capricorpse

I'll start by saying, I wouldn't reject a defense buff on Combat Teleport. Anywhere there's more defense is going to be helpful. What you wrote is a perfectly reasonable thought process of why you or someone else might not put Combat Teleport into a certain build, because of how you'd like to slot that build. Which, again, is a valid decision for any player to make! And I have to say I appreciate that you are looking at it from multiple levels of slotting. I'm usually somewhere in the middle between optimizing and fun/concept. I also agree that the +tohit could either be longer or stronger. Defense would be great, but doesn't feel totally necessary since there are two travel-lite combat powers that do this already. On the other hand, it also makes sense for every travel power skill line to start with a way to use that power defensively in combat. But this reply is an example of the point I was trying to make earlier. You're searching for a reason that this power should exist, when the reason is as simple as a quick teleport. You don't seem to enjoy integrating that into your playstyle, because you said yourself, you're using a trackpad, which sounds annoying to use with teleport. I play with one hand on the keyboard and one hand on a mouse - what I assume is a common and straightforward setup. I keep teleports/dashes on F or C. Because I'm already using the mouse for the camera and for stuff that's not in convenient tray spots, it's easy to use CT to zip all over the place hitting melee, PBAoE, zipping out, etc. It's instant. You "take advantage" of Combat Teleport by... instantly being somewhere else. Out of the tar patch/caltrops/flaming oil slick/earthquake, many of which prevent jumping. into your ally's healing plants. behind a wall so you can ambush a pull. Use it on the ceiling above an upper floor that's annoying to take the hallway stairs to reach. Go from the door of Portal Corp to the elevators instantly. Perfectly line up those narrow cone attacks. Avoid the rings on the ground in the higher level trials. Possibilities are endless at all levels, even with no enhancements. It could be implemented with zero buff attached and I would take it on half my characters without second thought. Mitigation through positioning is a really valid form of defense. At the end of the day it's just... instantaneous teleport. That's what the essence of the power is, and I think for many players that's enough reason to pick it up. It makes CoH combat much more dynamic!

side question - Have you had good results with Fiery Orb? I had it in Wormhole for a while and never noticed it doing damage, though it spawned nearly every time I used the power. But maybe in a melee attack it would be better since they can start getting burned right away? It was always spawning on my location and then had to float over to wherever the enemies were.

this is awesome! thanks a bunch! The only thing I might swap in is Hoarfrost for Hibernate, but it looks like they can take the same set.

wahhh that's awesome! I'm impressed, yeah I forgot about the FF proc. Thank you for the build! Do you mind posting it in a reply as text or spoiler? I'm on a mac and I don't have Mids. I'd really appreciate it!

I love combat teleport! I have several characters that run Speed of Sound 24/7 just for access to Jaunt. This is a much more efficient replacement. I do agree it could use a more dynamic animation/pose for the blink moment. I'm a little baffled by the responses that are bemoaning the buff on Combat Teleport? It's a basic version of a common travel power, it's a movement utility. And a really good one! I don't expect them to buff the minor stat boost in order for it to make a splash in an incarnate build that's IO'd to the teeth. It wouldn't make sense. Seems like a weird conversation to have about a teleportation power when the only use some people can envision is to spam it in-place three times before a fight...? I like that more utility powers are being added that don't just grant stat increases, but aim to be used strategically. The +tohit is just a little icing that will mostly be felt as a low level character and that's ok. There are still people who play the game at low levels. I like Fold Space as well. I think it's different enough from Wormhole. My wish would be that in response to Fold Space, you raise the magnitude of Wormhole's teleport, so that it shines by being able to teleport +4 Bosses. Gravity Control should do it a bit better than the pool power. Other than that, ship it. I do think Team Teleport should be remade into Assemble the Team. Team Teleport has only felt useful on my Dark Defender for bringing a pile of teammates corpses into an area for Howling Twilight. But ATT would have worked there too, and in many more situations.

