Carnifax

I dunno about "best" but my 40-something Mace/Rad has it slotted with 3 procs (achilles -res and two damage) and 3 cheap ios to frankenslot it up a bit. Not only does it take a lot but the long recharge means they fire off a lot (every time from what I can tell but beyond a few initial tests I havent verified). The nice thing about the -res is that it should affect all the ticks of toxic damage. And since procs dont care about Fury that makes it my favourite opener power (maybe after a crowd control 1st just to knock things over). Ive no idea if the -res applies to the other procs but id imagine not. Procced build up > Ground Zero > Whirling Mace > Crowd Control or Shatter makes me happy. This is a 40 something character so I haven't bothered with sets yet, just IOs, procs and cheap frankenslotting.

Well Illusion / Cold and Grav / TA or Traps so. Ive a soft spot for Grav/TA from live days, and if/when TA gets a buff im totally remaking it.

Illusion runs off crying... Although im not sure how much synergy illusion / pain would have.

The only downside to Black Scorpion (which I speed-reran yesterday very quickly) is the last few missions are Malta and Malta come with those wretched debuff and mezzes. So Ninja-running past the majority of missions could be tricky for some (I was a Mace/Rad Brute so I just ignored them) unless you have stealth (my Plant/Stormie had enough to fly past them previously). I did spend 3 minutes running around lost in a big confusing room and unable to Superjump because they kept pinning me to the floor with a jump debuff. I also accidentally did enter the damn Arachnids mission, then realized my mistake, followed swiftly by realizing there was no obvious way to exit the damn mission (I Ouroed out then autocompleted it). But as a speed run it took 30 mins or so, even with my mistakes.

Youll be more of a stalker for 24 levels. Fort and its controls are available following a respec at 24. Then you become a scraptroller with lots of ranged options, and a load of team friendly leadership-like toggles and buffs. Very easy to soft cap defense.

The problem you have here is that Grav/ Time both get a series of 5 excellent powers from 26 onwards (26, 28, 32, 35 and 38). Probably their 5 best powers stretch over that section. In addition Dimension Shift is such an oddball power: its not the typical aoe mezz other sets get around level 12 which you can drop whenever you feel like it (unlike say Seeds, Elecs sleep patch, Fearsome stare or the Aoe stuns)

Yep, definitely worth it. Dark Watchers Despair 4 part plus a Fear proc is how I usually slot it.

Plant is ridiculous. Plant / Storm is a lot of fun but Plant / Time would work too if you can think of a concept. Dark/Time would be interesting as well. On live I had a plant/emp but reinvented them as a plant/storm here. Plant/Nature is pretty thematic too

Weave to Maneuvers, letting you drop boxing maybe?

Nah, like Ice Slick it just doesnt take much other than recharge. -resist isnt slottable and -slow isnt important so 2-3 recharge IOs and you're good to go. Because its a hefty resist debuff itll help your entire team and all of your pets. Personally id dump one of the invises. Which is up to you. I love my PowerBoost > Fade > Group Invis combo as its pretty much 30% defense to everyone affected. I do normally skip invising whomever is tanking though (so they end up with 25%) as it affects threat level.

The nice thing about perma PA compared to something like perma-Dom is that it's not an all-or-nothing. Heading towards it is great too. My downtime is a few seconds on my ill/dark but since im not soloing AVs it doesnt hugely matter. Skipping Tar Patch is a massive no-no though. Giving the entire team essentially a big damage boost via debuffage, which is multiplied by damage buffs (and can be stacked in team AV fights) is huge. There's a few good Ill/Dark builds here (plus my own)

Id also always take Heart of Darkness because you do have two reasons to be edging towards melee range : Soul drain thingy and Twilight Grasp. You need to be reasonably close for both. Yes, itd be better if it were ranged like Flashfire or earths stun but its still useful as a pbaoe.

