Ill/TA: Impressions at 35


BigBurly

 

Posted

There isn't going to be anything groundbreaking here, but I figured some talk about combos not involving Fire can't hurt.

I had just reached 50 on a couple of my villains and my son asked me "are you EVER going to play Spectral Shot?" Hmm, good question. I hadn't leveled a hero for a while and I hadn't leveled either Illusion or Trick Arrow very far, so I figured it was as good a time as any.

He's up to level 35, and is pretty enjoyable to play. He seems to have two modes. When PA is not out, he's much like my Mind/Kin: confuse 1, hold 2, hold 3, debuff. When PA IS out, he's a little like my Merc/Poison: release the pets, debuff, debuff some more.

I very much like the fact that TA has a hold with Ice Arrow. It fills in where Illusion is lacking a second single-target hold (not counting deceive, which is obviously great mitigation), and it's hard control. For a three-man mob it makes things even safer than my Mind's Confuse/Mesmerize/Dominate. And Blind is fantastic in that it is applied almost instantly - I can have a second mob held before it's even aware that his buddy was just encased in ice.

I know most say that TA is lacking, but I'm not minding it so far. I'm a big fan of Envenom from the Poison set, so I appreciate Acid Arrow. Sure it's not as effective, but it isn't limited to one mob and adds a little (very teeny bit of) damage. Disruption arrow is nice for larger groups (I CURSED Longbow Nullifiers for this power on my villains).

I just got Oil Slick Arrow, and it's fun so far. It's even managed to light most of the time. I rather love the mayhem involved in approaching a group, sending in PA, shooting a Disruption Arrow, laying Oil Slick, lighting Oil Slick, and summoning a Spectral Terror. So many things going on.

Powers I'm not planning on getting: Flash. I'm not really big on AoE holds, even with significant recharge reduction. Glue Arrow. Seems fun, but I think I can survive w/o it. Poison Gas Arrow. I opted for Flash Arrow instead (can get 6.25 rech in 4 rather than 5; were I to go for purples, I might reconsider this). Kind of a shame the two couldn't be combined for a weaker AoE version of Poison's Weaken.

Difficulty: I've not bothered to move off of the default setting outside of adding bosses. I may, but doing so would either cut down on drops or cut down on merit earning I figure, so there's not much point unless I get bored. We'll see.

Here's my planned build for anyone curious. With three LoTG Rech and four sets of Basilisk's Gaze it may get expensive (I've rolled one BG quad and purchased one of the LoTG so far), but there's a lot of other cheap sets in there to offset that. I settled on Group Invis just to mule another LoTG, and I sacrificed some damage in Phantasm for the recharge bonus from Kinetic Crash (I think I am at the 6.25% limit, so using a Pet Recharge set wouldn't have worked).

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.707
http://www.cohplanner.com/

