lightpunch

Hi folks, I'm recently returned to CoH and now that I have a couple incarnates and have my sea legs with the game again, I'm looking to get back into some RP. I just moved the character I'm focused on to Everlasting to get involved, but it's hard to know where to start! I've looked through the resources I could find on existing SGs, both here and on the Discord, but I haven't found one that's quite what I'm looking for. I have my own idea for a sort of halfway-house SG for young metahumans with a delinquent or criminal past, but given my greenness with RP and unpredictable schedule, I don't think it makes much sense for me to launch my own SG. With that in mind, I was curious if anyone knows of an existing SG that's focused on reformed villains or criminals? It would satisfy the bulk of my concept for the character, and I'd like to reach out to whoever runs such a SG to see about joining myself. Thanks for reading!

Thanks to all three of you for your input. I've been playing around with StJ and Psy to see which I'd rather go with. I had a pretty great looking Psy/Shield build going but then Mids decided to crash, so I'll take a look at that again in a bit. How do people decide this shit man. If there was just Shield Melee, I'd be set, that's my concept. Choosing whether StJ, Psy, Elec, or EM best suit the concept and set me up for the most enjoyable experience, it all feels like a crapshoot at this point.

I've been looking through some of your builds (very helpful by the way, thank you), and I'm curious what your thoughts on taunt are. I thought it was common sentiment that tankers should take it, and I imagine there's also a contingent of players who don't think it's a requirement. Given that I've noticed you skipping it on some of these builds, what do you think of it? Is it unnecessary for most tanks to keep aggro? Are shield tanks still able to serve the invulnerable aggro-holding role without it?

Damn thanks for all the feedback y'all. I guess I'll look at subbing Elec in for EM, and weigh StJ's better ST potential versus Elec's better AoE potential (and feeling of magical empowerment, which I worry StJ lacks). I'm also looking at Psy -- I'm not crazy about repeating powersets (I only have ~12ish characters I play right now, why repeat when there's still so much to try), and my scrapper will ALWAYS outdamage Psy on a potential tanker, but I am intrigued by the idea that it can do some crazy ST ala EM and it does look pretty great with the shield. I'll follow up once I have a build I plan to go with, to get some thoughts on it. Right now I'm leaning StJ, but that could change.

Thanks so much for the quick reply! I'm kind of ok with getting a slow, heavy-hitter feeling melee character. Right now my others are a psy/rad scrapper, an elec/rad tanker, a spines/bio brute, and a staff/fire brute. All of them have pretty good AoE, but aside from the psy scrapper (and only when up against a non resistant enemy), I'm missing the one-or-two-hit experience of a strong meleer. So that, to me, was the appeal of EM, plus having a non-smashing damage type. But! I understand that really good ST damage isn't necessarily enough to overcome other limitations, that was kind of my original question about EM, and your answer seems to be "no." (But those ST values!) This character began as an elec/regen (I know, I know, I was just enjoying pretending I could make it work in a satisfying way) scrapper, so I've thought a lot about elec, but ultimately decided it's great AoE/mediocre ST style wasn't what I wanted, especially with a primary with a good AoE attack in it. My only resistance to StJ is the lack of a superpowered feel (the shield gives him magic powers, I wanna feel that shit), but I can tell the synergy will be good and it will flow well. I've heard dark was considered underpowered/in need of help nowadays? Isn't it supposedly getting a buff? My main meleer back on live was a dark/wp scrapper so I appreciate some good dark melee, but I thought it might just not measure up to the other sets nowadays.

