Tahliah

Not by a flytrap. Their range isn't as long as the plant troll, nor do their immobs hold as many baddies (and only minions if memory serves). Further, their indiscriminate immob flinging can really be useful because I tend to stay back with other range ATs (blasters, defenders, etc.), so if he (my flytrap is always a "he" in my head for some reason even though my toons are female, go figure) runs back to toss out immobs, it's all good. Immob of rando minions that break for the squishies = yay! Of course, that doesn't always happen since he has a mind of his own and just scurries forward on his cute little roots to do whatever he wants. :P

I love my plant trolls and this is a good point, the flytrap splashes out immobs like candy (and this is not a bad thing). Staying back is one way to counter that on those types of teams, and quitting the team is another approach . . . one I tend to prefer. Who wants to be on a team with some lunatic freaking out that some minions got immob'd by a flytrap? (Not me.). The whole mish is RUINED, DOOOOM awaits the team with errant immobs! Hmph. Please, spare me. I'll just find another team.

No need. Ice doesn't have rains except for your nuke (oh, and I guess there's Ice Storm, but I don't take that--can't stand it, though others swear by it). Does BR even have a rain? I'm not sure since I've never rolled one, but don't ditch your toons just because someone mentions something that may not even apply to your build (i.e. rains, in this case).

Some sleeps like Flash Freeze, Frozen Aura, and Will Domination also deal damage, so they can be useful in a fight, even if the targets are awakened. I prefer not to lead with them when on a team, but if the team is moving faster than my "main" aoe powers can recharge, I'll drop it. Moderate damage is better than no damage at all, as they say.

It takes time (and tons of influence) to slot out a toon and get it just the way you want it, so don't sweat it. Thankfully, on HC, we have so many respecs dropped on us, that we can tweak our builds multiple times! My old ice/ice/ice blaster has certainly benefited from the HC revival; I never did revisit her build on live, even with all the new stuff we could add (powers, IO sets, etc.). I just didn't think I could improve her, but I did on HC because I just kept doing different stuff with her build until I got it the way I want it. Well, okay, there are SOME tweaks I still intend to make . . . some day. :P

I don't have much experience with /plant (my /plant blaster is still low lvl at 20ish and not ice. I think she may be energy, but I can't recall off-hand), but I think that /plant might do more damage depending how you slot. If you slot the vines and strangler for damage and acc, then go heavy on slotting for debuff (and acc, of course) in your toxins and spore burst, you can probably do more damage than I do with only my /ice secondary. Again, this is just me guessing, so take it for what it's worth. Though I must admit, I now want to roll and ice/plant just to see! :P

Yay! Dacy is back in business! I love your videos and tips and tricks, Dacy, and I especially love that you don't expect your viewers to already be adept at base building.

My all-time favorite solo toon, up to and past 50, is my ice/ice/ice blaster. As others noted, she does mad damage and has some really good holds/mitigation. I did all the blueside mishes via Ouro on live and am working my way through them all (blue, red, gold) here on HC. So so fun! Sure, there are times you have to do more than run in and start blasting (or leading with your aoe's), but that's part of the fun. Do you need to drop your ice patch in a doorway, then pull the minions away from the AV, so they flop around on your ice patch and make a great fish in barrel situation for your Blizzard? Do it. Even if you don't need to, do it. For the fun. :P Another fun solo build at any level is an MM. People can wrangle about which is best for them and why, but you almost can't go wrong. I like demon/dark or kin and beast/nature best for soloing, but again, just about MM combo is good for soloing. Just make sure you can keep your beasties alive, so your secondary needs to work with them well for soloing incarnate and 54 content.

I run away from Fusionetta as fast as I can, and then I laugh when she shouts "Lost!". She can be fun, but what a pain in the butt on maps with baddies on multi-levels or whatever, she just flies off and gets herself killed. So I just leave her behind (or save her last).

The ones I've out-leveled. Otherwise, I just do them all (or wait until my sg mates are on to help out if I can't manage it on my own for whatever reason).

Agree! We lost at least one regular SG-mate and Troll Tuesdays regular (he did Troll teams back on live, too) when he couldn't post his videos any longer. I don't know how to get in touch with him off the boards (he moved to another--and obviously inferior--COH provider. I hope he learns of this somehow and comes back!

Secondary seemed to be fine, so I could nature the hell out of the team but not do any damage or control mobs Or function AS AN MM. If I wanted to run a support toon, I would (and in fact, do, but even my supports have defensive and offensive powers that don't disappear when I ding a new level). So yeah, I could still use my secondary, but how happy would you be to learn that once you ding a new level you are stuck with only your secondary powers because all your primary powers went grey? So happy, right? But yeah, I should have just stood there and natured at my teammates because that's what MMs do. Hmph!

No, the team leader didn't ding a new level, just me. All my pets died in the middle of a battle (when I dinged), so I just ran away. Luckily, I could get away and not die and pile up death debt through no fault of my own. After all, if I was on my blaster and dinged a new level, I wouldn't have the same punch, but I'd at least have my powers. To all: Sorry, no one is going to convince me that completely stripping an MM of powers on level is a good thing. It may be the way things work or whatever, but it's NOT the way things work for any other AT. No other AT has their powers literally "poof" when they gain a level, and it should not happen for MMs. Leave them at the lower level, as the newly leveled blaster or tank is, but don't completely remove the MMs powers. Again, mechanics be damned, this is about playing the game. I can play with my newly-leveled blaster who just had all her enh go red; I cannot play my MM when all my pets literally disappear in the second it takes me to ding. FIX THIS. It is NOT okay, it is not excusable, it is not "built in" to the mechanics, or if it is, this thinking is crazy and unacceptable. What other AT has their entire offensive/defensive powers DISAPPEAR on leveling? Right, none. Fix this.

