Alternate TF build, no pets, ill/kin?
By
dazedandconfused,
Posted on: 2011-02-03 04:25 in Controllers
I don't think there is a point in ditching specific good powers because they don't have a use, as we get so many power picks right now. SB really doesn't need more than one slot - stick an endmod in it and call it a day. FS doesn't need much more than 1 (2 if you don't have much accuracy from sets) acc and 2 recharge. Adding additional slots to these powers would give you (your teammates, same thing) minimal returns.
I recently went the other way on my fortunata after reading LuxunS' post about it - that is to say, I had a melee build and a ranged build, and with inherent fitness I can now fit all these attacks in one same build. I find having powers for different situations on the same build allows you to be much more versatile, and more powerful as a result.
While my first instinct is to agree with you, if I drop speed boost and and density increase, two powers i never need in a solo build, I can gain a 15% increase in global recharge reduction. However, in a tf, if someone dies, if they res, I want to slap them with a quick a quick id, and speed boost to get them moving as fast as possible. At the same time, i don't need a perma phantom army, so i don't need the recharge speed, In fact, I would be better with an incarnate slot of reduced end, so I could run a full set of leadership toggles, w/o the benefit of transfusion, since i would never want to be that close to the frey. And since I'm playing buff bot, I certainly don't want to use any aoes, my limited dps isn't worth the agro, so i really don't need an aoe, however, a self res might be useful cause i can get one shotted, however, if i'm soloing, a res is useless, because i'll be surrounded by mobs and die a rapid death if i do res. In a tf though, having a self res, means i don't need to chain myself to a ton of heal, bounceback and res inspirations. Not that i die much, accidents happen though when your a squishy surrounded by 40 mobs and multiple bosses. However an aoe is much more useful when i solo, and so is indomitable will, because otherwise i likewise have to carry a ton of bb, for a different reason. When solo, a hold will kill me, with IW I can eliminate that threat. On a tf, I'm not worried about a hold< I'm worried about getting one shotted. And with no self res, that means I need a rs, kb, heal, and end insp back to back to get combat ready.
Thats why It seems like a little tweak here and there can make a big difference. Getting rid of a pet is 5 extra slots and a power. I think I can fine tune that somewhere that is more beneficial to the entire team, thats the whole point of multiple builds. Likewise, with a selfish build, with no purple enh, with just a basic alpha slot, i think i can boost myself to an 88 recharge reduction, pre-haste, and with the big alpha power, that could be 100, toss in some purple enh 120-140.
While thats all well and good, I really would like to be able to swap in a speed boost in a tf, its sort of expected out of a kin. So If I'm making a group build, how do i tweak it?
Personally, I would never get rid of Phanty. Admittedly, he is not nearly as useful as he used to be and will be again when the Devs fix his AI. Now he likes to run into melee and get his ghostly butt killed, but he's supposed to stay by you, cast his decoy into melee and then shoot from range. He is supposed to help protect you with his Knockback . . . which can be a problem for an Ill/Kin.
Even on teams, Phanty is not only adding to your overall damage, but also acting as a bit of a bodyguard. His Decoy distracts one or more foes . . . usually as effective as a single target hold. Phanty himself draws aggro, too. Phanty is not just a damage pet, as he is also part of your overall control. And what about when you stealth missions? Phanty can provide the distraction needed to allow you to click on a glowie or defeat a target (like the guards for a hostage) on your own without the team around.
There are a lot of other things I would skip before skipping Phantasm. You can reduce the slots in Phanty to 3 if needed: 3 Acc/Dam Hami-Os. I typically use only 4 slots leveling up, as the Acc/Dam and Dam from Blood Mandate and the Acc/Dam and Acc/Dam/End from Brilliant Leadership cap his damage with great accuracy.
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I'm brainstorming different options for my builds. And I'm wondering about pets. As an illusionists, my pets rule. However, on tf's I don't really need them. I mean, Ok, I'd probably keep my phantom army for when things turn sour, however, it seems like I could ditch the phantasm. I find in TF's, I mostly hover around and cast out transference/transfusion/fulcrum shift and speedboost people when they run low on power.
At the same time, when solo, I don't need speedboost at all, fulcrum shift is a lot less important as well, with my pets kb, i just don't really get many good fs moments.
I'm pondering the Idea of pulling my phantasm from a tf build, and then really slotting up my speedboost and FS, and then dropping speedboost and density increase all together in a solo build. And subbing in def powers for the +recharge bonus, since I'm so hatse dependant solo wise.
What do you think?