Frankenslotting Acc/Hold/Recharge in pairs is good. Essentially 3 slots of enhancement for the price of two. Theres a few common recipies which are reasonably cheap to make. I remember Stun not being quite as flexible in that regard but even frankenslotting acc/stun or whatever van help. For Fade you have to go the frankenslotting route for Def/Recharge since it wont accept standard recharge SOs, but those arent cheap. But in that case they pretty much stay even in an end build. Getting it perma and max defenced is worth no set bonuses (other than a LOTG). For Epic remember they dont do Containment damage so Fire and Earth arent as good as they used to be. Primal is worth a look for Power Boosted fade and Energy Torrent with a kb2kd and a Forced Feedback proc. Plus its actually a slot-cheap pick, especially if you choose Conserve Power as the initial power (Power boost doesnt need any extra slots, nor does Conserve). Theres a chance PBed Fade could be blocked at some point because it also grants some Resist and resist powers are normally marked to ignore buffs for weird reasons (damage insps will actually also buff the resist for the entire duration if you eat em 1st)

This is true. Especially for a Mind who has options for softening up a spawn pre aggro (confuse, fear & aoe sleep). But ambushes and ToT youre gonna eat the alpha. Domis suck at eating alphas. Controllers are a little better since most have Secondary options to buff themselves or have debuffs up and running (things like debuff auras and placables) to at least soften the alpha. Ive never played Mind/Fire but does the DoT interfere with the Fears and AoE?Sleeps when soloing (you cant aoe damage em them immediately send them to sleep). The Fear doesnt come with a -ToHit either if I remember right so DoTs might be disrupting some of your mezzes.

Earth epic goes well (or used to). Melee friendly attacks with control, def armour and a +hp. My Fire/Rad/Earth was a lot of fun. The new pool power set looks like it may synergise well too.

And the hold is also dropped in place of an awesome +Def to all teammates power in Fade. It also grants some resistances and, unusually, the +Def is powerboostable. It's not perma without a bit of IOing but reasonably easily done. It's quite like a Fortunas Mindlink. Soul Drain is a PBAOE which hits both alive and dead enemies. For each hit you and every ally near you gets get +Regen and+Recovery. It's a bit like Drain Psyche, but AOE and works off defeated enemies as well. (technically Fade replaces the Fear and Soul Drain replaces the hold) Dark Affinity is amazing.

It is the best power in your toolset so having it up as much is amazing, and its one of the best combat openers going. But a few secondS gap is fine for anything other than AVs.

A triform Warshade or Peacebringer. Especially if I'm playing my Ill / Dark, because I know theyll be hitting 85% resist and I'll be throwing a load of Defense and Regen onto that. Plus they can switch forms and Floaty Death or nuke everything once they see things are quaking in fear and debuffed to hell.

That was always my take on MMs. My pet is there to absorb the alpha, the Brute or Domi would then mitigate the follow up attacks. Mind you I played a Necro/Dark MM with a zombie bound to shift & click move because I was quite happy for him to die so I could Fearsome Stare everything and then raise a Spirit. Plus blueside I played an illusion/stormie so I quite liked the chaos of not having a single designated Tank. As for playing against type ive a fond memory of being a Kin/Elec defender on a Hollows team. One person was like "Why is the defender jumping in". I responded "Im a sapper", they went "ive no idea what that means" and a Scrapper said "That means hes my pitfight buddy". My Fire/Rad controller played the same way. Into melee ASAP for choking cloud, Hotfeet, Air Sup and the Earth Epic attacks (back when they did Containment).

Yes it does. I didnt know about it until this thread : Once I saw that I converted the 2 purples I had sitting in my inv to Soul Bounds and tested it myself.

Have a look in the ill/dark post further down. 2 perma builds in there, along with my "not perma but 9 seconds off" build with few purple or ATO sets (no sets, just two purples in PA which I got from converted drops). Good sets for Illusion are 4 Expedient Reinforcements in your pets, 4 Basiliks Gaze in holds, 5 Entropic Chaos in spectral, 5 malaises in the confuse and 4 Dark Watchers in Spectral terror. Luck of the Gambler in as many defense powers as possible too obviously, up to 5. One of the Invises is a good spot, then the usual pool picks for the rest. No idea with Pain on whats available.

