Golden Azrael

Ah...end toggles and end reds. My favourite topics. I find one stops the end bar coming back...and the other creates the end toggle cascade. Especially on toggle heavy sets. Chicken and egg situation. As a general rule, in the early levels it's good to go with the Accs and End reds. Makes a diff'. Marked difference. I also whack two end reds into toggles to begin with and keep that as I DO and SO. Then fill out the rest of the toggle attributes. Ultimately, depending on the end cost of toggle and attack, I pack 1-3 end reds in there. Eg. The Rad' anchor toggles are...well...3 end red in them for me. The heavier the toggle? Up to 3 and even then it's not enough. Two end reds on lower cost toggles. No toggle has just '1' end red in it. I can always tell. It leads to end failure in prolonged fights. The end won't come back fast enough for the amount of intensity in a prolonged fight. Heavy attacks. Two end reds Max. Average attacks. 1 end red. If I'm still out of end on an SO build I may fit out even medium attacks with two end reds. Again. Depends on the cost numbers. Having inherent stamina (did we ever not have it inherent and how did we cope? I remember well...) boosted to x3 SOs as quick as possible helps. Azrael.

I find out what I haven't tried before. Test it upto L8 to see if I like the feel of it. Then if I do, I try to unlock the alchemy of the optimised SO build. So I always build for SOs before I think about IO sets. Once you find what you like. Play it. Then optimise the build. When you're happy with SO build? Lock it in with general IO sets for cost savings if you wish. This could be Invul/EM. Stone/WP. Def/SJ. Ice/Ice/Ice. (The latter two I optimised the hell out of the SOs to begin with before I went near IOs sets at L50.) I love SO builds. I like the IO set building etc. Incarnates are a cherry on top. But the core game to me is going from TO to DO to SO. That's where the fun is for me. You don't have to break out the abbaccus to enjoy a sound build or have fun in pick up and play COH. Azrael.

Energy Melee? Any ideas on how to fix that? As for Dark Melee. So much promise...great out the gates with some 'not the face' smack fu...but the latter powers in the set seem to have long cool downs. The BU for DM takes a yawn inducing amount to come around. What's the fix on that? Make it faster? Or make the rest of the power set hit harder? Azrael.

i25. Just create higher difficulty levels for Incarnate rollers. That way you can make mission content like Incarnate trials. TO-DO-SOs are the pick up and play standard. IOs are secret knowledge by comparison. Far more arcane. Not something you'd balance the game against. I'm glad they democratised Snipe from behind the IO pay wall. Azrael.

I'm ok with tanks hitting 'slow' if they hit harder. Time vs Damage is the underlying coh formula. But if they don't hit harder (EM being a single specialist...) then what you get is mediocre. You're right about Energy having terrible AoE damage. Whirling Hands and BU with Perma Hasten is about as good as it gets pre Incarnate. And even with taking Musculature and Assault I couldn't say I was 'wowed' by it on Beta. I'm ok with sun as a 2ndary effect. That's handy. And kind of funny. Animation changes. EM was changed from the original to the pom poms. I don't mind the pom poms but it does take a while but it does hit hard. Increase in damage. I agree there. If you're single target and slow. You have to hit harder. Especially when 'super athlete' IO AoE builds melt whole mobs whilst you're stood mid-air 'Totally Focusing.' Better AoE. I'd take the 'Stun' power and allow it to be applied to a whole mob with superior damage. EM then gets a 2nd AoE power...it stuns but it also knocks the mob senseless damage wise. In time, the devs will 'tweak' all the glaring problems of all the traditional sets. (eg. Dark Melee's very thin cone on Sands of Mu.) There will be set 'noodling' (tweaking) but I don't see fundamental redesigns as they will lose their charm which Stone, Energy and Ice have. They're lacking damage. Most people prefer to play a brute for that reason. Not only do brutes get the fury mechanism but they get BU as well. If you're a SS brute you get Rage on top of that. The tank doesn't get the Fury mechanism. But the recent 'basic pass' of the Tank AT patch certainly addressed fundamental flaws of the tank ie. Making AoE and taunt even more so. Improving the melee flat rate of damage. As for the 'Rage' button. I have it in my mind that it works like Domination, you build up melee hits until your 'rage' buttons tingles and boom. I do think all tanks should have it instead of just SS set. That would fundamentally address the 'hard work' of the tier 1-3s and the 'big hitters' that don't hit hard enough. That doesn't mean there aren't 'some' problems with most sets. For the record, the fury mechanism seemed originally intended for Tanks just as Defiance was for blasters. Or domi bar for dominators. The sets do stand some tweaking. eg. Stun being the obligatory useless power in the set. So it being repurposed as a damaging mob stun...? Is just one idea. Ice melee has a 'Greater' (in name only) Ice Sword which I dropped on my built as AoE damage whole sale was more profitable. Stone hammers are great animation wise. But they're not the 'final statement' they could be with a bit of 'Rage' behind them. Rebuilding sets like Stone/Energy/Ice would be a 'terrible' idea. They're generally fine as they are. But they'd stand some tweaking here and there. Everybody has their own idea of what 'perfection' looks like. As witnessed by the tanker thread. Ice/stone/energy need some set love. From animation times to repurposing the 'useless' power whilst not losing the spirit of the original sets which play very nicely. eg. If 'Greater' Ice Sword had 'great' damage I'd chose it. If 'Stun' from EM had superior damage with an AoE component? I'd take it. If TFocus hit like a truck I'd use it more. If ETransfer was a bit quicker it would add more zest to combat. Stone melee isn't that far away. But a rage boosted flurry of damage boosted combat would make using those hammers even more fun. Having a nice 'killer' damage mechanism is something even Captain Powerhouse has muted (though shelved for now.) Tiers 1-3 on tanks can be a touch plodding...as you don't get to build up a head of steam to access 'superior' sustained damage aka like Brutes. The last tank I knew rolled a tank but because it 'didn't do enough damage' he went for the brute version. One thing at a time. Azrael.

