ParaBruce

This is exactly the kind of thing I love in a forum discussion: getting a fresh perspective on things. Thanks, Hjarki and Obitus! I feel like I have a fresh outlook on Storm Summoning, and now want to mess with it some more.

Oh, yeah, the shift to batch handling of buffs changed gameplay amazingly for the better.

Hmm. That's distressingly reasonable. How can I do foolish things when people like you just sit there making sense, I ask you!

Appreciate the warning about beasts - I knew it, but it may save someone else's sanity. 🙂 And agreed, about repulsion bomb (and force bolt, if for some silly reason I've taken it).

When I'm there with a mastermind, I figure that my pets will die in the course of pylon burning, and once in the bowl, figure I'm doing well if I can keep the tier 3 pet up most of the time and the tier 2 ones some of the time. If I bring in the tier 1 ones, it's just because I feel masochistic and/or experimental. 🙂

It's a mix of concept and aesthetics. I'm a very long-time sf and comics readers, and force fields have been a staple of my imagination since I was in single digits. There's also an interplay with constraints imposed by the cascading damage done from a rare auto-immune disorder. I don't like character-obscuring powers, and with MMs can't get the level of obscuring reduction I want, and the visual fry from "rain" powers can be nigh-migraine inducing - I often have to tilt my camera away from Snow Storm, in particular.

That's some nifty spectrum-making!

Thank you! That is indeed a help. 🙂 (Both for this particular combo, which I want to try out, and for the general principle of priority-setting when slots are tight.)

@Sunsette , this is one of those questions where I feel very, very sure the answer is already out there but darned if I can find it. If I try following your excellent-looking advice on Beam Rifle in setting up a new build, and then try following your excellent-looking advice on Energy Aura, I, um, I end up really, really short on slots. Do you have a build that shows how a combo like that fits together, or want to point at someone else's that does that same? Thanks. Signed, Yours In Cluelessness

That's good encouragement, at least. 🙂

Yeah, Force Field is probably the obvious pick here, with the character just needing to be close enough for Dispersion Bubble to do its thing. On the side, I am sad that I can't seem to find anyone else's FF/water blast build, as I think it'd be fun to dabble but don't want to assemble one myself. Ah, well. To the lab. Igor! More forelimbs!

Interesting! I tend not to think of TA in defenders, but then Force Field, which I do think of, also needs or at least strongly benefits from the Medicine pool. Thanks! Handy! Thanks!

Just about every power set sometimes brings the character up toward the action with PBAoEs and all, but I'm curious what folks think would be the sets - primary and secondary - that work most effectively while standing way back.

Oh, excellent, thank you!

In the past, when I've had the bubbling urge, I've done robots/FF because, well, they're fun and fit together reasonably well. But I got to wondering: how do the other primaries work with bubbles?

Thanks to a Discord comment from Kelly Rocket, I've replaced the Regenerative Tissue proc in Health with Panacea. I too like my strong blue bar.

Thanks! Just the kind of thing I can use. 🙂 Edited to add: in theory I use Hover, but in practice, no. So it's basically just a slot.

