There are some important questions that you did not answer in your post: What is your playstyle? Team Support? Cautious solo? Agressive solo? Aggressive Team?
What are you aiming for? Defense? Damage? You mentioned Recharge, which is almost always good for a controller.
Gravity in general is a fairly weak "team" controller -- Three single target damage powers (Crush, Lift, Propel) while other sets generally have one or maybe two. The main AoE control power (other than the AoE Hold that every control set has) is a quirky foe-teleport with knockback and a long recharge -- far less useful than powers like Flashfire, Static Field or Spectral Terror. Dimension Shift is widely disliked for good reason (I dislike Phase powers, too.), so one of the AoE control powers is skippable. As a result, Gravity is one of the least effective group control sets. I could never get into it until I paired it with Storm.
My Grav/Storm is mostly a cautious solo character who can join in on teams when available to contribute what he can. I built my Grav/Storm to be able to break up groups so that I could take down one foe at a time with my GD-Crush-Propel attack. You appear to have made more of a team character, or you would not have taken powers like Resusitate or Vengence.
Now, I don't have access to Mids at the moment, so I'm going to just make a few suggestions on the build:
Fitness: all */Storm controllers have endurance issues. You should put at least 3 EndMod in Stamina, maybe a 4th slot with the Perf Shifter proc, and use both the Numina and Miracle procs in Health. A third slot in Health for the Miracle Heal will buff your Regen and give you a Recovery buff.
Lift: I skipped Lift in my usual build. Crush does more damage AND sets up Containment. Frankly, I think Crush is a much better choice even though it does Damage over Time. However, the real choice is between Lift and Propel. Propel is great damage, but it is SLOW . . . on a team, it is very common to activate Propel on a foe, and then have a teammate kill that foe before Propel hits. I call it "necroblasting" when I hit something that is already dead. I do a lot of necroblasting with Propel. If you spend almost all your time on teams, you may want your attack chain to be GD-Crush-Lift rather than GD-Crush-Propel. So I would take Crush here over Lift. If you only play on teams, you may want to consider taking Lift instead of Propel, but take Crush.
6-Slotting Thunderstrike is good if you are going for Ranged Defense. If you are going for Recharge, then use 5 Decimations. You took 5 Thunderstrike in Lift and 5 Decimation in Propel. Are you going for Recharge or Ranged Defense? Pick one and go all out for it.
Gravity Distortion: Most of the Hold sets are not great. If you are going for Ranged Defense, then Lockdown is good for the defense bonus. However, that Lockdown proc is not all that useful -- it only has an effect about 2.4% of the time or less. (It often shows that it is working on foes that are already held so that the proc is adding nothing.) If you are going for Recharge, then 4 Basilisk's Gaze. Finish out the last two slots with an Acc/Dam and a common Damage.
I skipped O2 Boost: I take it on most Stormies, but not on my Grav/Storm since Singularity can't be healed. Since I play this character mostly solo, it is a wasted power pick. Many people skip O2 Boost. On a team build, it has some benefit but it is a weak heal, often better used for the protection from Stun and Endurance Drain. O2 Boost is nice to use on a teammate who has just used a Wakie, to break him out of the stun.
I took Snow Storm here. The main benefits to Snow Storm are the -Recharge and -Fly, neither of which can be enhanced. Since Gravity has Slow as a secondary effect of its powers AND it has an AoE Immob, I see little to no benefit to slotting Snow Storm for Slow (which only affects run speed). I used 2 EndRdx.
Steamy Mist: 6 Slots of LotG is probably too much. Take out the Dam/Rch and End/Rech. Maybe add back a Karma -Knockback or a Steadfast -Knockback . . . it will take either one. I personally use Super Speed with Steamy Mist for full invisibility, but if you don't want Super Speed, get a Stealth IO for Sprint or your travel power. There are some nice strategic advantages to full invisibility.
Crushing Field: As far as slotting, it mainly needs Accuracy and EndRdx. After that, damage procs are nice. The best proc is the Gravitational Anchor Chance for Hold from the purple set. You can slot this in a variety of ways depending upon which set bonuses you want. Trap of the Hunter is cheap and provides some nice bonuses, if that's what you want. The most important use of this power is in conjunction with either Freezing Rain or Wormhole's Stun (or Thunderclap's).
Fly: Since I-19 (or was it I-18?), Fly is at speed cap by default, with no flightspeed slotting. So unless you need that small defense bonus, slotting anything other than EndRdx (or maybe a Stealth or the Zephyr -Knockback) is wasted.
