oedipus_tex

I looked around the forums for posts about Power Boosted Farsight and Fade but didn't see one, so I am starting my own. This is a topic I hope we can all agree on. Power Boost and similar powers should not buff Fade or Farsight. For many years, Power Boost was kept under control. Yes, Force Field and Empathy Defenders and Controllers could Power Up/Power Boost their bubbles and Fortitudes. But this was considered okay, even after bubbles became AoE, because they could not cast the power on themselves. When the power Link Minds came to Dominators, there were worries about what Dominators could do with it combined with Power Boost in their secondaries. So a small amount of resistance was added to the power and it was flagged not to receive external buffs. Years later, we got Farsight (Time) and Fade (Controller Dark Affinity). These were among the final 2 buff sets added to the game (the final one was Nature). For some reason they did not get flagged, so here is how much defense Power Boosted Farsight gives with no Defense slotting: Normally I do not like to call for nerfs. But a few things seem true here: This is too much armor value for any power to be giving to the caster. It's more than any power available to actual armored classes. Tanker Super Reflexes provides 18.5% Defense in its best single powers, but only provides one directional tag per power, so you need 3 powers to get 18.5% to Melee, AoE, and Ranged And you never get any elemental defense, including Psi Even without Power Boost these numbers would still be borderline pushing the limit of acceptability (they provide more Defense than Force Field's Dispersion Bubble, the powerset that specializes in Defense) Other similar powers (Link Minds) are specifically flagged not to create this effect So is there any real pushback to flagging these powers similar to Link Minds? I really enjoy Time and Dark Affinity. But IMO this is one of the clearest examples of where a nerf hammer should swing, and no one should be surprised. Or is there disagreement?

It's up to you. The reason the pet is so valuable is your primary set heals and buffs him, and your secondary debuffs enemies so he does more damage. So if you solo at all, I would probably go with the faster Recharging pet version. Losing ~3% defense probably doesn't matter all that much. You're still very close to capped with one purple (+12.5% defense + 32.1 = 44.6, so close to capped it makes no difference.) Note you could also rejigger which Expedient Reinforcement set pieces you pick. I just made a minor change to my slotting and got the pet Recharge down to 255. That leaves just a 15 second gap. Spamming Shockwave as appropriate will trigger the Recharge proc and make your pet perma, if he doesn't die. Which he shouldn't, since you're a Defender with shield and heals. BTW here are stats on the pet's armor: Not the most amazing out there, but the lethal and smashing resist wills stack with your Therm shields. So he will have ~42% resist to S/L and ~52% to energy, ~32% to evertything but Psi. 30% to Psi.

Thanks. I haven't built a Therm in a long time. I'm fairly impressed with what it can dish out. FYI if you were ok with sacrificing some Ranged Defense, you could get the pet up even faster and give him 20% chance to knockdown on every attack. Like this:

Probably. I'd set the chance for Stun/Hold to 60% or 75% for those powers instead of 100% so they are still decent, but not Flashfire on a Blaster.

No, it would actually be overpowered. In the past what I've suggested is the power do attack level damage (enough to justify casting it) and then have a 10% chance for unresistable knockdown. That would give the power, in addition to its base use, a chance to still kinda work versus AVs without it being the ability to knockback an AV every ~1 second on a high end build.

If used by a Defender who has Knockback 3-slotted, it might work against a +0 AVor below, but I've never seen it demonstrated. Versus anything else the 50 knockback gets reduced. I can't seem to find any documentation on whether AVs have native Knockback resistance on top of this. Most player Tanker powers do, which is why no strength of knock will ever affect them.

No I don't think it's possible to knock an AV. They have too much Resistance, even if you could get past their Protection. IMO as is Force Bolt is a very poor power. Similar kinds of power (Levitate, Lift, Power Push) do decent damage so I don't see why Force Bolt couldnt.

