natewest1987

I loved water initially. It has the trappings of appearing like a perfect set, with all that it has to offer. What ruined it for me was probably the success I found in fire primary and being able to use work-arounds to replicate a heal/sustain. Water can still be pretty awesome though, and there are ways to exploit steam spray that I think most people overlook. Highly dependent on debuffs, attack chain & luck, but I've seen the first tick of steam spray hit for 300 before with only self applied buffs / debuffs. As an area-wide execute with scourge, it's pretty fun. It is also neat that steam spray & freezing rain can each be slotted with annihilation -res & achiles heel -res. I'm not too good at the math, but I'm sure putting both of them in there at least increases proc chance. I don't like that water has so much smashing damage. I agree on Sonic, though I saw somewhere that someone had a fix for that where you can install custom sounds. I didn't test them out, but they described them as a banshee scream. Sonic/Storm is also interesting to play.

I've tried sonic/storm as a farm build on test. It was interesting enough to entertain me for a couple nights. It seemed that if you could layer the -res effects just right, and then hit the ION incarnate, that the damage was absolutely bonkers. Bonkers enough that the mobs would just disappear at times lol. I remember one instance of looking at a +4 bosses hp at around 50-60%, having just put on my res debuffs, and using my incarnate literally zapped him into non-existence. Not sure if that's a bug or how it worked, but there is a lot of fun to be had there for someone with better finesse for optimization than myself. Another aspect that I liked about Sonic was that all the damage components seemed to do equal damage. Typically you'll see smashing get resisted, but it was doing just as much damage as the energy component. It was pretty easy to reliably get the t9 pbaoe to do 700-800 dmg in +4's. The cone's also are not too hard to deal with.

Hasten > stealth

I usually put it in a PbAOE. For instance, it's sitting in Inferno on my fire peeps. Now that I'm thinking of that, I don't know if it's good there or not. It's not like I could use the ability 4.5 ( or whatever its PPM is ) times in a minute if i wanted to. Thoughts?

lol all good mate. bored to tears with all my other farmers... and i go through them pretty quickly. /shrug. So was considering it to try something new. But probably won't

by why sundays?

There is a reason that fire is so common, though. And it is actually pretty fun. I mostly play AOE focused ranged characters - usually variants of farming builds as corruptor / blaster. By by far my favorite toon has been fire/storm corruptor. The damage is obscene at times and the AOE damage is enough that most single target attacks ( and a good amount of AOE’s) are at the least enhanced by scourge, and often overkill the targets. In the past few days I’ve been working with a sonic/storm variant, and I’ve got to say it’s been very pleasantly surprising. If you get enough resistance debuffs layered and then toss out ionic, for instance, the AOE damage becomes AOE delete. Literally zapped a +4 boss on a fire map from about 60% health to dead, from just ionic after applying debuffs. I think sonic damage may actually be very competitive with fire in some scenarios. So that might be interesting for you. Just play with the sound OFF. lol I would avoid water if I were you. I’ve done several aoe focused water builds and, while water offers a very complete set, it gets out paced very quickly. And the fun factor goes away when you’re just watching mobs bounce, without any real damage

Was looking for information on this and was a little confused by what I found. Does anyone know if resistance debuffs from the same character stack ? For instance - if a sonic defender uses two abilities that both debuff resistance by 15%, does it just re-apply that buff, or does it add on itself to make 30%? Similarly, will the debuffs from annihilation -res and achiles heel -res stack ? What about powers of the same set that apply different levels of -res debuff? Do those powers add on eachother, overwrite another, or x? Thanks for any insight!

Sooo. That was 🍿, but did we arrive at a conclusion re: why sentinels over blasters?? I really want an excuse to make a sentinel for farming

Does this count for pseudopets like burn and all pbaoe attacks or only cones ? Cones are usually classified as targeted AOE, not PBAOE, i thought?

This has me really interested in sentinels. But I'm unfamiliar with how their opportunity thing procs. Does it only apply to a mob if you use your first level nukes ? Or is it possible to charge up opportunity and then use an AOE to spread the -res?

