Fire/TA help

1. Yes, the ToHit Debuffs stack. This is one of the better aspects of this combo. And I think that the ToHit Debuff in Flash Arrow may not be reduced on AVs, unlike other ToHit Debuffs.

2. Both Flash Arrow and Smoke are Auto-Hit.

3. Any Fire or Energy attack that hits the Oil Slick can light it if it hits. I have found that it hits most of the time on my Ill/TA. And with Hot Feet, you get pulses of damage increasing your chances to hit during the duration of Oil Slick.

There are a lot of people who love this combo. I started one once and abandoned it fairly quickly. Why? Fire is mostly a melee set unless you abandon Hot Feet, and even then the pets are melee. Trick Arrow is entirely a ranged set -- yes, you can use it in melee, but part of the benefit is being able to use it from range. Add to that the problems that exist with two of the best powers -- when Oil Slick Arrow lights, all controller pets run away from the lit area. That's not a problem for pets with ranged attacks, but the Fire Imps have no ranged attacks. That means that you will never be able to combine the damage of OSA with Fire Imps because as soon as the Slick lights, the Imps run for the hills (but they come back later).

Some people really like the combo, so go ahead if you want to make one. One friend of mine used Super Speed to run in and out of melee with his Fire/TA. Another chose to not use Hot Feet and stay at range. You should be aware of the problems, especially the pet vs OSA problem that you won't see until level 32, that may make you regret making the character. If you know about them going in, then you're all set.

1. As mentioned previously, yes.
2. Smoke definitely does not require a to-hit check. Flash Arrow takes accuracy enhancements though. From that I'm inferring that something needs a to-hit roll. My guess would be that -percep is auto and the -tohit requires the check. I base that on being able to Flash Arrow a large spawn and position myself very close to them. I don't draw subsequent aggro, which I'd expect if -percep missed somebody.

I've definitely seen it not light, but when it does, it's beautiful, regardless of pet AI.

I don't have practical experience to answer the question, as this character is part of a pre-set team and has never played solo. I would guess a state of "very survivable" wouldn't be the case in the 20s, but in the 30s, with Imps, OSA and EMP, then "very" becomes an apt term.

My experience with TA is with my Illusion/TA. I also have a couple of Fire/Rads, a Fire/Kin and a Fire/Cold, so I have some experience with the Fire set, too.

I normally send in Phantom Army, then stand back to shoot my debuff arrows. If I choose to use Oil Slick Arrow while the PA are out, then they go running as soon as the slick lights. This is somewhat ironic, since the PA are invulnerable and supposed to be figments of imagination, but it is what it is. Phantom Army, fortunately, have ranged attacks as well as melee attacks; once they overcome the fear, they turn around and begin to attack from range. Once the Oil Slick is extinguished, then they can go back into melee. (It used to be that once an oil slick had been lit, the area became off limits even after the oil slick was gone.) My other pet, Phantasm, normally attacks from range, so the Slick isn't much of a problem with him. (Except that he has knockback, so he will sometimes knock foes out of the area.)

If the Imps would continue attacking while the Oil Slick was burning, then Fire/TA would put out some pretty awesome damage. Sadly, that doesn't work.

It was partially fixed. Previously, after a slick had been lit on fire, the pets would never come back to that spot even long after the fire was out. For a Fire/TA, that meant that your Imps would not attack any foe standing in the are where an oil slick had burned.

It was later changed. Now the pets run away from the oil slick, but will come back after the burn has ended. Either it's a bug the Dev's can't fix, or it is working as intended. My guess is that it is NOW working as intended.

Well that makes me less than happy to hear. The potential build I was doing in MIDS made pretty good use of these two(er, 3 counting the "ignition" power) powers. I'll still make the toon but I am going to have to re-think my strategy a little bit. Still looks like it will be a fun toon though.

It was actually far worse than that. The imps, once they fled from the lit slick, could not attack anyone inside or outside the slick, even after the slick was gone. They were effectively dead imps not-walking. Worse than that, even after the slick was gone, subsequent summonings of new imps on the same map usually left them still brain dead and unable to act. You had to leave the map and go to a new mission for them to work again.

Through several attempts to fix it they finally got it to where it is now. It is irritating and mainly affects imps, but at least they can attack other stuff and can come back into the area once its totally gone.

However, I seem to recall that the current state is still bugged, but the behavior of pets in this circumstance is tied into something else they can't change. So, not working as intended, but best they can do. The pets that have ranged attacks (all other pets) are barely affected at all, and I guess some pets even perform better. Isn't PA's damage more with their ranged attacks?

Lewis