Looking to create a solo build - what are the good pool attack powers?

[DougGraves]

I'm electric/ so I do little damage.  I assume I should add some attacks from pools to give me a better attack chain.  What are the good pool attack powers to use?

[Gulbasaur]

Controllers need to use Contamination to get the most of what they've got (double damage for the win). Always open with a hold, immob, sleep or disorient and you'll literally do double your damage. 

 

If you can afford them, add procs for damage - there are a lot of cheap ones that add smashing or lethal damage that will help you hit a bit harder. Trap of the Hunter has a damage proc that can go in an immobilise power. Gladiator's Javelin has one for toxic damage that can go in your ranged attacks, but it's a bit pricey. It's worth having a look to see if you can sneak a proc into all of your main attacks as they can add a chance for extra damage to all your attacks pretty nicely. 

 

Procs aren't affected by Containment, though. It's literally a chance (normally around 20%) to do a set amount of damage every time you use that attack. 

 

If you want ranged attacks from power pools, you're very limited. Basically, it's the Sorcery pool or the Force of Will pool - they each have a slightly slow-animating ranged attack power. They both also have a survivability power that that is on a par with scrapper T9s, but desperately needs a lot of recharge in it. You can frankenslot them pretty well and give yourself a good panic button power.  

 

The Fighting pool has three melee powers that get more powerful the more you have - you'll never be a scrapper with them, but you'll have less down time and be able to do a bit more damage. They also take procs, so you can turn them into a reasonably good set of filler attacks, just make sure you lock your enemies down first so Containment triggers the critical hit damage. 

 

The other pools mostly have one or two melee attacks, but if you're going down that route you might as well go all-in with fighting because of the stacking bonuses you get from them. 

 

At level 35 you also get the epic power pools - most of them have one or two ranged attacks in that are worth taking. 

Edited November 2, 2019 by Gulbasaur

[Coyote]

If you're feeling low on damage, do the following things as your first option:

1) slot up Tesla Cage for damage. You can put 5(!) damage procs in it and still have an Accuracy/Hold in there (do NOT slot Recharge into attacks if you're going to put Procs in them, since Recharge will lower the chance of the Procs activating). At level 50, I think it does about 300 damage with one purple proc, 4 regular damage procs, and Containment

2) slot up Jolting Chain for damage. You can put 3 damage procs in it (including a purple Ranged Damage one which is only available at 50). Because of the lower base damage and lower procs, it only ends up at about 200 damage at level 50, but that's still respectable. As a bonus, the procs have about a third the chance to activate on the succeeding jolts, so you're still getting some damage out of them... I think it's about 100 damage as an AoE, which is actually pretty good for an AoE with 8 second recharge and 100% knockdown. Also, I would put Force Feedback: +Recharge in it, since the normal damage enhancing is boosting pretty low base damage.

 

Then, your next option is to take either Force of Will or Sorcery. Force of Will gives you a single-target attack that can be slotted up to about 180 or so damage with procs and Containment... not impressive, but okay as your 3 option. However, Weaken Resolve should be able to take 3 damage procs (right now it can only take 2, but I expect that's a bug) plus Achilles Heel, making it a 4th ranged attack along with a nice -Resist debuff of about 30%. So while the single-target attack isn't that great, you do get a 4th attack with a nice debuff, and AoE damage out of it.

 

If you take Sorcery instead, you get a better single-target attack (I think Arcane Bolt is about 200 damage at 50), but you don't get a 4th attack, and the AoE isn't as good. Both sets have a decent self-buff power available, though I prefer the Force of Will one since it can be used as a LotG mule in addition to being a useful power.

 

With Tesla Cage at 300, Jolting Chain at 200, and a pool attack around 180-190 damage, you're reasonably well set for single-target damage. You still have an Immobilize if you need a 4th attack. For AoE, you have the AoE Immob (only about 55 damage slotted up, even for 8 second recharge that's pretty poor), Jolting Chain (100 with 8 seconds, pretty good), and you can take Wall of Force (about 90 with 10 second recharge if you go for Recharge and slot it up with 5 Positron plus Force Feedback, or about 130 if you slot it up for damage with damage procs). That's decent AoE damage for a Controller.