Any updates on this toon and how it went for you ? I’m considering giving ice/storm a whirl. Ive done electric/fire/dark/water pairings with storm so far. Curious about ice

Also-- do you know if level shifts effect the scale of the debuff?

gotcha, thanks for the clarification. Still a 6% debuff is a 6% debuff. if it procs I guess

Sorry to be confused by this, but, is the value it debuffs at against +4 enemies the 12.5%, or is it whatever it scales to from originating at 12.5%? Edit: confused by the first paragraph in that quote lol. Because you said it scales, so if it adds 10% against even level mobs but only 5% debuff or something off +4’s... how does it still add 10% clear time ? Actually. I won’t get the math, but am I understanding that right ? 😑 lol

I don't, but it isn't very high. My comments about fear were more directed towards hot feet, but I mentioned Burn because it also contributes to it, I guess by stacking with it.

It is only because the effect summons a mini pet, which causes a low level of fear.

Gotcha. I didn't realize you mean't to move the slot back over to cauterizing, as I took it from cauterizing to fill ring of fire. I'm not exactly sure why you are so reluctant to take advice when posting a build that you stated was the most optimized, ice/fire, brute slaying competition for fire farms - literally several edits ago, and when you haven't even bothered to try it on the test server. lol. But all good mate.

You are incorrect. again. Click the green dot on Kick and it bumps the recharge to 323%. --- There is a scaling 10% which scales according to HP. It will cover the gap, and with layers of knockdown it doesn't really matter. doing so would cost me the 10% in recharge that I get from gravitational. If I was really worried about the fire resist there are easier ways to cap it than to six slot preventative. For instance throwing two fury's into any of the pbaoe's would take me there Again, you've got this wrong. Possibly At the cost of 10% recharge. Level shifts are real my friend. 75 base chance to hit. 39% accuracy = 105% chance to hit. Minus 9% --- or is it 18% chance to hit from lvl difference. I dont know if the third level shift would count. would need to look, but either way, rain powers don't miss very often, lol. I literally only put the + recharge in kick so that it wasnt a completely wasted slot. If you think I'm wasting my time spamming kick on things in +4's you're nuts.

