Well I'm quite biased, as my Cold/ Defender was one of my absolute characters to play.
But for starters, it has 4 buffs to teammates, all of which are pretty effective. 2 +defense shields which grant defense equal to or nearly equal to FF's 2 shields. It also has a +HP Buff that increases a target ally's HP substantially. It's last buff is Arctic Fog, which is pretty much your usual PBAoE toggle +stealth power.
For debuffs, you get Infrigerate, Benumb, Heat Loss, Snow Storm, and Sleet. I assume you know what Snow Storm is, a target foe toggle that debuffs their speed and recharge and keeps them from flying. Infrigerate debuffs the target's speed, recharge, defense, and Fire damage. Benumb has a massive -regen debuff, a -damage debuff (all), and a debuff that makes the target's secondary abilities less effective (including heals). Heat Loss is similar to Fulcrum Shift, except it debuffs the damage resistance of the target (and all enemies near the target), while also sapping some endurance and giving endurance as well as a +recovery bonus to all allies near the target and near you. Beautiful power, really. I believe it also slows them. And lastly, you have Sleet which has massive -resistance and -defense debuffs as well as slow and some knockdown.
With Cold, you get ally +End, +Recovery, +Defense, +HP, and some small resistance to cold, energy, fire, and toxic. You get foe debuffs to -Regen, -Resistance, -Defense, -Speed, -Recharge, -End, and -Damage. It's very easy to get an enemy to the slow cap.
It's an absolutely beautiful set when used correctly and can be a major asset on Task Forces or any content, for that matter.
[ QUOTE ]
I can't say that I have done it, but there have been many, many claims on these boards by players who have had their Ill/Rads solo every AV and Monster in the game (other than Hamidon). I recall a long thread by a guy who had video of when he beat Lusca solo, and I believe he had beaten every AV.
[/ QUOTE ]
His Lusca "soloing" included multiple trips back from the hosp and loading up on insps. Really, it was a testament to his perseverance more than anything else. I never bothered w/his AV vids cuz... well, Ill/Rad is really good at soloing stuff. Just not very fast (at least compared to Fire). Still, I think you & Silverado (and me, for that matter) are talking about slightly different things. Ill/Rad is indeed easy. Fire/Rad (and possibly Fire/others) is harder to achieve, but more efficient once you get there.
Some other random replies:
Re: Jurassik or other "lower level" GMs, I think even w/GM code, the lower level ones (like Jurassik, Babbage, Paladin, etc) have lower stats like regen. TopDoc's the expert (among others, I'm sure) at this. I personally didn't notice a big difference in time bet. soloing Paladin & a DE GM from monster island in PI, but I wasn't paying that much attention either. I estimated it took me anywhere from 15-20 min to solo them, though I prolly could've done Paladin in 10 if I weren't interrupted. And a lot of that time is wasted cuz they run around so freakin' much. 
Plant does well against groups, because of Roots and CC and the confuse damage. For ST damage against AVs and above, it's not on the same level as Fire, and neither is Ill.
I'm not convinced that /Cold will be better than /Rad. I've been waiting for the defender board to put up a Rad/Son vs. Cold/Son pylon test, but no one's taken up the challenge. Cold has better debuffs, but they're not all perma (i.e. Benumb), which means the AV/GM will have periods of high regen whereas Rad won't face that. Rad also has AM for the toon & pets, and Cold's shields are meaningless if you do it right (i.e. your pets are never attacked since you have all the aggro). Cold is an awesome set for AV fights, no doubt, but I still think Rad is supreme (unless some /Kins or /Storms wanna prove me wrong). It'll be fun to test though. 
An Offensive Guide to Ice Melee
This build took like 5 minutes to make, so I'm sure some of you peoples could make a better build if you spent some time on it, this build is just to show Cold closing the gap between Rad.
edit: I chose Illusion over Fire because it is easier to get +rchg set bonuses with illusion, and with illusion you don't need the soft capped range defense.
