First time troller: Ill/Storm advice?

During 2xp I got my new Ill/Storm into the low 20's but realized I really have no idea how to build him. I'm not necessarily requesting builds, just general build advice.

1) What are the "must have" powers for that combo? What are the "don't gets"?

2) Since I nearly always run Superior Invisibility, am I correct in assuming that I don't need to slot for range?

3) Should I slot Ph Army more for recharge or damage? All of my previous toons have been melee AT's and I tended to slot my attacks 1xAcc, 1xEndRed, 1xRech, 3xDam. Is that OK in Ph Army? (or the other pets for that matter)

4) I didn't pick O2 Boost b/c I solo a lot. I would like to be useful on a team. Was that a bad move?

5) Melee AT's are nearly required to get Boxing, Tough, Weave. What pool powers are most useful to trollers? Does the Leadership pool affect pets?

I don't have access to Mid's right now, but I can post a build later:

Ill: I've got all powers up to Ph Army, except for Group Invis. I'm only 22 so Spectral Terror not available yet.
Storm: I have Gale (required), skipped O2 Boost, skipped Snowstorm, skipped Steamy Mist. Got Freezing Rain, got Hurricane.

My strategy: if PA is available, I cast it on mob followed by Freezing Rain. I then run into the mob and do Flash. I then start throwing around Spectral Wounds, Blackwand (vet) and Sands of Mu (vet) until the mob is gone. I then run to the next mob and hope there's enough time remaining on PA.

If PA hasn't recharged, then I usually Deceive a minion who then begins attacking his nearest ally. I then Blind that ally. I then start throwing around Spectral Wounds, Blackwand and Sands of Mu until both are gone. I use Hurricane as my "Oh $#!y" button.

Am I doing it right? Wrong? Any suggestions?

Welcome to Controllers, the best AT in the game . . . the most varied, the most strategic, and in the opinion of many of us, the most fun. Ill/Storm is a really fun combo, but one of the most chaotic in the game . . . and very powerful, especially in the later levels.

I have some experience with both sets, as I have 4 Illusion/* controllers at 50 including an Ill/Storm, and 3 */Storm controllers at 50 with a 4th on the late 40's. It takes some skill and practice to learn how to play Ill/Storm on teams without throwing foes everywhere. Illusion is not difficult to play well once you understand how the powers work. Storm is a bit of a challenge because several of the powers do not work well together -- for example, Gale, Hurricane, Tornado and Lighting Storm can knock foes away from your Freezing Rain patch.

Take a look at some of the guides. I have a good and mostly current Illusion/Rad guide, linked in my sig, that will give you tons of information on your Illusion side. Pay attention to the slotting suggestions, strategy tips and information on how Illusory Damage works. My guide also has a lot of information for people new to Controllers. There is an somewhat outdated but still very good guide on Ill/Storm by Tal-N. I don't agree with everything he says, but it is one of the better guides out there.

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Originally Posted by GATE-keeper During 2xp I got my new Ill/Storm into the low 20's but realized I really have no idea how to build him. I'm not necessarily requesting builds, just general build advice. 1) What are the "must have" powers for that combo? What are the "don't gets"?

For Illusion, Phantom Army is the most important power in the set. Spectral Terror, Blind, Spectral Wounds, Phantasm are powers you should take the moment they are available. I strongly recommend Deceive, but not everyone agrees. One but not both of the forms of Invisibility are strongly recommended . . . except that Ill/Storm can choose to go with Storm's Steamy Mist + Super Speed and skip both forms of Invisibility from Illusion (That's what I did leveling up before inherent Fitness). I like to have Flash, but opinions are mixed on it -- many people feel that the AoE Hold is essential, while others feel it is skippable.

On Storm, the most essential power is Freezing Rain. Lightning Storm is pretty much required. Most of the others fit in the "strongly recommended" category, but they may be skippable depending upon your playstyle. I find Thunderclap skippable, as it is only a mag 2 PB AoE stun (minions only), even though it recharges much faster than Flash . . . I'd rather have Flash. (However, at level 50, the Spiritual Alpha enhancement also buffs stun, so that might be something to consider.) Some people find O2 Boost skippable -- I like to have it, but it is not a high priority. Some people skip Snow Storm (I think they are nuts -- Illusion needs that extra AoE control of a big slow). Steamy Mist is kind of optional if you are using another form of Invis because it is stealth . . . except Steamy provides several other things, too; it has a small amount of defense and Resistance to 3 kinds of damage. Steamy has saved my team from unexpected encounters many times. Gale would be the most skippable power if you could skip it. Tornado is essential on most */Storm controllers, but since Illusion has no -Knockback powers, Tornado is not quite as useful for Ill/Storm -- but I would never skip it.

