Cold/Ice - Power choices and order


Direwolf21

 

Posted

So, I want to make a defender . Never played one. I have a /emp and a /kin controller, and even a /rad, so I want to do something new . I decided I wanted some form of defense booster, and was deciding between Bubbler, Sonic, and Ice.

Ice looks fun. A bunch of buffs, some debuffs, and some mischief thrown in for fun. At least, thats how I Read it.

I decided on /Ice for the extra slows, and the fun of ice/ice (concept, sorta).

My goal is a great team player, with limited solo ability. I plan to only play this toon with my sg and friends. Mostly PVE for now, I'm not a big PVP'er.

Anyway, for now, I'm JUST looking at what powers to take. Once I get situated in the build, I'll decide on sets and bonuses (I usually like to go for lots of +rech, so I see some Red Fortunes in my future).

I opted for Manuevers, to add even more +def. By my calculations, I can easily approach 40% defense buffs for my team with the shields, arctic fog, and manuevers. And thats not counting the +resist I'll be dishing out . (45% being the softcap.)

The last 4 power slots, I wasn't sure what to take. None of the ancillary pools looked all that interesting, except MAYBE power build up. I chose tough/weave because I'm bad at staying away from the baddies, but I'd easily change them.

I would like to work in Recall Friend, since SS + Fog = Invis. Maybe I'd drop Assault for that.

The guide here made a strong point for skipping Frostwork, which I did. I know this leaves me without any heals at all.

Hows it lookin?

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

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 48 Mutation Defender
Primary Power Set: Cold Domination
Secondary Power Set: Ice Blast
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Fighting

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Infrigidate -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Ice Bolt -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Ice Shield -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Snow Storm -- Empty(A)
Level 6: Glacial Shield -- Empty(A)
Level 8: Hurdle -- Empty(A)
Level 10: Ice Blast -- Empty(A)
Level 12: Hasten -- Empty(A)
Level 14: Super Speed -- Empty(A)
Level 16: Health -- Empty(A)
Level 18: Arctic Fog -- Empty(A)
Level 20: Stamina -- Empty(A)
Level 22: Benumb -- Empty(A)
Level 24: Maneuvers -- Empty(A)
Level 26: Sleet -- Empty(A)
Level 28: Tactics -- Empty(A)
Level 30: Ice Storm -- Empty(A)
Level 32: Heat Loss -- Empty(A)
Level 35: Bitter Freeze Ray -- Empty(A)
Level 38: Blizzard -- Empty(A)
Level 41: Assault -- Empty(A)
Level 44: Boxing -- Empty(A)
Level 47: Tough -- Empty(A)
Level 49: Weave -- Empty(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Vigilance
Level 6: Ninja Run
------------
Set Bonus Totals:


 

Posted

I like the powers, I like the order. I like that you eventually if a little later took ice storm.

The only quibble is that Freeze Ray has a base recharge of 10 seconds while Bitter Freeze Ray has a base recharge of 20 seconds Base duration on freeze ray is 11.9; 18 seconds on Bitter Freeze Ray. I would take Freeze Ray first and over Bitter Freeze Ray in an either/or situation.


Triumphant Defenders Forever
Psylenz FF/Psi, ArticQuark Storm/Rad, Symon BarSisyphus Bots/psn, Max VanSydow Thugs/Dk, Cyclone Symon Bots/stm, Blue Loki Ice/Cd, Widow 46526
HelinCarnate:OMG it is so terrible. I have the option to take 3 more powers but no additional slots. Boo F'ing hoo.

 

Posted

Good call, I was debating that very thing. Thanks next post will be slotted, and I'll get Recall friend in there..

Is tough/weave really needed or necessary? I'm thinking of dropping it.


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Direwolf21 View Post
Is tough/weave really needed or necessary? I'm thinking of dropping it.
It depends on what your ultimate goals are with the build, but in most cases the answer is no. The only times I usually take Tough/Weave on a Defender is if I'm trying for a high-defense IO build and I want the added Defense from Weave.


