Poison Guide - a guide to the most deadly poisons

Frosticus · April 9, 2020

Mr. Simpson – we have reason to believe that you have consumed - POISON!

Poison is the most aggressive debuff set in the game. It is the kinetics of debuffing. If you attempt to play poison passively the results are always underwhelming. The set requires melee range to achieve maximum potential as the capstone power is a pbaoe aura that is several powers rolled into one.

Poison doesn’t compromise, it doesn’t give you false hope through a weak self heal, or encourage you to sneak around. You either poison the enemy so they are weaker than you, or you die.

People that have enjoyed melee oriented blasters and dominators usually pick up the set and run with it. Others that have played alternate debuff sets like radiation and go in thinking it will offer a similar play experience, often struggle.

In this guide I will detail some of the intricacies of poison that make it a great set for those that take the time and investment into making it work. No, the set is not easy to use, and probably was never intended to be solo’d. We can’t change the ease of use, but we can build it so it can solo just about anything.

This is a long guide so refer to the sections for ease of use

Section 1 - Brief overview of poison for each AT

1.1 Corruptors

1.2 Masterminds

1.3 Controllers

1.4 Defenders

Section 2 - Brief overview of each poison power

2.1 Alkaloid

2.2 Envenom

2.3 Weaken

2.4 Neurotoxic breath

2.5 Elixir of Life

2.6 Antidote

2.7 Paralytic Poison

2.8 Poison Trap

2.9 Venomous Gas

Section 3 - In depth analysis of key poison mechanics

3.1 Envenom

3.2 Weaken

3.3 Poison Trap

Section 4 - build synergies

4.1 The importance of mez protection

4.2 Cones…..grrr

4.3 What about healing?

4.4 Power pools

4.5 Epics

4.6 Incarnates

Section 5 - My build

5.1 Why fireblast

5.2 Current build

Section 6 - Fun stuff

6.1 The PYLONS

6.2 TF’s

6.3 GM’s

Section 7 - the future

...

Section 1 - Maleficent was a corruptor, but what should you be?

Poison Is available to 4 AT’s. Two of them excel with it, two of them leave a bit to be desired.

*I strongly recommend poison on controllers and defenders – though for very different reasons that I will touch on later.

*I don’t recommend poison on corruptors, or masterminds, but that isn’t to say you can’t enjoy one.

1.1 Corrs – relative to defenders their debuffs are just too weak to make effective use of this set. Proc damage is significantly lower and personal protection through power pools and epic armors is too low in conjunction with the weaker debuffs. As far as I can tell nearly everything in poison is subject to AT scaling and everything scales properly between corrs and defs. The result is that defs are noticeably more potent with poison. The Corr ATO’s work reasonably well with this set though as health/endurance is always welcome and another purple damage proc is great.

1.2 MM’s – the debuff values are ok for what MM’s need to do, but the aoes are too small. As a result many of your pets take direct undebuffed damage from enemies and quickly become overwhelmed. The t9 has terrible uptime, otherwise the set would be salvageable. If MM’s had the t9 found in the other AT’s you could make a poison trap tanker-mind that could work reasonably well due to the synergy of PT and venomous gas . But they don’t.

1.3 Trollers – trollers offer a lot of mitigation. This degree of mitigation can more easily compensate for the fact that with poison you either weaken them until you overpower them, or you don’t. Their superior mitigation makes things like mez protection and personal defenses far less important. The set also offers good aoe damage and quick aoe containment, and lots of stackable holds to pair with your primary. You also get very high -res against bosses, which trollers often struggle to take down quickly. Finally, trollers get by far the best modifier on the -special aspect of weaken. It is really strong. In fact it is almost twice as strong as what corruptors get even though it is both a secondary set.

1.4 Defenders - Just about every debuff is strong and they are all scaled up to defender values correctly. For this reason if you want to have the quintessential poison experience it is best played on a defender. Additionally, the defender ATO procs work very well with this set providing consistent absorption and spot heals if placed correctly in your attacks

This guide is primarily about defenders, so lets get into what makes poison tick.

Section 2 - Pick your poison

Short and sweet:

*Weaknesses – no mez protection, no sustain powers, requires melee range

*Strengths – unparalleled speed of swinging the battle by drastically weakening foes so they do little harm and take considerably more harm.

2.1 Alkaloid – slow projectile, single target ally heal. It’s not my job to keep you alive, so be glad we can skip this on defenders. I’d take this if I had a dedicated duo/trio, but on a full team there had better be someone else equipped to patch you up because I just view you as vengeance bait. (see elixir of life)

Slotting: one of the heal sets. Preventative medicine proc if you are leaving it unslotted.

2.2 Envenom – second best power in the set. Available at lvl 1. Pretty fast cast time of 1.33 sec, 12 sec recharge

Main target: -40% res, -37.5% def, some other stuff that usually doesn’t matter, but sometimes does (-regen, -heal)

8ft aoe: -20% res, -18.75% def, half of the other stuff that usually doesn’t matter

I’d recommend putting accuracy in this power because it doesn’t do anything if it misses. Then achilies, then 2 damage procs.

2.3 Weaken – this is an extremely unique power. There is only one other power in the game that functions like weaken and it is single target and extremely difficult to perma. Weaken however, is spammable and has an aoe mechanic similar to envenom (half strength debuff). Sadly, the benefits of this power are often overlooked for sheer brute force, but where this power shines, it is blinding.

Main target: -37.5% damage, -18.75% tohit, -74.5% special (reverse powerboost)

8ft AoE: -18.75% damage, -9.38% tohit, -37.25% special

Slotting: Cloud senses goes well in this power.

2.4 Neurotoxic Breath – This is like a poor man’s shiver. Don’t get me wrong the -rech/speed value is fantastic and really cuts incoming damage over the duration. The issue is the cone is pretty narrow so you need to be max range of the power for it to hit most of the group. However, poison plays best in melee range and you want your t9 aura applied immediately. If this had the wide cone of shiver you would be able to use both venomous gas and still hit large numbers with neuro breath.

Pretty good while leveling, but once you have venomous gas this will sit in your tray collecting dust.

Maybe throw a chance for smashing proc in there. That lets you clearly see who you hit over the whole spawn.

2.5 Elixir of Life – hilarious in conjunction with vengeance. You rez them and they run off buffed to the gills from elixir. Elixer provides 100% rech boost, 50% damage boost and unlimited endurance…at a price. A short 90 seconds later the buffs expire and get replaced with a mag 1000 hold (ie toggle drop) puking and strong debuffs. Everyone else’s veng is still going strong so other buffers get lax. If you get lucky this happens in a spawn and they die again so you can refresh the teams’ veng. Lather, rinse, repeat. Of course they accept the rez, cause who wouldn’t?

10/10 power w/ veng on PUGs. Best used on scrappers as their swords tend to be sharper than they are.

2.6 Antidote – single target, ally mez protection. Good slow/-rech protection and a bit of cold/toxic resistance.

Look, if I have to deal with mez, then so do you. That said, it is a good spot for unique Res IO’s if you aren’t taking fighting. And if you are in a duo/trio it is pretty good. It can also be the third leg of the elixir+veng strategy of killing your teammates if you instead want to use a blaster over a scrapper. Elixer buffs the blaster and you throw antidote on him for mez protection. That is now an overconfident blaster. When elixir drops, he splats. Not as much fun as a scrapper though as blasters are used to getting mezzed and dying. When elixir causes toggle drop/suppression on a scrapper they are genuinely confused.

2.7 Paralytic Poison – A not terribly fast single target hold. This allows you to fairly quickly hold a boss in conjunction with poison trap. It doesn’t last long, but maybe long enough to not die? This rolls procs super well and can actually do decent damage give the abundance of -res at your disposal.

Definitely use this while leveling, maybe use it in your final build. It works reasonably well.

2.8 Poison Trap – not to be confused with Poison Trap. This poison trap doesn’t work the same as that poison trap. Confused? Ya me too. There are two powers in the game named Poison Trap, they are similar in some ways, but not in others. The one everyone talks about is Traps – poison trap (TPT). TPT has so much -regen that if you split it between all the defender primaries it would still be better at -regen than many sets.

So what does PPT (poison - poison trap) do? A bunch of stuff, none of it really worth writing home about. However, doing a bunch of stuff, means it takes a bunch of procs. This power simultaneously rolls procs far better and far worse than you might expect.

Slotting: as many procs as your build can support. See section 3.3 for more details.

2.9 Venomous Gas – This power takes just about everything poison does and then does it again in an auto hit pbaoe aura. I’m not sure if this power was supposed to “fix” poison when it was ported over to corrs, defs and trollers, but it sure seems like that was the intent. You’ll either love this power, or get mezzed repeatedly in the middle of spawns until you delete the character.

Poison has no defense, no stealth, no resistances, no self heals, basically nothing that would support the need to be in the centre of a mob to utilize venomous gas. But that’s what makes it SO REWARDING.

I’m not kidding. Once you get to a point where you can leverage venomous gas you start to feel really powerful and you start to witness a dramatic increase in team efficiency.

25% -res, 12.5% tohit debuff, 18.75% -dam, 12.5% -def

Maybe that sounds great to you, maybe it doesn't. But even at a glance you should be able to see that it promotes the virtues of poison - negatively impact the enemy so they do less and you do more.

Slotting: achilies, tohit debuff/end.

Section 3 - Tetradotoxin, Amatoxin, Botulinum

3.1 Envenom

Envenom is the most powerful single application -res power in the game.

*Protip – alternate targets when recasting. The main debuff can stack with the aoe debuff giving -60% res. Fantastic if a minion is near an AV.

The resistance debuffing is the main aspect of this power, but it also does a large defense debuff, a small amount of -regen and -heal.

The aoe is admittedly small. I wish it was at least 12ft, or incorporated some delayed chaining mechanics to help it spread. Oh well, this is your targeted debuff, venomous gas is your group debuff. This power would still be worthwhile if it were single target (like it once was).