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2) Since I nearly always run Superior Invisibility, am I correct in assuming that I don't need to slot for range?

I've never slotted for range. The ranged attacks are beyond the aggro range of almost all foes. And if one decides you look tasty, you can take him out with Deceive. For the most part, PA should be drawing aggro of the group. After level 26, you will also have Spectral Terror (a/k/a "Spooky") to make foes cower in fear. You should be taking foes out one by one with Blind-SW and your other attacks.

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3) Should I slot Ph Army more for recharge or damage? All of my previous toons have been melee AT's and I tended to slot my attacks 1xAcc, 1xEndRed, 1xRech, 3xDam. Is that OK in Ph Army? (or the other pets for that matter)

In spite of how it looks, Phantom Army is mostly a control power. Recharge is essential. Damage is nice, but PA needs to be slotted for Recharge first. You want your three ghostly guys up as much as possible. SO slotting is 3 Recharge, 2 Dam, 1 Acc. I recommend you read my Guide on slotting and strategies to use Phantom Army. Later on, you'll want to look at the Recharge Intensive Pet sets, which seem to have been made for PA. With IO sets, you will be able to maximize both Recharge and Damage.

Recharge is so important for Phantom Army that the main goal of a fully IO'ed out Illusion Controller is to get the Recharge up high enough to be able to keep Phantom Army out all the time. That is referred to as a "Perma-PA" build. It is easier to do a Perma-PA build on an Ill/Rad than an Ill/Storm because */Rad has a power that gives a 30% Recharge buff.

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4) I didn't pick O2 Boost b/c I solo a lot. I would like to be useful on a team. Was that a bad move?

Many people find O2 Boost to be skippable. I like it, but it is a wimpy heal. It can be handy to a) heal a teammate, b) heal your Phantasm, c) remove a stun from a teammate, especially after he/she has rezzed, d) provide some Endurance Drain protection. But it is fairly low priority.

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5) Melee AT's are nearly required to get Boxing, Tough, Weave. What pool powers are most useful to trollers? Does the Leadership pool affect pets?

As for Pool powers, Hasten is essential . . . you want Phantom Army (and your other controls) up as much as possible. If you want to stealth missions for a team, Recall Friend is really handy, but certainly not necessary. Some */Stormies take the Medicine Pool for a self-heal.

Leadership will NOT affect Phantom Army -- they cannot be buffed by anything other than enhancements slotted in the power. It will affect Phantasm, but the effect is not all that significant. I take Leadership on very few of my controllers (and not my Ill/Storm), and you may have trouble with enough endurance to run those toggles (Storm can be tough on endurance). Leadership is not a bad pick, but not all that valuable, either, unless you are stacking it with several others. But there are varying opinions on this.

I have yet to take the Fighting Pool on any of my 10 level 50 controllers or many other controllers.

I discussed the benefits of the various travel powers in my guide.

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I don't have access to Mid's right now, but I can post a build later: Ill: I've got all powers up to Ph Army, except for Group Invis. I'm only 22 so Spectral Terror not available yet. Storm: I have Gale (required), skipped O2 Boost, skipped Snowstorm, skipped Steamy Mist. Got Freezing Rain, got Hurricane. My strategy: if PA is available, I cast it on mob followed by Freezing Rain. I then run into the mob and do Flash. I then start throwing around Spectral Wounds, Blackwand (vet) and Sands of Mu (vet) until the mob is gone. I then run to the next mob and hope there's enough time remaining on PA. If PA hasn't recharged, then I usually Deceive a minion who then begins attacking his nearest ally. I then Blind that ally. I then start throwing around Spectral Wounds, Blackwand and Sands of Mu until both are gone. I use Hurricane as my "Oh $#!y" button. Am I doing it right? Wrong? Any suggestions?

See my guide for strategy tips. Deceive first to take out problem foes -- Deceive does not aggro foes, so you can use it before the fight begins. Then PA, Freezing Rain. No need to use Flash when PA have the aggro. Your attack chain should ALWAYS start with Blind-SW, as Blind sets up Containment, essential for a Controller. In low levels, consider Air Sup to have a Blind-SW-Air Superiority-SW attack chain. I use Deceive a lot in battle, too, but not everyone does.

