DreadShinobi

Yes go with Plant. The high amount of -res from poison does crazy things to your confuse based damage. The -def in Envenom helps confused critters hit each other. The -def in Venomous Gas negates the -tohit when confused critters are fighting eachother. (-tohit debuffs have a negative effect on your confusion based damage output). All the -res in poison does some crazy things to all your proc based damage available in plant control, creepers in particular being unique to the set. Looking at your other considerations, Dark has tohit debuffs that has poor synergy with Seeds of Confusion. Earth is a very low dps set that has poor synergy with -res debuffs. Fire would probably turn out as you said. Plant/Poison will not disappoint. Here is build I run, which is similar to the build used by @Frosticus , Progenitor of Poisons. 😆 Hero Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.6.1.25 https://github.com/Crytilis/mids-reborn-hero-designer Click this DataLink to open the build! Level 50 Magic Controller Primary Power Set: Plant Control Secondary Power Set: Poison Power Pool: Speed Power Pool: Leaping Power Pool: Leadership Power Pool: Fighting Ancillary Pool: Stone Mastery Hero Profile: Level 1: Strangler -- Apc-Dam%(A), Apc-Dmg(3), GldJvl-Dam%(3), NrnSht-Dam%(5), GhsWdwEmb-Dam%(5), GldNet-Dam%(7) Level 1: Alkaloid -- Prv-Heal(A), Prv-Heal/EndRdx(21), Prv-EndRdx/Rchg(43), Prv-Heal/Rchg(46), Prv-Heal/Rchg/EndRdx(50), Prv-Absorb%(50) Level 2: Roots -- PstBls-Dam%(A), JvlVll-Dam%(7), TraoftheH-Dam%(13), Bmbdmt-+FireDmg(15), Rgn-Dmg(15), Rgn-Dmg/EndRdx(17) Level 4: Envenom -- AchHee-ResDeb%(A), ShlBrk-%Dam(21), TchofLadG-%Dam(23) Level 6: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(33) Level 8: Seeds of Confusion -- Ccp-Dam%(A), MlsIll-Dam%(9), SprOvrPrs-Rchg/Energy Font(9), CrcPrs-Conf%(11), Range-I(11), Range-I(13) Level 10: Super Speed -- BlsoftheZ-Travel/EndRdx(A), BlsoftheZ-ResKB(46) Level 12: Combat Jumping -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), Ksm-ToHit+(48) Level 14: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), Rct-ResDam%(17), Rct-Def/EndRdx(19) Level 16: Elixir of Life -- GldArm-3defTpProc(A) Level 18: Tactics -- GssSynFr--Build%(A), GssSynFr--ToHit/EndRdx(19) Level 20: Boxing -- AbsAmz-Stun(A), AbsAmz-Stun/Rchg(34), AbsAmz-Acc/Stun/Rchg(34), AbsAmz-Acc/Rchg(34), AbsAmz-EndRdx/Stun(40) Level 22: Tough -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A) Level 24: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(37) Level 26: Carrion Creepers -- PstBls-Dam%(A), JvlVll-Dam%(27), ImpSwf-Dam%(27), ExpStr-Dam%(29), TraoftheH-Dam%(29), Rgn-Dmg/Rchg(31) Level 28: Paralytic Poison -- UnbCns-Dam%(A), GldNet-Dam%(31), GhsWdwEmb-Dam%(31), NrnSht-Dam%(33) Level 30: Vengeance -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A) Level 32: Fly Trap -- ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg(A), ExpRnf-Dmg/EndRdx(33), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(48), ExpRnf-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(48) Level 35: Poison Trap -- Arm-Dam%(A), Obl-%Dam(36), Erd-%Dam(36), ScrDrv-Dam%(36), GhsWdwEmb-Dam%(37), SprWiloft-Rchg/Dmg%(37) Level 38: Fissure -- PstBls-Acc/Dmg(A), PstBls-Dmg/EndRdx(39), PstBls-Dmg/Rng(39), PstBls-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(39), PstBls-Dam%(40), FrcFdb-Rechg%(40) Level 41: Seismic Smash -- Hct-Dam%(A), Hct-Dmg/EndRdx(42), Hct-Dmg/Rchg(42), TchofDth-Dam%(42), GldStr-%Dam(43), GhsWdwEmb-Dam%(43) Level 44: Rock Armor -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(45), ShlWal-Def/EndRdx(45), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(45) Level 47: Venomous Gas -- EndRdx-I(A) Level 49: Earth's Embrace -- RechRdx-I(A) Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A) Level 1: Containment Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A) Level 1: Sprint -- HO:Micro(A) Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A) Level 4: Ninja Run Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A) Level 2: Health -- NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(A), NmnCnv-Heal(23), Pnc-Heal/+End(25), Mrc-Rcvry+(50) Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A) Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-EndMod(A), PrfShf-End%(25), PrfShf-EndMod/Acc(46) Level 50: Nerve Core Paragon Level 0: Freedom Phalanx Reserve Level 0: Portal Jockey Level 0: Task Force Commander Level 0: The Atlas Medallion Level 50: Reactive Radial Flawless Interface Level 50: Control Core Embodiment ------------

