Plotting and Scheming a Solo Recluse Strike Force

[ QUOTE ]
Is there any chance of me being able to single pull the heroes in the final mission on a Brute or Mastermind or any other non-Dominator AT?

[/ QUOTE ]

There were people who could do it back in the day, but I confess I never saw it done.

---

And for a while things were cold,
They were scared down in their holes
The forest that once was green
Was colored black by those killing machines

Before you even try a real run I think you should test out what fighting a level 53 Statesman feels like. He's no pushover even at even-con - for most builds he will regenerate so much when Unstoppable is on that you basically make no progress, even if you can survive the Zeus Lightning etc.

---

And for a while things were cold,
They were scared down in their holes
The forest that once was green
Was colored black by those killing machines

[ QUOTE ]
I'm hearing talk from several people that Confused Heroes on the Recluse Strike Force, specifically, will not damage each other.

[/ QUOTE ]

this is untrue, maybe if you confuse just 1 at a time it may be valid but wheres the fun in that? i have seen several times via system message that one hero killed another using my plant/psi on the final fight and the vindicators. with a good team, permadom, and megalomaniac on seeds and force of nature on top its pretty easy, buffs become less important too. for a solo attempt(lol), impossible.

---

[ QUOTE ]
Is there any chance of me being able to single pull the heroes in the final mission on a Brute or Mastermind or any other non-Dominator AT?

[/ QUOTE ]

i did it a couple times on a brute with gloom from /soul slotted for range. theres really no art to it, its all luck of whether or not you get 1-3. some of them are linked to come together even if you single pull one.

---

I'm working on a series of AV soloing articles for the City Scoop, and the one I'm writing right now is for Doms. So here are a few observations...

It is possible to perma-hold even con AVs as Siolfir said, though I figure things a bit differently. Every Dom single target hold lasts base 17.88 and 26.82 seconds for the regular Mag 3 and the extra Domination Mag 3 parts. With 95% Hold slotting, that's 34.87 and 52.30 seconds. If you stack 11 holds in 52.3 seconds (one every 4.75 seconds), you'll have all 11 of the longer duration ones, plus 7 of the shorter duration ones. That's a total of Mag 54, enough to hold an AV despite the purple triangles. Of course you want a little extra in case you miss. Against a +3 AV at 65% effectiveness, the durations are 22.66 and 34.00. You still want at least 11 holds but now you only have 34 seconds. That's only possible for Fire or Mind Control, because you need a really fast animating Hold plus massive (+200%) Recharge. I don't think the pet holds contribute enough Hold mag to make up for the slower animations. Use your AoE hold whenever your single target one misses, and pray. Use Gladiator's Net for the +Hold set IO bonuses in one or both of your holds. Megalomaniac and Force of Nature will help a lot here.

You really want to use Psi Assault. Drain Psyche can be slotted for Healing, and that affects both the buff and debuff. You can completely floor the Regen of an even con AV using Drain Psyche, and Drain Psyche can be perma on a massively tweaked build. With 96% Healing slotted, a +3 AV will be down to 7.7% Regen (average around 7 HP/second). You can easily beat that. Without Drain Psyche, a Dom needs pretty massive damage to overcome a +3 AVs Regeneration. A Mind Dom probably couldn't do it, given that Dominate needs to be slotted for Hold.

So given the requirements, I'd say this could only be done by a Fire/* or a Mind/Psi Dom. A Fire/Psi would be fastest for killing, but may fail at pulling. Your best bet there is probably to use Mind Control. Sleep them all, pull one far away and out of line of sight, and hope no one else comes. But I don't know the mechanics of agro in the final mission well, so this is more an educated guess.

The only thing I'm not sure about is the Kronos Titan. I'm not sure if it's a GM or AV class mob in that mission. And I haven't tried soloing GMs yet with my Dom, though I will be doing that tonight. I'll try and let you know how that turns out.

As others have said, Confusion is probably not an option. With 7 other AVs to attack, no one of them is going to take enough damage to be defeated. And given the very long animation time on Confuse (3.37 seconds according to Red Tomax), it's nearly impossible to confuse a +3 AV through the purple triangles. You could try Mass Confusion if all of their purple triangles are synched, and maybe have some fall during the resulting chaos. But after that they'll start buffing each other, and it probably won't work again.

---

Goodbye and thanks for all the fish.
I've moved on to Diablo 3, TopDoc-1304

I wonder now whether Statesman's Unstoppable has psi resistance. If not, /psi becomes the clear winner for doms.

Easy enough to test in the MA.

Come to think of it, I should try soloing the 53 Statesman with my perma-dom fire/psi before i14 hits. Maybe I can do that tonight.

---

And for a while things were cold,
They were scared down in their holes
The forest that once was green
Was colored black by those killing machines

[ QUOTE ]
You can completely floor the Regen of an even con AV using Drain Psyche...

[/ QUOTE ]

That doesn't seem right. The purple triangles offer -regen resistance. Did you take that into account?

---

And for a while things were cold,
They were scared down in their holes
The forest that once was green
Was colored black by those killing machines

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
You can completely floor the Regen of an even con AV using Drain Psyche...