Use Flash for when PA are Recharging. At 26, you will get Spectral Terror, which becomes your every-group control power to fill in when PA despawn. There are various techniques you can learn like "herd-i-caning" and trapping foes in corners to help you take down foes faster and safer.

My guide in my sig is targetted at defenders, so your controller numbers will be off a little bit and the strategies vary some, but it can help give you a good idea about some of the intricacies of some of the powers (like the ongoing bug in Freezing Rain).

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Originally Posted by GATE-keeper 4) I didn't pick O2 Boost b/c I solo a lot. I would like to be useful on a team. Was that a bad move?

Although not necessary as it is not a particular strong heal, especially on a controller. However it's secondary effects are nice, and it's a convenient trick to have in your back pocket. When playing my storm defender I have often been on teams where the only other support toon was a /storm troller without O2 boost, and it always saddens me a little. I know it means that although I can keep everyone else's health capped, I will need to rely on greens to keep from being slowly whittled down. It's not that I expect them to spam O2 boost, but the occasional heal would be nice

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5) Melee AT's are nearly required to get Boxing, Tough, Weave. What pool powers are most useful to trollers? Does the Leadership pool affect pets? I don't have access to Mid's right now, but I can post a build later: Ill: I've got all powers up to Ph Army, except for Group Invis. I'm only 22 so Spectral Terror not available yet. Storm: I have Gale (required), skipped O2 Boost, skipped Snowstorm, skipped Steamy Mist. Got Freezing Rain, got Hurricane.

As Local Man mentioned Steamy Mist is more than just stealth since it also provides resistance and defense. If you're planning on taking leadership, note that Steamy Mist is substantially better than Maneuvers. Steamy Mist is a power that you can turn on and forget about and doesn't require any real work on your part, so I figure why not take it.

Here's what I think I will be doing with my Ill/Storm, not sure yet but it might give you some thoughts. I've gone fire with my Ill/Rad and ice with my plant/storm, so I thought I would try Leviathan on Crimson Monocle.

I took every talent in both trees (some as mules for Luck of the Gambler IOs) except for Thunderclap. It seems a so-so talent with its level two stun (minions only) and yet probably would take five slots, which I couldn't really spare.

I did end up deciding to take O2, as I did feel kind of bad when teams expected me to have it with a stormie. If I had one more slot in the build, I would have slotted it with a Heal/Endur IO.

I only used three purple IOs as I don't have a ton of cash yet. It's very hard to get near permaPA without the purple sets or /Rad. This toon is at 68 seconds. Hopefully close enough with everything else it's got going for it.

Local man, what are your thoughts on puting the chance for res debuff proc in Tornado and Water Spout? Helpful, or two wasted slots that could be used elsewhere?

Leviathan gives you an AOE, a second tornado!, another pet that's almost perma, and a nice res based shield.

Things it lacks are an aoe immobilize with -kb, and a third single target attack (though I'm hoping that with the recharge, Blind, SW, Blind, SW... could almost be its own attack chain.)

It also lacks a -regen. power, but I don't think any pool contains one of those sadly.

On the plus side, while soloing, things should be flying all over the place and not attacking you

There's some extra ranged defense, but no where near softcap, I took what I could get but tried to really remain true to the powers. Hopefully the res shield will help.

Hope this at least gives you some ideas.