Hi folks, I have a pretty straightforward question for y'all. I have a new concept for a character (young delinquent in the Warriors comes across a magical ancient shield, etc.), and was wondering what people's thoughts are on my best potential secondary. Right now I'm leaning EM or StJ -- I know StJ is in general considered pretty great but I'm not sure if tankers are the best class for it, and EM I know can do crazy ST damage, but otherwise I'm not familiar about its drawbacks (other than the corresponding weak AoE, somewhat alleviated by shield charge) or how people feel about it. And I know, conceptually, that a weapon would work really well here, but frankly, I find all the one-handed weapons pretty boring both visually and in practice, so I was treating the shield itself as a sufficient weapon for the theme. So what do people think about EM or StJ? How would those experiences differ? Should I put SS, Elec, or Dark back into the mix? Thank you in advance!

So like several people in this thread have said, I got a concept for a poison character stuck in my head, and even though I'd read all the ways in which poison is just subpar/outmatched, I had to roll it. I've been having a terrible streak the past week or two where all the character concepts I come up with just don't result in a build that works to my or anyone else's satisfaction (looking at you, psychic blast, mind control, pain dom), so I needed to just try this one. I've been interested in Beam Rifle for a while, its -regen seemed like it would help patch up one of poison's holes, and it worked with my tech/science-aided killer-for-hire concept. This build is definitely pricey, -- capped for S/L/E/Ranged defense, hasten 10 seconds from perma -- but I need some characters to actually spend inf on anyway, and even though I'm early in my playthrough of the character, it's pretty fun so far! I also know Experimentation isn't amazing but it seemed fun and went with my concept.

Hi folks, I'd wanted Psionic Melee in CoH forever, so when I came back for Homecoming and here it was, I had to give it a chance, even though I'd heard the various concerns about it. Right now, this character is ... fine. A little squishy, but on a team she can pseudo tank and hold aggro pretty well thanks to Radiation Therapy and Particle Shielding. Psy melee is noticeably more fun now that I have GPB, but I'm withholding judgment on the whole until I have Mass Levitate picked and slotted. For concept, she's a cold, chemically-enhanced enforcer of Mother Mayhem's, allowed to keep her free will in exchange for doing MM's dirty work. I went with Radiation over other possible sets (WP, SR, Energy, etc.), because: 1) I love radiation sets, they almost never let me down, 2) the others bore me to varying degrees (WP was great on my unkillable dark/WP on live, but unkillability was what made her interesting, she was otherwise kind of a snooze), and 3) I liked the damage (Ground Zero), +DMG, and +Rech potential of the set. And plus Rad takes on the pink/purplish hues of psychic powers well. Here's the build I just whipped up. It's decidedly not in-line with current meta, because I basically completely ignore defense. I'm not looking to make this character my main, so I don't need her to be min-maxed, but I want her to be fun and take advantage of what her primary and secondary do best. You'll also see I took Concealment -- I just need to try out Misdirection for myself, because I keep getting tempted by it and think it could be fun to have while soloing. Misdirection -->Mass Levitate --> Ground Zero --> Mass Levitate seems like a fun sequence. Anyway, lemme know what you think, tear it apart if you think it's truly trash. Thanks in advance for any and all feedback! Here's the detailed build... And here's the data chunk...

Just a belated update to everyone who was kind enough to offer thoughts on this. I did end up rolling dark/dark, and she is a ton of fun, so I have no regrets hah. Thanks to everyone for offering feedback even when I wanted to resist the consensus idea that dark/dark is super potent. I even was able to create a sense of the diversity of power I wanted (re: my hesitation when doing same/same builds) by treating different powers as soul magic and others as shadow magic and coloring them appropriately. I'm excited to take her to 50 and see how self-sufficient and powerful I can make her in the end-game while still being true to the concept (so, that probably eliminates strong epic pools like ice and earth, for instance). I know the damage will never be particularly nuts but I'll be happy if I can and have the mob melt at a decent clip haha.

