ForestNinja

Thanks all for the advice. I took the build Doomguide2005 posted and broke down some likes and dislikes. Most of the sets and bonuses work great. - I changed a bunch of slotting for a little more recharge and some regeneration (helpful when I use Absorb Pain). I also grabbed a little KB protection as well. - I dropped Deceive for Flash as I like holds better than Confuse. - I dropped Phantasm. I don't think it really helps this build that much. Phantom Army is invincible and has a bunch of agro pulling capability. - I dropped Vengeance to grab Teleport Target. I like the utility better than the buff. It even allows me to stealth missions when needed or call someone back when they have lost their way. - I grabbed maneuvers instead of assault. It lets me get some slots and extra defense for my party is always good. - I don't love blind overall. It seems a bit over slotted for proc damage. I dropped them to gain some more slots in other places. - Finally, I moved some powers around for level. I'm not sure this is the best level placement as of now, but what does everyone think? Are their massive gaping holes? ForestNinja IllEmpPsi (v1.00 i28.1) forum ForestNinja.mbd

Hello everyone. I am looking to build my level 50 illusion/empathy controller with set bonuses and was hoping for some help on the build. I used to play this back on live as a group helper for difficult pick up groups. I need high level heals (I love absorb pain), the ability to buff (adrenaline boost, RA's, and fortitude. May add sorcery and leadership), and a panic button in phantom army. A res + recall would be nice, and invisibility would be ideal. I will try to post a start build a little later. Thanks!

Hey everyone! Update time! I finished the build and it works like a charm. I am able to hold my own n almost any TF or GM I take part in. I just tried a fire farm for the first time since updating. With minor buffing I am pretty unstoppable, but with out that, I help tanks/brutes to drop groups very quickly. The global recharge means I get to concentrate on either AOE or ST as needed with very little instances of waiting for a power to recharge. Even the nuke comes up almost every mob. Endurance has not been an issue in a very long time. My idea to Combat TP in, nuke and TP out works especially well. Thanks for all of the help. PS, I checked the idea of HO's in Hot feet. If 5 slotting "Steroscilia," the slow does increase, but you lose some HP and, arguably more importantly, some mez resistance, so it may be worthwhile. I think I will grab some unslotters and get the HOs to try both versions and report back.

Oh yeah. Now that i dropped the idea of needing tactics and is assault isn't that helpful, Combat jumping makes more sense. I wish there was a way to switch stuff around to get acrobatics as long as I'm in the Leaping pool, but I will start with this and see where it leads.

Dang that's good. I agree with the Reticle move. Combat Teleport doesn't cost that much to begin with. I am going to try this out and see how it works. I had this idea to use Combat Teleport to hop right into a mob, but maybe I really will dislike it and change it out for Combat Jumping and mess up everything all over lol. I see what you mean about the Rain of Fire. It just was not computing in my head that Rain of Fire is a pseudo pet. Of course, now that I think of it, obviously it is and therefore the procs work differently. I can't believe I completely missed your whole dissertation on Aim/Build Up. There was just soooo much information. Thanks for being so patient. And thanks for the Incarnate suggestions. I had a Tank with some incarnate back on live, but stopped playing shortly after they came out. I think I have a build! or at least I will in a few hundred farms or so.

After I made all these notes and posted I just went ahead and gutted the ToHit powers and spread some of those slots around. I am also starting to think Tactics might be pointless. Why not go Assault instead? So here it goes. Puf 2.0 - Blaster (Fire Blast - Fire Manipulation).mbd