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Spectral Shot: Level 50 Technology Controller
Primary Power Set: Illusion Control
Secondary Power Set: Trick Arrow
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fitness
Ancillary Pool: Fire Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Blind -- BasGaze-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(A), BasGaze-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(3), BasGaze-Rchg/Hold(9), BasGaze-Acc/Hold(13)
Level 1: Entangling Arrow -- TmpRdns-Acc/Slow(A), TmpRdns-Acc/EndRdx(40), TmpRdns-EndRdx/Rchg/Slow(43), TmpRdns-Rng/Slow(43), TmpRdns-Acc/Dmg/Slow(43)
Level 2: Spectral Wounds -- Decim-Acc/Dmg(A), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(11), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(13), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(17)
Level 4: Deceive -- Mlais-Acc/Rchg(A), Mlais-EndRdx/Conf(5), Mlais-Acc/EndRdx(5), Mlais-Conf/Rng(7), Mlais-Acc/Conf/Rchg(36)
Level 6: Flash Arrow -- Cloud-ToHitDeb(A), Cloud-Acc/ToHitDeb(7), Cloud-ToHitDeb/EndRdx/Rchg(36), Cloud-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(37)
Level 8: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(9)
Level 10: Ice Arrow -- BasGaze-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(A), BasGaze-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(11), BasGaze-Acc/Rchg(15), BasGaze-Acc/Hold(31)
Level 12: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Def(A), LkGmblr-Rchg+(15)
Level 14: Super Jump -- Jump-I(A)
Level 16: Superior Invisibility -- RedFtn-EndRdx(A), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(17), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(31), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(31), RedFtn-Def(34), LkGmblr-Rchg+(46)
Level 18: Phantom Army -- ExRmnt-Acc/Rchg(A), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(19), ExRmnt-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(19), ExRmnt-Dmg/EndRdx(21), C'Arms-Acc/Rchg(21), C'Arms-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(23)
Level 20: Acid Arrow -- AnWeak-DefDeb(A), AnWeak-DefDeb/EndRdx/Rchg(23), AnWeak-Acc/DefDeb(25), AnWeak-Acc/Rchg/EndRdx(46), AnWeak-Acc/Rchg(46)
Level 22: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 24: Health -- Heal-I(A), Heal-I(25)
Level 26: Spectral Terror -- Abys-Acc/Rchg(A), Abys-EndRdx/Fear(27), Abys-Acc/EndRdx(27), Abys-Fear/Rng(29), Abys-Dam%(40)
Level 28: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(29)
Level 30: Disruption Arrow -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 32: Phantasm -- KinCrsh-Dmg/KB(A), KinCrsh-Acc/KB(33), KinCrsh-Rchg/KB(33), KinCrsh-Rechg/EndRdx(33), KinCrsh-Dmg/EndRdx/KB(34), KinCrsh-Acc/Dmg/KB(34)
Level 35: Oil Slick Arrow -- TmpRdns-Dmg/Slow(A), TmpRdns-Acc/Dmg/Slow(36), TmpRdns-EndRdx/Rchg/Slow(37), TmpRdns-Acc/EndRdx(37), TmpRdns-Rng/Slow(40)
Level 38: EMP Arrow -- BasGaze-Acc/Hold(A), BasGaze-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(39), BasGaze-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(39), BasGaze-Acc/Rchg(39)
Level 41: Fire Blast -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(42), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(42), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(42)
Level 44: Fire Ball -- Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(45), Posi-Acc/Dmg(45), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(45)
Level 47: Consume -- Efficacy-EndMod(A), Efficacy-EndMod/Rchg(48), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc/Rchg(48), Efficacy-Acc/Rchg(48), Efficacy-EndMod/Acc(50), Efficacy-EndMod/EndRdx(50)
Level 49: Group Invisibility -- LkGmblr-EndRdx/Rchg(A), LkGmblr-Rchg+(50)


Suggestions:
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Posted

Illusion/TA is a fun build, and has a different playstyle than other illusion combinations. I did a few things differently than you. I took Glue Arrow early and skipped Flash Arrow. I figured, "Hey, I'm invisible with SI -- why do I need Flash Arrow?" Glue Arrow provides some AoE control that Illusion lacks, and helps foes stay in the AoE of the debuffs longer.

I skipped Flash, as I pretty much stay out of melee. However, I was able to fit in Poison Gas Arrow, and recently put the Fortunata purple set in it with the Chance to Placate proc . . . it seems to help reduce the number of foes who come after me, and the set has a nice 10% Recharge from the cheapest of the Purple sets. I was able to fit in PGA because I used Hasten/Super Speed for travel. With the 60 month vet reward, I have changed to Fly.

Speaking of purples, I strongly recommend planning on putting 5 of the Contagious Confusion set in Deceive, including the proc. That proc turns your single target Deceive into an occasional Mass Confusion. It also gives you 10% Recharge and frees up another 6.25% Recharge that you can put in another power.

I suggest that you plan to slot Oil Slick Arrow with Damage (like the Posi Blast set) rather than slow. OSA with Disruption and Acid can do a lot of AoE damage, especially when Fireball is the lead-off. I mostly use OSA for when PA is recharging, but often use them together.

The choice of Kinetic Crash for Phantasm is . . . interesting. Doesn't he knock your foes out of your debuff zones? I also find your slotting of Entangle arrow interesting. I just have a single Acc in it, as I rarely use it.


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

 

Posted

I wish I'd given my ill/ta more of a chance. I ran one up to 35 actually, but for w/e reason it just wasn't enjoyable. The damage felt subpar and TA felt weak, but the strange thing is that I'm now running an ill/cold and before I got sleet I only had infrigidate as a debuff and yet I found the damage to be decent (very good post sleet).

