Help me enjoy low-level Corruptors

I've seen expressed in quite a few places the opinion that going rogue will mean the end of Defenders, because everyone will switch over to Corruptors. Every time I hear this, I wonder if the speaker and I are living on the same planet. In my limited experience, Corruptors are the weakest and most poorly designed of the archetypes.

Caveat 1: I'm not talking about level 50 viability, or indeed the 38-50 game. I suspect Corruptors are probably among the BEST ATs at that level. After all, at that point they're essentially a Defender with higher damage numbers and Scourge.

(Which isn't to say I think Defenders will have no place at level 50. They have higher Defense and Heal numbers, epic power pools, exclusive access to Force Fields and Empathy, and most importantly they can skip the first power in their support sets.)

Caveat 2: The primary purpose of this post isn't to criticize the devs or ask for changes to be made, it's to look for advice on making the most of my Corruptors. I'm making the argument that the AT is broken largely in hopes of being proven wrong.

Summary of the argument: Corruptors don't work because they're the only Archetype in the game who depend on their SECONDARY powerset to perform their PRIMARY role. (Arguably Tankers do too, but I don't play them either)

What do I mean? Corruptors are billed as damage dealers by the in-game help text, and they share a primary set with blasters. But their damage abilities are actually pretty unexciting. Their attacks do comparable damage to those a Brute... without Fury. Lacking Build Up or accaptably powerful snipes, there's no way they can quickly kill dangerous targets like a Blaster; Stalkers are the burst kings of CoV. I haven't crunched numebrs but intuition tells me a level 6 mastermind's pets do as much damage as a corruptor--maybe he doesn't suprass the corruptor until level twelve. And since the (much-needed) Dominator buff, they use the same powers Corruptors have with higher numbers, albeit fewer AoEs. In my experience, low-level Corruptors actually do less damage than any other VIllainous archetype. When they CAN kill things effectively it's because of debuffs that live in their secondary powerset.

One might reasonably ask what difference it makes. Isn't the distinction between primary/secondary more smeantics than game mechanics? After all, Controllers get a lot of value out of their secondary, and many Dominators and Tankers take more secondary powers than primary.

Well, how, game mechanically, is a Primary set better than a Secondary? I'm discounting numbers, which are set by the AT itself, not the powerset. Actually a Primary and a secondary have only two differences: you can skip the first power of a primary, and you can get to the high-level powers earlier.

How much this matters depends on the shape of the powerset. Some powersets start out easy as cake and add little cherries on top, while other are like intricate machines assembled one piece at a time. Defense sets, for instance, are typically front loaded. The Smashing/Lethal damage shield available at level ONE is typically the most effective power in the entire set.

In my opinion, Blasting sets are the same way. The best attacks in the set are the first two blasts and the early cone or ball. Other attacks like the snipe, the control, or the second AoE add some utility and survivability but don't vastly increase the effectiveness. Even good powers like those extra AoEs and Nukes need good enhancements and other powers to support them that aren't available at low levels anyway.

the Blaster AT has poor power selections by design, since his primary benefits are huge damage numbers, a good inherent, and moderate HP.

A Defender is a whole different thing. Defenders have low damage, low HP, and an essentially worthless inherent. The only thing going for them is their power selection, which carries the entire archetype. Support sets tend to contain multiple game-changing powers. Picking up Speed Boost, Dispersion Bubble, or Sleet changes the game radically.

Although there are late blooming blasting sets (dark blast) and early-blooming support sets (cold, radiation), by and large I think Corruptors get the worst of both worlds. They get early access to snipes and explosions without the damage numbers to make them worthwhile, and suffer LONG waiting times to get the Support powers they need to be viable.

Corruptors are further hampered by being forced to begin with the first support power at level 1. A lot of exciting sets start with mediocre abilities. Look at Radiant Aura or Web Grenade. At the lowest level Defenders frequently do MORE damage because they can skip unnecessary weak heals and immobilizes and take more attacks. Corruptors get to skip the first blasting attack if they want, but there's really no reason to, as these attacks are extremely effective, especially before level 20.

