Dark Current

In advance of Thursday's release of my reaction and analysis of the team missions featuring my /Electrical Affinity controller, I'm releasing the complete stats now for your number-crunching pleasure! Hot Button Topic: DMG Procs in Carrion Creepers. Broken or WAI? Ostara - Plant / Elec / Earth Controller Mission Retrospective Mission 1 (Carnies escort) from 13:26 – 13:33 = 8 minutes with 4 teammates Mission 2 (Council escort) from 13:34 – 13:47 = 14 minutes with 4 teammates Mission 3 (Malta boss) from 13:50 – 14:06 = 17 minutes with 4 teammates Mission 4 (Arachnos, Council tip) from 14:13 – 14:31 = 19 minutes with 3 teammates Mayhem (PPD and LB, Cacophony) from 14:41 – 15:06 = 26 minutes with 4 teammates Total Time = 84 minutes DEFCON 5 Controller Stats: Rates = per minute calculations; Indexes = per teammate calculations 1. Survivability Total Personal Defeats = 2 Mission Personal Defeats Time Teammate Survivability Rate Survivability Index 1 0 8 4 0.00 0.00 2 0 14 4 0.00 0.00 3 0 17 4 0.00 0.00 4 1 19 3 0.05 0.33 mayhem 1 26 4 0.04 0.25 Total à 2 84 0.02 0.12 ß AVG 2. Risk Total Ally Defeats = 18 Mission Ally Defeats Time Teammate Risk Rate Risk Index 1 1 8 4 0.13 0.25 2 3 14 4 0.21 0.75 3 12 17 4 0.71 3.00 4 1 19 3 0.05 0.33 mayhem 1 26 4 0.04 0.25 Total à 18 84 0.23 0.92 ß AVG 3. Lethality Total Foes Killed = 198 Mission Kills Time Teammate Lethality Rate Lethality Index 1 25 8 4 3.13 6.25 2 25 14 4 1.79 6.25 3 26 17 4 1.53 6.50 4 44 19 3 2.32 14.67 mayhem 78 26 4 3.00 19.50 Total à 198 84 2.35 10.63 ß AVG 4. Threat Total Damage Output = 268,658 Personal Damage Output Mission: 1 2 3 4 Mayhem Attack Total: Corrosive Vial 182 81 43 127 429 862 Chance of Negative 260 272 174 546 696 1949 Ion Judgement 12172 9990 9054 19012 10512 60740 Entangle 492 1077 368 1307 1330 4573 Fissure 516 0 0 631 732 1878 Roots 1191 2780 1976 2995 5648 14590 Chance for Fire 194 441 310 590 952 2488 Seismic Smash 0 0 0 371 472 844 Chance for Lethal 0 0 0 82 99 181 Strangler 850 2164 1011 1725 2564 8315 Toxic Dart 181 799 296 795 377 2448 Cognitive Psionic (Interface) 93 372 177 383 663 1688 Waylay Psionic (Hybrid) 499 888 609 909 1355 4260 Will of Controller Psionic (Seeds) 1371 1878 3304 3609 5735 15897 Mission TOTAL: 18002 20742 17323 33081 31565 120712 Pet Damage Output Pet 1 2 3 4 Mayhem Pet Total: Creeper Patch 2343 3201 5218 4217 12188 27167 Creeper Vine 899 4286 3189 3928 9988 22290 Chance for Cold 1367 3350 2484 4438 9936 21575 Dark Ring Mistress 0 7361 1991 6105 7528 22985 Energy Font 310 440 229 321 2211 3511 Giant Fly Trap 5659 10081 4074 11060 15538 46411 Cognitive Psionic (Interface) 319 664 475 885 1666 4008 Mission TOTAL: 10943 29429 17707 30994 59101 147946 Combined Damage Output Mission DMG out Time Teammate Threat Rate Threat Index 1 28898 8 4 3612 7225 2 50124 14 4 3580 12531 3 34983 17 4 2058 8746 4 64033 19 3 3370 21344 mayhem 90620 26 4 3485 22655 Total à 268658 84 3221 14500 ß AVG 5. Resilience Total Damage Taken = 47,410 Type of Damage Taken Mission: 1 2 3 4 Mayhem Type Total Cold 0 0 353 0 0 353 Energy 592 0 1692 4489 7761 14534 Fire 373 898 2680 724 998 5672 Lethal 280 931 6479 377 1382 9448 Negative Energy 23 7317 0 0 0 7340 Psionic 1702 0 0 4085 0 5787 Smashing 132 314 0 417 730 1592 Toxic 0 0 0 2383 302 2685 Mission Total: 3102 9459 11204 12474 11172 47410 Mission Damage Taken Mission DMG in Time Teammate Resilience Rate Resilience Index 1 3102 8 4 388 776 2 9459 14 4 676 2365 3 11204 17 4 659 2801 4 12474 19 3 657 4158 mayhem 11172 26 4 430 2793 Total à 47411 84 562 2578 ß AVG Liability Ratio = DMGout : DMGin = 5.67