Overall responses to Sonic Manipulation - Great idea, very excited for the set! I love the Repel in Sonic Thrust. As far as the sonic effects, I am not sure what the proper way to describe these things may be but I'll do my best. I work as an effects animator, but I do 2D animation and not particle physics. I think some of the sonic FX could stand to have another dimensional axis. Meaning, the sonic ripple effects are very disc-focused, which is cool. But I think the PBAoE and maybe even the T9 melee (though I didn't play much with that one) could be improved by having a wave of ripples or one circle that goes perpendicular to the one that travels out, or even to all sides of the character relative to the viewer. I hope this makes sense. Like how the glow on the edges of Faraday Cage will track with the observer as you move around the sphere. This would give that feeling of impact and vibration, even when you happen to view the AoE from the side, like if a teammate is hovering, or you have a low camera angle. This could also apply to the -resist PBAoE aura, but if it's sustained it may need special consideration. Consider also adding on the emission point (hands, face) to have a small spherical or perpendicular ripple in addition to sending the flat ripple stream toward the target? Or maybe a soft glow within the spaces where the rippling takes place? I know sonic should be an overall lighter FX set, but it feels like the higher tier powers could be filled out with a bit more... volume. Some of these ideas could be done with the rippling FX pieces from Gravity Control's Gravity Distortion, they have a sonic vibe and good dimensionality. But again, I'm not totally sure how it works reusing FX from other powers. Echo CHamber is great. it could be cool to plus up the interstitial FX between the rotating rings, that sort of static field. Could make some interesting color combos if it has a stronger presence.

I always attributed the -resist to a sort of destabilizing effect of the vibration on your armor/body etc ... but it might just be me. I'm not sure that makes any MORE sense than it being a creature's response to the loud sound though honestly. this just made me realize I never questioned that assumption! lol the Sonic Blast makes sense to be mouth-emitted, but I think these new powers seem more like overall Vibration Manipulation to me, which is cool. Even if I usually go for hand FX, I agree it should be able to emit from mouths or hands like the sonic blasts. EDIT**** - However there are several attacks that already emit from the mouth, and I'd love to see having hand-anchored animations! Sorry was a bit unclear earlier.

Quicksand if I recall has a nice -Def debuff. That alone would make it the choice for me.

I disagree, the Repel gives it better usability because it works on stronger enemies. You can pin them to the wall for a moment it's quite helpful on Ki Push.

Hello, I've been loving the impact (heh) of my new Gravity/Earth/Ice dominator. But I'm about to do a respec and getting rid of a lot of attack powers in favor of defenses and LotG spots. This combo is nice because the central rotation is pretty easy to reach and leaves a good chunk of slots open for pools. I will say, I'm a casual player and it's very unlikely I'll have full IO build, only one of my characters has reached that. I have a few million lying around but I'm not a farmer and I suffer from altitis. Mostly just looking for a cheapish recharge build, but I'd welcome any suggestions as I'm not very experienced with heavy IO slotting. I'm thinking of dipping into Concealment for a bunch of LotG powers, and I've been wanting some form of stealth. I know Invisibility is changed a bit from live, but is it worth getting at all? I thought about getting Grant Invisibility and just offering it in the chat when I start a team. Occasionally someone wants it but I'd ask the team first bc some people don't. If I have Stealth and a stealth IO in Sprint (or Superspeed), it's the same as being fully invisible, but for less endurance right? I'm also considering taking Phase Shift as a panic button, especially before I have incarnates fully set up. Situations can get sticky, and it takes LotG as well. But I had also thought, is it better to take Dimension Shift and use it defensively? By which I mean, NOT casting it over any enemies, but instead putting it behind the back line of our team, for people to take refuge if they go into the red? they can rest and the enemies will be immobilized if they chase the teammate into the field. I've seen someone on the forums mention this tactic but I've not seen it in person. I know a lot of teams are mostly steamroll, but I do a lot of 3-5 person contacts mission teams that tend to have rougher patches and require more tactics. I have enough LotG options to take Dimension SHift over Phase Shift, but i don't know if anyone would actually use it as a safe haven. Might be better to just allow myself to phase out of a rough spot. Or maybe Unleash Potential will be up often enough that I don't need to escape. Also, and I know this contradicts my lax IO mentality, but how hard is it to reach perma-dom without Hasten? I can fit it into my build no problem, but I'm just curious. I have permadom on my incarnate Dom, I keep Domination on auto and manually click Hasten. But is it possible with just LotG and set bonuses? Would I need tons of purples? my LotG utility powers are set to be - Unleash Potential, Combat Jumping, Ice Armor, Stealth, and one of the Invisibility/Phase Shift/Grant Invisibility. If you have insight on any of these questions I'd appreciate it! Below I'm listing the powers I'm planning to take. If anyone has a build they'd like to suggest, feel free to swap stuff in or out, though I'll say I am not interested in taking the fighting pool on this guy. But yeah this is the overall vibe I'm going for with the character. Thanks!

