Mercurias

Hey there! I was wondering if you could look at this here build and help me streamline it a little. I'm hoping to find a way to squeeze in a little extra recovery or damage into the build, as well as hopefully avoid slotting procs into powers where they don't work well. I'm a roleplayer, and this is a concept rather than an attempt at a farmer. When building him, I wanted to avoid the route of full optimization (which is easy in part simply by picking Force Fields!) and instead focus on the following: 1) Flight as a Travel Power, because it's the best maneuverability in the game and I like it for positioning KB. 2) Having close to exactly 40% positional defenses, so that I can use Barrier Core Epiphany to get the other permanent 5% for the softcap (because maximum force fields at all times) 3) Enough Endurance Reduction and Recovery to be able to operate without a giant pile of blue inspirations. 4) A stupid-large knockback power, because I need that in my life. 5) More Knockdown than Knockback in my regular AoE powers. I see one being as good as the other for me, but Knockdown tends to make my team happier, and this is a teaming character. Here is the build that I came up with. Price isn't really a factor for me, because I like the concept enough to put in the time and energy. I think I hit all my marks, but I'm curious to see if it could be done a little better:

Hey that's awesome! Great job! And the Mids Reborn download from the Discord doesn't work?

My big concern with characters who "push boundaries" is that they're all too often used by players who want to shout extremely unacceptable things and blame it all on the character. Seeing any character who warns "Danger I do XYZ and if you don't like it then turn on the profanity filter" gets an immediate ignore from me. I'm 34 years old and don't have the time to waste on that nonsense.

I enjoy long-term story arcs greatly, both in-game and much more recently in tabletop (it took me a long time to work up the courage to try and find tabletop friends). Honestly, the key answers to most overarching problems with this kind of storytelling are OOC honesty and communication. In MMOs, like in tabletop, there are a few pitfalls to make sure and avoid: 1) Information: Share it, be open about it, and be aware that your players will constantly forget the things their characters should know. They aren't their characters all the time, because they're actual people with actual lives. You can handle this by spoon-feeding them the info they should have OOC, or giving them reminders to help them have the knowledge in their heads so they can feel it IC. 2) Your Players Will Break Your Story Every Time: Seriously, every single time. Never, ever bank on them doing what you think is normal, rational, or sane. I recently had a player respond to making a mistake and causing an AE mission glitch by murdering the NPC I was playing out of the blue in order to try and FIX the imploded plot. The big fixes for this are primarily all improvising, and the nice thing is that your players will be happy to help do this! It's basically what they've been doing all along! 3) Cooperation: You want to make sure your players (as well as yourself!) are all having a good time, and that they know they're going into a story together. This means gaining agreement on the purpose of the story as well as the intended outcome. Sometimes that isn't even what the GM intends, and most of the time even that is okay. 4) Incorporation: People are going to want to weave their stories in with yours. I think that's great, and it's a good idea to let them. I would encourage lots and lots and lots of discourse with those players so that you can either help draw those characters into the story or so that the players can decide later to move in a different direction if they like (e.g., they want the evil science lab to be where their character was experimented on! Oh, but your story's evil science lab isn't quite so edgy, murder-y, or grimdark because their story touches on themes you don't want to get into. Better for it to be separate labs, then, and that's okay!) 5) Players Thinking They're Fighting The GM: Guys, the players and the GM aren't enemies. You're all playing the same game. The GM is just the one painting the world for you to live in and giving you those dangers so you can have something to conflict with, because stories need conflict. Don't fight with the GM. The GM wants you to have a good story, the GM wants you to have fun. Work with your GM. 6) Fussy Players: Sometimes people just don't gel. Sometimes players do way too much to steal the spotlight. Sometimes a player keeps sending you links to articles from a strange and worrying corner of the internet. Sometimes there is metagaming, or powergaming, and a player gets upset because they aren't the focus and their clique all really thinks that their character should be. There isn't any shame in parting ways with that player if you're both making one another unhappy, or even running something just for that player's focus later, if you both like each other and really want to. 7) The Right Story For The Right People: Sometimes you're going to find people utterly uninterested in the story you want to tell, and that's fine. Put that story away and think lovingly of it now and then. Wait for the right time. You can't force your players to act in your world. If you try then you're really just writing by yourself on legendary difficulty. You gotta run the stories players want to play, or else you won't have players.