So I have my water/poison corr all ready to go on Thursday, quite excited as this is a totally new thing for me (corr and poison are totes new). Very much looking forward to seeing how it goes!

Um, it only happened to me that once, too. I was horrified to find myself completely unable to support my team or do anything (but run away and recast my pets). Through no fault of my own. This should NEVER happen is my point. Oh, gee, that one time we almost defeated X, but then that damned MM dinged a level, all pets died, and well, we just had t do it over. Or in other cases, that MM was tanking great, until he dinged new level, and the team wiped. This is a STUPID function and must be fixed.

Hee, the no one is conspiring against you though made me laugh Thanks! I do know that, silly boots, but at the same time, what toon do you run that literally loses its viability upon leveling? In the middle of a battle? Is it really crazy to think that I can get through an entire battle/mish with my pets not freaking ALL poof-dying at once?

Gee, I could have brought my one and only melee toon (on which I suck grapes) to this plant night slug-fest? Hee! Glad you guys are having fun, that's all that really matters. ❤️

This is ridiculous. Why should I have to resummon every pet just because I leveled? That makes zero sense, and no, no one has explained it to my satisfaction. Sure, if every AT LOST their key powers on leveling, fine. We're all in the same sucky boat, but as is, ONLY MMs lose their pets (i.e. their only real powers for damage). Let's strip blasters of their key powers on leveling! Let's denude tanks of their tankiness upon leveling! Oooh, and while we're at it, let's deprive all defense toons of their powers because they leveled to the same level as their team lead! Crazy? Yeah, but at least it would be fair.

Bug or not, it's unacceptable. When I dinged my new level, I was in the middle of a fight and ALL my pets died. At once. This was not optimal, and yes, I did manage to run away (que Monty Python), but if this is what's intended, then the intent needs to be fixed. Having an MM's usefulness cratered to practically nothing simply for gaining a level that happens to be the level of the team lead is insane. How is this okay to you guys crowing about this being "as intended"? Let's play this out on your tank, troll, or blaster---you ding the same level as your team lead and you immediately cannot access your defense/resist, control, or damage powers. They all just go grey. As intended. Three cheers? Or maybe a problem?

Thanks for everyone's input. I am not talking about my MM pets dying when a new leader / mission / tf is chosen, I am talking about ALL my MM pets dying simply because I dinged a new level INSIDE a mish DURING a battle. I have never seen this before (ever, no matter the level disparities or whatever you guys have said), and I think it's very wrong, maybe not a "bug" per se, but it's something that has to be fixed. We were all pretty much the same level when we entered the mish, though the team leader was one level above me (he was 31, I was 30). When I dinged 31, all my pets died at the same time--poof. That's not normal. As I've stated, I've run MMs since they were first introduced on live, and I have never had all my pets die when I ding a new level. Yes, they die when the team takes a new leader or when you start a tf (or whatever), but they do not die when you level. I've been the lowbie MM on teams her the leader was lvl 50 to my teens toon, and when I level, I never lose all my pets. In fact, as I keep saying, I have never lost all my MM pets on leveling. Until this time.

I haven't delved into mids this time around. Yet. I will at some point, but I am still enjoying being back! You're like the tenth person to ask, though, so I am seriously thinking about plugging it in just to show people how to build a survivable blaster that's not "built" for survivability (in traditional terms). Part of it, though, is play style, since I know that my ice/ice blaster is not built to withstand most damage, I move/kite a lot, and build to ensure that I can always move (focus on resist procs against holds, sleeps, etc.). Anyway, thanks for the interest! 🙂

What? You've had all your MM pets die in the midst of a battle because you dinged a new level and . . . um, think this is good? Again, this is not good. My MM pets should never ALL "poof" because a new level has been achieved, that's insanity. It's not normal, and it's not okay. If this is some sort of 'normal' that I have never experienced (running scores of MMs over the years and NEVER experiencing this until the other night), then it has to be fixed. What other AT loses its main damage powers on leveling? Um, none. Imagine: I'm running a fire/fire blaster, I level, and suddenly have no access to any of my fire blasts or mitigations! Oh, what a bummer, happens to me all the time, too! Just avoid leveling on teams and stuff to keep your powers. Seriously?!?

Hmm, @srmalloy, we were all pretty close in levels. The team leader was lvl 31, and I was lvl 30. When I dinged lvl 31, all my pets poofed. I ran away up the tunnel to respawn my pets (and to gripe in chat about the sitch). I've been playing MMs since the very beginning of their introduction to the game, and I have NEVER had them all die just because I leveled. The only time they all die at one time is when I die. And I didn't in this instance. Something is wrong.

I've run MMs since they were first introduced back on live, but tonight, something very new and bad happened. I was in a mission and dinged a new level right in the middle of a battle . . . and all my pets died. The battle was a regular old COX battle, at most I might lose one dude, but this was literally, "DING"--every summoned MM pet died. Simultaneously. This can't be intended, and it certainly wasn't due to the battle (I rarely lose ALL my mm pets, and never ever all at once, just "poof" they're dead.). Also, and this isn't nearly as vital, but group fly on MM pets is still not working. They drop out of the sky if I get ahead, and I do just by moving. I really don't care about this as much as every single pet dying when I ding a new level. That's just nuts and has to be some kind of bug or weirdo thing that can be fixed. Even all buffed up with the ding buffs, a level 30 (now 31) MM with no pets is pretty much useless, right? Please fix this. (and then maybe later think about maybe making group fly more viable for MMs?).

OMG, no! Do we have this now? I am seriously happy and joyous right now!