Doc Spectre

I made a lvl50 Plant/Poison Controller today and did some testing. I took everything in Plant except for Roots and I took all debuffs and the single target heal from Poison. I also have Bilespray and the resist armour from Levithan epic set. First on Build 1 I made it a full SO build and I did some Council Radios solo in PI. I set the difficulty to +2x8 and +3x8 with no bosses since I figured I would get Dark Wolf bosses anyway. I tested opening with Seeds, Spores and Spirit Tree. Of the three options I found Spirit Tree to be the most effective (it’s really quite sturdy). I felt very safe in clearing the missions and the kill speed wasn’t exceedingly tedious. I then managed to convince a couple folks to do a KM Yin TF with me. We were my controller, a Dom, a Sentinel and a Defender. I set the first mission to +2 and we set about the TF. I found that the kill speed was a bit tedious at +2 so I dropped it to +1 for the rest of the TF and things preceded at a decent pace. I found having all the control options available made for a safe run despite not having a tank/ never felt overwhelmed. Later on I made a stab at a fairly tricked out Build 2 with IO sets and Incarnates. I had a small attempt to drum up some interest in an ITF but got no bites so I decided to try a solo run at +1x8. The run went pretty well and I had just managed to kill Rommy and Requiem in the third mission when the server shut down (for updates I guess). I actually really like opening with Spirit Tree. I don’t recall it dying in any of the 3 missions, it’s great for alpha drop followed up with spores and seeds. In fight on top of the robot base between Spirit Tree and the single target immobilise Rommy didn’t get to run all over the place, which I was quite chuffed with. Im now strongly tempted to roll a Plant/Poison when the Update does go live.

I tested the Adaptive recharge AoE hold and I love the change. I have to say that being able to use the power as an AoE hold far more frequently more than makes up for it not being a proc bomb anymore imo.

Copied my lvl50 ice/ice tank over to the test server and did a new 2nd build using SOs. Then I ran a through a few +1x8 newspaper missions. Honestly I’m completely fine with the changes, the minions die fast enough and I was left to clean up bosses as usual. I think that if was to add IO sets and incarnates to the build I could happily Jack the difficulty up a couple of notches. Maybe it’s not the fastest clear time in the world but I would not be expecting that from a tank. Just my opinion 😉

I wouldn’t be upset if the other Taskforce Commander TFs were given a refresh to bring them closer to the quality of Positron 1, Positron 2 and Yin.

I will try out both alternatives in game and settle on the one I ultimately prefer, this process may involve second builds and respec recipes.

A low level content development I wouldn’t mind seeing is a slight pruning of the Synapse Taskforce to make less of a slog.

Having some knockdown helps your health tick back up while the mobs are on their backsides.

Dark Melee works particularly well with secondary set that have a decent defence component like Invulnerability, Shield, SR, Energy Aura, Stone and Ice. Personally I like Dark Melee/ Invulnerability, it makes a very sturdy solo combination. The to-hit debuff secondary effect from Dark Melee synergies well with the defensive sets.

For a Norse character I would be tempted by battle axe and shield

I don't think death shroud does damage if you are not attacking (so while stealthed). I coudld be wrong, so worth testing.

I suggest building to not be in permanent Granite form. It’s massively overkill in survivability in 99% of situations. The damage buff from Brimstone is really good and you can run and jump with Rooted running now so the is no need for teleporting.

I love quicksand and stalagmites 😉

Up and running now, Thanks 😊

Same here, also on Mac, gets to 51%

Super Strength / Regen / Earth mastery is what I play and I really love it. I took Handclap btw and put in a couple of damage procs, a Sudden Acceleration knockback to knockdown and a Force Feedback chance for plus Recharge proc. I really helps with your crowd control and also buffs your recharge most of the time.

I find the feeling of scrapperlock is like a pale weak shadow of PERMA-Domination. Not much beats seeing Domination spammed across the screen for me. There may be something wrong with me.

The name of Temporary Invulnerability is a bit of a trap for new players. If I recall correctly back in the olden days of City of Heroes the tanks and scrappers could only run one toggle shield at a time and you had to switch between them depending on what the type of damage the enemy was dishing out at the time. I think that is why Granite armour was so popular, because was the ‘everything armour’ all in one toggle.

You can get pretty decent resist values on a Regen brute I’d you are prepared to build for it. Mine has 85% vs S/L and 40% vs other damage types. Also Recharge time resistance is vital as others have mentioned, have 90% (possibly slightly overkill) and also 85% global recharge. I didn’t bother chasing Defence as there is no native Defence debuff resistance in the Regen set. Its also worth looking for active soft control powers in your primary, like stuns and knockdowns. The Ring of Peebles temp power can come in useful vs an AV with a bunch of exotic damage types. I like Regen very much because it’s active mitigation and because it’s an interesting project for Invention Origin users with deep pockets and time for theory crafting.

There is no way in hell I would trade in what we have now to go back to the pre-ED CoH.

I hope it’s just bye for now and not forever. Maybe have a break and play something else for a while. This place won’t be the same without a snarky vampire lurking about in the shadows.

Cool, not sure when that change happened, that's great.

I think you should try a Trick Arrow defender and do great debuffing and some control from range, pair with electrical blast for ignighting oil slick arrow or maybe assault rifle or fire blast. A corrupter would also work. You could pair trick arrow with archery but will need some fire and energy damage proc Invention origin enhancements to set your oil slicks on fire. That way you can stay entirely at range, possibly in hover, laying down debuff, control and damage.

I think a Widow and a Soldier of Arachnos would do well together.

Here is my Super Strength / Regen brute. I built for S/L resistance and resistance to recharge slow. As a dirty Mac user I don't have Mids so here are some screen shots. I completely ignored def, all I have is from base combat jump 1.88Def. The recharge bonus is without hasten or Force Feedback proc and the Hit Points are without Dull Pain, Regen without instant healing, resists without MoG. As you can see with a deep wallet you can get some decent Resist numbers if you are prepared to make some sacrifices. I figured that chasing Defence was pointless with no innate DDR and the Rage debuff. Between Handclap, Stalagmites and Footstomp I find I that I have enough control that I hardly need to touch my Regen panic buttons or inspiration tray. I can comfortably solo a Heather arc on +4x8 or tank a 54 ITF for a team if that is the sort of thing that floats your boat. For Alpha I took Spiritual and for Hybrid I use Melee.

Maybe the much maligned Kinetic Melee, has ranged attacks anyway.