Wow! Thank you so much for your breakdown. I tried starting over from the beginning with procs in mind first. I then started working in some other enhancements to try to figure out high damage and accuracy. When it was all done..... I hated it. That being said, I think I learned a lot in the process. So I went back to my build above and started reevaluating everything I slotted with the recommendations you made. It makes a ton more sense, (i am really starting to see why you said I seemed all over the place) but I am still struggling with the slotting of a few powers. The first issue is Aim/Build up/Combat Teleport/Tactics. I like having high accuracy overall (if I want high damage, I have to be able to hit), and these powers all help to ensure high level Acc. Is there a good spot for Gaussian's proc in this group? Is it ever worth it to 5 slot to get the damage boost (I feel like I already know that answer)? How much ToHit buff is needed/ideal/overkill? Is there a good spot for Rectified Reticle's +perception? Currently they are eating a whole lot of slots, but I still can't decide what is ideal. Part of my whole issue there is that I have a hard time figuring out how to calculate accuracy in mids. I am working on that, but if anyone has any pointers on what to look for, let me know. Here are some notes on my new concept broken down power by power. Let me know what you think. Flares/Fire Blast and Ring of Fire I have pretty much ignored. Sure I could throw a bunch of slots in them to make them plausible ST damage, but with Blaze and Blazing Bolt doing it so much better and my AOE's still feasible against single targets, these just seem like a waste of enhancement slots. Next up is Fireball. I like Superior Defiant Barrage in here. This is going to be primary attack. So far I have it 5 slotted, gaining a little recharge set bonus and reaching ED on both damage and recharge. I would not be opposed to throwing in another slot to include the Res Debuff from Annihilation, but I don't currently have that slot free yet. Hasten is obviously two recharge IO. Rain of Fire is one of my favorite powers. I really like the Ragnorok KD in it. In the past I have used this to great effect as a form of minor damage mitigation. I figured I might as well continue in Ragnorok to grab some set bonuses, two damage procs and for good measure, some dam debuff. These numbers are close to ED but not quite there. I figure that this power rarely does allot of burst damage anyway. The procs are going to be doing allot of heavy lifting. With that in mind, I figured the immobilize proc from Superior Frozen Blast is also pretty useful to keep them in the AOE, so maybe that would replace one of the damage or Ragnoroks. That being said, a fourth Ragnorok could net me 15% accuracy set bonus which is pretty nice. I would prefer to 12 slot this power. hehe. Fire Breath is pretty important to the character concept (Fire breathing Dragon). I five slotted it with Superior Blaster's Wrath. This includes a damage proc and ED on both Acc and Dam. Fire Sword Circle is currently 6 slotted gaining two 3% damage bonuses including a proc damage, but my acc and damage are not quite maxed out. I could see reslotting, but i am just not sure how I want to go with it. I need to keep looking at that one. Blaze could probably use an Acc IO (or a Hami Acc/Dam), but I need to free up a slot for it. I have it 5 slotted with Apocalypse which includes a damage proc. I honestly dont hate the idea of Decimation: chance for buildup, but it likely is not needed as once I start using the ST stuff, most things are pretty hurt anyway. Alternatively, Devastation's Chance for Hold could be very useful for that one guy that breaks away from the group to go after the blaster. Good offense and good defense. I tried to make Cauterizing Aura a decent "keep me alive" constant heal, but I'm not sure it totally works. Opinions welcome. I plan to have this running most of the time, so the +end proc seems like a good idea. The only thing really missing here is damage, but again: Slots. I like Blazing Bolt....some. The chance buildup is nice as it is a great opener power. The chance Hold and chance disorient seems very nice as well since it could give me some breathing room when I need it but still deal some pretty high damage. Of course the Acc and damage is terrible right now. This needs reworking. I like five slotting Performance Shifter in Consume for set bonuses and Acc/End Mod. I have seen that others slot this for damage instead. My issue with this power is that I am not sure how much end slotting I need in this to refill my endurance and how many targets I need to make that feasible. I may do some experimenting and revisit this. This may be a great spot to regain some slots or to turn this into less of an end gain and more of an additional attack. Inferno is five slotted with Superior Avalanche. This just seems like a good idea to me. I hit ED in Acc and Dam and get some decent set bonuses while I'm at it. I could definitely see adding a recharge, damage proc, or maybe grab the proc from Fire Breath to get both. I just need another slot again. I dropped the FF +recharge proc in Arcane Bolt. If I can find a way to slot this up some more, it becomes a viable part of ST damage and should be used more often to take advantage of the +recharge. This is likely a priority. The suggestions for Hot Feet made a ton of sense as that is a primary way to keep the mobs still and in AOE range. I would prefer to drop the end down some more but it doesn't look like there are many end/slow enhancements. Bonfire was definitely slotted wrong. Thankyou for opening my eyes on that one. I still like the KB to KD proc. I am not sure how well it works in practice, but if it functions, it will be fantastic and if it does not, I will swap this power for burn or less likely combustion. This is another opener power, so I dropped in a res debuff proc. I'm still unsure how the pseudopet procs work. What is your take on this slotting? Sadly, right now Rune of Protection and Maneuvers are just muleing global procs. Which of these procs do you think are unneeded? Which are unskippable? I took Super Speed for the sole purpose of getting Burnout. Your arguments for double rain/nuke/ any other double power is a very good one. I never tried this power before. I may start taking this more often. I threw the stealth into Sprint for sneaks, the end mod synapse proc in Stamina and a bunch of heal procs in Health since I don't have a click heal. I am going to post my current unfinished build here with the caveat that several of the powers are noticeably overslotted and will be reworked again, but let me know if you think it is moving in the right direction and where I am just delusional. Also, this is partly to help myself keep track of what I was thinking when I started dropping powers into slots. Puf 2.0 - Blaster (Fire Blast - Fire Manipulation).mbd