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Having laid out the argument in the general case, and eagerly awaiting an explanation of where I've gone wrong, I'd like to share a couple of examples of difficulty I've had with Corruptors and see if you can help me.

My first Corruptor was an Assault Rifle/Kinetics Corruptor I rolled to duo with my girlfriend's Mind/Psychic Dominator. We're currently at level 14 and my build looks like this:

1: Burst, Transfusion
2: Slug
4: Buckshot
6: Siphon Power
8: Recall Friend
10: Siphon Speed
12: Hurdle
14: Health

Performance has been... not good. We open fights with Mass Hypno, so I have to hold off on Buckshot until it wears off, leaving me with only two attacks to wear down enemies. Even using my full chain the damage is nothing to write home about. My girlfriend is pretty new and doesn't have the fastest reflexes, so I can't count on her controls to bail me out of trouble, leaving me dependent on my healing top stay alive. I die a lot, since my area attacks attract aggro without actually killing things. When we're not dying, I'm always the one running out of endurance since I have to attack and heal, while she doesn't heal and has Domination to refill her.

I know this build has a lot of pool powers that are doing nothing for me. I have two respecs saved and would happily use one if it would help but honestly I don't know what I could take. None of the powers I've skipped seem useful. Repel is an endurance hog, Sniper Rifle doesn't do that much damage, M30s would attract more aggro and use up endurance, and beanbag is worse than my partner's controls and another way to deplete my END. Plus, I'm gonna need Stamina to keep up with my girlfirend when she's running on Speed Boost and Drain Psyche. This was the build that convinced me Corruptors have a problem: apart form ym heal, I do literally nothing but damage, and not even good damage.

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My brother's first character was, for concept reasons, an Energy/Traps Corruptor with Flight. He gave up at about level 8. His build and play were wildly suboptimal so I rolled my own version to prove it could be done.

1: Power Bolts, Web Grenade
2: Power Blast
4: Energy Torrent
6: Caltrops
8: Power Burst
10: Acid Mortar

Notice anything? This build is exactly the same as an Energy/Devices Blaster, only with lower damage and HP. Not until level 10 and the Acid Mortar does he get anything uniquely Support-themed. Compare the above to a Traps/Energy Defender I could roll when Issue 16 hits:

1: Caltrops, Power Bolts
2: Power Blast
4: Energy Torrent
6: Acid Mortar
8: Force Field Generator
10: Power Burst

That looks a hell of a lot better to me.

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Finally, determined to try a Corruptor with more popular sets, I rolled an Ice/Radiation Corruptor. This is what she looks like right now:

1: Ice Bolts, Radiant Aura
2: Radiation Infection
4: Frost Breath
6: Accelerate Metabolism

The character is a blast to play, but I can't help noticing that were I a defender I could have Ice Blast in place of Radiant Aura.

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Anyway, apologies for the long, long post. What I'm looking for is:

1: Build advice for AR/Kin, Nrg/Traps, and Ice/Rad Corruptors
2: Advice on early/blooming set combos. (While working on this post I decided to try a Dark/Rad, which has been brilliant. I don't want Moonbeam or Dark Pit, so getting the early Rad powers is painless, and getting early access to Tentacles and Life Drain is more valuable to me than Fallout or Choking Cloud)
3: Play advice and tactics for making the best of low level corruptors.

whoo, that was a long post.

I've found, for myself, that pre-22 corrs are some of the most blah soloing experiences. Get them on a team, all those buffs and debuffs come together...but solo, it's just not-enough dmg, not-enough acc, with too-much endo use. with corrs, as with any other AT, you just can't accurately judge a set's total performance without SO-level enhancements.

from 12-22, i try to get 4-5 slots in my major attacks, and slot them (DOs) 2 acc, 1 end, 1-2 dmg. then at 22 i buy up some Ruin (or whatever's cheapo) IO sets to get more life out of those 4-5 slots.