[/ QUOTE ]

That doesn't seem right. The purple triangles offer -regen resistance. Did you take that into account?

[/ QUOTE ]
Yes. Good enough, or do you want the math?

---

Goodbye and thanks for all the fish.
I've moved on to Diablo 3, TopDoc-1304

How'd Kronos Titan go? Has anyone been able to hold a 53 through triangles on a Dominator?

I've got a Mind/Psy Dominator at 50 fully IOd on test. Merely perma-domination on live. I'm excited to respec my guy into something a hair more efficient and give this a try if I should be able to hold a 53 through triangles.

I've also got a 50 Bots/Traps that I can fully IO out if I think I'd be able to somehow single pull AVs. I'm not sure how that would do against Statesman though with his unstoppable. The basic plan for Heroes was Immob and Taunt from range. Unstoppable might ruin that for multiple reasons.

---

Good point on the longer durations, I was simply looking at the shorter time for the mag 6.

[ QUOTE ]
Without Drain Psyche, a Dom needs pretty massive damage to overcome a +3 AVs Regeneration. A Mind Dom probably couldn't do it, given that Dominate needs to be slotted for Hold.

[/ QUOTE ]
Hami-Os to the rescue.
Acc/Dam, Acc/Mez, 2 * Dam/Mez, 2 * level 50 Recharge IO; I don't know if that gives you enough recharge slotting at ~80% but it's 95% Dam, 95% Hold, and 66% Acc (without the recharge, that's how I slotted my Fortunata on my Fire/Kin/Soul; I picked it up at 49 and had limited slots available).

---

By far the most viable I have seen and heard of has been a Bots/Traps with all pets at the soft cap.

Now I'm not sure what in the hell it would take to pull those AVs apart, but I've heard a brute using Hurl to seperate a hero at a time, but I'm not sure it'd work the same way.

In all seriousness Mind/Psi is looking a bit bleak in soloing this SF, but then again usually everything does.


If you can slot an Achillies heel proc in Acid Mortar and keep up the -regen all unstoppable will be is a resistance device.

I know it'll let him get across that immobilize hole, but if worst comes to worst just make states run around like an idiot in a circle while you lay down Poison traps (plus the bots would be a safe distance of course). If you can outlast unstoppable WHILE keeping up the -regen needed you could, quite possibly, beat him.

---

[ QUOTE ]
By far the most viable I have seen and heard of has been a Bots/Traps with all pets at the soft cap.

[/ QUOTE ]

Erm, maybe for even-con AVs, but for a +3 AV the pets are going to be so far into the purple patch they're not going to be doing much damage. And even at the soft cap, an AV is going to have something like a 25% chance to hit a -5, so the little guys aren't going to last long when AoEs go off.

---

And for a while things were cold,
They were scared down in their holes
The forest that once was green
Was colored black by those killing machines

So I gave Statesman-53 a shot last night on my purpled fire/psi dom. Not a chance. Even with capped defense his 10% random hits killed me before I could hold him. His KO Blow does something like 2500 damage, and even his minor attacks would one-shot me if I had anything less than full health.

I probably should have crafted a MK III Analyzer, but I'm pretty sure States has a toggle that adds mez protection on top of the PToD. I don't think a solo dom is going to be able to perma-hold him outside of the duration of the mez-boost accolade.

---

And for a while things were cold,
They were scared down in their holes
The forest that once was green
Was colored black by those killing machines

I think I may just pick one of my toons, take him to test. respec into something specifically for the RSF and bust out 10 billion temp powers. Forget the "no temp" restriction and go totally crazy on them.

---

I think I've figured it out. I've come up with what I think has the best chance of soloing the LRSF with or without Temp Powers. The idea is so ludicrous and so seemingly stupid it just might work.

The answer may astound you. I know when I first thought of it I laughed. Then with further thought I realized it just might work. A dark and ninjitsu stalker just might do the trick. He'll have stealth and a snipe to single pull. Soft capped defense and two self heals. I can show down on oranges. Waterspout can significantly help with damage and temp powers can push me over the top.

So how ludicrous is my idea? Can anyone think of anything better?

Low and behold I already have one at 50 on Freedom I used the toon to hold extra level 50 missions. Once we only had 7 people for a Masters of LRSF run so we used that guy as a filler. So he's already got the Masters badge. Freedom means I can easily jack him full of temp powers. A super build to come.

---

/e popcorn

---

The Nethergoat Archive: all my memories, all my characters, all my thoughts on CoH...eventually.

My City Was Gone

[ QUOTE ]
/e popcorn

[/ QUOTE ]
/e soda

/e comfy chair

This idea of yours sounds interesting... A stalker soloing the RSF? Who'd expect that?

---

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
/e popcorn

[/ QUOTE ]
/e soda

/e comfy chair

This idea of yours sounds interesting... A stalker soloing the RSF? Who'd expect that?

[/ QUOTE ]


Remember when I said to call me when the game finally collapsed on itself, becoming City of Smurphy...?

*grabs some soda*

Aaaaaany minute now.

---

I've got some questions...

On a Stalker I think I really really want Waterspout. Sadly, Patrons for Stalkers either get Waterspout OR the Snipe. I'd have to range slot a single target attack to use Waterspout. I think that's cool with me.

