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This is why I'm not a fan of powerleveling a character -- especially one where the player is not already familiar with the sets. You learn a lot of strategy working with the powers as you level up. You learn what they can and cannot do. You also learn what works with your particular playstyle, and how to adjust what you do to make the character work.|
Originally Posted by ZaurenXT
I happen to have a 50 Earth/Storm Controller, but I got it via powerleveling (Back in the day I traded Red runs for Blue runs wanting to unlock Kheldians, and picked something that looked like fun.) I almost immediately wished I had picked a farmer instead, and never really dusted them off until recently.
And they are a lot of fun! It's ridiculous how much they can drop down in a few seconds. However, I am so far from optimal its laughable, and when I tried playing around in Mids, I realized I had NO idea what I was doing. I've heard good things about Earth/Storm, but what should I do with it if I want to be able to solo tips and still send whole missions spinning? Is it worth going to Redside and picking up one of the pets there? Should I focus on defense a lot? I overdid -defense before, what is redundant? Honestly, the only trick I know is going stalagmites -> thunderclap for the double AoE stun. Help! |
Earth/Storm has a great set of varied tools, and what you use of those tools changes depending upon the situation. Do you play aggressive or stay back in range? Do you have a large open area, or lots of places to hide? What are the resistances of the foes? Solo or Teamed, and if teamed, what is the team's make up? You play differently with a team of mostly ranged damage dealers vs. melee types.
In general, you have three ways to get an AoE "hold" on foes with Earth Control: Stalagmites + Stone Cages, Earthquake and Volcanic Gasses. Only Stalagmites+Stone Cages prevents all attacks on you. The other two may result in a few foes taking shots at you. All three can be followed with Quicksand and Freezing Rain -- Quicksand for a massive (25%) defense debuff that is autohit, and Freezing Rain for a large Resistance Debuff (30%) and more Defense Debuff. Plus, Freezing Rain will add to the knockdown in Earthquake.
Thunderclap can be used two ways: To stack the stun on Bosses, or two extend the stun on minions -- on its own, it won't stun anything higher than a minion.
Steamy Mist+Super Speed gives you full invisibility in PvE -- which is really nice to lead Rocky into battle to be your tank.
I view Hurricane as a situational power -- great to push foes into my AoE control zone (Herdicaning -- super speed works great for this), but it takes some practice to do it right.
Any */Storm has to be careful of knockback on teams -- or you will be hated by melee and AoE types. Stone Cages has -knockback, but only for 12 seconds. And Cages foes will still be pushed back by Hurricane's repel aspect. If you want to use Tornado as a damage power, you must use it on foes with -knockback (AVs, stationary items) or you have to spam Stone Cages every 12 seconds.
I added Fire for my APP -- mainly because "Ella M. Ental" needed Fire to complete her "Earth, Wind & Fire" concept. I can't help you much with the Villain PPPs.
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
Oh, I agree. I only ever had one character power leveled, and it was one I thought would be unbearable to solo. I didn't put much thought into it, and like I said I wish it had been something brainless and useful -- I just wanted a Kheldian. Back when they weren't given out for free!
Right now I tend to open with Earthquake, then drop Freezing Rain. Do I need to slot a lot for accuracy? It seems with all the -def from Earth/ that it's not quite as vital. Usually I save volcanic gas if there are enemies that escaped the earthquake, and stalagmites is more an emergency button, but I feel that is really underutilizing the power. Hurricane I only use if there's a dangerous boss that needs to have the hitchance eliminated, like a Ring Mistress or Tarantula Queen. In those cases I push it into a corner.
I never use Ice Storm anymore, mostly since at level 50 an enemy that lives very long is hard to find so I prefer the non-anchors. But I've had a lot of success with using tornado in corners, although one time it followed me upstairs and then charged a Malta group. I didn't know tornados could use elevators. Nobody died, so it was mostly just funny.
Right now I use ice. If I get too fiesty with controlling I can hit hibernate, and it also resets my endurance. Rain of Ice is also useful if dropped right after freezing rain, but I never seem to have time to ice breath. Fireball would be much easier to squeeze in for simple DPS, but I'd miss Hibernate...
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Heh, I plan to take fire on my Earth/Storm for exactly the same reason (although I also used the lava theme on most of my earth powers to give them a fire and earth combined look).
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Originally Posted by Local_Man
I added Fire for my APP -- mainly because "Ella M. Ental" needed Fire to complete her "Earth, Wind & Fire" concept. I can't help you much with the Villain PPPs.
