Freezing Touch Question

Just about to hit 35th with my ice blaster with ice manipulation.

I solo a lot and often encounter mobs in 3's.
I start my attacks with bitter freeze ray on 1 mob, then target the second mob with freeze ray. I then pile all my other attacks into the 3rd mob to finish it before the others unfreeze, and then refreeze them.

Is it worth me getting Freezing Touch which I understand is a melee attack. Does it freeze the mobs totally like freeze ray, or does it just do one of those partial holds like Chilblain which still allows them to range attack and use powers.

Thanks for any comments.

Freezing Touch is exactly the same as Freeze Ray except it's melee instead of ranged.

[ QUOTE ]

does it just do one of those partial holds like Chilblain which still allows them to range attack and use powers.


[/ QUOTE ]That's immobilize, not hold

[ QUOTE ]
That's immobilize, not hold

[/ QUOTE ]

Oopsie.

CoH was always my second MMORPG that I played when my main game went down for service. I've yet to really even group with anyone in City.

I suppose the fact that it crashed every 1 to 5 mins since I5 didn't help either. - Last patch seemed to fix my problems, dunno why or how though.

Guess I need to get those phrases revised.

[ QUOTE ]
Is it worth me getting Freezing Touch

[/ QUOTE ]

I would suggest taking it if you are willing to be in melee range quite often. If so, you should also consider (if you haven't done so already) taking some of the melee powers such as Ice Sword and/or Chilling Embrace (I assume you have Ice Patch, and would recommend Shiver which is also great).

Actually I don't have Ice Patch. My build at the moment is;

Primary
Ice Bolt (3 Acc, 3 Dmg)
Ice Blast (3 Acc, 3 Dmg)
Frost Breath (3 Acc, 3 Dmg)
Freeze Ray (2 Acc, 2 Hold, 2 Recharge)
Bitter Ice Blast (3 Acc, 3 Dmg)
Bitter Freeze Ray (2 Acc, 2 Hold, 2 Recharge)

Secondary
Chilblain (1 Acc)
Build Up (3 Recharge)
Freezing Touch (1 Acc)

Pool: Flight
Hover (1 Defense)
Fly (1 Speed)

Pool: Fitness
Swift (1 Speed)
Health (1 Heal)
Stamina (4 Endurance)

Pool: Concealment
Grant Invisibility (1 Recharge)
Invisibility (1 Endurance)
Phase Shift (1 Recharge)

Pool: Speed
Hasten (1 Recharge)
Superspeed (3 Speed)


I know it's not probably some type of uber build, but I love playing it. I use everything on the powers list except grant invisibility. I got that incase I did some grouping.

I use Superspeed/Fly to travel, maybe not the most efficient way, but its the way I enjoy the most.
Phase Shift doesn't get used a lot, but the times I do, it's been a life saver.

My usual tactics is to start with Bitter Freeze ray to hold one, Freeze ray to hold the next, then pile into the 3rd mob with Build up and the damage spells. Quite often you can fire off the cone damage spell after build up and hit all 3 mobs easily.

I *have* chosen Freezing Touch and love it. I can now solo 4 yellow mobs without any worries and never use any insps.

All I've got to do now is learn to group with more people. I've been a solo player since day one, even solo'ing Frostfire. I really need to change, and I guess at my level, I'm unlikely to bump in to the useless type of players who get you killed all the time and who put me off grouping when I was a noob. Those that have got to 35th+ I suppose must have some skill.

Actually, that looks like a very reasonable build. I understand taking Concealment if you mostly tend to solo. I think you should consider Ice Patch though, it helps in many situations like blocking doorways, or placing it around corners when you pull mobs. I see you haven't taken Blizzard which I respecced out of after I6, so maybe Ice Patch is something to consider for your lvl 38 power (avoid Frozen Aura).

Regarding you slotting, I would suggest some small changes, but it's all up to individual playstyle:

- Ice Bolt: 2 acc 3 dmg
- Ice Blast and Bitter Ice Blast: 2 acc 3 dmg 1 rechg
- Frost Breath: 3 dmg 1 range 1 endred (or rechg)
- Stamina: only 3 endmod (use the 4th slot elsewhere)
- Hasten: 3 rechg
- Superspeed: only 1 runspeed

I would also suggest picking up Aim, since it gives you a nice accuracy boost as well as some extra damage in your attacks (slot 3 rechg).

And yes, you should try to team more It's lots of fun and you learn a lot from other players. Hopefully at your level, the really bad pick-up teams are more of an exception. Feel free to look me up in-game and I can gladly join you as a sidekick or exemp

Thanks for the advice on slots and powers.

