Redlynne

I think you want to be paying attention to This Thread instead for that ...

Interesting ... Which then begs the question ... what is the distinct difference between Summons powers that can Mez and powers such as Choking Cloud and Hot Feet that allows the Energy Fonts to spawn from some powers when used, but not others? Is it the case that the power has to be "cast" by the Controller and not by an "independent" entity (who isn't classified as a Controller?)? It's starting to look that way.

How does giving some single-target damage to Trick Arrow solve the problem of it being a weak Buff/Debuff set? Swapping Electrified Net Arrow in for Entangling Arrow is ONE ... I repeat for clarity ... ONE piece of the puzzle for what to do for Trick Arrow to bring the set up to par (instead of keeping it at its current "triple bogey" status of underperformance). And I say that in the context of "what to do about Entangling Arrow?" since it is a simple, easy and effective solution to the problem of what to do with the T1 power. T2-T9 is the rest of the conversation beyond what to do about T1. The fact that this change to T1 in and of itself increases the internal synergy of the powerset so you don't need to outside the powerset to ignite the T8 power is merely the FIRST step ... not the last.

I love it how people can be handed an answer that ALREADY WORKS ... called Electrified Net Arrow ... and they just DROP IT ON THE FLOOR as if they weren't handed the answer on a platter while they reach for the WRONG answer With Confidence™.

Have you tested that? Makes me wonder if the Controller ATOs are keyed in such a way as to only proc on CONTROLLER powers that Mez, while the Pets would be "missing" a flag that would allow them to proc the Controller ATOs ... kind of like how the Gravity Distortion attacks by Singularity weren't setting up Impact for Gravity Controllers (until the Homecoming Devs fixed that oversight in a recent update).

I'm just going to place my marker on "porting" Electrified Net Arrow into Trick Arrow is the easiest, simplest and most elegant solution to the problem.

