Ice/Sonic: Finally, a Controller I like ;)

Currently level 15, so very much planning ahead.

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Exported from Ver: 1.7.6.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder
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Name: Frozen Chorus
Level: 50
Archetype: Controller
Primary: Ice Control
Secondary: Sonic Resonance
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01) --> Block of Ice==> Acc(1)Acc(11)Hold(11)Hold(37)Rechg(37)Rechg(40)
01) --> Sonic Siphon==> Acc(1)Acc(9)
02) --> Frostbite==> Acc(2)Acc(3)Immob(3)Immob(9)
04) --> Sonic Barrier==> DmgRes(4)DmgRes(5)DmgRes(5)
06) --> Arctic Air==> EndRdx(6)EndRdx(7)EndRdx(7)ConfDur(43)ConfDur(43)ConfDur(45)
08) --> Recall Friend==> IntRdx(8)
10) --> Swift==> Run(10)
12) --> Ice Slick==> Rechg(12)Rechg(13)Rechg(13)
14) --> Teleport==> Range(14)Range(15)Range(15)
16) --> Health==> Heal(16)Heal(17)Heal(17)
18) --> Flash Freeze==> Acc(18)Acc(19)Sleep(19)Sleep(36)Rechg(36)Rechg(37)
20) --> Stamina==> EndMod(20)EndMod(21)EndMod(21)
22) --> Sonic Dispersion==> EndRdx(22)EndRdx(23)EndRdx(23)DmgRes(34)DmgRes(34)DmgRes(36)
24) --> Sonic Haven==> DmgRes(24)DmgRes(25)DmgRes(25)
26) --> Glacier==> Acc(26)Acc(27)Hold(27)Hold(31)Rechg(31)Rechg(31)
28) --> Disruption Field==> EndRdx(28)EndRdx(29)EndRdx(29)
30) --> Hurdle==> Jump(30)
32) --> Jack Frost==> Acc(32)Acc(33)Dmg(33)Dmg(33)Dmg(34)Hold(46)
35) --> Clarity==> EndRdx(35)
38) --> Liquefy==> Acc(38)Acc(39)Hold(39)Hold(39)Rechg(40)Rechg(40)
41) --> Power Blast==> Acc(41)Acc(42)Dmg(42)Dmg(42)Dmg(43)Rechg(46)
44) --> Temp Invulnerability==> EndRdx(44)EndRdx(45)EndRdx(45)DmgRes(46)DmgRes(48)DmgRes(50)
47) --> Conserve Power==> Rechg(47)Rechg(48)Rechg(48)
49) --> Power Boost==> Rechg(49)Rechg(50)Rechg(50)
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01) --> Power Slide==> Empty(1)
01) --> Power Quick==> Run(1)
01) --> Sprint==> Empty(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Rechg(2)
01) --> Containment==> Empty(1)
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Most definitely a PvE build.

There's an obvious lack of damage in the build in general, but frankly, if I wanted damage I'd go play another Scrapper. This is a Team-oriented build.

I'm focusing on Control and Buffery. The plan is that Ice Slick, Glacier and Liquefy are the main Control powers, applying one or two per group, and Flash Freeze is the emergency button to throw at a second group which has been accidently aggro'd.

So, my questions to those out there with more experience are:

- Jack Frost: Good damage dealer? Good pseudo-Tank (given he's going to be all sorts of Sonic buffed)? What level of Controls does he have (if any)?
-

Commentry much welcomed.

Definately a different troller build which i'm a fan off

For ice control:

I would drop frostbite, the AoE immobilze is pointless as you already will be using ice patch as your main control tool. So AoE immobilze and knockdown don't mix well at all. I would get the single target immobilze instead and slot it for damage, with containment the single immobilze can do nice damage.

For Flashfreeze, i would drop it to, i don't think a sleep is that useful, unless your going to use it to achieve containment status. I would drop this power aswell.

I would take arctic air instead of these powers. The AoE slow is great, aswell as confuse it is very handy imo.


For your sonic powers i would drop the single target buffs, sonic for a controler losses quite a bit of resistance to damage, thats why a sonic defender is always better to have than a sonic controller. It's actually the only set which is better than on a defender rather than a controller. So in my opinion i'd drop these buffs. Maybe take speed pool for extra hold spamming or acrobatics for self protection, a controller is better doing his job standing up than lying on his back .

Out of sonic i would take:

Sonic siphon: 2 acc 3 recharge (spam -res on the mobs)
Sonic Cage: 2acc 1recharge (good for taking the biggest threat out of the fight)
Disruption field:3endrdx maybe recharges i don't know recharge stats on this
Sonic Dispersion: as you've slotted
Clarity: as you've slotted
Liquefy: 2acc 3recharge (xanth claims this power is pants) But maybe good to use with ice patch, so up as often as possible!

Hope that helps

Goy my grav / sonic to level 24, so no expert... however Id agree with previous comments.

Must have power is sonic dispersion.

Must not have power is the sonic repel one.

Sonic cage is a good power, but its kinda replicated (and in a better way) with dimension shift which is why i didnt take it. Better get a bind for it in team play tho!