They did add First Ward and Night Ward which cover mid. Night ward is a bit odd but the First ward story is pretty good. Of course at the lower levels they made a tonne of new content, then decided to wall it off into a stand alone side (Goldside with Going Rogue). So if you want to play it youre basically resigning yourself to playing solo for 20 levels. Itd be nice if they could break that and allow Blue and Red in as 'ive just finished my Dfb runs' content as a Steel / Skyway alternative. Theres TUNNEL connections there but you dont get contacts suggested as far as I know.

Dang it. How'd I miss that. 1.5% extra recharge and, more importantly Acc built in so I can free up a slot. Precious slot!

Dark Watchers is the way I went to max out the PBAOE -ToHit he does. I use Fluffy as essentially a walking -ToHit debuff summoned into the middle of a pack. Usually after Spectral or PAs cos he can't handle Alphas. Once he's in there he's useful for the -ToHit, -Dam and sporadic melee heals (which have some -regen but meh amounts). Here's my current build, which isn't perma PAs and designed for teams. PA has about a 7 second downtime but I'm not soloing AVs so I don't mind too much. Pluses are that I'm currently only using two purples (Soulbounds from two converted drops) and none of the ATOs, so it's reasonably cheap. I'm (ab)using PBed Fade + Group Invis which gets me to the softcap to all myself and gives my teammates ~30% defense across the board too. Downside is that Conserve Power and Power Bolt are both poop and Torrent isn't great either (it'll take a Forced Feedback and is quick to animate). I chose Sorcery for my movement because it suits the char. Plus Mystic Flight has the TP built in for when my pets decide to wall my into a small room (or someone elses do). You could chop and change between Arcane Bolt and Spirit Ward (I've saved a few people with timely Wards), having mez protection available is nice via Runes. There's room there to move some procs (from Spectral, DS and Phantasm) for set bonuses once I start going for more Purps. I don't farm so not really in a huge rush to do that (altisis gets in the way). Hero Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.6.0.3 https://github.com/ImaginaryDevelopment/imaginary-hero-designer Click this DataLink to open the build! Carnifax: Level 50 Magic Controller Primary Power Set: Illusion Control Secondary Power Set: Darkness Affinity Power Pool: Sorcery Power Pool: Speed Power Pool: Leadership Ancillary Pool: Primal Forces Mastery Hero Profile: Level 1: Blind -- BslGaz-Acc/Hold(A), BslGaz-Acc/Rchg(3), BslGaz-Rchg/Hold(5), BslGaz-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(13), BslGaz-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(45) Level 1: Twilight Grasp -- Acc-I(A), Pnc-EndRdx/Rchg(3), Pnc-Heal/EndRedux/Rchg(11), Pnc-Heal/Rchg(15), Pnc-Heal/+End(43), Pnc-Heal(45) Level 2: Tar Patch -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(5) Level 4: Spectral Wounds -- EntChs-Acc/Dmg(A), EntChs-Dmg/EndRdx(7), EntChs-Dmg/Rchg(7), EntChs-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(13), EntChs-Heal%(29) Level 6: Darkest Night -- DarWtcDsp-ToHitdeb/Rchg/EndRdx(A), DarWtcDsp-ToHitDeb/EndRdx(9), DarWtcDsp-ToHitDeb(9), DarWtcDsp-ToHitDeb/Rchg(15) Level 