But what will I do with all these purple insps if I have a FF'er on my team? My insp tray is OP and this darn FF'er is nerfing my utilities.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, I still want a taunt aura in the power pool, however likely that it is to happen I really don't care, it is just what I am hopeful for. I'd like the option to have a taunt aura on a fiery aura or dark armor scrapper etc, or an arachnos, or a human PB/WS, or a blaster if I'd like to play into something more ludicrous.

If you have Hasten, Adrenal Booster is a good optional secondary buff. If you have Adrenal Booster then you should definitely have Hasten as it reduces the downtime of Adrenal Booster. Adrenal Booster has a small power boost effect that is amazing with a primary that has some stuns or holds. Energy Melee is a prime example as all attacks stun and stack a whole lot harder with Adrenal Booster active. Adrenal Booster has a small damage buff (34.6%), which for a 60 secondary duration is actually quite decent. Adrenal Booster also has a massive Tohit buff, which if you slot it 5 adjusted targetting IOs gets to nearly 55% tohit buff (!!), and also increases your tohit buff from build-up if you activate build up after Adrenal is active. This means you are hitting Paragon Protectors in Moment of Glory or that Nemesis spawn that got a massive stack of vengeance at a 95% chance to hit, turning those 'oh-darn' show stopper moments into a non issue. Adrenal Booster with a high recharge IO build can have nearly 50% uptime, about the same you would expect from Build-up.

With your experience and preference towards playing offensive archetypes, it feels like you would be more comfortable playing an offender rather than a defender and my recommendation would be to try a Poison/Fire Defender (or water blast for some self healing). Envenom + Venomous Gas puts out a constant [VG is a toggle, Envenom rchg is <5 secs when built) -65% resistance debuff with an additional +40% resistance debuff available from achilles heel and fury of the gladiator. Defenders get a ton of mileage from damage procs and damage procs are all amplified from resistance debuffs. You can put 5-6 damage procs in Poison Trap and Dominate for some proc bomb nukage after you gut your target's resistance. Poison is a squishy high risk/high reward powerset at first but scales hard as you gain access to defensive set bonuses and as your allies damage potential increase (-res is as effective as the amount of damage being applied). It is great as a solo team supporter with alkaloid to keep people topped off and moving forward with a rez/veng combo when the fan gets hit and also puts out a surprisingly high amount of personal damage when you are always able to blast against resistance debuffed targets. As others have said don't give your final say on a kinetics character before reaching fulcrum shift. Rad Blast with Kinetics is also a great combination because you can proc load your attacks and still get maximum enhancement value even with 4-6 dmg procs per attack because kinetics will cap your damage and refill your endurance. Damage procs and resistance debuffs are the only thing that will get you more damage, effectively exceeding the damage cap, after you fulcrum shift yourself to the damage cap. Rad Blast can consistently apply both fury of the gladiator and achilles heel as an aoe with Irradiate for -40% resistance after you damage cap yourself with Fulcrum Shift, then drop a 6-proc (5 dmg procs + annhilation -res proc) Neutron Bomb on them. Vigor Core Paragon at lvl 50 makes a big difference for a 6-proc attack character because it boosts both your accuracy and endredux in every attack.