I considered using a standard mission or arc or TF for these tests. However, I felt running the same thing over and over will unfairly skew the data to favor later runs as I become an 'expert' at that TF. Also, a particular set just might be better tuned to the enemies on that TF than another set. Same is true if I run with the same teammates who learn 'what to do' each time. Aside from the impracticality of getting those people to 'report for duty' to 10 identical TFs. I wish things were as straightforward as you suggest. It sure would make the execution simpler. But I fear the only true way to compare is to embrace randomness and run enough missions to obtain a large enough sample size to identify significant trends or patterns. If one AT is truly superior to the other, then that should show consistently regardless of team or enemy. At least that's my hypothesis.

Wow Creepers put out a lot of chatter! Below is just one mission and just the Patch, not the Vines. Holey Schmoley! Even ChatGPT is saying WTF is this? I need to break it down into smaller chunks and feed the beast. This will take awhile to analyze my controller's data.

And here is my Reaction and Analysis video of the Team Trials. I discuss these stats in detail there as well as point out key moments from the missions that produced the results. Graphic Analysis of table data above plotting Rates (total stat / min) and Indexes (total stat / teammate). R2 values are a measure of correlation between the Stat and its denominator - time or teammate number. The range is 0.00 - 1.00, which is equivalent to percent confidence that the line of best fit truly represents the data. In other words, the closer to 1 (100%), the more reliable that graph is (the slope is real or the Cause : Effect is true). Summation For this defender and this set of missions, the only possible correlations are Risk Rate and Threat Rate. Risk is measuring an Ally's chance of dying and the graph suggests it grows the longer the missions are. Threat Rate measures Ampere Avenger's damage output over time and that graph likewise shows a potential relationship with time. None of the Indexes indicated any sort of relationship between statistic measured and number of teammates.

