Fire/Storm: Defense or perma-hasten?

All,

I have a fire/storm controller who I have played for a long time. A few months ago I tricked him out and he is perma hasten through tons of global recharge. However, I have been considering tweaking him for defense. Which would you prefer?

110% recharge (not including hasten) but no more than 10% incidental defense?

82% recharge, 42% def ranged, 42% def smashing/lethal, 28% aoe?

67% recharge, 50% ranged, 42% smashing/lethal, 33% aoe?

Which approach is more effective overall?

Also, all of the above are with mace mastery and its aoe and shield but not the blast. I could keep slots for the blast if I dont switch from fire to mace, but I would lose the high s/l def. However I would get a single target blast and I would have hurricane for melee foes.

Help?

Thanks,

Lewis

+end +recovery is the most important thing for a fire/storm.

OT,

Yeah I was leaning to the hybrid myself. I forgot about psi. I need to consider that.


MM,

Dont worry. Endurance is under control. I have a crap ton of recovery even prior to having cardiac.


Thanks,

Lewis

I personally went with Perma-Hasten on mine. But I went Fire/Storm/Stone.

Perma hasten pretty much means that Thunderclap is perma double stacked and Freezing Rain is Perma.

I usually just target the boss, open with Flashfires, jump in and Thunderclap, then Fire Cages to keep all the stunned stuff in Hot Feet. After that I get LS and Nado running and then cycle Tclap, Fissure, Seismic Smash, and Fire Cages until all that damage + the Imps have melted stuff.

I still run about 30% S/L defense and can come close to the softcap with a single small purple insp. If I get overwhelmed I still have phase shift and Perma Earth's Embrace to fall back on.

I could never go Stone Mastery on mine, tho that is cool. I refuse to be grounded, even if I'm occasionally hovering near or on the ground. But yeah, I love my perma Fire/Storm/Fire build I have now. I just cant help but think I'd be more robust (as in I could act stupid while driving). I can certainly use my arsenal of goodies to be very safe as-is, esp with perma-hasten.

Anyway, thanks for the reply. I'll dwell on all of them.

Thanks to all!

Lewis

You could go several ways.

I personally usually elect for Ranged defense on most Controllers for one main reason: if the enemy is shooting you, its probably because it was outside your AoEs. How often this happens to you depends on what content you play.

A soloist Storm character also always has the option to turn on Hurricane if things get too hot at melee... not a whole lot you can do for the ranged enemies if they are spread out.

This is the build I'm thinking of switching to. Basically, I drop just a bit below perma-hasten, but I pick up lots of defense. I dont actually run tough, but I never had it in my other build anyway. I dont think.

Lewis

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.942
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Teen Witch RNG-RECH: Level 50 Natural Controller
Primary Power Set: Fire Control
Secondary Power Set: Storm Summoning
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Psionic Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Char -- BasGaze-Acc/Hold(A), BasGaze-Acc/Rchg(3), BasGaze-Rchg/Hold(3), BasGaze-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(7), Lock-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(7)
Level 1: Gale -- Acc-I(A)
Level 2: Fire Cages -- TotHntr-Acc/Rchg(A), TotHntr-EndRdx/Immob(5), TotHntr-Acc/EndRdx(5), TotHntr-Immob/Acc(43), TotHntr-Acc/Immob/Rchg(43), TotHntr-Dam%(46)
Level 4: Snow Storm -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 6: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(34), RechRdx-I(37)
Level 8: Hot Feet -- Erad-Dmg(A), Erad-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(9), Erad-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(9), Sciroc-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(11), M'Strk-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(11), EndRdx-I(31)
Level 10: Steamy Mist -- LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(A), LkGmblr-Def(34), LkGmblr-Rchg+(34)
Level 12: Flashfire -- Amaze-Stun(A), Amaze-Stun/Rchg(13), Amaze-Acc/Stun/Rchg(13), Amaze-Acc/Rchg(15), Amaze-EndRdx/Stun(15)
Level 14: Super Speed -- Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(A), Zephyr-ResKB(45)
Level 16: Freezing Rain -- UndDef-DefDeb/Rchg(A), UndDef-Rchg/EndRdx(17), UndDef-Rchg(17), Achilles-ResDeb%(40)
Level 18: Cinders -- BasGaze-Acc/Hold(A), BasGaze-Acc/Rchg(25), BasGaze-Rchg/Hold(27), BasGaze-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(27)
Level 20: Hurricane -- DarkWD-ToHitDeb(A), DarkWD-ToHitDeb/Rchg(21), DarkWD-ToHitdeb/Rchg/EndRdx(21), DarkWD-ToHitDeb/EndRdx(25)
Level 22: Hover -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), Zephyr-Travel(23), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(23)
Level 24: Combat Jumping -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 26: Boxing -- Acc-I(A)
Level 28: Thunder Clap -- Stpfy-Acc/Rchg(A), Stpfy-EndRdx/Stun(29), Stpfy-Acc/EndRdx(29), Stpfy-Stun/Rng(31), Stpfy-Acc/Stun/Rchg(31), Stpfy-KB%(45)
Level 30: Tough -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A)
Level 32: Fire Imps -- BldM'dt-Acc/Dmg(A), BldM'dt-Dmg/EndRdx(33), BldM'dt-Acc/EndRdx(33), BldM'dt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(33), BldM'dt-Acc(46), BldM'dt-Dmg(46)
Level 35: Tornado -- ExRmnt-Acc/Rchg(A), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg(36), ExRmnt-Dmg/EndRdx(36), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(36), ExRmnt-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(37), ExRmnt-+Res(Pets)(37)
Level 38: Lightning Storm -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(39), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(39), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(39), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(40), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(40)
Level 41: Mental Blast -- Decim-Acc/Dmg(A), Decim-Dmg/EndRdx(42), Decim-Dmg/Rchg(42), Decim-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(42), Decim-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(43)
Level 44: Indomitable Will -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A)
Level 47: Psionic Tornado -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(48), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(48), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(48), Posi-Dam%(50)
Level 49: Weave -- LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(A), LkGmblr-Def(50), LkGmblr-Rchg+(50)
Level 50: Cardiac Total Core Revamp
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Acc-I(A)
Level 1: Containment
Level 1: Sprint -- ULeap-Stlth(A)
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Flight-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Mrcl-Rcvry+(A), Numna-Regen/Rcvry+(45)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- P'Shift-EndMod(A), P'Shift-EndMod/Acc(19), EndMod-I(19)

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I wonder if you are getting your money's worth for those slots in freezing rain. It never seemed like the -def needed any additional slotting. With that much global recharge, you're also not getting a whole lot out of the recharge slotting. You could drop it down to achilles' and a single recharge IO and only lose 2.8 seconds on the recharge. Moving just one of those slots over to a recharge IO Indomitable Will would shave 19 seconds off its recharge. You'd have another slot to spare to shore up Cinders as well.