I have also put a significant amount of time into a psi/shield scrapper. TK Blow is primarily psionic damage but it has a smashing component. Robots have high resist to lethal and psionic, which are all your blade attacks. Robots have negative resists to smashing so even though the smashing damage component in TK Blow is small, it is very helpful for dispatching lethal/psionic resistant foes. Mass Levitate is also pure smashing damage but cannot be used as your sole attack against robots. Boggle with 6 slot Coercive Persuasion provides an extremely valuable 5% ranged defense to shield defense. This is much less valuable to energy aura that has an easier time reaching softcaps and uses typed defense instead of positional. It still has some utility value, especially if you know which mobs are particularly destructive when confused, but the value as a mule power is not going to be as significant for EA as it is for SD. My preferred slotting for GPB is 5 hecatomb, 1 unbreakable constraint, running 2 purple dmg procs with good enhanced value and good set bonuses. The two damage procs, at purple values, are also both Negative and Smashing damage, which helps diversify your damage away from Lethal+Psionic. I put the critical strikes ATO in TK Blow and it works very well and consistently for me. TK Blow is your best single target attack that can set up the increased crit chance on GPB and is a viable way to set up the rolling crit chance procs in a sustained fight against a hard target like AVs and GMs. Mass Levitate should not be used in single target scenarios. Even if ML has the best chance to trigger crit strikes proc with mob saturation, you are going to have single target scenarios where you are missing that crit chance buff. Don't put the crit strikes ATO in mass levitate. Psi melee may feel lackluster exemping below GPB accessibility but the Synapse TF is a different story because clockwork have negative damage resistance to psionic damage so you actually deal very good damage even with just psiblade, tk blow, and psi blade sweep. Clockwork AI herds and clump themselves very quickly to get maximum value from psi blade sweep cone attacks. Psionic has fantastic ST dmg carried on those broad GPB shoulders, but the AoE damage can be lacking. You have one true AoE, and it has a base 20 sec cd. Shield Charge really helps a Psi Melee scrapper in the AoE department. An Energy Aura scrapper will not have this. I also use Fireball on my Psi/SD with 4 dmg procs to help with the AoE damage. Shield Charge and Fire Ball also help deal effective damage to foes that resist Lethal+Psionic. Psi Melee is a pretty endurance light set where it works well with Shield Defense and can be sustainable without needing the endurance tools that EA has.

It's a trap! Always Intuition Radial or Musculature for blasters. At best Agility/Nerve is going to provide about 3.2% S/L defense with a scorpion shield, and about 1.3-1.4% defense to the rest of your defense values if you have CJ/Maneuvers/Weave. The defensive bonus is easily replaceable and the dps loss is significant. Agility will also likely be reducing your proc damage. My Fire/EM build with a scorpion shield has 45.05% S/L defense (my other blasters use a resist shield). If I switch to Agility I get 48.33% S/L defense. With agility and blaze slotted 5 apoc w/ proc and gladiator jav proc = 463 avg dmg with intuition radial = 514.2 avg dmg with musculature core = 528.8 avg dmg

Lol yeah you didnt read or understand what i posted. Blasters DO have secondaries with filler attacks. Those filler attacks have varying values of benefit between different primaries. They are not the same. It does go double for defenders and corrs that can't take filler attacks to support an elec blast attack chain. This is a blaster thread. Elec blast does need help. What you just said doesn't support what i quoted of you previously where you said secondaries are irrelevant because every primary has access to the same secondaries. Different primaries are going to receive different values of benefit from adding melee attacks to the attack chain. It is pointless to compare blast set performance without factoring in what can be gained by your secondary because it will vary from set to set for reasons i already stated. Unless you are going for a pure ranged build and sacrificing a good 40% of potential damage output or you are a corruptor or defenders, blast sets can then be compared more 1:1.

This is false. Some primaries are capable of having more full attack chains as a standalone set than others and some sets complement having the melee attacks in their attack chain more than others. Certain primaries rely more on cones for damage and will have a harder time adding melee attacks into their attack chain fluidly. Some sets like water, beam rifle, and sonic have internal mechanics or -res debuffs that change how much benefit or loss you get from adding external set attacks to the attack chain. Some sets have low DPA attacks all around and their highest DPA attack might be Energy Punch, which would optimally be focused on in an attack chain, compared to Fire that will always prioritize Blaze. Fire blasting is a good example that really benefits from being played as a melee blaster because Blaze is such an outlier in terms of DPA. Electric also benefits alot from having the melee options fill out its attack chain, but for different reasons than fire, and the output increase is not equivalent.