The -regen is only 50% which isn’t fantastic, but it DOES stack when recast. It isn’t anything to celebrate, but it can help you get a handle on a GM’s regen if you keep it stacked 3-4x. You can see the impact it has on regen in the GM section (6.3)

I personally think most -regen powers are too strong, or too weak. The sweet spot to me is 150-200%. That lets you have an impact, but still leaves room for another regen debuffer to have a role.

The -heal is interesting, but rarely comes in to play. The target hit with the main debuff will receive 20% less healing. That can be helpful at times. If you envenom your target and cast weaken on the healer the results can be a near shut down of healing.

3.2 Weaken

*Protip – alternate targets when recasting. The main debuff can stack with the aoe debuff giving -56.25% damage debuff, -28% tohit, and capping -special at 90% debuff.

The nuts and bolts of debuffing damage:

An often overlooked debuff. It works like it says on the tin. A 37.5% debuff will lower damage by 37.5%. However, this debuff has several interesting mechanics that make it incredible in some situations and not so hot in others.

What makes it incredible? It is boosted by -res. A 37.5% -dam boosted by 65% -res (envenom+venomous gas) becomes 60% -dam. Poison can easily apply 56.25 to 75% -dam and debuff resistances by 65 to 85%. The result is often flooring an enemy’s damage at -90%.

(look at the -damage on Jurassik)

Spoiler

What else? -damage works independently from resistance. So if you do -90% damage debuff and have 50% resistance you end up taking 5% total damage. If you have 75% resistance you end up taking 2.5% damage. It can make some seemingly dangerous enemies a cake walk. An attack that would normally do 1000 damage can be reduced down to 25 damage. All by your lonesome. Poisoned!

What makes it not so hot? The purple patch and enemy resistances.

The purple patch is fairly straight forward, basically every level of difference between you and your enemy makes your debuffs less effective. +1 = 0.9, +2 = 0.8, +3 = 0.65, +4 = 0.48

When you hit +3 the potency of debuffs taper off hard. Probably too hard relative to other effects in the game on my opinion, but what can you do?

Enemy resistances are a different matter. Resistance resists damage debuffs. Sometimes this matters a lot, sometimes it makes no difference. It matters when your target has resistances to the same type of damage that they deal. An example is Dra’Gon in the lady grey TF. He has 60% fire resistance and deals primarily fire damage.

Also resistance resists resistance debuffs. Hahaha say what?.

So previously where you can amplify your damage debuffs by applying -resistance, that is now also severely impacted.

Examples using Dra'gon (60% fire resistance) while applying debuffing via envenom, weaken and venomous gas:

+0 lvl: (56.25% dam debuff resisted by 60%) * ( 65% res debuff resisted by 60%) = 31.85% damage debuff

+0 lvl: normal enemy = 92.81% damage debuff (capped at 90%)

+3 lvl: (purple patch 36.65% dam debuff resisted by 60%) * (purple patch 42.25% res debuff resisted by 60%) = 19.37% damage debuff.

+3 lvl: normal enemy = 52.13% damage debuff

As you can see, you need to be very aware of what your enemy is capable of. An AV fight can be going super well and they are hitting like a wet noodle until they activate unstoppable. Suddenly they start hitting like a mack truck. Situational awareness is key.

Lots of sets have -damage debuffs so that isn’t unique to poison. However, poison is also a good resistance debuffer so it ends up being very good overall at debuffing damage in most situations.

(look at all that lovely -resistance that will boost your -damage)

Spoiler

Weaken isn’t only useful for the -damage though. It also has an inverse powerboost. You ever see a scapper get one shot held by ghost widow’s ridiculous mag 100 hold and squirm helplessly until they die from the dot? Well you won’t see that if you hit her with weaken first. The hold will expire very quickly.

Weaken drastically reduces the strength of many enemy abilities. Things like hold duration, defense debuffs, and heals are rendered almost useless. No one has any particular resistance to -special beyond the purple patch. So you hit silver mantis with it and suddenly her defense debuffs are a lot less impactful to the point that sets other than Super reflexes can shrug off some of her attacks.

(Originally at 30% def, 2 of her attacks would normally drop me to -30% def, but I'm still at 0%)

Spoiler

This aspect of the power doesn’t come in to play very often, or at least isn’t noticeable in most encounters. But it can spell the difference between victory and defeat like in the ghost widow example.

2/10 or 10/10 depending on the situation.

3.3 Poison Trap

First off, it has a super fast cast time (which Traps -PT does not). And then it detonates when touched by an enemy into a big aoe hold. The hold only lasts like 7 or so seconds, but it can shut down most of the spawn for a short time. It gives you a nice little window to get some debuffs down.

In addition to the hold it does a little bit of toxic dot damage. This could be useful for interrupting casters in some cases.

What matters though is that it does an aoe hold and aoe damage. So it can take hold and pbaoe IO’s.

The initial hold and damage procs roll at approx. 40-50% rate for 3.5ppm procs, which seems a bit lower than it probably should. However, after detonation the PPT releases a cloud that continues to do dot damage and periodically hold foes. So at 10 seconds it rolls its procs again at a lower probability than the initial detonation.

(Ka-POW)

Spoiler

PPT has some issues I’ll detail below. It is probably bugged and not working as well as it should. That said, it is still one of the most efficient powers in the game to place procs as it can frequently get over a 100% proc rate over the life of the power.

The outcome is that while you focus on the bosses this power can often defeat most of the minions on its own. PPT with procs + a bit of aoe will finish off most spawns pretty quickly and safely.

*issues with poison trap (and many other drop powers).

- It only uses acc slotted into the power (so slots+alpha). Global acc, tohit buffs and even yellow insp have no impact on its accuracy. At least venomous gas helps it hit. People that think the power isn’t proccing well are probably just missing with it.

-Secondly - the 3rd and 4th roll of procs are set up to automatically fail. It doesn’t matter what you do the chance to hit will always roll above 95 and miss.

-Thirdly - The power can “critical” and double hit with procs instantly. I need to test this more, but I’ve only seen it happen with the pbaoe IO’s, which admittedly doesn’t make a ton of sense as you might expect the hold IO’s to do that given how the power works.

-Fourth(ly) - The -recovery of the power hardly ever works. When it does work, it only lasts maybe 1 second.

That said, it remains a very good proc power and very useful to helping poison do its job. If/when procs get overhauled my hope is this power gets a deep dive because it likely isn’t working as intended in all of its functions.

Section 4 - When carrying poison, be sure to have an antidote on hand

4.1 Mez protection - I think the biggest weakness of poison is that if you get mezzed you will probably die. The set needs to be standing in the middle of a pack and you need to be actively applying debuffs and attacking to succeed. Even with weaken causing mez to last a fraction of the normal duration the toggle drop of venomous gas is often enough to get you killed.

Solutions:

Teaming - yah, but that’s not the point of this guide.

Inspirations - yep, but there isn’t much you can’t do with enough inspirations. Some even rapidly port to their base to refill. I do my honest best to never use inspirations and certainly not as a key part of my build.

P2W defense amplifier - you’d be silly not to pick this. 7.5% res all, 5% def all, 4 mag mez protection. 2.5 mil inf/hr at lvl 50. This is the best solution while leveling. Well worth the cash. I don’t use temp powers on final builds because I don’t see the difference between a power like this and a shivian against an AV.

Defense - you can’t mez what you can’t hit. But poison has no innate defense and while s/l def is very easy to cap for defenders (scorpion shield) that only protects us from a moderate amount of mez attacks. Softcapping ranged defense and getting enough melee def that venomous gas’ tohit debuff gets you the rest of the way is no small endeavour.

Rune of protection - awesome power. Great resistances and mez protection to most things including knockback. Unfortunately it is up only about 50% of the time and it requires you to go three powers deep in a pool. It can function as a break free too.

Melee Hybrid - another awesome power. Good resistances and mez protection to most things excluding knockback. Also has really solid regen. Only up 50% of the time though and precludes that you don’t get a different hybrid like assault 😞

Clarion - probably the most obvious choice to cure the mez hole. Means you can’t use barrier or ageless though…

4.2 Cones - There are a lot of great cone powers out there. The issue for poison is that it needs pbaoe or taoe powers. You need to be in the middle of the spawn maximizing venomous gas, so cones conflict with the playstyle of poison. That means a set like dark blast, which would otherwise be a dream pairing, loses much of its prowess. You can still make an excellent poison/dark build, but imo ta/dark or storm/dark have more synergy.

4.3 Healing - poison does a lot to mitigate damage. It isn’t the best at it though to be sure. Damage will get through, sometimes lots of it. Relying on the regen from health will quickly let you down.

Solutions:

healing procs in health and stamina. These are great on just about any build, but they are essential for poison. Pancea and Power transfer can go a long way to repair chip damage.

aid self - a strong heal that can help a fair amount with endurance too if you add field medic. I find aid self counter to the aggressive playstyle that poison espouses.

dark blast/life drain - reliable, decent damage with procs. Life drain is a boon to sets like poison, ta and storm. However, as indicated in the discussion on cones in 4.1 dark blast has some issues playing nicely with poison. In addition to that the lack of aim can be significant when you really need to land a debuff, or just want to nuke at damage cap.

water blast/dehydrate - reliable, decent damage with procs. Water has some great taoe powers and only one cone. The set takes quite a few procs. Honestly this is one of the best pairings you can make with poison. However, the single target damage leaves much to be desired. The attacks are a tad slow and it has no really heavy attack. The water jet instant recharge gimmick is sort of neat though. A team based poison would do well picking water.

Melee hybrid - a great hybrid for poison. I already touched on it in the mez protection section, but melee hybrid provides strong regen as well.

Rebirth destiny - yep, good heal with good regen. Means not taking clarion, ageless, or barrier though. All of which may be better for you.

Defender ATO procs - one does a pbaoe heal, the other does a pbaoe absorb. If you put these in two heavy hitters (10 second recharge powers) they fire off a lot. An aggressive poison can make great use of these

Entomb proc - put this in either paralytic poison or dominate/char. It gives you nearly 200pts of absorb every cast. It makes a tremendous difference.

4.4 Power Pools

The reality is, you don’t “need” a lot of powers from poison to get the job done. Maybe that’s a good thing? Having skippable powers is a sign of weakness, but it sure helps out with build flexibility.