Thanks for the input guys. I think I will comment on @Maelwys comments so you have a better understanding of how I got where I did and what I might be misunderstanding. Your build is a bit... all over the place. I agree that is not conventional, but it made sense when I was building it... Fireball, Rain of Fire, Fire Breath and Blaze have ED-capped damage but Fire Sword Circle and Blazing Bolt don't. None of them are procced out. ED was not my primary concern. I was mostly looking for high global damage buffs. I tried including every global damage buff I could fit, but that build was atrocious. This build felt like it took advantage of global boosts while still taking advantage of a few other things like accuracy, regen, recovery, and recharge when damage was not easy to achieve. Blazing bolt is (according to Mids) doing 1582 damage. That seems pretty good. I don't think it needs any more damage, but I guess I would not mind it if I could find another slot to give it. As far as fire sword circle goes, I'm not sure what your point is. If your argument is that I should ED cap, then why are my other powers an issue, and if it is not, then why does it matter that FSC and BB are not. Lastly, all of the powers you listed have procs in them. I'm not sure what you mean by saying they are not procced out. Do you mean only slotting with procs? That doesn't make sense to me, but I may not understand procs completely. I think I need to read about them some more. Aim and Build Up are way overslotted and you've put the Gaussian Proc in Combat Teleport?? Aim and Build Up (and Combat teleport for that matter) are 5 slotted Gaussian for the 2.5% damage bonus x 3 in addition to the damage bonuses they all carry anyway. I put the proc in Combat Teleport because I assumed I would be using it more often, so it would have a better chance of triggering. Again, I don't fully understand procs, so I may have made a poor choice here. Hot Feet isn't noticeably slotted for Damage, Endurance Reduction or Slow. Totally valid point. I think this is a great observation. Slow is probably what I should be slotting this for. I will definitely try to work out a better slow slotting here. Bonfire is slotted for +Knockback and has the Force feedback Proc (which won't affect you since it's a pseudopet) This is probably a misunderstanding on my part. So this will not give +feedback for myself every time I activate the power? That does change things. As far as the knockback goes, does it stop being knockback and just become knockdown because of the Sudden Acceleration? I am definitely having a hard time with these procs. You've taken Rune of Protection, which is fine, but it's not slotted for Damage Resistance and you're not alternating it with a similar buff like Melee Core. To be honest, I did not completely realize that this was a click power and not a toggle. My primary purpose for this was a Mez protection. It may not be what I need it to be. As far as Melee core is concerned, I dont have any incarnates chosen. I dont know enough about them yet. I have not been too concerned with Damage mitigation in general. I dont expect to be a tank. I am likely more of a glass cannon. With a decent healer/buffer along, my personal protections will be redundant and with a decent tank along I should be dropping the mobs before I gain agro. That being said, this is probably the biggest problem with this build. It is mostly overcome with some inspirations though, so maybe its a risk worth taking. For what it is worth, I thought it would be a better idea to put procs in it than slot for resistance. Assuming keeping 3 slots, would you recommend procs or slot for Resistance? Fire Shield has no resistance slotting beyond the Steadfast +Def Unique. This felt like a weak power that could benefit from some procs, but was not really needed overall. It would likely be a first power to drop if I am short on endurance, but I might as well slot it with some useful procs. The real reason I took it was to get the rez. The