Renatos1023

Just wanted to share some feedback on the Sonic Resonance set. Have played this set since live and am currently enjoying it again here. While I like the set, many (myself include) do feel that it lags behind other sets. I recognize that on the Beta test server the recharge of Liquefy has been halved (from 300 to 150 secs). While this was a long-needed change, I would like to propose some other changes that would bring Sonic Resonance more in line with other support sets. And in general, bring it up from what many perceive to be the bottom of the barrel. Sonic Siphon: As a single target debuff, it is weak - especially in a set with no real AoE debuff (especially when solo-ing, and not counting the T9). Making this similar to the Poison debuffs, which hit a single target but spread (in lesser amounts) to surrounding enemies is an easy fix, and would help Sonic/ especially when soloing, and it wouldn't be overpowered when teaming. (Also, the Defender debuff is currently -30% res. -- the single target should be bumped to -35% {it is just single target} with the AoE residue being lower). Clarity: In a set that has Sonic Dispersion, this power is almost useless and nearly never taken (I know some might take it - but if kept in its current form it needs to be an AoE like the shields). In my opinion, this power should be dropped to later in the set (say T8) and made to be a decent single target buff (ala Fortitude or Forge), but with +Res, +Perception, +Dam (but a longer recharge than Fort so it can't be easily perma'd, think Adrenaline Boost-ish). Some people may lament the lack of sleep protection that it currently offers, but this buff should outweigh that. Sonic Cage: Intangible powers as they currently function are useless (including Black Hole and the Force Field one). If this was to be kept as an intangible power (as with ALL OTHERS) it should be a toggle that we can turn off whenever we want so we can use it more efficiently. Hike up the end. cost (maybe depending on the type of enemy - minion v. Lt. v. Boss, etc.) and up the magnitude - as a crappy power I feel it should be able to knock an EB out of battle - with a max toggle duration of 15 seconds (maybe 20?) before it auto-shuts off. This would make it more than situationally useful and I think more people may look to take it rather than it be an auto-skip. Conversely, replace it with anything else. Sonic/ should be a -Res master - give me something that helps to accomplish that. Sonic Repulsion: A plain useless power. No one wants this (or the one in Force Field). I think there needs to be another AoE/Cone -Res power in Sonic, because that should be Sonic's forte. I'd make this that type of power. Maybe something in the mold of Fearsome Stare's cone, but with -15% Res and a mag 2 stun (maybe call it Disorienting Screech). A power that both upped Sonic's -Res ability and provided some utility would bump this set up from one of the worst to at least upper middle class. I appreciate any feedback. Thanks! Ren

I agree. I think Liquefy's recharge should still be lower, but I will take what I can get. I also think Sonic/ does need some more buffs. Which I have outlined above and in other posts. But I am re-rolling this Sonic/Seismic as a Sonic/Sonic because Meteor is a terrible nuke, and I just can't get past it. While thinking over this secondary change, it made me realize that the original Devs (and possibly the Homecoming ones too) were adamant that Sonic/ needed to be paired with /Sonic. /Sonic does fix the AoE -res gap that Sonic/ seems to have...but IMO this shouldn't be a consideration. Sonic/ should be effective as the -res king without /Sonic (just my opinion).

It looks like the Devs were listening! The version on the test server now has a 150 second recharge. I think this will be a huge change for Sonic/. I do think a couple of the other powers need to be updated or changed to truly bring the set in-line with others. Clarity, in a set that has Sonic Dispersion, is useless and almost never taken. Maybe drop it to later in the set (say T8) and make it a decent single target buff ala Fortitude, but with +Res, +Perception, +Dam (but a longer recharge than Fort so it can't be easily perma, think Adrenaline Boost-ish). Sonic Cage, I guess could be useful for people who don't hate intangible powers - but should at least be a toggle that lasts max 30 seconds that you can drop whenever (I still likely wouldn't take it but it would at least have some situational usefulness). Sonic Repulsion, which is just plain useless. I think there needs to be another AoE/Cone -Res power, because that should be Sonic's forte. I'd make this that type of power. Maybe something in the mold of Fearsome Stare's cone, but with -15% Res and a mag 2 stun (maybe call it Disorienting Screech). Just spit-balling here in the hopes that we can get some more love for one of my favorite (albeit, less powerful) support sets.

