Frosticus

I'm running storm/fire sent. Storm is very defensive. Fire armor is hard to put out if you give it room to breathe and gives storm some additional punch with burn and pheonix nukes. I dunno, just got direct strike so now my storm cell is actually proc'ing fairly often. The starter attacks have such low proc chance that I'm not sure taking storm cell at 6 was even worthwhile. The later attacks are much more desirable. I'm hopeful this combo stays engaging as I typically find myself losing interest in my sentinels in the late 30's/early 40's.

It's a very defensive blast set and puts out a lot of aoe tohit debuffs and aoe soft controls. As such I'm leaning toward offense based secondaries. I have 3 pairings that I'm contemplating -storm/kin/psy corruptor. Fulcrum used before storm cell/cat 5 can buff them for the majority of the time you have them up. I ran this in the beta and I liked it. -storm/sonic blapper. Less focus on maximizing storm cells damage, rather just enough to keep the debuffs active while I blap -storm/fire sentinel. Perma cat 5, burn, phenoix nukes. Yes less targets on some of the powers, but I don't think it will matter much in actual play with the way Cat 5 functions. Should be very robust and still drop spawns well.

I haven't seen any feedback, but has anyone tested out what happens with multiple storm blast characters on a team? If my storm corruptor hits with focused lightning does that mean no other storm blast characters on the team can zap that same target with their storm cell for 4 seconds? I worry that is the case because all storm casters seem to set the same flag on the target when lightning strikes Flag - (LightningCell for x seconds) Maybe not a huge deal vs large spawns with lots of targets, but if you had multiple storm blasts users vs an AV you'd only be getting contribution from the equivalent of a single storm cell more or less because a single player can already exceed the lockout timer with their own attacks. Cat 5 on the other hand with a 5 target strike and 5 second lockout I worry could hit the lockout wall very easily with several storm blast characters if they all happened to cast Cat 5. Flag -(LightningCat5 for 5 seconds)

Storm Cell: Removing the ability to slot the Slow Procs is the right choice. When you were machine gunning attacks over a large group it was spamming high winds and rolling those procs across the entire 16 targets as fast as your attacks can animate and trigger High Winds. Even though proc chance wasn't very high it was probably way too good of a return and might have been providing more aoe damage than the lightning strikes in high target situations. Given the auto hit debuffs: I think base end cost is fine. Seems high at low level and low target saturation, but is decent bang for the buck on teams. In some situations it is astounding value where multiple spawns can congregate. Base Acc - I think 1.1x (maybe 1.2x) is fine. Yes it will struggle in hardmode for some team compositions, but there are usually a lot of buffs (like vengence) and debuffs in that environment so it will probably be ok. Most players aren't solo'ing hardmode above 1 star and that setting doesn't spawn higher con enemies. Fun Slotting: Performance shifter - basically makes it a free cast Force Feeback - probably gonna be popular Scourging Blast Proc - little heal, basically makes it a free cast Observation: procs like performance shifter, forcefeeback, etc trigger storm cell and cause aggro if you cast storm cell on a spawn that already has storm cell active them. Not an issue, just interesting.

Cat 5 proc is independent from the storm cell proc(s), but all Storm Cell procs are tied together with regard to lockout. If target is hit with the piddly aoe lightning from storm cell it should be eligible to be hit by storm cell 2 seconds later. Conversely, if it is hit by the powerful single blast it won't be eligible for 4 seconds. Because cat 5 lightning has a different flag it should be possible to hit the same target with cat 5 lightning and one of the storm cell blasts simultaneously. If you enable timestamps and attack a single target I'd be surprised if you observe a 5 sec lockout on storm cells attacks, but I have no personally tested that yet.

I think that is just for Cat 5 lightning From Storm Cell the single target lightning has 4 sec The 2 target lightning has 3 sec The 4 target lightning has 2 sec I could be wrong though.

Just for clarity: Upping the base accuracy of the power multiplies accuracy enhancement, so for a player perspective baked in acc bonuses work like tohit buffs. The lockouts of the lightning attacks which I think range from 2-4 seconds seem to already limit it at lower levels/smaller spawn sizes, so not having a rapid fire attack chain isn't a huge concern relative to Storm Cell's performance early game. There is no lockout on the 16 target high winds debuff though and it lasts 8 seconds. 1.4x base acc will cap storm cell's attacks against +2's with 21% acc enhancement in storm cell. vs a +4, 95% acc enhancement will give storm cell a 106.5% chance to hit, so you'd need ~80% enhancement to cap vs +4s. I think I was one of the original people bringing up the issues this power has hitting things in high level content and we haven't even touched on hardmode, so I'm not disagreeing. The vast majority of storm blast combos do not have widespread -def and/or persistent tohit buffs (that pass on to storm cell), so it is hopefully something they iron out. Truth be told, most people aren't watching the pet combat log though, so probably won't even realize one way or the other. If it isn't adjusted I don't expect a lot of pushback from the player base. I'm hopeful there is another tweak that helps resolve the invention set IO's for this power specifically and one more pass at its consistency in higher level play. It has been adjusted quite a bit since hitting open beta, so that is positive imo.

