Elec/Traps on a Corruptor.

Hey, everyone.

I feel like trying out a new support powerset and Elec/traps seems like a good thematic fit. My only experience with elec is Elec Assault on my dominator and I've never tried traps.

I'd like to ask if this is a workable combination from a powers synergy point of view, and what the advantages would be of making this character as a corruptor or just making a defender and then bringing him over to redside.

Thanks a lot for any input!

There isn't any strong synergy between the two sets, but there's also nothing about either set that would make it unworkable.

Short Circuit being PBAoE could help with toe-mining spawns, I guess.

The thing to note about Elec is, its not a bad set per se, its just fairly low on damage. Traps being so offensive (y helo thar trip mine) would go some way to help this.

I would aim to get some decent defense (s/l is easy to work for with the Scorpion Shield, very easy to softcap with the FFG) so you can toe-mine in relative peace and recharge to bring your traps up faster. Also bear in mind how incredibly proc-friendly traps is (achilles and devastation procs in Mortar, devastation proc in Seekers, Lockdown proc in PGT, etc).

As for defender vs corruptor, my vote goes to the corruptor. Scourge beats Vigilance any day of the week. Short Circuit and Ball Lightning being largely DoT also works in Scourge's favour.

Hope that helps.

You're right! With FFG, Scorp Shield and Maneuvers I'm basically at the softcap already. Add in Stealth and we're done without need to resort to IOs. Very cool.

The end drain values for Defenders and Corruptors are the same, right?

Also, are Caltrops and Poison Trap good powers to have?

Bear in mind that the FFG is slow, so if you're speeding around a lot you might want to give it a few seconds to catch up so you're softcapped. In my build I plan on doing a lot of toe-mining so I'm grabbing Grant Invis, both to ensure the FFG doesn't get nuked following me around and for another LotG spot.

As for end drain, I'm not sure if that is one of the things that falls under the umbrella of buff/debuff. If it does, then defender drains will be stronger due to their higher AT modifier.

PGT definitely, Caltrops maybe. PGT is a huge regen debuff so it's great vs AVs and GMs, and the hold (especially with the Lockdown proc) is great mitigation. Caltrops, ehhhh, it's alright. Nice to have if you've got the power slot for it, I didn't. It does help to keep stuff in range of your traps but its far from a make-or-break power.

Devastation proc in seekers is wasted imo. Ran through 500something mobs and it didnt trigger.

The end drain on short circuit is identical for defenders, corruptors, and blasters (35% of target endurance, and the effect is resistable and subject to "purple patch" reductions).

As one thing to remember, you can either use the stealth route to placing time bomb, which means you'll get less utility out of voltaic sentinel (VS) and you'll probably want to skip it, or you can use defense to make mobs miss while you place trip mines, in which case voltaic sentinel can make a noticeable contribution to your single target damage; VS scourges for corruptors. You'll probably grow particularly fond of how VS helps for longer battles against difficult single targets, as DPE and DPA for VS are extraordinarily high, for such battles.

I'm having some trouble deciding on the order in which to pick powers, especially since I don't know how the Traps set works.

The Defense vs. Stealth thing is a good point, but I don't see myself reaching the softcap before I get the Shield at level 41, whereas I can get Stealth a lot sooner, so I'm going to aim for both defensive strategies. I have to dip into the concealment pool anyway to pick up Grant Invis for the FFG, so this seems like the obvious route.

However, if I understand correctly, I only get two traps that must be laid down while stealthed, right? The Trip Mine which I only get at level 35 and the Poison Trap which is available at level 20 but can probably be laid down in the middle of a regular fight without the need for Stealth, especially since it's a debuff.

Still, I'm not satisfied because I can't fit Grant Invis before level 24 while instinct tells me I should get it right after I pick of the FFG, which would postpone Stamina. Is Stamina by 20 vital for this build, though? I know I can't rely on the elec blasts to fill up my bar, but it seems that the secondary is full of fire-and-forget powers which don't pose a constant drain on endurance (only two clicks and no toggles in the set). Leaving Health and Stamina out of the picture until I really need them (right before I pick up Maneuvers and the Scorp Shield), would really lighten up the power choices. Is this advisable?

On the topic of Fitness, I don't make any characters without Swift because I find the regular movement speed far too slow. Will this be a problem with the FFG? I'm used to having to wait for pets on my Controllers and Dominators, but it seems that FFG will be my lifeline. Is there any way to slot FFG for +flight speed like we can slot the Phantasm from Illusion?

Thanks for the input!

Well, for stealth all I did was chuck a Celerity proc in Super Speed, that makes full invis. Only thing I took from Stealth pool was Grant Invis at level 40-something.

For which traps to put down while stealthed, the Trip Mine is most important because its slow to put down and can be interrupted. PGT can't, so you don't need to worry about that as much. It is nice to be stealthed when you put it down so once you aggro half the spawn is out of commission anyway, but the stealth is more important for Trip Mine.

I would still get Stamina relatively early in your build (I got it at 20 or 22 if memory serves) because while Traps is not super end heavy, it can still put quite a strain on your blue bar to lay down a whole lot in a fight. I'm generally of the opinion that you can never have enough recovery, especially leveling up

You might be able to put Stamina off till the late 20s since elec is relatively light on end, I got it ASAP because my trapper is Fire and Fire is an insatiable end hog.

That's a good question as to whether you can somehow enhance its speed, but I don't know. I wouldn't have thought so, but I've also never looked into it. If you're way, way ahead of your FFG you can always resummon it. It recharges really fast so its not as big a deal as it would be for MM/Troller pets.

Stamina isn't as urgent for a traps as it is for some other builds but I still wouldn't put it off, especially for Grant Invis. The whole GI'ing the FFG thing is really an endgame kind of deal imo. For leveling up I'd focus on more important stuff (blasts, your key traps etc).

Post your build online, if you'd like some feedback. FWIW, relying on stealth while leveling up seems like a viable way to go forward. Also, you cannot slot the FFG for movement speed. Sometimes I would recast if FFG got hung up on something, or was taking too long to catch up. But, I don't recall having a noticeable number of problems because of the flight speed of FFG.

I skipped stamina until the mid 30s on my own electric / traps corruptor, and went ahead and got both VS and stealth as well. I ended up disappointed with that character, as endurance issues in the 30s really slow down one's rate of progress and VS ended up getting relatively little use because of a habit of entering battles while stealthed.

If I were to start my electric / traps corruptor over, I'd get stamina at 20 or 22 and I'd skip voltaic sentinel. I'd muddle through without the single-target damage boost from VS until trip mine at level 35, and be in good shape to solo or team after that. That's just one way, and I can't say for certain that it would be best for you. I did find that endurance issues were problematic without stamina, though, by the 30s.