Sovera

Reshuffled things so how to travel fast in the game is not a blurb lost in the misc section since it is pretty important and deserved its own section. Also updated with some changes the new patches brought.

Alright, another iteration of the build. I took some ideas and (stubbornly) stuck to others. It is not that the advice was bad (it is not, when needing advice contact a pro, but once having the advice make an informed decision) but the build is tailored to my playstyle. As such I placed both procs on my first attacks (thanks, @Onlyasandwich!) so that they will be spammed even as low as Posi 1 (unlike another poster remarked I did not feel late blooming in the slightest. Making Controllers envious with how spawns can be locked with Freezing Rain + Ice Storm, spot healing baby tanks with O2, not having a third attack so using Gale as a filler which in turn makes everything recharge faster. And this without fancy IO slotting yet. So I intend to exemplar for fun and even use the character to duo with a friend for lowbie arcs). Freeze Ray takes recharge since it is available much earlier and needs it baked in for early exemplaring, while letting BiB go the proc route since it comes after Tornado anyway and then rely on that one constantly thumping FF procs to help bridge the gap this introduces. Hasten worsened a bit to 130 seconds but the FF proccing will bridge this, softcapped defense remains, capped resistances remains, early Leadership is still on. I'm liking it so much that after a Grav/Sonic and Grav/Psi attempt I have settled as Storm/Ice being the RP powerset 'main' of the character. Little Glow is a go!

Time to delve in and get more ideas! Just a few pointers though. No point in +3 damage procs, and it's probably by accident but +3 Preventive Medecine and LotG means their bonuses aren't available if exemplaring.

Hmm, changing the ATO to Ice Bolt makes it lose about 35 damage. It's maybe not as bad as all that since it was only a 29% chance for each proc of going off and Stormies have no self heal. Storm side of things ought to compensate for damage. I think it might be a good change. Good catch again, @Onlyasandwich.

Yes, I agree. Plus Gale is also good pre-level 26 when we lack another attack and don't have much recharge. Ice Bolt, Freeze Ray, Ice Bolt... gap... GALE TIME! I've been taking this character through both Posis and I'm loving it. The team is safe. Abusing Gale helps with recharge so even in the low levels I can do Freezing Rain + Ice Storm for every spawn. Mobs don't even fight back as they flop and the team descends on them 😄 There are a lot of good points here. Good catch on the double KD! I meant to put a damage proc there and missed my mark. Unfortunately we will have to agree to disagree on Hurricane. It absolutely is an amazing power, but I neither like it nor like having it used when I'm tanking. More power to those who manage it but even as it is things are locked flopping and being dead without the occupational hazards of maybe licking them a bit too much and push them out of the rains kill zone. Victory Rush I'm (personally) not having a problem with despite being my first time picking it. Check endurance. If it's half way down check if VR is up, look for a boss, use. I even use if I see others who have endurance bars at half. Perhaps I'll change my mind later as ennui and jadedness settles in but for now I'm feeling it makes a difference. A bit less so taking Leadership. Even with defender boosted numbers a mere 5% defense isn't going to sway things much, though I suppose it will stack with Steamy Mist's 7% to make a more noticeable number. I have stopped using -res procs in my builds after some testing with my Tankers and seeing how little influence they have in actual gameplay against +3. Though they still shave something like 5-7% (who is then multiplied by every team member) when facing AVs the whole thing about normal mobs dying too fast and the -res procs not stacking on top of being popular has made me abandon their use. Personal opinion though, I don't advocate others to do the same. I completely agree on Freezing Rain. Ice Bolt does so little damage I could six slot the ATO there to make use of the heal (plus it's my most spammed attack) and then on Freezing Rain replace it with another Artillary who will give me defense. I would have to scrounge a slot from somewhere but with the extra defense that should not be a problem. I'm not sure about proccing BiB too much. You are correct that Storm is a busy set, but at most there will be 10 seconds between Storm powers and that's two whole rotations in-between. Furthermore I don't see the point of churning more than one Tornado and one Lightning Storm per spawn. Once both rains are down, one Tornado, one Lightning Storm, then it's time to kill the hard targets before moving to the next spawn. Maybe in a solo situation, but in a team I think that things move at a fast enough clip and once all Storm powers are down it's ST time. It's only at AVs (but that's 1% of our game time) that I see churning Tornadoes and Storms non stop. And finally you are also correct about the defense. But, welp, what am I to get next? All attacks border ED, Hasten is down to 126 which I -could- push a bit more but seems gratuitous, attacks are procced out, recovery is maxed out. I might as well grab defense and resists because otherwise then what? Besides, softcapping defense and hardcapping resistance while having good numbers for the rest of the build was a nice tour de force, eh? Eh? 😄 You make good points all around so don't take me doing devil's advocate as rejecting your much higher experience with Defenders and Storm in particular

