ICE/Storm ...

So today while I was going through the process of logging on my toons for badges I took my Level 22 Ice/Storm Troller out. I had gotten her to SO Level and gotten her sos during the Valentine's Day event but hadn't taken her out for a spin yet to try her SO-level awesomeness.

And it WAS awesome!

I just tackled some white conning Freakshow by myself, and she did GREAT. It took me forever to do it, but my endurance use wasn't unmanageable and it was a blast to so totally own them.

With Hurricane, I can see this set working well teamed with a Blaster.

I'd really like to do some teaming with her and see what she could REALLY do.

Ice/Storm is a remarkably flexible set. And you can choose to build it for melee or for ranged play. Personally, I went with the melee build using Arctic Air, but you can choose to to a ranged build using Shiver. I tried to make mine as solo-able as possible by taking Air Superiority and Chilblain (slotted as a damage power).

As a melee-oriented character, mine actually teams better with a tank or scrapper. Let the Tank or Scrapper go in to get initial aggro, then Ice Slick or Freezing Rain to knock-em all down. Then I run in with AA on to mitigate about 60-70% of the damage while I contribute to damage with Block of Ice, Chilblain and Air Sup, using Lightning Storm or Tornado when needed. For me, Hurricane is a situational but handy power. O2 Boost to heal my melee buddies.

IMO an excellent and severely underrated combo.

Right so I have a level 50 sitting in the garage that needs a tune up - any builds to share?

I know I keep stepping over Local Man a bit, in that he asked the OP for his sample build so we could tweak it, and yet I'm just about to post a build without having any of that knowledge. Sorry again, Local Man.

My build is situated for both a ranged and a melee role. Unlike Local Man, I don't care much about soloing prior to level 33. I teamed pre-33, and largely teamed from 33 on. I accept that at low levels, I'll mainly be teaming up. I didn't specialize like he did.

My build is designed for all 3 of the most common Ice/Storm roles: Ranged, Melee, and Avenger.

I can leave Arctic Air off, hang back, and use everything at range. I can get in close with melee friends and let Arctic Air do the talking. Or I can play my preferred role of Avenger, in which I use Hurricane to herd/tank/gather/trap/destroy. In that mode, I'm a full-on damage dealer with Hurricane for safety, Frostbite, Tornado, Lightning Storm, Jack Frost, Ice Blast, Frost Breath and Ice Storm for damage.

That's why I kinda like this build ... it does it ALL except for solo prior to level 32. At lower levels, I could use the alternate build feature in COH for a damage-centric / melee mitigation setup (somewhat like Local Man's approach, I suppose) but I haven't felt a strong enough need to do it yet.

Anyway, here is the build. I hope it gives you some ideas!