I regret it because I think if I'd just reworked the build and dumped some money into it it would have been a really good toon.


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Local_Man View Post
Illusion/TA is a fun build, and has a different playstyle than other illusion combinations. I did a few things differently than you. I took Glue Arrow early and skipped Flash Arrow. I figured, "Hey, I'm invisible with SI -- why do I need Flash Arrow?" Glue Arrow provides some AoE control that Illusion lacks, and helps foes stay in the AoE of the debuffs longer.

I skipped Flash, as I pretty much stay out of melee. However, I was able to fit in Poison Gas Arrow, and recently put the Fortunata purple set in it with the Chance to Placate proc . . . it seems to help reduce the number of foes who come after me, and the set has a nice 10% Recharge from the cheapest of the Purple sets. I was able to fit in PGA because I used Hasten/Super Speed for travel. With the 60 month vet reward, I have changed to Fly.
I think there would definitely be some things I would do differently if I factored in purples. I never really do in my builds though because I tend to move on to different characters once I reach 50. I won't get 60 months on this account (2nd) for a while, so I can't pull the travel trick. Even if I could, I'd be tempted to keep CJ just for the LoTG.

Quote:
Speaking of purples, I strongly recommend planning on putting 5 of the Contagious Confusion set in Deceive, including the proc. That proc turns your single target Deceive into an occasional Mass Confusion. It also gives you 10% Recharge and frees up another 6.25% Recharge that you can put in another power.
THIS I could go for. Easy 5 out/5 in swap. When I get there, of course.


Quote:
I suggest that you plan to slot Oil Slick Arrow with Damage (like the Posi Blast set) rather than slow. OSA with Disruption and Acid can do a lot of AoE damage, especially when Fireball is the lead-off. I mostly use OSA for when PA is recharging, but often use them together.

The choice of Kinetic Crash for Phantasm is . . . interesting. Doesn't he knock your foes out of your debuff zones? I also find your slotting of Entangle arrow interesting. I just have a single Acc in it, as I rarely use it.
Yeah...I did some off-beat things here really in an attempt (somewhat Quixotic?) to chase as much recharge as I thought I could. You have a good point about Flash Arrow - I don't really use it all that much. Maybe I would more in teams. But, it slots Cloud Senses. And you're right about Entangling Arrow. I used it much more before getting Phantasm (usually on a confused foe to establish containment w/o stopping them from attacking). The slots are for the end bonuses and to squeeze more recharge. Though were I to go purples...5x Gravitational Anchor there would probably be great. Same with Ragnarok in OSA. Posi's would definitely be nice for damage, but as other things stand I wouldn't get the recharge bonus.

Phant does sometimes goof with positioning a little. (though sometimes, it's helped; he seems to hang back behind me a lot, and the KB knocks guys out of melee) The set really helps with that single-minded quest for recharge though, and also has the nice perk of KB protection.


Now you really DO have me thinking about Glue Arrow though...


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Posted

Good to hear there are more Ill/TA converts out there.

Played an Ill/TA for a very long time now (i7 I think)(was my very first character and my first 50) and I've come to the following build which gives soft-capped ranged defense and about 30% AoE defense. I find I don't need uber recharge on this toon.

She's great fun to play and the build is reasonably cheap (compared to some crazy builds out there). Generally I find myself throwing out glue arrow, oil slick (when available and lit by throwing fire ball at it), disruption arrow and a spectral terror before acid arrowing the boss and insta-holding him with ice arrow and blind. This locks down mobs quite nicely - tbh I rarely need to use PA, and only do where a big alpha needs taking or I want more dmg (for an AV for example). Very much a team orientated toon this (don't expect to do lots of dmg) and works well with both large mobs and AVs

Link to thread with data link (second build posted): http://handprints.phpbbhosts.co.uk/v...hp?f=22&t=1481