[Erydanus]

The best pool power attacks for controllers to take are Sorcery/Arcane Bolt and Fly/Air Superiority. The new Force of Will's Project Will power is similar to Arcane bolt but slightly less damage and I didn't like the animation as much, but is certainly viable. Consider that an alternate, third choice. You cannot take 2 "origin" themed pools so if you want to add a ranged attack to your arsenal you will have to choose between them.

 

Air Superiority has the highest damage of the pool melee attacks and the simplest, cleanest animation. It also applies -fly and causes knock(up)down (not a chance, it's automatic) which makes it a great choice as a supplemental attack as you will be putting the mob you had to deck out of commission for a few precious seconds. The various other melee attacks in fighting, speed, and jumping are clearly a notch down in performance and animation quality; I personally found Jump Kick to have the most hideous and stupid animation in the entire game. (You'd think maybe it would be like you jump up and kick someone in the head; actually, you perform a weird headstand and mule kick them in the jaw while upside down.) 

 

You are limited in pools so some of these preferences can be overridden by what you're taking anyway if you're running up against pool limits. Want to take Sorcer's self mez protection? Arcane Bolt is a clear choice. Going to take Haste? Flurry isn't bad. Going for Tough and Weave? Well you've got to take an attack to get there anyway. However I must stress that Air Superiority is so good that even if you take the Sorcery pool for Mystic Flight and Arcane Bolt, I would still pick it up if I needed another attack. Then again Hover is a great defense mule slot and receptacle for a Karma Knockback protection.

[quixoteprog]

Arcane bolt and Project will are pretty close to one another in damage as far as I can tell, and both have a chance to do knockdown. So, for a controller it is one or the other of those.

 

As far as melee, I actually like Flurry in Speed pool. Any build can benefit from Hasten, so almost everyone takes speed pool anyway. That and its quick recharge and low end. cost makes it a nice filler for a small niche in my attack chain. Mostly, it is useful for finishing off a mob with a small sliver of health left without wasting a hold to do that, which could be used to lock down something with full health.

[Mercurias]

If you’re already diving into the Fighting Pool, I would just nab Cross-Punch and use it on enemies you’d just knocked down with Jolting Chain. Cross-Punch is a solid power with a short animation, a small cone, and gives a very small recharge boost. I have this slotted with a Force Feedback: Chance for Recharge Reduction proc on my DP/Kin Corrupter and spam it in when I’m in melee.

 

Air Superiority from the Fly pool is a solid ST melee attack which knocks and has a quick animation. It’s a favorite for anyone who enjoys those campy linked-hands-overhead-blow moves. 

 

Arcane Bolt from the Sorcery pool is a fine ranged attack. Its animation is a bit too long, but the damage is acceptable. If you want to go for Mystic Flight and this attack, you could do a whole lot worse.

 

I’m not a fan of the Jump Kick and Flurry pool Attacks. Frankly I don’t like their animations. Jump Kick’s animation can cancel after the actual kick, which is nice, and on paper it’s quite comparable to Air Superiority, but in practice it feels weaker. Flurry is much the same.

[EmperorSteele]

Also, if you haven't already, visit the Pay2Win vendor: You can get any three of the following for free: Sands of Mu, Undead Slaying Axe, Nemesis Staff, or the Blackwand. Each has an "Origin Bonus" version, so if you're science, pick the Nemesis Staff over the Blackwand. These powers cannot be enhanced and have slow recharge, but they ARE affected by global accuracy, damage, and recharge buffs; and while they don't benefit from Containment, they usually do more damage than a most of your powers vs contained enemy anyway (though this will level off by level 50). You should be able to hit with these once every other or every 3rd attack chain once you get some global recharge from sets and whatnot, so I'd say they're worth it!