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.90
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Crimson Monocle: Level 50 Magic Controller
Primary Power Set: Illusion Control
Secondary Power Set: Storm Summoning
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Leaping
Ancillary Pool: Leviathan Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Blind -- Dmg-I(A), Dmg-I(3), BasGaze-Acc/Hold(3), BasGaze-Acc/Rchg(5), BasGaze-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(5), BasGaze-Rchg/Hold(7)
Level 1: Gale -- Acc-I(A)
Level 2: Spectral Wounds -- Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(7), Decim-Acc/Dmg(9), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx(9), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(11)
Level 4: Deceive -- Mlais-Acc/Conf/Rchg(A), CoPers-Conf%(11), Mlais-EndRdx/Conf(36), Mlais-Acc/EndRdx(43), Mlais-Acc/Rchg(46)
Level 6: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(13), RechRdx-I(13)
Level 8: Superior Invisibility -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(15), LkGmblr-Rchg+(15), Krma-ResKB(37), Ksmt-ToHit+(37)
Level 10: Snow Storm -- EndRdx-I(A), ImpSwft-Dam%(17)
Level 12: O2 Boost -- Heal-I(A), Heal-I(17)
Level 14: Hover -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 16: Freezing Rain -- Achilles-ResDeb%(A), LdyGrey-%Dam(19), Posi-Dam%(19), ImpSwft-Dam%(21), ShldBrk-%Dam(21), UndDef-DefDeb/Rchg/EndRdx(23)
Level 18: Phantom Army -- S'bndAl-Build%(A), S'bndAl-Dmg/Rchg(23), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(25), ExRmnt-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(25), ExRmnt-Acc/Rchg(27), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg(27)
Level 20: Hurricane -- EndRdx-I(A), DampS-ToHitDeb(29), DampS-ToHitDeb/EndRdx(29)
Level 22: Flash -- BasGaze-Acc/Hold(A), BasGaze-Acc/Rchg(31), BasGaze-Rchg/Hold(31), BasGaze-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(31), Lock-Acc/Hold(37), Lock-Acc/Rchg(40)
Level 24: Steamy Mist -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 26: Spectral Terror -- Acc-I(A), Abys-Dam%(33)
Level 28: Group Invisibility -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 30: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 32: Phantasm -- ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg(A), ExRmnt-Dmg/EndRdx(33), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), ExRmnt-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(34), BldM'dt-Acc/Dmg(34)
Level 35: Tornado -- Dmg-I(A), BldM'dt-Dmg(36), BldM'dt-Dmg/EndRdx(36), Achilles-ResDeb%(43)
Level 38: Lightning Storm -- Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(39), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(39), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(39)
Level 41: Bile Spray -- Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(A), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(42), Posi-Dmg/Rng(42), Posi-Acc/Dmg(42), Posi-Dam%(43)
Level 44: Water Spout -- Dmg-I(A), Dmg-I(45), RechRdx-I(45), RechRdx-I(45), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(46), Achilles-ResDeb%(46)
Level 47: Summon Coralax -- ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), ExRmnt-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(48), ExRmnt-Acc/Rchg(48), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg(48), RechRdx-I(50), Dmg-I(50)
Level 49: Shark Skin -- ResDam-I(A), ResDam-I(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 1: Containment
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Flight-I(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Mrcl-Rcvry+(A), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(40)
Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(34), EndMod-I(40)

PS Snowstorm saved this guy's life in the past, as a really evil Arachnos chased me around and around a column in super slow motion while Crimson fiddled with his monocle trying to get him PA up again lol

Hey Jericho, It looks like this is intermediate build, so I will just make some general observations rather that getting into picky details. But a couple quick comments on terminology first. Players of CoH will be more familiar with the terms primary and secondary powersets rather than talent trees, and are more likely to call individual abilities powers rather than talents. And magnitude 2 stun, rather than a level 2 stun (although folks are less likely to use the "technical" term on that). Just a couple hints for blending in with the natives

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Originally Posted by Jericho Local man, what are your thoughts on puting the chance for res debuff proc in Tornado and Water Spout? Helpful, or two wasted slots that could be used elsewhere?

The Achilles heel proc in tornado and waterspout isn't necessarily a bad idea but it may get frustrating. The proc will have a chance to fire every 10 seconds regardless of whether tornado is near an enemy or not. Since you don't have an AoE immobolize, your tornado is more likely to go chasing after targets and therefore may not be near targets when the proc fires. Against AVs though you are more likely to have the tornado and spout stay on a single target so the proc is more likely to hit the intended target. Note, however, that you cannot stack the achille's heels, so if the one in Freezing Rain fires, the procs in tornado and waterspout will fail.

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It also lacks a -regen. power, but I don't think any pool contains one of those sadly.

Instead of -regen Storm gets one of the most powerful resistance debuffs in the game (since you can stack it) and additional damage in tornado and LS. You are correct there are no epic power pools that contain -regen, and although that might be nice, it is hardly necessary.

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There's some extra ranged defense, but no where near softcap, I took what I could get but tried to really remain true to the powers. Hopefully the res shield will help.

Until you reach perma PA, the ranged defense may be useful, but ideally on an illusion controller, having ranged defense should not be necessary as you will almost never get attacked thanks to PA and Phantom's decoy. When you have a choice between defense and recharge on an illusion controller, always choose recharge.

some general thoughts on your slotting:

Snow Storm:
I'm not a huge fan of impeded swiftness in snow storm. On average it will proc once every 50 seconds meaning that it adds 72/50: 1.44 damage/second. Of course against large groups it has a chance to hit many of them, but after a couple years using the proc, I decided that there were better places to spend that slot.

