Frostwork Question

Heya, in Cold Domination there's a power called Frostwork. Does it work like Dull Pain, or does it only add Max HP instead of healing as well? And, if it doesn't heal as well, is it still considered as a sort of pre-emptive healing in relation to the badge? That is, will I get a healer badge if I only use Frostwork?

Unlike DP, it doesn't have a heal component and is just a max HP booster.

Was very dismayed with it when I first got it and vainly tryed to use it to heal team mates in PvP

Still a very useful power though.

it can still save people's lives even though it doesnt heal. If a team mate has too much aggro and their health is falling, the max hp boost can still save them.

Thanks for the help, though in the end I decided to stick with Ice/Dark. I love the Ice attacks, but I don't like sibling power sets. Don't like powers that fit too much together, you know? Feels too obvious. I was thinking of maybe switching it around and taking Dark/Cold, but Dark Blast looks kind of dull to me.

Anywho, guess I'll still be a super-debuffer.

Edit: Okay, I've had an idea. Seeing that at least two people in Outbreak were Ice/Dark, I thought of taking something else. Then I found Sonic Blast, which seems really fun. So, how about Sonic/Cold? Could there be problems with it? It looks pretty cool to me, from the start I can lower a target's defense and resistance, making my attacks more powerful and accurate. The only problem with the combo is that I can't heal myself, but if I find that to be a problem I can take Aid Self (I'll probably take Aid Other anyway).

Now, I'm pretty sure that I won't take Siren's Song and Shockwave (don't want a sleep/knockback), but are there any Cold Domination powers that I might want to skip? They all seem good, yet if I take all the powers then I'll certainly won't be able to get Aid Self.

If you're being put off purely because you saw other Iec/Darks around, I wouldn't worry too much. What you saw may likely have just been a fluke - it's not really a flavour-of-the-month build. I can't say I've ever teamed with another Ice/Dark, in fact. There do seem to have been more posts from people asking about Ice/Dark recently, but I still don't really see a lot of them around. Ice/Rad seems to get more attention for PvP and things like the Recluse SF, and I see far more Thermals and Kineticists around in practice. If you do go for it, you get the Corruptor build with the most control, and lots of nice debuffs.

Sonic/Cold sounds perfectly workable though. In fact, my boyfriend actually has one, but he's only at a fairly low level so far. I'm point him this way anyway, in case he has any thoughts on it for you.

Thanks for the help. I think I'd rather stay with Sonic/Cold though, it looks like an interesting set, and those Sonic attack sounds will probably really annoy my friends in my multi-game clan's VG, which is always a plus.

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So, how about Sonic/Cold? Could there be problems with it? It looks pretty cool to me, from the start I can lower a target's defense and resistance, making my attacks more powerful and accurate. The only problem with the combo is that I can't heal myself, but if I find that to be a problem I can take Aid Self (I'll probably take Aid Other anyway).

Now, I'm pretty sure that I won't take Siren's Song and Shockwave (don't want a sleep/knockback), but are there any Cold Domination powers that I might want to skip? They all seem good, yet if I take all the powers then I'll certainly won't be able to get Aid Self.

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It's not just lowering their Dam Res and Def, but also lowering their rate of attack. This in itself makes Sonic/Cold a great partner to any other AT, so I really wouldn't worry about picking up Aid Other (and to a lesser extent, Aid Self). Corruptors are definitely not heelors.

I think from the outset, or as early as possible, you have to figure out what kind of way you're going to play Sonic/Cold, as you can create a very potent self-sufficient offence-oriented toon or a great support character for both PvE and PvP, but there's not really room to do both. Personally, I've discarded Aid Self and the Medicine Pool from my build, and taken Siren's Song as my Get Out Of Debt Free card.

The most easily discarded powers from /Cold are probably the shields, especially Glacial Shield,0 which is something of a pity, as they are quite aesthetically pleasing shields. It's also worth noting that they're also more effective since the I7 changes. If you're going fully offensive, you can probably drop Frostwork as well - though you can expect to meet a lot of glum-looking Brutes on your way to 50. I wouldn't advise skipping any of the other powers, really - Snow Storm, Artic Fog, Benumb, Sleet, and Heat Loss are all excellent buffs and debuffs alike.

As far as Sonic/ goes, the best -Res you can achieve on a Single Target is from spamming Shriek, IIRC. Shriek, Scream and Shout make for a great attack chain on their own, and Screech is a good mez to have in your back pocket (especially when teaming with Energy/ Brutes). Amplify is a no-brainer, anything that increases your damage is a must-have, really (as much as you can have "must-haves" in CoX, anyway). The rest are largely optional - Howl is an okay cone, but nothing amazing; Shockwave is an okay "Get Away From Me!" power, but it does cause a chunk of aggro in the process and risks knocking foes out of some of your debuffs; Siren's Song is useful to have for solo and in teams who know how to act around Sleeps - but not so good for random PuGs, and the vast number of players who think the "Zzz" animation means "Attack Immediately"; Dreadful Wail is an awesome nuke - but only if you like nukes.