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My opening varies depending upon the team. If we have a good tank or someone else going in to draw aggro, then I usually start with Quicksand for that huge Defense Debuff that lets everything else hit with ease. Then I follow with one of the three AoE controls depending upon the foes. I most often use Stalagmites+Stone Cages if the group is mostly minions and lieutenants, and Earthquake if the group has some bosses. However, sometimes I just have to use Volcanic Gasses because it is just so good. None of the AoE controls sit on my tray unused for very long. I follow up with Freezing Rain in pretty much all cases because the debuffs are so good.|
Originally Posted by ZaurenXT
Oh, I agree. I only ever had one character power leveled, and it was one I thought would be unbearable to solo. I didn't put much thought into it, and like I said I wish it had been something brainless and useful -- I just wanted a Kheldian. Back when they weren't given out for free!
Right now I tend to open with Earthquake, then drop Freezing Rain. Do I need to slot a lot for accuracy? It seems with all the -def from Earth/ that it's not quite as vital. Usually I save volcanic gas if there are enemies that escaped the earthquake, and stalagmites is more an emergency button, but I feel that is really underutilizing the power. Hurricane I only use if there's a dangerous boss that needs to have the hitchance eliminated, like a Ring Mistress or Tarantula Queen. In those cases I push it into a corner. I never use Ice Storm anymore, mostly since at level 50 an enemy that lives very long is hard to find so I prefer the non-anchors. But I've had a lot of success with using tornado in corners, although one time it followed me upstairs and then charged a Malta group. I didn't know tornados could use elevators. Nobody died, so it was mostly just funny. Right now I use ice. If I get too fiesty with controlling I can hit hibernate, and it also resets my endurance. Rain of Ice is also useful if dropped right after freezing rain, but I never seem to have time to ice breath. Fireball would be much easier to squeeze in for simple DPS, but I'd miss Hibernate... |
If we don't have a good tank (or a scrapper who acts like one), I may lead Rocky into the group, then turn around and hit them with Stalagmites+Stone Cages, then run it to stack the stun with Thunderclap. Then Freezing Rain and Quicksand. Once the 12 second -knockback is up on Stone Cages, I may throw out Earthquake if needed.
Lightning Storm is used if the team needs a little more damage, but some teams kill so fast that it is a waste to use it. I generally save Tornado for those "special times" when it is really useful.
I don't even have Snow Storm on my Earth/Storm build . . . I like it for the -Fly and -Recharge, but I just couldn't fit it in. I'll be adding it for I-19.
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
I don't solo with my Earth/Storm. He is ridiculously helpful on teams, though. If you thought you saw AVs debuffed before....
This is an old build of his. I know I reworked it, but I can't recall what I changed (I've since decided a Fire/Rad corruptor is the bee's knees).
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I agree with the Earthquake-Freezing Rain opening. The debuffs to resistance and defense are known, but the knock down can be critical. Follow with your stun and earth AoE controls, but save the stone cages for later in the effectiveness of freezing rain and earthquake. You want to knock them down, not just immobilize them.
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.
I have two plant/storms, each on different servers. They are similar to earth and yet different. One of them I crossed over to the rogue isles and got Mako as my patron. I thought my hero was overpowered. Opening salvo when I feel like being mean is seeds/vines, freezing rain, roots, tornado, lightning storm, waterspout, roots, tornado. Got my recharge to the point where for a short time I can have 2 tornados and the waterspout out. Thats fun though it may not be the best in terms of dps. That and a lot of teams get mad when you do that on a cave map since no matter how attentive you are to reapplying you immob some still manage to avoid it and get themselves knocked through the geometry.
Work in progress no more. I have decided that I'm going to put my worst spelling errors here. Triage Bacon, Had this baster idea, TL
R"I'm going to beat the Jesus out of Satan!" My Wife while playing Dante's Inferno
I happen to have a 50 Earth/Storm Controller, but I got it via powerleveling (Back in the day I traded Red runs for Blue runs wanting to unlock Kheldians, and picked something that looked like fun.) I almost immediately wished I had picked a farmer instead, and never really dusted them off until recently.
And they are a lot of fun! It's ridiculous how much they can drop down in a few seconds. However, I am so far from optimal its laughable, and when I tried playing around in Mids, I realized I had NO idea what I was doing.
I've heard good things about Earth/Storm, but what should I do with it if I want to be able to solo tips and still send whole missions spinning? Is it worth going to Redside and picking up one of the pets there? Should I focus on defense a lot? I overdid -defense before, what is redundant?
Honestly, the only trick I know is going stalagmites -> thunderclap for the double AoE stun. Help!