What do people think of adding Jolting Chain's mechanic to Force Bolt (knockdown on subsequent hits instead of knockback). I think Jolting Chain has demonstrated its effectiveness. It would offer interesting slot options to Force Field without drastically changing the set. Plus it more or less obeys the cottage rule. Either up the recharge to 8 seconds like Jolting Chain, or make the target cap 8 or so. Second option would be to do to it what was done to Propel: an AOE knockdown at the spot the power hits. But I like this option less. That function is only good in Propel because Propel causes enough damage to be worth casting, where Force Bolt does not. Third option would be to just make it a straight up Tier 1 attack. It already has appropriate recharge for that. Up the damage to Tier 1. Controllers now have a T1 attack option. Defenders have a very fast casting T1 with guaranteed knockback. I like the Jolting Chain option best though. Jolting Chain for Masterminds! It would give Force Field something worth doing.

The power does double damage if you execute it from a distance. And yes, you can totally Feral Charge and then fly upward during Unkindness, since it does not root. (Don't tell anyone. 😛 ) More generally I fly upward because its safer there, and as a Dominator I need to be doing some lockdown instead of Scrapper-locking. Only at the end of the battle do I do a lot of Feral Charging around.

I can summarize why the Accuracy of these powers should be unnerfed. The powers are no good until you IO. There is a huge disparity between the power on a build with global Accuracy versus a non-IO build. Fixing the Accuracy just makes non-IO builds better. It doesn't do a whole lot to IO'ed ones because they already hit their targets. The other issues with the powers are worthy of debate, but the Accuracy issue really isn't to me. It's an issue similar to why +Damage had to be moved out of Domination mode to the individual power level. Perma-doms, exclusively, were good Dominators. In the current game, the AoE holds, exclusively, are good decent on IOed builds.

Somewhat off topic, but RE: fixing the game, I wouldn't try with the base game. What I'd do is, in a new level 50 zone, introduce some new form of mezz that player characters have a native +1 Protection against. This mezz exists on some enemies in amounts of +0.33 to +0.5. Tankers might get an additional +1 protection. Running a PBAoE toggle (e.g. Arctic Air) would provide an additional +0.5 so we don't wreck PBAoE builds. This mezz would generally not last long, but would lock you out of using inspirations and your armors would drop. In addition, set bonuses are cancelled. Fighting 1 or 2 enemies at a time would make it unlikely for you to get pounded with it. But pull the entire map and you'll be in up to your eyeballs as it stacks and exceeds your native Protection. IMO this is how all mezzes vs players should have worked from the start. But we are are where we are. This is neither here nor there regarding AoE mezz changes.