An Earth/Nature controller would make for a pretty epic one-person landscaping company. I have an Elec/Storm Corrupter whose main job is being a guest commentator on magic-related matters for news programs. He's fussy, self-interested, and secretly insecure due to comparisons between himself and his prominent Midnighter-affiliated family.

I'm gonna have to steal this image and agree with Moka on this one.

Going between every Defender Primary I can think of, I’d probably say that Radiation does the most benefit for your teams with the least effort. Your two debuffing goggles are extremely powerful and last until either the enemy you put them on dies rom you turn them off. Your other big debuffs just activate in an area when you click the button and are a PBAoE-like Nuke power. Easy peasy. You have a single really good AoE buff that you click when it recharges. Everyone around you gets boosted recharge, recovery, and movement speed. Your team already loves you, and solo it’s still darn nice. You aren’t a healer, but you have a PBAoE Heal if you need it. Click and go. If you feel like it, you have an uncomplicated Rez you can take. Compared to the frantic placements and timing needed for sets like Time Manipulation And Dark Affinity, Radiation is an easy set to play with a lot of versatility in your buffs. It’s also one of the best sets in the game for killing big targets like AVs and Giant Monsters.

On another note in terms of building up money, probably the best source of it is running the weekly Task/Strike Forces and other content that grants you Merits. You can turn Merits in for things like Enhancement Converters that will earn you a large bulk sum from the Auction House. I typically make anywhere from 10-12 million a week per task force alone, and not counting drops.

Hello there! I took a stab at this, myself. I don't know if it'll be one hundred percent to your taste, but here's how it plays: -All defenses are softcapped when you use Power Boost with Farsight (46.07%), and Smashing/Lethal Resistance is at 50% (a little low, but you shouldn't be hit often). -The build has 230% Recharge, which is enough to make Chrono Shift, Phantom Army, and Hasten all permanent. -You have two powers that are effectively a single target attack chain: Blind and Spectral Wounds -You have two powers that are effectively AoE control/damage: Torrent and Distortion Field. Distortion Field's damage comes from the Proc IOs placed in it, while Torrent has been given a Sudden Acceleration IO proc in order for its rather infamous knockback to be turned into knockDOWN. That means it will bounce enemies on their butts where they are. I picked these powers both for added additional recharge to the build as well as to help give you more AoE Control/Damage utility. -You have the full slew of Time Buffs/Debuffs to play with. -You have Superior Invisibility if you want to sit back and use Deceive while your Phantoms run riot as well. For Incarnate Choices, I would work towards: -Muscular Core Paragon for your Alpha, which will made you hit harder (since you won't need Spiritual for extra recharge) -Anything ranged for your Judgment. I like Pyronic and Ion, personally. -Reactive Core Flawless for your Interface (It offers a nice Resistance debuff and the occasional damage proc) -Any Lore pet you like. I personally like the Polar Lights because I'm weird. -Clarion Radial Epiphany. This is a bit of an odd choice, so I'd like to explain: Its purpose is to work with Power Boost to amp up your Time buffs even further. This means your buffs from Farsight and Chrono Shift will improve even further, and at T4 this Destiny power's recharge is exactly as long as Farsight's Duration, so you can make the bonus defense permanent. -Assault Core Embodiment Hybrid for even more damage. I'm not going to lie, this build is going to be a doozy, but if you really enjoy playing the character and want to work towards this as your end-goal, I think you'll like the end result.

I’ve seen a Water/SR Sentinel do some really cool stuff on Everlasting. He’s essentially a tank character. Softcapped defenses mean he rarely takes damage, and when he does, he has so much recharge in his build that he has no issue using Dehydrate to heal up rapidly. The added KD/KB in Water Blast also let’s him juggle enemies, which means they spent plenty of time in their backs rather than attacking.

