Illusion/Sonic Build Help

Hi all. I've been playing my Illusion/Sonic controller a lot more lately, recently getting a few of her incarnate slots taken care of. I haven't been able to find a very firm guide for this build that isn't outdated, so I was hoping to get some input. I'll tell you a little bit about her current build.

Right now I'm focusing on a character that can still solo effectively, but is still useful in both trial and TF situations. Solo, my attack chain consists of my single target hold, followed by Spectral Wounds, the ice blast from the Ice EPP, and Air Superiority. In group situations, I focus on Spectral Terror, Phantom Army, and using Liquify and the rain power from the Ice EPP on cooldown. I run the AoE resistance buff from Sonic and Hover nonstop, and the tank-targeted Sonic debuff when I'm in teams. When I run out of End, which seems to happen quickly if I'm in a team, I use Hibernate to quickly get back up.

For my Incarnate powers: I'm currently running with Cardiac for my Alpha, because it feels like I need the help with end. Eventually I'll cap it with the Cardiac that boosts End Reduction, as well as Fear duration and Damage Resistance buffs. For my Judgement I went with Ion, and I'm focusing on the pure DPS one instead of the -Recovery ones. Interface is Reactive, with a focus on the fire DoT to help with soloing. I haven't unlocked the other incarnate slots yet.

So I have a few questions. First, is there an EPP that would work better for me than the Ice one? I find Hibernate useful but the rain really doesn't seem to be doing much, and I imagine the cold blast is basically no different than any other ranged DPS power from any of the EPPs. Second, are my Incarnate choices decent for what I'm going for? I find a lot of the incarnate stuff fairly overwhelming, there's a ton of choices.

I'm currently not running any IO sets, simply because it seems like a very daunting task. I have tons of inf, but it looks like it'd take hours upon hours finding recipes and ingredients, putting them together, and slotting them. Not to mention that I'm not sure what sets to focus on and build towards.

Any help or advice is greatly appreciated!

Illusion/Sonic is a fairly rare combo . . . Sonic in general is pretty rare, and it only has limited synergy with Illusion. On the Illusion side, I suggest you take a look at my Ill/Rad guide, linked in my sig. It has a lot of information on slotting, including sets that will maximize Recharge.

And Recharge is where you want to go, mostly to get Phantom Army up as much as possible.

On the APP choice: Frankly, I think Ice is a pretty good choice but you may want to consider Frost Breath instead of Ice Storm. Without an AoE Immob, it is hard to keep foes in the area of effect of the Storm. Frost Breath is faster damage and faster Recharge. I use Ice on my Ill/Storm and Ill/Cold. On my Ill/Rad and Ill/TA, I use Fire -- Fireball is pretty awesome, and Fire Blast has slightly more damage. But Ice's Defense-based Armor and Hibernate are very nice to have. Psi and Primal's blasts are slightly slower and are damage types that are more resisted. And Earth's Hurl Boulder is just too slow.

I always like to see someone take "The Road Less Traveled" and Ill/Sonic certainly qualifies, I don't think I've ever seen one.

Without an IO build that is endurance friendly, you probably need your epic to have an endurance management tool, leaving Fire (Consume), Ice (Hibernate), Primal (Conserve Power), Soul (Dark Consumption), Leviathan (Hibernate again), and Mu (Power Sink). I like Hibernate because it's not just for endurance but it's a great "you don't win" (as opposed to an "I win") power.

I can certainly relate to how foreboding it can feel to go from SO build to finalized live IO set build. I've got many waiting on the build assembly line just waiting for me to "get around to it". Still, if this is the character you spend the most time playing, it's a worthy endeavor. It really shouldn't take "hours upon hours", at least if you only count in-game time. It may well take many hours for bids to fill while you're offline, at least you should hope so, meaning you're not using the "buy it nao" method. These steps will get your build:

1) Create it in Mids
2) (optional) Post it back here for review
3) Place bids on your recipes, grouping as much as possible (ie, if you're using 3 sets of Decimations, buy your 3 Deci Acc/Dmg in one bid)
4) Place bids on salvage you don't own for those recipes
5) Create and store these enhancements, preferably in an SG base you either own or completely trust the other members who have rights to storage bins.
6) Repeat 1-5 until all enhancements are built
7) Respec

You're done! I realize the above outline may seem pedantic, but it's just to show that any daunting task can be broken down into less daunting sub tasks, which makes it easier to do.

Can only say a few things about ill/sonic:

1. Made one. Felt playable once I finally got into the Ice APP. Ended up *hating* playing that character, quite honestly. (Got it to 50 because I was almost done with one of each control set to 50, and it was the farthest Illusion along. Then electric control came out. Arrrgh....)

2. Yeah. END use is a pain. Cardiac sounds solid, can't say how Reactive would work - I haven't had the urge to really use mine in trials (which is a pity, because as a *character* I like her. As a pair of powersets, though...)

3. Echoing the "You will be focusing on recharge." (Which is one of the things that drove me batty with it.) The few sets I have in her are there for recharge.

APP, I snagged everything BUT Ice Armor. I had no need for it - it was either feared, confused, held or attacking a pet. Or flopping around on a Liquefy patch. Or more than one of the above.

Quote:

, I think Ice is a pretty good choice but you may want to consider Frost Breath instead of Ice Storm. Without an AoE Immob, it is hard to keep foes in the area of effect of the Storm.

... you'll be using Liquefy and flash to help with this. Neither is up *fast,* honestly.

I'd post a build, but really - I just couldn't bring myself to invest much in her. Like I said, loved as a *character,* even is one of my favourite bits of artwork - but hated playing the sets.