This is not a perfect build. It's what I could scratch up quickly based on my recommendations above. It loses some overall global Recharge and S/L resistance, but raised Ranged Defense to 35% (soft capped with one purple). Changes: I assumed Vigor is the designated Alpha slot. Incorporated Tactics as described above. Thaw: Dropped this because this build screams for Clarion as its Destiny slot for your own mezz protection. This build is too slot hungry to blow an entire slot on something you don't use that often. I'd take it while leveling up, then spec out of it when you get Destiny. Dropped Super Speed for Hover, which means your only travel power is temporary powers or Ninja Run. You can replace Hover with Super Speed and still be at S/L soft cap, at the price of the safety of being off the ground and +7.5% Recharge. In the proposed build, S/L defense is capped in or out of Hover, so you are safe whichever mode you are currently in. Although the global recharge of this build is slightly lower than the previous build, this is made up for with the +Chance for +100% Recharge proc in Shockwave. Shockwave isn't a perfect power, but is a chance for 100% knockdown, with all the utility that implies. Dropped Venegeance, I feel like the utility elsewhere in the build makes this worth it. You could reclaim it, if you really want it, by sacrificing Shockwave. However I personally prefer having Shockwave. You pick up the added utility of Web Envelope (AoE immobilize) and a pet. Considering nearly all your powers affect others and not yourself, adding a pet will add a lot of soloability to this character. It will also serve as a good source of extra DPS during boss battles. Regrets: I hate skipping Siren's Song. It's a very useful power due to its incredibly fast recharge. However I just couldn't fit it. You could replace Shockwave with this if you wanted, but you'd not get the +Recharge effect. The slotting implies you are hitting Amplify before hurling Melt Armor or Heat Exhaustion. Since Melt Armor includes -defense this should generally work well for you. Hero Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.6.0.7 https://github.com/ImaginaryDevelopment/imaginary-hero-designer Click this DataLink to open the build! Level 50 Mutation Defender Primary Power Set: Thermal Radiation Secondary Power Set: Sonic Attack Power Pool: Speed Power Pool: Leadership Power Pool: Fighting Power Pool: Flight Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery Hero Profile: Level 1: Warmth -- NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(A), NmnCnv-Heal(3), NmnCnv-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(3), NmnCnv-Heal/Rchg(5), NmnCnv-EndRdx/Rchg(5), NmnCnv-Heal/EndRdx(7) Level 1: Shriek -- SprDfnBst-Acc/Dmg(A), SprDfnBst-Dmg/Rchg(7), SprDfnBst-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(9), SprDfnBst-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(9), SprDfnBst-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(11), SprDfnBst-Rchg/Heal%(11) Level 2: Scream -- SprVglAss-Rchg/+Absorb(A), SprVglAss-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(13), SprVglAss-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(13), Thn-Acc/Dmg(15), Thn-Dmg/Rchg(15), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(17) Level 4: Howl -- Rgn-Dmg/EndRdx(A), PstBls-Dam%(19), Rgn-Acc/Rchg(21), Rgn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(21), Rgn-Knock%(23), Rgn-Dmg/Rchg(23) Level 6: Cauterize -- Heal-I(A) Level 8: Thermal Shield -- TtnCtn-ResDam(A), TtnCtn-ResDam/EndRdx(25), TtnCtn-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(25), TtnCtn-ResDam/Rchg(27), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(27) Level 10: Plasma Shield -- TtnCtn-ResDam(A), TtnCtn-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(29), TtnCtn-ResDam/EndRdx(29), TtnCtn-ResDam/Rchg(31), GldArm-3defTpProc(31) Level 12: Shockwave -- FrcFdb-Rechg%(A), SuddAcc--KB/+KD(31), ExpStr-Dam%(33), SprVglAss-Acc/Dmg(33), SprVglAss-Dmg/Rchg(33), SprVglAss-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34) Level 14: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(34) Level 16: Power of the Phoenix -- RechRdx-I(A) Level 18: Forge -- RechRdx-I(A) Level 20: Amplify -- GssSynFr--Build%(A) Level 