Earth / ?

Ok let me set the scene, I have the idea of making four concept toons named after the four seasons. So far I have Summer Goddess (fire/rad Level 50 - main badger) and Winter Goddess (ice/storm level 21) and I wish to create Spring Goddess and Autumn Goddess - if only to keep the theme going. All four will be controllers (because I love em).

The idea is that all four Goddess' will have different primary and secondaries so that means Spring and Autumn will have to be different from Fire / Ice primaries and Rad / Storm secondaries. I've more or less decided that Spring Goddess will be a Plant / Thermal troller and Autumn will be Earth / ?

My choice is empathy, trick arrow, force field, sonic and kinetics. I already have another kinetic controller so dont really want to use that much. Sonic and FF are more suited for group play and I solo a lot. This leaves TA and Empathy. I am a useless healer so ideally would like to stay away from empathy, so that leaves TA. TA can also fit into my concept better than the others.

Having never played either earth or TA before I dont know what its like or whether they work well together. Can anyone give me any tips? Or can anyone suggest tips for any of the other secondaries for Autumn?

While I'm at it any help you can give me on Springs build (plant / thermal) would also be nice

Thanks

Hmmm. You'll have tonnes and tonnes of control. Probably too much for a soloing toon really.

TA is a bit of a late bloomer, it takes 20 levels for the really good stuff (Acid Arrow onwards basically is gold). Glue and Ice Arrow are useful too (although you will have Quicksand so you mightn't need Glue Arrow, it's -Recharge isn't that high).

If you solo a lot then it'll be a bit slow and dull to be honest. Earth specialises in AOE control and as I said TA is a late bloomer (with the 3 last powers all being huge AOE ones). If you're set on doing it then try and get Air Superiority and / or Earths single target immob slotted for damage. Quicksand (and Acid Arrow) & the Vet Rewards are a good combo too, Quicksand and Acid Arrow make them easier to hit.

Even with all that you'll struggle to kill things pre-32. Once you hit 32 though Pooman should increase your soloing speed a fair amount.

But to shine an Earth/TA should be teaming IMO, the amount of control and debuffing you can do to entire spawns would be insane on teams.

Solo Grav/TA or Illusion/TA would probably be better but I don't see how they'd fit into your concept at all.

Have you considered Plant/Kin for Spring, to aide with the growing concept, and Earth/Thermal will then be open with Thermal providing more of a thematic colour theme. (autum Leaves etc)

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Originally Posted by VoodooGirl [*]Watching out for the Spinning Disco Portal of D00M!*

Unfortuantely Earth/Anything is pretty much going to be a team character, even more so than most other controllers.

Earth/TA is a very powerful combination, but without having much in the way of attacks to take advantage of your massive debuffs it will be very slow going.

I think that the line "Once you hit 32 though Pooman should increase your soloing speed a fair amount." shows you how slow you will be because Poo man isn't exactly known for his DPS

Having three other controllers going at the same time could be ok though, as you could solo those and then move to this when you do find a team.

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Originally Posted by Aggelakis PrincessDarkstar: "RAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHH SOMEONE IS *WRONG* ON THE INTERNET!"

I wonder how well Oil Slick Arrow would work to help Earth's low damage output.

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I think that the line "Once you hit 32 though Pooman should increase your soloing speed a fair amount." shows you how slow you will be because Poo man isn't exactly known for his DPS


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Actually nowadays apparently he is, or is getting to be. According to This thread he now makes quite a difference (thanks to his willingness now to go into melee and use Seismic Smash I'd guess).

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I think that the line "Once you hit 32 though Pooman should increase your soloing speed a fair amount." shows you how slow you will be because Poo man isn't exactly known for his DPS


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Actually nowadays apparently he is, or is getting to be. According to This thread he now makes quite a difference (thanks to his willingness now to go into melee and use Seismic Smash I'd guess).

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Then I happily stand corrected

I always thought he was all about holding the aggro, good to know he's more useful these days.

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Originally Posted by Aggelakis PrincessDarkstar: "RAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHH SOMEONE IS *WRONG* ON THE INTERNET!"

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Then I happily stand corrected

I always thought he was all about holding the aggro, good to know he's more useful these days.


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They removed Hurl Boulder, which he used to get stuck using and made him pure melee and that seemed to fix his odd AI. Plus, as any recent Earth Epic user will tell you Seismic Smash is a sick, sick power.

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I wonder how well Oil Slick Arrow would work to help Earth's low damage output.

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Oil Slick is a great power, but it's not up that often. And if you're soloing a lot of that damage potential is wasted on just 2 or 3 targets (I get around it by using Wormhole to gather a second bunch before setting it up).

But yes that reminds me, if you are going */TA make sure to be Magic or Tech for lighting Oil Slicks.

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But yes that reminds me, if you are going */TA make sure to be Magic or Tech for lighting Oil Slicks.

[/ QUOTE ]Or grab the Fire APP if you're high enough.