Freezing Rain:
Recharge, Recharge, Recharge. Procs in this power are fun, but the more often you have it up the better since it improves the damage of your phantom army and PA as well as your own. Try to hit the ED cap on recharge before slotting the damage procs. Yes, you have global recharge, but even so, more Freezing Rain, more often is better.

Tornado:
If you find you use this power enough to make slotting it worthwhile, then I would recommend you supply it with recharge as well. Two tornado's can be fun. Also, I'm pretty sure that waterspout is just a tornado clone, except that tornado does more damage. (I know tornado does more damage, it's possible that waterspout has a lower chance to KB and stun looking at city of data...but I think that's just inconsistencies in reporting, not in actuality). So if you are just going to use one of them, you are better off giving the extra slots to tornado rather than waterspout.

Hi Draggynn,

My Wow roots are showing with the talent tree talk LOL I spent over two years as a guild leader there, but was constantly having to reconcile the crazy kids who played with the paramilitary raider types. Thankfully I've found few of either in COH, just a lot of normal nice folk.

Thank you for the great feedback, I decided to tweak my build just a bit after reading your comments. I removed the res debuff from both tornado and water spout, which enabled me to rework water spout to get more global accuracy, bringing my Hurricane up from 93% accur. to 101%.

That still leaves me with one free slot to fill and I wanted to ask your opinion on best choice.

1) Since my PA are right now at 68 secs, would it be worth it to put the Force Feedback proc in either Hurricane or Gale? I don't use either a lot. Hurricane I use mostly when I think I might be in danger (it's great), Gale I used to use for the same reason. How many seconds would one proc of FF take off that 68? Is Hurricane or Gale the place for my extra slot?

2) Adding a dmg/endur IO to Spectral Wounds would take me from yellow ED to red ED and add about seven dmg to each use. Is that the place for the extra slot?

3) I could add a heal/endur IO to O2 boost. Doesn't seem to be a game changing use of the slot, as I already have green ED with two slots.

4) I could add a fourth slot to Hurricane and change sets to get 5% recharge, but that would only take Phantom Army down one second to 67 and I would have to take some IOs that do nothing and that I don't want (which I Hate doing), and I would lose the 2% dmg bonus. It's not that the dmg bonus is that great, it's being forced to use an extra slot that I neither want or need that reminds me of having to take talents I didn't want or need in Wow to get to the 'good' ones. And all that for only one second off PA. For two or three, maybe.

5) I could add the plus 3 defense IO to Steamy Mist (would that only work when SM is on? It can't be used with Superior Invisibility which I prefer.)

6) I could add a recharge IO to tornado which would drop it about three seconds. I try to avoid using recharge IOs (other than on PA) unless they give me at least six seconds off the time. Converting one of the procs on Ice Storm to recharge would also give me three seconds, and a second proc converted would only give one additional second. That's why I didn't them on those powers. A Defense Debuff/Endurance/Recharge might be more palatable here as I feel it's more bang for the slot buck.

7) A sixth slot for Bile Spray such as either of the triples from Detonation. Would only add three points to damage but would increase range of the cone (thus greatly increasing size) or accuracy.

I'm not in love with any of these, do any of them seem way better than the others to you?

Looking forward to Tornado and Thunderstorm in your guide, it's an awesome guild for anyone seeking Storm info!

Rich

Well darn, the browser just crashed on me after typing out a long response so here's the cliffnotes version:

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Originally Posted by Jericho Hi Draggynn, My Wow roots are showing with the talent tree talk LOL I spent over two years as a guild leader there, but was constantly having to reconcile the crazy kids who played with the paramilitary raider types. Thankfully I've found few of either in COH, just a lot of normal nice folk.

Well we're glad to have you

It can be hard to give feedback regarding a particular IO irrespective of the rest of the build but here are my thoghts:

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1) Since my PA are right now at 68 secs, would it be worth it to put the Force Feedback proc in either Hurricane or Gale? I don't use either a lot. Hurricane I use mostly when I think I might be in danger (it's great), Gale I used to use for the same reason. How many seconds would one proc of FF take off that 68? Is Hurricane or Gale the place for my extra slot?

