MoonSheep

put the proc in and continue to live your life, it’s fine. i wouldn’t overthink it

hey @perrond, some build thoughts - try to avoid 3 slotting things like recharge, you can get similar numbers from boosting enhancements instead once lvl 50, e.g. having your two recharge IOs at +3 or +5 through enhancement boosters. this frees up some slots - blaze and quick snipe blazing bolt are very close in their damage, bolt is a tiny bit higher. a great combination - speed boost looks a bit overslotted, i usually just put 2 end mod IOs into it - i wouldn't put the third slot of Miracle Heal into Health, you have transfusion for healing and transference for endurance - would have 2 recharge IOs into siphon speed along with suitable accuracy, it's helpful to stop AVs running away and similar hope it's fun to play, two great powersets

i wrote some build comments but i think a lot has been covered. in summary i would unfortunately abandon the current build and have a re-think from the ground up to make it more effective, including having a think on whether empathy will be the right choice for you if wanting to play solo i'd also note that if you're playing on a busy server like excelsior, there are a lot of opportunities to team with people. it may not be your thing which is fine - if you're dedicated to solo i'd very much look at a more solo friendly defender set like Poison, Radiation, Trick Arrow, Storm etc. if your true love is empathy, there will be ways to make it more effective solo, but it is quite a team focused set overall my primary suggestion would be to get on discord voice chat with someone and walk through what you're looking for, discuss the modern basics of slotting and similar. a lot has changed over the years once you're on your way with a build and alt that you want to stick with, feel free to DM me if you want some of common unique IOs that'll help your build (Miracle +Recovery, LoTG +Defense etc etc)

just adding onto what @bellona100 said to highlight it for importance Scarlet put the chance to hide ATO as soon as possible in assassin's strike, it crits reliably allowing for a nice attack chain where you can get good damage from an AS and then a crit from the next attack, do two more attacks and bam, it's time to quick AS again

you speak the truth. i feel claustrophobic when i see builds that rely on hover for all combat, the opposite of agility

that is really good

VG for sure needs melee presence in order to be effective but i haven’t found that to be problematic - i pop a few insps or if im in a team, i let someone else do the face tanking enhancing the -To Hit component is important for solo, if i’m carpark sweeping in PI the mage bosses can make life miserable if they’re not suitably debuffed. this is where i find ice blast better than fire blast, the added utility of having two holds can be a great benefit regardless, embrace death tidge. think of the developers who spend months creating the various floor textures of this great world. how will you admire the footwear of your teammates by being so upright all the time?

none of that is required though - poison is powerful but yes it is in glass cannon territory. i generally only play on teams and i find just carrying a few wakies and purple insps is a simple fix. let someone take the alpha and then hop in to cause chaos

@tidge check this guide out if useful (may also be helpful to other readers). i used it years ago when building my first poison and found it a great source of information

you don’t have to invest in any pool powers, you click the PbAoE toggle and it automatically debuffs enemies within 15ft every 0.5s it’s also the second most powerful debuff power in the set by numbers and the overall most impactful power in poison as a whole as it debuffs multiple enemies at a time, e.g it will give the entire mob -25% res (for equal levels), with the ST debuff giving the boss -40% res for a total of -65%. not picking venomous gas would be like not picking up fulcrum shift from kinetics - it’s the signature dish of Chateau Poison

is toxic common as a damage type other than low level vahz and high level arachnos?

adding further response to @Bleak Sun’s post on live, many purple IOs would cost 200-400m, thesedays the general price is 15-20M rare items like LoTG +Rech, Miracle +Recovery were generally between 40-60M each. thesedays they are an average of 8 million rare salvage also used to often be a few million each, thesedays it’s around 500k across the board, items on homecoming are around 10% of what they used to cost on live

i'm sure there's room for a few more! i'd suggest having a go on the test server. when a boss has -65% res from envenom and venomous gas, the procs hit with a good amount of damage. char and greater fire sword having 9 procs between them with a combined animation of 2.44 seconds really lays out some good damage, followed by blaze and blazing bolt both having 1s animations it's great for teams when someone also has a -res power. add a kin and you're truly cooking with gas

