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Renatos1023

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Posts posted by Renatos1023

  1. I've never played Traps on any AT. I decided to roll this Traps/Beam Rifle Defender the other day because the new Issue was coming out and it was getting a new T9 (Temporal Bomb) that actually seemed useful compared to the previous T9. Just wanted to give some early thoughts to the set, and I welcome any feedback and thoughts. I probably play Defenders 85% of the time, and this is one of the few sets I've always skipped, because it is not the normal Defender mold that I am used to. As someone who plays on relatively fast-moving teams, Traps/ and its setup does take some getting used to, but it has been fun. Just hit Lv.29 tonight, so my perspectives are from a low-level build using a handful of unique IOs, plus mostly Lv.30 normal IOs. 

     

    1. I took Web Grenade over Caltrops. I thought the -fly and -recharge from the grenade (not mentioning the immob.) would be more useful. I generally avoid those powers that cause scatter. Does anyone find caltrops useful? 

     

    2. Triage Beacon - took this because I had two crappy T2 and T3 powers in my secondary that I didn't want to take, so had no choice. Figured in extended AV/EB/GM fights, it could be useful. Doesn't seem terrible, really just needs a recharge or two, depending on what you can spare.

     

    3. Acid Mortar - Finally a useful power! Used judiciously until I was able to get some recharge enhancements into it, but definitely a set-defining power. Who doesn't want the -def, and -rech. Once I can get more recharge into the build and get multiple out (they stack, i'm pretty sure, right?), it should feel pretty good de-buff wise. 

     

    4. Force Field Generator - I was surprised that, once slotted (at level 29 no less), it gave 20% def. to Rng/AoE/M -- this should be an easy toon to soft-cap. Part of me wishes this FFG was attached to my back or something, so I didn't have to deal with it following me - but at least it moves a lot quicker than most other follow powers. This is definitely key to setting up your other Traps in relative safety. 

     

    5. Poison Trap - I took this but am a little confused as to its usefulness. According to the data page in-game it does -1000% regen, but for only 10 seconds (?, is that right)...and the other debuffs are relatively meager. I just slotted with 2 recharge IOs. I'll keep it for toe-bombing AVs, but are the numbers better than they seem? Would you even slot the hold aspect, or just focus on recharge? Do you use this in normal mobs or is this just for the upper EBs/AVs/GMs? I can never remember if the skippable (by player consensus) Poison Trap is the one from Traps/ or Poison/.

     

    6. Seeker Drones - I skipped. I feel like I had read a lot of bad-ness about this power back in the day. Please let me know if I am wrong, I just don't have the power slots planned in my build to take it, but if this is actually a good power now, I can always find a way to respec it in.

     

    7. Trip Mine - I took this because I thought it would be good damage and I'm already toe-bombing with other traps, so why not drop it. I feel 'meh' so far on the damage. Plus, the interrupt seems to happen too often (maybe once I'm soft-capped def. this will be less of a concern). For those who have played Traps/ on a Defender, is this a good power or a skip? Part of me wouldn't mind respec-ing out at this point. 

     

    8. Temporal Bomb - The new T9! I managed to pick it up today on the day it came out. It seems pretty good. The damage doesn't seem too high, but I so far just have it slotted with an Acc and 2 Rech. The buff portion of it seems pretty handy, and I think it is definitely better than what was there before (as I said never played a Traps/ before, but the previous T9 on paper seemed like crap both according to its numbers and the forums, and was almost universally skipped).

     

    Overall, I think Traps/ is better than I thought it would be. As a Defender afficionado I would have some changes, but I will continue my way up to 50. Pool-wise I've gone Leaping for CJ and Leadership (just Maneuvers so far). Will also likely take Stealth and Hasten I think. Trying to fit in as many LoTG +Rech as I can and boost the recharge since it seems that is what Traps/ needs most. 

     

     

    • Like 1
  2. I really like the idea of combining Regeneration and Recovery Aura into a single power with slightly lowered stats - I think that is a good change just by itself. 

    I like the idea of the new power, but I do agree that targeting enemies feels off for Empathy. Since you had it tagged for -Res and -Dam, what if it was just made a team buff instead that did +Dam and +Res, with similar numbers you would get approximately the same effect of dealing more damage and taking less. I'm not sure if there is a proc issue there, but one would think the power could be tagged to not accept them.

    Also, my issue with Clear Mind (and Clarity in Sonic/) is that they are single target, and I can't be bothered to try and mete that out and keep track of who needs it. I think if it was a Team AoE like how shields are now, it would be a huge QoL increase and would make me at least think about taking it. 

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  3. 13 hours ago, Indystruck said:

    Clarity is already the set's T8 power.

     

    Agreed on repulsion, power has just active anti-synergy with the rest of the set. Sonic Cage's intangibility also has niche uses that are largely out of practice nowadays due to build availability. Sonic Siphon wouldn't be so bad if it didn't take a half hour to cast.

    You are right, I mis-remembered it coming earlier, similar to Clear Mind (edited original post to reflect this). Still as a T8, it is vastly underwhelming and needs to be buffed, especially as you already get a better mez protection power much earlier that buffs you and the whole team. And I agree about Sonic Siphon's cast time, it definitely needs to be shortened, sometimes trying to tag bosses with it on a fast-moving team leads to just hitting a dead body - I still think it should have a small AoE effect with reduced debuff on surrounding mobs. 

     

    5 hours ago, arcane said:

    Sonic Repulsion isn’t a terrible power if you slot it with 2 end redux, 1 sudden acceleration proc, and 1 force feedback proc. What’s wrong with an ally knockdown aura that periodically buffs your recharge rate?