With great power comes great RTFM -- Lady Sadako
Iscariot's Guide to the Tri-Form Warshade, version 2.1
I'm sorry that math > your paranoid delusions, but them's the breaks -- Nethergoat
P.E.R.C. Rep for Liberty server

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Direwolf21 View Post
So, I want to make a defender . Never played one. I have a /emp and a /kin controller, and even a /rad, so I want to do something new . I decided I wanted some form of defense booster, and was deciding between Bubbler, Sonic, and Ice.
All three are nice. FF is Defense + positioning powers. Sonic is Resistance and Resist Debuff mostly. Ice is Defense and a few other things other than just resist debuff.

Quote:
None of the ancillary pools looked all that interesting, except MAYBE power build up.
If Power Build Up works like Power Boost (and once again, I'm not 100% sure if it does or not in this regard), it won't up your ice shield defense.

Quote:
I would like to work in Recall Friend, since SS + Fog = Invis.
A viable option if you like the stealth/port role. Stealth proc will help even more.

Quote:
The guide here made a strong point for skipping Frostwork, which I did. I know this leaves me without any heals at all.
Frostwork isn't a heal, it's an HP buff. As such, the only way it's really a "heal" is that people will have a higher regen because of the increased HP. Also, it'll be harder to kill them because of the higher HP. That's all it does (besides the toxic resist which is meh imo).


50s: Bla- Arch/Mental Cont- Mind/FF, Earth/Cold, Ill/Therm, Earth/Rad Dominator- Plant/Psi, Elec/Earth Corr- Fire/Storm, Arch/Sonic, Rad/Kin, Beam/Sonic, Psi/Time Stalker- Elec/SR Def- Storm/Dark, Emp/Psi, Dark/Elec, FF/Arch, TA/Ice, TA/Elec, Kin/AR, Cold/DP, Traps/Psi Scrap- Fire/Shield Tanker- Dark/Mace, Ice/Kin Brute- Claws/WP, SS/Energy, BS/Elec

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Psylenz View Post
The only quibble is that Freeze Ray has a base recharge of 10 seconds while Bitter Freeze Ray has a base recharge of 20 seconds Base duration on freeze ray is 11.9; 18 seconds on Bitter Freeze Ray. I would take Freeze Ray first and over Bitter Freeze Ray in an either/or situation.
The other factor, to me at least, is animation time. Freeze Ray has 1 second animation while Bitter Freeze Ray has 2.5 seconds. If you take Psi Mastery's Dominate, you'll be able to do 6 mag hold in the time BFR's will take to do 3. Elec mastery will only be .1 and change animation time from the same result.


50s: Bla- Arch/Mental Cont- Mind/FF, Earth/Cold, Ill/Therm, Earth/Rad Dominator- Plant/Psi, Elec/Earth Corr- Fire/Storm, Arch/Sonic, Rad/Kin, Beam/Sonic, Psi/Time Stalker- Elec/SR Def- Storm/Dark, Emp/Psi, Dark/Elec, FF/Arch, TA/Ice, TA/Elec, Kin/AR, Cold/DP, Traps/Psi Scrap- Fire/Shield Tanker- Dark/Mace, Ice/Kin Brute- Claws/WP, SS/Energy, BS/Elec

 

Posted

Sorry, getting post happy, but want to kinda break down each item (sorta).

Quote:
Originally Posted by Direwolf21 View Post
The last 4 power slots, I wasn't sure what to take. None of the ancillary pools looked all that interesting...
Arctic Fog gives you resist to Energy, Fire, and Cold.

Dark's shield gives you smash/lethal/neg/toxic resist for greater resist to any typed damage by psi. It also gives you an endurance increase power of dark consumption, some more variation of control, a self rez which is good depending on how aggressive you are, and Soul Drain to greatly increase the Blaster Level pseudo pets of Ice Blast (Ice Storm/Blizzard).

Psi gives smash/lethal/psi resist along with 2 holds (TK and Dominate), and also a mass sleep and PBAoE confuse which could be used for cheap purple sets.