Sonic disruption is an excellent power with a tank.

All my 2 inf

Liquefy is utter, utter [censored]. Just don't take it. The only good thing about it is that the noise bugs the hell out of my team so I can hear them saying "Goddammit Xanthus, don't use that power!" over Teamspeak.

Replace it with Sonic Cage (even if that is very late) and use the 3 slots with 3 acc 3 recharge. The 3 recharge makes it basically perma (about enough time for your opponent to fire off one attack/power) and it can really annoy people in PvP as well.

I would have done a few things differently as well, but you're a controller so you won't have the slots to spare.

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Goy my grav / sonic to level 24, so no expert

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Hehe, same here . Not the uberness of ill/rad or fire/kin, but a fun, challenging set to play.

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Sonic cage is a good power, but its kinda replicated (and in a better way) with dimension shift which is why i didnt take it. Better get a bind for it in team play tho!


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This was something I was wondering about. I took Sonic Cage (and early too) and was thinking how useful it would be later and if the grav version was any better. I use it sparingly and tend to team with experienced players, so it's usually not a problem (although some people will always hate phase-type powers).

Difficult one that. All I can say is taking both seems a bit pointless.

Dimension shift is nearly always an excellent "Oh S..." button. From a team persepective, its the best button in the game I can think of.

I suppose whilst Sonic Detention gives you a fairly good "Split" of peeling one of, Dimension shift varies from an annoying breathing space (all shifted), to a spectacular battle turner (around 25-50% not shifted, team wipes them out, then moves to the shifted as they phase out), to something akin to the detention cage.

On balance, I felt dimension shift was more useful.

And as for not uber? No, i guess not. But sonic siphon + containment + propel will give you a whacking huge blast that most blasters would be hungry for. Its just its animation time that lets it down.

Hi MBar. I have some thoughts, on Ice, don't know enough about sonic to be much help there though. I didn't like the FlashFreeze power, even for the purpose you describe: it will put that extra spawn to sleep ok, but unlike the mind control sleep power (mass hypnosis) it also causes all the slept mobs to aggro on you quite strongly. In my experience mobs often get woken quickly by any low damge AOE, which is enough wake them but not to divert the aggro away from you. This can leave you unable to continue your controller functions due to a nasty dose of faceplantitis.

As far as your questions on Jack go, he does nice enough damage if you can get him to use his melee attacks. There are various tricks you can use to do this, most centre around ensuring the mobs see him before they see you so they aggro on him first, for example by using stealth or just super jumping over them so that he follows you through the spawn. But he's not too tanky without buffs, so you need to keep an eye on him. I expect your +res buffs will help here, althoughh I have no direct experience of the sonic sets.

Another way to get him into melee is to simply spawn a new Jack directly on top of the mob you want killed. This can be a viable opener if you have plenty of end and can get the mobs under control before they wipe him out. Since you will have no heal to help Jack out this might be more risky than for other secondary sets, however.

If you are looking for general tips, one of my favourite tricks with the ice set is to cast the ice slick while out of line of sight.

It is possible to hide around a corner, zoom the camera out, swing it around until you get a good view then drop the slick. That way you completely avoid the first volley you will otherwise have to take before they start flopping. This trick can also be pulled off if the mobs are on a platform. It is possible to walk/fly underneath the platform and iceslick them from below in perfect safety, then jump/fly up and finish the job. Beware doing this with Jack out though as he will follow you up to the platform by his own route and can drag extra aggro on the way.

The AOE immob has it's uses, e.g. setting up containment if you have any AOE damage powers, but is probably not the best choice for a sonic secondary, especially since it's quite end heavy. Really you'd be better off with the single target immob, which is useful right through the game as it can one hit immobilise bosses with nasty melee attacks, so you can use it while you wait for BOI to recharge for the second application. It's also great on fliers and works on many AVs so it's useful right through the game.

anyway, I hope that rambling reply helps in some way, and good luck with your new 'troller.

Ah, Miss Frost, good to see you again. Thanks for the input.

Yes, since I'm using Teleport as my travel power, I'm hoping I'll be able to port to a location past the mob I want Jack to aggro, thereby making him run through them.

In response to some of the other pointers raised by others, I'm surprised Sonic Cage is so popular. I find these type of powers are best used to [censored] people off, either because you're inside one or you've just wasted your big-hitters on someone who can't be touched.

Thanks for the pointers so far, people.

Question 2: is Shiver useful at all? I'm thinking in terms of stacking the -Recharges as high as possible.

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In response to some of the other pointers raised by others, I'm surprised Sonic Cage is so popular. I find these type of powers are best used to [censored] people off, either because you're inside one or you've just wasted your big-hitters on someone who can't be touched.

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I use it sparingly and tend to team with experienced players

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As I said, only level 24 here, but it has saved me from a few tight situations (e.g. quickly running in, cageing Frosty and cleaning up his minions while the blue ring was up; or stopping a +2/+3 boss who was threatening to overwhelm the team). But it's certainly "situational" which is why I was curious about its usefulness in later levels.