    It potentially has some situational uses, but the vast majority of Sonics that I have come across just do not take it. It also puts your endurance bar at the whim of whoever has the bubble, they could decide to run into a mob and bounce everything around, and bottom out your endurance in the process. Plus, the KB tax of having to slot the KB-->KD IO makes me also want to skip it.

  4. 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. 

     

    1. 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). 
    2. 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. 
    3. Sonic Cage: 
      1. 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. 
      2. Conversely, replace it with anything else. Sonic/ should be a -Res master - give me something that helps to accomplish that.
    4. 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

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  5. On 2/3/2024 at 8:18 AM, drbuzzard said:

    I'm willing to be happy with the small sop they are tossing us with the liquefy change for the moment (I'd prefer 120 second recharge though).

     

    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). 

     

  6. On 9/24/2023 at 12:22 AM, Psyonico said:

    IMO the only thing that Sonic Resonance really needs is the recharge on liquify cut down substantially, like, in half.

     

    Sonic siphon is good for tough targets in end game, but it really shines in low levels before people have a lot of slots in their attack.

    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.

    1. 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).
    2. 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).
    3. 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.

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  7. 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.

  8. 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. 

    11 hours ago, Exqzr984 said:

    Hovever, If you want to learn how to be an OFF Ttank,  and drop the whole  Psuedo Tank thing, I would be happy to give you a practical in person demonstration

     

    • Like 1
  9. 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. 

     

     

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  10. 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

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  11. 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.

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  12. 18 hours ago, DreadShinobi said:
    On 11/22/2023 at 11:46 AM, The Curator said:

     

    • Thermal Radiation/Melt Armor:
      • Recharge reduced from 150s to 100s
      • Radius increased from 15' to 20'

     

    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.

     

    5 hours ago, Wravis said:
    On 11/22/2023 at 11:46 AM, The Curator said:
    • Sonic Resonance/Liquefy:
      • Cooldown reduced from 300s to 150s
      • Turned into a real pseudopet, inheriting AT modifiers

    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). 

  13. 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. 

  14. 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.

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  15. 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. 

  16. 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

     

    On 1/13/2024 at 11:46 PM, TheMultiVitamin said:

    Game Difficulty Options: Yes that's right, by default the game is technically set to "Normal" difficulty! If you ever want to edit this then you'll want to look for a Field Analyst on your map, head over to them and talk to them! There you can change your difficulty settings.

    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.

     

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  17. 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. 

     

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  18. 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. 

  19. 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%). 

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  20. On 1/5/2024 at 1:17 AM, Without_Pause said:

    An Ill/dark at end game on a team of 8 is someone with an audience of 7.

    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!

     

    On 1/5/2024 at 5:05 PM, Story Archer said:

     

    I struggled with something similar - it seems like the late game today is basically Tankers and Blasters. Scrappers can be an option if you want to freelance or tend to solo a lot (though Tankers are often still better options for that), while Defenders and Controllers are often relegated to 'tagalong' roles - they can help speed things up, sure, but they certainly aren't needed.  My solution was to lean into Kinetics with my Controller in the late game (always welcome on any team) and choosing Plant for the early game since you get Seeds at 8th level and its so ridiculously effective throughout the life of the character.

     

    I was on the fence between that and Illusion/Storm, but I'm a bigger fan of /Dark so it's good to hear some positive experiences with it.

    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.

    • Like 1
  21. 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. 

    • Like 1
  22. On 12/22/2023 at 7:12 PM, bustacap said:

    Im not saying use it at the same spot but things like Romi, aeon, and MLTF can be used on 2 different avs in order. The mez prot works like elec against Rom and is perma there. 

     

    Also perma in MS raid.

    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.

  23. On 12/20/2023 at 9:53 AM, bustacap said:

    EMP arrow's Ally shield is beyond perma. On recast it replaces and doesn't stack. This provides resist, mez prot, and end drain prot. Think electrical affinity's bubble without the KB prot. 

     

    The debuffs from it are time gated and not perma. It is the sets big -regen power. -500 regen for 15 seconds and -500 regen for 30 seconds. Combined with the rest of the set most teams are killing the thing in that 30 second time frame. I think it has the damage to robots thing also. 

    (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. 

  24. On 12/18/2023 at 12:51 PM, Hedgefund said:

    I like the above, but wanted to present a little bit differently, to compare like powers, rather than T9s.  Most all buff/debuff sets have some aoe -def/-res power.  Some, like Empathy, Kinetics and Electric Affinity don't have any.   Others have maybe something that only does -res (Sonic, Nature) and others still may need multiple powers to provide those effects (TA, Rad and to a lesser degree, Poison)

     

    The intent is not to just say "This number > that number so the set with that number is better" but rather a starting point to look at outliers and ask "does the rest of this kit make up for being an outlier?"

     

    I'm too lazy to worry about formatting and columns and the like, so a screenshot will have to do:

     

    image.png.fdf7ea6643c186707e76849d21f77529.png

     

    So I see 3 outliers, Pain Dom, Thermal and Time, with PD having the highest ratio of base recharge to duration.  Thermal benefits from having a long duration, which isn't really all that helpful for spawn-to-spawn fights.  For that you want a lower base recharge and that's where PD has an advantage to Thermal.

     

    In no way am I considering this some thorough analysis, but when I ask myself the question "does the rest of the set make up for relatively low uptime?" I have a gut reaction of 

    Time?  Absolutely

    Pain Dom?  Maybe

    Thermal?  Nope.

     

    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. 

     

     

  25. On 12/16/2023 at 9:32 AM, Onlyasandwich said:

    I agree. It's overall a decent set, but I'm not sure where the devs thought the power budget was being spent elsewhere to justify making melt armor slightly inferior to similar powers.

     

    Pain hits the same notes, but benefits from its own +res power. 

     

    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.

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