KaizenSoze

A question, are there any particularly resistant mobs you would like me to test? Endurance drain and ToHit have been covered. How about Regen, Recharge Time, and Endurance discount? Though, I am not clear on what powers effect endurance discount. And a suggestion, it is starting to look like Acid Arrow -resists are very situational or for PvP. Now, TA has lots of useful powers, which will make builds tight. It's good problem to have, but it's still a problem. Move the -defense from AA to Poison Gas Arrow or Disruption Arrow. This makes AA much more optional like Glue Arrow. IMO, the only really skip-able power is Glue Arrow. Maybe EMP arrow is you solo a lot. Proc heavily builds need to the -defense to compensate for low accuracy. My defender proc builds have to take 8/9 powers, but at least heavily slotting is not required.

I haven't tried a controller TA yet. Only Defender and Master Mind. I was thinking about making a Elec/TA, Plant/TA, or Fire/TA. PSA and SF should stack, but you won't be able to use Acid Arrow. AA inflicts a small dot. IMO a Elec/TA should consider not taking AA if they want to use sleep a lot. But darn it's hurts to lose AAs -defense. Also, see my post above. AA's -resist to endurance drain does not appear to help with mob that are resistant to said drains, like Malta sappers.

First round of testing endurance drain -resists from Acid Arrow completed. I think it's the same situation as the -toHit resists, If a mob has endurance drain resists, they are so high, it's going to negate Acid Arrow's effect. This is somewhat guess work as the Power Analyzer does not show endurance drain resistance. Note, I am not talking about recovery resistance. AAs effect on recovery resistance shows nicely in the Power Analyzer. Testing attempted: Someone on discord was nice enough to point that Malta sappers have end drain resistance. I used AE 1945. Not the best for sappers, but there are always a few on the first map. I was using my TA/Elec/Mu defender with fully end slotted Power Sink and Short Circuit, end drain is at max power. Test subject, con sapper held with Ice Arrow, so no end usage from it attacking me. Two rounds of power sink fully slotted for end drain. Endurance stayed at 100%, ie no effect. Acid Arrow applied. Endurance stayed at 100% with AA applied and two rounds of power sink. Also, I waited for any -recovery to wear off. If I cannot overcome the end drain resistance of a even con minion, then the end drain -resist is going to work on any resistant mobs. Unless there is something special about sappers. Any other mob suggestions to test on? Of course, against non-resist mobs, the Power Sink and Short Circuit can drain a 54 boss in one round. Maybe 2-3 players with TA could debuff end drain resistance to matter, but it's not happening with just one player. The changes are still awesome, just wanted to see if AAs -resists would allow mobs known for particular resistance could be effected.

This a no judgement zone, except for Ion. I guessed necro/ta was bad, just didn't realize it was rant worthy bad. Did my description give you an idea of the difference the TA changes made? I would happy to demonstrate on the brainstorm server. Note, I used T4 Intuition Radial to get the -tohit as high as possible. You have to four slot and use Intuition to get the FA to apply 18% -tohit.

Ah, I didn't realize that necro/TA with the bottom of the barrel. Cons: Slower kill rate, not horrible just very noticeable compared to ninja Pets, especially zombies, took more damage every fight. I was losing a minion every 2-3 fights. Often zombies were down 30-50% health each fight. I think this could have been prevented if I keep better control of the pets Pros, there are some: Slower pets mean less accidental aggro. The two mult-group fights had more to with the map layout than pets chasing mobs Better crowd control, between TA and the Lich So, if nerco/TA is supposed to be horrible, it's now decent-good even in my inept hands. An example fight, 54 4x8 council. Two groups with a small gap. Flash Arrow both groups, run in with pets on passive, Acid Arrow, Poison Gas Arrow, Pets set to aggressive, Disruption Arrow, Oil Slick Arrow. Council will often set OSA with their grenades, but not this time. So, I step back and fire Mace Beam Volley to ignite it. The second group has still not aggro'ed. Ten or so second later I feel that the first group is under control. OSA is KDing and burning away. I see that an zombie has aggro'ed one mob in the second group. I FA the second group again and Ion Judgement. Start debuff cycle on the second group, AA, PSA, move the DA to a point covering both groups. For that point it's lt and boss cleanup mode with Ice Arrow and AA which has procs. Chase down the runners and done. I think I lost one minion.

