Best debuff secondary

[pretty_jesus]

Topic.  Specifically looking for opinions on best debuff for controllers (-res, -def, -regen).  Looking to absolutely floor bosses and AVs.  Primary will be Illusion.  Thinking this will be between /Cold /Dark and /Rad

[Coyote]

/Cold or /Traps. Cold does more -Res, and Traps does more -Regen.

Dark is stronger overall but most of its strength is in -ToHit and -Dam, and with PA that's far less important than with any other primary.

Rad is a solid set overall, with good debuffing and gets all of its good powers early so you can solo AVs in the 20s. But at the top end it doesn't put out as much -Regen as Traps, or -Res as Cold.

[pretty_jesus]

11 minutes ago, Coyote said:

/Cold or /Traps. Cold does more -Res, and Traps does more -Regen.

Dark is stronger overall but most of its strength is in -ToHit and -Dam, and with PA that's far less important than with any other primary.

Rad is a solid set overall, with good debuffing and gets all of its good powers early so you can solo AVs in the 20s. But at the top end it doesn't put out as much -Regen as Traps, or -Res as Cold.

Forgot about Traps as that's new for Homecoming I think? Definitely an option there.. so what's the preference, -regen or -res? -Res seems more useful generally

[ExeErdna]

50 minutes ago, pretty_jesus said:

Forgot about Traps as that's new for Homecoming I think? Definitely an option there.. so what's the preference, -regen or -res? -Res seems more useful generally

Since you're Illusion, I'll maybe play around with Poison. Personally I would say Traps since you can poc caltrops to have -res. 

[Coyote]

-Res is better overall.

-Regen is better against AVs IF you're soloing them. If you're in a team, then there should be enough damage output that -Res matters more.

I've soloed GMs with /Storm, which has no -Regen, so Regen isn't absolutely necessary. But it does help against big targets. Against all other targets, -Res matters more. Also, Traps is better statistically than Cold, IMO, but Traps also has a clunky playstyle that works better for soloing than in teams, while Cold plays smoothly on teams.

[Carnifax]

Every time I consider Cold the fact you get Sleet at 35 always discourages me from it. 

 

I don't wanna wait that long for my uber debuff. Storm has spoiled me. 

 

[pretty_jesus]

Was thinking more about traps..setting PA loose and dumping traps while they have all the aggro sounds pretty good. Thoughts?

[Sarkastik Observer]

What about poison?

[VV]

On 11/13/2019 at 1:09 PM, Carnifax said:

Storm has spoiled me. 

Storm has kind of spoiled me on all other secondaries.

[Hedgefund]

it seems to me that Traps has a pretty major boon for Illusion - an immob to set up containment against the toughest targets.  

[Call Me Awesome]

Rad is the swiss army knife of debuff sets, it's good at everything.  You have the Def/Tohit debuff of Rad Infection, the -res debuff of Enervating Field, the -regen/speed/recharge of Lingering Radiation.  You also have a nice AOE hold that includes a -regen debuff in EMP.  On the buff side you have the fantastic Accelerate Metabolism giving the team +recharge/recovery/damage and a moderate AOE heal.

 

Another bonus of Ill/Rad is it's MUCH easier to get perma-phantom army thanks to the 30% +recharge in AM, something that's a game changer for the set.  One of my guild mates back on Live wrote a guide on the set, there's an archive of it here: https://guidescroll.com/2011/07/city-of-heroes-illusionradiation-controller-guide/

 

 

[Erydanus]

On ‎11‎/‎13‎/‎2019 at 10:16 AM, Coyote said:

-Res is better overall.

-Regen is better against AVs IF you're soloing them. If you're in a team, then there should be enough damage output that -Res matters more.

I've soloed GMs with /Storm, which has no -Regen, so Regen isn't absolutely necessary. But it does help against big targets. Against all other targets, -Res matters more. Also, Traps is better statistically than Cold, IMO, but Traps also has a clunky playstyle that works better for soloing than in teams, while Cold plays smoothly on teams.

Honestly I'm skeptical at -regen not having a place on a team. I got into a Tin Mage yesterday that bordered on disaster when it got to the 4 AVs at the end. We didn't have any -regen and only a little -res. It was the kind of situation where we were chewing away so slowly that the other AVs were taking people out degrading our progress further. Even on the last war walker it was a hideous strain, the kind of fight where you're emptying your inspiration tray to max damage out.

 

I would just have about killed for anyone to drop howling twilight and its massive -regen and tar patch with its appreciable -res on those [unprintable]. 

 

Layering is best for buffs - and debuffs.

[oedipus_tex]

-Regen can have a psychological effect on teams in the sense that it makes it feel like you are holding strong. Mainly this comes into play on teams where the AV wrecks several teammates and sustained damage is difficult. The Battle Maiden fight during the Apex TF (IMO one of the hardest fights in the game) is an example. At least the health bar isn't going backwards.

Edited November 19, 2019 by oedipus_tex