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Have you considered Plant/Kin for Spring, to aide with the growing concept, and Earth/Thermal will then be open with Thermal providing more of a thematic colour theme. (autum Leaves etc)

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No I hadn't but worth thinking about. Thanks.

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I wonder how well Oil Slick Arrow would work to help Earth's low damage output.

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Doesn't volcanic gasses cause fire damage? Thinking... slap down an oil slick arrow, slap down a volcanic gasses. laugh in glee at general mayhem. Although the recharge would be a killer. Would have to slot for that. Time to remortgage the house for more influence.

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If you solo a lot then it'll be a bit slow and dull to be honest. Earth specialises in AOE control and as I said TA is a late bloomer (with the 3 last powers all being huge AOE ones). If you're set on doing it then try and get Air Superiority and / or Earths single target immob slotted for damage. Quicksand (and Acid Arrow) & the Vet Rewards are a good combo too, Quicksand and Acid Arrow make them easier to hit.

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TBH Winter Goddess isnt exactly speed manifest when it comes to soloing - shes only level 21 and hasnt got Jack Frost, Tornado or Lightening Storm yet. I actually deleted and rebuilt about five times before I made her interesting. I now have her with air superiority and chilblain slotted for damage and was expecting to do the same for Autumn. Plus my solo tactic is to ghost as many missions as possible and rely on the xp gained from mission completion until I get some nice damage. I tend to do that on all my toons and find it works for me.

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Oil Slick is a great power, but it's not up that often. And if you're soloing a lot of that damage potential is wasted on just 2 or 3 targets (I get around it by using Wormhole to gather a second bunch before setting it up).

But yes that reminds me, if you are going */TA make sure to be Magic or Tech for lighting Oil Slicks.

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Hadnt thought of that. All four Goddess' are magic origin so it fits!

BTW thank you to everyone who has replied so far

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But yes that reminds me, if you are going */TA make sure to be Magic or Tech for lighting Oil Slicks.

[/ QUOTE ]Or grab the Fire APP if you're high enough.

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Pffft. Fire is overrated (only 4 powers to choose from? Bah!). I respecced to Primal last night and am so much happier (the knockdown cone + a AOE immob that allows knockdown is lovely and will light the slick) and I'm now 3 bars away from the glory that is Conserved Power, Power Boosted EMP Arrow.

I still mainly use the Origin power in a keybind for lighting Oil Slick though since it recharges far quicker than even the single target blasts (and it looks pretty cool if you're tech) in case you miss, which for some reason used to happen all the time with Fireball (probably my own fault). I could never get it in the AOE properly. Anyway having to rely on just Volcanic Gasses to light the thing between 35 and 41 would make me cry I think (or abduct a Fire tank and force him into being my Firestarting slave)

In terms of Earth Control take everything bar Salt Crystals. You could also omit the AOE immob for a while (Nice with the AOE stun but it's also damn ugly and will make your graphics card cry bloody tears of anguish)

Ah yes, totally forgot about Primal Forces.

Logically though, wouldn't the unenhanceable taser miss more often than the enhanceable fireball?

Besides, an AoE or Cone would be more comfortable, since you don't have to manually target the slick (time consuming when you have 15 Freak Tanks dancing around in front of it, y'know).

The AoE immob, you should get that at least 2 levels before you get Stalagmites - combined, the two make up what is often referred to as a 'ghetto AoE hold'. Stunned, immobilized targets are as good as held, after all.

I'm not sure about the single target immobilize, myself. Earth is known for its AoE lockdown capabilities, the ST immob will mainly only be useful for dealing moderate single target damage.

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Ah yes, totally forgot about Primal Forces.

Logically though, wouldn't the unenhanceable taser miss more often than the enhanceable fireball?

Besides, an AoE or Cone would be more comfortable, since you don't have to manually target the slick (time consuming when you have 15 Freak Tanks dancing around in front of it, y'know).


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There's a bind in my Grav/TA guide for targetting and shooting it. I just have to press V and that's it targetted and shot. The key point is that when you do miss the thing you can try again 4 seconds or so later. With Fireball you're boned if it misses. I'm just going on my own experiences. Since Oil Slick has a bigger AOE than Fireball I found that often if I fireballed the target I wouldn't be getting optimal spread in hitting everything else with it too and often I'd miss and would have to taser it anyway. The origin power is a free power anyway, may as well have it working for you and then you're free to choose whatever Epic you fancy (Ice is awfully tempting now too, Frost Breath does great damage and Oil Slick and Ice Storm would be very funny).

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The AoE immob, you should get that at least 2 levels before you get Stalagmites - combined, the two make up what is often referred to as a 'ghetto AoE hold'. Stunned, immobilized targets are as good as held, after all.


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Yep, absolutely. But it's ugly as sin. costs a fair chunk of End and a Quicksanded and/or Glue arrowed group won't be wandering too far either. If one is mainly soloing you don't have to worry about too much wandering anyway. But on teams I'd agree, you should probably get it to keep things in place (and for setting up Containment cheaply for an epic AOE)

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I'm not sure about the single target immobilize, myself. Earth is known for its AoE lockdown capabilities, the ST immob will mainly only be useful for dealing moderate single target damage.

