Personally, I avoid it.
Talen_Lee: Taking absorb pain is like branding 'H' on your forehead. Which stands for 'Failure'
Scarf_Girl: ever since I six slotted my Rp with cyber/emo Hami-O enhancements they haven't been able to touch me
Both trip mine and time bomb are basically toy powers. Trip mine is at least an effective toy though.
The only thing I considered it useful for would be to slot in some IO set or maybe to take care of stuck enemies.
Wish we could get auto turret instead. 
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Ugh, I would be a god with that power...
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Originally Posted by BlueBattler
Wish we could get auto turret instead. |
Talen_Lee: Taking absorb pain is like branding 'H' on your forehead. Which stands for 'Failure'
Scarf_Girl: ever since I six slotted my Rp with cyber/emo Hami-O enhancements they haven't been able to touch me
If we couldn't get auto turret I'd settle for a smoke bomb with some -tohit, confuse, and so on.
Edit: Actually, I'd like a sonic turret. One that uses a few attacks to lower enemies' damage resistance.
Or else something that gives +Special to the team. Yeah, that'd be seriously overpowered... but I still wants what I wants.
I have to disagree with some of the thoughts.
If your going to be traps then you definitely can be fully positional defense capped.
Sonic has that aoe sleep. I use Time Bomb in conjunction with Trip mine to and the AOE sleep to pull 2 full groups while running 0/8 or 1/8 setting. Between the 2 its a real good soloing tool. Again only because you can run defense capped. I will say there are times it does become difficult to place because I have SO MANY mobs on me that the streak breaker or whatever its called takes effect and I will get hit for some tiny number that ruins the placement of Time Bomb.
I think with i19 you have more powers then almost needed. Personally myself for many of my Defense Cap builds all it did was give me a travel power and 2 other 1 slotted powers.
Further just last night I was playing around with my AR Traps build and I think I have a pretty high end build that can be pretty massive incorporating in the Damage Alpha slot.
1. Why Soft Cap is Important : http://dechskaison.blogspot.com/2011...important.html
2. Limits: http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Limits
3. Attack Mechanics: http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Attack_Mechanics
4. Rule of Five: http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Rule_o...e_Law_of_Fives
Skipped it on my Sonic/Traps Corr, if you run on teams frequently skip the power. Name a team of people that will let you sleep a group, place a time bomb, and wait? I've never even seen a team wait for trip mine, doubtful Time Bomb will make much use. Maybe in situations like the platform and roofs of the ITF, you might find some use. But, IMO not worth taking. Might I add this power can be interrupted, making using it effectively a bit difficult at times.
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I can actually name that team easily and I play on it quite frequently: a task/strike force with a members built well enough that they split up into small groups or solo to clear more efficiently. Anything you do solo can be done then.|
Originally Posted by Gypsy_of_Paradox
Skipped it on my Sonic/Traps Corr, if you run on teams frequently skip the power. Name a team of people that will let you sleep a group, place a time bomb, and wait? I've never even seen a team wait for trip mine, doubtful Time Bomb will make much use. Maybe in situations like the platform and roofs of the ITF, you might find some use. But, IMO not worth taking. Might I add this power can be interrupted, making using it effectively a bit difficult at times.
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Then on steam rolling teams, on my Arch/Dev Blaster I'd just hop to the next group if RoA was down and lay a toe-bomb Time Bomb if it was up. Steam rolling teams can handle the handful that survive.
I agree with the notion that Time Bomb is a lot more out of place in Traps than it is in Devices. However, the common forum idea that it's useless stems from a measure of value that would deem any power that couldn't simply be mashed out to be worthless. More power to button mashers, but it's not the universal measure.
@Gilia1
I play heroes on Champion.
I play villains on Virtue.
The more I think about it, the more I think I'd like a 'Detonator' power that causes all of your Traps (Triage, Acid Mortar, Poison Trap, FFG) to explode, dealing damage to enemies around them.
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I clearly understand what your saying. My Sonic Traps is actually a Corruptor as well. What I am starting to learn is the following.|
Originally Posted by Gypsy_of_Paradox
Skipped it on my Sonic/Traps Corr, if you run on teams frequently skip the power. Name a team of people that will let you sleep a group, place a time bomb, and wait? I've never even seen a team wait for trip mine, doubtful Time Bomb will make much use. Maybe in situations like the platform and roofs of the ITF, you might find some use. But, IMO not worth taking. Might I add this power can be interrupted, making using it effectively a bit difficult at times.
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1. Many players can defense cap but do not. They do not get it. Out of a team of 8 players I might be the only defense cap player, that includes the shield electric scrapper I might be teamed with at the time.
2. Many players and I am guilty of this myself just look at a recent rad earth post I made on controllers forum. But many players don't get the idea of slotting IOs. They have no clue on concept. Not their fault, maybe someone gave them bad information or they might have not asked the correct questions or even any question on these forums. So end result they have a 100 million or 200 million INF build that goes nowhere.