It would be interesting to see what specific slotting @underfyreis using for their dps calculations, ie procs, recharge value, enhanced damage %, etc. I don't know if they realized that their damage values for each power changed significantly from one post to the next. IE flares in the first pure ranged post being at 169.7 and 185.21 in the more recent post, charged bolts at 190 in the first post and 188.88 in the second. Flares base damage is 63.19 and charged bolts is 62.56. For a valid comparison there should be some consistency between slotting. Especially in the first post, Flares damage should not have been below charged bolts (169.7 vs 190). It also appears recharge values for the set comparisons are not equivalent. The one thing that stood out to me that is actually relevant to @Snarky's original post, is that @underfyre did comparisons of damage potential of blaster damage ignoring their secondary, and a blaster that actually utilizes their secondary melee attacks. The Fire/EM with melee attacks included in the rotation compared to a blaster that ignores their melee damage potential or otherwise doesn't want to play as a 'blapper' or wants to hover blast, or whatever the reasoning may be, is taking about a 28% dps loss (if the math I did was even correct). Though because proc slotting was not shown the consistency of slotting and proc slotting potential should certainly be clarified. Melee attacks have a whole lot more proc opportunities than their ranged counterparts. edit: math not correct per underfyre's enhanced values: fire/em blapper at 350 dps vs pure ranged fire blaster at ~250 dps is a 40% dps increase. This is why blappering is a part of being a blaster and doesn't deserve seperate terminology imo. Sentinel, Corruptor, and Defender have better options to play blast sets as a purely ranged playstyle than a blaster.

@underfyreYou are comparing Electric blast utilizing a secondary powerset attack to supplement the attack chain with Fire Blast not utilizing any secondary. When I play my fire blasters, I don't use Flares at all in a rotation. Fire does as well as it does because the DPA of Blaze is just massive. You build your rotation entirely around it, this does not mean filling your gaps with flares, it means using the low animation time of Blaze to fit in your high DPA melee attacks.

180s base recharge on Mass Confusion would feel a whole lot better.

Vigor Core Paragon is a really nice choice for a proc heavy Water Blasting build. You get an additional 45% healing from dehydrate without needing to slot for it, as well as some extra healing on o2 boost if you like that (I do). Vigor also has a massive effect on your endurance consumption, both for a stormie and for a proc build. You get the endurance reduction and accuracy boost in every attack that lets you go all out with your proc slotting. Every damage proc for a defender is massively beneficial. Dehydrate for example gets the exact same damage improvement from a single +5 Apocalypse IO (+66.25% dmg buff) that you might use to frankenslot your dehydrate as it does from a adding a non-purple damage proc. Of course it can fit in both as well. Dehydrate can take 5 damage procs, not including apocalypse, which I prefer putting in Lightning Storm, which leaves you with one slot for attribute enhancement. With Vigor you still get +33% acc, 33% endredux, 45% heal, and 66.25% from an Apocalypse: damage. Defenders also have a very low damage cap, so not ramming up your enhanced damage can give you higher top end performance. With 66.25% enhanced, 18.75% from assault, you get 215% remaining to be buffed. Always important to consider how much room you have to receive damage buffs imo. Of that 215%, you will get another 105% during tidal forces/gaussians uptime which still leaves you room for 4 small red insps.