My 2 inf for early blooming set combos:
/rad, or /dark, paired with a primary with aoe.

those primaries could be fire/, ice/, rad/, or dark/. AR could work too, i'm a big fan of fire and ice. i'm running an ice/dark that does good burst AOE, awesome single-target, and a sweet collection of debuffs. by 14 i could darkest night toggle-pull into a tarpatch, ice storm, and frost breath, clean up the rest. I've had to choose his slots so wisely, and i've chosen to put off the single target holds till the mid-30s to early 40s in order to get the burst dmg and team support tools i want.

just stick with a character you like thematically, and you'll slog through the low levels, particularly with a team.



Also: Radiant aura kinda blows out of the box, yep. again, work on getting 4ish slots in it by 22, and look for cheap heal/end and heal/rech IOs, it will be a whole new power.

Smurphy--

I'm not making a semantic argument. If you'd read on through my admittedly really long post you'd see that I make a specific argument that Corruptors are ill-served by their Blasting Primary set.

Having a set be Primary means only two things: First, you can skip the first power if you want, and second, you can get the higher-tier powers faster.

Do you see the first doing Corruptors any good? Burst, Flares, and Dark Blast are some of the best powers in their respective sets, especially at low levels where they're the centerpiece of your single-target DPS. Some Blasters may skip them, but Blasters have a LOT more attacks available and power slots ot pick them in. Since Corruptors need their Support powers and tend (in my opinion) to get more value from pools like Fitness and Leadership, it takes them a long time to build an attack chain. I ALWAYS take the first blast for my Corruptors.

Now how about the second? Let's look at a couple of levels. At 14 a primary has 1-6, a secondary has 1-4. That means that having blasting as a primary is bringing Corruptors generally Aim, snipes, and single-target controls, occasionally a cone or a rain. But they don't have the damage numbers to make the best use of snipes or Aim. This is the same level range where Stalkers get Build Up/Placate, Masterminds get their second pet, and Defenders get powers like Speed Boost, Fortitude, and Dispersion Bubble. At level 32, Corruptors get a nuke, which is good, but not as good as a Blaster nuke. I also think it's not as good as a Mastermind's second upgrade, a Controller's Pet, or Defender powers like Fulcrum Shift or Heat Loss. Every AT that overlaps powersets with Corruptors gets something better at 32 than Corruptors do.

If you switched any of those other ATs primary and secondary, they'd be severely nerfed; Corruptors, on the other hand, would probably get stronger.

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TLDR: If Corruptors role is to shoot enemies, why are they worse at it (at low levels, in my experience) than every other villain AT?

I concur with Smurphy. Consider the damage capabilities of the corruptor, specially since you got Scourge to further punish those that you can get a shot on.

Corruptors are like the weaker cousins of blasters, but they make up for it with their buff/debuffing secondaries. You can play corruptors both ways, but don't forget that you can rain pain on the good guys.

Corruptor Vs. Brute

The Default 4/8 Second blasts do the same base damage as 4/8 second punches from a Brute. Except that Corruptors have Scourge, while Brutes have Fury. I like Fury better. The early Cones need to hit three enemies to do significantly more damage than a Brute punch, and some brutes get cones of their own (Shadow Maul and Jacob's Ladder) that put COrruptor cones to shame. The only downside to the Brute attacks is that Brutes have way weaker dama/activation without Fury. This means they don't have the brust damage, but at low levels doesn't impact their sustained DPS since everybody spends a lot of time standing around.

Dominators do more damage with their 4 seconds blasts than Corruptors do, although they don't get Scourge. They usually don't get AoEs early on, but it takes hitting three people to do better than a powerful Dominator attack. I'd say these classes are comparable at low levels.

Stalkers are hard to directly compare to other classes, but c'mon, Assassin's Strike!