here's what i'm currently using. i prefer min/max builds with a lot of insps for speed runs rather than roleplay or iron man challenges that build for defense etc, i appreciate it's not everyones cup of tea i expect there's some further opportunities for optimisation, the focus is mostly on maximum damage output through the debuff + proc combo POISON FIRE 2025 - Hero Defender Build plan made with Mids Reborn v3.7.14 rev. 3 ────────────────────────────── Primary powerset: PoisonSecondary powerset: Fire BlastPool powerset (#1): LeapingPool powerset (#2): LeadershipPool powerset (#3): TeleportationPool powerset (#4): SpeedEpic powerset: Fire Mastery ────────────────────────────── Powers taken: Level 1: Envenom A: Achilles' Heel: Chance for Res Debuff7: Touch of Lady Grey: Chance for Negative Damage19: Lysosome Exposure34: Lysosome Exposure37: Lysosome Exposure Level 1: Fire Blast A: Decimation: Accuracy/Damage3: Decimation: Damage/Endurance3: Decimation: Damage/Recharge5: Decimation: Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge5: Decimation: Accuracy/Damage/Recharge Level 2: Weaken A: Siphon Insight: ToHit Debuff7: Siphon Insight: Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge34: Siphon Insight: Accuracy/ToHit Debuff34: Siphon Insight: Accuracy/Recharge Level 4: Super Jump A: Blessing of the Zephyr: Knockback Reduction (4 points) Level 6: Fire Ball A: Annihilation: Chance for Res Debuff11: Positron's Blast: Chance of Damage(Energy)11: Javelin Volley: Chance of Damage(Lethal)17: Bombardment: Chance for Fire Damage17: Ragnarok: Damage19: Nucleolus Exposure Level 8: Alkaloid A: Panacea: Heal/Endurance9: Panacea: Heal Level 10: Combat Jumping A: Luck of the Gambler: Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed Level 12: Elixir of Life A: Steadfast Protection: Knockback Protection15: Gladiator's Armor: TP Protection +3% Def (All)21: Unbreakable Guard: +Max HP21: Invention: Recharge Reduction Level 14: Assault A: Invention: Endurance Reduction Level 16: Maneuvers A: Luck of the Gambler: Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed Level 18: Vengeance A: Luck of the Gambler: Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed45: Luck of the Gambler: Defense/Recharge46: Shield Wall: +Res (Teleportation), +5% Res (All) Level 20: Aim A: Invention: Recharge Reduction36: Invention: Recharge Reduction40: Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control: Chance for Build Up Level 22: Poison Trap A: Fury of the Gladiator: Chance for Res Debuff23: Neuronic Shutdown: Chance of Damage(Psionic)23: Obliteration: Chance for Smashing Damage33: Scirocco's Dervish: Chance of Damage(Lethal)33: Ghost Widow's Embrace: Chance of Damage(Psionic)33: Eradication: Chance for Energy Damage Level 24: Blaze A: Apocalypse: Chance of Damage(Negative)25: Apocalypse: Damage/Endurance25: Apocalypse: Damage27: Apocalypse: Damage/Recharge/Accuracy27: Apocalypse: Recharge/Accuracy29: Gladiator's Javelin: Chance of Damage(Toxic) Level 26: Venomous Gas A: Enzyme Exposure29: Enzyme Exposure31: Achilles' Heel: Chance for Res Debuff40: Touch of Lady Grey: Chance for Negative Damage Level 28: Blazing Bolt A: Superior Vigilant Assault: Accuracy/Damage40: Superior Vigilant Assault: Accuracy/Damage/Endurance42: Superior Vigilant Assault: Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime43: Decimation: Chance of Build Up43: Sting of the Manticore: Chance of Damage(Toxic)43: Gladiator's Javelin: Chance of Damage(Toxic) Level 30: Inferno A: Armageddon: Chance for Fire Damage31: Armageddon: Damage/Recharge31: Armageddon: Damage42: Eradication: Chance for Energy Damage45: Scirocco's Dervish: Chance of Damage(Lethal)45: Obliteration: Chance for Smashing Damage Level 32: Teleport Target A: Blessing of the Zephyr: Knockback Reduction (4 points) Level 35: Char A: Unbreakable Constraint: Chance for Smashing Damage36: Ghost Widow's Embrace: Chance of Damage(Psionic)36: Neuronic Shutdown: Chance of Damage(Psionic)37: Gladiator's Net: Chance of Damage(Lethal)37: Gladiator's Javelin: Chance of Damage(Toxic)39: Invention: Accuracy Level 38: Fire Shield A: Titanium Coating: Resistance39: Titanium Coating: Resistance/Endurance39: Titanium Coating: Resistance/Recharge42: Titanium Coating: Endurance/Recharge50: Steadfast Protection: Resistance/+Def 3% Level 41: Teleport A: Invention: Range Level 44: Fold Space A: Invention: Accuracy46: Invention: Recharge Reduction46: Invention: Recharge Reduction Level 47: Greater Fire Sword A: Hecatomb: Chance of Damage(Negative)48: Mako's Bite: Chance of Damage(Lethal)48: Touch of Death: Chance of Damage(Negative)48: Gladiator's Strike: Chance for Smashing Damage50: Hecatomb: Damage50: Nucleolus Exposure Level 49: Rise of the Phoenix A: Invention: Recharge Reduction ────────────────────────────── Inherents: Level 1: Vigilance Level 1: Brawl (Empty) Level 1: Sprint (Empty) Level 2: Rest (Empty) Level 1: Swift (Empty) Level 1: Hurdle (Empty) Level 1: Health A: Numina's Convalesence: +Regeneration/+Recovery13: Panacea: +Hit Points/Endurance15: Miracle: +Recovery Level 1: Stamina A: Performance Shifter: Chance for +End9: 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i have a poison/fire/fire def and load the longer recharge damage powers with procs. e.g char has 5 damage procs which turns it into a delete button. most others have 3-4, it can really churn out the damage figures on enemies which are debuffed i also rarely solo, so someone else tends to take the alpha