Version two between the advice and the posted builds. Highlights: - Procced with the exception of Bitter Ice Blast. This is because BiB is the linchpin and I would like minimal gaps. I'm already trusting FF in Tornado to shore up the gap Freeze Ray has when doing BiB, Ice Bolt, Freeze Ray, Ice Bolt (about 1.3 gap which is more than I consider tolerable, but I TRUST in the FF proc in Tornado (don't let me down, boy!)). - 75% resistances to S/L/E - (Near) 45% defense to range. - 126 second Hasten so easily perma at the first Tornado out. - I feel like it will have enough endurance between Victory Rush and Power Sink (with a sprinkling of Recovery Serum where needed) that frees Alpha and Destiny. I have no particular intention to use Clarion since it is a team build and I'm not wasting an Incarnate on what inspirations I can /ah and buy between missions can accomplish. Perhaps if intending to solo. This is not a leveling build but I can whip one up if someone has a need for it.

Sonic has (had?) a bug where using the alterna animations is slower than what it should be. I definitely would prefer Charged Armor to Tough, but then I want Weave as well. I will have to juggle things. But first to actually make it and give it a go since I am not feeling the Grav/Psi Dom, or the SoA, oo the Grav/Sonic Controller. Making alts is easy but sticking to them past 30 is not.

I only want Defender for a single reason: early access to Storm. It's why I didn't pick MM or Corruptor (Tornado at 26 instead of 35 plsboss). I also looked hard at skipping Gale but could not. It was Gale or Snow Storm, or Ice Blast. I have no desire or use for Snow Storm and I don't have the slots for Ice Blast so Gale it is, woo. There is no plan in using it other than in very early leveling where Tactics lets it hit reliably. I'd rather not have either but it is what it is. Ice Storm is my sole AoE until 26 (hard no on Frost Breath), so despite being meh it is, once again, what it is. I can either skip it and not have any AoE or take it and at least have -something-. Taking Ice is mostly the super fast animations, and Ice Storm coinciding with Freezing Rain which is nice, but being all ranged without PbAoE nukes isn't bad either. It's sparse on AoE but that's what Storm is strong in. I'm not sure what I could really take that would replace Ice. Sonic is super slow in animating and still bugged, I think, in that taking the animations that aren't shouting slows the animating? I confess I'm not sure about the intrincacies of Defender and Storm, but the advice is usually to pump as much recharge to throw as many Tornadoes and Lightning Storms. Proccing is nice, but heavy on the endurance, kills the smooth attack rotation, and neuters 20.5% off the build. Overall I have no idea which is better but it seems to run counter to Storm? I'm a Storm and Defender newbie though so willing to listen. I agree on the base buffs, but Victory Rush also helps the team which is why I take all the Leadership powers.

I have rarely done Defenders but I have wanted a Stormie for the longest time, so now is the time. Does any more veteran Defender Stormie see if I missed anything? Is my Tornado/Lightning Storm slotted correctly? I considered Sorcery but I keep going back to pick Hover since the inertia of regular flight annoys me. And then the combined Storm endurance problems does not seem like a good fit to add yet more toggles with Sorcery. Early Leadership up to and including Victory Rush to help myself and others during the Dark Times (tm) (AKA Synapse and Yin with the constant sapping). At 35 I alleviate the Stormie endurance woes with Power Sink. It leaves my defense at merely 30% ish but good enough to chuck a purple if there is trouble. Regardless I have no intentions to solo with it. Assuming I have an abundance of free time I should be able to machine gun Bitter Ice Blast, Ice Bolt, Freeze Ray, Ice Bolt. Repeat. As early as Posi 1 being able to drop Freezing Ray and Ice Storm at (nearly?) every spawn should also be of great help to the team.