Sharing my ice/fire build with you since I've commented so much about yours - i'll open myself up to criticism too, to be fair, lol. Maybe it will be good inspiration or maybe it sucks, Idk. it worked for me. Couple disclaimers - the build is over accurate. I haven't tried to correct that yet. Some of the procs could be better optimized by not taking Agility, and the only real cost in defense, IIRC, is 1 or 2 slots in maneuver / weave to put it back to 45%. So I try to only stick the 4+ PPM procs in the PBAOE's that would otherwise dip below 50%. I could slide them to burn, which has a lower target count, but hitting 50% of 10 is still the max burn could hit anyway. This build has 223% recharge, which Pines does not seem to include Agility, since it counts as an enhancement... so its really 256%. This is a little over 100% more than the build you put together and provides a 10 second lead on recharge time for Blizzard, among faster recharges across the board. 45% fire defense / 41% aoe, 61.8% smashing/lethal resist & 70% fire resist -- with 10% scaling to close the gap. Build up would also still recharge just as fast as if you had those two slots in it still. This build does not use burnout, stated before I'm not really a fan of it. As even with all the recharge in my build, if I swapped it around and took burnout, I'm still at a 400 second recharge time. Hero Plan by Hero Hero Designer 2.23 https://github.com/ImaginaryDevelopment/imaginary-hero-designer Click this DataLink to open the build! Level 50 Magic Blaster Primary Power Set: Ice Blast Secondary Power Set: Fire Manipulation Power Pool: Fighting Power Pool: Leadership Power Pool: Flight Power Pool: Speed Ancillary Pool: Flame Mastery Hero Profile: Level 1: Ice Blast -- SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg(A), SprWntBit-Dmg/Rchg(3), SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(3), SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(5), SprWntBit-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(5), SprWntBit-Rchg/SlowProc(7) Level 1: Ring of Fire -- GrvAnc-Immob(A), GrvAnc-Immob/Rchg(25), GrvAnc-Immob/EndRdx(31), GrvAnc-Acc/Immob/Rchg(40), GrvAnc-Hold%(46) Level 2: Frost Breath -- PstBls-Acc/Dmg(A), PstBls-Dmg/EndRdx(7), PstBls-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(9), PstBls-Dmg/Rng(9), PstBls-Dam%(19) Level 4: Kick -- FrcFdb-Rechg%(A) Level 6: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A) Level 8: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A) Level 10: Hover -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A), WntGif-RunSpd/Jump/Fly/Rng(11), WntGif-RunSpd/Jump/Fly/Rng/EndRdx(11), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(13), Rct-ResDam%(45) Level 12: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(13) Level 14: Tough -- Ags-ResDam/EndRdx(A), Ags-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(15), Ags-ResDam(15), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(17), Ags-ResDam/Rchg(19), Ags-EndRdx/Rchg(43) Level 16: Weave -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(17) Level 18: Vengeance -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A) Level 20: Cauterizing Aura -- Pnc-Heal/EndRedux(A), Pnc-Heal/+End(21), Pnc-EndRdx/Rchg(21), Pnc-Heal(23), Pnc-Heal/EndRedux/Rchg(23) Level 22: Build Up -- GssSynFr--Build%(A) Level 24: Fire Sword Circle -- Arm-Dmg(A), Arm-Dmg/EndRdx(25), SprBlsWrt-Rchg/Dmg%(37), Erd-%Dam(37), Arm-Dam%(46) Level 26: Ice Storm -- Rgn-Dmg(A), Rgn-Dmg/Rchg(27), Rgn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(27), Rgn-Knock%(34), Rgn-Dmg/EndRdx(36) Level 28: Bitter Freeze Ray -- SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(A), SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(29), SprDfnBrr-Dmg/Rchg(29), SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg(31), SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(31) Level 30: Combustion -- SprAvl-Acc/Dmg(A), SprAvl-Dmg/EndRdx(36), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(36), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(37), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(40), SprAvl-Rchg/KDProc(50) Level 32: Blizzard -- SprFrzBls-Acc/Dmg(A), SprFrzBls-Dmg/EndRdx(33), SprFrzBls-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(33), SprFrzBls-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), SprFrzBls-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(34), SprFrzBls-Rchg/ImmobProc(34) Level 35: Bonfire -- SuddAcc--KB/+KD(A) Level 38: Burn -- Dmg-I(A), FuroftheG-Acc/Dmg(39), OvrFrc-Dam/KB(39), FuroftheG-ResDeb%(39), Erd-%Dam(40), ScrDrv-Dam%(46) Level 41: Fire Shield -- Ags-ResDam/EndRdx(A), Ags-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(42), Ags-ResDam(42), GldArm-3defTpProc(42), Ags-ResDam/Rchg(43), Ags-EndRdx/Rchg(43) Level 44: Melt Armor -- AchHee-DefDeb(A), AchHee-DefDeb/Rchg(45), AchHee-ResDeb%(45) Level 47: Bitter Ice Blast -- Apc-Dmg(A), Apc-Dmg/Rchg(48), Apc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(48), Apc-Dmg/EndRdx(48), Apc-Dam%(50), CldSns-%Dam(50) Level 49: Aim -- RechRdx-I(A) Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A) Level 1: Defiance 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 -- Clr-Stlth(A) Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A) Level 4: Ninja Run Level 2: Swift -- Empty(A) Level 2: Health -- Prv-Absorb%(A) Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A) Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A) Level 50: Ageless Core Epiphany Level 50: Assault Core Embodiment Level 50: Reactive Core Flawless Interface Level 50: Ion Core Final Judgement Level 50: Agility Core Paragon ------------

I noticed similar results on various resist debuffs on test using combat analyzer. I'm not sure if this is a result of debuff resistance on mobs ?