Not trying to necro my post, but it looks like one of our least favorite T9s is getting a buff. A nice recharge reduction from 150 to 100 seconds is on Beta. I was hoping to see some more in the buffage department, but this is a decent start. With decent recharge, can at least be an every other mob power.

Honestly, I didn't mean to trigger you. This build isn't that much of an issue. I have capped defense to everything I need and more. You just suggested a lot of things that I wouldn't do, because of the limited slots that have. I apologize if I offended you, but suggestions from your original post would've had me losing S/L defense, global recharge, and really just defense in general (hover for maneuvers is a ridiculous swap - hover is not combat friendly). It seemed a good part of your original post was that Sentinels need Hover. Which is a no. Sentinels aren't Blasters. And you said : "Slot two Gamblers in Hover and also two in Combat Jumping" and "You want 5 Gamblers recharge and regenerations going so drop 2 Reactive and add two more Gamblers there." As if I could slot two uniques in the same power. Sorry, but you apparently have no idea how slotting uniques goes. Cause your option is impossible. I know how to slot my uniques, you should also learn. You can go ahead and post a chapter maligning my build but gosh, touchy lately? Just because you want to Hover blast on a Sentinel (which makes no sense IMO) doesn't mean the rest of us want to. IDK why you think /Ice it a weak secondary, that is a you thing, I love it. And it is a very functional secondary - one that actually has a T9 that can be taken (unlike most defensive T9s designed on live). As someone who has played Water on multiple ATs, I simply disagreed with your assessments. Sorry if you took that personally. I can't with this quote. I won't even comment, but I've never met someone so full of themselves.

Thanks for your response, E, but I really disagree with almost all of your opinions. You had it right when you keyed my build in as an alt aggro-mitigator. That is how I want this Sent to be. More of a Tank-ish thing. I think you missed that the 4th slot in Boxing (and also Ice Sword) give 3.75% S/L defense...something that is utterly hard to find in a tight build...Dropping any of those slots would not be possible, because I'd lose that huge chunk of defense. I almost want to guess that you've never played Water Blast (which is totes fine) but it is an AoE set, dropping Whirlpool and/or Waterburst would kill my damage. Water isn't known for single target, so amping up AoE damage is 100% necessary (regardless of which AT you play Water blast on). Not taking the AOE in Water just means you should go with any other set that has high single-target damage. I have to say this set combo is solid. I have been running +3 PI contact missions and I am generally the first one into a mob. I do not have all of the aforementioned slots done, my build is like 33% IO'd -- need some inf. But It is solid.

Have been having a blast leveling this Sentinel, and I just hit 50! So far, it has been very solid, especially post-30 when I started slotting some of the uniques. /Ice is one of my favorite defense powersets across all archtypes, which is why I chose that. I thought the heal in Water/ would complement high defenses. I chose the Ice epic pool because of theme and also because the numbers on Frozen Aura seemed pretty good, plus I spend half my time in melee anyways. Since I just hit 50, I have not yet decided which Incarnates I will take - but moving towards Agility Paragon Core for the Defense Buff/Recharge/End. Mod is probably the easiest call to make at the moment. I just re-downloaded Mids for the first time in a long time and I did struggle to put a build together, I didn't realize how much more difficult it was to soft-cap S/L/E/N compared to Melee/Ranged/AoE defense (which are always super easy imo). But I did manage to get S/L/E/N over soft-capped (without Energy Absorption) and get okay recharge along with some other bonuses. As I am not an ace with Mids, I am looking for any feedback. Please let me know if I didn't upload the build correctly. Frozen Tide - Sentinel (Water Blast - Ice Armor).mbd

One that I would suggest, and that is one of my favorite Lv.50s, is Dark/Ninjitsu. You pretty easily softcap yourself to Melee/Ranged/AoE defense, have a heal and an endurance recovery power, and Dark/'s to-hit debuffs further buttress your defenses. I usually jump into a mob and hit Aim+Blackstar+Dark Obliteration, then mop up. Very survivable combination IMO.

