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This was why I turned to hunting in the Shard. Is the toon 50 already?|
Originally Posted by Kale_Dun
I've recently made a return to my old fire/rad/psi and have found that I am immensely enjoying the experience now. I am mostly a solo'er, but I tend to find the spawn sizes boring and small without some kind of team.
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Originally Posted by Kale_Dun
1) How useful is EM Pulse for soloing? I imagine having an extra AoE hold + foe end drain + decreased regen is extremely handy, but the -recovery to myself makes me cringe at the thought.
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Originally Posted by Kale_Dun
2) What powers would you call key for this set? The toggle debuffs, LI, hotfeet, choking cloud, and fire imps kind of go without saying, but is there anything else that will make or break my solo experience?
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Do you have Hasten to stack with AM?
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Originally Posted by Kale_Dun
3) What kind of bonuses should I be aiming for during IO slotting? -KB is a given. Ranged Def? +Reharge? +Recovery?
4) How much -KB should I be looking into getting? is 1 IO adequate for the majority of soloing, or should I bump it to 2? He is a flyer (concept reasons) so I don't have the luxury of acrobatics to help in the -KB. |
I would build for +recharge and +max end bonuses since you don't have "innate" defense like an /FF. Enough recharge and one of the PBAoE holds could be skippable. End bonuses are probably more useful than recovery (picking up Portal Jockey and Atlas Medallion help immensely here). Entropic Chaos or Decimation (better stats) can be slotted in Mental Blast (or Ring of Fire) for both +end and +recharge. Impervium Armor in Mind Over Body for more +max end. 2 Eradications in Hot Feet for even more +end.
A Lockdown hold proc is not a bad idea in Choking Cloud, either.
Do you Hover while you fight? Then one -kb certainly. (Do you cast Hot Feet then take off?)
I mostly agree with Reptlbrains comments. Personally, I like having EM Pulse, but don't use it all that much -- it is mainly for (a) a back-up AoE Hold if Cinders is recharging, (b) a nice "panic button" power with a huge radius, (c) can be used to hold Bosses by stacking it with Cinders, (d) on occasion, it is a really nice tool for special situations, like a room full of Robots (like in the IFT while taking down the computer). The -Recovery is pretty short-term -- one or two blue insp will take care of it. As long as my Blue Bar is full before I use it, I find very little problem.
I also like having Bonfire, especially solo. It is another one of those "panic button" powers -- if things get difficult, I can run for a little ways, then throw Bonfire in a hallway to act as a blockade, then keep running around a corner, and I have 45 seconds of down-time. I find a lot of other uses, too. Any foe who has -knockback gets Bonfire for a little extra DoT, and it keeps away other foes while I focus on that one. Aggro too many at once? Bonfire will break up that group. Bonfire is really nice to prevent ambushes from surprising you. (I needed some salvage to make a few IOs recently so I did an AE mission -- which had wave after wave of ambushes. Bonfire allowed me to survive.)
I would say that Fire needs Char, Fire Cages, Flashfire, Hot Feet and Fire Imps, and Cinders is highly recommended. As stated above, I like Bonfire, but agree that it is situational. I skipped Ring of Fire and Smoke, but some folks like them. On the Rad side, I took everything except Fallout and Mutation, and I would have taken Mutation if I could have fit it in (but that's for a team build). Choking Cloud is a keystone of the build. Air Sup and Fly, Hasten and the fitness pool. I also have the Psi APP set, with IW, the shield and Psi Tornado -- I skipped the blast as I find using Char and running in is enough. If I really need a ranged attack I have the NemiStaff/BlackWand vet powers. I added Super Speed as my level 49 power, because I combine it with a Stealth IO for full invisibility and I like the battlefield maneuverability.
And I agree -- Recharge and Recovery are the most important bonuses to shoot for. With Super Speed, I can run out of harm's way many times.
LOCAL MAN! The most famous hero of all. There are more newspaper stories about me than anyone else. "Local Man wins Medal of Honor." "Local Man opens Animal Shelter." "Local Man Charged with..." (Um, forget about that one.)
Guide Links: Earth/Rad Guide, Illusion/Rad Guide, Electric Control
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This. I love Bonfire, too, for its looks and its utility (and its un-slot-hungriness, IO muling notwithstanding). 'tis also a beautiful power in tight spaces, like office buildings, or a way to (somewhat messily, usually) lump two close spawns together, though depending on the i16 settings, this might be less desirable.
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Originally Posted by Local_Man
Bonfire is really nice to prevent ambushes from surprising you. (I needed some salvage to make a few IOs recently so I did an AE mission -- which had wave after wave of ambushes. Bonfire allowed me to survive.)