you know, i hadn't considered this possibility but I'd love this as well. I like coloring my auras and armors with more faded colors so that I can still see myself when they're stacked. but let's just say not everyone does! Maybe there could be a Null the Gull option that suppresses armors? Though, I would want to keep things like force fields and sonic, those are nice and don't obscure you.

hmm, there may be an ice one, I only remember the stone armor for sure. But still, I just wanna draw attention to it across the board to have more minimal FX options! The game can get very messy but we love it so

Can we please PLEASE get a Minimal FX option for Stone and Ice armors in epic pools? I have controllers who want to get those earth powers without walking around looking like they are covered in sh*t! It could be the floating rocks, or even just the same opening animation with rocks crumbling off you, and then it just leaves a dust or glow instead? Same with Ice, acrross the board. I wouldn't mind a little frosty aura or something, but I think in this game where so many people spend a long time on costumes, we should have more minimal FX options for powers that cover them. These may exist already for the armor sets as primaries/secondaries, so it can't be that hard to implement. Thanks!

I'd give Electric Control a try! Jolting Chain is a nice attack/soft control that's pretty spammable, if you're missing Lift. Plus the set has good endurance management if you want to try a controller secondary that's been a drag for you in that department. Also, and i may be inviting wrath here, but I play Dominators without permadom. I've only achieved it on one of my high level Doms, and yes, of course it is super nice to have. But it is totally possible to enjoy the AT without it, especially if you are a casual player or do a lot of teams. You can still do enough control stacking, soft controls, minions control that you can be safe to blast away. Overall you just have a to be a bit more careful about aggro. The main difference I see with Doms is I just skip the AoE immobilize and focus on single target stuff. Domination comes up plenty and it's a great tide turner or instant end refill.

okay cool, I'm now* considering reworking my Gravity/Energy to have Unleash Potential in the build, unless someone thinks that's a waste. I don't need the ST attack, but I think the defense/to hit debuff could be useful?

Does Power Boost increase the potency of things like Combat Jumping and Hover while they are already toggled on? Do you need to re-activate them? Or is it just boosting click-defense powers?

As far as general Dominator advice - the AT really opened up to me when I started doing 2 things differently: 1: Avoid AoE immobilize. It's a major end suck, can get you more aggro than you can handle, and is not actually that helpful. If your other powers do Sleep, Slow, or Knockup/back, then the immobilize will counteract the benefits of those powers. Heavy Slows are an underrated form of control. I find especially that Slows are more effective than immobilize, since they tend to try and move around while slowed, whereas an Immobilized enemy will just shoot you. Damage ticks will wake him from sleep without actually doing much damage. And I believe that Gravity has the only immobilize that doesn't protect the enemy from getting knocked around. If you find that later, you miss it and it doesn't throw a wrench in your other gears, it's not like taking the power will ruin your build. For instance it keeps people within the damage radius of Burn and Sleet and other location-based area effects. But I think it's often seen as a default pick, when it may make you happier to cut it out. 2: Switch targets. A lot. Hold someone. Throw someone else. Damage anyone who is controlled or knocked on their ass. If you attain perma-Domination, your controls will last a long time and you can slap holds on every boss and lieutenant in the group. Let your area controls get the minions. I play mostly with Gravity and Mind Dominators, so I usually hit someone with a Propel right after I hold them (IMPACT), but I use Lift/Levitate on everything in sight. I added a +Knockback enhancement so they stay airborne longer, though I believe (and someone please correct me if this is false) their 'hit box' will remain on the ground. Which is to say, if your teammate throws a Fireball while the guy is 20 ft up, and apparently out of the radius, I think he will still get hit with the fireball because his placement outside of the animation will be close enough. Again, not totally sure, but having higher knockup has so far not appeared to accidentally protect them from my team's attacks. Plus it's hilarious.