Freezing Rain: This is a key power -- Slot for Recharge first, then the Achilles Heal proc, then other damage procs if you have room. The damage it does is misleading . . . those "-1" you see are actually "-.3" so slotting for damage is wasted. Slotting for Defense Debuff is also not really needed, as the amount of defense debuff it already does combined with your standard Accuracy and any accuracy bonuses you have will almost always take you to the 95% accuracy cap.
GDF: It can be slotted a lot of different ways, depending upon which bonuses you want. Lockdown for Ranged Damage, Baz Gaze for Recharge. I think I have mine 5 slotted with 4 Baz Gaze and an extra Acc/Hold/Rech.
Medicine Pool: Can be useful, but consider slotting Heal and Heal/Rech from Miracle for the Recovery bonus. Resusitate is mostly unneeded unless you have nothing else to take -- there are so many ways to rez folks in the game today (Combine Insp to make Wakies, temp powers, day job powers, etc.), that a rez is far less needed than before. Resusitate is a somewhat weak rez, too. There are a lot of other powers I would take over the Rez from the medicine pool.
Singularity: I suggest 4 of the Expediant Reinforcement set with its 10% Resist proc. Singy already has high Resistance, so stacking more makes him much more durable. Consider stacking in the other 10% Resist proc, too.
Wormhole is the AoE control power, other than the AoE Hold, in the Gravity set. Yes, it has situational uses. Solo, it is very useful. On some teams, it can also be very useful, but it takes learning how to use it with strategy. I took it at 26 and have 5 Stupify plus a Recharge in the power. I find Wormhole to be one of the main reasons to play a Gravity controller -- without it, it is a fairly boring set.
I also took Thunderclap to stack with the stun in Wormhole. It looks cool, recharges quickly and can stack a mag 2 stun on top of the mag 3 stun in Wormhole.
I consider Tornado to be more of a damage power that also can be an effective "panic button" power. The overall damage it does over time is significant, and the fact that it is AUTOHIT makes it great for doing damage to foes who may be otherwise difficult to hit (AVs, Fake Nemesis in PFF, Paragon Protectors in MOG). I use it less on my Grav/Storm than on other controllers who have -knockback in their AoE Immob, but it is still useful. It can also take a Pet damage set, like 4 Expediant Reinforcement.
Leadership: In my opinion, */Storm characters use so much endurance that they can't afford the Leadership toggles. A buddy of mine just came to the same conclusion on his own on his Plant/Storm, as he was running out of endurance even with the Cardiac in his Alpha Slot.
As for APP sets, I like Ice. Hibernate gives you a way to get both Health and endurance, and it can get by with a single Recharge. The Armor is S/L Defense, which you could buff with several sets like the Enfeebled Op set in Crushing Field. You have accest to one fast single-target damage power and two AoEs . . . and Gravity could use more AoE damage.
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
First off I really appreciate the detailed response. I can obviously understand the concept of the build on a base level, but it was very helpful to see the reasoning in your choices. To answer your initial question I do indeed prefer team play and its what I spend the majority of my time doing and I yes I was trying to create a recharge heavy build. I realized around lvl 35 that Grav is not the studliest control set as far as teaming goes, but I had seen in the past how cool the combo with storm could be play-wise and aesthetically so I was firm in finding a way to make it work, which I feel I have done for the most part. All these recommendations make way too much sense for me to ignore, but in the hopes that you see this response I do have a few follow up questions if you find the time.
I notice that the AoE hold in Grav doesn't seem to snag as many as it should, is there anything specific I need to do to change that?
On your suggested enhancements for GD after the Bas Gaze what set do you mean for the acc/dam?
I honestly threw Leadership in at the last moment and I do see the potential end problems so is there any thought on what those open power spots would be better used on?
I'm interested in the full invisibility and with open spots shouldn't be an issue, but is there anything special I need to slot in there to make it "full"?
Finally, you mentioned an accuracy cap in your response and after looking through the forums the last week I've seen reference to numbers and percentages to things like Defense cap, -recharge etc. I'm really not familiar with any targets I should be reaching on these important stats. Is there a site or any place to reference this info?
Really, thanks again for helping me out. I just needed a little guidance so I can just be solid in making builds for all future toons.