Still seems like this power should do some minor fire damage over time. I agree it needs something more, but I'm not sure what. I think I'm spoiled by the auto-hit nature of Sleet/FR and can't get over the fact that this T9, which has less debuffs than the other 2 powers, needs a to-hit check. I do think they should drop it down to an even 90 second recharge though. Maybe if this was a targeted AoE, and pulsed - therefore having multiple chances to affect targets - would make it a little more unique. Sonic still needs help. Making Liquefy usable is a good step, but it still needs help. Clarity and Sonic Dispersion need to be combined, since Faraday Cage is better than both of those powers combined and having an AOE toggle that does the bulk of what Clarity does makes it a pretty useless choice. And Sonic Repulsion costs 1.04 end per second for essentially the same function as Repulsion Field from Force Field which only costs .78 end per second. I am very happy to see this recharge halved! I can't wait for this to go live so I can dust off my Sonic/Seismic defender and see how much it affects QoL. I do agree though that Clarity has no place in a set that has Sonic Dispersion, it really makes no sense. Sonic should be king of -res, so maybe a moderate recharge cone that does -25% res to all or something (Disorienting Screech, -res and mag 2 disorient --- similar to Fearsome Stare but -res + disorient instead of -to-hit + fear).

Sentinels are a blast. One of my first 50s after finding Homecoming was an Ice/Ice Sentinel because I wanted to try the new AT. They are very versatile, and when I play my high-level ones, I definitely break alpha (I won't say that I Tank, as I can't hold that aggro, but I am hard to kill). One of my favorite characters is my Dark/Ninjitsu Sent. Solid defenses, backed up by all of Dark/'s -to-hit. I jump in, hit Blackstar, and just never worry about death. It is definitely a combo that I would recommend. I just rolled a new Water/Ice Sent. that I got to 30 today (Ice is my favorite defensive set across all the melee ATs). While /Ninjitsu and /Energy are arguably stronger secondaries for a Sent., /Ice actually gets a T9 that it can use with no huge crash at the end. Overall, Sentinels are, as many have said, the class that a lot of us wanted. At higher levels, and once slotted decently (not even IO'd out) you can expect similar survivability as a Scrapper IMO -- except with the bonus of range and a fast-recharging nuke.

Having played both of the defensive /Energy and /Fire on multiple ATs, I would say Energy will generally outperform Fire in end game content almost always, solely because of all of its tools (unless you're consistently playing with someone who will ensure you always have soft-capped defenses, then having high resistances is fantastic, but that is rare). For Energy, being able to easily push your defenses past the soft cap, without team support, is nothing to laugh at. Fire struggles IMO in high level content unless you have someone bumping up your defense. Yes, you can do that with IOs, but it will be very expensive. Fire armor has always been the farming set because it increases your damage output and, without IOs, can only cap itself on Fire resistance. With Energy you have Energize (which both heals and lowers endurance cost) and Energy Drain, both on short timers. To be honest, outside of farming, you don't see many Fire/ or /Fire defensive powersets -- and its because it excels at damage...not keeping you alive. I have a kitted out Rad/Fire Brute as my farmer and she kicks butt in farms -- but not so much in normal missions. I think you will find /Energy much more survivable, and therefore enjoyable, at higher levels. Especially with Axe, which has a ton of AoE damage already, so it doesn't need /Fire's AoE, but it does greatly benefit from /Energy's multiple endurance fixes. You can build either set to be survivable, but IMO Energy will always outperform Fire, especially at higher levels -- and with a much lower influence cost. Editing to add: Energy also has 3-4 (depending on if you take the T9) powers that you can slot the Luck of the Gambler +Recharge in. Fire has 0 powers to slot it in. That means you can easily get 5 of the LoTGs into your build as Energy (I always take Combat Jumping, Maneuvers, and Weave on melee builds -- so another 3 powers that can also take an LoTG), and Axe definitely benefits from some recharge.