Sorry if it seemed that way. I think most of the people commenting have tried their own variations of this build, so we've seen how it plays out. The fun thing about this game is there are a lot of ways to get from point A to point B and the community generally is really helpful and open to exploring.

Both abilities do cause fear. You can see the fear component in Pines on Hotfeet under effects, and because Burn summons a mini pet, it also causes fear. You're correct that brute abilities carry a taunt component that mostly overrides this. Some people can deal with the fear component and not be bothered by it, personally I hated it. Whatever works best for you, but it is not optimized /shrug If you haven't done so already then you might want to watch the combat log to see how often this actually procs. If it's proccing on minions and LT's then its overkill anyway. You may find that you don't need it at all. Though, since you've gone this route with knockdown in icestorm, it might actually be interesting to move your OF knockdown proc to Ice Storm as well, which would I guess double your chances for knockdown effect in the rains. Bonfire isn't going to be a significant source of damage anyway and could do just fine with sudden accelerations knockdown. I would put this build together on the test server before you spend the money and time acquiring any of this. I think you will find in practice it is a lot different than it looks on paper. Those two power slots that you are wasting for burnout, for instance, would absolutely be better spent in any of BFR, BIB, Char, FR, and especially Melt Armor. Melt Armor can also be slotted with a Achiles heel, which would more consistently give you -29% resist debuff than what you've got going on with ice storm. Again, different in practice than in theory. Additionally those powers are fantastic mules for everything from procs, recharge bonuses, and defense/resist. Those bosses are the only thing on the map that your damage won't be overkill on and they are absolutely capable of killing you if you mess up. I actually don't know how recharge effects procs in click-type buff powers, but I would otherwise assume that it slaughters your chance to proc gaussians. I haven't tested this, and math isn't exactly something I bring to the table, so someone else may have better advice here. Personally, I would rather have a near 100% chance to proc Gaussians with build up, so that my frontload of damage is as strong as it could be. Blizzard has a long recharge time, even without any recharge slotted into build up, you're still going to have it everytime you drop your burst combo. I think this is also where you are missing the buck on slotting of -res in gladiator. Sticking it in a power with a higher chance to proc it is only going to make your burst even stronger.

I would absolutely take Burn. I didn't mean to suggest otherwise, as I would consider it mandatory. Hotfeet, though, WOOF. Hate that ability with a passion. Good notes on Health/Stamina too, for the OP. As for Musculature, it's nice, but Agility services multiple purposes here that Musculature can't compensate for. The 20% defense bonus can help hit your softcap defense without having to waste extra slots for it, and the recharge helps all of your abilities. A few reds makes up for musculature, and you shouldn't enter a farming map without them, if you're concerned about clear speed. But fair points, /shrug. 😃 Also - good point about Char. It's a great multi purpose ability that can be used to stack resists, throw in damage procs, or gain some recharge. I usually like to do 4 basiliks and 2 superior entomb here.

Only pointing any of this out since this is a very expensive build for someone to make, but some observations... - burn & hotfeet both cause fear. This is annoying to deal with in maps and will cause mobs to run constantly. - there are a number of questionable slotting decisions here. Especially surrounding procs. The chance to proc in rains and toggles is abysmal and you’re slotting them at the expense of better defense or recharge bonuses. If you’re going to put that fury proc anywhere, then stick them in fire sword circle or possibly burn. - the above is costing you ageless. Which is almost essential if you’re going to bring burnout into the conversation. Which, by the way, is a crap party trick that will *maybe* increase your clear speed for one map and then be out of commission for the next. At the expense of two powers and slots. - I can’t understand why you only went for one aegis at five slots for an additional 1.x? fire defense instead splitting it between fire shield and tough for the bigger pay off. - those single target powers that you skipped are actually very helpful at executing low health bosses, rather than wait another 30 seconds for the next blizzard. Plus, they’re amazing slot mules if nothing else. You can get six Fire resist for only two slots in ranged holds, for instance. Pair two superior entombed with basilisks and you’re still ahead here, getting six resist plus a decent recharge. - 3 slots in build up, two of which are recharge reduction and the third... gaussians???