Skip these for another build:

Concealment - nah. Poison is best played in your face. Although phase shift would occasionally present value.

Flight - if you enjoy it. But I feel mystic flight is a better option if this is your prefered path.

Medicine - if you are really desperate for a self heal, but there are better, more synergistic ways to heal.

Presence - don’t worry you’ll pull plenty of aggro haha. Conversely, many things will try to run.

Teleport - only if you have a concept? poisoning people through space and time?

Take a good look at these:

Hasten - of course

Leadership - you probably should. Defender values are very attractive. Tactics+kismet can all but let you skip out on acc slotting. Seeing through stealth/blindness isn’t frequently needed, but it sure is annoying.

Fighting - just about everyone does these days… I personally skipped it on my poison defender. We all know how effective the pool is though.

Leaping -- combat jump is a great power

Force of Will - mighty leap is great, weaken resolve is pretty good if a bit slow. It is a surefire way to trigger achilies proc. Unleash potential is a very strong power. Not so great uptime though.

Experimentation - Jaunt is really good for getting in to a spawn fast and affecting them with venomous gas. I haven't tried out corrosive vial, it "could" be a good addition. Adrenal boost is a nice offensive power. Not great uptime though.

Sorcery - spirit ward is a good spot for preventative medicine, mystic flight is useful at times to chase fliers or avoid extremely dangerous melee attacks. I almost always fight on the ground personally. Rune of protection is awesome. Full mez protection, great damage resists and an achievable 50% uptime.

I chose: leadership, combat jump, hasten, sorcery

4.5 Epics

Defenders/corrs have some nice epic choices at the disposal. Controllers have very good epics. I'm going to discuss them from the point of view of a defender.

Leviathan- good resistance shield (s/l/cold). hibernate can turn the battle around. The pet can add a lot of dps with the huge -res poison adds.

Scorpion - only defensive shield (s/l), it makes softcapping s/l very easy for defenders. Focused accuracy can free up a lot of slotting options. Pet can add good dps

Mu - great resistance shield (s/l/energy), powersink and conserve power make endurance management a non issue. Pet can add good dps and attacks from range which can be good sometimes.

Soul - Double recharge soul drain is meh, powerboost used to boost - special but no longer does. As such it doesnt do a lot for poison. Ok resistance shield (s/l/negative). Mistress can do a lot of dps.

Dark - Oppressive gloom works very well with venomous gas and can mitigate considerable damage. Dark consumption recharges too slow to rely on much. Ok resistance shield (s/l/negative), Awesome soul drain. One of the best epic powers in the game. Self rez can be useful.

Electric- great resistance shield (s/l/energy), power sink and shocking bolt can all compliment poison very well. Unfortunately you need either electric fence or thunder strike to unlock the good powers.

Power - conserve power is good. ok resistance shield (high s/L). Force of nature gives you 120 seconds of god mode resistances and strong recovery. Full end crash though. Powerbuildup is build up+ powerboost. recharge is too slow though.

Fire - char. it is reason enough to take fire app. Decent resistance shield (s/l/fire), consume recharges too slow but has a fast cast and bigger aoe than dark consumption at least. Self rez has uses sometimes. Greater firesword isnt very good unfortunately.

Psychic- dominate. as good or better than char. Great resistance shield (s/l/psi). Mass hypnosis has uses, but they are rare. Telekinesis costs too much and has no synergy with poison. World of confusion is fantastic w/confuse proc. Poison enhances confuse powers really well.

Overall:

Psychic is my favorite. It gives you another heavy hitter (proc'd dominate), A very useful shield and a confuse aura that works really well with venomous gas to provide meaningful mitigation and improve spawn clearing.

Dark is my second favorite. Perma soul drain can give you really good damage output.

Mu is my third choice. It makes endurance a non issue and the shield is great

4.6 Incarnates

This is a huge category. I'm just going to highlight a few choices that go particularly well with poison.

Alpha:

musculature radial - improves damage, tohit debuffs, defense debuffs and gives you a bit of recovery.

Everything poison likes.

Cardiac core - solves endurance,boost resistances a bit.

Nerve - really helps poison trap (see issues section 3.3)

Interface:

Reactive radial - good dot damage, a bit more -res which helps your -damage powers a little.

Degen - probably the best for big game hunting.

Lore:

I dont use lore, but poison can make them do crazy damage

Hybrid:

Melee core- good resistances, good regen, mez protection

Assault radial - proc damage is poison's forte.

Destiny:

honestly this will depend on the rest of your build options. Each destiny power has great potential for poison. If you can solve mez protection and endurance then barrier is incredible.

Section 5 - I am Poison!

I have created and played a lot of poison characters. I chose poison/fire for a variety of reasons. I dont think it is the most synergistic pairing, but it is extremely fun and effective. The set offers virtually no mitigation so everything I do is based on poison as the backbone.

5.1 Why fire?

I mean, why not? Even in the world of procs fire is still the damage king. The thing about fire is it doesn’t “need” procs to do well, so you are free to enhance the recharge of blasts without drastically altering overall performance due to decreased proc damage. Some sets can hit harder than fire when heavily proc’d (ie radiation), but fire still does quite a bit more dps in the long run.

In the end I enjoy playing fireblast, so that was my main motivation.

5.2 Current Build

Ok, I’ve done a lot of respecs now and what I’ve discovered for poison is that I like it a lot more when I focus on solid resistances and coming back from the brink than opposed to softcapped defense followed by immediate occasional defeat. I think resistances and -damage debuffing go very well together and fit really well with the regen of melee hybrid as well as the small absorbs/heals of the defender procs.

the result is that my failures are predictable and avoidable if I so choose. I very rarely go from hero to zero in the blink of an eye, which my defense based squishies can not replicate. However, if you plan on being hit that takes a lot more behind the scenes preparation than simply avoiding most damage/mez. Namely you require mez protection. That isn’t as easy as it sounds. I cycle rune of protection with melee hybrid. It doesn’t provide 100% uptime, but it is up most of the time. Those two powers also really round out resistances, so it works out pretty well.

I have little doubt that the build would be stronger with cardiac and barrier instead of musculature and ageless, but the latter was a conscious decision to increase dps. I might finish out those two alternate incarnates though for some difficult encounters like the “final warwalker standoff” in the tinmage tf. I have been unable to pass that point solo no insp/temp/lore.

I have assault radial at t4 as well as melee t4. If I know survival is a non issue then the extra dps is welcome (see pylon section).

Spoiler

Hero Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.6.0.7
https://github.com/ImaginaryDevelopment/imaginary-hero-designer

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Magic Defender
Primary Power Set: Poison
Secondary Power Set: Fire Blast
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Sorcery
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Psychic Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Envenom -- AchHee-ResDeb%(A), EndRdx-I(33)
Level 1: Flares -- SprWntBit-Rchg/SlowProc(A)
Level 2: Weaken -- CldSns-ToHitDeb(A), CldSns-%Dam(15), CldSns-Acc/Rchg(15), CldSns-ToHitDeb/EndRdx/Rchg(21), CldSns-Acc/ToHitDeb(25), CldSns-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(43)
Level 4: Fire Blast -- SprVglAss-Dmg/Rchg(A), SprVglAss-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(5), SprVglAss-Acc/Dmg(5), GldJvl-Dam%(13)
Level 6: Fire Ball -- Rgn-Dmg/Rchg(A), Rgn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(7), Rgn-Acc/Rchg(7), Rgn-Dmg/EndRdx(9), Rgn-Knock%(13)
Level 8: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(9)
Level 10: Combat Jumping -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), Ksm-ToHit+(11), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(11), Rct-ResDam%(43)
Level 12: Spirit Ward -- Prv-Absorb%(A)
Level 14: Mystic Flight -- BlsoftheZ-ResKB(A)
Level 16: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(17), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(17), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(19)
Level 18: Tactics -- AdjTrg-ToHit/EndRdx(A), AdjTrg-ToHit(21), AdjTrg-ToHit/Rchg(40), AdjTrg-ToHit/EndRdx/Rchg(43), AdjTrg-EndRdx/Rchg(46)
Level 20: Aim -- RechRdx-I(A), GssSynFr--Build%(50)
Level 22: Rune of Protection -- StdPrt-ResKB(A), GldArm-Res/Rech/End(23), GldArm-3defTpProc(23), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(25), GldArm-RechRes(42), UnbGrd-Max HP%(45)
Level 24: Vengeance -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A)
Level 26: Poison Trap -- FuroftheG-ResDeb%(A), Arm-Dam%(27), Obl-%Dam(27), Erd-%Dam(34), ScrDrv-Dam%(34), UnbCns-Acc/Rchg(37)
Level 28: Blaze -- SprVglAss-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), SprVglAss-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(29), SprVglAss-Rchg/+Absorb(29), Apc-Dam%(33), GldJvl-Dam%(33), Apc-Dmg/EndRdx(34)
Level 30: Paralytic Poison -- BslGaz-Acc/Rchg(A), BslGaz-Acc/Hold(31), BslGaz-Rchg/Hold(31), BslGaz-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(31)
Level 32: Venomous Gas -- AchHee-ResDeb%(A), DmpSpr-ToHitDeb/EndRdx(42), DmpSpr-ToHitDeb(46)
Level 35: Blazing Bolt -- StnoftheM-Dam%(A), StnoftheM-Acc/Dmg(36), StnoftheM-Dmg/EndRdx(36), GldJvl-Dam%(36), SprDfnBst-Rchg/Heal%(37), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx(37)
Level 38: Dominate -- UnbCns-Dam%(A), GhsWdwEmb-Dam%(39), NrnSht-Dam%(39), GldNet-Dam%(39), GldJvl-Dam%(40), SprEnt-Rchg/AbsorbProc(40)
Level 41: Inferno -- Arm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), Arm-Dmg/Rchg(42)
Level 44: Mind Over Body -- GldArm-End/Res(A), GldArm-ResDam(45), GldArm-Res/Rech/End(45)
Level 47: World of Confusion -- CrcPrs-Conf/EndRdx(A), CrcPrs-Conf(48), CrcPrs-Conf/Rchg(48), CrcPrs-Acc/Conf/Rchg(48), CrcPrs-Acc/Rchg(50), CrcPrs-Conf%(50)
Level 49: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Quick Form
Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Vigilance
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A), Mrc-Rcvry+(3), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(46)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A), PrfShf-EndMod(3), Empty(19)
Level 0: Freedom Phalanx Reserve
Level 0: Portal Jockey
Level 0: Task Force Commander
Level 0: The Atlas Medallion
Level 50: Musculature Radial Paragon
Level 50: Melee Core Embodiment
------------

Edited April 9, 2020 by Frosticus

Frosticus · April 9, 2020

Section 6 - When I grow up I want to be a Hero! Or at least kill Giant Monsters

6.1 - The pylon

Say what you will, there is something really satisfying about time attacks on these things. It gives me the same feeling as carving out the perfect laps on gran turismo.