Lady Salmakia: Level 50 Natural Controller
Primary Power Set: Illusion Control
Secondary Power Set: Trick Arrow
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Fire Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Spectral Wounds -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(3), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(5), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(5), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(45)
Level 1: Entangling Arrow -- Acc-I(A)
Level 2: Blind -- Lock-Acc/Hold(A), Lock-Acc/Rchg(7), Lock-Rchg/Hold(7), Lock-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(9), Lock-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(9), Lock-%Hold(11)
Level 4: Glue Arrow -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(11), Slow-I(13), ImpSwft-Dam%(13)
Level 6: Deceive -- CoPers-Conf(A), CoPers-Conf/Rchg(15), CoPers-Acc/Conf/Rchg(17), CoPers-Acc/Rchg(17), CoPers-Conf/EndRdx(19), CoPers-Conf%(19)
Level 8: Swift -- Flight-I(A)
Level 10: Ice Arrow -- Lock-Acc/Hold(A), Lock-Acc/Rchg(21), Lock-Rchg/Hold(23), Lock-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(23), Lock-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(25), Lock-%Hold(25)
Level 12: Hover -- Zephyr-Travel(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(27)
Level 14: Fly -- Zephyr-Travel(A), Zephyr-ResKB(15), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(27)
Level 16: Health -- Mrcl-Rcvry+(A)
Level 18: Phantom Army -- C'Arms-Acc/Rchg(A), C'Arms-Acc/Dmg(29), C'Arms-Dmg/EndRdx(31), C'Arms-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(31), C'Arms-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(31), C'Arms-+Def(Pets)(33)
Level 20: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(21), EndMod-I(33)
Level 22: Maneuvers -- GftotA-Def/EndRdx(A), GftotA-Def/Rchg(29), GftotA-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(34)
Level 24: Tactics -- GSFC-ToHit(A), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(33), GSFC-Rchg/EndRdx(34), GSFC-ToHit/EndRdx(34)
Level 26: Spectral Terror -- Abys-Acc/Rchg(A), Abys-EndRdx/Fear(36), Abys-Acc/EndRdx(36), Abys-Fear/Rng(36), Abys-Acc/Fear/Rchg(37), Abys-Dam%(37)
Level 28: Disruption Arrow -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(37)
Level 30: Acid Arrow -- ShldBrk-DefDeb(A), ShldBrk-Acc/DefDeb(39), ShldBrk-Acc/Rchg(39), ShldBrk-DefDeb/EndRdx/Rchg(39), ShldBrk-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(40)
Level 32: Phantasm -- BldM'dt-Acc/Dmg(A), BldM'dt-Dmg/EndRdx(40), BldM'dt-Acc/EndRdx(40), BldM'dt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(42), BldM'dt-Acc(42), BldM'dt-Dmg(42)
Level 35: Oil Slick Arrow -- AirB'st-Dmg/Rchg(A), Det'tn-Dmg/Rchg(43), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(43), Dmg-I(43), RechRdx-I(45)
Level 38: EMP Arrow -- Lock-Acc/Hold(A), Lock-Acc/Rchg(45), Lock-Rchg/Hold(46), Lock-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(46), Lock-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(46), Lock-%Hold(48)
Level 41: Superior Invisibility -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(48), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(48), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(50), RedFtn-Def(50), RedFtn-EndRdx(50)
Level 44: Fire Ball -- Acc-I(A)
Level 47: Poison Gas Arrow -- CSndmn-Heal%(A)
Level 49: Vengeance -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
------------


 

Posted

No problem. All depends on your focus I guess. I'm not a fan of soloing and I can get some great teaming done with my SG.

If you're going for damage then you'll definitely want Oil Slick arrow up as much as possible. Try frankenslotting it if you don't need the set bonus (see my slotting), and I recommend using a keybind for one key (I use "V") that targets the oil slick on the first press and activates fire ball on the second. If you've shot the oil slick in the middle of the mob then fireball is going to hit most of the mob, if not all.


 

Posted

Up to level 43. I think I am at 78.75 (? - give or take) recharge bonus. It would be a bit more if I could find a daggone Malaise A/C/R level 37 or under. I've actually filled my three sets of Basilisk's Gaze, having rolled all three of the needed quads (hooray level 10-14 rolls!) Malaise though, not so easy.