This build features:
Perma Hasten
2.9 secs off perma PA (in place of the need for ranged defense)
4.7 secs off perma Heat Loss (basically infinite recovery)
1.4 secs off perma Benumb (@200% rchg it would be perma)
It can put out resistance debuffs of either -30 (perma sleet) -60 (2x sleet) -60 (sleet+HL) or -90 (2x sleet+HL) depending on what is recharged
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.401
http://www.cohplanner.com/
[u]Click this DataLink to open the build![u]
Level 50 Magic Controller
Primary Power Set: Illusion Control
Secondary Power Set: Cold Domination
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fitness
Ancillary Pool: Fire Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Spectral Wounds -- Dev'n-Acc/Dmg(A), Dev'n-Dmg/EndRdx(13), Dev'n-Dmg/Rchg(15), Dev'n-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(15), Apoc-Dam%(17)
Level 1: Infrigidate -- Achilles-ResDeb%(A)
Level 2: Blind -- Dev'n-Acc/Dmg(A), Dev'n-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Dev'n-Dmg/Rchg(3), UbrkCons-Dam%(11), G'Wdw-Dam%(11), NrncSD-Dam%(13)
Level 4: Deceive -- CoPers-Conf/Rchg(A), CoPers-Acc/Conf/Rchg(5), CoPers-Conf/EndRdx(5), CoPers-Acc/Rchg(9), CoPers-Conf%(9)
Level 6: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(7), RechRdx-I(7)
Level 8: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), Ksmt-ToHit+(23)
Level 10: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 12: Group Invisibility -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 14: Super Speed -- Zephyr-ResKB(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(34)
Level 16: Health -- Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(A), Mrcl-Rcvry+(17)
Level 18: Phantom Army -- ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg(A), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(19), ExRmnt-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(19), ExRmnt-Dmg/EndRdx(21), RechRdx-I(21), RechRdx-I(37)
Level 20: Stamina -- P'Shift-EndMod(A), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(40), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc(43)
Level 22: Arctic Fog -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), TtmC'tng-ResDam(23), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx(25), TtmC'tng-ResDam/Rchg(25)
Level 24: Flash -- UbrkCons-Hold(A), UbrkCons-Hold/Rchg(34), UbrkCons-Acc/Hold/Rchg(43), UbrkCons-Acc/Rchg(46), UbrkCons-EndRdx/Hold(46)
Level 26: Spectral Terror -- Abys-Dam%(A), Abys-EndRdx/Fear(27), Abys-Acc/EndRdx(27), Abys-Fear/Rng(31), Abys-Acc/Fear/Rchg(31)
Level 28: Benumb -- Acc-I(A), RechRdx-I(29), RechRdx-I(29), RechRdx-I(31)
Level 30: Ice Shield -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 32: Phantasm -- ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg(A), ExRmnt-Dmg/EndRdx(33), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), ExRmnt-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(33), ExStrk-Dam%(34)
Level 35: Sleet -- Posi-Dmg/Rng(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(36), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(36), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(36), Posi-Dam%(37)
Level 38: Heat Loss -- P'Shift-EndMod(A), P'Shift-EndMod/Rchg(39), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(39), P'Shift-Acc/Rchg(39), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc(40), RechRdx-I(40)
Level 41: Fire Blast -- Apoc-Dmg(A), Apoc-Dmg/Rchg(42), Apoc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42), Apoc-Acc/Rchg(42), Apoc-Dmg/EndRdx(43)
Level 44: Fire Shield -- TtmC'tng-ResDam(A), TtmC'tng-ResDam/EndRdx(45), TtmC'tng-ResDam/Rchg(45), S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(45)
Level 47: Fire Ball -- Ragnrk-Dmg(A), Ragnrk-Dmg/Rchg(48), Ragnrk-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(48), Ragnrk-Dmg/EndRdx(48), Ragnrk-Knock%(50)
Level 49: Glacial Shield -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Hectmb-Dmg(A), Hectmb-Dmg/Rchg(37), Hectmb-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(46), Hectmb-Dmg/EndRdx(50), Hectmb-Dam%(50)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Containment
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[ QUOTE ]
What about Plant? I hear it is comparable to Fire in terms of damage because of Roots.