My own vote is for Necro/Storm. It’s an extremely active and aggressive play style, which I like, and you’ll end up with a larger number of pets after the addition of your /Storm Tornadoes and Lightning Storms. You can also herd enemies towards or away from your pets with Hurricane with ease after it’s been slotted with a KB/KD proc. The -ToHot from doing so, as well as the time enemies spend on the floor trying to stand up again, will also be great for survival. Necro/Dark has the advantage of a fantastic Heal and more defense while providing solid debuffs. Black Hole is still a decent emergency power, too. That would be my second choice. if you want to play a straight up tank, Necro/Thermal will crank the resistance of your pets and give you some nice buff/debuff utility. I’ve seen some cool stuff done with Necro/Nature, and a lot off what is good about Thermal applies. I would put them around the same level, but then again my knowledge how Nature plays is kinda lacking.

Ooh. That's an interesting one, Coyote!. You just gave me some ideas! I might bug you in-game sometime if that's okay, since we're both in some of the same Everlasting globals (I'm still working up courage to chat). In Illusion: -I like Spectral Wounds, but I don't know that it's 100% essential. -Bind is a 100% go-to, and one of my favorite ST holds because of its chance to mez nearby targets. -Deceive is a fantastic ST hold with a fast enough recharge to let you easily stack it on bosses or turn Malta Sappers against their buddies. To me this is a 100% required power. -Flash is PBAoE AND has an enormous recharge with a long animation time. This is the first "I suggest you skip this" category power, in my opinion. -Superior Invisibility is awesome in any build that doesn't have a competing stealth power...Like Storm. I'd take it as a LotG mule if you have to take it. -jGroup Invisibility is not a great power. I would firmly put this is inthe "skip" category unless you have a concept for it. -Phantom Army is amazing, and it's the reason people play Illusion Controllers. I strongly recommend you get this at level 18 and find a way to get enough recharge in your build to make it perma. -Spectral Terror is your first AoE mez worth taking. It does a good job of applying Fear, which is one of the funkier mezzes in the game. I like it, but others think it isn't needed with an Ill/Storm. -Phantasm is a solid pet. It blasts things and makes helpful little decoys. I find it to be squishy, but definitely worth getting. In Storm: -Gale is more useful than people give it credit for. It's effectively your first AoE control power, at level 1, and it does its job decently with a single Accuracy IO. I'd like to fit some procs like Force Feedback's +Recharge into my own build someday. It suffers a bit from low initial accuracy. You have to take it, so you might as well use it. -O2 Boost is a tiny heal with a long animation and a high cost on a low recharge. I typically safe this for a late-game pick, if at all. Others get more use out of it. It's not an overall bad choice! -Snow Storm is an Targeted AoE Toggle which slows enemies and drops flying enemies to the ground. It's good with just a single endurance IO in it. Another "I don't hate it, but it's definitely optional" power for me. -Steamy Mist gives you team stealth as well as around 5% defense to everything (when enhanced) and a bit of Fire/Cold/Energy Resistance. This is a really nice power, but it's rough on the ole' blue bar. I'd say you definitely want it. -Hurricane! Love it or leave it, this power is a PBAoE toggle aura which knocks enemies back, repels them, drops their range, and absolutely nosedives their ToHot (by a whopping 30%!). Some people skip this power, but I strongly recommend slotting it with a Sudden Acceleration KB/KD proc, a Force Feedback +Recharge proc, and something to reduce its endurance cost and boost its -ToHit debuff (My unfinished build uses two -ToHit Debuff/Endurance Reduction IOs frankenslotted from Dark Watcher's Despair and Dampened Spirits). This is a great power for herding enemies that are fleeing, as well as toggling on the second anything comes into melee range. I love it, but plenty of folks will say to leave it. It's definitely a matter of preference. -Thunder Clap is a PBAoE Mag 2 stun with a 2.3 second cast time and a 45 second recharge. It has low (60%) base accuracy, but compared to a lot of AoE stuns it has an extremely fast recharge time (45 seconds, when most are in the 90 second recharge range). This means you have to be up close to use it. I personally don't like this as a choice for Illusion/Storm, but I can see you picking it on a controller with the Fire, Gravity, or Dark primary, since they have their own AoE stuns you can use this one with for easily stunning bosses. Again, personal preference. -Tornado is sort of a must-have power. It's strong source of both damage and control. It also debuffs defenses and stuns at mag 2. I think Thunder Clap was made to be used with this power, because it will allow Tornado's stun to affect bosses and lieutenants. I'd personally jam a Force Feedback +Recharge proc into this baby to help make Phantom Army recharge quickly, as well as at least 4 Expedient Reinforcement IOs to make sure it deals damage and has a 100+% uptime. -Lightning Storm is another fairly heavy-hitting power. It applies fear, deals damage, and drops recovery for those Storm/Elec Defenders who like playing as Sappers. Ill/Storm is a combo that thrives on its pets, so again, I'd pick up this one right away. For pool powers: -Hasten is a strong choice. Superspeed also stacks with Steamy Mist to become full invisibility. -I personally like the Flight pool so that I can aim Gust better and have max 3D maneuverability or the option of staying high up and away from the carnage below. -Combat Jumping is a nice power for a LotG mule, and it gives a little defense if you're trying to softcap. -Concealment is probably not the best choice. Anything it can do short of Phase Shifting, Superior Invisibility and Group Invisibility can do better. -Fighting is solid if you want added defense via Weave. Tough is a decent power also, since you can slot in the Gladiator's Armor and Steadfast protection IOs for a combined +6% Defense...Which is actually around what you usually get out of Weave! -Leadership Powers are always nice, but also have an endurance price. If you can squeeze them into your build without too much trouble, they're a perfectly viable pick. -If you CAN get Aid Self from the Medicine Pool, it's a good choice, but it isn't essential. -I'd personally skip the Presence pool entirely. -Sorcery is a neat pool if you want to add some variety into your build with an added ST attack. -Teleportation is, well, Teleportation. If you want it, it's there. It doesn't add or subtract anything aside from being able to teleport. For your Epic/Patron pool, I'd personally got with Mace Mastery. It gives you defense, and you WANT defense over resistance as a controller because your base health is extremely low. Sorry for the overly long post, and hopefully it's somewhat helpful!