Anyway, I generally wouldn’t say “take a defender” if you want to quickly drop pylons, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say a poison/fire can do this task with ease and efficiency.

Keep in mind, poison has no noteworthy -regen, so performance is pretty raw and less dependent on -res procs than many high performance melee builds.

Consistent 1:50 +/- with hybrid assault radial on. = 475dps*

Consistent 2:15 +/- with melee core (off/on doesn’t matter) = 410 dps

*I have a paper build that would push approx 550dps, but it requires weaken resolve and some other tricks. It would just be a gimmick - purpose built. It wouldn’t make the pylon hit for ticks of 9 damage that’s for sure. So it is give and take. I might spec in to it for a lark at some point.

6.2 - Forcing the Task (TFs)

Soloing TFs is one of the best parts of homecoming. Whether it is taking your time to actually explore the content, or challenging yourself with purpose driven team content, solo TFs are something that can allow an incarnate build to flex their muscles.

My personal stance is to accomplish as much as possible without inspirations, temp powers, and never pull out the lore pets. Those things really blur the lines of what you/your build is accomplishing. That said, using those aids to complete something doest change the fact that it is completed. So do what you feel is best.

While is seems like everyone has solo'd the ITF I think it still provides a great workout for melee-centric builds. Pure ranged builds have a much easier time with this particular task. Poison is as melee-centric as a scrapper.

Solo no insp/temp/lore MoITF is what I strive for on every final build. You need decent dps and pretty high survivability to survive the swarms of ogres and multi AV encounters.

I've only tried once on this build. 1hr completed

Spoiler

6.3 Giant Slayer

I think hunting GMs is the epitome of heroic feats. It always feels a bit cheapened by utilizing a temporary dagger, so if my build cant do it, then it cant do it. Same idea as my approach to TFs - no insp/temp/lore.

Many AVs are significantly more challenging than GMs but the sheer size and uniqueness of the GMs makes them a very satisfying experience when you defeat them.

The issue with GMs is that they have very powerful regen. This precludes that the best approach is to pile on significant -regen. Either that, or you need a LOT of damage. I personally feel that the ultra strong -regen powers found in some powers are too strong. They effectively negate one of the key mechanics of AVs and GMs with one click which leaves no room for additional debuffers that bring the same thing. It's like how a second tank can be redundant for aggro control. I think medium strength -regen have the right balance. Sadly poison has very weak -regen in envenom, but at least it stacks.

(-regen isn't terrible)

Spoiler

As shown in the pylon testing (6.1) poison enables very high dps. Poison also has "enough" -regen to get a handle on most GMs. As a result, most GMs can be downed in a matter of minutes.

The debuffs are strong enough in conjunction with my build that surviving GMs is generally trivial.

The first GM I attempted was a thorn on monster island. They have a fire weakness so that was pretty lopsided. Then I went and summoned Admadastor because I remember him being badass back in the day. Quickly put him back in the ground. Then went and turned Babbage in to cabbage.

Many GMs later….

I think my most enjoyable GM has been the Arachnos Flier. It isnt a very difficult GM, but I had no idea what it does. Nuking the bane army it sets on you each time it lands is satisfying. And chasing it through the sky made being locked into mystic flight worthwhile (I dont normally fly).

Spoiler

The most recent kill was Lusca. I've only ever solo'd her once before. Back on live with a relative god tier GM hunter ill/cold/ice build. It went surprisingly well for my poison/fire. I sort of got distracted and died once when several legs were on me. Each leg took about 3 min. The head has tremendous resistances and strong regen. That took 5 cycles of assault hybrid, so 20 minutes.

Spoiler

Section 7 - What's next?

There isn't much left that I want to do with this build. Now I am just waiting for poison buffs because it will get some dev love soon™….

Edited April 9, 2020 by Frosticus

Frosticus · April 9, 2020

reserved 2

nihilii · April 9, 2020

7 hours ago, Frosticus said:

10/10 power w/ veng on PUGs. Best used on scrappers as their swords tend to be sharper than they are.

lol

Great guide jampacked with information. Also flabbergasted to see a defender reach those levels of DPS! Might be time for a new reroll...

StridingWind · April 9, 2020

It's funny. I was randomly scrolling through the forums and saw you posted a poison/fire build. I was like "Man, I want to make one. Wish there was an intricate guide on poison." Then BAM, you come up with one the next day🤣

I was playing around with a Poison/Ice build and this is what I came up with. I mainly went for recharge with alright defenses and resistance. On paper, Agility and Rebirth seemed like a good choice since it's targets my endurance, recharge, and a heal. Tell me what you think.

Hero Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.6.0.7
https://github.com/ImaginaryDevelopment/imaginary-hero-designer

Click this DataLink to open the build!

All I Do Is Wind: Level 50 Magic Defender
Primary Power Set: Poison
Secondary Power Set: Ice Blast
Power Pool: Sorcery
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Speed
Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Envenom -- AchHee-ResDeb%(A), TchofLadG-%Dam(33), ShlBrk-%Dam(33), Acc-I(33)
Level 1: Ice Bolt -- SprVglAss-Acc/Dmg(A), SprVglAss-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(5), SprVglAss-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(7)
Level 2: Weaken -- CldSns-Acc/Rchg(A), CldSns-ToHitDeb/EndRdx/Rchg(9), CldSns-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(9), CldSns-ToHitDeb(11)
Level 4: Ice Blast -- SprVglAss-Dmg/Rchg(A), SprVglAss-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(5), SprVglAss-Rchg/+Absorb(7)
Level 6: Spirit Ward -- Prv-Absorb%(A), Prv-Heal/Rchg/EndRdx(11), Prv-Heal/Rchg(13), Prv-EndRdx/Rchg(13), Prv-Heal/EndRdx(15), Prv-Heal(15)
Level 8: Mystic Flight -- HO:Micro(A)
Level 10: Aim -- GssSynFr--Build%(A)
Level 12: Kick -- Empty(A)
Level 14: Tough -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(17), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(17), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(19), UnbGrd-ResDam(19)
Level 16: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), RedFrt-Def/EndRdx(46), RedFrt-Def/Rchg(46), RedFrt-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(46), RedFrt-Def(50), RedFrt-EndRdx(50)
Level 18: Combat Jumping -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(43)
Level 20: Rune of Protection -- GldArm-3defTpProc(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(21), UnbGrd-EndRdx/Rchg(21), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(23), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(23)
Level 22: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(50)
Level 24: Ice Storm -- Rgn-Knock%(A), Rgn-Acc/Rchg(25), Rgn-Dmg/EndRdx(25), Rgn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(34), Rgn-Dmg/Rchg(34)
Level 26: Poison Trap -- Erd-%Dam(A), Arm-Dam%(27), Obl-%Dam(27), FuroftheG-ResDeb%(37), NrnSht-Dam%(37), GhsWdwEmb-Dam%(40)
Level 28: Bitter Ice Blast -- Apc-Dam%(A), Apc-Dmg/EndRdx(29), Apc-Acc/Rchg(29), Apc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(34), Apc-Dmg/Rchg(37)
Level 30: Freeze Ray -- BslGaz-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(A), BslGaz-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(31), BslGaz-Rchg/Hold(31), BslGaz-Acc/Hold(31)
Level 32: Venomous Gas -- TchofLadG-DefDeb/EndRdx(A)
Level 35: Bitter Freeze Ray -- BslGaz-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(A), BslGaz-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(36), BslGaz-Rchg/Hold(36), BslGaz-Acc/Hold(36)
Level 38: Blizzard -- SprDfnBst-Rchg/Heal%(A), SprDfnBst-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(39), SprDfnBst-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(39), SprDfnBst-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(39), SprDfnBst-Dmg/Rchg(40), SprDfnBst-Acc/Dmg(40)
Level 41: Scorpion Shield -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), RedFrt-Def/EndRdx(42), RedFrt-Def/Rchg(42), RedFrt-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(42), RedFrt-Def(43), RedFrt-EndRdx(43)
Level 44: Web Cocoon -- BslGaz-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(A), BslGaz-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(45), BslGaz-Rchg/Hold(45), BslGaz-Acc/Hold(45)
Level 47: Paralytic Poison -- BslGaz-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(A), BslGaz-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(48), BslGaz-Rchg/Hold(48), BslGaz-Acc/Hold(48)
Level 49: Elixir of Life -- UnbGrd-Max HP%(A)
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Quick Form
Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Clr-Stlth(A)
Level 1: Vigilance
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(A), Mrc-Rcvry+(3)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A), PrfShf-EndMod(3)
Level 50: Agility Core Paragon
Level 50: Rebirth Radial Epiphany
------------

All I Do Is Wind - Defender (Poison).mxd

The_Warpact · April 9, 2020

@Frosticus ah you said you were going to do it and finally its here.

I rolled another toon a psn/dk fender instead of the other build you gave me advice on.

Currently at 7 had sort of an idea on what I was going to do, but, now its refined.

You answered alot of questions I had and while I won't be following your path, you gave me my idea on my final build.

Well written and exactly what I needed.

Thanks!

UrbanHound · April 10, 2020

Great guide. I know you ultimately settled on Fire but I would appreciate a section with thoughts and insights on how other secondaries would perform with Poison.