Because of these two points: Not only does a scrapper do more damage at a baseline level, you are also getting even more mileage from the constant +dmg available from follow-up, offensive adaptation, and higher base for -res effects to multiply (evolving armor, achilles). I'll also notate here that the extra damage proc slotting available to tankers that @Hjarki brought up (specifically perfect zinger) is not something that will ever come close to bridging the damage difference. Claws attacks have absurdly low base cooldown numbers Slash 4.8s, Follow-up 12s, Focus 6.4s, Spin 9.2s, Shockwave 12.1s, that do not make them very friendly towards proc slotting. Proc loading your attacks also means that you will not be able to run the optimal FU>Slash>Focus>repeat attack chain, and may even be a dps loss doing so. More damage is always going to be more beneficial. More survivability can be nice or it can be superfluous. Excessively needing to click your defensive cooldowns to stay afloat that would lower your dps is something to consider, as is build flexibility afforded by higher base defensive numbers on a tanker. However Bio armor doesn't really need to hit softcaps to function well, the set as a whole has some of the best layered mitigation available in the game. Bio Armor is a great set to run with its base effectiveness while focusing on offensive potential, but that is a playstyle preference. A bio armor tanker that went out of its way to achieve softcaps will not only have many dps compromises, but in the majority of circumstances will have so much survivability that many of the inherent tools available in the set become unneeded because your defense set bonuses+regen become more than enough, leading to a "survivability compromise." Bio armor functions at its best when you can pop your defensive cooldowns between spawns and kill everything before you need to click something defensive, this effectiveness lends itself towards being a scrapper. Scrappers also have access to Shadow Meld that tankers do not. It is a very low investment power pick that you can either click while running towards the next spawn negating the long cast time, or it can be used to reverse cascading defense failure, which bio armor has zero DDR. Here is my Claws/Bio Scrapper build if anyone is curious what numbers you can reach with the set as a Scrapper. It has 146.3% global recharge as set bonuses, which is enough to run the FU>Slash>Focus attack chain gapless factoring arcanatime. Hero Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.7.2.10 https://github.com/Crytilis/mids-reborn-hero-designer Click this DataLink to open the build! Level 50 Magic Scrapper Primary Power Set: Claws Secondary Power Set: Bio Armor Power Pool: Speed Power Pool: Leaping Power Pool: Concealment Power Pool: Leadership Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery Hero Profile: Level 1: Strike -- SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg(A), SprBlsCol-Dmg/EndRdx(37), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(40), SprBlsCol-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(40), SprBlsCol-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(43), SprBlsCol-Rchg/HoldProc(43) Level 1: Hardened Carapace -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), GldArm-3defTpProc(7) Level 2: Slash -- Hct-Dam%(A), Hct-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Hct-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(3), Hct-Acc/Rchg(5), Hct-Dmg(5), AchHee-ResDeb%(7) Level 4: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A) Level 6: Environmental Modification -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A) Level 8: Follow Up -- SprCrtStr-Acc/Dmg(A), SprCrtStr-Dmg/Rchg(9), SprCrtStr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(9), SprCrtStr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(11), SprCrtStr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(11), SprCrtStr-Rchg/+50% Crit(13) Level 10: Adaptation Level 12: Inexhaustible -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A), Pnc-Heal(13), Pnc-Heal/EndRedux(15), Pnc-Heal/Rchg(15), Pnc-Heal/EndRedux/Rchg(31) Level 14: Combat Jumping -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), Rct-ResDam%(34) Level 16: Ablative Carapace -- Prv-Heal(A), Prv-Heal/EndRdx(17), Prv-EndRdx/Rchg(17), Prv-Heal/Rchg(23), Prv-Heal/Rchg/EndRdx(25), Prv-Absorb%(25) Level 18: Focus -- Dcm-Build%(A), Apc-Dam%(19), Apc-Dmg/EndRdx(19), Apc-Dmg(21), Apc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(21), Apc-Acc/Rchg(23) Level 20: Evolving Armor -- UnbGrd-Max HP%(A) Level 22: Super Speed -- WntGif-ResSlow(A) Level 24: Stealth -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A) Level 26: Spin -- Arm-Acc/Rchg(A), Arm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(27), Arm-Dmg/EndRdx(27), Arm-Dam%(29), Arm-Dmg/Rchg(29) Level 28: DNA Siphon -- Pnc-Heal/EndRedux(A), Pnc-Heal/Rchg(31), Pnc-EndRdx/Rchg(31), Pnc-Heal/EndRedux/Rchg(46), Pnc-Heal(46) Level 30: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A) Level 32: Shockwave -- PstBls-Acc/Dmg(A), PstBls-Dmg/EndRdx(33), PstBls-Dmg/Rng(33), PstBls-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(33), PstBls-Dam%(34), OvrFrc-Dam/KB(34) Level 35: Genetic Contamination -- SprScrStr-Acc/Dmg(A), SprScrStr-Dmg/Rchg(36), SprScrStr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(36), SprScrStr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(36), SprScrStr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(37), SprScrStr-Rchg/+Crit(37) Level 38: Parasitic Aura -- Pnc-Heal/EndRedux(A), Pnc-EndRdx/Rchg(39), Pnc-Heal/Rchg(39), Pnc-Heal/EndRedux/Rchg(39), Pnc-Heal(40) Level 41: Moonbeam -- StnoftheM-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), StnoftheM-Acc/Dmg(42), StnoftheM-Dam%(42), StnoftheM-Dmg/EndRdx(42), StnoftheM-Acc/ActRdx/Rng(43) Level 44: Shadow Meld -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(45), ShlWal-Def(45), ShlWal-Def/Rchg(45) Level 47: Soul Storm -- BslGaz-Acc/Hold(A), BslGaz-Acc/Rchg(48), BslGaz-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(48), BslGaz-Rchg/Hold(48) Level 49: Summon Widow -- ExpRnf-Acc/Rchg(A), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg(50), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(50), ExpRnf-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(50) Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A) Level 1: Critical Hit Level 1: Quick Form Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A) Level 1: Sprint -- HO:Micro(A) Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A) Level 4: Ninja Run Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A) Level 2: Health -- Mrc-Rcvry+(A), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(46) Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A) Level 2: Stamina -- SynSck-EndMod(A) Level 10: Defensive Adaptation Level 10: Efficient Adaptation Level 10: Offensive Adaptation Level 0: Freedom Phalanx Reserve Level 0: Portal Jockey Level 0: Task Force Commander Level 0: The Atlas Medallion Level 50: Ageless Core Epiphany Level 10: Shadow Recall -- Empty(A) Level 50: Cardiac Core Paragon ------------ | Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer to view the build | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;1585;748;1496;HEX;| |78DA6594594F135114C7EFD029B5A52CA5ACB2140A94D2D2D2AA2F8A86A81822D04| |852E39BA9431971A4B64D8B0B8F7E03D7F8E267307189FAEAAB1B1AD1F8E0864BA2| |2842E4459FEA997BFE94266D32F99DFEEFD9EEB973277661D4796BECE288506A0EA| 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Scrapper fiery aura does not have a taunt aura. Scrapper secondaries are not made with parity, not all lack a taunt aura. Scrapper secondaries that do have a taunt aura do not have equal durations between them. Invul, shield, and bio armor have particularly good taunt auras and can make for fine main tanks for teams when built. A claws/bio scrapper will not have the same issues as your claws/fiery. A claws/fiery is absolutely stronger on brute or tanker because of taunt disparity. Claws/bio vs bio/claws is more of a toss up, but i would personally lean towards scrapper.