For the purposes of this topic, according to Paragonwiki these are the respective Controller primary summons powers, with the ones that Mez for ease of identifying what ought to be able to proc an Energy Font from Overwhelming Presence. Darkness Control ... Umbra Beast Claw Rake (Melee, Minor DMG(Lethal/Negative), Foe Minor DoT(Lethal)) Resistance (Auto, Res( S25 L25 F15 C35 E15 N50 P20 T50 ), Res(Sleep, Immobilize, Hold, Stun, Knockback, Knockup) Shadowy Binds (Ranged, Moderate DoT(Negative), Foe Immobilize, -To Hit, -Fly) Terrifying Roar (Ranged Cone, Moderate DMG(Smashing/Negative Energy), Foe Terrorize, -To Hit) Umbra Swipe (Melee, Moderate DMG(Lethal/Negative), Foe Minor DoT(Lethal)) = 2 Mez attack powers Earth Control ... Animate Stone Hurl Boulder (Ranged, High DMG(Smash), Foe Knockback, Taunt) Seismic Smash (Melee, Moderate DMG(Smash), Foe Hold, Taunt) Stone Fist (Melee, DMG(Smash), Foe Disorient, Taunt) Resistance (Auto, Res( S40 L50 F60 C60 E60 N60 P80 T100 ), Res(Sleep, Hold, Immobilize, Knockback, Knockup, Repel, Stun), -25% ToHit) = 2 Mez attack powers Gravity Control ... Singularity Crush (Ranged, Moderate DoT(Smash), Foe Immobilize, -Fly) Gravity Distortion (Ranged, Moderate DoT(Smash), Foe Hold, -Fly) Lift (Ranged, Moderate DMG(Smash)) Repel (Augo, PBAoE Knockback) Resistance (Auto, Self: Fly, Res( S50 L50 F50 C50 E50 N50 P100 T100 ), Res(Healing), Res(Hold, Sleep, Immobilize, Stun, Knockback), -25% ToHit) = 2 Mez attack powers Ice Control ... Jack Frost Chilling Embrace (Auto, PBAoE, -Speed, -Recharge) Freezing Touch (Melee, Single Target, Cold, Hold, -Knockback) Greater Ice Sword (Melee, Single Target, Lethal, Cold, -Speed, -Recharge) Ice Bolt (Ranged, Single Target, Smashing, Cold, -Speed, -Recharge) Jacks Ice Sword (Melee, Single Target, Lethal, Cold, -Speed, -Recharge) Resistance (Auto, Self, Res( F10 C60 ), Def( S25 L25 F35 C35 E25 N25 P25 ), Def( A25 ), Prot( St 100 Sl 100 ), Immunity to -Speed) = 1 Mez attack power Illusion Control ... Spectral Terror Cloak of Fear (Auto: PBAoE Fear, -To Hit) ResistAll (Auto: Self Untouchable) Terrify (Ranged, Foe Fear, -To Hit) Translucency (Auto: Self Immobilize, Intangible, Untouchable, Res(Self-Heal) = 2 Mez attack powers Plant Control ... Carrion Creepers Creepers Powers Bramble (Auto, PBAoE, -Fly, -Speed) Carrion Creepers (Summon Carrion Creeper Patch on each enemy corpse within range every 10 seconds) ResistAll (Auto, Self, Untouchable) Vines (50% chance to Summon Carrion Creeper Vine on each enemy within range every 10 seconds) Carrion Creeper Patch Powers Entangle (Ranged, AoE, DoT(Smashing/Lethal), Immobilize, -Knockback, -Fly) ResistAll (Auto, Self, Untouchable) Self Destruct (after 2 seconds) Carrion Creeper Vine Powers Resistance (Auto, Self, Res( S-1 L-4 F-4 C-2 E-2 N-3 P4 T4 ), Def( P25 ), Immobilized) Self Destruct (after 15 seconds) Vine Smash (Melee, Single Target, Smashing, DoT(Toxic), Knockdown, -Fly, -Speed) Vine Thorns (Ranged, Single Target, Lethal, DoT(Toxic), -Fly, -Speed) = 1 Mez attack power Plant Control ... Fly Trap Bite (Melee, Single Target, Lethal, DoT(Toxic), -Def) Entangle (Ranged, AoE, DoT(Smashing/Lethal), Immobilize, -Knockback) Fling Thorns (Ranged, Cone, Lethal, DoT(Toxic), -Def) Resistance (Auto, Self, Res( S30 C30 E30 N30 P30 T30 ), Def( P25 ), +Regeneration) Thorny Darts (Ranged, Single Target, Lethal, DoT(Toxic), -Def) = 1 Mez attack power So what I would surmise from this is that simply based on quantity of powers that will potentially proc an Energy Font if the Pet is slotted with the Overwhelming Presence proc, we have: Umbra Beast (Ranged + Ranged Cone) Animate Stone (Melee + Melee) Singularity (Ranged + Ranged) Jack Frost (Melee) Spectral Terror (PBAoE + Ranged) Carrion Creeper Patch (Target AoE but requires enemy corpse to enable every 10 seconds) Fly Trap (Target AoE) Any testers willing to take these Pets for a trip around the block on the Test Server to check to see if they can spawn Energy Fonts if the Overwhelming Presence proc is slotted into them?

Exactly. Sometimes you need to show just how far over the line something is before people realize what they've just suggested.

The only possible way you could do this would be to turn Entangling Arrow into a "mini-Wormhole" (ala Gravity Control's Wormhole) that does NOT do Knock* and give it a markedly small radius (like say 7 ft, which amounts to a melee range radius around the primary $Target). Essentially it would function as a "scooper" of an attack power that would "pile" nearby $Targets together in a clump via Teleportation just like what Wormhole does when slotted with a Knockback to Knockdown conversion IO. Entangling Arrow though would be a Teleport+Immobilize that always notifies enemies (so no aggro-less use like with Wormhole). Just about the only way I can imagine being able to "balance" that as a T1 power would be to make the Teleport effect a MAG 2.8 so it will scoop up Minions but not Lieutenants and above, while keeping the Immobilize MAG at 3 (so no change there). Entangling Arrow in that scenario would be reclassified a Target AoE but would not change which enhancements/sets it accepts.

