The Holy Trinity isn't. Advice for veterans of other MMOs

[Snarky]

The Corruptor I main (Dark/Dark) is really the trinity in a box.  Coffin?   I switch roles between agro mitigation (stuns/fears/to hit debuffs), heals (pretty good ones if close to me) and DPS.  And it really is switching roles in the fight, because leaning into any one of them takes a lot away from the other two.  I am not the greatest at any of the three, but pretty respectable at least. And damn flexible 

[LightMaster]

Adding to what Snarky said, part of what makes Corruptor a more definitve top tier even among the ”really good” Archetypes is the insane flexibility it can go, especially with power sets that complement each others. Being able to do at least decently all of the Tritiny roles, more consistently compared to the HEATs, is something that must not be ignored. Any ranged Archetype can do, the Corruptor can do that (perhaps better) and more.

• DPS? The Blaster hits harder in every time, but the Corruptor’s Scourge mechanic and -Res / -Regen spam allows it to make it close second, or far better against critters with huge HP like Arch-Villains / Heroes alongside Giant Monsters.
• Heals / Supports? The Defender is incomparable in numbers and can never go wrong for important buffs, but the Corruptor is second best at providing heals, buffs, debuffs and more, and pack up more immediate and eventual damage at that.
• Aggro control? Even if a Corruptor is nowhere as tanky as a well-built Brute or Tanker, it and the Defender can come close thanks to a combination of self-buffs or neuteuring enemies’ damage (i.e. Poisonous Gas), access to armor, or have second best DPS in most situations next to Blaster (because, again, -Res / -Regen and Scourge) means it can finish off dangerous foes very fast.

In essence, what seems to be “Defender but deals more damage for less powerful support” ends up being the true jack of all trade among standard Archetypes, if not a master of all. The better part is that it’s not overpowered to a fault, just great all around as a ranged Archetype, allowing other Archetypes to shine:

• Blaster, as already stated, has the best immediate DPS, so if all other roles are already covered, more Blasters never hurt.
• Defender, as stated above, have even greater buff / debuffing potentials, at cost of dealing less damage than even a Controller.
• Scrapper and Sentinel as third best DPS overall that, while having less survivability than Defender and Corruptor in practice, each have their own values; Scrapper being top-notch overall Melee DPS while Sentinel have Opportunity / Vulnerability for unmissable -Def / -Res debuff to add more damage.
• Stalker have built-in Stealth and Assassin’s Strike, making for highest ST damage among Melee Archetypes. Their Hide also makes them great for stealthing through missions.
• Tanker, at least in Homecoming as of today, have a very strong aggro control with unparalleled survivability.
• Brute is in-between Scrapper and Tanker, and have the bonus of least responsibilities (the “do whatever I want” Archetype), oftentimes named as the most consistently good Archetype for soloing, and a viable alternative to Tankers for those who think Tankers deals too little damage.
• Controller and Dominator for more straightforward crowd control, with Controller leaning to additional support while Dominator for more offense approach. Illusion/ is a different beast with more emphasis on aggro control and damage than mezzing.
• And finally, the Mastermind for focus on pets and being more powerful if there’s two or more Masterminds due to the simple nature of “More buffs for my henchmen, please!”
• While the HEATs and VEATs’ jack of all trade attempt got overshadowed by the Corruptor as time goes by, they can still be very fun Epic Archetypes to play, have unique mechanics and can still fill in roles just fine. The Fortunata variant of Widows in particular makes for a rare tanky controller-esque type that not even the Corruptor can fill so easily.

tl;dr Corruptor’s top tier due to filling all Tritiny easily, but not to the point of making other Archetypes obsolete.

Edited June 4 by LightMaster

[LightMaster]

Following last post, I decided to form a tier list based on my perspective on their general usefulness.

Spoiler

For specific buffs for each C-tier to F-tier Archetypes without replacing their Power Sets or forcing the Holy Trifecta onto them…