RE Accuracy: they are definitely aware of the issues, but in all fairness it isn't as easy as just giving it a huge base acc bonus because that is problematic in and of itself. Its a level 6 power that can put out some pretty huge damage numbers, moves with you (albeit slowly) and is now perma out of the box (or with some recharge slotting previously). But it isn't the damage that is problematic at low levels imo, Storm Cell actually has some pretty potent debuffs and soft control. The 16 target aoe tohit debuff is as strong as darkest night when you add the auto hit Tempest portion to the High Winds debuff. It is arguably quite a bit better than dark blast in that regard. It can add a lot of early game survivability that is otherwise difficult to acquire from your attack set. It can also make Sentinels very robust in the early game as well (although the debuff is only 10 targets for them of course). So while greatly boosted base acc is likely warranted for late game, it probably swings the pendulum too far in the early game. Power Order Swap If it were me I'd probably swap the power order of the set. As much as I'd like to have Storm Cell in the early game I'd move Cloudburst to lvl 6* (tier 4) and Storm Cell to lvl 22** (tier 8). That would remove some of the overarching issues present with potentially overpowering Storm Cell. *Energy, Archery, and Seismic to name a few, all have their heavy blast at lvl 6 **Electric has voltaic sentinel at lvl 22 and Storm Cell is like that power, but on steroids + crack.

On the other hand, from the get go of this feedback thread it was bombarded by a group of players proclaiming that it was a done deal and everything was resolved in the closed beta. That group obviously didn't test Storm Cell/Cat5 in much depth as the issues, weaknesses and bugs present in the power are prominent enough that a few castings of it indicated to me that it needs much deeper analysis. I've got a lot on the burner IRL right now, so I haven't even looked at Cat 5, but I'm hopeful that everything present and being looked at in Storm Cell gets transferred over where applicable.

Feedback on newest version of Storm Cell Range - still too short. Compared to other battle precursors that don't cause aggro like Flash Arrow and Surveillance, it could benefit from 80ft. I'm dangerously close to mobs when I cast this. I guess I could cast it a bit in front of the spawn and it would move over them into the middle? I'm just so used to casting aoes into the middle of spawns to maximize coverage. Animation time - I'd prefer a bit quicker, but given that a handful of zaps makes it a solid DPA power it's total damage to animation can be very very good. End Cost - manageable, but def hurts in the lower levels when you are just getting powerful enough to move at a decent pace with under slotted attacks and toggles. Post uniques and accolades it is barely noticeable (for me), similar to a hasten crash. Back when Voltaic Sentinel was a click (still is for doms) it cost well over 20 end, so in that regard it is pretty good at 15.2 end. Base Accuracy Boost - not looking a gift horse in the mouth. 1.1x helps a bit in low levels when you start turning up to +1, but you still need 80% acc to hit +3s and 120% acc (after ED) to hit +4s. So +4 is still a major weakness for so many storm blast users* I'm leaning toward storm/time corruptor as it can get storm cell to perform well in most any situation. Combat log is hit and miss for reporting high winds activation. I can see the tohit debuff refreshing as it is generally easy to keep it applied if you keep attacking, but often not seeing a tohit roll in the log. If you like damage procs then ice minstrel and impeded swiftness seem to provide the best results. They showed up quite a bit more than superior malice of the corruptor, which I think makes sense given how the power works. You of course need to ensure High Winds hits, so 3 acc/dam HO's, 2 slow procs and a +5 range is what I've been testing lately. I'd add intuition radial as well.

I think you've just taken the lid off of a long persistent issue in the game that normally doesn't matter. Sure if I slot an accurate tohit debuff set into my Umbral Beast it gimps the accuracy on 3 out of 5 of it's powers Similar for carrion creepers if I slot an immobilization set. Or someone slotting accurate healing in their Lich. but in the actual game it is probably very rare for players to experience such unintentional gimping of their powers. Storm Cell, you gimp a major aspect of the power if you choose invention sets. It doesn't matter what set you choose it gimps the other half of the power. I don't know the solution, maybe similar to as suggested: add low probability/value chance of damage, end drain, and knock to High Winds add low probability/value chance of slow and tohit debuff to lightning auras Then it wouldn't matter what set you pick it would enhance the applicable aspect of both powers. I hesitate though because that might make Storm Cell pretty deliciously damage procy if it ends up rolling something like positron chance for energy on lightning attacks and high winds. Alternately, make high winds unenhanceable, but autohit.