I was looking at my Gravity/Time build and wondering if anyone has ever put the Controller ATO Overwhelming Presence: Energy Font proc into Singularity (and if you have, what happened)? Theoretically speaking, in order for a Summoned Pet to be able to make "use" of the Overwhelming Presence proc to summon an Energy Font, the Summoned Pet in question would need to be using attacks that Mez. Kind of like how the Achilles' Heel proc can be slotted into Pets that have an attack that does -Defense debuffing, but will only be "checked" for proc chances when using an attack power that debuffs Defense by that Pet (so other powers used by the Pet that don't do -Defense debuffing don't check the Achilles' Heel proc at all). However, Singularity for Gravity Control has two attacks that Mez ... Crush (which Immobilizes) and Gravity Distortion (which Holds) ... both of which are single target. Which makes me wonder if putting the Overwhelming Presence Energy Font proc into Singularity will cause Singularity to spawn Energy Fonts "all on its own" by attacking, or if it's a case of the Energy Font only checking for proc chances upon summoning Singularity and then never checked again after that. Note that I would not expect Lift or Repel by Singularity to have any proc chances using either Controller ATO proc, simply because Lift and Repel are Knockback powers with no corresponding Mez attributes, and the corresponding Lift (Gravity or Mind Control) and Repel (Kinetics) simply do not accept Controller ATO sets in their powers (ipso facto Singularity shouldn't either because Singularity uses "legacy" power copy/paste for its attack powers). So has anyone tested this? Are there any testers around who would be willing to test this proposition? And the follow up to this would be that if Singularity can spawn Energy Font summons by use of attacks ... are there any other Summoned Pets for Controllers who could do the same (and if so, which powersets)?

Spent some time revising multiple(!) build posts I've made so as to limit the HOs to +2 instead of +3 in builds.

At the end of the Tutorial you either defeat the PPD and get aligned with the Resistance and meet Calvin Scott (who you secretly report to) or you defeat the Resistance prisoner and get aligned with the Loyalists and meet Provost Marchand (who you secretly report to). Once that choice is made, you can only alter it by rerolling the character ... so choose wisely which "sides" of the story you want to see (and how much backstabbery you want to get up to) by being a double agent playing off both sides against each other. Remember, this guide is about "threading the needle" between both sides ... not about how to pick one side and stick with it exclusively.

Resistance Warden Contacts will talk to a Loyalist, so you can do their arc(s) as a Loyalist. Resistance Crusader Contacts will require you to be Resistance Alignment in order to talk to you, so you can't do their arcs as a Loyalist. Loyalist Responsibility Contacts will talk to you if you're in the Resistance, so you can do their arc(s) as Resistance. Loyalist Power Contacts will require you to be Loyalist Alignment in order to talk to you, so you can't do their arcs as Resistance. Each of these distinctions is annotated in the OP, and the requirements for Loyalist and Resistance alignment to talk to the respective contacts is denoted by a L or R appended to the names of the Contacts with those respective prerequisites.

So basically a Jolting Chain sort of thing where the "electrified" portion of the attack does damage and a MAG 2 Immobilize and can chain to up to ... what ... 2 additional $Targets? Meanwhile, the main entangling "net" portion of the attack does no damage (just like the Trick Arrow version) and has another MAG 2 Immobilize that only hits the (deliberately) attacked "main" $Target, for a combined MAG 4 Immobilize on the "main" $Target?

Cool - I noticed that garden while flying, but I didn't check for stairs. Stairs get you inside it? Yes, actually. There are two buildings (it's the same building repeated elsewhere) in Atlas that have domed "glass" roofs on them with a greenhouse inside that you can access from ground level (via door marked with stairs) that will take you INSIDE the dome. People inside can see people outside, since the dome is somewhat transparent, although the dome is world geometry so you can't teleport through it.