Similarly, I don't have the data in front of my to compare Masterminds to Corruptors, but intuition tells me that my masterminds, starting at level 6, melt enemies just as quickly as Corruptors at those levels.

Look, I'm willing to believe that I'm doing something wrong, but you're going to have to give more detailed advice than "shoot enemies more" -- that's basically all my Assault/Kin does: Siphon, Siphon, and shoot away. Lots of faceplanting, admittedly while being dragged down by an unreliable partner.

For your AR/Kin woes, I'd recommend respecing out of TP Friend, and just holding off on travels if possible, and rely on temp travels. Pick up Beanbag. Help the dom out, and stun the bad guys giving you problems.

Also, after a while, you'll learn that Slug kb's (if I am remembering right) and Burst doesn't. For right now, kb is your main mitigation. And learn how to move around. On my kin I'm always moving. In and out of combat range (it helps give you a bit of breathing room if things are iffy cause it can trigger the switch between melee and range attacks in the NPCs, though this takes getting used to...), and always spamming slug and beanbag if it's a hard fight. Heck, take repel if it'll help your playstyle. And as a side note, your end is going to suck pre Stamina on AR/Kin. There's no helping it, and no avoiding it, even if you slot only end reducs.

Basically...on some corruptors, you have to be more proactive. Only good enemy is a dead enemy. Insps are your friends. Using kb and the stun are your friends. Running like a chicken with your head cut off...also, your friend.

And if it's still giving you THAT much trouble, roll a fire/dark. Take tar patch, the toggle, the heal and eventually fearsome stare and fluffy. Take RoF, Fire Breath and Fireball. Maybe flares. Viola. Lotta damage, very safe. Take hasten, and you'll be kinda fast at it too.

Are Snipes worthwhile on Corruptors? I never take them on Defenders and don't play Blasters much, so I don't know what a snipe is even good for.

I will grab Beanbag, I guess. I originally skipped it because I had unrealistic expectations about the control my Dom could provide.

"Performance has been... not good. We open fights with Mass Hypno, so I have to hold off on Buckshot until it wears off, leaving me with only two attacks to wear down enemies. Even using my full chain the damage is nothing to write home about. My girlfriend is pretty new and doesn't have the fastest reflexes, so I can't count on her controls to bail me out of trouble, leaving me dependent on my healing top stay alive. I die a lot, since my area attacks attract aggro without actually killing things. When we're not dying, I'm always the one running out of endurance since I have to attack and heal, while she doesn't heal and has Domination to refill her.

I know this build has a lot of pool powers that are doing nothing for me. I have two respecs saved and would happily use one if it would help but honestly I don't know what I could take. None of the powers I've skipped seem useful. Repel is an endurance hog, Sniper Rifle doesn't do that much damage, M30s would attract more aggro and use up endurance, and beanbag is worse than my partner's controls and another way to deplete my END. Plus, I'm gonna need Stamina to keep up with my girlfirend when she's running on Speed Boost and Drain Psyche. This was the build that convinced me Corruptors have a problem: apart form ym heal, I do literally nothing but damage, and not even good damage."

I'm not seeing a problem with the Corruptor here. I'm seeing Mass Hypnosis as the problem. I take it she is a Mind/Psi (you reference Drain Psyche). If she is using the AoE sleep what is she following up with? Psi Dart is pathetic for damage. There is a reason why you see no slots put into it on most Dom builds. So seriously what is she following up with? If she is finishing fights with endurance to spare she isn't getting the most out of her Dom, and I mean that. Psi has some AoE damage, and that will mesh with your AR AoE's. What you don't need to do is have a bunch of foes Slept hindering your combined efforts to do mass damage. You won't kill packs of mobs with just Buckshot. It's not your job to carry all the damage either.