Just got my Axe/Energy to 30 today. It is such a fun combo once you start getting some slotting. Once you get Energize (which heals and also lowers endurance cost of powers for a certain amount of time) plus the end. recovery power, you start to feel the full potential. It is an endurance guzzler before (and also after) you get those two key powers. But it has been a blast so far. Those two powers are game changers in terms of your endurance management. So you do need to give the combo up to Lv.30 to start to mature. IO wise, I have slotted the two +3% defense uniques, the performance shifter +end, and miracle +recovery (all to buttress up that endurance problem) so far. I am usually pretty good just hopping into a mob, either before or after a Tank, and I can mitigate alphas on a team with no Tank. /Energy is very sturdy, and I know it will be easy to soft-cap once I start moving into sets. Currently using regular Lv.30 IOs and the defense is solid. Very much a solid scrapper combo. Editing to say: I rarely play resistance-based secondaries on Scrappers, as the Scrapper resistance cap is 75%, compared to a Tank's 90%...while all ATs have the softcap of 45% defense. So, in my opinion it is easier to make a defense-based Scrapper, than it is to make a resistance-based Scrapper. This is just my opinion, and I'm sure others will have their opinions. But the 75% res cap for Scrappers has turned me away from those sets.

I was actually debating putting a new player guide together since there has been an influx since the licensing announcement, but you beat me to it! I think this is very useful to newer players Just wanted to point out that you don't need to visit the FA's anymore to change the level or team number settings. You can now do that from the chat bar. One thing I might add (and forgive me if it is already there, I did a quick read through and may have missed it), is the P2W vendor. When I came to Homecoming, I didn't realize for a few weeks why people were leveling so much faster than me, and then someone told me about the P2W Vendor in AP. I think mentioning the XP boosts and extra attack powers (definitely useful at those painful lower levels) could be useful.

I just got my Illusion/Dark to 50 and am slowly slotting him out. I think it is a very fun character. You need to think of yourself less of a normal "Controller" and more of an aggro mitigator. You will never be the lockdown king/queen. What you will be is the Diversion Duke. Really high recharge is what you want. Getting PA up and out as soon as possible is what Illusion was made for IMO. /Dark is my favorite set (mostly cause it is also my fave set on Defs but the Cont. version is better). I have a thread on Ill/Dark going, so please go ahead and find some other pointers there. But know that "fun" is subjective. I don't find Ice control fun because, IMO, it is just not good. You, or someone else, may love it. But if I was going for a very soft-control "Controller" I would choose Illusion.

Going to be honest, after 50, I am finding next to no use for Deceive. As I go about IO-ing out my character this is the first power on the chopping block. Allows me to take Vengeance, which opens up a slot for another IO set that gives me +Rech. Does anyone find a single target confuse useful, post-50? I can count how many times i've used it on 1 hand. I'd rather the extra slot for some more recharge tbh.

As I'm sure someone will ask, what are you looking to do with your character? I don't use Mids, but I can share my experience with my Ill/Dark, which just hit 42 (my thread is here). I took everything from Illusion except the two Invis powers. I find Spectral Terror and PA to be your bread and butter, alpha-breaking powers. You want them to have recharge, and you also want acc. and damage in PA. I got my 5 Luck of the Gambler +Def/Recharge slotted as soon as possible. I also got the Numina, Miracle, and Performance Shifter endurance uniques slotted early, to take care of the endurance issues. I'll be honest, the only useless power (IMO) in /Dark is the intangible one (Blackhole?). I took all the others and slotted accordingly. Since recharge is needed, Hasten is also necessary. I also took Maneuvers, both for the Defense and as a spot for a LotG. I went with Psi mastery for the +status resist (although it cant be activated once youre hit with an effect) and the +Res shield (a place to put both +3%Def uniques). At 42 I have no endurance issues, decent recharge, and 15.8% defense to M/R/AoE (only have one of the 3% uniques slotted so far, so second one will put me at base 18.8%).

This is kind of what I'm starting to see -- and I love it. I hit 42 tonight, and all my pets are coming together, along with my recharge and defense. I am thoroughly enjoying not being a hard-control Controller. I don't think anyone does (or should) expect that from an Illusion troller. But being able to alternate between PA and Spectral Terror on openings is very useful. On live, hard-control lockdown was what was wanted (and needed). Heck, I have a 50+ Earth/Storm troller on HC that can lockdown 4 mobs at once, but that level of control isn't really ever needed anymore (sadly). I do think this combo is very solid and definitely recommend it. I cannot wait to hit 50 and get my numbers where they need to be! See, my experience is a bit different. I always want a Tank on my team (as you said), but I also much prefer to be a Defender (and have them on my team) than almost any other AT. While Tanks are the OP of melee, I think Defender are the OP of Buff/Debuff. All of my mains are Defenders (so I am admittedly more than slightly biased) and all can hold their own in high level content. My Cold/Ice Defender is sometimes a better alpha breaker than most Scraps or Brutes with her defense numbers and perma-Sleet. The reason I gravitate towards Defenders over Controllers is that the Defender buff/debuff numbers are better and they do direct damage at late levels, whereas 'trollers have lower buff/debuff numbers and many higher-level mobs resist control effects. Dark has always been one of my favorite sets, and one of my first 50s on live was a Dark/ Defender. I think the Controller version is actually slightly better with the Defense buff and the Regen/Recovery buff. But the Defender version is still top-notch.

