Falling in love again...slotting question

If this is covered elsewhere, a point in the right direction would be much appreciated (at work...not a lot time to comb...)

So...I figure it is time for me to do some IO slotting. I have a hunk of inf (1.5B) which I'd like to invest in one of my toons..not shabby but not great..it's all I have from all my toons. I have 50s in Tanks, Scrappers (including a farming type), and blasters. I also dusted off my earth/storm. Wow...how did I ever forget how much fun she is...and now I've picked up patron pools (for Water Spout of course!) I think I'm going to go with her for IOing...she's just sooo much fun (and she has more badges than I thought she did). She will be used for general play, Omissions, and badging.

I'm not looking for a build...what I'm looking for are some comments about a) the kind of potential she has for slotting (how much more awesome can I make her...really...; and, 2) what are some of the sets which are highly recommended for such an effort.

Is it really worth slotting her up and spending the time IOing out or would that inf get better leverage elsewhere.

Your thoughts much appreciated.

E

You didn't give much guidance in your post. Just a few suggestions here and there:

Whether it is worth IO'ing out your character is up to you. Will it make the character more fun for you? I have a few characters where IO'ing out the character makes a huge difference, and others where the difference is not all that significant. The key is whether there are certain attributes which, if significantly enhanced with IO sets, will make a big difference. For example, getting perma-PA on my Ill/Rad made a huge difference. Softcapping Defense on a few characters has made a huge difference.

There are a lot of choices depending upon your playstyle. If you play with fast-moving teams with a good tank, then Recharge is probably your best bet. If you like to solo, then Defense may be your best option. If you are really active, you may need to focus on Recovery since many of the Storm powers are very demanding of endurance. Personally, I mostly prefer to slot Controllers for Recharge. High Recharge means that your AoE controls are up more often, and allows you to stack them. High Recharge will also allow you to get out more than one Tornado or Lightning Storm, I believe.

Animate Stone: Rocky already has high resistance, but adding even more makes him more durable. So try to get one or maybe both of the Pet Resist procs in him.

With Earth/Storm, you don't need to slot Freezing Rain for Defense Debuff since your primary already has a ton of -Defense (especially Quicksand). So that makes Freezing Rain a great place for procs. 2-3 Recharge, the Achilles Heal Chance for -Resist and 2-3 damage procs can really be effective.

Purple sets are really expensive right now, but some of them are worth it. If you use Stone Cages a lot, then the Chance for Hold in the Immobilize purple set is great.

The stupid forum ate my response. I will re-craft it.

Basically, Earth/Storm is an amazing character. Is it the one you should invest 1.5 billion into? That depends on your goals.

If you are looking to efficiently face-roll content, farm alignment merits, farm purples, power level, shrug with indifference at the most overpowered enemy groups and challenges, then Earth/Storm is probably not the place to sink in that kind of money.

If you are looking to have a lot of fun, and you are sure you'll continue playing the character often, and you want one hell of a controller that can benefit greatly from an expensive build, then Earth/Storm is a fantastic choice.

Earth/Storm benefits most (IMO) from lots of global recharge. You can get Stalagmites to recharge before it wears off. You can have Volcanic Gasses up most of the time. Your single target hold will feel like it is on auto-fire. You can have 2 or 3 lightning storms out, and the recharge helps stack Thunder Clap with itself and Stalagmites. Tornado and Freezing Rain also benefit from recharge greatly. Your epic attacks will all enjoy some crazy-good recharge.

Earth/Storm also benefits strongly from procs, especially damage procs. My build has lots of global recharge AND still manages to get 8 or 9 procs in my various AOE effects. Good stuff!

So decide on your priorities. Earth/Storm is a great choice to throw money at to have fun, but if your goals are to enable wealth on other characters, you might pick something else.

Enjoy!

Lewis

Yeah...this is the kind of high level thoughts I was looking for...

In terms of purpose, I already have a toon which farms just fine and is tough as nails...the problem is, I just like playing my earth/storm that much more. So, general use play, badging, runing task forces, stuff like that is what I plan on doing with her.

Sounds like from what I'm hearing, recharge is the way to go. I'm having occasional end issues when I'm letting it all hang out so I am sensitive to that.

Also, I think I've heard both of you in the past talk about procs for this combo...the reality is that I just don't know what much about them...hearing this tells its time for me to do some research and figure out just how those things work.

I have no idea how far 1.5b will take me...but yeah, I think this is the toon i'm going to invest in.

Thanks for the ideas. E

My general rule of thumb for controllers is +recharge, +end and +recovery.