Does she have Mesmerize, Dominate, Levitate, or Confuse? What does she have in her secondary? I think you both will get more out of your characters if she uses the single target controls a bit more than leaning so heavy on the Mass Hypnosis. That's a good power, but hindering your AoE damage is just making fights last longer. Terrify will be good for her to open with later on, and won't interfere with your damage. In the meantime I would suggest using Mesmerize on a tough target, and then pull the rest away from it. Then use a combo of Dominate to hold, Levitate to knock up, and maybe even Confuse one. The key here for her is not to focus single target controls on just one target. Dominate one, and then target another for the Levitate etc... When Dominate comes back up use it on a target that is not held. That way you can use cones etc... on the stuff with the single target controls without fear of it breaking, and save the slept target for last. She may need to reapply the sleep to the tougher target so keep that in mind depending on your killing speed. I'm stilling leveling my Dom's, and they are fairly new to me I'll admit. Though what I have found is that the Dom is best played very aggressively. That's one of the things that keeps me red side is that all the AT's are very "in your face" as a playstyle. Trying to be more laid back with any villain AT is really short changing the experience. Though I guess some MM combos can afford to be more laid back, but I hate those power combos anyway.

Enjoy your lowbie Corruptor by a change in group tactics. No single AT destroys lowbie content. Not even MM's.

She's Level 14 as well, looking like this:

1: Levitate, Psionic Dart
2: Dominate
4: Mind Probe
6: Confuse
8: Mass Hypnosis
10: Hasten
12: Telekinesis
14: Super Speed

We tend to open with Mass Hypno, then Dominate on whoever's left awake, then plug away with single-target attacks until everyone wakes and I use buckshot while she rotates confuse/dominate/levitate. Unfortunately she's not very good at changing targets quickly and thus is constantly holding an enemy, then levitating him, or confusing an enemy and then immediately mind probing him to death.

We did most of our leveling before the recent Dominator buff, which is why she has so few attacks. She had trouble keeping up with the rate everything recharged as it is, and Mind Blast/Tk Thrust were terrible damage back then. Hasten was there so Domination will be up more often. Super Speed, she'll be respeccing out of once I get Speed Boost but in the meantime there was nothing she wanted.

If I were playing her toon I'd respec it to something like:

1:Levitate, Psionic Dart
2: Dominate
4: TK Thrust
6: Mesmerize
8: Mass Hypno
10: Confuse
12: Telekinesis
14: Hasten

But I'm not.

Anyway, the next few levels should hopefully bring big improvements, but all on her side, not mine. She gets:

16: Psychic Scream, bringing her damage up and taking some heat off me
18: Total Domination, which should save our bacon occasionally
20: Drain Psyche, so I don't have to heal her as often.

Meanwhile I'm getting:

16: Increase Density, which is good but only if she actually gets attacked
18: Flamethrower-- great damage, but aggravates my END- and aggro-woes while interfering with sleep
20: Speed Boost, giving her even more attacks she's too slow to use efficiently

Feh. I'm leveling a Ninja Blade/Regen Stalker with the same costume. Hopefully then I won't die so hard.

Don't take ID yet! She has Dom, which is like a breakfree. In addition to that, she's a mind dom, and you say she's not getting hit much. Take either the snipe (I don't normally take snipes, I'm too impatient to wait for it, but if you're dying THAT much, snipes can really up the damage potential, and help with pulls for big groups, especially if the group is sleeping). You could start on a travel. Hover is good for hover blasting, combat jumping is good for immob protection and extra defense....etc, etc. Also, constantly keeping ID up will mean more redraw for you. Irritating, to say the least.

If she starts getting held a lot cause Dom is down, explain that she needs to spam attacks to build dom, or just to combine three insps into a breakfree.

Then take Flamethrower at 18, Stamina at 20 (trust me, your end bar not running out every fight will help more than keeping her end bar consistently full), and then SB at 20. Flamethrower ups your killing speed, so while it's end hungry, it'll kill mobs faster, thus helping your end bar in a backwards way (mobs dying faster=less end used overall).

Hmm. I figured I would take it for the S/L resists, since hopefully Psychic Scream will allow her to get more of the aggro. Plus if I don't take it at sixteen I'm putting it off until twenty-four, which I guess is workable. I'll probably get Beanbag actually if I don't respec for it.