I got the ping for this message as I was setting up the character 😄 I'm curious to see how it will go as well furthermore as I'm setting it up as a poor man's Blaster instead of a Controller. I didn't even pick the mass immobilize and only have the mass hold more as a mule than with real intentions of using it. I'm not sure how useful I will feel just plinking at things in single target, no AoE. My previous character was a Soldier of Arachnos also full team oriented. Both Leadership pools before 20, etc. It had decent AoE (could almost kill a +1 spawn by itself by popping Build-Up first) but the ST was super light. Still, doing large amounts of AoE damage quickly dropped the numbers of enemies. Plinking at mobs one by one isn't as fun to me (I like my Tankers who reach level 15-ish and are already at 0x8. Lots of enemies around me is the best). I believe I may have an easier time surviving (and no endurance woes) the way I'm going, but on the other hand with no AoE unlike you have mobs are going to survive longer. But I don't intend to solo with it so it's moot. As the powerpicks show it's very team oriented. I do have a free power pick, but unfortunately it means dropping Hover... I do have Mystical Flight to stay out of range in the air blasting away but Hover has no inertia and is easier to control where I go and stop where I want. Losing it for Teleport Target would hurt me. I believe I will try to rely on Wormhole instead though it may mess things a big for the tank if I'm grabbing the pack from under them to dump it somewhere else. But without something to control where Singy goes it's going to be a mess forcing it to move to the mobs instead of staying at the edge of the pack pew pewing and reeling them in.

Well, to be honest anything works in the low levels against +0 or +1. I'm predicting you're not even going x8? No reason not to work. Not saying this with a sneer or mocking, but to adjust expectations. But this is a combo I've been pondering today (which is why I'm over the Dom side of the forums). I tried Controller but got bored. Perhaps more damage will help. But, more importantly, Drain Psyche 😆 I'm thinking of ignoring the psi side of things and rely on Grav's blasting and Impact. By ignoring everything I can pick Spirit Ward, Mystic Flight and Enflame, then Maneuvers, Assault andTactics, all pre level 20. Of course this would be murder on the endurance but, Drain Psyche. At 22 I pick Hover so I can control hoverblasting better without the inertia, at 24 Victory Rush which lets me help my team with endurance at the levels it is needed most (Synapse would fall within Victory Rush's reach at 24 and it is chockful of endurance draining bots, as well as Yin who is also packed with endurance draining). No AoE other than Enflame until 38 and Psychick Shockwave though, and then Psionic Lance will be taken despite not being needed since I have a full rotation with just the Distortion, Lift and Propel, but it's by far the hardest hitting and will animate pretty fast.

Well, thank God we have you to teach us the correct way of doing things. I, for one, welcome out Nightmare Shaman overlord, may he rein over these forums for a thousand years.

Woosh. The answer Linea gave was in context. I said any tank will tank the game and even Scrappers can tank. Linea answered the way we currently are an Empath can do it. Someone asked about the Empath. Linea posted the build.

Claws and MA still neck to neck. One more offense oriented, the other more all rounder.

This isn't WoW. People won't refuse entry because you're not X. We are at a point where even a Scrapper can tank most things so you'll do fine if you pick something you enjoy. Personally, yes, dead things don't hurt back so I'm all for Fire Armor.

I do feel some of the deficiency in the damage might be allayed with /Sonic's -res stacking, including increasing Enflame's damage. Is Singy better damage now it does Impact as well? I don't remember if I had made my Grav before or after this bug fix.

I was just level 21 when I stopped on the MM. I'm so leery on the Controller that I haven't started other than creating it with backstory and costume (most important parts we might agree 😄 ). I'm planning on just slotting Enflame with a full Artillery Bombardment..