[/ QUOTE ]
Plant has good aoe damage, but not single target damage, which is why it is not a prime choice for AV soloing.
I have heard good things about Grav/Rad as well......
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Ill/Rad has long been the build that is viewed as the "AV Killer." Fire/Rad is awesome, but doesn't have the same protection of three invulnerable tanks. I'm not doubting that you can do it, but it may be that you are just that good. When lots of folks can do it, that suggests that it is the build that is the cause.
[/ QUOTE ]
ill/rad is only percieved as "better" by the general public, but I've come to the conclusion that it's mostly an Urban Legend of CoH.
When fighting these targets, survivability only matters to a certain extent. Once you're at a point where you can survive, having more survivability is irrelevant, at this point it is the offense that makes the difference between the good and the best. Fire/Rad is superior to ill/rad in this aspect.
I'll make sure to post screenies to back my claims soon enough 
[/ QUOTE ]
I think your perspective may be a little different than mine. I suspect that you are talking only about maxed level 50 fully IO'ed out builds. And even then, a "Perma PA build" is pretty easy to put up against an AV, while a Fire/Rad is going to need a bit more work. Against that single powerful target, a Fire/Rad has more limited options.
[/ QUOTE ]
It's true that illusion is easier (and that's where its porpularity and legend status come from) but the difference is comparable to an automatic and a manual transmission car; the automatic car is easier to drive, but once you've learned what you're doing the manual shift car will outperform the automatic in potency, speed and traction.
[ QUOTE ]
but once you've learn
[/ QUOTE ]
That will never happen to me xP
(Not a fan of trollers at all =x)
[ QUOTE ]
Well I'm quite biased, as my Cold/ Defender was one of my absolute characters to play.
But for starters, it has 4 buffs to teammates, all of which are pretty effective. 2 +defense shields which grant defense equal to or nearly equal to FF's 2 shields. It also has a +HP Buff that increases a target ally's HP substantially. It's last buff is Arctic Fog, which is pretty much your usual PBAoE toggle +stealth power.
For debuffs, you get Infrigerate, Benumb, Heat Loss, Snow Storm, and Sleet. I assume you know what Snow Storm is, a target foe toggle that debuffs their speed and recharge and keeps them from flying. Infrigerate debuffs the target's speed, recharge, defense, and Fire damage. Benumb has a massive -regen debuff, a -damage debuff (all), and a debuff that makes the target's secondary abilities less effective (including heals). Heat Loss is similar to Fulcrum Shift, except it debuffs the damage resistance of the target (and all enemies near the target), while also sapping some endurance and giving endurance as well as a +recovery bonus to all allies near the target and near you. Beautiful power, really. I believe it also slows them. And lastly, you have Sleet which has massive -resistance and -defense debuffs as well as slow and some knockdown.
With Cold, you get ally +End, +Recovery, +Defense, +HP, and some small resistance to cold, energy, fire, and toxic. You get foe debuffs to -Regen, -Resistance, -Defense, -Speed, -Recharge, -End, and -Damage. It's very easy to get an enemy to the slow cap.
It's an absolutely beautiful set when used correctly and can be a major asset on Task Forces or any content, for that matter.
[/ QUOTE ]
What is scary is how few people know that Cold is a Defender primary, or how good it is.
I was on a pug recently and after I hit everyone with ice shields, one person said, "Hey, I didn't even know they had that for Defenders!"
I also love putting ice shields on various NPC's, because it is fun...
Cold is better than Dark but worse than Rad for AV/GM soloing
Once again no-one mentions earth/thermal.
two nearly free IO res procs +thermal shields and stoney is capped for res.
hasten and HE is almost always up
might not be the fastest but it's safe and cheap.
Put the powers where you feel like and spend as little as you want. You probably have enough inf in your back pocket to pay for it...
Oh and it's no slouch on team support either.
The cake is a lie! The cake is a lie!
So, have you actually soloed AVs with an Earth/Thermal? If so, how long does a typical fight take? Genuinely curious.