All good to know, thank you. Skipping consumption would free up some slots for me, as this build seems to be very slot-heavy. I feel this way too, but particularly for this concept, I want something that feels powerful (elec control with its bzzt bzzt sounds and old graphics already kinda violates this but I'm really into the melee-range, end drain, confuse, and knockdown in it). And I just want something that's going to be great/the best at what I want this character to do. But, my concept is probably going to have to shift, given the middling reviews of dark assault. I'll play around in character creator and see what comes out, might have to move on to a different concept entirely and come back to this when I'm less locked into a specific idea. Hah maybe, but I already have a dark controller and was looking to diversify my control sets. This was originally about elec/dark/soul 😛 (not sure if you were intentionally suggesting a flip on the elec/dark combo or if you misread the build).

Hm so all of those are considered better choices if I'm looking for at PBAoE. They are more difficult to make work with the theme I had in mind, but I'll think it over, maybe a new theme will come to me. My altitis has been interrupted by creator's block lately so I have this itch to scratch and can't quite find a new character I want, and I was hoping elec/dark was as good as it seemed to me. I was planning to skip cones for a melee-centric elec/ build. Would you not recommend that? I have a couple characters (the brute and blaster) mentioned above that I currently play hopscotch with, getting out of and into melee range to make use of all their powers, and while it's fine for them, I'm not really looking for a third character that has me hopping around a lot. And is soul considered a good route for an PBAoE-centric Dom? The drain/consumption/obliteration trio seemed particularly appealing, but maybe its not as good as it seems.

Hi folks, I'm trying to come up with a character who I want to invest a ton of INF into -- some of my other favorites, like my fire/cold troller, dark/temp blaster, spines/bio brute, I'm not sure if they'd benefit enough from a huge investment that I'd notice and appreciate it that much. That's brought me to Dominators. If I had a home AT, it'd be Controllers, so I'm familiar with the primaries, but the secondaries and general playstyle of Doms are somewhat unfamiliar to me. I've been reading through the forum and learning a lot, but I haven't seen much written about an elec/dark dom. To a Dominator-novice's eyes, the combo to me seems like it could be a defensive, melee-range, PBAoE powerhouse, especially when paired with /soul. But I've barely seen any mention of it when searching the forums. So is there any particular flaw in the synergy between these sets that I'm missing? Does elec's endurance drain make dark's -tohit less useful to the point that I'd be better off going with something else? Is loading up on PBAoEs and AoEs (and building for melee defense after recharge) with a build like this a bad plan? In general, what're people's thoughts on the potential of a elec/dark/soul Dom?

Good point, that's possibly what I'll do as I'm still IOing this character out, when accuracy might be a bigger problem And you found the damage was better? Good to know. I think I'm going to have to play with Life Drain a bit before I know if I consider the heal worth it, or to consider it a debuff with some damage and healing. I've since corrected that, didn't realize until I already posted my second build that I hadn't used it. Same as with Life Drain, I may just have to try it. I'm intrigued by what I could do with a build in which I dropped both of those though.

Gotcha, my bad. I'll do the same. I'm wondering if, between that, Blackstar, RotF, End of Time, and Bonfire, if I could try getting into melee more for some soft control and PBAoE damage. Interesting. I can see the logic here, especially in the world that it's unfeasible to softcap ranged, AoE, and melee.