• Brute: While not as desperate for buffs as the one below, it will appreciate either QoL buffs or improving tweaks that help them stand out more.
  • Brute would benefits having Fury to do more than just boosting damage. Examples include inflicting small, short-living but stackable -Res and -Def on foes at 50% or higher Fury, allowing the Brute and teammates to kill them faster if a -Res Power Set is not present, and it works with damaging auras many Brutes relied on. Increasing scalars for Brute’s Defense Power Sets (in between Scrappers and Tanker) instead of copying Scrappers’ scalars will also help making Brute more survivable, but not to the point of eclipsing Tankers.
• Sentinel: While still in a better position than before, their buffs aren’t enough to make them truly noteworthy when compared to above. I used to think the HEATs being master-of-none, but I got convinced that they are, indeed, better than a master of one, and of course that’s not getting into how monstrously strong Peacebringers can be in 1v1 Cage Fights, so thus leave the Sentinel not doing enough Ranged damage when compared to the big two, Blaster and Corruptor.
  • Possible solutions to make the Sentinel stand out without overlapping with the Blaster or Corruptor is to either put emphasis on single target damage among Ranges akin to Stalker among Melees by dealing more damage to Vulnerable enemies than any other AT, allowing Vulnerabilities to stack on one target.
  • Alternatively,or take a page from the Kheldians and make Sentinel’s AoE attacks (including Melee from APP or PPP) more damaging compared to others to compensate lowered range, as well as putting emphasis on AoE in general by allowing some of Sentinel’s ST power to deal AoE damage. This make them akin to today Tankers but with damage instead of aggro control.

Don’t take these suggestions as be-all-end-all as there are others’ idea that might sound better than mine in practice, though I made sure my ideas doesn’t force using the Holy Trifecta as the basis as the City of Heroes doesn’t revolve entirely of this.

 

Another thing to bring to mind is that the tier list here is only on a basic level; Power Set combinations, player skill and context also mattered just as much, if not more. Fire/Dark Controller can put a lot of work compared to Fire/Any Dominator, Brutes remain the best solo AT for most scenarios, Poison/ and Empathy/ Defender is generally superior to /Poison or /Empathy Corruptor, etc. And CoX is generally an easy game to play, so even a thematic but “bad” power set combination can put up some great work with enough skills.

Edited June 11 by LightMaster
Updated once more, with Defenders in a higher position equal to Blaster (second highest) since having better Buffs/Debuffs than Corruptor alone give them a massive edge over the others.

[Psylenz0511]

On 5/13/2019 at 12:53 AM, Hyperman said:

Good post! 

 

I mostly agree.  Played a Storm/Electric Defender on Pinnacle and people would always assume I was a healer.  Meanwhile my Illusion/Empath Controller was one and everyone would just ignore me when I tried to keep them close for heals.  Tsk.

Illusion / empath? Not my cup of tea, how did that heal other work out on the decoys?

[Psylenz0511]

On 3/28/2025 at 5:22 AM, Snarky said:

The Corruptor I main (Dark/Dark) is really the trinity in a box.  Coffin?   I switch roles between agro mitigation (stuns/fears/to hit debuffs), heals (pretty good ones if close to me) and DPS.  And it really is switching roles in the fight, because leaning into any one of them takes a lot away from the other two.  I am not the greatest at any of the three, but pretty respectable at least. And damn flexible 

Not sure if you opted to take "fluffy"? but that's TWO big sources of heals! I am a big advocate of using Howling Twlight every other group, with fearsome stare in between because of the stun, slows, and regen debuff. If an ally happens to be unlucky enough to fall in battle, it rezzes them when activated as a side effect 😛

 

[Snarky]

1 hour ago, Psylenz0511 said:

Not sure if you opted to take "fluffy"? but that's TWO big sources of heals! I am a big advocate of using Howling Twlight every other group, with fearsome stare in between because of the stun, slows, and regen debuff. If an ally happens to be unlucky enough to fall in battle, it rezzes them when activated as a side effect 😛

 

Yes, i use “fluffy”,… renamed Renfield.  
 

I use fear a lot, but need to work Howling Twilight into my rhythm thanks

[Psylenz0511]

There are powerset defining powers in defenders that I value more than others:

 

 

Empathy > Fortitude

Forcefield > dispersion bubble

Rad emission > choking cloud

Electric affinity > Faraday cage

Sonic > disruption field (the cosmic tutu)

Thermal > name slips my mind the big AoE debuff not melt armor 

Traps > forcefield generator

Dark > Howling Twilight/Dark Servant tied

TA > EMP Arrow

... remind me the rest.

 

[Psyonico]

On 6/20/2025 at 4:00 PM, Snarky said:

Yes, i use “fluffy”,… renamed Renfield.

That cracks me up.

 

btw: I quite enjoyed the Renfield movie that came out a year or two ago… I should add that to my re-watch list.

 

and @Psylenz0511. The Thermal power is Heat Exhaustion, which I believe is ST, not AoE.

 

 I’m kind of surprised at Choking Cloud… if I had to pick 1 power from Rad it would be a toss up between AM and Fallout.