Let me note right up front that this is the first build I've ever posted, and it's purely a work of frankensteining, off of bots builds by Redux and Crysys and radiation builds, mostly Local Man's. If I knew what I were doing, this introductory paragraph would be very different. 🙂 My goal here is a mellow good time teaming, with as much of a mellow good time solo as is compatible with that. Flight is in there because, honestly, flight turns out to be a major element of my CoH fun; when I don't have it, I don't enjoy characters nearly as much. I have no particular attachment to Field Mastery, and picked it because they seemed like reasonable powers to supplement the main power sets. I'm entirely open to being told that it and other stuff should change, in sets and powers as well as slotting. I really, really don't know what I'm doing with slotting. Some of what's here is stuff that I've liked on past level 50s, some looks thematically suitable and useful for the overall build. I'd like to keep the total cost in the "a few hundred million" range because I know I can readily lay hands on it, but I'm also willing to look aspirationally at more expensive builds. Hero Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.6.0.1 https://github.com/ImaginaryDevelopment/imaginary-hero-designer Click this DataLink to open the build! Level 50 Science Mastermind Primary Power Set: Robotics Secondary Power Set: Radiation Emission Power Pool: Flight Power Pool: Speed Power Pool: Leaping Power Pool: Leadership Ancillary Pool: Field Mastery Hero Profile: Level 1: Battle Drones (A) Superior Command of the Mastermind - Recharge/Pet +AoE Defense Aura (3) Superior Command of the Mastermind - Accuracy/Damage (3) Superior Command of the Mastermind - Damage/Endurance (5) Superior Command of the Mastermind - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge (5) Superior Command of the Mastermind - Damage/Endurance/Recharge (7) Superior Command of the Mastermind - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge Level 1: Radiant Aura (A) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Endurance (9) Doctored Wounds - Endurance/Recharge (11) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Recharge (11) Doctored Wounds - Recharge (33) Doctored Wounds - Heal/Endurance/Recharge (43) Doctored Wounds - Heal Level 2: Radiation Infection (A) Dark Watcher's Despair - Chance for Recharge Slow (17) Dark Watcher's Despair - To Hit Debuff/Recharge (19) Dark Watcher's Despair - To Hit Debuff/Endurance (19) Dark Watcher's Despair - Recharge/Endurance Level 4: Accelerate Metabolism (A) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod (21) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Recharge (21) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Accuracy/Recharge (23) Efficacy Adaptor - Accuracy/Recharge (23) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Accuracy (25) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Endurance Level 6: Equip Robot (A) Recharge Reduction IO Level 8: Fly (A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Knockback Reduction (4 points) Level 10: Enervating Field (A) Endurance Reduction IO (25) Endurance Reduction IO Level 12: Protector Bots (A) Sudden Acceleration - Knockback to Knockdown (13) Expedient Reinforcement - Resist Bonus Aura for Pets (13) Expedient Reinforcement - Accuracy/Damage (15) Edict of the Master - Defense Bonus (15) Defense Buff IO (17) Defense Buff IO Level 14: Hasten (A) Recharge Reduction IO (31) Recharge Reduction IO (37) Recharge Reduction IO Level 16: Mutation (A) Recharge Reduction IO Level 18: Combat Jumping (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed Level 20: Lingering Radiation (A) Accuracy IO (33) Recharge Reduction IO Level 22: Maneuvers (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed (31) Red Fortune - Defense/Endurance (33) Red Fortune - Defense/Recharge (34) Red Fortune - Defense/Endurance/Recharge (34) Red Fortune - Defense (34) Red Fortune - Endurance Level 24: Tactics (A) Adjusted Targeting - To Hit Buff (36) Adjusted Targeting - To Hit Buff/Recharge (36) Adjusted Targeting - To Hit Buff/Endurance/Recharge (36) Adjusted Targeting - To Hit Buff/Endurance (37) Adjusted Targeting - Endurance/Recharge (37) Adjusted Targeting - Recharge Level 26: Assault Bot (A) Superior Mark of Supremacy - Endurance/Pet +Resist +Regen (27) Superior Mark of Supremacy - Damage (27) Superior Mark of Supremacy - Damage/Endurance (29) Sovereign Right - Resistance Bonus (29) Soulbound Allegiance - Chance for Build Up (31) Sudden Acceleration - Knockback to Knockdown Level 28: Hover (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed Level 30: Vengeance (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed (43) Kismet - Accuracy +6% (46) Shield Wall - +Res (Teleportation), +5% Res (All) Level 32: Upgrade Robot (A) Recharge Reduction IO Level 35: Fallout (A) Superior Frozen Blast - Recharge/Chance for Immobilize (40) Superior Frozen Blast - Accuracy/Damage (40) Superior Frozen Blast - Damage/Endurance/Accuracy/RechargeTime (40) Superior Frozen Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge (42) Superior Frozen Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance Level 38: EM Pulse (A) Basilisk's Gaze - Chance for Recharge Slow (39) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Hold (39) Basilisk's Gaze - Recharge/Hold (39) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge/Hold (42) Basilisk's Gaze - Endurance/Recharge/Hold Level 41: Temp Invulnerability (A) Impervium Armor - Psionic Resistance (45) Impervium Armor - Resistance/Endurance (45) Impervium Armor - Resistance/Recharge (45) Impervium Armor - Endurance/Recharge (46) Impervium Armor - Resistance/Endurance/Recharge (46) Impervium Armor - Resistance Level 44: Explosive Blast (A) Annihilation - Chance for Res Debuff (48) Annihilation - Accuracy/Damage (48) Annihilation - Damage/RechargeTime (48) Annihilation - Accuracy/Damage/RechargeTime (50) Annihilation - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance (50) Annihilation - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime Level 47: Force of Nature (A) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3% (50) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/Endurance Level 49: Afterburner (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed Level 1: Brawl (A) Empty Level 1: Prestige Power Dash (A) Empty Level 1: Prestige Power Slide (A) Empty Level 1: Prestige Power Quick (A) Empty Level 1: Prestige Power Rush (A) Empty Level 1: Prestige Power Surge (A) Empty Level 1: Sprint (A) Empty Level 1: Supremacy Level 2: Rest

I'm sorry I haven't had more to say, but it's been absolutely fascinating to listen. I've learned a bunch, about the game in general as well as about this build, and appreciate it very much.

This is an amazing thread. Thank you, folks bringing the clues.

This is fascinating, engaging reading, but I have a request about the builds. I'm on a Mac, and right now can't get the new Hero Designer running, which means the data chunks do me no good. Could you please post the full text of, at least, a baseline build so that I could transcribe it into the Pine 2.2.1 I _can_ run right now? Update: Never mind! Once again, whining makes it happen. 🙂 I got things working and can now view these fine builds. Is there anything the Peacebringer can't improve?

Lvl 48 water blast/willpower, and it's amazing. In particular, it blithely slaughters its way through Carnival of Shadow mobs, which is a bit of long-delayed, deeply satisfying revenge. I have never used a tier 9 power so frequently as I do with Geyser. It's very much part of my rotation, and is fun each time.

Thank you, everyone! As always, the explanations about why you made your choices and how they worked out are super helpful.

Heraclea, anyone else, got some suggestions? This will be my first sentinel at 50 and I have few clues.

Broadly, yes. Anyone can get themselves killed with a little effort, of course. :)