Thanks for sharing this!

Edited April 10, 2020 by UrbanHound

Sura · April 10, 2020

I so really want a Poison character, but I just haven't been able to figure out what I want to do. This will help a lot, thank you!

tjknight · April 10, 2020

This really makes me want to role a Poison/Beam Rifle.... great guide.

ChetManly · April 10, 2020

Wow. I went into the forums looking for a Doc Q TF guide or breakdown of some kind and this was just staring me in the face... Had to read it as I am a Poison acolyte having had a Thugs/Poison MM on live and now a 50 Poison/DP here. Love the guide, so many thoughts. Need to collect them, reread guide and report back. Many thanks. Great to see another lover of this unloved and unappreciated set.

Redlynne · April 11, 2020

Now I need to make a Praetorian Mind/Poison Controller (who will eventually become a hero?) to my Primal Earth Mind/Nature Villain ...

Yomo Kimyata · April 11, 2020

I haven't even read this yet and so far it's my favorite guide ever.

ChetManly · April 11, 2020

This guy is a fan. /\

SeraphimKensai · April 11, 2020

I made a poison/rad the other day after I pvped against a poison/fire. I was surprised it was that effective. On Everlasting the other night.

Oubliette_Red · April 12, 2020

On 4/10/2020 at 12:02 PM, Sura said:

I so really want a Poison character, but I just haven't been able to figure out what I want to do. This will help a lot, thank you!

I love playing my Bloo... Water/Poison Corruptor. Though it often draws aggro away from the "tank" because of the debuffet that gets laid down. For some reason the vectors... I mean targets don't like it, can't figure out why. <.<

Edited April 20, 2020 by Oubliette_Red

aurealix · April 13, 2020

This is a great guide and really helpful. I wanted to make a Def Poison/Rad (primarily because I want a Rad Blast again and I thought this would be a good pairing). I'm not opposed to Fire, but wanted to see if I could get Rad to work as well. Alternately, I'd be interested in a Beam Rifle if I could get that to be effective as well.

I made a couple builds cribbed from your poison/fire build and from KnottEwe and Vea. If you have time, could you please look at these two ? I understand that both would probably underperform compared to Fire in terms of damage. I'm looking for some variety of powersets, though, and would settle for less damage overall as long as the build is still decent.

Also, do you think you could do a video of you fighting a pylon? Or maybe just describe your attack chain for an example of how to fight a GM/AV?

Defender - Poison/Rad/Mace

Spoiler

Hero Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.6.0.7
https://github.com/ImaginaryDevelopment/imaginary-hero-designer

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Kalinas: Level 50 Mutation Defender
Primary Power Set: Poison
Secondary Power Set: Radiation Blast
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Sorcery
Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Envenom -- AchHee-ResDeb%:20(A), AnlWkn-Acc/Rchg/EndRdx:50(3)
Level 1: Neutrino Bolt -- AchHee-ResDeb%:20(A), TchofLadG-%Dam:50(7), ShlBrk-%Dam:30(9), SprDfnBst-Rchg/Heal%:50(9)
Level 2: Weaken -- CldSns-%Dam:30(A), CldSns-ToHitDeb:30(3), CldSns-ToHitDeb/EndRdx/Rchg:30(43), CldSns-Acc/ToHitDeb:30(43)
Level 4: Irradiate -- FuroftheG-ResDeb%:20(A), Arm-Dmg/EndRdx:50(13), Arm-Acc/Rchg:50(13), Arm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(19), Arm-Dmg/Rchg:50(23), Arm-Dmg:50(25)
Level 6: Hasten -- RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(11)
Level 8: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+:50(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx:50(11), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP:50(45)
Level 10: Kick -- FrcFdb-Rechg%:50(A)
Level 12: Arcane Bolt -- FrcFdb-Rechg%:50(A)
Level 14: Tough -- GldArm-3defTpProc:50(A), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+:30(15), GldArm-End/Res:50(15), Ags-ResDam/EndRdx:50(17), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx:50(19)
Level 16: Proton Volley -- StnoftheM-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:35(A), StnoftheM-Acc/Dmg:50(17), StnoftheM-Dmg/EndRdx:35(34), StnoftheM-Dam%:50(37), GldJvl-Dam%:50(40), SprVglAss-Rchg/+Absorb:50(43)
Level 18: Paralytic Poison -- UnbCns-Dam%:50(A), UnbCns-Hold/Rchg:50(25), UnbCns-Acc/Hold/Rchg:50(33), UnbCns-Acc/Rchg:50(34), UnbCns-EndRdx/Hold:50(34)
Level 20: Aim -- GssSynFr--Build%:50(A), RctRtc-ToHit:20(21), RctRtc-Pcptn:20(21)
Level 22: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+:50(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx:50(23), Ksm-ToHit+:30(45)
Level 24: Mystic Flight -- Flight-I:50(A)
Level 26: Poison Trap -- HO:Endo(A), NrnSht-Dam%:30(27), GhsWdwEmb-Dam%:30(27), Obl-%Dam:50(29), GldNet-Dam%:50(29), Erd-%Dam:30(31)
Level 28: Rune of Protection -- UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam:50(A), Ags-ResDam/Rchg:50(31), TtnCtn-ResDam/Rchg:50(31)
Level 30: Cosmic Burst -- SprVglAss-Acc/Dmg:50(A), SprVglAss-Dmg/Rchg:50(45), SprVglAss-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(46), Apc-Dam%:50(46), GldJvl-Dam%:40(46)
Level 32: Venomous Gas -- AchHee-ResDeb%:20(A), DmpSpr-ToHitDeb:50(33), DmpSpr-ToHitDeb/EndRdx:50(33)
Level 35: Neutron Bomb -- AchHee-ResDeb%:20(A), Rgn-Knock%:50(36), Rgn-Dmg/EndRdx:50(36), Rgn-Acc/Rchg:50(36), Rgn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(37), Rgn-Dmg/Rchg:50(37)
Level 38: Atomic Blast -- AchHee-ResDeb%:20(A), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(39), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(39), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(39), SprAvl-Dmg/EndRdx:50(40), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg:50(40)
Level 41: Scorpion Shield -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+:50(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx:50(42), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:50(42), LucoftheG-Def:50(42), Rct-ResDam%:50(48)
Level 44: Web Envelope -- GrvAnc-Hold%:50(A), GrvAnc-Immob/EndRdx:50(48), GrvAnc-Acc/Rchg:50(48), GrvAnc-Acc/Immob/Rchg:50(50), GrvAnc-Immob/Rchg:50(50)
Level 47: Focused Accuracy -- GssSynFr--ToHit/EndRdx:50(A), AdjTrg-ToHit/EndRdx:50(50)
Level 49: Web Cocoon -- Lck-%Hold:30(A)
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Quick Form
Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Clr-Stlth:50(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Vigilance
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I:50(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Flight-I:50(A)
Level 2: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End:50(A), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+:50(5), Mrc-Rcvry+:40(7)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I:50(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- PwrTrns-+Heal:50(A), PrfShf-End%:50(5)
Level 50: Melee Core Embodiment
Level 50: Vigor Core Paragon
------------

Defender - Poison/Beam Rifle/Mace

Spoiler

Hero Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.6.0.7
https://github.com/ImaginaryDevelopment/imaginary-hero-designer

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Kalinas: Level 50 Mutation Defender
Primary Power Set: Poison
Secondary Power Set: Beam Rifle
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Sorcery
Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Envenom -- AchHee-ResDeb%:20(A), AnlWkn-Acc/Rchg/EndRdx:50(3)
Level 1: Single Shot -- SprDfnBst-Acc/Dmg:50(A), SprDfnBst-Dmg/Rchg:50(5), SprDfnBst-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(7), SprDfnBst-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(7), SprDfnBst-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(9), GldJvl-Dam%:50(9)
Level 2: Weaken -- CldSns-%Dam:30(A), CldSns-ToHitDeb:30(3), CldSns-ToHitDeb/EndRdx/Rchg:30(43), CldSns-Acc/ToHitDeb:30(43)
Level 4: Charged Shot -- SprVglAss-Acc/Dmg:50(A), SprVglAss-Dmg/Rchg:50(5), SprVglAss-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(13), SprVglAss-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(13), SprVglAss-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(19), GldJvl-Dam%:50(23)
Level 6: Hasten -- RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(11)
Level 8: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+:50(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx:50(11), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP:50(45)
Level 10: Kick -- FrcFdb-Rechg%:50(A)
Level 12: Arcane Bolt -- FrcFdb-Rechg%:50(A)
Level 14: Tough -- GldArm-3defTpProc:50(A), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+:30(15), GldArm-End/Res:50(15), Ags-ResDam/EndRdx:50(17), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx:50(19)
Level 16: Disintegrate -- Apc-Dam%:50(A), Apc-Dmg/EndRdx:50(17), Apc-Acc/Rchg:50(25), Apc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(34), Apc-Dmg/Rchg:50(37), GldJvl-Dam%:50(40)
Level 18: Paralytic Poison -- UnbCns-Hold:50(A), UnbCns-Hold/Rchg:50(25), UnbCns-Acc/Hold/Rchg:50(33), UnbCns-Acc/Rchg:50(34), UnbCns-EndRdx/Hold:50(34)
Level 20: Aim -- GssSynFr--Build%:50(A), RctRtc-ToHit:20(21), RctRtc-Pcptn:20(21)
Level 22: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+:50(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx:50(23), Ksm-ToHit+:30(45)
Level 24: Mystic Flight -- Flight-I:50(A)
Level 26: Poison Trap -- FuroftheG-ResDeb%:50(A), Arm-Dam%:50(27), Obl-%Dam:50(27), ScrDrv-Dam%:50(29), Erd-%Dam:30(29), UnbCns-Dam%:50(31)
Level 28: Rune of Protection -- UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam:50(A), Ags-ResDam/Rchg:50(31), TtnCtn-ResDam/Rchg:50(31)
Level 30: Penetrating Ray -- SprWntBit-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg:50(A), SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(40), SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(45), SprWntBit-Dmg/Rchg:50(46), SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg:50(46), GldJvl-Dam%:50(46)
Level 32: Venomous Gas -- AchHee-ResDeb%:20(A), DmpSpr-ToHitDeb:50(33), DmpSpr-ToHitDeb/EndRdx:50(33)
Level 35: Piercing Beam -- Rgn-Knock%:50(A), Rgn-Dmg/EndRdx:50(36), Rgn-Acc/Rchg:50(36), Rgn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(36), Rgn-Dmg/Rchg:50(37), Bmbdmt-+FireDmg:50(37)
Level 38: Overcharge -- SprFrzBls-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg:50(A), SprFrzBls-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(39), SprFrzBls-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(39), SprFrzBls-Dmg/EndRdx:50(39), SprFrzBls-Acc/Dmg:50(40), Bmbdmt-+FireDmg:50(43)
Level 41: Scorpion Shield -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+:50(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx:50(42), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:50(42), LucoftheG-Def:50(42), Rct-ResDam%:50(48)
Level 44: Web Envelope -- GrvAnc-Hold%:50(A), GrvAnc-Immob/EndRdx:50(48), GrvAnc-Acc/Rchg:50(48), GrvAnc-Acc/Immob/Rchg:50(50), GrvAnc-Immob/Rchg:50(50)
Level 47: Focused Accuracy -- GssSynFr--ToHit/EndRdx:50(A), AdjTrg-ToHit/EndRdx:50(50)
Level 49: Web Cocoon -- Lck-%Hold:30(A)
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Quick Form
Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Clr-Stlth:50(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Vigilance
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I:50(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Flight-I:50(A)
Level 2: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End:50(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I:50(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- PwrTrns-+Heal:50(A)
Level 50: Melee Core Embodiment
Level 50: Vigor Core Paragon
------------