I've been playing a Gravity/Energy dom recently. I'm leveling him still, and waiting to see if the new Energy mechanic makes him more fun/sustainable than my current main, a Gravity/Psi/Psi Dominator. It's not super frequent, but I have had Energy Focus trigger off of a Wormhole'd enemy after using one of my basic blasts, which is a nice surprise. I think it would be similar with Heart of Darkness or Flashfire (correct me if these aren't the stun powers, I'm less familiar with these sets.) I'll also add, the intentional knockback ability, Power Push I believe, is spectacular. I love having kb>kd enhancements in the area powers and anything I want to use carelessly, but I love having a reliable source of knockback. It really moves people! And, if you throw a +Knockback into Lift or Levitate, they go crazy high. This allows you enough time to throw a Power Push on them while they are still in midair, and you can do some really fun, careful reconfiguring of enemies. Great for getting the ranged mob off the balcony and down into the group, or up and over a barricade of some kind, or just because it's funny. Plus, the effects animation on Power Push is one of the best energy blasts, in my opinion. And it does decent damage!

I love Stone Spears! Super quick, pretty reliable KU, animation is dynamic and cool (in my opinion) I wish there was a blaster set based on Stone Spears to be honest!

i like this idea. I would even propose a scaling Domination as the bar fills, above 40% you have +1 mag controls, and protection. then as it gets higher, so does the boost. The idea I have is for replacing pets. On my main, a gravity/psi, I usually only use singularity in really tough fights as a repulsion shield, and while the extra controls are nice i'm usually doing all the work. but then i dismiss afterwards, because otherwise she will mess up my wormhole control of enemy groups by hiding someplace inconvenient. But what if the pets were that kind of utility on purpose? singularity could be a location-click AoE temporary slowing field of periodic knockup and high damage, with a long recharge. Some kind of ultimate-storm attack for each control set. Dominators as an AT seem like that sort of thing would be their end goal of mastering their powers, not creating golems the way a controller would. Ice whirlwind with nice damage, slows, knockdown and chance of sleep crystals. maybe fire imps is more like Gang War of a dozen fire imps that only lasts a short while? maybe give mass confusion a high DoT, etc. Some sort of almost-nuke damage AoE that could serve as an offensive protection field in a pinch, with a control element added that could be affected by Domination.

what I absolutely need changed - LET WORMHOLE TELEPORT BOSSES AT MAX LEVEL !!! please I would love for an added secondary effect from the T1 assault power to make it more relevant. Maybe it grants extra domination? or an absorb? or has a mag 2 stun or knockdown (depending on set flavor), to make it real easy to stack on tough targets? One thing I definitely do NOT want is for them to remove Lift and Propel from Gravity Control. Those are two of my favorite powers in the whole game, and usually better than comparable assault options. Which is just underscoring assault issues. i know a lot of people's CoH experience is steamrolling at blistering speeds while spamming one of their AoE attacks, and I certainly join those teams to get an XP dump. but i'd be wary of balancing things with that in mind because a lot of us aren't doing it all the time. Doms especially have a lot of fun tricks, and I enjoy running smaller teams or doing the more bizarre content so I can feel the impact of being a control AT.

for the other gravity doms out there, i'll share a strategy I'e been using recently. I re-summon SIngularity on my own location in a tough fight, and she acts as a free repel-shield against the melee creeps. this was especially helpful on some Night Ward missions with dudes who summon shadow wolves that can't be damaged. Just fling em away!

whoa uhh can you elaborate on this?

ok cool! yeah I was wondering if Dark Consumption was necessary since I have Drain Psyche and Domination, but might be nice to have an instant-refill while Domination is still going!

I love my Gravity/Psi, one of the fastest characters to become my main. I always have a tool for the job, and I can really feel the impact (heh) of the controls. I use some binds with Jaunt to dash into a group and get 6+ hits on drain psyche, use shockwave and be back out before they can hit me back. I have Primal Forces Mastery, but I think at 50 I will respec to Soul Mastery so I can add Soul Drain into my melee rush. Anyone have experience with that? It seems the only way to get a sudden damage boost with Gravity/Psi. It'll either be that or Psychic for Link Minds and get some extra defense. I'd welcome any advice on that choice.