more I think about it though, maybe the res is unnecessary and that could mean dropping the Fire epic completely for other powers or maybe Force Mastery. Then again, maybe I should move some slots from Rune of protection and get some decent resistance out of it. Do you think it is worth it? Maneuvers seems to be used as a mule for Defence Uniques, but it includes the Kismet Unique which functions as a proc not a set bonus. Yes. As far as Kismet is concerned.... man I gotta learn about how these procs work. No Combat Jumping on a mobile powerset with multiple PBAoEs. Combat Jumping is fine, dont get me wrong, but it is not the only form of mobiity. That being said, an earlier iteration of this build used combat jumping as the mule for the defense powers, but I liked the idea of combat teleport and leadership over just some slightly better jumping. I am not convinced that I cant use combat jumping and acrobatics in place of Rune of Protection and Maneuvers, but that also means giving up leadership in general and I still like tactics (and i might work in assault). The Fury of the Gladiator -Res Proc is in Rise of the Pheonix? I mean I guess I could leave it unslotted. Honestly I dont care about this one, but if you have a reason this is terrible I'm open to a suggestion. NO BURN??!? 🤯 🔥 😛 Yeah. Burn damage kinda sucks. You have to be on the ground. It is a PbAOE that gives Immob protection, but there are better protections for that right? I would rather nuke, fireball, FSC, Fire Breath or just go single target almost every time that I can think of. But please, if I am missing something about burn, educate me. I really do want to learn. Originally I was all about combustion and burn until I started looking at the numbers and thought "wait a minute, these powers seem like a waste of activation time." If you're going for maximum damage, slot for damage% but for recharge% pay close attention to Proc rates ("PPM" aka "Procs per Minute") - Mids does a reasonable job of calculating the average damage of "damage procs" in various powers, however other stuff like -Res procs and the Gaussian you'll need to calculate the rate manually based on the properties of the power and how much +recharge you've got slotted in it. In general for procs you'll want to go for low amounts of recharge slotting in the power itself, and high amounts of Global Recharge from things like Hasten, Set Bonuses and Ageless Incarnate. This plus this will get you exact values - Maximum Proc rate is 90% so if you're over that then you can add more recharge slotting. This seems like some great advice that I cannot quite utilize yet because, again, when it comes to procs, I'm an idiot who needs to read some more. Unfortunately I don't have a recent Fire/Fire/Fire build immediately to hand - the closest is a Fire/Ice/Fire, but it's a very similar idea - kill all the things as fast as possible. Should be a reasonable starting point at least - In conclusion, I really do appreciate your feedback. I know it sounds like I am being ungrateful, but I just want to make sure you know what I was going for when I started looking at the build so you can tell me how I am screwing up my view of things. The thing that shocked me is that when I load my build compared to others i see posted, I seem to be doing a significantly higher amount of damage, but is that accurate, or do i just completely misunderstand how Mids or my slotting works. Thanks so much for your time. I am going to try relooking at this build again. and I will learn about procs! I swear it!

I tried reworking a few things and fine tuning the build overall. I swapped a few powers, dropping flight for leadership and worked in some more set bonusses that seemed appropriate. I seem to have some pretty good Damage, Accuracy, To Hit Buff and Recharge. Anyone have any suggestions? I just reached 50, so i will be beginning to work on incarnate XP as I gather recipes and salvage. Thanks for the help! Puf 2.0 - Blaster (Fire Blast - Fire Manipulation).mbd