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1. If you have the money you can make a build that can easily cycle flashfire, cinders, empulse for total lockdown every spawn no matter how fast the team is. The -recov can be mitigated with a good build that nets end during normal times and the perf proc.|
Originally Posted by Kale_Dun
I've recently made a return to my old fire/rad/psi and have found that I am immensely enjoying the experience now. I am mostly a solo'er, but I tend to find the spawn sizes boring and small without some kind of team. So you can see why I am eagerly looking forward to the new difficulty slider in I16. In preparation though I am trying to get my lil troller prepared for the slaughter that he is going to inflict. So, here are my questions for you all:
1) How useful is EM Pulse for soloing? I imagine having an extra AoE hold + foe end drain + decreased regen is extremely handy, but the -recovery to myself makes me cringe at the thought. 2) What powers would you call key for this set? The toggle debuffs, LI, hotfeet, choking cloud, and fire imps kind of go without saying, but is there anything else that will make or break my solo experience? 3) What kind of bonuses should I be aiming for during IO slotting? -KB is a given. Ranged Def? +Reharge? +Recovery? 4) How much -KB should I be looking into getting? is 1 IO adequate for the majority of soloing, or should I bump it to 2? He is a flyer (concept reasons) so I don't have the luxury of acrobatics to help in the -KB. Thanks in advance for all your help! |
I'd say it coudl be a handy power if you like your imps as it is probably they will die a lot when you crank up the slider for more and more mobs. If you don't really care about your imps you probably don't need em pulse for your survivability.
2. Fire: Firecages with grav anchor proc, hotfeet, flashfire, imps. Char is nice to have for harder targets.
Rad: heal, AM, RI, EF, LR
3. Enough recharge for perma AM+perma hasten. 30%+ranged def (or if on a budget a s/l build can work well too) but ime you will always be immobing things so they are just out of melee range to attack you even when standing in the middle of them all, so ranged def is really good. (or so I've found on my fire/strom troller). You mention being a flyer so I'm guessing you just hover in the middle and above them all, so ranged is still the way to go.
Of course you will want perf proc, numina, miracle, but beyond that perma AM should take care of your recovery.
4. 1kb IO is good for about 98% of encounters. If you want to venture out and start soloing pylons, or other AV's you'll have to adjust accordingly.
I have alot of fun with the new Psi-Mastery power World of Confusion, running it + Hotfeet + Choking Cloud makes for a fun day in the new larger spawns. WoC needs confusion enhancements if you want to use it for damage mitigation, and/or Contagious proc as the confuse is quite short.
I use it as another damage aura, and apply generous(frankenslot) damage procs like Oblit(smash), Erad(energy), Scir(slash), and of course if you can afford it 2 Armageddon's(fire proc) + Armageddon Damage, for the 4% recovery.
I just love the tick, tick, tick....BOOM aspect of PBAoE procs =)
Freedom Bound!!!
Wow, you all have more than answered my questions, and given me quite a bit of food for thought at the same time. I think I am going to hit Mid's and see what I can flesh out there using all your suggestions. Sadly he isn't 50 yet, only just turned 41, but I think these last 9 levels will prove to be incredibly fun now. I am thoroughly enjoying the set now. Thanks again all!!
Fire/rad trolls are immensely fun. I fondly remember TribalArtist's fire/rad superteam, and the 27 minute, flawless STF that followed....ahhh memories.....
Fire/Rad is the only build I actively play past 50. It's a swiss army knife of goodness. It plays completely differently (at least the way I play it) from every other troller build I've tried. My biggest problem is when I switch to a different toon and try and play it like my Fire/Rad :-O
Stay Gold, Paragon. Stay Gold.
Nolite te bastardes carborundorum.
I've recently made a return to my old fire/rad/psi and have found that I am immensely enjoying the experience now. I am mostly a solo'er, but I tend to find the spawn sizes boring and small without some kind of team. So you can see why I am eagerly looking forward to the new difficulty slider in I16. In preparation though I am trying to get my lil troller prepared for the slaughter that he is going to inflict. So, here are my questions for you all:
1) How useful is EM Pulse for soloing? I imagine having an extra AoE hold + foe end drain + decreased regen is extremely handy, but the -recovery to myself makes me cringe at the thought.
2) What powers would you call key for this set? The toggle debuffs, LI, hotfeet, choking cloud, and fire imps kind of go without saying, but is there anything else that will make or break my solo experience?
3) What kind of bonuses should I be aiming for during IO slotting? -KB is a given. Ranged Def? +Reharge? +Recovery?
4) How much -KB should I be looking into getting? is 1 IO adequate for the majority of soloing, or should I bump it to 2? He is a flyer (concept reasons) so I don't have the luxury of acrobatics to help in the -KB.
Thanks in advance for all your help!