That's the idea! Generate enough data, and actual trends will show through the noise. Speaking of Stats, here are the first batch from my run with Ampere Avenger during the above-linked Team Trials video. These are the numbers and calculations (rates and indexes) I will compare with my /Electrical Affinity controller, Ostara. Then, these numbers will be combined with the other 4 defenders' numbers and compared to the 5 controllers' to see if any patterns emerge. This is a work in progress, so I'm sure I'll change lenses as I get more data. Ampere Avenger - Elec / Elec/ Elec Defender Mission Analysis Mission 1 = 13 minutes, 3 teammates Mission 2 = 11 minutes, 4 teammates Mission 3 = 11 minutes, 5 teammates Mission 4 = 13 minutes, 5 teammates Mayhem = 28 minutes, 5 teammates Total Time = 76 minutes DEFCON 5 Stats: Rates = per minute calculations; Indexes = per teammate calculations 1. Survivability Total Personal Defeats = 3 Mission Personal Defeats Time Teammate Survivability Rate Survivability Index 1 0 13 3 0.00 0.00 2 1 11 4 0.09 0.25 3 0 11 5 0.00 0.00 4 1 13 5 0.08 0.20 mayhem 1 28 5 0.04 0.20 Total à 3 76 0.04 0.13 ß AVG 2. Risk Total Ally Defeats = 19 Mission Ally Defeats Time Teammate Risk Rate Risk Index 1 1 13 3 0.08 0.33 2 3 11 4 0.27 0.75 3 1 11 5 0.09 0.20 4 4 13 5 0.31 0.80 mayhem 10 28 5 0.36 2.00 Total à 19 76 0.22 0.82 ß AVG 3. Lethality Total Foes Killed = 207 Mission Kills Time Teammate Lethality Rate Lethality Index 1 32 13 3 2.46 10.67 2 50 11 4 4.55 12.50 3 32 11 5 2.91 6.40 4 19 13 5 1.46 3.80 mayhem 74 28 5 2.64 14.80 Total à 207 76 2.80 9.63 ß AVG 4. Threat Total Damage Output = 275,598 Personal Damage Output Mission: 1 2 3 4 Mayhem Attack Total: Ball Lightning 4216 3287 2469 3864 8374 22208 Charged Bolts 1268 828 620 892 2866 6474 Ion Judgement Direct 223 700 896 1025 2570 5413 Ion Judgement Jumps 6185 6053 10815 11020 37408 71481 Lightning Bolt 1653 1857 1011 1941 4491 10953 Preemptive Interface 503 435 317 532 1149 2937 Shocking Bolt 134 115 110 100 280 739 Short Circuit 1923 2426 1424 2006 5912 13690 Tesla Cage 236 273 255 153 870 1787 Thunder Strike 128 0 137 461 565 1290 Thunderous Blast 5209 3634 3385 4136 6449 22813 Zapp 3003 2718 2163 3188 6524 17595 Mission TOTAL: 24681 22326 23601 29316 77457 177381 Pet Damage Output Mission: 1 2 3 4 Mayhem Pet Total: Anti-Matter Particles 0 5918 2813 0 13191 21922 Builder Essence 0 4348 2639 0 6660 13647 Dismantler Essence 0 7831 5474 0 26326 39631 Voltaic Sentinel 2005 3576 1428 2872 13135 23016 Mission TOTAL: 2005 21673 12354 2872 59313 98216 Combined Damage Output Mission DMG out Time Teammate Threat Rate Threat Index 1 26686 13 3 2053 8895 2 43998 11 4 4000 11000 3 35956 11 5 3269 7191 4 32188 13 5 2476 6438 mayhem 136770 28 5 4885 27354 Total à 275598 76 3336 12176 ß AVG 5. Resilience Total Damage Taken = 53,763 Personal Damage Taken Mission: 1 2 3 4 Mayhem Type Total Cold 0 0 28 0 0 28 Energy 245 54 0 2839 8119 11257 Fire 223 2021 2486 230 3137 8098 Lethal 49 473 805 224 3926 5477 Negative Energy 171 7177 3623 0 0 10971 Psionic 3319 63 71 6549 1404 11407 Smashing 512 238 167 896 926 2738 Toxic 0 0 0 3494 292 3786 Mission Total: 4519 10026 7181 14233 17804 53763 Mission DMG in Time Teammate Resilience Rate Resilience Index 1 4519 13 3 348 1506 2 10026 11 4 911 2507 3 7181 11 5 653 1436 4 14233 13 5 1095 2847 mayhem 17804 28 5 636 3561 Total à 53763 76 729 2371 ß AVG Liability Ratio = DMGout : DMGin = 5.13

Ampere Avenger - Team Mission Video: Mission Overview Mission 1* (Carnies escort) from 19:06 – 19:10, and 19:12 – 19:19 = 13 minutes with 3 teammates (combined 2 short escorts into a single stat chunk) Mission 2 (Council) from 19:22 – 19:32 = 11 minutes with 4 teammates Mission 3 (Council escort) from 19:36 – 19:46 = 11 minutes with 5 teammates Mission 4 (Arachnos ambush) from 19:48 – 20:00 = 13 minutes with 5 teammates Mayhem (PPD and LB, Holoman) from 20:03 – 20:30 = 28 minutes with 5 teammates Total Time = 76 minutes --------------------------------------------------- Ostara - Team Mission Video: Mission Overview Mission 1 (Carnies escort) from 13:26 – 13:33 = 8 minutes with 4 teammates Mission 2 (Council escort) from 13:34 – 13:47 = 14 minutes with 4 teammates Mission 3 (Malta boss) from 13:50 – 14:06 = 17 minutes with 4 teammates Mission 4 (Arachnos, Council tip) from 14:13 – 14:31 = 19 minutes with 3 teammates Mayhem (PPD and LB, Cacophony) from 14:41 – 15:06 = 26 minutes with 4 teammates Total Time = 84 minutes

