ExeErdna

I'm building an Earth/Sonic now, it starts out ranged, playing like a normal Earth Control troller. Yet around 25 it becomes melee, since you have 5 holds with this combo by 30. The #1 problem I'm noticing which is just common when leveling is that you're burning through end trying to keep up. Yet when you're Dominating you're clearly a game changer with all the -def/res this combo can do

Controllers do simply that control. I mean an Ice/Time will do NO damage at all. Yet they will be the MVP by keeping the whole group alive by basically hugging the tank or they might end up being the tank. To me pretty much maining them they're about the gimmick you want to do instead of upfront damage. You can kit out a Fire/Time, Traps, TA, Marine, Kin, Cold, Storm and Poison to do some consistent damage. Yet is that the gimmick you want? A recent example since Marine dropped. I will say Fire meshes much better than Marine than Arsenal yet I just like the more supportive role than the aggressive one.

This is the first idea I had when I first tested Marine on Controller. Personally, Barrier Reef is much better earlier you shouldn't need Hibernate because you didn't take Whitecap so you really aren't in melee like that. Air Superiority doesn't fit personally that would have been better suited for Hover to get some passives. Toroidal Bubble is better suited for Res than End Mod. You shouldn't need to invest that much into Stamina because said bubble really covers you with 2 basic End Mod inventions. Also, Panacea is better in the Health slot where the Numina could take an extra slot or be put over with Soothing Waves. Tide Pool doesn't need End-reduction Personally, since Tide Pool is such a big part of the set anything that's affected by it can come after you get Tide Pool.

This build is more so I can standardize a Marine Affinity setup that works for me. So you can switch out Shoal Rush for Tranquilizer and how the build plays really won't change too much. I just wanted more Single Target for the early/mid-game. For Shifting Tides you can get away with 2 basic 50 Dmg or End Reduction inventions. Or you could switch the slotting with Liquid Nitrogen since Frozen Blast Proc does come out of Shifting Tides more often from what I've played with.

This is how I overall been slotting Marine, the hami is the Recharge/End. Shifting Tides can honestly be 2 dmg 50s, I was just messing around with the immo proc here. Obliteration proc does work decently in Whitecap

The main thing I agree upon is having a frenzy proc on Depths if you're on a Tide Pool. The lack of Mez is pretty much the weakness of most support sets which is why Tide Pool and Shifting Tides are so strong upon this set. So if you're worried about Thorns mobs you have to play in a group which is what this set wants that's why it's so good on MM's. This is why I wish I could get a decent group running in Brainstorm so I can test this in a proper environment. Running solos can only present so much data, and because of that I can see Marine users having fun in the trials due to having a lot of enemies around.

Personally, the set feels like a middle ground between Nature and Kin but with a strong soft control gimmick with the knockdown in Tide Pool. There's a lot of -/+Dmg in the set. To me the Def/Corr side of it really shouldn't be +4 at all outside of groups even though I like the Water Blast setup. Even Storm Blast has a nice synergy with Tide Pool Yet from what I played MMs and some controller combos can hang in a solo +4 with Clarion. Tide Pool and Shifting Tides are the mainstay of the set so it will be amazing if you have a tank that knows what they're doing. Barrier Reef and The Bubble can help a lot. Yet for Marine it depends if you want to use Whitecap or Shoal Rush to proc the frenzy effect on Tide Pool. Since the most skippable pieces in the set are Shoal Rush, Brine and Whitecap. You can wait on getting Shoal and Whitecap for later after you get Tide Pool. Yet Brine might be something you either take late or simply skip outright.

I agree it's perfect for MM's or anybody who for sure knows they're playing with groups often. This is also why I said this will be popular support set for fire farmers. When it goes live people are gonna enjoy it whenever a Marine user shows up.

Yeah, that was honestly my whole logic with it, Whitecap just flows better since I'm going to make a fire/marine when it goes live. I want to give Shoal some shine since they did fix it A LOT yet for most builds it really doesn't fit for the level it's at. Yet grabbing AFTER you get Tide Pool sure yet never before that point imo.

What I'm realizing due to they both proc the frenzy of Tide Pool I'm thinking builds might think either Shoal or Whitecap yet not both in most cases. Like if you're comfortable being in the middle of the mess take Whitecap. If you rather hang back and cast take Shoal. With my Fire/Marine compared to my Symphony/Marine. Fire wants you right there, there's no need for a slow there's so much KD at times they're basically held. Now with Symphony lacking PBAOE and a melee pet. You want Shoal you proc that frenzy from afar.

I normally use the t9 before whitecap-ing into a group to prevent my pets from getting nuked yet I do really like that whitecap itself procs the Tide Pool effect now. I just need to find a way to put Shoal Rush back in. What I noticed I don't use much is the heal because Barrier Reef is good. So I'm seeing some end-game builds might skip Soothing Waves to put points elsewhere.

It's very consistent on Beasts, I learned to not put Shifting Tides on Alpha or Dire Wolf as they wouldn't get into the groups consistently like the others. I really want to test this on Necro now to see if it can solo Scrapyard

3 toggles personally that's easy to mitigate Rad has 3. That's what it reminds me of, its Radiation with a Leadership twist and works well with its sister control. Since the pet isn't as aggressive as it once was it's gonna be in the range of the toggles thus being very buffed. This would also be fun with Thugs, Mercs and Robots. Hell I would honestly reroll my Demon/Sonic into this

I honestly like it because it's trying to do something a bit different and theme-wise it'll make some interesting pairings especially if it ends up on Sentinel too.

I agree, with my theory crafting of the set it does not want you to hang back at all. It wants you to play in the Tide Pool so something needs to prevent mezzes or solo'ing with it under 50 isn't gonna be fun. The moment you run into your first Ruin Mage is gonna be a very bad time.