I've already done a Grav/Kin in the past, and like most things Controller I did one TF at 50 and my struggling interest waned. Grav has no AoE and despite being the most 'blaster-ish' set it's still Controller damage so whittling things down one by one even on triple damage procs and no slotted recharge. I did a mock-up with an old build and ended with 45% defense to S/L/E, but also 0.15% positive EPS 😄 Way too many toggles... Not gonna lie though, Grav/Sonic looked really pretty in the whole energy theme critter (ignoring the name of the secondary and just looking at the visual effects), but I dunno if I can stomach whittling mobs again. I did want to try Singy's changes though, and Enflame, Spirit Ward, plus Sonic Disruption, plus shield only once in a while, does leave my hands free. Grav is the one set that has no need for Arcane Bolt. It already has two 'blasts' and they can take FF procs. There's also Storm. I've never actually played a Stormie. I'm tempted by Defender to get all the good powers early because otherwise whoop, 35 and 38. I could do a Plant but it's like playing with cheat codes; fun at first but then dull. Whee, lets confuse a whole spawn before it even is agroed, then keep them confused until they die. And it recharges so fast it can be repeated at every spawn. What is 240 seconds recharge? Also started a Ninja/Elec since Elec seems nice to keep ninjas alive, and they kick butt. MMs always worked well in the whole 'let pets run rampant doing 'passive' damage while we focus on buffs and debuffs', and that seemed like I remember through Posi 1 and 2. Demon/Elec might be smarter. Tested Enflame and Spirit Ward. A toggle that needs reapplying seems like the worst of both worlds. It's neither a once-every-two-minutes cast/cost nor a -toggle-and-forget-about-it. Enflame is just basically another damage aura on the tank but that's fine.

Color me interested. Could you post the build? I need to test the MM changes.

I duo with a friend. Sometimes we duo TFs, sometimes we duo arcs, most of the time we just play in teams. While she is a bit more eclectic than I am I've nudged her to try Tankers and we usually go around duoing both with the AT. Fire Armor ensures we don't know what people talk about low Tanker damage. But since I'm getting a bit bored with it all I look at what other things I could play with the duo. Of course that the simplest thing is playing something that does damage like a Blaster. But it's done to death. Second thing would be boost survival and damage, so anything Kin, but again, done and done. Which is how I was looking at Grav/Sonic but pondering if there really is a point in trying it instead of just continuing to burn things down as we are. Namely we have been in a binge of doing Praetorean arcs which can be quite hard with us flashback locked at level 15 and all those debuffs flying around. Once in a while we die from all the -defense being thrown around and us at level 15, though 90% of the time we burn the content. I pondered a Grav/Sonic. - By level 20 I could spackle over the low resistances she has due to the extreme exemplaring with all three Sonic shields. Defense would be better than resist though, but I'm not appealed by Cold or FF. - I could help with damage with two -res sources. The toggle on her would do -22% and Sonic Siphon another -22%. This is a very early combo and more potent -because- low level since even level mobs suffer from the debuffing. - Early Sorcery would let me Spirit Ward her, -and- Enflame. I'm not sure how good this would be in practice because the changes are new. - Not a click intensive combo other than Sonic Siphon so more time to actually do damage. This is nice. The downsides is that I wouldn't bring any AoE other than Enflame, and I'm sure Enflame is more of a DoT aura than an actual AoE attack. We are currently duoing at 0x8 since we are chockful of AoEs even at flashback level 15. I don't think I'd really make as much of a contribution compared to Build-up, Frost, Burn. Thematically (ignoring the name of the set) Sonic visually pairs well with Grav with the energy like shields and effects. Electric Affinity could be interesting as well. Very early speed boost like with Energizing Circuit (although just ofr 5 seconds), a heal with Rejuvenating, and a low level damage buff with Empowering Circuit. Just 30% so a bit less than both -res from /Sonic, but one of those -res would be ST while the damage buff means her AoEs would hit everyone. Pretty click intensive though, and visually not as good.

Why are these procs cluttering your chat? I thought they were relegated to the Combat tab while chat goes into the chat tab.

I'm going to be honest with you. You don't need it. I personally don't stop what I'm doing to go hug the person asking to come hug them for RA and this is a call that is repeated every two minutes. It would be smarter to just try your best and catch as many people in it as you can.

I've had some truly exemplary demonstrations of this with Synapse TFs and one missing mob... Poor little dude was trying to escape the inevitable by hiding in the rafters in the big warehouse rooms. This has happened more than once.

Claws is good for AoE, but SR lacks an agro aura which is why mobs run away from you. Consider a switch to Energy Aura. You'll get an agro aura, good defenses, a heal, and an endurance clicky.

There is a thread about this over the Guide section. I say this because they have all the numbers and the math and actual timed runs. That's where you'll find your answer. Personally I'd go with something like Fire/Claws Tanker even if it's not the most min maxed. It's what I use to PL my alts to level 20. SS is great because of double rage but that advantage is diminished when soloing x8 mobs who will drop a ton of inspirations that can be macro combined into reds. And no 10 seconds of being unable to play.