Agorazium

It needs some love, probably a buff/debuff to make it competitive. There's been so much power creep with newer sets that it's arguably not even the best at healing anymore - and I know someone will say "Empathy isn't a healing set it's a buff set!!!" but other sets are better at that too. That said, I think there's value in sets that are strong pre-50 even if they don't contribute as much to fully IOd teams. I think some minor tweaks to Empathy's core powers to give it more of an identity could be nice, like a lower cooldown for Recovery Aura that could make Empathy the premier +recovery set, or higher values to Fortitude or something.

Thanks! Re: Spectral Wounds, the only time I'm ever spamming my ST chain is against AVs really, and with the healing I assumed it would be lower damage over time than the other two.

I've wanted to make this combo work for a while but found it boring and on the weaker side. Decided to try again now that Liquefy is a usable power and it feels a lot better, but I think the build could be improved. The downside of Sonic is still there - it's not great for IO sets so I'm still quite far away from perma-PA (17 seconds without FF Recharge procs). I'm not really sure where I can squeeze more recharge in without dropping a bunch of powers. I dropped Spectral Terror on purpose. It's nice in low-level content but once PA, Flash and Liquefy are all slotted up it doesn't see much use since Liquefy in particular just does it all better. I have been enjoying Force of Will for a better attack chain and more AOE damage but I anticipate that'll have to go if I want perma-PA. Hero Controller Build plan made with Mids' Reborn v3.7.5 rev. 21 ────────────────────────────── Primary powerset: Illusion Control Secondary powerset: Sonic Resonance Pool powerset (#1): Leadership Pool powerset (#2): Force of Will Pool powerset (#3): Speed Pool powerset (#4): Flight Epic powerset: Energy Mastery ────────────────────────────── Powers taken: Level 1: Blind A: Thunderstrike: Accuracy/Damage 3: Thunderstrike: Damage/Endurance 3: Thunderstrike: Accuracy/Damage/Endurance 5: Thunderstrike: Damage/Endurance/Recharge 5: Unbreakable Constraint: Chance for Smashing Damage 7: Apocalypse: Chance of Damage(Negative) Level 1: Sonic Siphon A: Invention: Accuracy Level 2: Deceive A: Coercive Persuasion : Confused 9: Coercive Persuasion : Confused/Recharge 11: Coercive Persuasion : Confused/Recharge/Accuracy 11: Coercive Persuasion : Recharge/Accuracy 13: Coercive Persuasion : Confused/Endurance 13: Coercive Persuasion : Contagious Confusion Level 4: Sonic Barrier A: Unbreakable Guard: Resistance 15: Unbreakable Guard: Resistance/Endurance Level 6: Sonic Haven A: Unbreakable Guard: Resistance 15: Unbreakable Guard: Resistance/Endurance Level 8: Flash A: Superior Will of the Controller: Accuracy/Control Duration 17: Superior Will of the Controller: Control Duration/Recharge 17: Superior Will of the Controller: Endurance/Recharge 19: Superior Will of the Controller: Accuracy/Control Duration/Endurance 33: Superior Will of the Controller: Accuracy/Control Duration/Endurance/Recharge 33: Superior Will of the Controller: Recharge/Chance for Psionic Damage Level 10: Superior Invisibility A: Luck of the Gambler: Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed 19: Luck of the Gambler: Defense/Endurance Level 12: Maneuvers A: Red Fortune: Defense/Endurance 21: Red Fortune: Defense/Recharge 21: Red Fortune: Endurance/Recharge 23: Red Fortune: Defense/Endurance/Recharge 