*nods. There is something compelling about the 'meaty pom poms' of Invul/En combo. Lots of lovely auras and glo' fists. And yes. Packs a meaty punch on ET and TF. But when I tried the O.T.T Titan Weapons and then tried an E Melee tank after? EM felt very dated or like it needed to be 'more so.' For me. My Ice/Ice/Ice came out reasonably well after the tank chances and the improvement to Ice Melee's AoE damage. Sure. No fire tanker...but far improved. Invul/EM. Still feels like it needs to be 'more so.' Even after the chances. One of the things I did was roll an EM/Invul' with the fantasy (at least in my own mind..) that I could pretend I was a tank. (Yeah...surrounded by a move of 5 and taking damage like you wouldn't believe...at L38...) But the BU and damage on the 'meaty' punches with the fury mech' feels like what it should be on a tank. I guess if I rolled an IO build with resistances (lots of them...) then I could pretend 'some more.' Just out of curiosity, Kenlon, what is EM missing? More dam? A better attack chain for Tiers 1-4? If Energy doubled it's damage it may appease me somewhat. I'm a huge advocate of all tanking classes getting BU replaced with a 'Rage' button. So brutes get Fury. We get 'Rage.' It would greatly boost the old ice/stone/energy sets instead of having to tinker with them on an individual bases. Azrael. PS. I did get an Invul/EM to L50 on live. After several 'play it and leave it' attempts. 'Let's get this to L50...' And it didn't disappoint. Might defense and attack, I thought. Def' capped within one mob. Great res'. It was just needing a bit more damage...

I had a L50 Rock/Rock Domi on live. Melee heaven. Absolute control. Love that hammer... (Council mob goes flying off screen. Right after you 'choke' him on volcanic gas.) Azrael.

I dunno man, 'beeing' someone to death on the Beast Mastery set for a MM is pretty cool. Bee. Slow. Sting. Bee. Slow them some more. More DoT. Repeat. Watch the mob running around with bees around them. 'Buzzing' away. Remember when you got stung to death in Crey's Follow trying to get to a mission? Great to lay the bee smack down on a mob in Bricks. Azrael.

Yes. It's about finding out the role you like and the AT that fits in with that. Finding out their 'glass' ceiling and pushing that 'up.' As for the AV. Radiation. 😉 I have a Rad/Rad defender and an Ill / Rad' controller that have been dispatched to to deal with AVs. It's a good boost to the ego. Azrael.

Well said. I was going to suggest they make a Cold/Ice defender. It might suit their 'make up' better. As you can drop into attack or defence rolls easily. I've seen a few of them around and they always impress. It was the last thing suggested to me to build on live before the plug got pulled. Azrael.

I have some sympathy with that post. Azrael.

I used a Blood DK in WoW. It was fantastic. But tanks in Coh bury even them. Expectations? Only the ones you set yourself. The 'remove the stick' WoW raiding Leory Jenkins conventions...forget them. You'll pick up how the ITFs are done real quick. You probably now how to taunt and herd. And tactics re: corner pulling, progressive mobbing, pulling aggro' etc. CoH is very casual pick up and play. Run a few solo missions. Pick it up. Try a few small PUG groups. And see what the CoH community is like. By the time you are L50 you'll be mighty fine. With the recent tank improvements, tanking in CoH is better than ever. Well, so my Ice/Ice/Ice tanker says... He seems happy enough. You'll be spoilt for choice re: tanking options and builds in CoH. Azrael.