Ya, this aspect of the game is super confusing, but usually goes unnoticed because it rarely matters. Slotting Ice Minstrel will not transfer any of those enhancement values to the Lightning Attacks even though the game's enhancement page will probably tell you otherwise. It is a "slow" set and the lightning attacks don't have a slow component, so it is disregarded. @Wavicle is providing an easy solution. High Winds should do minor aoe damage and it would resolve most cases of this issue for people. But if someone did choose to slot Ice Minstrel, or Synapse they'd be shooting themselves in the foot unknowingly. Storm Cell should also accept Accurate Tohit debuff Sets

Ya no, for sure. The bug I was reporting is a display issue in that the game tells you it is enhancing things that is actually isn't. As you say, it persists across other powers in the game like MM's, some troller pets and powers like carrion creepers. I'd argue that the issue is more prevalent in Storm Cell. It is a problem though as you can see in this thread where people are recommending to slot posi blast in the set, but that fails to enhance one of the main attributes of storm cell despite the ingame menu suggesting otherwise. If you want Storm Cell to work properly/well it needs generic IO's or HO's I actually didn't see the bug you saw, as my Posi Blast set seemed to improve both acc and damage of the lightning auras from storm cell as supported in the screen shot with Focused Lightning hitting for ~80 damage (base ~40 vs a pylon w/ 20% res)

Apologies, can't see to screen shot my enhancement screen so enjoy phone photo haha. Posi Ranged AoE damage set 6 slotted in storm cell shows 1.48x acc in High Winds But as you can see from the combat log it is rolling High Winds at base acc of 75% which is equivalent of unenhanced vs even con.

Interesting. I barely saw any lightning vs silver mantis when she went defensive and the ones that fired of course missed. It may have just been a bad run on the actual proc chances of the attacks though. I'll try to retest that aspect.

Bug: Storm Cell - inaccurate enhancement values shown on detailed power screen Slotting a ranged aoe damage set into storm cell shows that it is buffing high winds when you open up the detailed powers on the enhancement screen. In actuality it is NOT enhancing high winds, they are essentially unslotted in contradiction to the screen tip. Example: full posi blast set shows 1.48x acc on all 3 lightning attacks and high winds. In game testing shows High Winds is operating at base acc of 1.0x

Yes. Storm cell sits idle until you attack an enemy. Each attack has a proc chance tagged to it to cause high winds and another to cause lightning. If for instance your gust triggers the lightning proc then storm cell will activate one of the lightning attacks that it has and will hit based on the accuracy of storm cell. So in the end Storm Cell is at best 90.25% chance of hitting because it is dependent upon you succeeding with your attack first* *95% x 95% As with many psuedopets with unrelated attacks you have to be extra careful slotting. Damage set IO's do not enhance unrelated aspects. So a set of Posi in storm cell will give the lightning attacks 48% acc enhancement, but the high winds debuff is essentially unenhanced. I'm leaning toward 3 acc/dam HO's because then the Acc applies to both the lightning damage and the high wind debuff. That leaves me 3 more slots to play with on the power.

Used before - It buffs it. Used after it does nothing to affect Cat 5's performance. Storm cell and cat 5 probably have the lower damage cap normally associated with psuedopets, but I haven't confirmed that myself. edit: Booper has indicated they follow AT modifiers so: Defender Cat 5 lightning at fulcrum damage cap should hit for - 31.15*4 = 124.6 Corruptor Cat 5 lightning at fulcrum damage cap should hit for - 41.7*5 = 208.5 It is a bit confusing, but your personal attacks (gust, hailstones etc) don't govern the damage that the lightning strikes do even though they appear to trigger them. Basically they instruct cat 5/storm cell to use its attacks which are governed by whatever enhancement values/buffs you have in those powers.

Ya I did miss a few other sources of persistent tohit buffing, but I hate to be the bearer of bad news - only overgrowth, farsight, world of pain, and empowering circuit are going to work from a solo perspective. Souldrain (blaster and dark mastery corr/def) is somewhat of an option, but likely won't let you use storm cell from range/undetected as it doesn't last that long. Souldrain could work decently for cat 5 though! Targeting drone buff will drop after 0.5 seconds Focused Acc will drop after 0.5 seconds Tactics will drop after 2 seconds Etc. Defense debuffers are generally fine, except when it matters most because those enemies are basically immune to debuffs.

ya, maybe. But as we know -def has minimal impact on foes that resist def debuffs such as AV's, so not a kin problem at all. Across the 4 AT's with access to storm blast none of the secondaries offer meaningful long duration tohit buffing other than time (farsight) and nature (overgrowth). Bio Armor and Invuln armor buff tohit, but they fade off of storm cell after 1 second. Try it out. It is certainly working as designed, but whether working as intended is a different matter.