Thanks so much for such a detailed response! I'm looking it over and making edits to my build as I write this. Regarding the direct question you asked ... Perhaps not well hah. I think my mindset with this was, "I don't really understand how powerful this power is or can be. I do know its recharge is already pretty low, so I guess I'll try maximizing the +absorb it can provide me. Maximized +absorb, plus the absorb proc, plus a really short recharge seem like it could add up to some extra survivability, if absorb from one power can stack (I don't know if it can)." Regarding some of your highlighted comments and suggestions: Yeah we'll see what its like when I get what I wish for and take this character against AVs, I may not like it much either. For now it really suits my concept. I also highly considered Force Mastery for that same concept (alien drawing power from celestial bodies/the sun and moon, totally works), but I felt like Fire was stronger and also worked with the concept. Still tempted by the survivability of Force, but turned off by the slow activation time of Repulsion Bomb. I took your note on slotting Gloom. I also kept tentacles (to me they feel like a key player in making dark blast what it is, and I wonder if I'll feel the need to stick with dark without its more unique powers), but gave Defiant Barrage to Gloom and slotted Superior Frozen Blast into TT for that sweet +7.5% AoE/Fire/Cold def. I also added a +chance for build up to Gloom -- worth it? Fully took your note on slotting the travel powers, didn't occur to me to do it this way. I can see my holds getting underutilized, but I'll cross that bridge when I get there. For now, I like the idea of stacking Time Stop and Abyssal Gaze to hold harder targets, so the procs in TS seemed to compliment that. However, I like your slotting for TS, so I'ma copy that. 6-slotted Armageddon into Blackstar. Any reason you went with the +energy dmg proc here instead of Armageddon's +fire dmg? Ah I didn't really understand the implications of that set in Moonbeam -- maybe I don't really understand how snipes now work. I 5-slotted Manticore in there and took the other slot to add Kismet +ToHit to Manuevers. I slotted 3 Touch of the Nictus for the +Acc bonus, and 2 Siphon Insight to boost the ToHit debuff while still keeping the heal pretty close to max. Is that the worst of both worlds, or does it make sense to try and have both here? I see the logic of your Chronos slotting, but right now I'm going to hold off on doing the same just due to slot scarcity. I'm already worried about hitting my ranged def bonuses too much. I want to take Future Pain just because I like the sound of it, and because it adds some Psi damage into my build, but right now I'm not sure I have the room. Any thoughts on what I did with Time Shift or End of Time? Is Time Shift a bad power? I was hoping to just use it to add to my debuffs, but is it more trouble than its worth? If you think my build struggle on the accuracy angle, should I drop assault, vengeance, or stealth for tactics? Maybe even Umbral Torrent if I have enough AoE coming from elsewhere? Here's what I've got after incorporating many of your suggestions: And here's the Data Link: Thank you again for your insights, particularly on where sets are best used.