22: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(34), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(36), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(36), LucoftheG-EndRdx/Rchg(36), Ksm-ToHit+(37) Level 24: Boxing -- Empty(A) Level 26: Heat Exhaustion -- RechRdx-I(A) Level 28: Hover -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), Rct-ResDam%(46), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(50) Level 30: Tough -- UnbGrd-Max HP%(A), UnbGrd-ResDam(37), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(37), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(39) Level 32: Melt Armor -- RechRdx-I(A), AchHee-ResDeb%(39) Level 35: Scorpion Shield -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(39), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(40), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(40), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg(40) Level 38: Dreadful Wail -- Arm-Dam%(A), Arm-Dmg/EndRdx(42), Arm-Acc/Rchg(42), Arm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42), Arm-Dmg/Rchg(43), FuroftheG-ResDeb%(43) Level 41: Web Envelope -- GrvAnc-Hold%(A), GrvAnc-Immob/EndRdx(43), GrvAnc-Immob/Rchg(45), GrvAnc-Immob(45), GrvAnc-Acc/Rchg(45) Level 44: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(46), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(46) Level 47: Summon Disruptor -- ExpRnf-Acc/Rchg(A), ExpRnf-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(48), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg(48), ExpRnf-Dmg/EndRdx(48), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(50), ExpRnf-+Res(Pets)(50) Level 49: Tactics -- GssSynFr--ToHit/EndRdx(A) Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A) 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 -- Empty(A) Level 1: Vigilance Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A) Level 4: Ninja Run Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A) Level 2: Health -- Mrc-Rcvry+(A) Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A) Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A), PrfShf-EndMod(17), EndMod-I(19) Level 0: Freedom Phalanx Reserve Level 0: Portal Jockey Level 0: Task Force Commander Level 0: The Atlas Medallion Level 50: Vigor Radial Paragon ------------ ------------ Set Bonus Totals: 3% DamageBuff(Smashing) 3% DamageBuff(Lethal) 3% DamageBuff(Fire) 3% DamageBuff(Cold) 3% DamageBuff(Energy) 3% DamageBuff(Negative) 3% DamageBuff(Toxic) 3% DamageBuff(Psionic) 9.13% Defense(Melee) 7.56% Defense(Smashing) 7.56% Defense(Lethal) 6% Defense(Fire) 6% Defense(Cold) 14.44% Defense(Energy) 14.44% Defense(Negative) 6% Defense(Psionic) 19.13% Defense(Ranged) 6% Defense(AoE) 7.2% Max End 10% Enhancement(Range) 86.25% Enhancement(RechargeTime) 2.5% Enhancement(Max EnduranceDiscount) -0.85 Enhancement(Knockback) 63% Enhancement(Accuracy) 14% Enhancement(Heal) 7.5% SpeedFlying 190.8 HP (18.76%) HitPoints 7.5% JumpHeight 7.5% SpeedJumping MezResist(Confused) 70% MezResist(Held) 70% MezResist(Immobilized) 70% MezResist(Sleep) 70% MezResist(Stunned) 70% MezResist(Terrorized) 70% MezResist(Teleport) 100% (20% chance) 14% (0.23 End/sec) Recovery 52% (2.2 HP/sec) Regeneration 35.25% Resistance(Smashing) 35.25% Resistance(Lethal) 36% Resistance(Fire) 36% Resistance(Cold) 24.75% Resistance(Energy) 24.75% Resistance(Negative) 18% Resistance(Toxic) 18% Resistance(Psionic) 7.5% SpeedRunning | Copy & Paste this data into Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer to view the build | |-------------------------------------------------------------------| |MxDz;1538;716;1432;HEX;| |78DA6594C96F12511CC7DFC0D416BA41A19BA5AB6DA9202374D1B8A5D1564D6C6B2| |8506F868C306D2722438669628F1EFC07BC7832269EF4E2C1FDEAD92DEACD25267A| |D6565B133D18FC31DF5F29092F309FF7BEEFF77BBF659685ABB34DF7CF5E9B1652C| 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Take Hover. It;'s the bees knees with Savage Assault. You can Feral Charge while hovering. This eliminates its normally slow approach speed. Then after you launch at the enemies, hit space bar to float upward. Do what you need to, then Feral Charge again when it's time to re-engage. The distance covered from height adds to the damage and charges generated by the Feral Charge. Hover-Savages are the great undiscovered secret of the game.