Edited April 13, 2020 by aurealix
Mids Export issues

Frosticus · April 13, 2020

On 4/9/2020 at 5:36 AM, StridingWind said:

It's funny. I was randomly scrolling through the forums and saw you posted a poison/fire build. I was like "Man, I want to make one. Wish there was an intricate guide on poison." Then BAM, you come up with one the next day🤣

I was playing around with a Poison/Ice build and this is what I came up with. I mainly went for recharge with alright defenses and resistance. On paper, Agility and Rebirth seemed like a good choice since it's targets my endurance, recharge, and a heal. Tell me what you think.

Poison/ice is a great pairing. Lots of stackable holds and ice is a great damage set.

the only thing i don't like in the build you linked is your freeze ray slotting. Either procs or damage set. It is a really attack and seems a waste to put a basilisk set in there.

Conversely, some of your attacks (ice blast, bitter freeze ray) seem under slotted for damage. I'm not sure if you will end up using bitter freeze ray much, if you don't then using it as a set mule is fine.

1 hour ago, aurealix said:

This is a great guide and really helpful. I wanted to make a Def Poison/Rad (primarily because I want a Rad Blast again and I thought this would be a good pairing). I'm not opposed to Fire, but wanted to see if I could get Rad to work as well. Alternately, I'd be interested in a Beam Rifle if I could get that to be effective as well.

I made a couple builds cribbed from your poison/fire build and from KnottEwe and Vea. If you have time, could you please look at these two ? I understand that both would probably underperform compared to Fire in terms of damage. I'm looking for some variety of powersets, though, and would settle for less damage overall as long as the build is still decent.

Also, do you think you could do a video of you fighting a pylon? Or maybe just describe your attack chain for an example of how to fight a GM/AV?

Defender - Poison/Rad/Mace

Reveal hidden contents

Hero Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.6.0.7
https://github.com/ImaginaryDevelopment/imaginary-hero-designer

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Kalinas: Level 50 Mutation Defender
Primary Power Set: Poison
Secondary Power Set: Radiation Blast
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Sorcery
Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Envenom -- AchHee-ResDeb%:20(A), AnlWkn-Acc/Rchg/EndRdx:50(3)
Level 1: Neutrino Bolt -- AchHee-ResDeb%:20(A), TchofLadG-%Dam:50(7), ShlBrk-%Dam:30(9), SprDfnBst-Rchg/Heal%:50(9)
Level 2: Weaken -- CldSns-%Dam:30(A), CldSns-ToHitDeb:30(3), CldSns-ToHitDeb/EndRdx/Rchg:30(43), CldSns-Acc/ToHitDeb:30(43)
Level 4: Irradiate -- FuroftheG-ResDeb%:20(A), Arm-Dmg/EndRdx:50(13), Arm-Acc/Rchg:50(13), Arm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(19), Arm-Dmg/Rchg:50(23), Arm-Dmg:50(25)
Level 6: Hasten -- RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(11)
Level 8: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+:50(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx:50(11), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP:50(45)
Level 10: Kick -- FrcFdb-Rechg%:50(A)
Level 12: Arcane Bolt -- FrcFdb-Rechg%:50(A)
Level 14: Tough -- GldArm-3defTpProc:50(A), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+:30(15), GldArm-End/Res:50(15), Ags-ResDam/EndRdx:50(17), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx:50(19)
Level 16: Proton Volley -- StnoftheM-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:35(A), StnoftheM-Acc/Dmg:50(17), StnoftheM-Dmg/EndRdx:35(34), StnoftheM-Dam%:50(37), GldJvl-Dam%:50(40), SprVglAss-Rchg/+Absorb:50(43)
Level 18: Paralytic Poison -- UnbCns-Dam%:50(A), UnbCns-Hold/Rchg:50(25), UnbCns-Acc/Hold/Rchg:50(33), UnbCns-Acc/Rchg:50(34), UnbCns-EndRdx/Hold:50(34)
Level 20: Aim -- GssSynFr--Build%:50(A), RctRtc-ToHit:20(21), RctRtc-Pcptn:20(21)
Level 22: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+:50(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx:50(23), Ksm-ToHit+:30(45)
Level 24: Mystic Flight -- Flight-I:50(A)
Level 26: Poison Trap -- HO:Endo(A), NrnSht-Dam%:30(27), GhsWdwEmb-Dam%:30(27), Obl-%Dam:50(29), GldNet-Dam%:50(29), Erd-%Dam:30(31)
Level 28: Rune of Protection -- UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam:50(A), Ags-ResDam/Rchg:50(31), TtnCtn-ResDam/Rchg:50(31)
Level 30: Cosmic Burst -- SprVglAss-Acc/Dmg:50(A), SprVglAss-Dmg/Rchg:50(45), SprVglAss-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(46), Apc-Dam%:50(46), GldJvl-Dam%:40(46)
Level 32: Venomous Gas -- AchHee-ResDeb%:20(A), DmpSpr-ToHitDeb:50(33), DmpSpr-ToHitDeb/EndRdx:50(33)
Level 35: Neutron Bomb -- AchHee-ResDeb%:20(A), Rgn-Knock%:50(36), Rgn-Dmg/EndRdx:50(36), Rgn-Acc/Rchg:50(36), Rgn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(37), Rgn-Dmg/Rchg:50(37)
Level 38: Atomic Blast -- AchHee-ResDeb%:20(A), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(39), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(39), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(39), SprAvl-Dmg/EndRdx:50(40), SprAvl-Acc/Dmg:50(40)
Level 41: Scorpion Shield -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+:50(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx:50(42), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:50(42), LucoftheG-Def:50(42), Rct-ResDam%:50(48)
Level 44: Web Envelope -- GrvAnc-Hold%:50(A), GrvAnc-Immob/EndRdx:50(48), GrvAnc-Acc/Rchg:50(48), GrvAnc-Acc/Immob/Rchg:50(50), GrvAnc-Immob/Rchg:50(50)
Level 47: Focused Accuracy -- GssSynFr--ToHit/EndRdx:50(A), AdjTrg-ToHit/EndRdx:50(50)
Level 49: Web Cocoon -- Lck-%Hold:30(A)
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Quick Form
Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Clr-Stlth:50(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Vigilance
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I:50(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Flight-I:50(A)
Level 2: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End:50(A), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+:50(5), Mrc-Rcvry+:40(7)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I:50(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- PwrTrns-+Heal:50(A), PrfShf-End%:50(5)
Level 50: Melee Core Embodiment
Level 50: Vigor Core Paragon
------------

Defender - Poison/Beam Rifle/Mace

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Hero Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.6.0.7
https://github.com/ImaginaryDevelopment/imaginary-hero-designer