An Offensive Guide to Ice Melee
[ QUOTE ]
Cold is better than Dark but worse than Rad for AV/GM soloing
[/ QUOTE ]
Not quite sure about that. Cold is safer because the AV can only get off one attack every 10 minutes (not literally, but being at the slow cap does suck). It also has more -res.
[ QUOTE ]
Cold is better than Dark but worse than Rad for AV/GM soloing
[/ QUOTE ]
And your reasoning is.....?
It's easier to soft cap a cold than rad
Cold can dish out /alot/ more -res than rad
Cold has /much/ better -rchg than rad
Cold has better defense debuffs than rad (for whatever its worth)
Cold has much better -dmg compared to rad (50% (80% vs fire) vs the 20% that rad has),
Cold has -special, Rad does not
Cold has equivalent -regen to rad with high amounts of rchg
Cold has heat loss effectively giving it unlimited endurance at high rchg.
With high rchg a cold will melt an AV faster than a rad, easily.
A Rad has a self heal
A Rad has a faster rchging regen debuff (which becomes a nonfactor at high rchg)
A Rad has +rchg in AM
A Rad has mez resist in AM, (but cold can get similar results with benumb)
[ QUOTE ]
It's true that illusion is easier (and that's where its porpularity and legend status come from) but the difference is comparable to an automatic and a manual transmission car; the automatic car is easier to drive, but once you've learned what you're doing the manual shift car will outperform the automatic in potency, speed and traction.
[/ QUOTE ]
And how many people prefer a high performance (looking) automatic transmission car? A lot. They want a car (character) who performs at a high level without having to put in a lot of effort. Ill/Rad is probably the easiest character to play at a high level with less effort and skill -- which is why it is such a powerful build. Put a high level of effort, skill and strategy into it, and it gets even better. It may never be as quick (high damage) as the manual transmission car (Fire/Rad), but it is pretty darn good and good enough for most.
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
And aside from AV soloing, Cold brings a lot more to a team than Rad. In my opinion, at least.
[ QUOTE ]
And aside from AV soloing, Cold brings a lot more to a team than Rad. In my opinion, at least.
[/ QUOTE ]
/Agree
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Cold is better than Dark but worse than Rad for AV/GM soloing
[/ QUOTE ]
And your reasoning is.....?
It's easier to soft cap a cold than rad
Cold can dish out /alot/ more -res than rad
Cold has /much/ better -rchg than rad
Cold has better defense debuffs than rad (for whatever its worth)
Cold has much better -dmg compared to rad (50% (80% vs fire) vs the 20% that rad has),
Cold has -special, Rad does not
Cold has equivalent -regen to rad with high amounts of rchg
Cold has heat loss effectively giving it unlimited endurance at high rchg.
With high rchg a cold will melt an AV faster than a rad, easily.
A Rad has a self heal
A Rad has a faster rchging regen debuff (which becomes a nonfactor at high rchg)
A Rad has +rchg in AM
A Rad has mez resist in AM, (but cold can get similar results with benumb)
[/ QUOTE ]
My reasoning I have done it with both and rad is better. It's easy on a rad to reach 40% ranged defense (equivalent to softcap, RI does the rest), have perma LR and nearperma AM. For a Cold it's difficult to keep Benumb perma, and it's even more difficult to have capped ranged defense (or to S/L if you decide to go with Ice, Earth or Scorpion epic shield) while still retaining such extreme levels of recharge (not to mention 3 or 4 times as expensive)
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Cold is better than Dark but worse than Rad for AV/GM soloing
[/ QUOTE ]
And your reasoning is.....?
It's easier to soft cap a cold than rad
Cold can dish out /alot/ more -res than rad
Cold has /much/ better -rchg than rad
Cold has better defense debuffs than rad (for whatever its worth)
Cold has much better -dmg compared to rad (50% (80% vs fire) vs the 20% that rad has),
Cold has -special, Rad does not
Cold has equivalent -regen to rad with high amounts of rchg
Cold has heat loss effectively giving it unlimited endurance at high rchg.
With high rchg a cold will melt an AV faster than a rad, easily.