On live, my go-to ATs were either a Controller or Defender. However, from Live to Homecoming (congrats on the new agreement with NCSoft!) I have found it hard to make Controllers useful in late game levels. On live, a 'troller was always welcome. Goodness knows I miss my Fire/Kin farming days. A good Controller on Live could wholly change a team and was actually sought. Late game today, while a controller is always welcome on my teams, I have a hard time finding value in their primaries. (I wish I could say otherwise, as on live a good Controller was always wanted, but HC and IOs make Control almost irrelevant -- but that is an argument for another day). Since (in my opinion) Controllers are not well equipped for late game, I figured I'd make the least "Controllery" Controller. So, I went with Illusion (a set I also never really played on live due to its...as you guessed...lack of hard control). I decided that the new Dark secondary would be a perfect pairing. I have to say, I have not been disappointed. Early game was slow, I will admit that, but Illusion and Dark both shine late game -- especially with a focus on recharge. In my opinion, Illusion is less "control" and more "diversion." Especially late game with high recharge. I am not at perma-PA (yet), but I am getting close...it is a very different kind of 'control.' And I like it. I almost feel like an MM with 6 pets active. I never thought I'd like Illusion, because it wasn't fun on Live (IMO) and I wish the Controller version would get the Stun that the Dominator version gets (group invisibility is about as useful as a screen door on a submarine -- please replace it). But I just wanted to share and get thoughts on this combo. I took Hasten and went with the Psy Mastery pool (I thought Indomitable Will could be activated while stunned....but surprise...it can't. So, I may respec at some point). Ill/Dark is a very solid support set, as long as you focus on recharge. You may be a Controller (and I did take the AoE hold) but you are a lot stronger as an aggro-mitigator with PA.

So, I am always willing to admit when I am wrong. And having finally done the ITF with my now 50 TA defender, I can say that I now understand where you were coming from. Having perma-mez protection against Rommy is a blessing that I didn't know I had until I used TA's T9 like you said. But since this is a Thermal thread, I will turn back to that comparison. IMO this makes TA that much better than Thermal. The T9 is actually useful in elongated battles. And Thermal's T9 would be crap against Rommy -- my Thermal has been shelved in the mid-40s since I started my TA.

(Without utterly ridiculous levels of recharge) Can I ask how EMP Arrow's shield is perma in a normal world? EMP Arrow itself has a 5-minute recharge. Yes, according to the data in-game its buff has a 4-minute duration -- but outside of an AV, you are never getting that full duration, because no one is standing in the same place for any significant amount of time. Say you get it down to a 2 minute recharge -- most single-mob battles last less than 30 seconds. You are lucky to get a full minute of its buff (in my opinion; and likely far less) on 98% of content. I guess I don't know where you were going with that argument.

I think this is super helpful in comparing those powers that are similar (and not just comparing T9s). With its current stats, Melt Armor (MA) shouldn't be a T9 (this type of power comes well before T9 in other sets and its comparisons have better stats). MA's recharge (and placement at T9) really does sink the set. There are no reliable debuffs (ala. auto-hit and good like SLeet/FR) in Thermal -- and while the buffs in Thermal are good, I don't think they overcome the complete disaster that Thermal's debuffs are. And I agree with your analysis that "the rest of the set" does not make up for Thermal's T9 to be so crappy. I also have to say that I don't take Thaw or the Rez, (I might have said that before but I'm too lazy to re-read). I know people want to compare set power-by-power and by the number. I am not a "numbers" person in general - I make my builds by feel, and by playing them. I don't use Mids (it bugged out on my laptop and haven't figured out how to replace it). I can say with my feeling of usefulness on my 46 Thermal/ is nowhere near that on my 41 Trick Arrow/ (nor is it near most of my other Defenders). I want to love Thermal/, I just can't.