I’ve been fooling around with the idea of a Fire/Martial Dom, myself. I don’t have my own build present, since I’m on my tablet, but here are a couple of notes from the experience I have with both sets: -You absolutely want to slot Shuriken Throw. The fantastic thing about that power is it’s swift animation time and short recharge. It and Char are the buttons you press when you don’t know what else to do. I think I 5-Slotted it I need my build with Decimations. -Trick Shot is a nice power to slot your Decimation Chance for Build Up proc. It triggers that often. I saw you out it there and it made me happy. -Smoke is a bad power. I’m sorry. I wish it were great, too. Feel free to keep it for theme, because slots are tight on Do I Armor builds anyway, but it’s bad. -Hot Feet is a nice source of damage if you invest the right IOs in It, but it needs a lot of slotting. I would either find a way to slot it up or not take it at all. -I would honestly put only two slots into Bonfire, the slot the KB to KD proc and a Force feedback recharge proc. That turns it into a really nice control with some recharge reduction. -I like slotting KD procs into Caltrops. It turns the power into a pseudo-Bonfire. It’s worth the investment.

I started up a Grav/Dark last night. It’s only level ten and already looks like it’s going to be a beast. It’s a nice change of pace from my usual Grav/Time main. It looks more debuff-heavy than Time, and you have to spend a little more time up close and personal, but with Fade and Power Boost your defenses will be softcapped, so it won’t matter overmuch aside from the repositioning.