Quote:
Most AoE controls have a 20% Accuracy penalty. So you need to make sure that it has enough accuracy to overcome that penalty. Standard slotting for AoE controls with SOs is 2 Acc, 2 Hold, 2 Rech for this reason.|
Originally Posted by Nerdstrom
First off I really appreciate the detailed response. I can obviously understand the concept of the build on a base level, but it was very helpful to see the reasoning in your choices. To answer your initial question I do indeed prefer team play and its what I spend the majority of my time doing and I yes I was trying to create a recharge heavy build. I realized around lvl 35 that Grav is not the studliest control set as far as teaming goes, but I had seen in the past how cool the combo with storm could be play-wise and aesthetically so I was firm in finding a way to make it work, which I feel I have done for the most part. All these recommendations make way too much sense for me to ignore, but in the hopes that you see this response I do have a few follow up questions if you find the time.
I notice that the AoE hold in Grav doesn't seem to snag as many as it should, is there anything specific I need to do to change that? |
Some people slot 4 Baz Gaze in their AoE hold and that's all . . . but those people probably don't use it much. I prefer a 5th slot of Acc/Hold/Recharge, usually from a cheap set like Essence of Curae. Also, remember that the AoE of that hold is not huge . . . the PB AoE versions of AoE Holds (Flash, Glacier, Cinders) have a larger radius to make up for the fact that they are not ranged.
Quote:
| On your suggested enhancements for GD after the Bas Gaze what set do you mean for the acc/dam? |
I have a lot of Hami-Os left over from when I used to do a lot of Hami-Raids and Statesman's TFs. They are available on the market or you can earn them yourself. The one that drops is random, so you may not get the one you want for a while.
If you don't want to use a Hami-O, then any ranged damage set will work. Two Thunderstrikes have a small Recovery bonus.
Quote:
| I honestly threw Leadership in at the last moment and I do see the potential end problems so is there any thought on what those open power spots would be better used on? |
Quote:
| I'm interested in the full invisibility and with open spots shouldn't be an issue, but is there anything special I need to slot in there to make it "full"? |
There is also the Stealth Pool, but ever since Stealth IOs came into the game, I see no reason to use a power pick for stealth (unless you just want a mule power for certain types of enhancements -- I dislike mule powers, as I like something that will provide a benefit).
I find Invisibility to be a big part of my playstyle on a lot of characters -- Controllers, Defenders, Blasters, Corrupters, Dominators and, of course, Stalkers.
Quote:
| Finally, you mentioned an accuracy cap in your response and after looking through the forums the last week I've seen reference to numbers and percentages to things like Defense cap, -recharge etc. I'm really not familiar with any targets I should be reaching on these important stats. Is there a site or any place to reference this info? |
The inherent Defense Debuff in Freezing Rain is enough almost all the time . . . the vast majority of time, enhancing the Defense Debuff will do nothing. It will have an effect once in a rare while, but that's when you use Tornado, which is autohit so it ignores Defense.
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
As far as the Acc/Dam in GD, you could use any acc/dam. A level 40 ruin would probably be cheap if you bought the recipe and crafted it yourself, its only slightly worse than a level 50 acc/dam.
If you get a stealth IO and put it in sprint (will take either the run stealth or leaping stealth) and combine that with steamy mist, that would pretty much get you full invisibility. Superspeed + steamy mist would work also.
As far as caps &etc, your enemies always have a 5% chance to hit you and you always have a 5% chance to miss your enemies. So beyond a certain point, more defense or more accuracy is wasted (unless you are debuffed, the enemies are much higher, etc). For defense, 45% is considered the softcap. It can be hard to get to 45% to everything, so many non-def based characters will pick one type or position and get to 45% against that (ie 45% vs ranged, 45% vs S/L, etc). Another concept would be to shoot for 32.5% in a couple of different areas, that way with a single small purple inspiration, you'd be at the softcap. And of course, even a relatively small amount of +def is useful to someone like a controller, who hopefully won't be taking large amounts of aggro. Steamy Mist gives you some +def, you could suppliment it with the steadfast protection +3% def . . . nowhere near the softcap, but would give you a bit more breathing room. Even if you aren't going for the softcap, if you can easily pick up some +def without giving up something major, its nice.
As far as numbers for +regen, in order to be permanent, hasten needs 275% recharge. Hasten itself gives 70% recharge, and 3 SOs will add about 95%, so that brings you to 165% . . . 110% short. You can easily fit 3 or so LOTG +rech in your build (affording them might be another story) and its 7.5% bonus can be stacked up to 5x. You can also get 5 *more* 7.5% bonuses from other sets, so a max of 10 +7.5%. You can get up to 5 6.25% bonuses, and you have *several* different powers that can give you this bonus. I'd take a look at stupefy in stuns . . . 6 slotted it gives you ranged defense, recharge, health, recovery, and a stun bonus. Eyeballing your build, with a few minor tweaks to slotting you could get about +70% easy, and you could hit 110% if you reworked it to slot 5 LOTG +rech and 5 7.5% sets, or invested in purples.