23: Red Fortune: Defense 25: Red Fortune: Endurance Level 14: Tactics A: Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control: To Hit Buff/Recharge/Endurance 34: Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control: To Hit Buff/Endurance Level 16: Disruption Field A: Invention: Endurance Reduction Level 18: Phantom Army A: Expedient Reinforcement: Accuracy/Recharge 25: Expedient Reinforcement: Accuracy/Damage 27: Expedient Reinforcement: Damage/Endurance 27: Expedient Reinforcement: Accuracy/Damage/Recharge 29: Expedient Reinforcement: Endurance/Damage/Recharge 29: Expedient Reinforcement: Resist Bonus Aura for Pets Level 20: Sonic Dispersion A: Impervium Armor: Resistance/Endurance 31: Impervium Armor: Resistance 31: Impervium Armor: Resistance/Endurance/Recharge 31: Impervium Armor: Resistance/Recharge 33: Gladiator's Armor: TP Protection +3% Def (All) Level 22: Group Invisibility A: Luck of the Gambler: Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed Level 24: Mighty Leap A: Blessing of the Zephyr: Run Speed, Jump, Flight Speed, Range 34: Blessing of the Zephyr: Knockback Reduction (4 points) Level 26: Phantasm A: Sovereign Right: Accuracy/Damage 36: Sovereign Right: Damage/Endurance 36: Sovereign Right: Accuracy/Damage/Endurance 36: Soulbound Allegiance: Chance for Build Up 50: Sudden Acceleration: Knockback to Knockdown Level 28: Project Will A: Thunderstrike: Accuracy/Damage 34: Explosive Strike: Chance for Smashing Damage 37: Thunderstrike: Damage/Endurance 37: Thunderstrike: Accuracy/Damage/Endurance 37: Thunderstrike: Damage/Endurance/Recharge Level 30: Liquefy A: Cloud Senses: ToHit Debuff 39: Cloud Senses: Accuracy/ToHitDebuff 39: Cloud Senses: Accuracy/Recharge 39: Cloud Senses: ToHit Debuff/Endurance/Recharge 40: Cloud Senses: Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge 40: Cloud Senses: Chance for Negative Energy Damage Level 32: Hasten A: Invention: Recharge Reduction 40: Invention: Recharge Reduction Level 35: Power Blast A: Thunderstrike: Accuracy/Damage 42: Thunderstrike: Damage/Endurance 42: Thunderstrike: Accuracy/Damage/Endurance 42: Thunderstrike: Damage/Endurance/Recharge 43: Force Feedback: Chance for +Recharge Level 38: Temp Invulnerability A: Steadfast Protection: Resistance/+Def 3% 43: Impervium Armor: Resistance 43: Impervium Armor: Resistance/Endurance Level 41: Energy Torrent A: Positron's Blast: Accuracy/Damage 45: Positron's Blast: Damage/Endurance 45: Positron's Blast: Damage/Range 45: Positron's Blast: Accuracy/Damage/Endurance 46: Positron's Blast: Chance of Damage(Energy) 46: Bombardment: Chance for Fire Damage Level 44: Wall of Force A: Positron's Blast: Accuracy/Damage 46: Positron's Blast: Damage/Endurance 48: Positron's Blast: Damage/Range 48: Positron's Blast: Accuracy/Damage/Endurance 48: Positron's Blast: Chance of Damage(Energy) 50: Bombardment: Chance for Fire Damage Level 47: Hover A: Luck of the Gambler: Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed Level 49: Sonic Repulsion A: Force Feedback: Chance for +Recharge 50: Sudden Acceleration: Knockback to Knockdown ────────────────────────────── Inherents: Level 1: Containment Level 1: Brawl (Empty) Level 1: Sprint (Empty) Level 2: Rest (Empty) Level 1: Swift (Empty) Level 1: Hurdle (Empty) Level 1: Health A: Miracle: +Recovery 7: Panacea: +Hit Points/Endurance Level 1: Stamina A: Performance Shifter: EndMod 9: Performance Shifter: Chance for +End Level 24: Takeoff https://api.midsreborn.com/build/download/FoOoIZGyHsSDf614

