My thought is that my Ill/Rad/Fire generally doesn't get much aggro thanks to perma-PA and my other controls so the shield isn't a priority for me. One problem with Mace Blast is that you're going to have redraw slowing down your Blind/SW/Blast ST chain that doesn't exist with Fire Blast.
You already have considerable -res in EF along with a ton of -regen in LingRad so I don't see a compelling reason to look for more in the Mace secondary effects. I really think you're better off sticking with Fire and the damage.
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My view has generally been that the damage from the attack chain of Blind-SW-Fire Blast-SW makes the Fire APP superior. And not just because it does more damage.
Two important mechanics of Illusion should be considered. First, Illusion does Spectral Damage which heals back after a few seconds. If you can kill foes before the heal back, you get to keep the damage. Second, Illusion relies heavily upon its pets. If you have a bunch of minions around, this will dissipate the effect of the pets since they will spread out. However, if you can kill off the minions quickly, the pets will focus on the tougher targets drawing the aggro while doing damage.
With a fast attack chain of Blind-SW-Blast-SW, you can wipe out minions (and lieutenants) quickly. This lets you keep the Spectral Damage AND helps to focus the pets on the tough targets. If the tough targets are focused on your pets, what do you need Defense for??
The slower attack chain with Mace will not allow you to kill off minions and lieutenants as quickly. That -Resist may help you do a little more damage when you and the pets attack, but not enough to offset the benefits of Fire Blast. The added pet? Yes, it will do damage . . . but you can't direct it, you can't choose optimal targets to wipe out lower level foes so that the pets will focus on the tougher foes.
Fireball and Disrupter Blast may have the same Recharge but Fireball does more damage while Disrupter has a 20% chance for knockback.
I actually use Fire Shield. It reduces the damage I take, allowing my heals to be more effective. So, I don't consider it to be worthless. And Fire APP offers the only self-rez available to Controllers.
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Guide Links: Earth/Rad Guide, Illusion/Rad Guide, Electric Control
I love RotP on my Illusion/Sonic simply because incarnate trials have situations where you're likely to plant one way or another and getting right back in the fight is awesome. I'd stay fire if I were in your shoes too, though temptation for a second build with Mace for AV/GM soloing would be pretty strong.
Thanks for the responses everyone, I think I'm going to stick with fire. If it isn't broken, why fix it?
@Nova King
I absolutely love my ill/rad/fire. He's soloed GM's and Fireball + Ion gives some AoE production. But now I'm considering switching to Mace Mastery. I would pick up Posionous Ray (ST blast) Scorpion shield, Disruptor Blast and Summon Tarantula.
The problems iI have though are that the Damage for Poisonous Ray and Disruptor Blast dont compare to Fire blast and Fire Ball. However poisonous Ray does get a -Res and -Def debuff.
My other major problem with Posionous Ray vs. Fire Blast is the recharge time. Fire blast's base rech is 8.00s and Poisonous Ray's is 24.00s. Fire Ball and Disruptor Blast have the same recharge.
Lets look at the positives of Mace. Instead of a resist shield that I only use as a mule power i now get a defense shield and could cap out my s/l defense and drop Group Invisibility. The other positive would be the Toxic tarantula Pet which would be Perma. This is what captures my eye and would make up for the lack of ST damage i lose when going from Fire Blast to Posionous Ray.
I'm so torn on what to do and I dont want to make drastic changes and regret it. Can anyone offer any insight on this? Much appreciated.
@Nova King