3. With Traps regardless if the other AT that is associated with it, you can defense cap with no issues. So you could be Traps / shoemaker and still solo a 0/8 mission. Because you have Trip Mine and Time Bomb.
4. Here is the odd point. When I was not defense capped I didn't want to solo. It was sort of boring and slow. I was running on standard or lower setting. But when your defense capped soloing is not that bad now. half way through a mission I am full of inventions and by the end I might be half full of salvage. The great thing about solo defense cap playing is simply you are it.. That is it.. There is no one to pull aggro away from you. The mobs will have no choice but to come back to you.. It's not like they are going to run away and never come back.
With all that being said. This is where Time Bomb shines. 3 or 4 slotted is more then enough for this power, it is that massive of an explosion.
I can relay a incident I had with my Sonic Traps running LGTF. The Brute and myself were the only players that were defense capped. We went into the room in the sewers to fight the 4 bosses, where you usually fight famine first. Nonetheless we were a bit spread out and speeding to get it done. This was before i19. We lost one player in the tunnels behind us and intended on teleporting and ressing. So with 7 going into the room, the brute started to fight and then DCed.
Everyone died but me. I then jumped back to the tunnel entrance away from the 4 bosses but still was chased of course by the other Rikti. I layed down all my Traps and then used Assemble team to teleport everyone behind me in the tunnel, out of aggro. I then proceeded to create ress inspirations for those that needed or a break free for those that had the ress but needed the break free. By the time the Brute relogged back in I had all but one player up. I was killing so many mobs that getting inspirations was not an issue to make these resses or break frees.
I cannot tell you how many pats on the back the team was handing out to me that day and the number of questions I was asked about the build. Everyone thought I was running purple IOs, when the truth is I don't own a single purple IO.
Now I could have done what I did with just trip mine, but Time Bomb really helped out in that instance.
What I started doing now is while everyone is running towards the ends of these LGTF missions now.. Myself and 1 other might stay behind and kill mobs while the rest speed ahead. I usually do this when looking to get that mind reader NPC killed in the LGTF. Its a long mission so I will go about killing mobs while the rest look for the NPC to get her killed off.
I don't have Time Bomb on my AR Device because in that instance it is a waste. But TRAPS is that awesome and great that you can afford to get it and use it more then another AT might.
Further now with i19 out, you have an eaiser time of getting defense capped and still have powers left over. On top of all of this Defenders get a 30% solo damage bonus add in the damage alpha on top of your defense cap. Now think about the solo damage your laying out. I almost think they made a mistake creating Traps, it is that good. So in todays game with traps I see no reason why you couldn't pick up Time Bomb and still be slotted the way you want to be with no worries of gimping yourself.
1. Why Soft Cap is Important : http://dechskaison.blogspot.com/2011...important.html
2. Limits: http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Limits
3. Attack Mechanics: http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Attack_Mechanics
4. Rule of Five: http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Rule_o...e_Law_of_Fives
Heya' Plain,
You make some interesting points. But here are some other things to consider.
On most teams (and possibly solo, depending on build), Assault will most likely add more DPS than Time Bomb. It's available at L6 and is good right out of the box.
Further, your best use for Time Bomb involves a single late-game TF; that is the very definition of situational. For me, I'd rather have power a power that is always decent than one that is occasionally really good. And that is a decision most of us make with regards to our pool powers.
It's excellent that you've found a good use for a power most people skip. But that's not the same as saying that Time Bomb is a good power; it really isn't. Most people have access to other powers that will be far more beneficial to them over the long run.
Is Time Bomb worth taking? If you are concerned with maximizing your character and getting top DPS etc, then no.
But if you like to sneak in to a big group while invisible and blow stuff up . . . then it can be fun. I have it in my build because I think it is fun for when I solo or duo, but I pretty much never use it on any moderate to large team. I think of it as a "hold my beer and watch this" power.
My favorite way to use Time Bomb is the explosive corner pull: I set up 4 or so trip mines at a corner. Maybe a Gas Trap, too. Then I go around the corner to a big group. Set up Time Bomb (while invisible) in the middle of the group. Just before it goes off, I may lay down an Acid Morter to draw some aggro, then back around the corner. Lay down some Caltrops just behind the Trip Mines. Anything that survived the initial blast comes around the corner and gets blasted again. If the second blast doesn't kill it, a few blasts from my secondary while on the Caltrops will. Red-neck high fives all around.
Not everything has to be plowing through foes as fast as possible.