I’m leveling a Plant/Dark right now and it’s insanely good. It will always have value on well-built teams thanks to Tar Patch and Plant’s above-average damage, and it carries weaker teams on its own. There are better options for more damage-oriented builds but I wanted a defensive secondary to balance out the character and on Controllers I think /Dark is the best bet. Thematically it was a little difficult to tie the sets together but I came up with a life-force-manipulation concept that I’m happy with.

I recommend Ice/Nature too, Entangling Aura is stupid good coupled with Arctic Air. But it is a purely defensive build that does 0 damage.

I like grav/kin. Dimension Shift is one of the better “oh s***” powers in the game which really helps balance kin’s lack of defensive options in emergencies. If you’re sturdy enough to play in melee, Singularity’s pull-toward aura also helps keep enemies grouped for Fulcrum Shift.

My Bots/EA and Demons/Nature are my favorites. Both sets are lackluster (IMO) on other ATs but really shine on MMs where you don't have to choose between blasting and supporting. They're also both incredibly sturdy even at low levels which suits my playstyle.

Thank you, this is great feedback. You are correct that I don't know what I'm doing on blasters, I watched all your videos and they were really helpful! I'm very familiar with jousting on my tanks/MMs, I don't know why I didn't think to apply it to blasters too. Still tinkering with the build but I did drop Discharge to use those slots elsewhere, and now have him at 37% ranged defense, 20% melee and 70% S/L resist. I never solo, so I build my toons assuming that at least 1 person on my team will have Maneuvers/Tactics. I'm content with that for now I think, while I focus more on learning to play the AT and feel comfortable making adjustments. Thank you so much!

I've been trying to make a snake-inspired costume for years and can never get them to look right. This might be the best one I've ever seen!

Thanks! I didn't know you could do that, I've edited it into the OP. Thanks for the feedback. I do spend a fair amount of time in melee. Drain Psyche seems to not hit targets if I'm hovering above them; Shockwave is finnicky that way too. I do plan on dropping Static Discharge and redistributing some of those slots into Scream. Shocking Bolt is much quicker to activate than Shout which unfortunately is still not a great power, plus I try to have several different damage types on my DPS toons. The low recharge is noticeable but workable. My AOE attack chain cycles with no gaps, and if I have a free second on a single target, I can use Howl as filler for the extra -res proc.

Hi all! So I will be the first to admit I don't play blasters and it's very possible I'm doing something wrong with this build. But this character feels like hot garbage at L46. I wanted it to be a strong AOE blaster, but the amount of aggro I generate and the speed at which I die while putting out insignificant damage feels really bad to play. I prioritized def/res in my IO sets over damage and procs most of the time, and I wonder if that was a mistake? Any help would be appreciated, I love the concept and costume for this toon and would love to enjoy playing him as well! Mids' export function is giving me an error, so while I try to fix that, here is a screenshot. I'm not attached to any of the powers except Psychic Scream, Shockwave, Wail, and Hover/Fly. Blaster (Sonic Attack - Mental Manipulation).mbd

Just finished this 10 seconds ago so I will undoubtedly continue to tinker with it, but very happy with this name and costume combination: Omniglot, a Beast/Sonic MM who can communicate with any sentient being.

This is a really great starting point. I couldn't think of much to change about it other than adding some texture and getting the arms and boots to sort-of-match. Ice Melee is super fun on a stalker so I went with the elemental order gloves, but if you decide not to go that route, I use the Celestial gloves on a few power-armor characters.

Ok, I know cat characters are not original but I had a concept/background I liked and have been waiting forever to find one that matched up with Savage Melee. But this looks more mouse-y to me? I tried it with a tail which didn't make much of a difference. Wondering if a different chest/leg piece with one of the tiger-stripe patterns would maybe be a better fit? SOS! *note this is a human in a supersuit, not a catperson.

Released Lottery and Scholar.

Weird! I'll try to attach it and see if that works. I did use @KaizenSoze's guide as a reference 🙂 Dropping Tough/Weave and slotting for a teensy bit more recovery has actually solved the end issues! For the most part at least. I really wanted Clarion but may end up building Ageless for content that is light on mezzes. I'm hoping the Support Hybrid end discount will be the final piece of the puzzle. I also picked up Stealth in my most recent respec which has all but eliminated any accidental aggro issues. Psychic Scream's animation time was reduced in the most recent patch so it's now the same as Tornado's, with similar damage but a lower end cost. On a melee/range hybrid I would drop it but since I stay in one spot at range most of the time, I'm happy with what it brings to the table. It also seems to proc better than Tornado which ends up whiffing entire groups if I select the wrong initial target. That TA/BR build is beastly. I do prefer a little more recharge over pure defenses on TA though. It looked a little light on recharge at first but I see that your OSA and EMP recharges are not much higher than mine...I may have to do some retuning to squeeze out higher defense. Thank you both for the input! Psymoth - no Fighting.mbd

I realize after scouring the internet for builds that this is a pretty rare combo! It's a lot of fun so far, currently L46 and mostly IOd. Here is an updated build that drops Fighting; losing the S/L resistance hurts, but this build's endurance economy is horrible. Trick Arrow is a fantastic set, but a downside of half the powers being 1-slot wonders is high endurance costs. I think it would be doable if I went Cardiac for my alpha but I am really wanting Musculature since Psy's damage isn't quite top-tier. For anyone wanting to min-max this combo, I think the optimal attack chain would probably include the Snipe. With a less end-heavy secondary I would've left Mental Blast with 1 slot and gone that route, but I just couldn't afford to spam it. I experimented with the reworked Scramble Minds but it's still pretty terrible, with a slow travel time and significantly reduced splash damage making it a poor choice in both ST and AOE situations. [/img] View This Build In MRB