It's fun going. I was a little concerned about the ramp-up of EBs (Tina McIntyre) but they've not been a problem (actually the only one that's gotten me is Terra, when PA expired AND Phantasm was defeated pretty much at the same time). I'm very much liking OSA* - it's been great about lighting - and Fire Blast has added some nice damage. I've been handling spawns with two bosses (Rikti/Fake Nemesis, Rikti/Devoured, etc) pretty nicely w/o even having to worry about confusing or holding them. Send in PA, fire Disruption Arrow, shoot and light OSA, follow with Acid Arrow and ST attacks and all goes swimmingly.

I'll probably stick with my original build plan until I get to 50, though it's really tempting to not slot Entangling Arrow past the two I have in it now (though I'd planned on slotting it already, I've shifted the slot levels with the slots in Acid Arrow). Add a 5th to Fire Blast and Fire Ball, plan on slotting THOSE with Apocalypse and Ragnarok, slot OSA with Posi's...I think that would get me to 123.8% recharge, which is even a little better than if I put 5x Grav Anchor in Entangling Arrow (and more useful). And obviously better than the 101.3% w/o any purple sets. Not that I'd probably ever GET all the purples needed, but it's nice to think about. I suppose I'll just 5-slot EA and respec later if I feel the need.


* One thing I REALLY need to do though is set up a bind to target OSA. Tabbing doesn't work reliably, and mouse targeting with mobs and PA and Phantasm and Decoy Phantasm ain't easy.


Suggestions:
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Posted

One of the first things I did when I got Oil Slick was to set up a Macro to target the oil slick, and I put it right next to the Oil Slick button. Then I put Fireball next to that when I got it at 41. Click-target-click, Click, Click takes care of it. I thought about setting it up as a series of binds, but what I have is easy.

I think I used the following, but I can't access the game right now to be sure. It works great, though.

/macro OSA targetname Oil Slick

One really interesting aspect of Oil Slick. The game treats it as though it is a foe, so the Oil Slick can be used by a Kinetic to siphon speed or power or Transference or Transfusion. It can be used by a Dark Defender (or anyone else with Dark Miasma) as a siphon target for the group rez, Howling Twilight or the heal. I have used this trick at a Hami-Raid. We had a bunch of dead people teleport to the same spot, somebody put down Oil Slick, and I used my Dark/Elec Defender to rez a BUNCH of people at one time.


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

 

Posted

I've got to try an Ill/TA one of the days - it looks like quite a bit of fun. Gec, those of us who complain about TA are more complaining about it for Corruptors/Defenders - due to things like Controller length times for Ice Arrow, I think it's much better for Controllers than any other AT (Why Ice Arrow lasts a lot longer for a Controller secondary than a Defender primary is a game balance issue that seems a bit crazy to me, but that's a rant for another thread).

I'm giving another vote for Glue Arrow instead of Flash Arrow - it gives some minus recharge, and with any slotting at all it's basically permanent. Now it may be you're simply so in control you simply don't need it, but if you ever face the issue of guys getting unheld and up in your face, well - you won't ever have that problem if you have glue.


 

Posted

While a lot of controllers have AoE Immobilize powers, Illusion has no AoE control powers other than Flash until level 26. Glue Arrow may be skippable on a controller with AoE Immobilize, but it provides some early AoE control for an Illusion Controller (where Flash is very skippable in early levels -- I skipped it entirely on my Ill/TA build). Since Glue Arrow comes early in the build, it is very handy to get you to Phantom Army and beyond. In low levels, it was the only arrow I used most of the time.

I felt that Glue Arrow adds something that Illusion lacks -- an AoE slow to keep all the foes in the area of the debuffs. It even keeps foes from running away from Spectral Terror very fast. I generally use it as part of my chain of standard debuffs on every group (if it is up).


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

 

Posted

I looked at your build and it did for me have too many +7.5% rechg bonuses in it at first!

I thought about it, how can it have more recharge without over bonusing anything, do more damage and yet not slip into using the extra expensive sets and came up with this simple change:

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But if I were going the way you are I'd do something like this:

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|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
Pretty much only something like it cos OS would do more damage with my builds


He will honor his words; he will definitely carry out his actions. What he promises he will fulfill. He does not care about his bodily self, putting his life and death aside to come forward for another's troubled besiegement. He does not boast about his ability, or shamelessly extol his own virtues. - Sima Qian.