I used Intuition Radial to up my -tohit plus my slotting.

I made a TA/necro... give me my Ninjas back! Slotted with T4 incarnates, just like ninjas. I lost 1 lt and 3 zombies in a 4x8 council mission. I lost one minion in two 4x8 missions, Council and CoT, with TA/ninja. I think the difference is the kill speed. Ninjas kill so much faster. I did end up taking on two groups at once, twice. Flash Arrow allowed me to debuff the second group at range, which was probably the difference. Note, I am not using the popular pet keyboard binds. I am clicking everything. Build, it's a direct port of my TA/ninja, so it has all the same issues.

Bopper and Lines helped me test end draining. Basically, if the mob has end drain resists, it's likely to be ~85% at 50. One Acid Arrow will not be enough to overcome that. You need another TA partner. So, no solo draining AVs. 😞

I turned off Incarnates. Things are a lot harder. More inline with what you're saying Full incarnates, much easier. Maybe tomorrow. 🙂

Don't tell anyone, but I just solo'ed MoITF and MoML at the same time with just Ice Arrow. 😛 Unless it causes an issue in PvP. My only problem with IA is that I forget to use enough. So many good powers now!

So, I tried an MM Ninja/TA out. I am pretty clueless with MMs. Take that in consideration. @Monos King What is the soloing expectation for MMs? I understand that Ninja are high damage, super squishy. I was able to solo at 51 4x8 Council and CoTs easily. I lost one minion over two missions. I just FA then run into the middle and start debuffing and AOEing. This build was whipped up with a little research on the MM forum.

I am trying to test out Trick Arrow on different ATs. This is my ninja/TA. I am not a mastermind expert, but I was at 51 able to solo 4x8 council and cots. And I only lost one minion over both missions. Pretty low stress, Flash Arrow, move in, start debuffing and AOEing. The pets did the rest. FA: -18% tohit PSA: -30% damage, effective 30% resists Acid Arrow, -20? to defense. Pets had no issues hitting at 4x8 Here's the build, it's probably got a dozen things wrong with it, but it worked pretty well. Of course, this build doesn't reflect the beta server changes, but the slotting is the same regardless.

Finally, got a partner today, fire/dm tanker. We tried out Inferno, easy at 4x8. I even pulled Inferno aggro off him a couple of times. Due to all the debuff and AOE. Inferno's toHit resistance is 90%, so Acid Arrow barely scratched that, but I did get the 18% un-resistable debuff.

I have been testing TA on the defender side. The number will be less for controllers, but the overall effect is close. Between the -32% -toHit Flash Arrow, though there are caveats. You can soft cap defense with only ~23% defense. Poison Gas Arrow, 25-50% -dam, 25% is un-resistable. Basically for you, a minimal of 25% resists for any effected mob. And -25 def from Acid Arrow. So, you don't have slot accuracy. IE your pets will hit stuff. TA is now tanky. I can stand in groups of 4x8 council, take the alpha, and destroy them with my ice secondary. Mezzing is still an issue and massive Arachnos def debuffs are still problematic. But controllers have a primary to deal with that! The main downside is you'll want to take everything.

Interesting, so the stun does not guarantee aggro. Learned something new. Either way, to me Flash Arrow is the cornerstone power of the revamp. I want it to work in a predictable manner.

I like most of your suggestions, except this one. I do not want anything that could notify mobs on Flash Arrow. I understand it's only a single target effect, but I want to be able to debuff in peace from the shadows. 🙂

Update, TA/Ice is even nastier. So much AOE with slows so hard that even council wolves have a hard time escaping.

I think GA would be great for cone based secondaries. Or if you wanted to fight all at ranged. Use GA to create a area of denial between the mobs and you. But power and slot starvation will be a serious problem for TA builds now. IMO TA power selection will be driven heavily by the secondaries. As it is now, I have so many powers I keep forgetting to use Entangling Arrow or EMP Arrow. My little brain can only keep track of so many powers. 🙂

This will probably sound counter-intuitive, but I be fine if DA and OSA were targeted, not location, focused. As it is now, I have to create powexec_location binds for those two powers. Most times, I start the fight right in the middle of the spawn. As for ambushes, I could pop one at range and wait for for it to turn the corner before dropping DA and OSA. Slightly less convenient, but in most fights a mob targeted power is more convenient.