Thanks for the advice, which is what I really wanted, although I'm feeling peeved enough with the game to point out that your proposed build really highlights my argument. If I understand correctly, you're suggesting

Burst, Transfusion
Slug
Buckshot
Siphon Power
Beanbag
Siphon Speed
Hurdle
Health
Sniper Rifle
Flamethrower
Stamina

As my level twenty build. That probably WILL work a lot better than what I'm running no, but I really think I'd be better off with, say AR/Nrg

Burst, Power Thrust
Slug
Buckshot
Build Up
Beanbag
Hasten
Aid Other
Super Speed
Conserve Power
Flamethrower
Aid Self

All the same attacks except the snipe, more damage on them, build up, and I even retained some healing and an END management tool.

You look really hung up on the concept of doing damage. Kinetics will shine there once you get Fulcrum shift! Until then you've got to cut your teeth with the rest of set which isn't "wowing" you. Thing is Corruptors don't just do damage, and are balanced around that. They still do pretty good damage though, but like most AT's they take some time to flesh out. Anyhoo enough of that. On to more of my thoughts.

As for the Mind/Psi...

Confuse isn't needed as soon as it opens. Neither is Mass Hypnosis. Especially not with all the AoE potential between the two of you. Mesmerize (this can sleep bosses without domination up btw), Domination, and Levitate are enough to get you out of the low levels. She just needs to practice doing the following... Pick a target for a control. Hit that control button. Now, pause, and mouse/tab for a new target. Once a new target is found press control button number 2. Repeat. You don't need lightening reflexes or be the best at twitch games like FPSers. Sounds like she is button mashing, and she just needs some patience, and practice. Dominating isn't easy, but it isn't rocket science either.

If I were playing it (Which I am playing a Mind/Psi :P )...

1 Levitate/Psionic Dart
2 Dominate
4 Tk Thrust
6 Mind Probe
8 Mesmerize
10 Mass Hypnosis (But solo, and I find it helpful at times even though it can be overkill)
12 Hover
14 Fly (I like to take my travels early. It's an old habit.)
18 Health
20 Stamina (old Habits die hard, and stamina is my friend for spamming ST attacks/control)
22 Psychic Scream
24 Drain Psyche
26 Terrify (this is a big deal)

So that's me focusing on some damage, and control early. I have a love for Hasten, but with that character I have it at 30. Confuse is at 32, the usual time Dom's get most pets, and it's what I am used to. I really don't need it right now anyway.

Telekinesis is an endurance pig! I have it as a level 49, but I might switch it for something else. I'm not there yet, and I'll jump that bridge when I get to it.

For an AR/Kin...

1 Slug/Transfusion
2 Buckshot
4 Siphon Power
6 M30 Grenade
8 Burst, or whatever. I'm usually not a fan of T1 blasts if there is a better option.
10 Hasten
12 Swift
14 SuperSpeed
16 Health
18 FlameThrower
20 Stamina
22 Speed Boost
24 Siphon Speed
26 Ignite, most likely.

With Hasten, and Siphon Speed you are burning a lot of your endurance due to attack spamming. Your endurance bar won't sustain that activity on any character that isn't a Regeneration Scrapper, or a Willpower Tanker (both get endurance recovery passives fairly early). Even those will have trouble pre-SO's running 90% recharge for 60+ seconds. Hasten also has an endurance crash, and that can be painful on low level characters. You need to be careful of it's use, and keep blue inspires at the ready when you see it flicker on your buff tray. I wouldn't take Beanbag or the Snipe. The first 4 attacks should be enough, and Flamethrower is pretty nice. Get Stamina at level 20, and by level 22 get single origin enhancements. You'll look back at your lowbie leveling career and laugh at it as most of your problems go away. Single Origins are that good.