On the simpler side, but I've always wanted a bug-themed character (and use the Insectoid Hybrid top) and am really happy with how Psymoth turned out. Also quite fond of Glassforge, my ice/stone tank:

Hello! I recently rerolled one of my old toons to Psy/TA. I haven't played either set since their reworks so I'm a little confused about how to slot them now, and could use some help! The L22 power slot is empty because I'm not sure what the optimal ST attack chain for Psy/ is these days. I'm assuming the snipe is the best option? but I could also fit Ice Arrow in there and have another proc bomb and hold to stack with Dominate. My second main question is whether I should be slotting so many procs, or if I'm better off slotting for damage considering how much -res TA puts out now. The ranged defense is lower than I'd like, but between Flash Arrow's -tohit and Psy/'s long range I'm really not getting hit much. My apologies, I don't know how to share builds the old-fashioned way with the new Mids. View This Build In MRB

I think Time is underrated as an endgame set (and also that on a team where Time isn’t useful, no other support set would be either). Slowed Response’s AOE -res, Chrono Shift’s +recharge and the +damage from the single target buff are meaningful team DPS increases even if they don’t feel like they’re making much of a difference, and Farsight is amazing at all levels - not every level 50 character is softcapped and fully IOd and Farsight bridges any gaps basically on its own. Time Stop is a stellar proc bomb and I always enjoy being able to help stack holds on a non-control AT. The set is also not endurance heavy so you’re able to run pool support powers with ease. It may not be the absolute best set for endgame content but I do think it’s in the upper echelon, and unless you’re running incarnate content and absolutely nothing else, you’re going to be a major asset to most teams.

I’m curious, and this may be a dumb question but I always thought Katana was a Broadsword clone - what makes it perform so much better, on tanks in particular?

Fair play, but IMO the status resistance from Dispersion makes Clarity kind of a dud power. I feel like one way to "fix" the set could be to tack Clarity's numbers onto Dispersion's, making status resistance a premier reason to play Sonic and allowing Clarity to be replaced or reworked into something with a little more flavor. Sonic Siphon is solid, but I don't think it's that much better than the damage buffs from Forge, Painbringer, Overgrowth etc. especially when you consider the hard targets you want to be using it on are going to resist some of it. Also those damage buffs apply to all targets making them useful in all situations, not just boss fights. YMMV of course but again I would rather have other sets that have more tools (which may be part of the problem as you said, the Trick Arrow and FF reworks were overkill) on my team. I play mostly support toons and my /Sonic definitely feels the least impactful of the bunch. Agreed re: Liquefy. The hold is pointless and while removing it would take away some proc-ability it takes plenty of others. I am hopeful that Sonic is on the list to be looked at at some point. The fact that they gave Dispersion Bubble the buff that makes its effects last for 15 seconds after you leave it, but did not do the same for Sonic Dispersion, tells me that it might have other changes in the works that just weren't ready to ship at the time...hopefully...

I mean Sonic is indisputably the king of +/- res. I just don’t think that’s as much of a selling point as it used to be. Pain and Thermal offer both, mez protection (not AOE but it’s not hard to apply), strong healing, and a superbuff in Pain/superdebuff in Thermal - plus Forge which is easy to keep up on your damage-dealers. Nature lacks the AOE -res but Overgrowth’s damage buff is insane and very easy to perma which I would argue evens the playing field on that front, and again it brings heals, a rez, and other buffs/debuffs to the table. It’s not that Sonic doesn’t have strengths or an identity, just that IMO the other support sets have more of both those things and I would rather have probably any other set on my teams.

I’m leveling an electric/dark controller at the moment. The battlefield control is unparalleled IMO, even at low levels thanks to the combination of Static Field + Darkest Night. You can’t always feel how impactful your support really is in this game but I’ve been on several teams/TFs with this guy where I could tell I was carrying. I don’t know if I can go back to Dark Miasma after this, Fade and Soul Absorption are just so good. The downside is that all that control and support comes at the cost of doing no damage whatsoever. Procs help a little bit but I ended up taking Arcane Bolt to feel less anemic. It’s also fairly starved for slots and power choices while leveling given that 8 of the 9 DA powers are amazing and you want Hasten ASAP to keep Fade rolling.

Sonic Resonance is not a bad sad per se, but I don’t see a reason to bring it to the table anymore when other sets can do what it does almost as well and have other things to offer on top of +/-res. It’s a shame because it was my favorite support set on live. At the very least, Liquefy has no business having as long a recharge as it does.