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Kalinas: Level 50 Mutation Defender
Primary Power Set: Poison
Secondary Power Set: Beam Rifle
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Sorcery
Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Envenom -- AchHee-ResDeb%:20(A), AnlWkn-Acc/Rchg/EndRdx:50(3)
Level 1: Single Shot -- SprDfnBst-Acc/Dmg:50(A), SprDfnBst-Dmg/Rchg:50(5), SprDfnBst-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(7), SprDfnBst-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(7), SprDfnBst-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(9), GldJvl-Dam%:50(9)
Level 2: Weaken -- CldSns-%Dam:30(A), CldSns-ToHitDeb:30(3), CldSns-ToHitDeb/EndRdx/Rchg:30(43), CldSns-Acc/ToHitDeb:30(43)
Level 4: Charged Shot -- SprVglAss-Acc/Dmg:50(A), SprVglAss-Dmg/Rchg:50(5), SprVglAss-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(13), SprVglAss-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(13), SprVglAss-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg:50(19), GldJvl-Dam%:50(23)
Level 6: Hasten -- RechRdx-I:50(A), RechRdx-I:50(11)
Level 8: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+:50(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx:50(11), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP:50(45)
Level 10: Kick -- FrcFdb-Rechg%:50(A)
Level 12: Arcane Bolt -- FrcFdb-Rechg%:50(A)
Level 14: Tough -- GldArm-3defTpProc:50(A), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+:30(15), GldArm-End/Res:50(15), Ags-ResDam/EndRdx:50(17), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx:50(19)
Level 16: Disintegrate -- Apc-Dam%:50(A), Apc-Dmg/EndRdx:50(17), Apc-Acc/Rchg:50(25), Apc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(34), Apc-Dmg/Rchg:50(37), GldJvl-Dam%:50(40)
Level 18: Paralytic Poison -- UnbCns-Hold:50(A), UnbCns-Hold/Rchg:50(25), UnbCns-Acc/Hold/Rchg:50(33), UnbCns-Acc/Rchg:50(34), UnbCns-EndRdx/Hold:50(34)
Level 20: Aim -- GssSynFr--Build%:50(A), RctRtc-ToHit:20(21), RctRtc-Pcptn:20(21)
Level 22: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+:50(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx:50(23), Ksm-ToHit+:30(45)
Level 24: Mystic Flight -- Flight-I:50(A)
Level 26: Poison Trap -- FuroftheG-ResDeb%:50(A), Arm-Dam%:50(27), Obl-%Dam:50(27), ScrDrv-Dam%:50(29), Erd-%Dam:30(29), UnbCns-Dam%:50(31)
Level 28: Rune of Protection -- UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam:50(A), Ags-ResDam/Rchg:50(31), TtnCtn-ResDam/Rchg:50(31)
Level 30: Penetrating Ray -- SprWntBit-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg:50(A), SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(40), SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(45), SprWntBit-Dmg/Rchg:50(46), SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg:50(46), GldJvl-Dam%:50(46)
Level 32: Venomous Gas -- AchHee-ResDeb%:20(A), DmpSpr-ToHitDeb:50(33), DmpSpr-ToHitDeb/EndRdx:50(33)
Level 35: Piercing Beam -- Rgn-Knock%:50(A), Rgn-Dmg/EndRdx:50(36), Rgn-Acc/Rchg:50(36), Rgn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(36), Rgn-Dmg/Rchg:50(37), Bmbdmt-+FireDmg:50(37)
Level 38: Overcharge -- SprFrzBls-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg:50(A), SprFrzBls-Acc/Dmg/Rchg:50(39), SprFrzBls-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx:50(39), SprFrzBls-Dmg/EndRdx:50(39), SprFrzBls-Acc/Dmg:50(40), Bmbdmt-+FireDmg:50(43)
Level 41: Scorpion Shield -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+:50(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx:50(42), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx/Rchg:50(42), LucoftheG-Def:50(42), Rct-ResDam%:50(48)
Level 44: Web Envelope -- GrvAnc-Hold%:50(A), GrvAnc-Immob/EndRdx:50(48), GrvAnc-Acc/Rchg:50(48), GrvAnc-Acc/Immob/Rchg:50(50), GrvAnc-Immob/Rchg:50(50)
Level 47: Focused Accuracy -- GssSynFr--ToHit/EndRdx:50(A), AdjTrg-ToHit/EndRdx:50(50)
Level 49: Web Cocoon -- Lck-%Hold:30(A)
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Quick Form
Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Clr-Stlth:50(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Vigilance
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I:50(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Flight-I:50(A)
Level 2: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End:50(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I:50(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- PwrTrns-+Heal:50(A)
Level 50: Melee Core Embodiment
Level 50: Vigor Core Paragon
------------

Both beam and rad blast are great options. Rad has a super heavy 1-2 punch if you proc out cosmic+proton volley. Everything in poison more or less needs to hit things so the -def can still be valuable in many situations.

Beam can do really good dps and the -regen can make a large difference vs GM's and can be helpful vs AV's. I don't personally love beam, it feels a bit clunky, but the performance is hard to argue against.

I don't have much feedback on your builds. The second one wouldn't load for me, but the poison/rad looks like it would play quite well.

I can't do a video, i think they don't want us putting up vids of homecoming anymore.

Attack chain vs AVs fairly straight forward. I monitor their stats and only keep 1 envenom and 1 weaken on them.

Use poison trap when it is up, aim when it is up. Blaze>blazing>dominate>blaze>fireblast>blazing>blaze >dominate> reset with debuff/aim/trap/nuke.

As ageless expires I might need to toss in one more fireblast.

Vs GM's you gotta spam the heck out of envenom to tame their regen. So you can basically drop fireblast and inject evenom everytime it is up.

If something is dangerous keep a weaken on them every 30 sec.

I think a lot of people get stuck spamming poison powers. A 2nd weaken or envemon isn't going to help unless you switch targets.

GM Miss · April 13, 2020

Poison is a new thing for me, but I'm in love with my poison/water!

Redlynne · April 13, 2020

1 hour ago, GM Miss said:

Poison is a new thing for me, but I'm in love with my poison/water!

You're not supposed to "medicate" the Kool Aid before you drink it ...

aurealix · April 15, 2020

Thanks for the reply on the build. Not sure what the issue was with the Beam Rifle build, but I went Poison/Rad and will save Beam for something else. I think I'll play a bit more on the test server with the pylon and see if I can get comparable times.

tjknight · April 15, 2020

Not sure if it's a coincidence.. but I've ran into more than a few (like maybe 5) Poison Corruptors and Defenders hanging out on Peregrine Island this week. I hardly ever saw them at all before... the y all seem to be Dark Blast or Radiation Blast. It's so tempting to roll one now. I had to stop myself from pm'ng them and asking if they read this guide.

Frosticus · April 15, 2020

On 4/10/2020 at 6:29 AM, UrbanHound said:

Great guide. I know you ultimately settled on Fire but I would appreciate a section with thoughts and insights on how other secondaries would perform with Poison.

Thanks for sharing this!

I did leave one post slot open for some updates as I do want to go into more depth on some of the blast set synergies. I also want to discuss some controller synergies. I'll try to update for the weekend.

Frosticus · April 15, 2020

4 hours ago, aurealix said:

Thanks for the reply on the build. Not sure what the issue was with the Beam Rifle build, but I went Poison/Rad and will save Beam for something else. I think I'll play a bit more on the test server with the pylon and see if I can get comparable times.

Sounds good. The build I linked in the OP has 14kb protection specifically for pylons haha, they do 8-12kb. If I didnt find them fun I'd drop it down to 4pts as that is generally good enough

ChetManly · April 16, 2020

Now that i've had some time to collect thoughts and reread the guide a few times I can share.

Firstly, I'm not a numbers guy. Not a min/maxer or any such thing. I play for theme, style and fun. I also like playing power combos that noone else is playing. I never really cared to do what everyone else is doing and I guess it carries over to this. It's fun to play combos that noone is rolling up and see how to adjust playstyle and such to make them work. Many folks don't like to do that, but I do. That said, I do like to pimp my builds out to make them more effective and more fun to play. While I will try to get the max bonuses out of a build, it has usually been relegated to pumping up Acc, Rech, Recovery rate/End management. And while I've played for years on live and have played a ton since it came back, it's only recently that I started taking a harder look at how certain builds can give you something more in terms of survivability , utility, and fun. Maybe it was my old thinking from back in the early live days dying hard(trying to max out Dam,Acc,End,Rech), or just being so/too resistant to 'the numbers' of it all, that I never looked at how I could, really, effectively do a build out combing the best of the numbers with the best of what I like: just playing a cool character with a cool theme, and having fun. Now I have.

This is a killer guide. Really hooked me as it's about a set that I love, that I think is great and fun.

My history with Poison/Dual Pistols is such: I played a Thugs/Poison MM when they released those originally as I just thought It was a cool couple of powersets and wanted to see dhow it was. I also reeeeeally liked the 3 pistol powers baked in with the MM Thugs set. I took that toon all the way to 50... pretty sure. I might have made a Dual Pistols toon back on live, but I had so many characters and it was a few years back and I just don't remember. That said, When HC came around, I jumped right back in, and shortly thereafter rolled up a P/DP Def as I wanted to make an Homage to that MM but do something different.

I started HC with a Pistols/Rad Sentinel(at 34) first, then Rolled up Poison Pete, said Poison Defender(at 50), then a Pistols/Nin Blaster(at 31). I have a Corrupter in the pipe, but haven't landed on anything solid yet. I just like the guns. I wish there were more, better looking gun options, but hey...

I also like the utility of switching between the 3 ammo types. I many don't like it, or think they do anything. I disagree/don't care.

All that said, I have some experience playing DP.

Here's how I am currently rolling...

Spoiler

Hero Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.6.0.7
https://github.com/ImaginaryDevelopment/imaginary-hero-designer

Poison Pete: Level 50 Science Defender
Primary Power Set: Poison
Secondary Power Set: Dual Pistols
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Experimentation
Power Pool: Speed
Ancillary Pool: Psychic Mastery

Hero Profile:
------------
Level 1: Envenom
(A) Analyze Weakness - Chance for +ToHit
(3) Analyze Weakness - Accuracy/Defense Debuff
(3) Shield Breaker - Accuracy/Recharge
(11) Shield Breaker - Accuracy/Defense Debuff
(37) Touch of Lady Grey - Chance for Negative Damage

Level 1: Pistols
(A) Gladiator's Javelin - Chance of Damage(Toxic)
(15) Gladiator's Javelin - Accuracy/Damage
(15) Devastation - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge
(21) Devastation - Accuracy/Damage

Level 2: Weaken
(A) Siphon Insight - ToHit Debuff
(5) Siphon Insight - Accuracy/ToHit Debuff
(5) Siphon Insight - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge
(13) Siphon Insight - Accuracy/Recharge
(37) Cloud Senses - Chance for Negative Energy Damage

Level 4: Empty Clips
(A) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage
(7) Positron's Blast - Damage/Endurance
(7) Positron's Blast - Damage/Recharge
(9) Positron's Blast - Damage/Range
(21) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance

Level 6: Combat Jumping
(A) Unbounded Leap - +Stealth

Level 8: Neurotoxic Breath
(A) Impeded Swiftness - Chance of Damage(Smashing)
(9) Pacing of the Turtle - Chance of -Recharge
(11) Tempered Readiness - Accuracy/Slow
(13) Tempered Readiness - Endurance/Recharge/Slow

Level 10: Swap Ammo
Level 12: Speed of Sound
(A) Run Speed IO

Level 14: Alkaloid
(A) HamiO:Golgi Exposure
(48) Preventive Medicine - Chance for +Absorb