Hi folks, My character roster was lacking a ranged damage dealer, so after a lot of consternation and some wild changes (started as a Psi/TA blaster, and we ended up here), I worked out a concept for a Dark Blast/Temporal Manipulation blaster. Truth be told I already have a brute and a troller that can do good AoE damage (albeit of the DoT variety), so I was really into the idea of a blaster that could manage a lot of AVs -- hence psi/TA. But after worrying that that build would lead me too frustrated in other non-AV parts of the game, and struggling with a concept, I ended up with a dark/temp blaster. I'm still re-acclimating to Mids and the building process, so this was a first pass, but does anyone have any thoughts on this build? Primary/secondary powers I don't need, set bonuses I should be chasing, prioritizing recharge/endmod/damage/procs/def/etc? Any advice would be appreciated. I didn't see much in the forums about this combo, but even if you have knowledge of just one and theories of how the two would and should work together, I'd appreciate it. I ideally would like a safe blaster that can take down some AVs -- no idea if that's possible or if this is the combo to achieve it. Lemme know! 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 Natural Blaster Primary Power Set: Dark Blast Secondary Power Set: Temporal Manipulation Power Pool: Flight Power Pool: Leadership Power Pool: Speed Power Pool: Concealment Ancillary Pool: Flame Mastery Hero Profile: Level 1: Gloom (A) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Accuracy/Damage (3) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Damage/Recharge (5) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge (5) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance (7) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge (7) Superior Blaster's Wrath - Recharge/Chance for Fire Damage Level 1: Time Wall (A) Impeded Swiftness - Chance of Damage(Smashing) Level 2: Umbral Torrent (A) Overwhelming Force - Accuracy/Damage (9) Overwhelming Force - Endurance/Recharge (9) Overwhelming Force - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance (11) Overwhelming Force - Damage/Endurance/Recharge (11) Overwhelming Force - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge (13) Overwhelming Force - Damage/Chance for Knockdown/Knockback to Knockdown Level 4: Time Stop (A) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Recharge (34) Basilisk's Gaze - Endurance/Recharge/Hold (34) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge/Hold (36) Basilisk's Gaze - Recharge/Hold (36) Ghost Widow's Embrace - Chance of Damage(Psionic) (36) Gladiator's Net - Chance of Damage(Lethal) Level 6: Fly (A) Freebird - +Stealth Level 8: Moonbeam (A) Experienced Marksman - Damage/Endurance/Interrupt (13) Experienced Marksman - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge (15) Experienced Marksman - Range/Fast Snipe (15) Experienced Marksman - Accuracy/Damage (17) Experienced Marksman - Damage/Recharge (48) Experienced Marksman - Damage/Interrupt/Range/Recharge Level 10: Chronos (A) Recharge Reduction IO (39) Recharge Reduction IO Level 12: Tenebrous Tentacles (A) Superior Defiant Barrage - Accuracy/Damage (17) Superior Defiant Barrage - Damage/RechargeTime (19) Superior Defiant Barrage - Accuracy/Damage/RechargeTime (19) Superior Defiant Barrage - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance (21) Superior Defiant Barrage - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime (31) Superior Defiant Barrage - RechargeTime/+Status Level 14: Assault (A) Endurance Reduction IO (25) Endurance Reduction IO Level 16: End of Time (A) Superior Avalanche - Accuracy/Damage (43) Superior Avalanche - Damage/Endurance (43) Superior Avalanche - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance (43) Superior Avalanche - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge (45) Superior Avalanche - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge (48) Superior Avalanche - Recharge/Chance for Knockdown Level 18: Abyssal Gaze (A) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage (21) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance (23) Thunderstrike - Damage/Recharge (23) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge (25) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance (37) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance/Recharge Level 20: Temporal Healing (A) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Endurance (45) Doctored Wounds - Endurance/Recharge (45) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Recharge (46) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Endurance/Recharge (50) Preventive Medicine - Chance for +Absorb Level 22: Hasten (A) Recharge Reduction IO (31) Recharge Reduction IO Level 24: Aim (A) Recharge Reduction IO (31) Recharge Reduction IO Level 26: Life Drain (A) Theft of Essence - Accuracy/Healing (27) Theft of Essence - Accuracy/Endurance/Healing (27) Theft of Essence - Healing/Recharge (29) Theft of Essence - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge (29) Theft of Essence - Chance for +Endurance Level 28: Maneuvers (A) Shield Wall - Defense/Endurance (37) Shield Wall - Defense/Endurance/Recharge (39) Shield Wall - Defense Level 30: Stealth (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance (37) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance/Recharge (39) Luck of the Gambler - Defense Level 32: Blackstar (A) Eradication - Damage (33) Eradication - Accuracy/Recharge (33) Eradication - Damage/Recharge (33) Eradication - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge (34) Eradication - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge Level 35: Time Shift (A) Cloud Senses - ToHit Debuff (40) Cloud Senses - Accuracy/ToHitDebuff (40) Cloud Senses - Accuracy/Recharge (40) Cloud Senses - ToHit Debuff/Endurance/Recharge (50) Cloud Senses - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge Level 38: Time Lord (A) Gladiator's Armor - TP Protection +3% Def (All) Level 41: Bonfire (A) Sudden Acceleration - Knockback to Knockdown (42) Annihilation - Chance for Res Debuff (42) Annihilation - Damage/RechargeTime (42) Annihilation - Accuracy/Damage/RechargeTime Level 44: Melt Armor (A) Achilles' Heel - Defense Debuff (46) Achilles' Heel - Defense Debuff/Recharge (46) Achilles' Heel - Chance for Res Debuff (48) Recharge Reduction IO Level 47: Rise of the Phoenix (A) Scirocco's Dervish - Damage/Recharge (50) Fury of the Gladiator - Damage/Recharge Level 49: Vengeance (A) Defense Buff IO Level 1: Brawl (A) Empty Level 1: Defiance Level 1: Quick Form Level 1: Prestige Power Dash

Hm interesting, I'm guessing just because they hit harder? Sadly my concept of a tech-based temperature controller can be molded to fit a lot of the epics, but Earth is one of the few that're hard fits for that, along with Leviathan and Soul.

