
|06656681719C6DCF237E8456E123E826B955DABF8ADEA7E91 75E9271699B86EC534|
|F10B78D7F865AC51F87ACE8B2404E5F865E4689557D0CCF37 C79F21418592F8A392|
|F521054E2A0120575A159E1A00A25541994B0C9C82BD409DF 612B3576D5A8A0CEA0|
|99B61834C91625FE005783A6371A49DAFCF6DFE487B6E3320 3869CF809D6A63A025|
|3A34969B718592F760B5E7C03578B3FD91617F093D567270E 7E7089C37F7A3AFAEC|
|D0094DF5E4AE6BFEEBFA157173828F43A04F503A284F518E5 15EA1BC46E9A1F4510|
|628D3DF3377EC362EE80ECA5D947B28575814C0F3184689A0 445196506228719414|
|CA324A16E52BCAF40F82B3E7B8|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|</pre><hr />

I highly recommend Smoke. It's saved my butt more than a few times, allowing you to blind mobs that are tightly packs. The debuff is pretty minor, but it lets you dictate the pace. Especially handy after you get the Imps, since the little buggers love to run off.

Thanks for the tip.

Is there anyone who can offer advice regarding Hotfeet and Bonfire? I have both and I'm a little bit... lost on what to do with them. Right now the bulk of my controlling when on teams is throwing Flashfire at the start of the fight and then shooting Char and Sonic Siphon at various enemies. Cinders never hits and is on a 4 minute recharge, hopefully it gets better when slotted.

Once you solve your end issues hotfeet will be great.

-res toggle on an imp+st -res on harder targets and you'll melt spawns.

fire/son is an end pig though, maybe even higher than fire/storm, which when I did was pretty painful.

bonefire is pretty lame. some really like it, but meh.

I have a Fire/Sonic at the same level.

I personally would keep Ring of Fire as you level and strongly encourage all controllers who intend on soloing to keep their single target immob for damage.

Hotfeet really doesn't need a 'slow' in it as if you are using it for damage the mobs will be contained and won't be going anywhere.

I personally haven't slotted my single target shields yet as I have needed my slots elsewhere; those slots could and should go into Flashfire to make it recharge faster; you'll notice a huge difference in its usefulness when its up more often. I do intend on slotting up the shields soonish but they are not my controller's primary form of damage mitigation.

Bonfire is rather nifty but not worth slotting for damage. I tried doing so on my Fire/Rad and really got unimpressive results. While the power does excellent damage overtime it is spread out over 45 seconds which is quite long.

I also don't see clarity in your build; is this mostly a solo build? Its a very handy power to have... you maybe want to ditch Tactics for it.

Thanks again for the replies.

I am pretty much 100% a team-oriented player, although there are times when no teams are available.

I did consider the switch from Tactics to Clarity, but when I looked at everything available to me, am not sure it's a wise move. Right now, running Sonic Dispersion + Assault + Tactics results in the team having:
* -6.92 Held, Stun, Immob
* -60% Taunt, Placate duration (pretty much useless in PvE)
* -5.19 Confuse (again very rare in PvE)
* +69% Perception
* +51% Perception debuff resistance
* -60% fear, confuse duration

The only extra effect Clarity brings is higher magnitude protection, protection from Fear (rare in PvE) and immunity to Sleep. However, Clarity lasts only 90 seconds and doesn't grant the +10% ToHit that Tactics does. Adding another toggle on top of an already toggle-heavy build hurts, but there is always the option to only turn it on when it's needed (mimicking the way you'd normally use Clarity).

On Bonfire, I have figured out that it can be used kind of like Tornado from the Storm set, if you manage to trap something in a corner. You can also catch something in a hold or immob and put a Bonfire underneath and whittle away HP much like Tornado, but its very draining to maintain because you have to quickly refresh the root and if it expires the Bonfire doesnt chase the person down.

Cinders seems like a clone of Glacier and Flash which I was never impressed with. With slotting they become "okay," but Flash I tend to skip and Glacier I only took because I happened to be spending time in melee anyway.

Another quick question for you guys. Last time I tried running Hot Feet on a team I started pulling aggro like crazy. I got fussed at by the team's Empath for taking too much damage and haven't really turned Hot Feet on while grouped since. It seemed very strange that I would be pulling aggro when doing such minor damage. I later discovered the team's Willpower tank didn't have Taunt. Is there a trick to using Hot Feet, should I blame the tank, or is there a mixture of problems?

I am always very cautious about using Hot Feet with a new team. Fight the first group without it. If things go smoothly, switch on HF and just try hitting the edge of the next group. Again, if things go smoothly, dive in deeper.

Also, listen/look for the Tank's taunt going off. That's a good sign to get bolder.

Back up hot feet with Flashfire or Cinders, to hot neutralize your targets as much as possible.

True, you're not doing much damage, but you're probably doing more damage to most of the targets than anyone else, which makes you the target of all that aggro.

Bottom line - Hot Feet without a good tank is dangerous. Hot Feet without any tank or potent buff/debuff is pretty much a death sentence.

I had some more practice with Bonfire and actually discovered that I kind of like it.

Basically I think it's intended as a kind of "Wall of Fire" power. Great for creating impassable choke points. The fast recharge basically ensures its always available.

Personal favorite moment: throwing bonfire into a room full of enemies standing in one of those small conference rooms on an office map. I've found if I position the center right on the middle of the table that the resulting damage and control is unparalleled.

The power also saved my team yesterday! Half the team was still loading onto the map when someone accidentally pulled a nearby group. I dropped Bonfire right under my feet and it threw everything away from us.

I can already see the damage potential for AVs. In this respect its kind of like Tornado.

[ QUOTE ]
Another quick question for you guys. Last time I tried running Hot Feet on a team I started pulling aggro like crazy. I got fussed at by the team's Empath for taking too much damage and haven't really turned Hot Feet on while grouped since. It seemed very strange that I would be pulling aggro when doing such minor damage. I later discovered the team's Willpower tank didn't have Taunt. Is there a trick to using Hot Feet, should I blame the tank, or is there a mixture of problems?

[/ QUOTE ]

its really not the damage so much, but the slow thats drawing the agro..the tank would need to be close to you utilizing Guantlet

Willpower also has the weakest taunt aura of the sets, if I recall correctly.