Oh then my mids is not up to date.

Oh I wasn't advocating Storm for corruptors, it is absolutely a better choice for defenders. Also now I remember why my Storm/Sonic runs Scream over Howl lol. It is better for ST dps, but also because you can't take Howl in that awkward level 2 slot when you want to skip both snow storm and gale. I'm not sure what you're referring to about Sonic animation time bugs. I just spam Shriek. Shriek>Screech>Shriek Shriek>Scream>Shriek Shriek>Stormie Cooldown>Shriek Best t1 attack in the game. Skip the long animating attacks with Sonic Blasting -> Shockwave and Sirens Song do not apply -res. Shout animation time damage is lower than Shriek. Playing Storm/Sonic is a minigame of how fast and how hard you can amp up the damage from the scrappers/blasters/stalkers on your team. Played correctly you won't feel a fallout from personal damage output, but it is something to keep in mind and it does require a very different playstyle and mindset from playing just about anything else. My biggest suggestion is looking at fitting in Charged Armor, Conserve Power, and Burnout.

Good sir did you really just allude to Fire Manip being bottom of the barrel? It is top tier lol. Ice Manipulation does seriously need some help though and it has improvement opportunities just about every way you look at it: Freezing Touch damage scale, could literally be more than doubled. Frozen Fists damage scale (compare cast time and DPA to Energy Punch, Charged Brawl, Taser, etc) Ice Sword damage scale (compare cast time and DPA to the same above) both powers are uncompetitive with other blaster melee attacks Frozen Aura zero damage, competing with Time Bomb for most exceptionally useless t9. Ice Patch cast time > not sure if this was cleaned up with the recent Ice Melee pass Shiver, poor in comparison to other blaster CC tools. Ineffective for mitigating damage for a blaster that needs hard control not soft control for alpha mitigation. Shiver only reduces damage after an enemy has gotten all it's attacks off against you. I kind of always wanted Blaster:Ice Manip to have a toned down version of arctic air. Even if it was a mag 2 confuse with reduced radius. The set needs to be able to actually deal damage though and no amount of control available is going to mitigate that shortcoming.