8: Mystic Flight -- BlsoftheZ-Travel/EndRdx(A) Level 10: Deceive -- MlsIll-EndRdx/Conf(A), MlsIll-Acc/EndRdx(11), MlsIll-Conf/Rng(42), MlsIll-Acc/Conf/Rchg(43), MlsIll-Acc/Rchg(43) Level 12: Howling Twilight -- RechRdx-I(A) Level 14: Group Invisibility -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg(17) Level 16: Shadow Fall -- GldArm-3defTpProc(A), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(17), LucoftheG-Def(23), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(50) Level 18: Phantom Army -- ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg(A), ExpRnf-Acc/Rchg(19), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(19), ExpRnf-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(23), SlbAll-Build%(25), SlbAll-Dmg/Rchg(25) Level 20: Fade -- Krm-Def/Rchg(A), Ksm-Def/Rchg(21), Srn-Def/Rchg(21), RechRdx-I(40), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(48) Level 22: Flash -- BslGaz-Acc/Hold(A), BslGaz-Acc/Rchg(34), BslGaz-Rchg/Hold(34), BslGaz-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(36), GhsWdwEmb-Acc/Hold/Rchg(48) Level 24: Arcane Bolt -- EntChs-Acc/Dmg(A), EntChs-Dmg/EndRdx(27), EntChs-Dmg/Rchg(40), EntChs-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(46), EntChs-Heal%(50) Level 26: Spectral Terror -- DarWtcDsp-ToHitDeb/EndRdx(A), DarWtcDsp-Rchg/EndRdx(27), DarWtcDsp-ToHitDeb(31), DarWtcDsp-ToHitDeb/Rchg(31), GlmoftheA-Dam%(36) Level 28: Soul Absorption -- NmnCnv-Heal/Rchg(A), Mrc-Heal/Rchg(29), EffAdp-EndMod/Rchg(37), PrfShf-EndMod/Rchg(37) Level 30: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(31), RechRdx-I(33) Level 32: Phantasm -- ExpRnf-Acc/Rchg(A), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), ExpRnf-Dmg/EndRdx(33), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg(34), ExpStr-Dam%(37), OvrFrc-Dam/KB(40) Level 35: Conserve Power -- RechRdx-I(A) Level 38: Dark Servant -- DarWtcDsp-ToHitDeb(A), DarWtcDsp-ToHitDeb/Rchg(39), DarWtcDsp-ToHitdeb/Rchg/EndRdx(39), DarWtcDsp-Slow%(39), CldSns-%Dam(46), Acc-I(46) Level 41: Energy Torrent -- SuddAcc--KB/+KD(A), FrcFdb-Rechg%(42), PstBls-Dmg/Rng(42), JvlVll-Acc/Dmg(45), Ann-Acc/Dmg(50) Level 44: Power Boost -- RechRdx-I(A) Level 47: Rune of Protection -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(48) Level 49: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(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 -- Empty(A) Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A) Level 4: Ninja Run Level 2: Swift -- Empty(A) Level 2: Health -- Mrc-Rcvry+(A) Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A) Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(36) Level 50: Agility Core Paragon Level 50: Clarion Invocation Level 50: Control Genome Level 50: Void Core Final Judgement Level 50: Reactive Core Flawless Interface Level 50: Phantom Total Radial Improved Ally ------------ ------------ Set Bonus Totals: 8.5% DamageBuff(Smashing) 8.5% DamageBuff(Lethal) 8.5% DamageBuff(Fire) 8.5% DamageBuff(Cold) 8.5% DamageBuff(Energy) 8.5% DamageBuff(Negative) 8.5% DamageBuff(Toxic) 8.5% DamageBuff(Psionic) 6% Defense(Melee) 6% Defense(Smashing) 6% Defense(Lethal) 6% Defense(Fire) 6% Defense(Cold) 11% Defense(Energy) 11% Defense(Negative) 6% Defense(Psionic) 8.5% Defense(Ranged) 