1. Do I want Waterspout more than a Snipe? Is Water Spout going to be super duper good?

2. Do I want to have Assassin Strike? Will it be good DPS? Will I need placate to use it? My brother joked I should have done this on test in one of the previous versions of the stalker buffs. Would have been so easy Assume maximum recharge unlimited budget build that can spam any attack it wants.

3. Do AVs run from Caltrops? If not is Caltrops great DPS? If so will Caltrops slow them enough that I can still chain my attacks and get bonus damage?

4. Blinding Powder. Smoke Flash. Placate. Touch of Fear. Shadow Maul. I'm not getting a strong feeling on any of these. Skip them all?

5. Summon Guardian. Is this guy melee? Will he die instantly? Do I want him?

6. Any other thoughts? Assume infinite IOs of any type, all the accolades and all the temp powers. Do I have a chance?

---

1) Waterspout > Snipe

2) Yes

3)Not sure, but couldn't hurt

4) Placate keep. The rest use at your own discretion.

5) Don't bother. He'll probably die near instantly.

6)Good luck. We're counting on you.

---

"the reason there are so many sarcastic pvpers is we already had a better version of pvp taken away from us to appease bad players. Back then we chuckled at how bad players came here and whined. If we knew that was the actual voice devs would listen to instead of informed, educated players we probably would have been bigger dicks back then." -ConFlict

[ QUOTE ]
I suspect you will have trouble perma-holding a level 53 archvillain. Thats a lot of scale-to-relative-level. But you mgiht be able to perma confuse one. The question would be whether you would deal enough damage.

Fortunately this is easy to test since there are many level 53 heroes you can drop in an AE mission and practice on.


[/ QUOTE ]

The final 8 can be perma held. . . and I've seen 4 perma confused all by one person. . .just saying.

As a side note, the RSF and STF have both been soloed. The STF had been doen a handfull of times by Illusion/Rads, and I know of one RSF being soloed by a mind/fire dom.

---

It takes nine confuses to perma confuse one AV while in Domination. Confuse has a 2s animation and (at the recharge cap) recharges in 1.6s, so that's one Confuse every 3.6s, nine Confuses in 32.4s.

Confuse lasts 30s base, 60s enhanced. Assuming the Mind Dom also has Power boost, it recharges in 25s at the recharge cap, and is up for 15s, giving its effect (+100% duration) 60% of the time. 60% of 30s can be averaged to +18s.

So we're at 78s enhanced. Add the purple patch (against +3s, powers operate at 65% efficiency) and you're dropping to a 50.7s duration.

50.7/32.4 = 1.56.

In other words, it only looks like you can permaconfuse one AV and "a half". Certainly nowhere near 4 AVs, and the numbers I used are for the absolute highest control build for that purpose (mind/ice or mind/nrj) with external buffs boosting the recharge to the cap.

Given that, you'll excuse me if I'll want to see video proof or solid numbers disproving mine before I believe your claims about an Ill/Rad soloing the STF or a mind/fire soloing the RSF.

(I certainly don't claim I am right and you are wrong, I just want to see some kind of explanation, as on my end it looks impossible for the mind dom.)

---

I'll get you a video ASAP =]

Also did you take Double domination into effect? The dom had almost permanent double domination at 160% global recharge pre hasten (230% after hasten) If you didn't that is a big difference since each application of domination does +50% duration, and increases the magnitude of confuse *shrugs*

Not sure how many the Ill/rad could confuse, it never needed to confuse more than one (Ghost widow)

---

Waterspout and AS seem fairly important. As does Placate.

AV's don't tend to run from my fears, but even if they do, you can start stacking caltrops loaded with procs to do some impressive damage for your minimal buck. At the very least... set mule?

I have the same thoughts on BP, SF, ToF, and SM... I'd use any I could fit in as set mules.

Summon Guardian... hmmmm.... he looks kind of "mule-ish," doesn't he.

It seems your build is going to be fairly close to my AV Killer red side, which is DM/WP (brute, but I'm focusing on DM). Are you planning on the usual MG --> Smite ---> SL ---> Smite ----> MG attack chain? Or the crazy, proc'd out buzzsaw chain?

I've seen some mind-boggling DPS on the buzzsaw build, but it is prone to highs and lows, which doesn't seem like what you need. Slow and steady, etc, etc.

---

[ QUOTE ]
each application of domination does +50% duration, and increases the magnitude of confuse *shrugs*

[/ QUOTE ]

You sure about that? Domination, the inherent power, does enhance damage so stacking Domination stacks the damage bonus, but it looks like (from City of Data's descriptions at least) that the extra mag and duration of mezzes is handled in each individual power description by an "if domination" clause. That would mean that no matter how many dominations are stacked, you are still just "in domination mode" as far as the power is concerned and you get just the one instance of extra mag and duration.

---

Villains: Annie Alias, Dr. Amperical, Shade Golem, Knight Marksman
Heroes: The Clockwork Mime, Soccerpunch, The Fissioneer, Samurai Houston, Oversteer

Join The X-Patriots on Virtue!