I personally would not skip Aim/Amplify because you want to ensure Heat Exhaustion never, ever misses. Popping Aim just before Heat Exhaustion is always a good idea. The builds look good overall. My main recommendation would be to switch to the Vigor Alpha slot. This gives +45% Healing, +33% Accuracy, and Endurance reduction. More importantly, it lets you underslot your heals and accuracy powers and get away with it. I'd do this and and drop Cauterize to just a single Heal IO. I despise Assault as a power. I think most builds are better served grabbing Tactics. Paired with Vigor as described above, this lets you side step slotting Accuracy in most powers whatsoever.

Actually, can someone spot check me on my recommendation above? Slotting Ragnaorak: KD Chance and Overwhelming Force: KB to KD rolls two seperate KD checks, right? KB to KD in a "true" knockback power will convert it to KD, but in a power with no KD am I correct it will roll for 20% knockdown?

My apologies EmperorSteele, I didn't actually see the build embedded in the concealed part of the post. You've made some choices I'm not sure I'd make myself. I don't want to nitpick, so please disregard if you've thought this through already. And thank you for sharing your build. I hope this doesn't seem too critical. 🙂 Speed Boost. I noticed you skipped this power. Unless you never team, I do not recommend this. Speed Boost is one of the best powers in the game. If you add it back, single slot it with 1 endurance mod IO. Siphon Power. Regardless of whether you team, I would not skip this. This is one of your most important sources of +damage when fighting single targets. Mass Hypnosis. You slotted Fortunate Hypnosis (purple sleep set) which is fine. I would adjust the slotting: Remove the Sleep Duration IO Replace with Chance for Placate. This will cause your Sleep power to occasionally Placate mobs (that is, they are unable to attack you again until you damage them--this is like a higher level Sleep) In the sixth slot I would put Overpowering Presence: Chance for Energy Font. I don't believe this wakes mobs (someone correct me if wrong) Mesmerize. If you take this, slot it as an attack, not as a Control power. It's currently slotted with a pure Control set. Personally I'd skip this, or, if you keep it, slot with Thunderstrike for extra range defense. Don't put damage procs here or it ruins the Sleep, and the Mag 3.5 Sleep is the only reason to consider this. EDIT: Disregard this. Procs should be fine unless they cause DoT, which no proc I know of does. Terrify. I think losing a little bit of Recharge here to max out proc potential is a good gamble. Remember, you're going to be spamming Siphon Speed. The slotting below assumes good overall global Accuracy. Positron's Blast: Chance for Energy Damage Cloud Senses: Chance for Negative Damage Glimpse of the Abyss: Chance for Neg damage Overwhelming Force: KB to Knockdown / 20% KD chance Ragnorak: Damage Ragnorak: KD Chance NOTE: Having 2 sources of knockdown will every now and then turn it into knockback. However this will be rare and still well worth it. NOTE 2: If you already feel pretty good about your ability to saturate max Damage with Fulcrum Shift, you can skip the Ragnarok: Damage. This depends a lot on your average mob size. Fly / Afterburner. This is truly your choice. However, fun as these powers are, IMO they detract from the overall build. Unleash Potential. Other than the fact that it provides a place for Luck of the Gambler, I'm not a fan of this power when you could instead slot into an "all the time" defense power. However, disregard this advice if you disagree. Tactics. You didn't take this, as you mentioned. However, looking at the overall build, it seems apparent this power would serve you greatly. You'd get to shortchange Accuracy slotting in Transfusion, Siphon Power, Siphon Speed, Fulcrum Shift, and all of your attacks. I'd take another look at build options and decide if there is any power you can live without.

World of Confusion sucks, yes. It's the same power on every archetype.

Redlynne gives some good advice. However, do you think Assault is really the best option here? Personally my recommendation is if she must take 2 Leadership powers as a Kinetics character, she should take Maneuvers and Tactics. Tactics will then let her underslot her Kin powers that roll To Hit (which is basically all of them). Kinetics provides terrible slotting options so her build will only improve the more you avoid having to deal with them. In fact, with Tactics selected, if she then takes Vigor as her Alpha slot (+Accuracy, Heal, Endurance Reduction, Fear Duration, Confuse Duration, Sleep Duration) she can probably put almost no slots in most Kin powers. It may be necessary to also add the Kismet IO in a defense power to ensure enough overall Accuracy, but that seems extremely promising.

Not to throw fuel on the fire, but today I was on a Task Force and only after we started, saw this: We actually did fine, and I didn't say anything to the player. But it did make me LOL.