Power, meh overall is what you'll fine. Force of Nature would be nice, but that's up to you. Also, it gives the best Smash/Lethal resist, so you'll be putting a heavier bandage on the Smash/Lethal resist whole of Arctic Fog. PBU has previously been mentioned, a melee attack of okay-ness, and conserve power which should be easily trumped by Heat Loss, unless you're specifically wanting to not even have a chance of toggle dropping on Blizzard.

Elec, the immobilize would be a good extra single target for you, but overall meh (imo), Thunderstrike is a small AoE so you can hit more than one enemy (unlike Total Focus), Charged Armor just increases your energy more, along with giving you Smash/Lethal resist, which Tough doesn't do probably enough with how common it is, an extra hold allowing you to possibly skip Bitter Freeze Ray (I dislike the animation for it, as already stated), and a nuke recovery power that comes up much faster than Conserve Power or Dark Consumption, but with Heat Loss, is it really needed to be up that often.


Just some APP things to think of. There is some synergy there, but it may not be your style. I say if you're looking for damage, go Dark, Controls, go Psi, Grab bag, go Elec, and tankage/greater support, go Power.


50s: Bla- Arch/Mental Cont- Mind/FF, Earth/Cold, Ill/Therm, Earth/Rad Dominator- Plant/Psi, Elec/Earth Corr- Fire/Storm, Arch/Sonic, Rad/Kin, Beam/Sonic, Psi/Time Stalker- Elec/SR Def- Storm/Dark, Emp/Psi, Dark/Elec, FF/Arch, TA/Ice, TA/Elec, Kin/AR, Cold/DP, Traps/Psi Scrap- Fire/Shield Tanker- Dark/Mace, Ice/Kin Brute- Claws/WP, SS/Energy, BS/Elec

 

Posted

Ok, here I am with set bonuses (won't be all level 50's, and might take slightly different order of slots). Went for mostly +recharges, to get Heat Loss and other long stuff up quicker.

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

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Steven Deepfrost: Level 50 Mutation Defender
Primary Power Set: Cold Domination
Secondary Power Set: Ice Blast
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Teleportation
Ancillary Pool: Power Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Ice Shield -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(3), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(3), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(36), RedFtn-Def(37), LkGmblr-Rchg+(46)
Level 1: Ice Bolt -- Decim-Acc/Dmg(A), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx(11), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(11), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(15), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(25)
Level 2: Infrigidate -- ShldBrk-DefDeb(A), ShldBrk-Acc/DefDeb(5), ShldBrk-Acc/Rchg(5), ShldBrk-DefDeb/EndRdx/Rchg(42), ShldBrk-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(42)
Level 4: Snow Storm -- ImpSwft-Acc/Slow(A), ImpSwft-Dmg/Slow(9), ImpSwft-Acc/EndRdx(9), ImpSwft-EndRdx/Rchg/Slow(43), ImpSwft-Dam%(43)
Level 6: Glacial Shield -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(7), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(7), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(37), RedFtn-Def(37), LkGmblr-Rchg+(48)
Level 8: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 10: Ice Blast -- Decim-Acc/Dmg(A), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx(13), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(17), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(17), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(48)
Level 12: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(13)
Level 14: Super Speed -- Run-I(A), Run-I(15)
Level 16: Health -- Heal-I(A), Heal-I(43), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(45)
Level 18: Arctic Fog -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(19), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(19), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(21), RedFtn-Def(23)
Level 20: Stamina -- P'Shift-EndMod(A), EndMod-I(21), P'Shift-End%(23)
Level 22: Benumb -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(25)
Level 24: Maneuvers -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFtn-Def/Rchg(27), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(27), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(34), RedFtn-Def(34)
Level 26: Sleet -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(29), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(29), Posi-Dmg/Rng(45), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(45), Slow-I(46)
Level 28: Tactics -- ToHit-I(A), ToHit-I(31), EndRdx-I(31)
Level 30: Ice Storm -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(31), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(34), Posi-Dmg/Rng(36), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(36), Slow-I(46)
Level 32: Heat Loss -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(33), RechRdx-I(33), RechRdx-I(33)
Level 35: Freeze Ray -- BasGaze-Acc/Hold(A), BasGaze-Rchg/Hold(40), BasGaze-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(42), BasGaze-Acc/Rchg(50)
Level 38: Blizzard -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(39), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(39), Posi-Dmg/Rng(39), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(40), Posi-Dam%(40)
Level 41: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 44: Recall Friend -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 47: Power Build Up -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(48)
Level 49: Temp Invulnerability -- ResDam-I(A), ResDam-I(50), EndRdx-I(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Vigilance
Level 6: Ninja Run
------------
Set Bonus Totals:

  • 8% DamageBuff(Smashing)
  • 8% DamageBuff(Lethal)
  • 8% DamageBuff(Fire)
  • 8% DamageBuff(Cold)
  • 8% DamageBuff(Energy)
  • 8% DamageBuff(Negative)
  • 8% DamageBuff(Toxic)
  • 8% DamageBuff(Psionic)
  • 1.25% Defense(Fire)
  • 1.25% Defense(Cold)
  • 2.5% Defense(Energy)
  • 2.5% Defense(Negative)
  • 1.25% Defense(Ranged)
  • 2.5% Defense(AoE)
  • 4.5% Max End
  • 3% Enhancement(JumpSpeed)
  • 3% Enhancement(FlySpeed)
  • 3% Enhancement(JumpHeight)
  • 38% Enhancement(Accuracy)
  • 3% Enhancement(RunSpeed)
  • 73.8% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
  • 5% FlySpeed
  • 22.9 HP (2.25%) HitPoints
  • 5% JumpHeight
  • 5% JumpSpeed
  • MezResist(Confused) 2.5%
  • MezResist(Held) 4.7%
  • MezResist(Immobilize) 19%
  • MezResist(Sleep) 2.5%
  • MezResist(Stun) 4.7%
  • MezResist(Terrorized) 2.5%
  • 12% (0.2 End/sec) Recovery
  • 9.77% Resistance(Fire)
  • 9.77% Resistance(Cold)
  • 3.13% Resistance(Toxic)
  • 5% RunSpeed


 

Posted

I think Snow Storm is the second crappiest power there is, next to Whirlwind...just sayin'

I'd rather have Aim, Swift, Vengeance, or Conserve Power for all those toggles yer running

or if it's the AoE slow you're wanting..even Frost Breath will slow mobs a little without the gay animation and huge end drain.


Level 4: Frost Breath -- HO:Nucle(A), HO:Centri(9), HO:Centri(9), Posi-Dam%(43), ImpSwft-Dam%(43)

meh, my 2 cents


perma jump is ---> /up 1

 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Hindenburg View Post
I think Snow Storm is the second gayest power there is, next to Whirlwind...just sayin'...
I think your overgeneralization and obtuse analogy to sexual preference is totally uninformative and completely offensive to gay and straight users of the Storm power. I think you are worthy of ignore, just sayin' cause it's my two cents. You wouldn't call a power African American and then dismiss it by 'just sayin', so SHUT UP.


Triumphant Defenders Forever
Psylenz FF/Psi, ArticQuark Storm/Rad, Symon BarSisyphus Bots/psn, Max VanSydow Thugs/Dk, Cyclone Symon Bots/stm, Blue Loki Ice/Cd, Widow 46526
HelinCarnate:OMG it is so terrible. I have the option to take 3 more powers but no additional slots. Boo F'ing hoo.

 

Posted

Now that the option is available to 'go rogue' and get Patron power pools, how does everyone feel about about those various pools in regard to this sort of power combination?


 

Posted

Quote:
Originally Posted by Prince_Tycho View Post
Now that the option is available to 'go rogue' and get Patron power pools, how does everyone feel about about those various pools in regard to this sort of power combination?
well I've always enjoyed the mako resist shield thematically on my ice/cold, but GW is better for debuffing, BS is better for locking down because of the -jump, and Scir is best for energy resist stacking. Though honestly with both unlocked, I would still go for Power Mastery on both my ice/cold corr and my cold/ice def.