Noobs On Ice presents: a Freeze Ray question

I'm having a lot of fun with an ice/ice blaster, but have to admit there's a fair amount I don't know about holds. In particular, what can I do to increase the chance that Freeze Ray will successfully hold lieutenants and bosses?

Without looking at the specific stats I can't say a ton, but basically there's not a lot you can do to increase the chance of that

See, the way holds work in this game is based on magnitude, starting at one at going up. If I remember right (and I could be wrong) It's something like, minions require a magnitude 2, lieutenants a magnitude 3, and Bosses a magnitude 4. A lot of powers tend to be in the 2-3 range. Anyway, to actually hold a boss you have to stack magnitude, there's no way to actually increase magnitude by itself. So if you hit a boss with it and it isn't held, hit it with another hold power and they'll stack and you'll hold the boss.

The other thing you can do is put the Lockdown +2 Mag hold proc, which gives a percent chance of applying a 2nd Mag 2 hold when you use a power, so in a hold power it'll automatically stack.

The best benefit you can get into freeze ray is accuracy, hold duration, and rech.

Recharge - to fire it as often as possible - stacking will get the bosses.
Hold duration - to, obviously,keep applied as long as possible.
Accuracy - to not miss

Great, thank you, folks!

Since you're ice/ice, you can also stack Freeze Ray with Freezing Touch. Freezing Touch has a very quick animation so it's a good way to hold a boss when you really need to.

Most player holds are magnitude 3, and bosses have inherent magnitude 3 hold protection (3-3 = 0, still means not held). So you need to use two of them to get above 3 and actually hold them. The hold no longer be in effect as soon as your first one falls off and the magnitude goes back down to 3.

Bitter Freeze Ray usually isn't worth the trouble because it has a long animation that can get you killed in the middle of it.

If you really want to be a blastroller, you can get Shocking Bolt, Char, or Cryo Freeze Ray from the ancillary pools for yet another hold. Just don't spend so much time controlling stuff that you forget to deal damage to it.

Its probably worth noting that some enemies are highly resistant to holds and such even if they are minions or lieutenants. Mikes life fun for low level controllers.

Here's the long version. Feel free to skip if its TMI.

All mezz powers have both a Magnitude and Duration rating. Magnitude controls whether the enemy is mezzed, and duration controls how long.

To successfully mezz an enemy, you have reach a Magnitude that overcomes its Protection. I believe most Minions have 1.0 point of protection, Lts have 2.0, Bosses have 3.0. If you match an enemies protection exactly, but do not exceed it, it is still unaffected. There are a rare few powers out there (like Mesmerize for Mind Controllers) that have Magnitudes like 3.5 that will mezz a boss in one shot. Freeze Ray has a Magnitude 3, so will mezz a Lt or Minion in one shot normally, but not a boss, because it is mag 3.0 and the boss has exactly 3.0 points of protection.

When your mezz power hits the target but fails to mezz it due to its level of protection, it's not totally wasted. It's actually still in effect for the duration and can be stacked with other similar mezzes or even (usually) the power that was originally cast. For example, assume you are stacking Freeze Ray (mag 3 hold) and Freezing Touch (mag 3 hold) together. If you cast the first one with a duration of 15 seconds, and the second one with a duration of 12 seconds, the boss is Held for the 12 seconds that the combined Hold Magnitude is 6, greater than the bosses' protection of 3.0, then breaks free again (unless you or someone else throws another Hold at it).

Note that any team member or pet throwing a mezz of similar type at that enemy stacks. So, if you are on a team, and throw a Freeze Ray at a boss and it instantly freezes, it probably means someone else already had put a Hold power on it, but hadn't hit sufficient Magnitude yet to successfully hold it. Freeze Ray's graphic has very high animation priority compared to other holds, so it can often look like Freeze Ray is the only hold in effect, regardless of whether this is actually true.

Some enemies also have mezz Resistance. This is different from Protection in that it doesnt outright prevent mezzes but shortens their duration. Although sometimes this is the result of a specific power, its most often the working of level differences versus the target. In a nutshell, an enemy who is +4 to you cuts the duration of your mezzes roughly in half. So, a power with a 15 second Hold would be around 7.5 seconds against a +4 enemy.

Elite bosses and archvillains can also be mezzed, but depending on their design its often difficult (esp for a Blaster). A lot of standard AVs have something called "purple triangles," during which they have very high Protection from mezzes. Archvillains that appear in iTrials have very high Protection and Resistance are essentially immune to mezz.

That's super helpful, Oedipus Tex, and I've filed it away in Instapaper. Thank you!

The key thing for me to know was "yes, multiple hits are necessary on some higher-ranked enemies". The extra detail, though, makes me feel actually clueful.

DID YOU KNOW?

Freeze Ray is arguably the best Hold in any Blasting (Ranged Damage) set? It has a super sexy fast cast time combined with a nice low recharge, and a (sometimes) helplful secondary effect even if the hold in resisted that will still mitigate some damage by reducing enemy recharge. Well, now that Dark Blast has a Hold that also does MIGHTY DAMAGE, this might not be the case anymore... I still love Freeze Ray.