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
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You know I might have to look at Assault. Does Assault add damage to Trip Mine. Wasn't sure if it added damage to Pseudo pets like trip mine. |
Originally Posted by BurningChick
Heya' Plain,
You make some interesting points. But here are some other things to consider. On most teams (and possibly solo, depending on build), Assault will most likely add more DPS than Time Bomb. It's available at L6 and is good right out of the box. Further, your best use for Time Bomb involves a single late-game TF; that is the very definition of situational. For me, I'd rather have power a power that is always decent than one that is occasionally really good. And that is a decision most of us make with regards to our pool powers. It's excellent that you've found a good use for a power most people skip. But that's not the same as saying that Time Bomb is a good power; it really isn't. Most people have access to other powers that will be far more beneficial to them over the long run. |
I have a build that I swapped out Time Bomb for Assault and did notice that the Damage bar under show totals was higher and I did notice that with Assault on all my dps powers where higher in damage, which included Trip Mine. And I will admit there are times even with Def Cap sometimes a hit squeaks in and breaks the placement but still causes me to loose endurance. Just something is making me feel that MIDS is incorrect and Assault does NOT add dps to trip mines. If someone knows for sure It would be nice.
1. Why Soft Cap is Important : http://dechskaison.blogspot.com/2011...important.html
2. Limits: http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Limits
3. Attack Mechanics: http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Attack_Mechanics
4. Rule of Five: http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Rule_o...e_Law_of_Fives
Assault will not add its damage to trip mine. Pseudopets inherit your buffs, but they also inherit the duration of those buffs. Assault is a short lived buff that refreshes constantly, and it is sure to wear off before the trip mine actually goes off. Something like this would need to be programmed in to mids on a case by case basis, so it's just not going to happen because of powers like lightning storm which will get a damage buff to some of its attacks and not others.
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Thanks Garent|
Originally Posted by Garent
Assault will not add its damage to trip mine. Pseudopets inherit your buffs, but they also inherit the duration of those buffs. Assault is a short lived buff that refreshes constantly, and it is sure to wear off before the trip mine actually goes off. Something like this would need to be programmed in to mids on a case by case basis, so it's just not going to happen because of powers like lightning storm which will get a damage buff to some of its attacks and not others.
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Then I believe I will stick with Time Bomb. The dps increase I am getting to my Sonic attacks will NOT outweigh the damage Time Bomb does. I looked at the increase and I was going from 100 points damage total in an attack to 106 or 109 ( I don't recall the exact numbers but it was 6 to 9 damage increase ). 6 to 9 points difference increase is not going to add up over time compared to the amount of dps Time Bomb puts out. Even if it was a 10 point damage increase. If Time Bomb is doing 400 dps and I have a 112 seconds down time. I would have to fire off a Sonic attack every 2.8 seconds to equal up to 400 dps over 112 seconds.
1. Why Soft Cap is Important : http://dechskaison.blogspot.com/2011...important.html
2. Limits: http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Limits
3. Attack Mechanics: http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Attack_Mechanics
4. Rule of Five: http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Rule_o...e_Law_of_Fives
You want to be looking at animation time to determine if an attack is worth using or not. Time bomb takes over nine seconds to set up, so its damage per animation time will be pretty low.
Time bomb- 19 DPA unenhanced, takes 15 seconds to go off after it's used, is an area attack
Howl- 11 DPA unenhanced, is an area attack, gives resistance debuff
Shriek- 23 DPA unenhanced, single target attack, gives resistance debuff
So against a single target, just using your standard sonic attacks will do more damage than a trip mine will. If you often come across big groups on your own and spending 20 something seconds to get a time bomb to go off is time well spent for you, then it's useful.
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My understanding of Leadership buffs and psuedo pets was that if the pet is within the radius of the Leadership buff at the time the pet's power fires then that power will have the Leadership buff applied. So for instance if teammate A sets a Trip Mine and runs away, but teammate B running assault goes and stands near the Trip Mine when it blows up, then the Trip Mine would get the dmg buff. Is this not correct?|
Originally Posted by Garent
Assault will not add its damage to trip mine. Pseudopets inherit your buffs, but they also inherit the duration of those buffs. Assault is a short lived buff that refreshes constantly, and it is sure to wear off before the trip mine actually goes off. Something like this would need to be programmed in to mids on a case by case basis, so it's just not going to happen because of powers like lightning storm which will get a damage buff to some of its attacks and not others.
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It should be easy enough to test. I think I tested it some years ago, but the memory is foggy now.
As for Time Bomb here's one justification for taking it on Positional Def builds:
Eradication x 4
(2) 1.8 max End
(3) 1.5% Def (Ranged). 3% Def (Energy, Negative)
(4) 2.25% HP
And the slotting values themselves aren't terrible in case you ever feeling like toying with it:
Acc 32%
Dmg 87%
EndR 15%
Rech 54%
Skip it. It blows. Both literally and figuratively as it so happens.
They ALL float down here. When you're down here with us, you'll float too!
@Starflier
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It depends on if the entity is capable of being hit by powers, which usually requires testing to figure out. Trip mines can be set off early by enemy area attacks, so it's possible that you're right when it comes to trip mine specifically.
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Originally Posted by Dr Cause
My understanding of Leadership buffs and psuedo pets was that if the pet is within the radius of the Leadership buff at the time the pet's power fires then that power will have the Leadership buff applied.
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Is that power worth taking for a Traps/Sonic Defender? (OR any Traps for that matter.)
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