bartwart

Maybe you don't need extra knockback for Energy Torrent. It's a preference thing, but sometimes it's fun to wreck a group, especially an ambush. I'm on Excelsior too, so maybe the angry tells were just because of the way i played. I also had Storm, and was using gale and hurricane all the time, so there's that.

Knockback is a great damage mitigator, don't forget that, so it can definitely fit within a defensive regime. However, I do think the knockback to knockdown IO makes sense for the AOEs. For the CONE engy power (forget the name) consider slotting it for EXTRA knockback....that gives you a nice power for moving mobs where you want them to be. For the single target powers, I wouldn't worry about the knockback...just slot with range damage IOs like you would normally do. And while playing in PUGs, don't over think it. Do what you feel is necessary. However, you can expect to get the tells asking you to control the knockback, no matter how conscientious you are, mostly from melee types and the occasional warshade. You can handle that however you want, but personally I just troll them back. I had a description explaining I was going to do a lot of knock back and I don't care what you think, and for those folks that failed to read my bio before complaining, I just trolled them back. Despite all of this, I was a tad bit conscientious about my knock back....I just get tired of all the tells, so trolling them back is part of the fun.

Mind doesn't need a AOE immob . Terrorize is much better than AOE immob. It's essentially like an AOE immob stacked with a minus recharge effect. It's almost as good as an AOE hold, but arguably better since it has a much faster recharge rate. You could easily have a Mind powerhouse that skips the Total Domination and Mass Sleep powers altogether.

And that's why you keep whirlwind around. When the tank starts getting all prima dona, let loose with whirlwind right in the middle of his mobs

Agree on mind/time. Time is great on with any set. The thing that really annoys me is how resistant bosses and higher are to control effects. But Time Slow + Time Stop will instantly hold a boss, which is welcome by any primary. You'd still have issues with EBs and AVs.

No problem, brother Dom!

Seems like it might be a good power for PVP when you're on discord and can voice chat with your team. But yeah, in PVE whenever someone activates a phase shift or dimensional shift, you don't realize it right away and start blowing your powers on mobs you can't touch. Hopefully your teammates realize what's going on and adjust accordingly, but usually a few don't understand.

Consider mind/time. Personally, mind is easily my favorite controller or dom primary just because I love confusion and terrify so much. Time is a great compliment and very controllery with slows and holds of its own (time slow + time stop will instantly hold a boss). Mind has a great single target attack chain with the mesmerize, levitate, and dominate. Oedipus tex has a great post about a Mind/time build you should check out. It's a beast solo or in groups.

I'm with OP. I also started a Grav/Time a few days ago, but gave up on it after hitting about 15, and rerolled it as a mind/time. Grav/ feels lackluster at low levels, and for me low level play is just as, if not more so, important than late game play. I've actually had this problem with Grav/ over the years. I tried so many times to get into it, but I just can't wait until level 26 to finally get a signature power.

I run a storm/nrg defender King of Diamonds and I put it right in my description that i'm going to be doing a lot of knock back and I don't care what you think. Out of respect for teammates that may not want to deal with it, they can leave or kick me from the team. But I WILL have my knockback fun. So far I haven't been kicked from a team, but its just a matter of time. However, I've had plenty of teammates quit out of frustration. I've even had teammates try to reason with me, to which I just reply back with a ~hilarious~ comment. Some teammates thinks its great. Other hate it. Other do not care. You also find out that there's a large cadre of knockback lovers in the closet, too afraid to annoy their teammates, but secretly admiring what I'm doing. Some just tolerate it or try to cope by splitting off from me to mobs I'm not focused on. I was on a 3 storm defender team one time by chance and it was glorious fun.

Great analysis. I'd say if OP were looking to hit a high damage cap, something like a fire/kin corruptor would the the right choice. Though I wonder if something like a sonic/kin would be even better, since it combines -res with +damage.

Solo, a defender gets a 30% damage buff so its base damage is actually closer to 0.85.

Consider Pain domination as a defender primary, and pair it with Sonic secondary. If you truly want to play solo and never ever team up, there are only a few powers in Pain dom you need to take: Nullify Pain, Soothing Aura, World of Pain, and Anguishing cry. You get two self-heals, and nice self resist/damage/to-hit buff. Plus, Anguishing Cry synergizes well /sonic's resist debuf. In the late game, you open up with anguishing cry -> nuke. Sonic's nuke puts you in melee range anyway. Super Speed + Stealth can get you into the middle of the mob before they even know what hit them. And since you're taking so few primary powers, it frees you up to taking all sorts of secondary powers sooner. Of course, this concept would also work with a sonic/pain corruptor.

I've run a Arch blaster up to 50 and now I'm leveling an nrg/ up to 50, and the differences in their nuke couldn't be more stark. Back on live, Rain of Arrows had a longer cast time, but no crash, which was thought to balance it considering other nukes crashed. Now that no nukes crash, Rain of Arrows' long cast time needs to be shortened...a lot, to bring it in line with the other nuke powers that don't crash.

I'd reslot meltdown to just have two rech-redux 50+5s. The extra resist is over kill. Stock will give you a 25% boost, which will probably put you at the resist cap anyway, so any extra resist will just be a waste. I use meltdown just as a damage booster