A Rad has a self heal
A Rad has a faster rchging regen debuff (which becomes a nonfactor at high rchg)
A Rad has +rchg in AM
A Rad has mez resist in AM, (but cold can get similar results with benumb)
[/ QUOTE ]
My reasoning I have done it with both and rad is better. It's easy on a rad to reach 40% ranged defense (equivalent to softcap, RI does the rest), have perma LR and nearperma AM. For a Cold it's difficult to keep Benumb perma, and it's even more difficult to have capped ranged defense (or to S/L if you decide to go with Ice, Earth or Scorpion epic shield) while still retaining such extreme levels of recharge (not to mention 3 or 4 times as expensive)
[/ QUOTE ]
Which is another reason why I paired it with illusions where you don't need the defense.
Fair enough, but an still Ill/Cold won't outperform a Fire/Rad (and will be far more expensive)
To each their own though *shrug*
That statement is too absolute. It can outperform a Fire/Rad, especially against a Fire-based AV.
Sorry, my statements have a cap of 95% absoluteness. Every CoH/V rule has its own situational exception
Let me ask a question, if you are solo and play on difficulty 5, do elite bosses spawn as archvillains? Is this how people solo AV's?
I ask because I play on difficulty 4 and they always spawn as elite bosses. I never really have any problems with them, just curious as to how people are facing them.
[ QUOTE ]
Let me ask a question, if you are solo and play on difficulty 5, do elite bosses spawn as archvillains? Is this how people solo AV's?
[/ QUOTE ]
Yes
[ QUOTE ]
Cold is an awesome set for AV fights, no doubt, but I still think Rad is supreme (unless some /Kins or /Storms wanna prove me wrong). It'll be fun to test though.
[/ QUOTE ]
Pre LS nerf I was building my fire/storm to just ruin AV's and it looked like I'd have no issues breaking 300dps. On that build LS was contributing over 30% of my damage after proc's. Castle kicking it in the nuts took the wind out of the sails on that project.
I've tried it vs pylons, but I can never get them lower than about 1/2 to 1/3 hp before I die. I don't have aidself. It is a softcapped range build.
I would have put storm of old up for absolute highest damage (fire/storm of course), but all the analysis I've done post LS nerf have fire/rad and fire/cold (soon) and even fire/thermal as high or higher, cheaper, safer, and costing a lot less inf.
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Ill/Rad has long been the build that is viewed as the "AV Killer." Fire/Rad is awesome, but doesn't have the same protection of three invulnerable tanks. I'm not doubting that you can do it, but it may be that you are just that good. When lots of folks can do it, that suggests that it is the build that is the cause.
[/ QUOTE ]
ill/rad is only percieved as "better" by the general public, but I've come to the conclusion that it's mostly an Urban Legend of CoH.
When fighting these targets, survivability only matters to a certain extent. Once you're at a point where you can survive, having more survivability is irrelevant, at this point it is the offense that makes the difference between the good and the best. Fire/Rad is superior to ill/rad in this aspect.
I'll make sure to post screenies to back my claims soon enough
[/ QUOTE ]
I think your perspective may be a little different than mine. I suspect that you are talking only about maxed level 50 fully IO'ed out builds. And even then, a "Perma PA build" is pretty easy to put up against an AV, while a Fire/Rad is going to need a bit more work. Against that single powerful target, a Fire/Rad has more limited options.
Ill/Rad gets very good as soon as Phantom Army is available at 18. Every level adds more tools, but PA makes the set special. And that's part of the issue . . . Ill/Rad is great against tough targets while leveling up.
My Fire/Rad didn't really start to shine until I got Choking Cloud slotted up. And then got better with Fire Imps at 32. Sure, my level 50 Fire/Rad is great, but getting there was harder than my Ill/Rads. Fire/Rad is inherently great for AoE damage, but not really inherently great against single targets. (Of course, you can build one more single-target oriented.) Ill/Rad is inherently more suited for a single target focus. So, my point is that it is easier to make a single-target oriented Ill/Rad that anyone can play well. So Ill/Rad deserves its reputation.
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