As explained in my guide the FF proc is hard to use in hurricane since you need enemies in hurricane for it to proc and hurricane likes to push enemies out. Thus if you are going to use one, put it in Gale, but I'm not a big Gale fan, personally. Each time the proc fires it will take 1.4 seconds off the recharge time. Which isn't a lot but it can fire multiple times in that 68 seconds. (it's easy to calculate the time reduction if you want to know how).

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2) Adding a dmg/endur IO to Spectral Wounds would take me from yellow ED to red ED and add about seven dmg to each use. Is that the place for the extra slot?

This sounds promising especially since with containment it's 14.

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3) I could add a heal/endur IO to O2 boost. Doesn't seem to be a game changing use of the slot, as I already have green ED with two slots.

If you're using O2 boost enough to make this worthwhile, I would recommend going for recharge, or recharge/end if endurance is an issue.

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4) I could add a fourth slot to Hurricane and change sets to get 5% recharge, but that would only take Phantom Army down one second to 67 and I would have to take some IOs that do nothing and that I don't want (which I Hate doing), and I would lose the 2% dmg bonus. It's not that the dmg bonus is that great, it's being forced to use an extra slot that I neither want or need that reminds me of having to take talents I didn't want or need in Wow to get to the 'good' ones. And all that for only one second off PA. For two or three, maybe.

ultimately the recharge bonus in hurricane is what you will want. Yes, this recharge bonus doesn't change a whole lot, but all those bonuses add up, and the difference between perma PA is quite stark. Although you could use the spiritual alpha slot to cover some of the slack, I suspect you will find endurance to be an issue and will want to go for the cardiac slot.

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5) I could add the plus 3 defense IO to Steamy Mist (would that only work when SM is on? It can't be used with Superior Invisibility which I prefer.)

This is a global IO and will therefore be in effect even when Steamy Mist is off. However, you have PA for defense, so I would advise you to consider a KB protection IO (also global) rather than the defense IO.

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6) I could add a recharge IO to tornado which would drop it about three seconds. I try to avoid using recharge IOs (other than on PA) unless they give me at least six seconds off the time. Converting one of the procs on Ice Storm to recharge would also give me three seconds, and a second proc converted would only give one additional second. That's why I didn't them on those powers. A Defense Debuff/Endurance/Recharge might be more palatable here as I feel it's more bang for the slot buck.

This really depends on your play style to determine if this is worthwhile or not.

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7) A sixth slot for Bile Spray such as either of the triples from Detonation. Would only add three points to damage but would increase range of the cone (thus greatly increasing size) or accuracy.

Well, range can be a great way to increase the damage output of cone attacks. So this looks promising.

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I'm not in love with any of these, do any of them seem way better than the others to you?

I would give highest priority to 4 and modified 5, and then 2 and 7.

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Looking forward to Tornado and Thunderstorm in your guide, it's an awesome guide for anyone seeking Storm info!

Glad that you found the quide helpful Tornado is coming along slowly but surely, but I'm not ready to give an ETA yet.

Draggynn is giving you excellent advice across the board. So far, I agree with everything he has said.

A couple of other points:

Spectral Wounds -- consider making one of your enhancements in SW to be the Chance for Build Up, and put something in the 6th slot that will get your Damage up to ED cap. That Build Up will increase your damage even more, and you will be using SW a LOT. On my build, I put an Acc/Dam Hami-O in the last slot -- but I have a bunch of those sitting around.

Deceive -- Do your best to afford 4 more Coercive Persuasion in Deceive. I leave out the pure Confuse one. That 10% Recharge will make a big difference. Plus it has a lot of Recovery, which you need. It is the second cheapest Purple set, so with some work, you can try to afford it. If you can't afford it, 5 Malaise will give you 6.25% Recharge (for cheap), but you run into the "Rule of 5" because so many sets have 6.25% Recharge.

Hasten: Once you get enough Global Recharge to get near Perma-PA, you should be able to drop a slot from Hasten to put somewhere else. 2 level 50 Recharge is enough to keep it perma, especially if you leave it on Auto.

Superior Invis: If you can fit one more slot in SI, you can slot it with 1 LotG Recharge, 5 Red Fortune. You can cap both EndRdx and Defense in that power, and have a total of 12.5% Recharge in one power. Put the -knockback in Steamy Mist. (By the way, Steamy will take EITHER the Steadfast or Karma -Knockback, or both.)

Freezing Rain: I agree with Draggynn, Recharge first, then the Achilles Heal proc. Other procs only if you have slots to spare, and those are lower priority than getting more global Recharge.