Starting at DEFCON 5, we have Electrical Affinity! DEFCON Level 5 pits an Elec / Elec / Elec Defender vs. a Plant / Elec / Earth Controller in a no-holds barred who is better at protecting their team challenge! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Starting in the Blue Corner... an E3 Defender, The Ampere Avenger! MIDS Build: Ampere Avenger - Defender (Electrical Affinity - Electrical Blast).mbd Build Discussion and Solo Showcase Video: -------------------------------------------------------------------------- And in the Red Corner.... a Controller of primal fury, Ostara, the Spring Maiden! MIDS Build (UPDATED AGAIN - explanation forthcoming with TEAM video releasing SOON): Ostara - Controller (Plant Control).mbd Build Discussion and Solo Showcase Video:

Tearing open an old wound with this one, folks. We all remember the OG argument from City of Heroes... "Defenders are better for a team because of superior buff numbers! Their blasts add dps!" "Controllers are better because controls synergize with the buffs! Their dps is better with Containment!" /jranger Ok, I know what the numbers say on paper, but I want to know what actual, in-game action reveals. I don't think anyone has ever attempted an honest-to-goodness comparison of these two ATs. So, I am setting out to do just that... or at least provide some empirical data to chew on. I therefore bring you... DEFCON 5 is a video series that will compare 5 different defenders to 5 different controllers, with head-to-head pairings built around the same buff set. I will show you the builds, run a solo mission to discuss the character's tactics, and then a series of team missions to gather test data for analysis. Test Parameters: 5 Defenders vs 5 Controllers 5 Shared Support Sets – buff and debuff 5-Mission Runs (54x8, random map, escort only) vs 5 different factions 5-man Teams with no other DEFCON 5 Stat Analysis (completion time, foe defeats, ally defeats, ally close calls, damage out:in) 5 Star YT Opinion Poll for performance evaluations And just to stir up some controversy at the end, the AT with the 'most points' based on Stats and Votes will be declared the Superior Support Archetype! Check out the Introduction video here: Need more Build and Playtest Videos? 50 - 50 Showcase 20/20 Rewind

Welcome to the Grand Finale of the 20/20 Rewind! I present to you my most devastating build yet! 20) Thebe Dark / Fire / Soul Defender Concept: Personification of the Egyptian deity Kauket - bringer of the night, or dusk. Burn them with the fires of the setting sun and smother them with the darkness of rising night. Kauket: Egyptian Deity Of Darkness And Chaos Mids Build: Thebe - Defender (Dark Miasma).mbd Videos Pt 1. Build Discussion Pt 2. Solo Strategy (coming Wed!) https://youtu.be/BNbWtiBsguA Pt 3. Team Tactics (arriving Fri!) https://youtu.be/kg36yrXm3Q0

Thanks, my main inspiration was Black Manta, but I have a soft spot for Mysterio as well and didn't realize he does have that vibe. Artwork is generated through conversations I have with OpenAI's DALL-E 3 about my characters. I share information about backstory and powersets, as well as give the 'flavor' I'm looking forward. DALL-E interprets my concepts, and we go back and forth until we land on something I like. A lot of times the results inspire me to go back into the costume generator to match a detail I hadn't though of.

Corrupting with Homecoming's latest powersets! 19) Admiral Nautilus Storm / Marine / Leviathan Corruptor Concept: Ancient species of sentient deep-sea life rises from the depths to wreak havoc on the defilers of the ocean. Mids Build: Admiral Nautilus 1 - Corruptor (Storm Blast - Marine Affinity).mbd Videos Pt 1. Build Discussion Pt 2. Solo Strategy Pt 3. Team Tactics

18) ORTSENIS SHIELD / PSI / PSI Pop-O-Matic Trouble! Mids Build: Ortsenis - Tanker (Shield Defense - Psionic Melee).mbd Videos Part 1. Build Discussion Part 2. Solo Strategy Part 3. Team Tactics

17) PURIFICATION RITE WP / Fire / Fire Concept: Angel of No Mercy! Mids Build: Purification Rite - Tanker (Willpower).mbd Videos Part 1. Build Discussion Part 2. Solo Strategy Part 3. Team Tactics

Do you have a build you're working with?