So the way the undercover option works is that when you're doing missions for the OPPOSING faction you are given an option to modify the path through that mission by calling in to either Provost Marchand or Calvin Scott BEFORE entering the mission. So if you're secretly aligned as a Loyalist, because you chose to be a Loyalist in the Tutorial, when you're doing Resistance aligned missions SOME of the missions will have an option to Call Marchand before you enter the mission (and this will be advertised to you in yellow text in the mission description itself). Same deal with being secretly aligned as Resistance, because you chose Resistance in the Tutorial, when doing Loyalist missions SOME of the missions will have an option to Call Scott before you enter the mission (and this will be advertised to you in cyan blue text in the mission description itself). Exercising these Call In options before entering the mission will then enable DIFFERENT OPTIONS in the interact windows during the mission itself, yielding slightly nuanced differences in outcomes. That way, when you play through on different "sides" of the Loyalist/Resistance divide, the gameplay experience isn't necessarily a perfect mirror image of each other. The thing is, whatever you chose during the Tutorial sets your secret alignment for the rest of your time in Praetoria and is not something you can change later (short of rerolling and starting over from scratch). So yes ... if you start as a Loyalist and do only Loyalist missions, your secret reporting to Provost Marchand "won't work" or do anything useful for you because that secret is only used during Resistance missions. If you're not infiltrating the enemy faction then your secretly reporting to either Marchand or Scott doesn't matter one bit. It's only when you go "undercover" as being aligned to the faction you did NOT choose during the Tutorial that your secret reporting back to Marchand or Scott actually matters to how the story of the missions you are doing plays out. So if you pick Loyalist and only do Loyalist missions for Loyalist contacts and never switch alignments at the end of an arc of contacts then the alignment you chose during the Tutorial winds up being quite meaningless and you could have skipped the tutorial entirely. However, in the context of this thread, where the idea is to be switching alignments back and forth as often as possible, the secret alignment you choose during the Tutorial becomes VERY important for your path through Praetoria and you'll have ample opportunities to exercise your "undercover mole" role as you work your way through all of the Praetorian content.

And now everyone is trying to connect the Nemesis Dot.

Okay ... wait ... I've made the guy(?) who compiles build posts on these forums remake one of their own builds with this post? Damn ... karma ... 💫

It's a leveling build, meaning it's meant to be used while "growing" to Level 50 ... which kind of implies it's a budget build until you've got "unlimited resources" when you're all Incarnated out. Now there are some things which can be swapped out for Purple 50 sets that would cause global recharge to increase even above what I've posted here. Is that with or without Hasten? I ask that because Hasten will add +70% global recharge. So the +106.25% global recharge from sets (that gets rounded up to 106.3% in the builder stats) and then when you add Hasten it adds up to +176.25%.

Oh no ... NEVER play Ninjas/Trick Arrow. Friends do not lets friends play Ninjas/Trick Arrow. They don't even suggest playing it. I speak from experience. I played Ninjas/Trick Arrow on Virtue, and the combination is NOT GOOD. The Ninjas fold like pre-creased origami rice paper when even glanced at by hostile foes if they aren't supported by your secondary powerset ... and Trick Arrows does next to nothing to support Mastermind Pets in their survivability. However, if you're a serious self-hating masochist who lives to be frustrated ... by all means ... play Ninjas/Trick Arrow!

I make Exemplar Friendly leveling builds. Only if you're taking the Superior versions which are auto purpled and attuned. Because the build is written using the non-Superior versions of the ATO enhancements. Yes ... it does. Aw crumbs ... I'd hoped that had been fixed on Homecoming. Oh well, I get to edit a bunch of build posts to fix that oversight. Or just use multiple purple inspirations. Vengeance is an "opportunity struck (someone else down)" kind of thing, rather than something to be relied on full time. Most people don't, to be fair. Hey, I never claimed this build would be Great For Everyone™! (or words to that effect). Now, if there's stuff in here that inspires you to do something "clever" in your own build(s) without using this build as a cookie cutter to copy in ALL respects ... even then I will consider myself to be well repaid for my efforts in posting this build at all. Soul Drain is a PBAoE which doesn't exactly mesh well with the "all attacks from range" vibe I've got going with the rest of the build. It can be done, sure ... but it's not quite as awesome a blending as with say Hail of Bullets out of the Dual Pistols powerset where you can one-two combo Soul Drain into Hail of Bullets and then get on with your life while everything around you is in a world of hurt.