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That's exactly why I'm saying get it. It's all well and good locking them down but then you've to defeat them before they come around again

Magicj's tests are flawed, situational and favors certain primaries.
As for plant/therm i'll post my levelling build i was using before i killed it, tomorrow when i'm home. I would recommend plant/ta and skip the most useless pet.

I am curious about Earth/Thermal, would like to see what Stoney can do with Heals, Shields and Forge

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Magicj's tests are flawed, situational and favors certain primaries.
As for plant/therm i'll post my levelling build i was using before i killed it, tomorrow when i'm home. I would recommend plant/ta and skip the most useless pet.

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Highly situational (his Illusion results are rather odd, I've never considered my Grav stronger vs bosses than Illusion). But they do seem to highlight that Stoney is much improved in single target DPS recently.

Plant/TA would be interesting. Seeds + Acid Arrow + Disruption Arrow would be one of the best combos in getting enemies to beat themselves up.

Earth/Thermal would give you a very strong pet too, the buffs would work much better than on Audrey (since she's such a coward getting into melee). Very team orientated though.

Earth/Thermal is quite slow to build up at low levels, I suggest teaming alot pre 32. Post 32 you dont need to team at all if you dont want to. I easily soloed the Tina MacIntyre, Uni Kemmen and Maria Jenkins arcs on Unyeilding difficulty (Could probably have done on invincible if i had the patience).

If you pile on the damage procs then Earth can do some pretty respectable damage.
With the two themal shields and the two +resistance IOs Stoney is about 90% resistant to all damage types, practially unkillable if you throw the occasionable heal on him. He also taunts like a machine so you dont have to worry much about an AV trying to hit you as long as Stoney is around.

I did a Earth/Thermal guide a while ago, its probably sinking to the bottom of the guides section

So are we saying that a better combination may be:

Spring = Plant / TA
Autumn = Earth / Thermal

Hadnt thought of that. Thermal could just about fit into the autumn concept at a push. I'm tempted.... very tempted

Oh, another reason to avoid Earth/TA. Stonie & the Burning Oil Slick bug. He'll flee every time you light up the area around him. Audrey apparently sticks to range more (or all the time) so she'll be affected less.

Except audrey can choose to not attack at all. The ai is borked and i won't regret picking up spirit tree instead as it has a use and can be stacked.

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Except audrey can choose to not attack at all. The ai is borked and i won't regret picking up spirit tree instead as it has a use and can be stacked.

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Hmm .I wonder if you could use flaming Oil Slicks as a way to get the idiot to do things

"Audrey, behave or I'll summon the pit of flaming death again"

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Then I happily stand corrected

I always thought he was all about holding the aggro, good to know he's more useful these days.


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They removed Hurl Boulder, which he used to get stuck using and made him pure melee and that seemed to fix his odd AI. Plus, as any recent Earth Epic user will tell you Seismic Smash is a sick, sick power.

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I wonder how well Oil Slick Arrow would work to help Earth's low damage output.

[/ QUOTE ]

Oil Slick is a great power, but it's not up that often. And if you're soloing a lot of that damage potential is wasted on just 2 or 3 targets (I get around it by using Wormhole to gather a second bunch before setting it up).

But yes that reminds me, if you are going */TA make sure to be Magic or Tech for lighting Oil Slicks.

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This states that Stoney has had Hurl Boulder removed... I am curious about this. I have a low level Earth troller, and not got Stoney yet, but in game it clearly shows he still has Hurl boulder when you inspect his power at the trainer... Can someone confirm... is this just not been changed in game to reflect it. Basically... does he still have Hurl Boulder or not?

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This states that Stoney has had Hurl Boulder removed... I am curious about this. I have a low level Earth troller, and not got Stoney yet, but in game it clearly shows he still has Hurl boulder when you inspect his power at the trainer... Can someone confirm... is this just not been changed in game to reflect it. Basically... does he still have Hurl Boulder or not?

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Hmmm. Brain fart on my part, City of Data seems to indicate he still has it too. I know he was given Seismic Smash instead of another power a while back and his AI was improved so I assumed it was the ranged power they removed to encourage him to get into melee but it looks like I was wrong, they must have done something else to make him melee-happy. Soz!

No Worries... Thought I was going mad .. he he.. Indeed when they added Seismic Smash, I remember reading on the Forums how his AI improved greatly. Looking forward to my Stoney... when I eventually hit the magical lvl 32..!

Do you have an uber burning desire to have TA?
Because no one's mentioned /Sonic. Not my favourite set, but works well with Earth/ because of the combined -DEF and -DMG RES. Earth/ is doing the -DEF and locking your targets down while /Sonic debuffs everything to gloopy buggery. Also - Ready Brek Pooman, much?

My Earth/Sonic is only about level 18, mind.
But he's fun to play so far. And you do notice the -DEF -DMG RES debuffs even at that level.
Sonic Siphon is grrrrrreat for bosses+ also.

Maybe give /Sonic another think?