Just the other day I got my first 50 lvl character on Homecoming, a pretty fun fire/cold troller. Now, I think this is a combo that, if not min/max, I'd at least like to invest a decent amount into. But as I look at Mid's, I'm having trouble deciding what to build her for. At first I thought defense (Arctic Air, Ice Armor, and Unleash Potential are all in my build), but that doesn't seem feasible without really making some sacrifices in other place. So how can I best make use of my fire/cold troller? I like her as a master of debuffs and soft controls with some good (for a controller) AoE damage, so I wouldn't want to build her in a direction too far away from those traits. But what should I be focusing on? Exclusively recharge? Recovery? More damage? Is defense more achievable with this build than I thought? Not fishing for builds, but would love people's thoughts on what direction I'd be best off going in. (For reference: I took every fire/cold power except RoF and Snow Storm, have the debuff/buff/travel from Force of Will, Hasten, and every Ice Mastery power except Hibernate)

Hi folks, Just recently rejoined the game since live, feels great to be back. I've only rolled two characters so far, a troller and a defender, so I'm looking to create a melee character with good solo potential. I'v gotten the concept of an AI out to defend/rescue/avenge its creator into my head and now I can't get it out, so I find myself drawn to elec powersets. I've considered them all, but elec looks kind of mixed across the board, with Elec Armor standing out above the others as just a little more well-rounded/having fewer holes (except toxic resist). Any thoughts on good pairings for Elec? Any AT I should roll with Elec armor for best soloing potential? I never had a high-leveled tanker back on live so I'm most interested in trying that out, but if y'all think Elec is really better on one of the other ATs, I'll hear you out. Currently, I like the idea of Elec/DB (just love the look of two colored vanguard blades), Elec/Kat, Elec/TW, and Elec/Spines (with metal spines, for a biomechanical liquid metal sort of thing), but I'm really open to anything. I'm resistant to DM and Elec Melee because my scrapper and brute back in the day used those respectively, but I'm open to being persuaded. As long as it works in my head thematically and will be a good time soloing (without a massive inf investment), I'm into it. Any advice or thoughts would be much appreciated! Edit: and just to be clear, I fully intend to team and tank with this build too. I just need it to be solo viable so I have a character to explore the game lore with and to occupy myself when I can't find a team.

Interesting. I knew /dark was good, not sure what I was expecting in terms of responses haha. I think there's a dumb part of me that is resistant to doing same-same builds like dark/dark, just for I don't know, creativity purposes. But I do remember how fun dark miasma was back in the day, so I'll give that some thought. Any thoughts on Pain and Nature as pairings for dark/?

I'm looking to reroll one of my characters from live, who was a dark magic-using dark/rad defender. I'm thinking controller, but other than Darkness Control, I'm undecided on the secondary. Obviously Dark/Rad was the original idea, but I've leveled Radiation Emission on controllers to 50 at least once (I think twice? Plant/Rad and Ill/Rad? So long ago now), so I'm trying to consider some other pairings for Dark/ that can feel dark magic-like. So, Dark/Rad, Dark/Nature, Dark/Pain, Dark/Dark, or Dark/??? (including Dominators as an option here) -- what has good synergy? What's most fun? Anything I should keep in mind before starting a Dark troller? Solo potential (I know it's a controller, on a scale of fire/rad and ice/empath, what're its chances)? Only other character I created since I've come back is a Fire/Cold troller, so if you have a build you'd recommend that plays differently than that boss-killer, that could be fun for variety's sake too. Thanks in advance! Glad to be back!