The 65 million INF question is "do you need perma-hasten?" And the answer might well be "no". Will a few seconds downtime make a huge difference? The more *other* big, slow recharging powers you have, the more you want to get towards 110%. You definately want as much recharge as you can get without making significant tradeoffs (ie, throw a LOTG +rech in hover) but depending on how you play, +80% might be close enough to what you need.
Big picture you want to think about your key powers and what you bring to teams, how you enjoy playing, major weaknesses etc . . . and come up with something that maximizes your strengths while shoring up your weaknesses. A lot of it depends on how you want to play.
Sorry about the late reply, but just wanted to say thnx again for all the information. Was incredibly helpful. Cheers and happy hunting.
As always Local Man gives very good advice. You can find additional information about various storm powers in my sig (more than you wanted to know, I assure you). The numbers are slightly different for controllers (about 80%, although not consistently), and the strategy advice is slightly different, but there is some useful information in there.
A couple small things
Quote:
Optimal slotting for endurance goes:|
Originally Posted by Local_Man
Fitness: all */Storm controllers have endurance issues. You should put at least 3 EndMod in Stamina, maybe a 4th slot with the Perf Shifter proc, and use both the Numina and Miracle procs in Health. A third slot in Health for the Miracle Heal will buff your Regen and give you a Recovery buff.
|
stamina no slots: 25%
Miracle Unique: 15%
Performance Shifter Proc: 12% (If you have more than 13.2 additional endurance, 1 slot in Stamina is better)
1 slot in stamina( lvl 50 IO): 10.4%
Numina Unique: 10%
Pancea Proc: ~9% (If you have more than 5.7 additional endurance a second slot in stamina is better, and this is crazy expensive!)
2 slots in stamina: ~8,5%
3 slots in stamina: ~5.7%
However note, if you are going to put 4 slots in stamina, you are better of slotting 4 Performance shifters rather than 3 endmod and 1 +end, due to the recovery bonus.
Quote:
| Steamy Mist: 6 Slots of LotG is probably too much. Take out the Dam/Rch and End/Rech. Maybe add back a Karma -Knockback or a Steadfast -Knockback . . . it will take either one. I personally use Super Speed with Steamy Mist for full invisibility, but if you don't want Super Speed, get a Stealth IO for Sprint or your travel power. There are some nice strategic advantages to full invisibility. |
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Local_Man
There are some powers in this game that grant "full Invis" and a lot that grant "half invis." Steamy Mist is a Halfer. Super Speed is a Halfter. Together they make a Full. The Stealth IOs are also Halfers. (There are a few types of stealth powers who will not work together, like Steamy Mist and Illusion's Superior Invisibility.)
... There is also the Stealth Pool, but ever since Stealth IOs came into the game, I see no reason to use a power pick for stealth (unless you just want a mule power for certain types of enhancements -- I dislike mule powers, as I like something that will provide a benefit). |
Draggynn on Virtue: lvl 50 Storm/Psi, 1389 badges
Draggynn's Guide to Storm Summoning(Gale-Tornado, updated 6/25/2011)
Avatar by Wassy full reference here
Hello, I'm a long time player of the game and I'm familiar with all current content. I actually have an IO'd toon, but I copied the build so this is my first foray into creating my own. I don't know exactly whats wrong with what Ive put together, but I know it needs a critique. I was attempting to go for a recharge heavy build and take the cardiac alpha route so I guess one of the main pieces of info I could use is any number totals I should have in mind. If there are target percentages to reach on things like -recharge or End Rec I'm pretty clueless. Also, things like wasted slots or powers taken and perhaps most importantly, have I made a ridiculously expensive setup. Anyways, thnx in advance for any advice that might be offered.