As of right now it is questionable if casting storm cell/cat 5 is worthwhile against high defense foes. I just fought silver mantis at lvl 34 (Provost Marchand arc). When she goes defensive I have to hit her with my attacks, which is already challenging and then Storm Cell needs to hit her with its attack, which it struggles with to no avail. 2 lvl 35 Acc IO's slotted in storm cell. Over the whole portion of that fight I barely got any lightning procs to fire outside of intensify's up time and I don't think a single one landed. I dunno, def debuffs don't really work well in those situations because they resist them so much and it is really hard to get meaningful tohit buff on to storm cell/ cat 5. Maybe this is just a limitation of the set, but it is the first time I've felt bummed out playing my storm/kin corruptor.

One potential drawback of cat 5 (and storm cell) is the opportunity cost required to get them to do their damage. An ice corruptor can drop blizzard and then do other things like heal/buff/debuff/run away/use epic attacks etc. But a storm corruptor is required to keep attacking (with storm attacks) if they want those powers to perform well. I believe this was taken in to consideration and is why they can do so much extra damage over their duration if maximized. One of the main advantages of the patch based psuedo pets is the ability to use them effective out of line of sight. Ex. Dropping blizzard from around a corner. This can be important because the aggro that the dot damamge+debuff aoe powers can pull on to a squishy can be difficult to survive compared to the insta kill of something like atomic blast. Cat 5 and storm cell do not afford the player that advantage though because you have to actively pull aggro on to yourself to get them to perform. I'm not sure this was taken in to consideration tbh. I'm not suggesting these characteristics need fixing, just that they exist for this set and are hopefully taken in to account.

Storm Cell: Tempest debuff is auto hit - that's the minor tohit and speed/rech debuff High Winds rolls a tohit and accepts accuracy - that's the more prominent debuff, has base acc = 1.0 Lightning Aura(s) roll a tohit and accept accuracy - base acc = 1.0 I haven't tracked High Winds, but the Lightning aura(s) definitely have issues hitting higher level enemies without significant outside intervention from either def debuffs and/or long lasting tohit buffs cast before Storm Cell. There is no way to slot Storm Cell so that it hits +4's with much consistency for most storm blast combos across all 4 AT's no matter how expensive of an IO build or which incarnates you choose. edit: this is a bit of an exaggeration: 6 lvl 50+5 Acc IO's + Nerve Core Boost puts you at 94% tohit chance vs +4s. If you go higher in the Nerve branch it applies a level shift, so no longer +4s. I also haven't tested but I suspect that slotting ranged aoe damage sets means that High Winds do not get that enhancement buff (ie the acc slotting). But again, I haven't really looked at that part of the power in depth yet, so I could be off in lala land.

Storm/kin/psy Corruptor It is a corruptor set and a pretty good one at that. Kin because fulcrum can buff storm cell for most of its duration if cast before Psy because mass hyp helps set up easy fulcrums and helps compensate for the within aggro range of casting storm cell without any stealth. Dominate (proc'd) fills in the mostly dot single target chain. I think there are better pairings potentially, but it is pretty good.

PSA on storm cell slotting: I'm sure the player base understands psuedopet attacks reasonably well when it comes to powers like shield charge, but long duration psuedopets aren't common enough that I believe most players really get how they operate, or how they operate doesn't really matter because other mechanics in the set mask their shortcomings. You need 98% (after ED) acc slotting IN storm cell if you want the lightning attacks to hit +3's at capped rate. +4's (if you fight them) present a real hurdle for the power. Why? -Psuedopets do not iherent the players global acc (ie set bonuses), or get buffed by tactics/kismet. When buffs expire on you they expire on the psuedopet as well (ie intensify's +tohit). But I don't slot acc in Freezing rain! -it only needs to catch a target with a single tick to work it's magic and it checks every 0.2 sec But my Rain of Fire only has 1 acc slotted and it does fine! -It is a short duration (15 sec) psuedopet that most people pop aim prior to using. The 10 sec buff of aim masks the shortcomming. Plus it spams its attack every 0.2 sec, so even when it misses a bunch most people don't notice. But my Lightning storm from storm summon wrecks! - yes it does! it has 1.4x base acc and storm has freezing rain to drop defenses. But my carrion creepers seem to do more damage if my buddy fulcurm shifts them once they are out killing stuff! - yes carrion creepers summon targetable entities that attack enemies (or you if you get confused). Because they are targetable they can be buffed from player powers like tactics Storm cell is unique in that it is a very long duration psuedopet. The many self buffing sets (blasters, sents, many def and corrs) will potentially see storm cell fall a bit short on performance. Debuffing sets don't have such issues. I'm also guessing no one has tested this power in hardmode content extensively as it will be a wiff-fest without specific powers present.