6% Defense(AoE) 4.5% Max End 2.5% Enhancement(Confused) 98.75% Enhancement(RechargeTime) 61.04 HP (6%) HitPoints MezResist(Confused) 18.75% MezResist(Held) 18.75% MezResist(Immobilized) 18.75% MezResist(Sleep) 18.75% MezResist(Stunned) 18.75% MezResist(Terrorized) 18.75% 16.5% (0.28 End/sec) Recovery 66% (2.8 HP/sec) Regeneration 4.5% Resistance(Fire) 4.5% Resistance(Cold) 6.75% Resistance(Energy) 6.75% Resistance(Negative) | Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Hero Designer to view the build | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;1574;738;1476;HEX;| |78DA6594494F136118C7DF69A7B215682DA55068E9C25E28D4E54CB408C14042C20| |7201398C2C4714AA62581A3078FB8917855894BE2C1236E5FC1785231F1C2A6E1A2| |20B8245CEAC3FC9FD2C699407E33CFFE3EFF994E2C0DBB5F8CDE18129227AD2BB9D| |C743A6BE4CDACAEABA66B4299D366045D9569C534B48CB254410FF15244313839A6| |EB8B392D6B140DD1B298CB8B994C725831AF192A95BF94C96886965FF68E19F3AAA| |91AF964F1C63D99A54A535973463597ABF1B0A0AAB3F5D6EDB8AACCAA666E5E5BA8| |B59E47B4B9F9BC66CC05AF2C6833C94953BBAEE8D32327C9B9E9092597A71A4D346| 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|610671E3712B8FE7FD79AAFE47A1E2BDD271AE81EE50A1B6531717FC9FE0FA86726| |AE| |-------------------------------------------------------------------| Edit : Here's a Purped out version. PAs still not perma unless Forced Feedback kicks in (1.6 seconds off). http://www.cohplanner.com/mids/download.php?uc=1574&c=735&a=1470&f=HEX&dc=78DA6594CB4F135114C6EFB4538152A0154AA150282D50A43050C0B8245A1E62202161ABD6094C61629D92694960E9C225BE48DCAA44C147E2528DFE0BC695CAC28DF88A1B057161D24D3DCC774A1B7B03F9DDF9CE73CEBDD399D531D7B3C9ABA34272C7536A269388A78DAC994EA534D331A32EEAF38256655C350D3DA9AE56D043B8E8517056A652A9958C9E360A424789CF999564521953CDCB8646E94F2793BAA167D73C53C692666A4656296C5CB369CA349736E73573CD8987654D5BA8B3B6D39ABAA09999257DB9C67A9ED01797B2BAB1E81F5FD6E7955953BFA2A6121387C199C48C9AC9528E266A56A1FF7B92E09597C53B9B100159D8DE83F207D0B50376E6C04F3E72B7E2F20EE127C4282660B7E86C076BDBC0DE0EB02F08EEFA3854E425298A589979970C76EEC5DE67B3B463FD4C05740D80AD31F033E57320C6EE7809ADF215F33958FB02DCE812A202BEA2E223B4FB54B38A6B569D87E6BC009EB808F6269897C02F54B39AF35473EF0F284F0D6622D578254B737BC0AFE45F079BBD6E087370B34F630318F349D66C1F123CC8EDF0ECA3DEF13DE601D8F8076C8A3347C16F54A71E75E4FABFC2CAD79063E689115944B8DF01AEBF49F0723DEF18F2748C3327C0F024D89F0307CE82B7699E3E9E9D6F9D109285FF3A18B901F6DF0463B7C02DAAD7CC31CD5B98857F1B6C7BC47C0C869F82DFA9488B5469CDAF650E7DB74E4AD6FB74AEA397CE0D3044071CC00C6C017ED7366690B94DF676EEA19D671BE4D9067FF3BBF3EC23BBE8E10D21C4671EE23C3FA8AF2ECED3C577AD9BEF5A37DFC5EED73C3BFE4E0E5C42F4F0BC7BAEF13D1B620E837D23CC9360EC14F8967A88720F51EEE10E35A0F0BD530A67CBF4D02C066113837CDEADF2D1F74E7FB40E2F4741C9F7965907CB945899325CA68C9429D365CAAC7CF44B20244BA9721F7DFFF99F4EB24AA5D6BD52E51C4EFF5799D77E5191A420E61066E61A099CFFBFB5595F343D0915F7D106DA235D7EA7C427EC2DEAFF00AC6A1DF1

Interesting. I actually have two purples sitting in Carnis inventory (thank you Market Crash) so I'll see if I can convert the Soulbound Dam into a chance for buildup and try it out. * Edit : Tested and verified. Procs a fair bit and adds a decent chunk of damage to the attack of the Decoy affected (215 normally, ~310ish once the proc fires off).