Draugrok is correct. Also, you might like investing in Primal Forces Mastery rather than other sets anyway. Being able to double the effect of Fade and other non-damage powers at will is outstanding, and you can slot out Energy Torrent to turn it into a decent attack which also chain-KDs enemies and has a chance to boost your recharge further. I’d honestly prefer that over a Seer, particularly on a Dark/Dark controller that already has so many pets baked in.

Dark/Time also has some strong synergy. It’s biggest advantage over Dark/Dark is that it gives you less reason to dive headlong into melee to try and stick your recovery power’s target cap, as well as a larger amount of bonus ToHit and Regeneration, and a fantastic level 38 power which gives you a 50% recharge boost. I recall there being a Dark/Time build posted in the Proc Monster thread which takes advantage of both sets in an interesting way.

Is there a reason you prefer /Ninja to /SR? I know Nin has some nice extra tools, but doesn’t SR get anjce little 20% recharge buff?

The primary difference between Energy Aura and Electric Armor is that Energy Aura is a typed defense set, while Electrical Armor is a resistance set. Both sets have solid (but not perfect) protection, PBAoE endurance drain powers, and endurance cost reduction powers that help them manage endurance-heavy primaries. If you plan on making an IO build, you’ll have a pretty easy time slotting 5 LotG Global Recharge IOs in, and you’ll have an easier time reaching the defense softcap for most damage types. The way typed defense works, however, mean that you’ll have a really hard time trying to softcap Psychic defense. Electric Armor has some good resistances and regeneration, and it gives a sweet 20% recharge reduction auto power, but it lacks defense powers to slot LotG procs into and necessitates power pool investment. It’s also much harder to defense softcap, meaning you’ll, have to devote more slots towards protection than offense if building for pure PvE survival. It’s also worth noting that Elec Armor lacks airborn KB protection, so if you want to fly then Energy Aura May be your better bet. I would personally play Elec/Elec based on my own preference and familiarity with the set, but you can’t really go wrong with either.

Whoops! I said “Synaptic Shock” rather than “Short Circuit”. I’m trying to decide if I want to pursue something with more melee focus and go for the Electric Epic Pool for Lightning Field or the Mu Patron Pool for ranged focus and Static Discharge.

Forum beefs are sad, man. When you forum beef, that’s the moment you realize you need to go do something else for your own mental health and happiness. im sorry you’re having trouble crunching something ideal with Fire/Bio, Sovera. I was watching this thread with interest. I’m still trying to decide what to pair with Bio.

I like this combo. I haven’t yet gotten to 35 with it for Shield Charge, but it hits like a truck from Hide and is nicely survivable in melee. It probably *feels* stronger than it performs, but its performance isn’t nice. My only issue is that Broadseord’s animations are at times too slow, and I feel like I don’t combo chain as fast as, say, Claws or Street Justice, but Parry makes up for a lot of it.

Nice! Do you have an easier time at range or in melee? It seems like a lot of Electric Blast is ranged, while Synaptic Shock is uniquely melee.

I like this setup! I have a Dark/Martial that plays in melee as well as range, and a Dark/Dark who plays entirely at range, so seeing a melee-based character is really cool!

I’m trying to continue an electrical theme for my character leveling. So far I’ve got an Elec/Kin controller, an Elec/Shield Scrapper, and I made an attempt at an Elec/Martial Dom before I had to admit to myself that I just wasn’t looking forward to more Gremlins. I’ve decided to break new ground with either an Elec/Elec Sentinel or Elec/Elec Blaster using either Elec or Mu for the epic. Has anyone tried either combo? I’m away from for a few days, and I honestly don’t know if they’re viable. I know Electric Blast had a reputation for being underpowered on Live, but I have no clue if that’s still the case on Homecoming.

I don’t think I’d play Illusion as a Dominator main. It’s a powerful offensive class in its own right. Even adding Domination into the mix, I feel like you would lose a lot more than you would gain by swapping a support secondary with an assault secondary. I also worry about porting a set knowing it might underperform. Even if it’s a nice change for some, people are going to complain. Loudly.