When I get to level 38, I'm not sure what to take, I was going to take Frozen Aura as it sounded good, but you say to avoid it. Does it do what it says on the tin and hold all the enemies near you or not?

My other choices were going to be either Aim or Ice Patch.
They were the 2 other skills I had to miss along the way to having the pool powers I wanted.

I've seen Ice Patch in use a few times and it looked quite handy. When I took Build up, I couldn't decide whether to take Aim or Build up. Build up won the choice in the end.

After I5/6 I have done the respecs and managed to get rid of some powers that I deemed useless. Blizzard was one of them imo.

I only have a .pdf rulebook which shows the levels stop at 40. What sort of powers or extra slots can I expect after 40th?

[ QUOTE ]
Thanks for the advice on slots and powers.

When I get to level 38, I'm not sure what to take, I was going to take Frozen Aura as it sounded good, but you say to avoid it. Does it do what it says on the tin and hold all the enemies near you or not?

My other choices were going to be either Aim or Ice Patch.
They were the 2 other skills I had to miss along the way to having the pool powers I wanted.

I've seen Ice Patch in use a few times and it looked quite handy. When I took Build up, I couldn't decide whether to take Aim or Build up. Build up won the choice in the end.

After I5/6 I have done the respecs and managed to get rid of some powers that I deemed useless. Blizzard was one of them imo.

I only have a .pdf rulebook which shows the levels stop at 40. What sort of powers or extra slots can I expect after 40th?

[/ QUOTE ]

NEVER EVER TAKE FROZEN AURA!!! Not for a million quid, not if someone puts a gun to your head, not even for a joke. I thought it sounded like a great idea. It is so bad it's beyond a joke.

Both aim and ice patch are great powers. Ice patch is useful as mobs are pretty dense and will run straight for you so if you stand just a little behind it they will fall over it. I used it to get my tank-buster badge, watching a freak tank falling over himself trying to get you is hilarious (apart from the odd time he manages it ).

If you've lived without it this long probably Aim is your best bet. My blaster is slotted 2 tohit buffs and 2 recharge for Aim and Build Up, though I'm looking at going 3/3 on a new build if I can get the spare slots. Shouldn't be hard as my build is pre ED.

Blizzard got a bit of loving a few issues back and I enjoyed it. However with the ED changes and the fact you can't get your endurance back anymore with insp or being buffed its a very dangerous tactic to use, like all the blaster nukes. Soloing I never fired it in my life so I'm not surprised you didn't like it, it really only is of use in teams.

At lvl 41 you get the option of a new set of power options. You can (but don't have to) select one of a number of epic power pools, all the blaster ones contain some form of armour plus a few other powers. Blasters will disagree all day long as to whats best, really depends on how you play and what you need. You get to select a new power at 41, 44, 47 and 49.

Frozen aura is PBAoE sleep, not hold, which means that the enemies break free as soon as any changes to their HP occur (Being healed or damaged, that is).

[ QUOTE ]
I only have a .pdf rulebook which shows the levels stop at 40. What sort of powers or extra slots can I expect after 40th?

[/ QUOTE ]
To find out more about Epic/ancillary power sets you can download a slightly more updated manual here. Warning: it's 82 Mb and not fully up-to-date (only up to I4). Online guides such as Red Tomax's, or just browsing the Forums are often a better source of information.

[ QUOTE ]
Frozen aura is PBAoE sleep, not hold, which means that the enemies break free as soon as any changes to their HP occur (Being healed or damaged, that is).

[/ QUOTE ]

For them to break free they have to be held in the first place, which is a problem as accuracy for this power is pants, in fact it's beyond pants, it's pants with holes in them.

[ QUOTE ]
Blizzard got a bit of loving a few issues back and I enjoyed it. However with the ED changes and the fact you can't get your endurance back anymore with insp or being buffed its a very dangerous tactic to use, like all the blaster nukes. Soloing I never fired it in my life so I'm not surprised you didn't like it, it really only is of use in teams.

[/ QUOTE ]
I7 is apparently going to allow Blizzard to be affected by Aim/BU, so it might become of more use again.

Looking at your build it seems you don't have any acc problems, ever really . If you consider your damage good (enough) with buildup only I'd say take ice sword. Once you are in melee range, it comes in good use with damage, only lower to bitter ice blast.

And yes, frozen aura is pants. It sounded nice alright, unfortunatly it isn't. It can only hold minions in one go and they will breakfree when attacked. Lts and bosses need more hits from sleep powers and aura's accuracy is poo to.