I'm happy that I've created a build that is good for support, whilst being able to provide a decent chunk of *CRUNCH* when it comes to inflicting the pain, even if it does lack a self-heal. I was also highly tempted by the [Siren's Song] + [Heat Loss] + [Dreadful Wail] combo, though I've yet to see how that works out in practice.

Well, I want something that'll be self-sufficient for my many solo sojourns, but I also do want to help in a team, for when my VG starts doing weekly events and such. In short, it seemeth to me that I'll be taking all the CD powers.

As for the Sonic choices, I always wanted a Nuke. That's a given to me. Now, I could pick Siren's Song instead of Howl, I guess, but let me see... If I take Siren's Song and not Howl, then I won't have a regular AoE attack, unless you count Sleet. Anyway, in that case here are a few questions:

If I really don't take the two shields and only Frostwork, I'll have 7 from Sonic, 7 from Ice, then 3 for fitness and 2 for the travel power, so that'll leave me 5 power slots me'thinks. So I could get 3 PPPs and both Aids, or 3 PPPs, Aid Other and both Howl and Sirens Song, only 2 PPPs maybe, or all PPPs... Hmm, tough call. If I take Mu Mastery, then with the Power Sink and Heat Loss will I need Stamina?
And how useful would a pet be? I'm thinking that it could be a nice help in a problematic situation.

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If I take Siren's Song and not Howl, then I won't have a regular AoE attack, unless you count Sleet.

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I don't class Sleet as an AoE attack. Sonic just isn't an AoE attack set (Fire and AR both are). Howl is a token gesture towards an AoE attack, but it's not much of one. IMO, it's better off as a cone -Res debuff, stacking with Sleet - YMMV, that's just my take on the set.

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If I take Mu Mastery, then with the Power Sink and Heat Loss will I need Stamina?

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That depends on whether you're planning on doing any exemping, or PvP, really. Exemping below level 38 will reduce your +endurance/+recovery powers to a big fat 0 if you go Stamina-less. I'd also hate to have to get to level 38 before I had any blue in my endurance bar, so you'd probably have to respec into it. I do think it'd definitely be a feasible solution for a post-41 build.

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And how useful would a pet be? I'm thinking that it could be a nice help in a problematic situation.

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I'm split on the pets - some of them, I quite like, some of them I don't think so highly of. Again YMMV, but Adepts don't seem especially noteworthy, certainly not noteworthy enough for me to consider taking. My personal philosophy on PPP Pets is that they're only worth taking if you're prepared to slot them heavily, and if they're not worth slotting heavily, you probably shouldn't be taking them. You could feasibly use the Adept to help with end-draining foes, hypothetically speaking, stacking with Heat Loss and Power Sink.

Okay, then I need a definite answer about Frostwork counting towards the healer badge (I doubt it does, but it's worth asking), still, if I take 8 from Sonic, 7 from Cold, 3 for Fitness, 2 for a travel power, 2 for the PPP powers worth taking (either Ghost Widow or Scirocco, probably the former as it fits better with my concept when I think about it). That'll be 2 powers left. I could either take Aid Other and Aid Self, or the two Cold shields. Maybe one of the shields and only Aid Other.

Well, I also have the problem of deciding which of two concepts I like more, either a sort of banshee (Sonic/Cold), or return to my previous concept of a demoness from a frozen hell (Ice/Dark).

Thanks for the help, I can really see myself enjoying Sonic/Cold, with the damage figures rising and rising every strike (and the annoying sound effects for maximum damage). Then again, I can see myself enjoying Ice/Dark, which complicated things.

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Thanks for the help, I can really see myself enjoying Sonic/Cold, with the damage figures rising and rising every strike (and the annoying sound effects for maximum damage). Then again, I can see myself enjoying Ice/Dark, which complicated things.

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Play both, then! That's my solution (and is the reason I currently have toons I play on Zukunft and Vigilance ).

That might work, perhaps... I'll give it a try. Thanks for the help, again.

Something about Shockwave : despite what many hero planners say, it does exactly the same damage as Howl.

You don't need Stamina with heat loss and power sink, it's a long road to 50 though and you'd better have a pocket kin if/when you exemp.

Oh, and Aid other instead of the shields ? It's a big no-no. At least, take the first shield before Aid other.