Hurricane: 4 Dark Watcher for the Recharge buff. Yeah, 5% isn't much on the margin, but it all adds up.

Flash: Here's another place where you can try to get the purple set, Unbreakable Constraint. The 4 Baz Gaze IOs aren't all that much less than the purple set. If you use the Baz Gaze set, then an Acc/Hold/Rech in the 5th slot is enough -- you can use that 6th slot somewhere else. I use Flash somewhat rarely on my Ill/Storm -- too many other good powers.

Spectral Terror: If you are tight on slots, a pure Acc or an Acc/Fear/Rech in the default slot is all the power really needs. However, if you can squeeze out a total of 5 slots, the Glympse set has 6.25% Recharge. But if you are over the Rule of 5, then the Unspeakable Terror has 5% Recharge.

Tornado: I don't use Tornado all that much on my Ill/Storm, but I would never go without it. On teams, it is just too chaotic unless you want the chaos to break up a dangerous group of foes . . . except on AVs or other foes with -Knockback, or on foes who have really high defense (Tornado is Auto-hit). I love using Tornado on a Paragon Protector just after he has hit his MOG and virtually unhittable -- Tornado will finish him off.
Solo, I'll use it in confined spaces or it I don't care that foes go every-which-way. I slot Tornado for Damage, some EndRdx and some Recharge, but I don't bother with 6 slots.

On your PPP/APP choice: I have been a proponent of taking one of the APP sets with a fast single target blast for a long time. I mostly recommend the Fire or Ice APP. Why? Even with enough Recharge for Perma-PA, you have a gap in your attack chain. Ice or Fire Blast fills that gap very well. I get a ton of damage from my Blind-SW-Blast-SW attack chain . . . Containment doubles the damage, and the Chance for Build Up in SW boosts it even more. That chain takes all of about 4-5 seconds.

Why is that important? Illusory Damage. Spectral Wounds does a large amount of burst damage, but then some of the damage heals back after a few seconds. However, if you defeat the foe before the heal-back, you get to keep the damage. That adds a LOT more to your overall damage. Not only does SW do Illusory Damage, so does Phantom Army and Phantasm's Decoy. So you want to kill their targets fast, too.

For my Ill/Storm, I have the Ice APP: Ice Blast. Frost Breath is a decent cone that adds slow. (You could go with Ice Storm, but you don't really have much to keep foes in the slow DoT from the rain power -- Frost Breath is up-front damage and recharges faster.) Ice Shield provides Smash/Lethal Defense, and a decent amount of it. Finally, and importantly, Hibernate makes up for the fact that Ill/Storm does not have a self-heal or a self-Endurance-Recovery power. Hibernate does both, and you can hide in your Ice Block while your pets attack around you.

I thank you both for your wonderful and detailed answers. I'm sorry your server crashed. I appreciate the time you both have taken, as I love this game. I created so many super heroes as a kid, and now I can create new ones and bring them to life.

The consensus seems to be to go for four slots in Hurricane, but I'm not sure if I can bring myself to do that yet. But if the dmg proc in snowstorm disappoints or I start getting purple sets that start getting me closer to permaPA, then that one second will mean a lot more.

Note that I do have knockback protection in Superior Invisibility. Do you guys think a second one is needed? (Giving a total of 8 KB protection. I've heard there are even enemies that do 9 KB mag in the game. How common are enemies that do KB higher than 4 mag?)

My three mains I've played so far in this game are Scarlet Sorcerer (Ill/Rad), Madre Nature (Plant/Storm) and Crimson Monocle (Ill/Storm). I've already picked Fire APP (per Local) for my Ill/Rad (who is my highest at 40) and Ice APP for Madre Nature (her AOE immob. seems to synergize with it) so I wanted a different play experience from those two with my Ill/Storm.

So I picked Leviathan for Crimson Monocle, also because he is just a bit shady LOL (I know this won't mean anything to most reading but he is Adam Carrington to Scarlet Sorcerer's Stephen Carrington LOL) He is the decadent but sometimes noble older brother of the ernest young Scarlet Sorcerer.

By the way, I got my first purple receipe the other night while Madre was sidekicked to a level 50! I am all excited about it because I didn't realize it til I went to the AH (aka Consignment House) to sell today. It sold for 380 million, woot!!! She barely had enough inf to post it for sale LOL

By the way, I think they made too many sets 6.25 recharge! I could probably break a 'Rule of 10' on some toons with that!