Level 16: Bullet Rain
(A) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage
(17) Positron's Blast - Damage/Endurance
(17) Positron's Blast - Damage/Recharge
(19) Positron's Blast - Damage/Range
(19) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance

Level 18: Toxic Dart
(A) Empty

Level 20: Elixir of Life
(A) Steadfast Protection - Knockback Protection

Level 22: Paralytic Poison
(A) Lockdown - Chance for +2 Mag Hold
(23) Ghost Widow's Embrace - Chance of Damage(Psionic)
(23) Lockdown - Accuracy/Recharge
(50) Lockdown - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge/Hold

Level 24: Suppressive Fire
(A) Accuracy IO
(25) Ghost Widow's Embrace - Chance of Damage(Psionic)
(25) Neuronic Shutdown - Chance of Damage(Psionic)

Level 26: Poison Trap
(A) Eradication - Accuracy/Recharge
(27) Eradication - Chance for Energy Damage
(27) Ghost Widow's Embrace - Accuracy/Hold/Recharge
(29) Ghost Widow's Embrace - Accuracy/Recharge
(31) Ghost Widow's Embrace - Chance of Damage(Psionic)
(36) Entomb - Recharge/Chance for +Absorb

Level 28: Corrosive Vial
(A) Undermined Defenses - Defense Debuff
(29) Undermined Defenses - Recharge
(31) Touch of Lady Grey - Chance for Negative Damage
(31) Bombardment - Chance for Fire Damage
(37) Annihilation - Chance for Res Debuff

Level 30: Executioner's Shot
(A) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage
(33) Decimation - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge
(33) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
(33) Decimation - Damage/Recharge
(39) Decimation - Chance of Build Up

Level 32: Venomous Gas
(A) Touch of Lady Grey - Defense Debuff/Endurance
(34) Touch of Lady Grey - Chance for Negative Damage
(34) Achilles' Heel - Chance for Res Debuff
(34) Dampened Spirits - To Hit Debuff/Endurance
(36) Deflated Ego - To Hit Debuff
(36) Deflated Ego - Chance for Recovery Debuff

Level 35: Adrenal Booster
(A) Recharge Reduction IO
(39) Recharge Reduction IO
(39) Recharge Reduction IO
(40) To Hit Buff IO

Level 38: Hail of Bullets
(A) Superior Vigilant Assault - RechargeTime/PBAoE +Absorb
(40) Superior Vigilant Assault - Accuracy/Damage
(40) Superior Vigilant Assault - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
(42) Superior Vigilant Assault - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime
(42) Superior Vigilant Assault - Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime

Level 41: Dominate
(A) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage
(42) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
(43) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
(43) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
(43) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance

Level 44: Mind Over Body
(A) Impervium Armor - Resistance/Endurance
(45) Impervium Armor - Resistance
(45) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance
(45) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance

Level 47: Hasten
(A) Recharge Reduction IO
(48) Recharge Reduction IO
(48) Recharge Reduction IO

Level 49: Dual Wield
(A) Devastation - Chance of Hold
(50) Devastation - Accuracy/Damage
(50) Devastation - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge

Level 1: Brawl
(A) Empty

Level 1: Quick Form
Level 1: Prestige Power Dash
(A) Empty

Level 1: Prestige Power Slide
(A) Empty

Level 1: Prestige Power Quick
(A) Empty

Level 1: Prestige Power Rush
(A) Empty

Level 1: Prestige Power Surge
(A) Empty

Level 1: Sprint
(A) Run Speed IO

Level 1: Vigilance
Level 2: Rest
(A) Empty

Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift
(A) Run Speed IO

Level 2: Health
(A) Numina's Convalesence - +Regeneration/+Recovery
(46) Miracle - +Recovery

Level 2: Hurdle
(A) Jumping IO

Level 2: Stamina
(A) Endurance Modification IO
(46) Endurance Modification IO
(46) Endurance Modification IO

Level 10:   Chemical Ammunition
Level 10:   Cryo Ammunition
Level 10:   Incendiary Ammunition
------------

Let me share some more:

While someone like yourself may cringe at this build, It's actually pretty damn effective. You said above that you had gone through many respecs. I have as well with this toon. My original build as I was taking him up to 50 had no Dual Wield or Piercing Rounds because as you said, and I totally agree, Poison is in your face, down and dirty, and there really is no other way to play it. I just discovered that looking at the powers and playing them as they were. I had no travel power other than Ninja Run for thematic reasons and Recall for utility and to use slots elsewhere. As I got up toward 50 an into the Epics, chose Psychic Mastery and had what I have now plus World of Confusion. I thought it would be a great synergy but ultimately got impatient with it and 'speccd it out before I gave it a chance to really get slots, sets, and procs and really see what it was capable of.

I then respecd into Sorcery, took Spirit Ward, Mystic Flight and Rune of Protection. I dropped WoC. I still had Antidote through this. I wanted a proper travel power and the convenience of flight is just so great, the teleport was nice too at times. With Rune and Clarion incarnate power, I had status protection most of the time. This build was great, with good mitigation and damage but I found I was really just trying jto do too much- debuff all the bad guys, heal people, status protect them and add Absorbs with Spirit Ward on Tanks and such when I could- It was a lot of work and I was also noodling with procs and sets and bonuses and the like the whole time. I wanted to change it again. I also had a bunch of FF +recharge procs in there as many Pistol powers have a KB component to them when not having a typed ammo equipped. I had to sacrifice those in the current build and will figure a way to get them back in there.

When I saw Experimentation in the pipe, I knew I wanted to spec into it for a number of reasons. Travel that more fit my theme and primary, Toxic Dart with nice Poisony damage and Corrosive and Adrenal as nice additional buffs to have. And that brings us to the build above.

Adrenal Boost is great, uptime is alright, not awesome.

Corrosive Vial I find to be wonderful. For my character, it fits thematically, it has great debuff action going for it. Again, not a numbers guy, so I cant comment on that, but what I see is jumping into a group, Weaken first, then Envenom, Poison Trap followed by Corrosive Vial and many are dead before Hail of Bullets is finished animating. Cleanup the scraps and move on. I would absolutely make room for it on any Poison, and really many other debuff type builds and proc it out.

Paralytic Poison with the + Mag 2 Proc in it is a monster. The recharge slow proc in it is also real nice. I am now going to do the same in Dominate. I put a Chance to Hold proc in Dual Wield and it goes off all the time. Counting that, Suppressive Fire, Paralytic and Dominate gives me 4 ST Holds. If I count PT, its 5. It's great. I can hold all kinds of enemies and that makes for great mitigation. I have a lot of Damage procs in PT, but will likely put another -Res proc in and another hold proc in it.

Dual Pistols thoughts:

Swap Ammo & Suppresive Fire. Chem ammo is great is it only adds to the debuffs you are already laying down. Even if it's small, more is usually better, and a different damage type. Fire ammo gives you another dam type and a chokey Hold from Suppresive Fire. You get a chokey hold on Chem ammo on Suppresive Fire as well. You get Slows and an Ice Block hold on Cryo ammo in Suppresive Fire. Get it? I love the Ammo with Suppresive Fire, plus while the 2 Psionic procs may seem overkill, I want that power to deal damage as I use it constantly.

Dual Wield. Originally I had AOE heavy build and then put Dual Wield back in. It's going again. Why? Because what you said above is right: Poison is down and dirty, in yo face. I'm trying to debuff everyone all the time and Pistols and ES are great for runners and cleanup randoms.

Pistols. Why Pistols? I know many hate the T1's and they're skipable and blah, blah, blah i've read all those things for years. Here's the thing... Damage isn't your main bag on a Def, so load it with slots and procs and you get some great secondary effects plus decent to as good as T2 damage. The above is not the best example, I know. But next respec im going to try more procs with utility; like holds and exotic dam; like psionic. It also recharges fast and has a low endurance cost. It's always there and ready for you. Multiple animations that rotate is also cool for theme/play reasons. There.

Piercing Rounds. I have it on my Sentinel and Blaster, and not here. Yes, it's a suuuuuper narrow cone, but it's too narrow. Animation is way too bloody long. I usually don't care about shit like that if it looks cool, and it looks cool. But here I care. Doesn't work for me. I have it on my Blaster and it is still, unslotted. I have it slotted up on my Sentinel.

Bullet Rain. Bullet Rain has a bit of a gonky animation but it works great at distance OR in melee, which you are often in with Poison, so I love it.

Empty Clips. It's an AOE. Love it, can't go wrong.

Executioner's Shot: Looks cool as hell. Great damage. Need to explore procs in it. Nothing to not like.

Hail o' Bullets. Wicked cool animation. Yea, it's a tad long. But it looks sooo cool. And does good dam. AND it's another AOE. Like all these, you can switch up the ammo effectively changing what it does; slow/cold dam, fire dam, or debuff/toxic dam. I like that it's not a bloody nuke and it serves our purpose of #beinginmeleepoison well.

Thinking back now, as I write this, one of the reasons I took DP with Poison was because of the potential stacking of Chem Ammo's debuff with Poison. I think the synergy is great. Someone who is better with numbers than I might tell me different and I'd be interested to hear that. But, at the end of the day, I still like playing sets other people aren't, so I still dig it and now I dig it even more after reading this guide and will be adding a lot of ideas from here to my build and encourage people to try Poison with DP.

This guide and your extensive testing and knowledge, have convinced me to crunch it down once again, lean up the build whilst still keeping it thematic, add more procs and different and better bonuses. I'll share that when I land on it. I really like your 'not being there to heal you' and 'if i'm getting mezzed, so are you' philosolphy. You can see I started going in that direction with this build and will likely drop Alkaloid altogether in the next iteration. Antidote was already gone even though it was a nice place for some uniques. I'll edit if I have any more thoughts but I think that's all for now. Again, thanks for the great guide and flying the flag of Poison.

-Chet

Edited April 17, 2020 by ChetManly

tripthicket · April 20, 2020

@ChetManly , your Poison/DP build has me salivating, as I played a Thugs/Poison back in the day just so I could have the two pistols (not to mention the synergy). Would you be so kind as to provide a Mids link, if you have one handy?

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