Yeah, but is Energy Melee damaging with the tank changes? 😉 Decent soft capping and res' builds above. Azrael.

I remember being very patient with my ice/rad controller up to L32. I got the 'Jack Frost' pet. I found it hard going. Felt like a spectator in teams. As someone once said to me. 'If you want to roll an ice controller and do damage? Roll an ice blaster.' I did and was far more satisfied. Azrael.

I only die when I'm being stupid or not paying attention. 😛 The only thing that eclipses this is my en/en blaster which is built for pure speed. The Sentinel is built for proc insanity. So it's also very, very fast. I just never stop blast tanking. In the middle of melee. Sure, the mobs don't like me...but hey. Azrael.

Energy. 🙂 I'm capped at 70%-ish defence with my unstoppable on. Azrael.

Energy sents rock. A blaster that can 'junior' tank. Mine is pure rock and roll. Just got to tweak the build for accuracy. I used to dream of an en blaster that could 'take a punch' on live. Now I have 'that dream.' Azrael.

Heh, heh...heh.... My ice tank, since the reformation doesn't take 'as long' as it used to. No fire tanker...but I've built my Ice tank for damage. It's night and day to what it used to be. Grav/Time. Well, yes...if we must watch paint dry if damage through put is the criteria for success. I do enjoy both my Ice tank and my Grav/time 'troller. Azrael.

I like the sound of that. Demon Beast. A different sort of Domi. Melee focused. Could live with that. I live in melee with my Domi's whilst piling on the control AoEs. Azrael.

Yeah. Damage and Fire are inextricably linked as if it is some arcane wisdom. It's not. Fire (and with debuffs) is crazy damaging and that explains the fire/kin, fire/fire blaster, fire domi, fire tank, fire brute...fire meh etc. I have a fire/fire blaster that destroys whole caves...and a fire brute that can melt mobs. But what of it. Far less fun than my en/en turbo fast blaster. But all ATs and powers can do damage. It's just the degree of which a player might want. eg. I just pushed my Ice/Ice/Ice tank to do as much damage as I could. (Built for damage...whilst capping def'.) But I wouldn't team with a fire blaster....heh. ...yet it still comes down to what is the most fun. If Dark/Rad is your bag of fun. 'nuff said. But I'd have said Rad blast is overdue for some damage number pass over. It's about the debuff, I get that. Feels somewhat apologetic on a defender or corruptor. But it is an interesting set to play. And Dark is a fantastic control and blast set. Very unique set. So I'd take solace from that. (Have a Dark/Dark defender. Love it...but it takes it's time to do 'damage.' It's more about the debuff and control. But a passing 'fire' anything could incinerate the mob much quicker of course...meh.) Now, Radiation melee? I teamed with a Rad Melee 'super athlete' and the team watched as he 'one punched' the malta mobs to death...whilst we 'watched.' Lesson learned? Watch who you team with and what alt you're going to put with that higher or lower damage team output. ie. Like minded and like built heroes. So it goes. Let fun be your guiding star. But you can push the Dark/Rad Domi to do as much damage as you can. Include Assault from Leadership. Make sure you can hit with Tactics. Use IO sets to boost your damage. Check out which Incarnate powers can boot your damage output. Eg. Assault from Hybrid. Alpha's Musculature etc. Include Clarion from Destiny to make sure you're not mezzed. If you have Perma Domi then get Destiny's Ageless instead to increase your frequency of output. And Interface's debuff powers to debuff them so you can hot knife to their butter. Enjoy. Azrael.

Mindful fire Demon. I can go with dat. I can see that working quite well. Any players I've seen with mind seem to do very well indeed. And fire speaks for itself. BOOM BAD. Don't meet that hero in a dark alley way. Azrael.

That pretty much sums things up. Despite the recent damage buff. I'd still add a 'Might' builder bar that can give sustained damage bonus to the tanker. Swap out BU and have a 'Might' toggle instead. Then you'd find Tanks aplenty. Tanks were eclipsed as soon as CoV become CoH. I still think there is a place for tanks, just don't allow any brutes on your team. Play with like minded players. Construct your PuGs with care. I have an Ice/Ice/Ice tank built for damage. The recent patch was like a new dawn. +4 x8 arachnos. And it keeps on giving. I have an SR/SJ tank. Love it. Alot of fun. The two tankers I most wanted to do when Live 'tanked.' My most damaging tank is my Shield/SS Brute. Built for high resistance and capped+ positional def'. A brute built like so is a tank in all but name. Mere semantics. You get a fury builder plus Rage. What's not to like..? Azrael.

Nailed it. Azrael.

I wouldn't have started a Domi as Dark/Rad. Hmm. Is this your 1st one? Dark/fire maybe. Azrael.

Amen. Azrael.