16) Kherberus Psi / Will / Dark Concept: Power suit-amplification of a cerebite crystal allows Kherberus to focus his thoughts into devastating psionic blasts and defend himself with the force of his will alone. Mids Build: Kherberus - Sentinel (Psychic Blast).mbd Videos Pt 1. Build Discussion Pt 2. Solo Strategy Pt 3. Team Tactics

Does Illusion Control work for the concept? Ill / Dark / Dark dominator or controller.

Watch out! It's the Sentinels! 15) Kaldron Water / Fire / Electric Concept: Master magician who summons the elements to do his bidding. Mids Build: Kaldron - Sentinel (Water Blast).mbd Videos Pt 1. Build Discussion Pt 2. Solo Strategy Pt 3. Team Tactics

Guess what time it is? Time for another Mastermind! 14) Doctor Nguyen Robotics / Time / Mace Concept: a spin on Dr. Who... Dr. Nguyen (When) is a roboticist from the future journeying along the timestream to various times in the past to correct errors anomalies in the chronosphere. She is currently in present day Paragon and Rogue Isles investigating a proliferation in powerful beings calling themselves 'incarnates'. Mids Build: Doctor Wen- Mastermind (Robotics).mbd Videos Pt 1. Build Discussion Pt 2. Solo Strategy Pt 3. Team Tactics

Until you get your endurance issues under control (more slots, higher level IOs, set bonuses, permadomination, incarnates, etc.), I'd use Hot Feet sparingly as a click rather than a toggle. It has little to no control value, does so-so damage, and draws a ton of aggro. So I'd only fire it up when I've popped Cinders or tossed Flashfire and I'm in melee range with 3 or more targets to hit with it, and preferably have the imps with me chipping in damage. If the enemies are uncontrolled or I'm at range or there's only a couple targets, I'd shut it off.

13) Dread Skulltula Demons / Cold / Leviathan Mastermind Concept: Shield the demons, stay at mid-range in bodyguard, and start attacking / debuffing. Buffs provide solid defenses and resistances for entire team. Betcha can't catch me! MIDS build Dread Skulltula - Mastermind (Demon Summoning).mbd Videos Pt 1 - Build Discussion Pt 2 - Solo Strategy Pt 3 - Team Tactics

The dominating will continue until morale improves! 12) Glaize Ice / Psi / Ice Dominator Concept: magical armored construct powered by a mystical icy essence that can floor your recharge in seconds while confusing you into submission. Mids 'assisted' permadom Build: Glaize - Dominator (Ice Control).mbd Alternate 'pure' permadom Build (gets 140 exactly, but risky if any sort of -rch debuff hits; I have not built or tested this one)Glaize permadom - Dominator (Ice Control).mbd Videos Pt 1 - Build Discussion Pt 2 - Solo Strategy NSFW: The revamped Council / hyper-galaxy nonsense finally sends me into an expletive-laden tirade in the middle of the 53x7 mission. Pt 3 - Team Tactics Tonight's primetime release! Watch the last mission as I execute my first /Kick of the series against some juvenile troll pulling a malicious train maneuver against the unsuspecting team. https://youtu.be/PffrndPGCmo

That truck is pushing that car all around PI looking for somewhere to fill up.

Are there no gas stations in Peregrine?

Time to dominate your A! 11) Bewitcher Mind / Thorn / Mace Dominator Concept: alluring magician whose beauty allows her to get inside your head and make a sandwich. Mids Build: Hasten-free Permadom build Bewitcher - Dominator (Mind Control).mbd Videos Pt 1 - Build Discussion Pt 2 - Solo Strategy Pt 3 - Team Tactics

10) Autumn Harvester Poison / Assault Rifle / Soul Defender Concept: Ancient Egyptian / Pirate spirit awakened from his tomb to harvest the souls of evil-doers (inspired by Ghost Rider). Mids Build:Autumn Harvester - Defender (Poison).mbd Videos Pt 1 - Build Discussion Pt 2 - Solo Strategy Pt 3 - Team Tactics