Maybe AR/Kin isn't for you. Though I will remind you that the grass isn't always greener on the other side. A Blaster can run down on endurance pretty quick too if they spam attacks over and over. You also don't get the joy of having a Dominator with you.

Your saying Pick powers like a blaster until 20ish for stamina, then respec into more of teh secondary powers you missed before? I generally do that on my Corruptors, none of which got past level 17, mind you, and they were all still pretty boring.

Quote:

Originally Posted by BackAlleyBrawler you *******!!!!

It's not that I'm hung up on damage. My first and only fifty is an Illusion/Kinetic Controller. I know how good buffing is. I love Radiation, Poison, and Force Fields.

My complaint is that your suggested build has exactly Two Kinetic powers at level , one of which is a damage buff. I'm not the one hung on damage there. But It seems to a problem endemic to Kinetic Corruptors: Their best powers are at twenty, thirty-five, and thirty-eight.

That's why I'd rahter have a Defender or Controller for most sets, though /Radiation and /Dark Corruptors seem to be okay.

AR/Kin is not an easy combo, especially with the tweaked animation times. Kin is a very active set, and you'll be swapping the rifle in and out, A LOT. Also, if you are duo'ing with a Mind/Psi, sleeps will be highly present, so the AoE nature of AR may be a lil' counter productive. Additionally, the only soft-control AR has is KB, also not a Mind Dom's friend. However, with it all in mind, I'd suggest building to 22 or so not even trying for Stamina, and using your alternate build when high enough, to get a free respec into Stamina. EG...

1. Slug, Transfusion
2. Burst
4. Siphon Power
6. Hurdle
8. Hasten
10. Siphon Speed
12. Sniper Rifle
14. Super Speed
16. Increase Density
18. Buckshot
20. Speed Boost

...and then once you and your mate has dinged 22, swap to alt build, grab stamina, and drop in SO/common IO's.

I will warn you, the redraw crankyness NEVER goes away on AR/Kin. I got mine to 37.6, and just could not stand to push any more towards Fulcrum Shift. Almost dinnae make it past 35, but Transference is fantastic.

Again, YMMV, offer not valid in all 50 states and 7 continents.

See, I love almost all /kin powers. Transfusion has let me solo EBs. Siphon Speed makes me go fast, without the end hog of SS, and it helps me get Hasten up redonkulously fast without slotting for a recharge build. Siphon Power has none of the pizazz of Fulcrum Shift, but you get a consistent damage buff at a low level, and you can help speed up everyone else on your team with it. ID, when used right, has saved teams. Hell, I've used it to help out brutes tanking more than they could chew. IR is fantastic if you don't take a vertical travel power. Repel is more useful as a 'fun' power, but I have run into one or two people who used it to keep themselves safe when things get sticky.

They're all useful, just to different degrees, and in different scenarios. Just because some kins don't use more than 3 powers in their secondaries doesn't make the other powers bad. I was being useful and helpful to teams long before 20.

And I play my buffers and debuffers offensively (people shake their heads over how often I'll be sitting next to the melee toon on any toon, with or without status protection), but I'm also a complusive buffer/debuffer. I get the most use out of my corruptors by using both sets equally, or by realizing that "Hey, this team needs damage. FS, SB and blast, don't bother with the other powers" or "Hey, this team is a damage machine, they can be helped more by me keeping them going nonstop" or "Hey, this team needs everything. I can debuff, buff and damage. Wheeee!"

Honestly, I'm not really sure AR/Kin is what you're looking for. I'd really suggest looking into other set combos. Maybe Ice/Dark? Lots of single targets, soft holds, good debuffs, the works.

And I have no idea why HK008 would suggest M30 if you're duoing with a mind. That's a bit...bizarre.

"And I have no idea why HK008 would suggest M30 if you're duoing with a mind. That's a bit...bizarre."

No love for the grenade huh?

Since the grenade scatters people, hogs end, and attracts the aggro to me while waking sleepers and knocking down confused enemies, thereby preventing them form attacking... I'm gonna say the synergy is not quite there.