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.942
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Gravi: Level 50 Mutation Controller
Primary Power Set: Gravity Control
Secondary Power Set: Storm Summoning
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Medicine
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Primal Forces Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Lift
- (A) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage
- (7) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance
- (9) Thunderstrike - Damage/Recharge
- (9) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
- (11) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
Level 1: Gale- (A) Accuracy IO
Level 2: Gravity Distortion- (A) Ghost Widow's Embrace - Accuracy/Recharge
- (3) Ghost Widow's Embrace - Endurance/Hold
- (3) Ghost Widow's Embrace - Accuracy/Endurance
- (5) Ghost Widow's Embrace - Hold/Range
- (5) Ghost Widow's Embrace - Accuracy/Hold/Recharge
- (7) Lockdown - Chance for +2 Mag Hold
Level 4: O2 Boost- (A) Doctored Wounds - Recharge
- (37) Doctored Wounds - Endurance/Recharge
- (39) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Recharge
- (39) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Endurance/Recharge
- (39) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Endurance
Level 6: Hasten- (A) Recharge Reduction IO
- (33) Recharge Reduction IO
Level 8: Propel- (A) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage
- (34) Decimation - Damage/Endurance
- (34) Decimation - Damage/Recharge
- (34) Decimation - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge
- (37) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
Level 10: Steamy Mist- (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
- (13) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Recharge
- (15) Luck of the Gambler - Endurance/Recharge
- (15) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance/Recharge
- (17) Luck of the Gambler - Defense
- (17) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed
Level 12: Crushing Field- (A) Trap of the Hunter - Accuracy/Recharge
- (13) Trap of the Hunter - Endurance/Immobilize
- (19) Trap of the Hunter - Accuracy/Endurance
- (19) Trap of the Hunter - Immobilize/Accuracy
- (25) Trap of the Hunter - Accuracy/Immobilize/Recharge
- (25) Trap of the Hunter - Chance of Damage(Lethal)
Level 14: Hover- (A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range
- (27) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range/Endurance
Level 16: Fly- (A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range
- (27) Blessing of the Zephyr - Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range/Endurance
Level 18: Freezing Rain- (A) Touch of Lady Grey - Recharge/Endurance
- (29) Touch of Lady Grey - Defense Debuff/Endurance
- (29) Touch of Lady Grey - Defense Debuff/Recharge
- (31) Positron's Blast - Damage/Recharge
- (31) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage
- (33) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
Level 20: Gravity Distortion Field- (A) Ghost Widow's Embrace - Accuracy/Recharge
- (21) Ghost Widow's Embrace - Endurance/Hold
- (21) Ghost Widow's Embrace - Accuracy/Endurance
- (23) Ghost Widow's Embrace - Hold/Range
- (23) Ghost Widow's Embrace - Accuracy/Hold/Recharge
- (33) Ghost Widow's Embrace - Chance of Damage(Psionic)
Level 22: Aid Other- (A) Healing IO
- (48) Recharge Reduction IO
Level 24: Maneuvers- (A) Gift of the Ancients - Endurance/Recharge
- (42) Gift of the Ancients - Defense/Recharge
- (42) Gift of the Ancients - Defense/Endurance/Recharge
Level 26: Aid Self- (A) Healing IO
- (50) Recharge Reduction IO
Level 28: Snow Storm- (A) Pacing of the Turtle - Accuracy/Endurance
- (40) Pacing of the Turtle - Endurance/Recharge/Slow
- (40) Pacing of the Turtle - Accuracy/Slow
- (40) Pacing of the Turtle - Chance of -Recharge
Level 30: Resuscitate- (A) Recharge Reduction IO
- (31) Recharge Reduction IO
Level 32: Singularity- (A) Call to Arms - Accuracy/Recharge
- (45) Call to Arms - Accuracy/Damage
- (45) Call to Arms - Damage/Endurance
- (46) Call to Arms - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
- (50) Call to Arms - Endurance/Damage/Recharge
Level 35: Tactics- (A) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff
- (36) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge
- (36) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge/Endurance
- (36) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Recharge/Endurance
- (37) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Endurance
Level 38: Lightning Storm- (A) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage
- (42) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance
- (43) Thunderstrike - Damage/Recharge
- (43) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
- (43) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
- (50) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
Level 41: Vengeance- (A) Harmonized Healing - Endurance/Recharge
- (46) Harmonized Healing - Endurance
- (46) Harmonized Healing - Heal/Recharge
Level 44: Conserve Power- (A) Recharge Reduction IO
- (45) Recharge Reduction IO
Level 47: Tornado- (A) Stupefy - Accuracy/Recharge
- (48) Stupefy - Accuracy/Endurance
- (48) Stupefy - Accuracy/Stun/Recharge
Level 49: Wormhole- (A) Accuracy IO
------------Level 1: Brawl
- (A) Empty
Level 1: ContainmentLevel 1: Sprint
- (A) Run Speed IO
Level 2: Rest- (A) Recharge Reduction IO
Level 4: Ninja RunLevel 2: Swift
- (A) Flight Speed IO
Level 2: Health- (A) Healing IO
Level 2: Hurdle- (A) Jumping IO
Level 2: Stamina