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Local_Man View Post
Speaking of purples, I strongly recommend planning on putting 5 of the Contagious Confusion set in Deceive, including the proc. That proc turns your single target Deceive into an occasional Mass Confusion.
Local, Does the Contagious Confusion proc still cause Confuse to generate aggro?

Ill/TA is my favorite controller. Its such a great and effective thematic combo.

IMO Flash and your choice of one invis powers are skippable from the Illusion set. Flash required me to run into melee to use and was consequently dropped on respec. I kept both invisibilities, the rationale being that I run perma SI and kept GI as a holder for a LotG proc.

From TA I think both Flash Arrow and Ice Arrow are skippable. Flash's -To Hit is not very strong to begin and the -perception is almost obsolete in a build with access to SI and GI. Ice Arrow is great for stacking holds on bosses. Stacking holds became less of a necessity the closer to perma PA I got. I also built in a few of the chance for hold procs in a few of my ranged ST attacks. This allows me to have a continuous attack chain without having to redraw my bow for Ice Arrow. However YMMV.

If you decide to test these recommendations I strongly suggest picking up Glue Arrow and PGA in their place. Glue Arrow is great with little investment and PGA is great for for a cheap purple set and the MAG 4 33% chance placate proc. Local covered these benefits in his threads.

Overall IMO the best IO strategy to pursue is a high recharge build. Some of the best powers in this combination are on long timers (e.g. PA, OSA, EMP). I wish I kept my old Mid's files I would have posted my non purple perma PA build(even had the medicine pool)

After several respecs here is the current build I use and am most happy with:

Code:
| Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
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|-------------------------------------------------------------------|


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by MaxLongstreet View Post
I've got to try an Ill/TA one of the days - it looks like quite a bit of fun. Gec, those of us who complain about TA are more complaining about it for Corruptors/Defenders - due to things like Controller length times for Ice Arrow, I think it's much better for Controllers than any other AT (Why Ice Arrow lasts a lot longer for a Controller secondary than a Defender primary is a game balance issue that seems a bit crazy to me, but that's a rant for another thread).
Yep - I can see that.

Quote:
I'm giving another vote for Glue Arrow instead of Flash Arrow - it gives some minus recharge, and with any slotting at all it's basically permanent. Now it may be you're simply so in control you simply don't need it, but if you ever face the issue of guys getting unheld and up in your face, well - you won't ever have that problem if you have glue.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Local_Man View Post
While a lot of controllers have AoE Immobilize powers, Illusion has no AoE control powers other than Flash until level 26. Glue Arrow may be skippable on a controller with AoE Immobilize, but it provides some early AoE control for an Illusion Controller (where Flash is very skippable in early levels -- I skipped it entirely on my Ill/TA build). Since Glue Arrow comes early in the build, it is very handy to get you to Phantom Army and beyond. In low levels, it was the only arrow I used most of the time.

I felt that Glue Arrow adds something that Illusion lacks -- an AoE slow to keep all the foes in the area of the debuffs. It even keeps foes from running away from Spectral Terror very fast. I generally use it as part of my chain of standard debuffs on every group (if it is up).
I can see that, too. I'll admit that I don't even really use Flash Arrow all that much - certainly not for average spawns. I'll work it in more against EBs. But most of the time it's not much more than a set mule.

I think if I were going with a more team-oriented build I'd definitely take Glue Arrow. But how I've been playing (pretty wimpily) I doubt I'd really use either for a standard mob (same goes for Spectral Terror, really). Confuse 1, Ice 2, Blind 3. Probably time to deviate from that (merit earning has bogged down in the 40s anyway). Larger groups I've figured "well, I'll place the debuffs as centrally as I can, and not sweat the guys on the outskirts - they'll be toast soon anyway"


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Random Merit Rolls: Scale cost by Toon Level

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by saltyhero13 View Post
Local, Does the Contagious Confusion proc still cause Confuse to generate aggro?
I use that proc in all three of my level 50 Illusionists. It does not generate aggro. You can Deceive to your heart's content while invisible and not draw any attention to yourself.