Lewis

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.704
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Arctic Moon: Level 50 Magic Controller
Primary Power Set: Ice Control
Secondary Power Set: Storm Summoning
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Flight
Ancillary Pool: Ice Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Block of Ice -- BasGaze-Acc/Hold(A), BasGaze-Rchg/Hold(3), BasGaze-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(3), BasGaze-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(15), Lock-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(15)
Level 1: Gale -- Acc-I(A)
Level 2: Frostbite -- GravAnch-Immob/Rchg(A), GravAnch-Acc/Immob/Rchg(5), GravAnch-Acc/Rchg(5), GravAnch-Immob/EndRdx(37), GravAnch-Hold%(37)
Level 4: Snow Storm -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 6: Arctic Air -- Bfdlng-EndRdx/Conf(A), Pplx-EndRdx/Conf(7), Mlais-EndRdx/Conf(7), CoPers-Conf/EndRdx(9), CoPers-Conf%(9), Slow-I(11)
Level 8: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(21), RechRdx-I(21)
Level 10: Steamy Mist -- ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx(A), ImpArm-ResDam(11), Aegis-ResDam/EndRdx(19), S'fstPrt-ResKB(40)
Level 12: Ice Slick -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(13), RechRdx-I(13)
Level 14: Super Speed -- QckFt-EndRdx/RunSpd(A)
Level 16: Freezing Rain -- UndDef-Rchg/EndRdx(A), UndDef-Rchg(17), LdyGrey-Rchg/EndRdx(17), Achilles-ResDeb%(19)
Level 18: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 20: Health -- Mrcl-Rcvry+(A), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(46)
Level 22: Stamina -- P'Shift-EndMod(A), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc(23), EndMod-I(23)
Level 24: Hurricane -- DarkWD-ToHitDeb(A), DarkWD-ToHitDeb/Rchg(25), DarkWD-ToHitdeb/Rchg/EndRdx(25), DarkWD-ToHitDeb/EndRdx(31)
Level 26: Glacier -- BasGaze-Acc/Hold(A), BasGaze-Acc/Rchg(27), BasGaze-Rchg/Hold(27), BasGaze-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(31), EoCur-Acc/Hold/Rchg(34)
Level 28: Thunder Clap -- Stpfy-Acc/Rchg(A), Stpfy-EndRdx/Stun(29), Stpfy-Acc/EndRdx(29), Stpfy-Stun/Rng(34), Stpfy-Acc/Stun/Rchg(34)
Level 30: Shiver -- TmpRdns-Acc/Slow(A), TmpRdns-Acc/EndRdx(31), TmpRdns-Rng/Slow(40), TmpRdns-EndRdx/Rchg/Slow(43), TmpRdns-Acc/Dmg/Slow(43)
Level 32: Jack Frost -- ExRmnt-Acc/Rchg(A), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg(33), ExRmnt-Dmg/EndRdx(33), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), BldM'dt-Acc/Dmg(46)
Level 35: Tornado -- ExRmnt-Acc/Rchg(A), ExRmnt-Dmg/EndRdx(36), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(36), ExRmnt-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(36), BldM'dt-Dmg/EndRdx(37)
Level 38: Lightning Storm -- Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(A), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(39), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(39), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(39), Dev'n-Dmg/Rchg(40)
Level 41: Ice Blast -- Decim-Acc/Dmg(A), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx(42), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(42), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(42), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(43)
Level 44: Frost Breath -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(45), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(45), Posi-Dmg/Rng(45), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(46)
Level 47: Ice Storm -- Det'tn-Dmg/EndRdx(A), Det'tn-Dmg/Rchg(48), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(48), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(48), RechRdx-I(50)
Level 49: Hover -- Srng-Fly(A), Srng-EndRdx/Fly(50), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Acc-I(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- ULeap-Stlth(A)
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 1: Containment
Level 6: Ninja Run

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Since you using Ice Mastery, you might wanna swap out Ice Blast or Ice Breath for Hibernate...

Hibernate: Heals, makes you invulnerable for 30secs, recovers endurance, and with enough recharge can be available every 2-2.5 mins ( which is better than consume with no accuracy/mob check ) of course it can take u about 10secs to replenish if you don't have heal/end recovery slotted in it.

But Hibernate kicks booty!

Hibernate is nice, but I'd rather have the attacks. That's why I went Ice, to get 3 attacks. So it came down to Hover vs Hibernate. Conceptually, the character has to hover.

But yes, Hibernate is a great power. I used to use it but found I can be pretty aggressive and not need it.

Lewis

And . . . Lewis is a prime example of the point I made. He has a good build . . . for his playstyle. My Ice/Storm skipped Shiver, took Chilblain early as a damage power, and has Air Superiority and O2 Boost. I skipped Thunderclap since I don't have another stun to stack it with, and I didn't take Frostbite until 30 (mainly for the -knockback to turn Tornado into a nice damage power). I like this character to generally follow behind the melee characters, providing damage mitigation and a little additional damage. I rely upon Ice Slick/Freezing Rain and Arctic Air to provide most of my AoE control.Nothing wrong with either playstyle, just different.

Right. That's why I like my build. I can, and do, the exact thing Local Man does ... I just don't throw in any damage from Chilblain or Air Superiority, and neither do I heal anyone. However, I can and do run in right after the tank / scrapper and provide mitigation with AA, Ice Slick and Freezing Rain.

However, on a team with mainly ranged characters, I can hang back and work all my magic from range.

And, when the team is up for it, I can go for full on Herdicane / Damage / Avenging.

As for Thunder Clap, I find it invaluable, even when there are no other stuns to stack with it. Of course, it doesnt take much global recharge to start being able to double or even triple stacking it with itself. But even un-stacked, people really under-estimate the damage they stop just by "only" stunning minions. It is another layer of defense, and I like to use it.

But yeah, there are a lot of approaches.

Lewis