On my Plant/Storm, who is by no means defense capped, would you guys take Ice Armor or Hibernate if it came down to a choice between the two?
I've been leaning toward Armor as it gives her almost 20% defense plus lets me put a LOTG in there! But I just saw where you said Hibernate is really good Local. Is it good enough to lose the 7.5% LotG recharge? (Creepers is at 124 right now, almost perma, since she already dropped one LotG mule to take O2. Dropping Armor would drop it to 127.)

On Crimson Monocle, would you recommend Hibernate or Shark Skin?

I decided to go ahead and try to get the Purple Set for Crimson's Deceive, as that would give ten percent recharge, and to go ahead and spend the other slot in Hurricane, for five more. (If it's one of the cheaper sets, maybe that 380 mill will pay for most of it!) That fifteen percent lowered him from 68.76 to 65.92, almost 3 seconds. I seem to remember that your (Local) guild said 62 or 63 was close enough to be perma? So still not there, but closer.

Here is the updated Crimson Monocle so far:

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.90
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Crimson Monocle: Level 50 Magic Controller
Primary Power Set: Illusion Control
Secondary Power Set: Storm Summoning
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Leaping
Ancillary Pool: Leviathan Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Blind -- Dmg-I(A), Dmg-I(3), BasGaze-Acc/Hold(3), BasGaze-Acc/Rchg(5), BasGaze-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(5), BasGaze-Rchg/Hold(7)
Level 1: Gale -- Acc-I(A)
Level 2: Spectral Wounds -- Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(7), Decim-Acc/Dmg(9), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx(9), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(11)
Level 4: Deceive -- CoPers-Acc/Conf/Rchg(A), CoPers-Acc/Rchg(11), CoPers-Conf/Rchg(36), CoPers-Conf/EndRdx(43), CoPers-Conf%(46)
Level 6: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(13), RechRdx-I(13)
Level 8: Superior Invisibility -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(15), Krma-ResKB(15), LkGmblr-Rchg+(37), Ksmt-ToHit+(37)
Level 10: Snow Storm -- EndRdx-I(A), ImpSwft-Dam%(17)
Level 12: O2 Boost -- Heal-I(A), Heal-I(17)
Level 14: Hover -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 16: Freezing Rain -- Achilles-ResDeb%(A), LdyGrey-%Dam(19), Posi-Dam%(19), ImpSwft-Dam%(21), ShldBrk-%Dam(21), UndDef-DefDeb/Rchg/EndRdx(23)
Level 18: Phantom Army -- S'bndAl-Build%(A), S'bndAl-Dmg/Rchg(23), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(25), ExRmnt-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(25), ExRmnt-Acc/Rchg(27), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg(27)
Level 20: Hurricane -- DarkWD-ToHitDeb(A), DarkWD-ToHitDeb/EndRdx(29), DarkWD-ToHitdeb/Rchg/EndRdx(29), DarkWD-Rchg/EndRdx(43)
Level 22: Flash -- BasGaze-Acc/Hold(A), BasGaze-Acc/Rchg(31), BasGaze-Rchg/Hold(31), BasGaze-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(31), Lock-Acc/Hold(37), Lock-Acc/Rchg(40)
Level 24: Steamy Mist -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 26: Spectral Terror -- Acc-I(A), Abys-Dam%(33)
Level 28: Group Invisibility -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 30: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 32: Phantasm -- ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg(A), ExRmnt-Dmg/EndRdx(33), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), ExRmnt-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(34), BldM'dt-Acc/Dmg(34)
Level 35: Tornado -- Dmg-I(A), BldM'dt-Dmg(36), BldM'dt-Dmg/EndRdx(36)
Level 38: Lightning Storm -- Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(39), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(39), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(39)
Level 41: Bile Spray -- Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(A), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(42), Posi-Dmg/Rng(42), Posi-Acc/Dmg(42), Posi-Dam%(43)
Level 44: Water Spout -- Posi-Dmg/Rchg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(45), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(45), Posi-Dmg/Rng(45), RechRdx-I(46), RechRdx-I(46)
Level 47: Summon Coralax -- ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), ExRmnt-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(48), ExRmnt-Acc/Rchg(48), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg(48), RechRdx-I(50), Dmg-I(50)
Level 49: Shark Skin -- ResDam-I(A), ResDam-I(50)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 1: Containment
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Flight-I(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Mrcl-Rcvry+(A), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(40)
Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(34), EndMod-I(40)