Last week, I was on a Lady Grey TF. At the end of the first mission, you run into the Clockwork King surrounded by a bunch of his annoying little clocks. My Ill/Rad (with the proc) and an Ill/Emp on the team started stacking mag of Deceive on the King. Many times, the proc would hit and several of the clocks around him would start attacking each other and the King. After a couple of minutes, the King himself finally became Confused, and he used his big Psi Alpha Strike to wipe out most of his minions all around him. (Our tank was Inuln, which has a bit of a hole in his defenses to Psi.) The proc is great, and because there is a chance to hit a bunch of guys, I often use it in battle.


Quote:
Originally Posted by gec72 View Post
Thanks for the additional builds - I'll chew on these some. And I didn't even think of Unspeakable Terror - using that to free up a 6.5 would have been a good way to go. Ah well.
I used the Unspeakable Terror set in my perma PA build posted in my Ill/Rad Guide because I had maxed out the 6.25% Recharge sets.


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

 

Posted

One other "defense", if you will, of my original choice of Flash Arrow - I could get the 6.5% from cloud senses pretty early, so I could benefit from it for a good number of levels. Building with a 50 in mind...yeah, I'm thinking now I'd probably leave it out. I'm not convinced I'd respec at 50 though, as I'm prone to moving on to other combos.


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Posted

I had a Mind/TA and got him up to lvl 41. The redraw drove me insane!

I liked TA because it added extra goodness to Mind, which is good as-is.

The redraw made me crazy.


 

Posted

I figured I'd revisit this for an update. I dinged 50 on Spectral Shot about 2 1/2 weeks ago. With GR looming on the horizon and no other alt grabbing me at the moment, I figure I'll probably keep playing him until GR hits (at which point I'll likely try Elec Control). I have a nice steady pace going at +0/x2. I could maybe up that a bit but really see no need to.

My current build is basically as it was planned in the initial post, except for the following:

1. IO sets that top out above 30 I slotted with 37s or below for exemplaring purposes (just in case)

2. I goofed up and went with 4x Call to Arms in PA rather than 4x Expedient Reinforcement. No harm really, 2nd and 4th bonuses the same. I didn't bother with a second Expedient, instead opting for a Recharge.

3. I put my last slot not in Group Invisibility, but as the fifth in Fire Ball.

The plan from here is to keep squeezing as much recharge as possible before having to respec. This was the reasoning behind shifting the slot to Fire Ball; I hadn't yet slotted any of the planned Posi's Blast, so the goal is to go with 5x Ragnarok (I have the +Knockdown, four to go) instead. I don't need the Regen bonus from LoTG, so cutting the slot there was easy.

I'm also working toward replacing the 5x Tempered Readiness in Entangling Arrow with 5x Gravitational Anchor. Those are cheap as purples go, and I really don't care about slow vs immob. Hardly ever use the power anyway.

After that I'll work on upgrading Deceive to the Coercive Persuasion set as has been recommended by just about everyone. I *may* decide to respec when slotting these to reclaim the Malaise IO.

THAT will free up another 6.25, at which point I'll look to slot OSA with Posi's.


I'll probably be keeping Flash Arrow. I do mix it in against tougher targets. It's nothing great, but I probably wouldn't use Glue Arrow any more often. Same goes for Poison Gas Arrow.

It's kinda goofy, but I've actually been using Group Invis now and then. I figure it's good to use before protracted battles to conserve end (though I still prefer Sup Invis because I don't have to think about it). I also use it sometimes to keep a little heat off of Phantasm.


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Posted

Sweet deal! Gratz-undheit!


 

Posted

I recently put the purple Sleep set in PGA . . . nice option for more Recharge, and the Fortunata set is quite cheap for a purple set.


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

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Local_Man View Post
I recently put the purple Sleep set in PGA . . . nice option for more Recharge, and the Fortunata set is quite cheap for a purple set.
Yep, that's an option. I'd have to do some shuffling with my order though (took Flash Arrow at 6) to adjust for PGA opening at 16, and I'd have to swap an additional slot into it (from CJ, probably).

That reminds me though - if I wanted to I could probably pull the slot from CJ and put it into Fire Blast to slot Apocalypse. But that would be considerably more expensive than Fortunata. (though at the same time, it would be upgrading from 0% to 10% rather than 6.25 to 10%...of course I might be able to do BOTH if I pulled another slot from Health...)


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Influence Sink: IO Level Mod/Recrafting
Random Merit Rolls: Scale cost by Toon Level