You made some odd choices, like skipping charged armor. Ice Storm is kinda eh for defenders without scourge. Just skip Gale, one of the best things about stormie on defenders is that you aren't locked into it. Similar to my thoughts on Sonic:Shockwave, the 2+ sec cast time isnt really worth the knock down as the only effect of the cast time, it is also underslotted for accuracy vs +4 foes (you don't need to use it vs even-con). When exemping for yin/synapse just grab the +recovery sg base buff and recovery serum temp, especially for synapse a luck insp here or there mitigates most of the end drain. Aside from doing yin/synapse once for the badge it isn't something i'd run on repeat as a lateblooming defender anyways and not worth heavy build sacrifices to put them into consideration for a once through. Also for going with Ice Blasting you are missing out on a huge (a very large gap) amount of proc-slotting potential. If you're set on ice blasting for your concept thats all gucci, but the gap between what you can do with ice blasting vs sonic blasting is going to weigh heavily in sonic favor when you're barely putting in more procs than sonic can equip. Sonic damage multiplier is immense with storm summoning because you have your own in-set damage to multiply, unlike other sets that you can combine sonic with, and the damage from tornado and lightning storm is passive and long duration and doesn't get in the way of your -res stacking. You're welcome to take a look at my storm/sonic build and take any ideas away that are helpful and ignore whatever doesn't jive with your goals (including taking sonic). Sonic attacks are slotted for my playstyle (AV shredding on speed run team content), but there are some variations you can make, such as taking Howl instead of Scream and/or putting the apoc proc in Screech. The build makes HEAVY use of Burnout to double cast freezing rain/tornado/lightning storm/dreadful wail. 2x freezing rain = aoe -70% res. 2x Dreadful wail = aoe -60% res with fury of the gladiator. Starting at -130% before stacking up your blasts and having double nados and lightning storms out before they recharge melts hard targets like no other. edit: build is also 45% range def softcapped with 36% melee def and 33% aoe def. and has 71% S/L res, 53% F/C res, 75% Energy res edit ex duo: you will also notice i didnt put a kb-kd io in lightning storm, and as im sure you will know about me I hate all things knockback, but I don't find the knockback there to be all that disruptive, at least for the way I use it. (AVs won't be knockbacked) edit 3: if you are interested in maximizing a proc loaded Ice blasting support, take a hard look at Ice/Kin corr. You can turbo load your procs with every single proc available and ignore slotting your attacks for things like damage and endredux because you are sexy kinetics. I can also post that build if you like. edit 4: also it shows ageless, I just put that on mids to monitor how a 70% recharge buff would affect my powers, I only use incan 100% of the time. Also put the Hecatomb in brawl somewhere else, like in Tough. Hero Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.7.2.10 https://github.com/Crytilis/mids-reborn-hero-designer Click this DataLink to open the build! meow: Level 50 Magic Defender Primary Power Set: Storm Summoning Secondary Power Set: Sonic Attack Power Pool: Speed Power Pool: Leaping Power Pool: Leadership Power Pool: Fighting Ancillary Pool: Mu Mastery Hero Profile: Level 1: O2 Boost -- Prv-Heal(A), Prv-Absorb%(15), Prv-EndRdx/Rchg(15), Prv-Heal/EndRdx(23), Prv-Heal/Rchg(25), Prv-Heal/Rchg/EndRdx(36) Level 1: Shriek -- SprVglAss-Acc/Dmg(A), SprVglAss-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(3), SprVglAss-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(3) Level 2: Scream -- SprDfnBst-Acc/Dmg(A), SprDfnBst-Dmg/Rchg(7), SprDfnBst-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(7), SprDfnBst-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(9), SprDfnBst-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(9), SprDfnBst-Rchg/Heal%(11) Level 4: Super Speed -- BlsoftheZ-ResKB(A), BlsoftheZ-Travel/EndRdx(46) Level 6: Steamy Mist -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(19), GldArm-3defTpProc(21), GldArm-ResDam(21), GldArm-End/Res(23) Level 8: Freezing Rain -- Rgn-Dmg/Rchg(A), Rgn-Acc/Rchg(31), Rgn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(36), Rgn-Dmg/EndRdx(37), Rgn-Dmg(37) Level 10: Combat Jumping -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(13), Rct-ResDam%(36), LucoftheG-Def(45) Level 12: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(13) Level 14: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A) Level 16: Boxing -- Stp-Acc/Rchg(A), Stp-EndRdx/Stun(17), Stp-Acc/EndRdx(17), Stp-Stun/Rng(25), Stp-KB%(31), Stp-Acc/Stun/Rchg(34) Level 