I really want to try Acid Arrow on a team, but there are no teams on the beta server. As best as I can tell, Acid Arrow is helping slow the council wolves, so they cannot escape the AOEs as fast. So, it's useful soloing. I like the new Disruption Arrow behavior. Now, that all TA powers are useful, builds are going to be really slot starved. Being able to have your main -res as one power that only needs one slot, recharge, is a benefit. Not being able stack takes the pressure off to slot it more. Especially, now that Flash Arrow should be max slotted for -tohit, 3-4 slots, for the -32%. For me, Glue Arrow is now the odd power out. At least, with a Ice Blast secondary. To combination of flash arrow, which removes the need to softcap def. Acid arrow which removes the need for high accuracy, allowing more procs. And finally, poison gas arrow, which basically gives an effective +25-50 resists against damage. Turns TA from a squishy set, to a very durable set.

Build: TA/Ice defender. Overall better than TA/elec, due much more AOE damage Soloing tally: 4x8 Council melts even faster 3x8 Arachnos are doable now Flash Arrow and Poison Gas Arrow handle the alpha just fine. With only 23% defense. I do have decent 58% s/l resists and clarion. Acid arrow's -def makes sure everything hits. My current attack chain, I have stealth and celerity running. FA->stand in the middle of the pack->AA->PGA->DA->OSA->Consume which ignites OSA->Ice Storm->Blizzard Mobs don't long last under -40 resists, OSA, IS, and Blizz. Everything is so slowed and -recharged, that they barely run or attack before death... er arrest. Come to the beta server. Try it out, TA is doing great now! TA/Ice build:

Yes, but OMG, Flash Arrow is the bomb now. It has 32% -toHit. I can stand in the middle of 4x8 council and take the alpha while layer on the debuffs. This is with max defense of 23%. The only downside is that all the powers are useful. Builds will be tight. I have been running an TA/elec on beta server. I can easily solo 4x8 council, 2x8 anything but maybe carnies, 3x8 CoTs. Arachnos at 3-4x8 are coin flip, depends a lot on the mob variety. That brings up the question, what can people solo with TA now?

More play testing. Carnies are still a no go, between the phasing and the holds. 😞 Soloing score card: 4x8 Council not hard 2x8 Arachnos easy, 3-4x8 not easy 3x8 CoT not a threat I tried out the Control hybrid, since I have three ST holds, AOE hold, and a AOE sleep. Makes me feel like a controller for two mins. I feel like TA paired with any secondary that benefits from Acid Arrows -resists to uhm resists is going to work well. Dark, Ice, Psi, Electric seem like the best candidates, because -toHit, Recharge, End drain. This all hinges on Flash Arrow's -tohit w/o that it would be a ton harder to solo. At low levels FA will be a massive team benefit. My current attack chain, I have stealth and celerity running. FA->stand in the middle of the pack->AA->PGA->DA->OSA->Short Circuit which ignites OSA->EMP A if up. Or I can drawn them into an ambush, at a corner->DA->OSA->Ball Lightning->Wait for the lead mob to around the corner->AA->PGA->Short Circuit->etc Current build. I will try other secondaries as I have time.

I have tried to run TA defenders in the past, but gave up. So, I am not an expert. Also, not sure what TA defenders are capable of in terms of soloing. I figure play experience is the best way to find it if the buffs are effective. But tonight my level 51 TA/Elec defender was easily able to solo 54x8 council. I could solo 53 Arachnos, but that was a lot tougher. But I barely know what I am doing with all the powers. The build below is total kludge. I wanted to see how end drain was with acid arrow. Also, to have an easy way to ignite oil slick. The -32% -tohit from a slotted Flash Arrow is amazing. I could stand in the middle of the spawn and suck all the end up with minimal damage. Just look for Little Shocker on Brainstorm if you want to test things out.

I have been thinking about what a electric or Ice controller could do with acid arrow. Ice's Arctic Air might benefit quite a bit. Electric could become an even monstrous end drainer.