If you're looking for inspiration/pointers on how to slot up Nature, may I recommend these posts by @SmalltalkJava: Demons/Nature Demons/Nature Tankermind Beast/Nature And if you're REALLY desperate, someone named @Redlynne posted a Mind/Nature/Primal Controller build (called "Mind Over Vegetables" that ought to give you a clue how it feels to play) inspired by all the research on Nature being done by @SmalltalkJava ... so there's that reference point too. I figure that ought to be enough to give you some clues on where you'd want to go with your own Mercs/Nature build, especially if you wind up going Mercs/Nature/Mace in order to get access to Power Boost for even greater Absorb shielding. Oh and I'd honestly recommend you consider taking your 3 personal attacks as a Mastermind for reasons that can be found in my Ninja/Time/Mace build writeup. Burst can be 5 slotted with Decimation (minus the Acc/End/Rch) and still add either the Winter's Bite proc or the Achilles' Heel proc (my preference would be Winter's Bite). Slug can be 5 slotted with Entropic Chaos (or Apocalypse minus the Dam) and still add a Force Feedback proc. M30 Grenade can be 5 slotted with Annihilation (minus the Dam/Rech) and still add another Force Feedback proc that will proc rather reliably against groups of $Targets. You'll want those Force Feedback procs to keep rolling for you so as to "close the gaps" on perma-Hasten, perma-Wild Growth, perma-Overgrowth and more frequent refreshes of Wild Bastion for Absorb sheilding. Also, since the damage output of your Mercenaries henchmen is going to be ... less than overwhelming ... having that Annihilation proc for -Resistance going off will certainly help you. TAKE ALL THREE LEADERSHIP TOGGLES! Do not skimp on Leadership! I recommend planning on investing 6 slots of Reactive Defenses in Maneuvers, a single slot of endurance reduction in Assault and either 1 or 6 slots of Gaussian's Synchronized Fire Control (6 if you want all the set bonuses, including the +Defense) in Tactics but the absolute bare minimum is to put the Gaussian's proc into Tactics. I've already given reasons why in multiple posts in these forums (including my own build linked above) so do not under any circumstances forget to take Tactics! Vengeance is optional as a Luck of the Gambler global recharge mule (with occasional usefulness when teammates faceplant) and Victory Rush is completely optional (so take it if you've got nothing else better to do). So if you take 8 Mercenaries powers (minus Serum because Serum is Just That Bad™) and 9 Nature powers ... for a total of 17 primary and secondary ... and add 3 Leadership toggles plus Hasten ... you'll have 3 power picks remaining. You'll need 2 power picks to get to Power Boost in Mace Mastery ... leaving you with a single power pick left over for a travel power of some kind (pick your poison), with no restrictions on choice of pool to get that travel power from. At least, that's what I would do ... 😎

/Agree

Ideally speaking you're going to want a secondary that does multiple things for you. You'll need it to heal your Pets, protect them from damage and debuff your $Targets so they have fewer opportunities to maim you and your Pets. You'll also want to be "mobile enough" to be able to handle a (steam)rolling situation rather than being tied down into a single location. Thermal and Dark can do these things, as can Time and (of all thngs) Nature ... although with a Nature build you're kind of looking at wanting to Plant The Flag and fight "there" a lot of the time. Conversely, Nature has a PBAoE Hold aura available to it which can be "procced up" into something useful. The biggest question though is going to be whether you want your ability to heal your pets to come from your Mastermind (Thermal, Time, Nature, etc.) or from $Targets (Dark, Kinetics, etc.) because that's going to make a HUGE difference in how you position and move with your Mercenaries, and thus the 'standard engagement" strategies that you'll develop. Since Mercs are "ranged Pets" (except when they suicide into melee) it's probably best to either go with a PBAoE Heal secondary and keep the Mercs near you at a distance, or go with a Foe Target AoE Heal secondary and get used to "directing traffic" so as to get your Mercs close enough to "leech" healing off whatever it is you're fighting.