- it’s best on defenders due to the stronger debuff values. i wouldn’t play it on other sets - the heal is fine, i don’t want people to live, more opportunities for tasty veng - the debuff values are very nice - this then is complimented nicely by damage procs - this is the overall synergy of the set, debuffs + damage procs = yey - venomous gas is one of the best debuffs in the game. 15ft radius, 0.5s tick rate. minus res, def, damage and to hit. godly. - poison can quickly get an AV to -95% damage, very nice - inspirations exist, use them to stay alive

i’m here simply to throw out disparaging words about dominator’s fiery orb i wouldn’t pick fiery orb even to light a barbecue

i think -res powers cast onto the fire increases the output of the fire extinguishers. would need to confirm, it has been a while since i’ve done it

hey wu, i have the same combo and have enjoyed it for many years the build looks mostly fine and it would be fun to play, but it massively under-utilises the -res benefits of poison by not tilting towards procs in summary: the huge -res of poison means powers which have long recharges of 15s or more should be loaded up for procs. e.g your build doesn't include the highest damaging power in the poison/fire/fire combo - char! it can be slotted nicely for 5 damage procs and 1 accuracy, it's a very heavy hitter - as is greater fire sword. the build is sub optimal without these slotted up nicely for procs have a look at the bits linked in this post for guidance on procs: and for poison in general:

keep your hp above 0

wuss i say: merge those servers! at random times, without notice, in different directions also: start changing the size of maps gradually without telling people make atlas park a little bit smaller each week during maintenance until we’re all crammed together like a nightclub and add 200 feet to steel canyon every month so it’s 3 miles long

certainly won’t fit through the underground itrial caves with an 11 gallon hat

i would make a game where things are more expens.. no wait nevermind @Troo

oh right - i’d say it’s definitely possible to have a fairly procced out build and still have reasonable defenses i have been thinking about building an insp-less alt for many years but i just can’t quit those crunchy, delicious inspirations. mmmm mmm, so moreish

the friends and extended network i play with with only use inspirations as the mechanism to survive, no building for defense other than the uniques and mastery shield when min/maxing, IOs with +defense properties (and to that matter, ATs where half the powerset are irrelevant shield powers) are inefficient and can be better replaced with insps, allowing the slots to be used for procs. an entire build crafted for 45% def can be replaced by a single inspiration my AH is always stocked with T3 and T4 bids for def, damage and heal inspirations along with Ultimate insps. before each mission i’ll fill my insp tray with them and have a few T4’s in my email if things are spicier than expected. if we schedule to do a weekend evening of speed runs we’ll place hundreds of bids during the week for insps to prepare as @Lunar Ronin says, some people may find it boring - and for general content it often is. for speed runs it’s the base standard