Tossing in a build, but I wouldn't go by it - like I said, didn't invest much. Maneuvers is there... actually, not sure why I picked maneuvers up at the time. (And ignore the one reactive. Think I threw it in because I had it but didn't have another resist crafted at the time.)

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

Click this DataLink to open the build!

CTI Dreamer: Level 50 Technology Controller
Primary Power Set: Illusion Control
Secondary Power Set: Sonic Resonance
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Ice Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Blind -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(3), RechRdx-I(3), Hold-I(5), Dmg-I(5), Dmg-I(7)
Level 1: Sonic Siphon -- Acc-I(A)
Level 2: Spectral Wounds -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(7), RechRdx-I(9), Dmg-I(9), Dmg-I(11), Dmg-I(11)
Level 4: Sonic Barrier -- EndRdx-I(A), ResDam-I(13), ResDam(13), ResDam(15)
Level 6: Hover -- Empty(A)
Level 8: Sonic Haven -- EndRdx-I(A), RctvArm-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(15), ResDam(17), ResDam(17)
Level 10: Deceive -- Acc-I(A), Acc-I(19), RechRdx-I(19), Conf-I(21), CoPers-Conf(21), Conf-I(23)
Level 12: Superior Invisibility -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(23), EndRdx-I(25)
Level 14: Fly -- EndRdx(A)
Level 16: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(25), RechRdx-I(27)
Level 18: Phantom Army -- ExRmnt-Dmg/EndRdx(A), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg(27), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(29), ExRmnt-Acc/Rchg(29), ExRmnt-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(31), RechRdx-I(31)
Level 20: Sonic Dispersion -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(31), ResDam(33), ResDam-I(33), ResDam-I(33)
Level 22: Disruption Field -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx(34), EndRdx-I(34)
Level 24: Flash -- Acc(A), Acc(34), RechRdx(36)
Level 26: Spectral Terror -- Abys-Acc/Fear/Rchg(A), Abys-Acc/EndRdx(36), Abys-Acc/Rchg(36), Abys-Dam%(37), Abys-Fear/Rng(37), Abys-EndRdx/Fear(37)
Level 28: Maneuvers -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(39)
Level 30: Sonic Cage -- Acc-I(A)
Level 32: Phantasm -- ExRmnt-Dmg/EndRdx(A), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg(39), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(39), ExRmnt-Acc/Rchg(40), ExRmnt-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(40), Dmg-I(40)
Level 35: Clarity -- RechRdx(A)
Level 38: Liquefy -- Acc(A), RechRdx-I(42), Hold(42), Dmg(42), Acc(43)
Level 41: Ice Blast -- Acc-I(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(43), Dmg-I(43), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(45), Thundr-Acc/Dmg(45)
Level 44: Frost Breath -- Acc-I(A), Acc(45), Dmg(46), Dmg(46), Empty(46)
Level 47: Ice Storm -- RechRdx-I(A), Dmg(48), Empty(48), RechRdx-I(48), Empty(50)
Level 49: Hibernate -- RechRdx(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Swift -- Flight-I(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Heal(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod(50), P'Shift-End%(50)
Level 1: Containment
Level 4: Ninja Run

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See my Guides and Tutorials

I had no idea that Ill/Sonic was a rare combo. I made the character a long time ago, when Sonic first came out, and she sort of sat on the shelf for a few years. I only started playing her again recently, because of all my alts, she seemed like the only one that could really work well with a group. Well, my MMs can too, but MMs are a pain in trials.

From what I've read it seems like Ice was a decent choice for my EPP; I was almost expecting to hear about how it wasn't a good option, so it's reassuring to know I wasn't totally offbase with it.

Gonna look into some recharge boosting sets when I get home. PA is still up a fair amount, but the times it isn't are sad ones indeed.

I've recently return to the game and rolled up an ill/sonic because it fit a roleplay concept so well. He's sitting at 40 now and I'm a bit lost on what sets to plan for, etc. I gather I should focus on +rech bonuses for PA, but if you got any helpful insights from yours Woot, I'd love to hear 'em.

Hope this isn't too much of a necro - I just haven't seen any other relevant threads to poke my head in.

I have an ill/sonic troller, she's a lot of fun, she just now got to 50, and havent thought about which route to take for the incarnate path. I went with Psionic Mastery APP, which gives her another couple of attack powers.

Really the only thing I can add is recharge, recharge, recharge...

I posted an Ill/Sonic build a few days back. I've played mine to 50++ and started IOing him out. I went Spiritual to make it much cheaper to Perma PA and Ageless to help with the END problems and boost recharge even more. Reactive for interface makes the DPS REDICULOUS. I chose the Fire APP for concept and also because of Consume and the stacking of resistance shields (he runs at ~60% res to S/L/F). When he's done, he'll have a little bit of def to support that resistance, a ST attack chain that decimates and solid AOEs with Judgment and Fireball. Even without tier 4s or IOs, I'm pretty solid solo and an asset to teams I'm on. Since I reposted a build, I've not heard anything back, which makes me assume I did it right. I'm still tweaking the build in mids as I go through IOing him since he's my first IO character, so even my build is not complete, but he's a lot of fun so far.

I've had a Mind/Sonic since the introduction of sonic, but once she hit 50 she was mothballed due to uber uber clickiness. With the change to individual buffs (i.e. shields) becoming AOE recently she went from uber clicky not-so-fun to a very fun build overnight. She's now sitting at +3 and I'm not reluctant to pull her out now for the occasional TF/iTrial.


And I too, enjoy the rare build. While it can definitely be fun to find powersets that compliment each other, it's also nice to find those outliers that take strategy and out of the box thinking to make work. Sometimes you'll find those are some of the most powerful and fun combos.