Terror or Deceive

[pblue]

I have a Ill/Rad character in progress almost entirely for solo play.  It's a classic combo, it works really well, couldn't be happier. My only issue is that I can't decide between Spectral Terror and Deceive.  I like them both but I don't have room for both of them and even then they don't play nice with each other.

 

Which should I keep?

[Redlynne]

Deceive = ALWAYS

Spectral Terror = If You Have Room

[Coyote]

Spectral Terror is REALLY GOOD.

Deceive is a MUST HAVE.

 

I would try to find room for Spectral Terror, but there is never a need to "make room" on any character for a non-aggroing Confuse power... it's automatic that the character will take it.

[Riverdusk]

Yes, I can't imagine not taking both, but I'd agree deceive would be my choice to keep, if I really had to choose between those two.  The ones I dropped on my illusion/rad are flash, group invisibility, mutation, and fallout.  Those are all more skippable to me.

Edited February 1, 2020 by Riverdusk

[Carnifax]

Yep Spectral is way, way better than Flash. 

 

It can stack the fear, continues to apply fears to anything getting close and comes with a hefty -ToHit debuff.

 

Flash is pbaoe, has crap animation time, takes ages to recharge and doesnt have any secondary debuff attached. 

[Gulbasaur]

Another vote for "both, if you have room", but I'd go for Deceive if you truly only have space for one. 

• Confuse is one of the game's most abusable status effects when you learn to always drop it on the most annoying enemies - sappers, ritki guardians, tsoo sorcerors. Make them work for you. 
• Fear is a very useful way of mitigating damage as if effectively limits enemy actions. 

[oedipus_tex]

I can't imagine a build where you are unable to take both. Can you share with us the rest of your power list? It seems almost certain there would be a better power to drop than either of these.

[pblue]

Right, consider me persuaded, I shall keep both.  Thanks for the feedback.

 

Bonous question: any tips or tricks for using Deceive?

[Redlynne]

1 hour ago, pblue said:

Bonous question: any tips or tricks for using Deceive?

Use early.

Use often.

... kinda like the advice about voting in elections ...

 

Any $Target that is annoying to deal with ... ESPECIALLY if they're annoying to deal with! ... you Deceive them first.  Mop up what's left and keep the Deceive effect up on the $Target you don't want to have attacking you.

 

Pretty simple really.

[Razia]

On 2/1/2020 at 2:04 PM, Carnifax said:

Yep Spectral is way, way better than Flash. 

 

It can stack the fear, continues to apply fears to anything getting close and comes with a hefty -ToHit debuff.

 

Flash is pbaoe, has crap animation time, takes ages to recharge and doesnt have any secondary debuff attached. 

Plus you can't really open with it, even if invis, because you get aggro at the start of the Animation and the hold takes place at the end of the Animation.

[oedipus_tex]

You should generally Confuse enemies who have annoying powers that can injure you badly, or powers that will contribute to defeating the rest of the group.

 

As a Controller, your Confusion is Mag 3 with a 20% chance for +1 Mag.  You can stack it, but this can take a while.

 

Assuming the power hits, Lieutenants are usually the best targets on a fast-ish moving team. (Dominators in Domination mode in contrast usually prioritize Bosses).

 

Some generally good targets for mid to late game enemies are:

 

• Malta
  • Sapper (Minion)
  • Gunslinger (Boss)
• Nemesis
  • Note this enemy group is more difficult to Confuse than many others. I wasn't able to find out how much Confusion protection each unit type has. The big power you're usually trying to avoid is Vengeance (when one of their allies dies they get +ToHit, which wrecks Defense builds), which all of the enemies below have:
    • Major( (Lieutenant)
    • Subaltern (Lieutenant)
    • Lance Corporal (Lieutenant)
    • Colonel (Lieutenant)
• Carnies
  • Illusionist (Lieutenant)
  • Master Illusionist (Boss) - Confusing her also confuses her summons
• Freakshow
  • Super Stunner (Boss)
  • Tank (Boss) 
• Council
  • Warwolf (Boss)
• Arachnos
  • Night Widow (Boss) - Note she has Hold protection, so Confuse is extra useful
  • Tarantulas
• Rikti
  • Communication Officer (Minion) - Confusing him will confuses his summons
  • Portals - Confusing it also confuses its summons
  • Mentalist (Boss)
• Longbow
  • Warden - Note there several different kinds. I am unsure if it is easier to Confuse some than others. 

[Riverdusk]

Most fun I had with it recently was confusing Frostfire and watching his own pets kill him.  Mission complete.

[Redlynne]

15 minutes ago, Riverdusk said:

Most fun I had with it recently was confusing Frostfire and watching his own pets kill him.  Mission complete.

The only way that could have worked out any better is if an anvil had fallen from the ceiling on him ... 😆