Mind Control is tough. It lacks the Containment options of other builds. Back when I used to play it, I used to take the Power APP so I could get Power Boost. Power Boosted Total Domination provides the best available AoE Containment. You also get Energy Torrent, which plays well with the Fear power (kd'ed enemies don't shoot back or run). Since you have Weaken Resolve did you also take Force of Will? Terorrize > Energy Torrent > Force of Will seems like a great chain. FoW also has knockdown, useful for reasons stated above. Put a chance to knockdown in Terrorize to further complete the knockdown fun.

Flying, the concept, is great. You can buy low cost temporary fly powers. Fly, the power, not so much. It provides nothing the free powers don't at the cost of a power slot. Maybe if it had some extra bonus. Hover is great because you can put Luck of the Gambler in there. If Fly provided Stealth radius like Super Speed does I'd be much more likely to take it.

Great guide. One thing I think you should mention is mezz protection. Namely, the fact that Ice/Time doesn't have it without dipping into the Psi APP or at incarnate levels. Unfortunately this mostly wrecks a PBAoE strategy from levels 35 to whenever you pick up your protection. BTW I recommend this macro: /MACRO DF powexeclocation self "Distortion Field" This will place DF directly on top of you. It has a 25 foot radius and lines up exactly with the edges of Arctic Air (until you move). Combined it provides: -62.5 recharge (Distortion Field) + -62.5 Recharge (Arctic Air) = -125% Recharge. Against +4 enemies: 125% * .48 = 60% - impressive Note the cap for -Recharge is -75%. AA + DF far exceeds this on same level enemies (auto hit!) Against +4s you're about 15 points from capping it. Casting Frostbite adds -12.5% to +4s for 10 seconds (the base value is 25%), so anything inside the radius has its Recharge very close to tanked as long as you are willing to spam Frostbite every 10 seconds or so. Any other sources of -Recharge (e.g. Jack's aura) will cap it.

Gravity only ended up with its revised power after almost a decade with the original version, which was basically identical to Dark's version. Dark just never came up for review again. Well, I take that back. Actually it did--when it got ported to Controllers. That's when they removed the cone Fear and added Fade and Soul Absorption. I guess they didn't see a need to revise Black Hole then. I do wonder how Black Hole interacts with Dimension Shift. I assume if you are standing inside a shift, you can blast anything outside the Shift area that has been hit with Black Hole.

Illusion Controller is easier to understand if you know that it was designed as for issue 1 of the game as a "Mastermind" class, prior to their being a real Mastermind class. The main pets are unkillable, but also without a sufficiently strong build aren't permanently around. The pets are also better tanks than most Mastermind pets. This was also before mechanics existed to direct pets to do your bidding, so Illusion has none of that, where a real Mastermind will. Other than that though, if you know the role of the Mastermind, the role of Illusion Controller should follow suit. This tends to split two different ways: Players who really want to play support will enjoy Illusion Controllers. That's because you can set your pets free and spend your time concentrating on your buffs. This is why I suggest Illusion Control to players who want to play classic healer/support roles. Illusion Control (or a Mastermind) is often a better choice than a Defender, because Defenders have blasts, not distractors. Players who really want to play solo will enjoy Illusion Controllers. For these players, choosing a secondary set with strong debuffs is best. All the normal reasons that apply to Masterminds basically apply here.

If you had any idea how many years I have heard "Wormhole is working as intended..." And here we are with its current, much better implementation.🙂 There is no particular reason the power shouldn't teleport +4 bosses. I doubt if the original devs even thought about that aspect of the power. When Gravity was updated late in the game's life, there certainly wasn't a "I'm setting the Teleport Mag to this value for a specific reason" conversation. The value was just kept as-was, and as we know from the history of Gravity Control, as-was was cobbled together without much attention to animation time, practicality, or the scenarios found in game.