I agree that Thermal/ is a decent set, I have said so myself. BUT I just wanted to fix-quote you lol: melt armor is not just "slightly" inferior to similar powers. Melt armor is "vastly" inferior to similar powers in my opinion. Melt Armor is so bad, I created a whole topic about it. And I will reiterate my thoughts on how to fix it. Knock 60 seconds off its recharge (minimum) and make it an area-targeted AoE (like Earthquake). It should pulse it's debuff at quarter-second (less?) intervals for 30 seconds (does that sound good?) to make it similar to the Freezing Rain/Sleet powers. It doesn't have to do knockdown or slow (which is why FR/Sleet are inherently better) but at least the pulsing effect would make it hit more often and be more useful. As a T9 it should at least equal these much lower tier powers (both of which are more effective), if not be better somehow. I think this fix would be super easy to implement and make Thermal a much better set, the mechanics are already there. I also want to flag that while Benumb and Heat Exhaustion have the same recharge and end. cost, Benumb has better debuffs. So, even though the powers should be the same (IMO), Cold Dom., has the edge in this debuff too. Really, Thermal's debuffs are just bad compared to all similar ones. I have never played Pain on any AT, so I cannot comment on it.

I've never done a numbers test like this, I just usually go off my playing experience. But this backs up the point I am trying to make. Just got my Thermal/ to 46 this weekend. While Thermal/ is on paper a jack-of-all-trades, and it is a decent buffer (not great), it really lags in the debuff department. I also have to say I do not take Thaw or the Rez, I just don't find them useful (if Thaw was AoE like the shields, maybe it'd be something to take, but who has the time to hit a team with it?). Now, I'm not saying Thermal is terrible, it just is very much, in my opinion, in like the bottom 3 of defender sets. I've also been co-leveling a Trick Arrow/Elec defender (Now Lv.37) along with my Thermal/Fire -- and I 100% feel more useful on my TA. Even without the heals and shields, I can debuff most mobs into oblivion. I do have to say, Flash Arrow has to be one of my favorite powers -- a no-aggro minus-to-hit and perception debuff with half the minus-to-hit unresistable (with 1 -to-hit IO, it sits at -11.3% to hit unresistable + another 11.3 that is resistable which is huge, as that pretty much translates into a defense buff of at minimum 12%). Even if TA's T9 is on a 5 minute recharge....I just don't need it. TA's T9 is not needed in most content just because of the volume of debuffs that come before it. I know I'm not comparing directly similar powers, but TAs debuff magnitude wholly makes up for the fact that it has no real buffs (yes, the T9 has some area-centered buffs, but they are not up every mob, nor even every other). Yes, I went off on a tangent. But I do thank you all for your input. Maybe we can get some -recharge movement on those Thermal debuffs. 🙂

Yeah, there is no control in Thermal/. There might actually be negative control if you pair it with /Fire and use Rain of Fire, but I digress. The biggest issue is the shiite debuffs. The recharge is ridiculous for the T8 and T9 -- I think we can all agree on that. @Scarlet Shocker I don't think there is a full design concept for Thermal/ that makes it better than other sets (most of which are inherently good). Thermal/ suffers from the fact that it just isn't good at +50. No one wants a Thermal defender. When I run 50+ task forces, I use my Cold/Ice Defender. My Sonic/ and Nature/ Defenders bring more to a team than a kitted out Thermal/ ever could. And I will spend 500 mil on making my Thermal/ good. I just think we need to accept the fact that there is a gap in Defender primaries. And that gap will not be rectified, so many sets will be relegated to 3rd and 4th tier. Not trying to say I dislike my Thermal/Fire/Fire, but i know its limitations.

I'm not too surprised that Traps is a better debuffer, seeing as Thermal's debuffs are definitely lacking based on recharge time alone. However, most of my Defenders are geared towards fast moving teams (as most high level teams are) and I think that is where I am going to find frustration. But let me not speak ill of a set I've never played lol.