18: Tough -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A) Level 20: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(37) Level 22: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A) Level 24: Tactics -- GssSynFr--Build%(A) Level 26: Tornado -- FrcFdb-Rechg%(A), ExpStr-Dam%(27), TchofLadG-%Dam(27), AchHee-ResDeb%(29), SlbAll-Dmg(29), OvrFrc-Dam/KB(31) Level 28: Hurricane -- HO:Enzym(A) Level 30: Burnout -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(40) Level 32: Lightning Storm -- Apc-Dam%(A), Apc-Dmg/Rchg(33), Apc-Dmg/EndRdx(33), GldJvl-Dam%(33), ExpStr-Dam%(34), FrcFdb-Rechg%(34) Level 35: Screech -- AbsAmz-Stun/Rchg(A), AbsAmz-Stun(43), AbsAmz-EndRdx/Stun(43), AbsAmz-Acc/Stun/Rchg(43), AbsAmz-Acc/Rchg(45) Level 38: Dreadful Wail -- SprVglAss-Dmg/Rchg(A), SprVglAss-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(39), SprVglAss-Rchg/+Absorb(39), Arm-Dam%(39), Arm-Dmg(40), FuroftheG-ResDeb%(40) Level 41: Charged Armor -- UnbGrd-Max HP%(A), UnbGrd-ResDam(42), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(42), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(42) Level 44: Conserve Power -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(50) Level 47: Summon Adept -- ExpRnf-Acc/Rchg(A), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg(48), ExpRnf-Dmg/EndRdx(48), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(48), ExpRnf-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(50), ExpRnf-+Res(Pets)(50) Level 49: Vengeance -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A) Level 1: Brawl -- Hct-Dmg(A), Hct-Dmg/Rchg(19) Level 1: Quick Form Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A) Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A) Level 1: Sprint -- HO:Micro(A) Level 1: Vigilance Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A) Level 4: Ninja Run Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A) Level 2: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(5), Mrc-Rcvry+(5), RgnTss-Regen+(45), NmnCnv-Heal(46) Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A) Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-EndMod(A), PrfShf-EndMod/Acc(11), PrfShf-End%(46) Level 0: Freedom Phalanx Reserve Level 0: The Atlas Medallion Level 0: Task Force Commander Level 0: Portal Jockey Level 50: Agility Core Paragon Level 50: Ageless Core Epiphany Level 10: Shadow Recall -- Empty(A) ------------ | Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer to view the build | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;1562;748;1496;HEX;| |78DA65944B4F135114C7EF74A6D629E5D9F2922296571168E9F050132344414D801| |262D59D69C6329446FA481F2A2BC5C7C6A85117F219DCB8F0B9F603F805C40DBAF1| |85A0608C6EEAE9FC0F6D0D4D9ADFBDFF73CE3DE7DC3933C1AB138EA7A797C784543| |5BEA86732E10963DE48CC19696B508FC622827E4ADC485EB1D1A275C7163E919B9F| 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4 is plenty (one IO) for general play. If you're doing specific content that has higher levels of knockback, such as rikti pylons, you can grab the SG base buff for +10 knockback protection for 90 mins for 2 salvage.

I didn't say anything about "squishies" and I also don't adhere to the squishy rule and I personally treat it as an outdated obsolete term for the current state of this game. I play blasters, controllers, defenders, corruptors, and none of them are squishy. You can be a squishy if you want to play like that, but every archetype in the game has all the tools available not to be one. I mentioned sidekicks, which depending on how enhanced they are may or may not be actually contributing, especially if they are fighting +5s, it is often better for them to just keep up with the pace of the group rather than try to play clean up duty. If your character isn't capable of handling the clean up duty, and clean up duty isnt even required then why are you doing it? It is absolutely optional to do clean up duty unless it is specific to the mission objective. If you are a sidekick and falling behind the rest of the group to do something you are ill equipped to handle, something you don't even want to do, you are also falling outside of leadership buff toggle radius and the support of your team mates, and if you die trying, well that is your choice.

Unless the mission objective is to kill everything within an instance, there is no requirement for those who are sidekicking to stick around and play clean up duty. Yes the bosses give nice xp, but if those who are actually doing the work don't feel like OCD clearing everything and you don't want to do that either, then just stick with them, or find another team. Free yourself from feeling you personally have to defeat every last critter.

I played an Ice Armor/Fire Melee tanker back on live, it was endurance stable with just SOs.

Lol what?