Weekly Discussion 46 - Corruptors!

[GM Miss]

Weekly discussion 46 - Week 4/12/20-4/18/20:

⚔️ YOU VOTED: THIS IS OUR FINAL ARCHETYPE - THIS IS NOT A DRILL!! Corruptors!  ⚔️

 

❓ Things to think about:

>How do they compare with other damaging/Supportive ATs?

>What is your favorite Primary and secondary for corrupters?

>Are they underpowered/overpowered/okay at the moment?

>What would you like to see changed?

>What do you love about them?

 

Don't just use these prompts, talk about anything Corruptors!

 

Let's Chat 😄

Edited April 17, 2020 by GM Miss

[Oubliette_Red]

I love playing my Bloo...  Water/Poison Corruptor.   <.<

 

It's not so much about the damage (for me), than it is about all the delicious debuffet.

 

Edited April 13, 2020 by Oubliette_Red

[ninja surprise]

Speaking as a primarily melee AT player, having a Corrupter on the team means I never have to bother attacking something low on health because I know the next AoE with Scourge will take care of it.

[Yomo Kimyata]

It's CorruptOr!

 

[Rathulfr]

11 minutes ago, Yomo Kimyata said:

It's CorruptOr!

 

 

Edited April 13, 2020 by Rathulfr

[rolandgrey]

Corruptors would probably normally be considered a superfluous archetype except for one problem: they demonstrate how a simple transposition of power sets can fundamentally change the experience.  Even without the Scourge ability, their damage output is still rather decent.  Coupled with the ability to provide some very decent buffs to the team or debilitate the enemy (or, for a few sets, both), Corruptors wind up being the workhorse archetype, or perhaps the "Jack of All Stats" archetype.  Sure, Defenders have them beat on buff and debuff strength, but then the Defenders fall WAY short in the damage output department.  Blasters may beat them on damage output, but they are pretty much just walking artillery anyway.  The melee archetypes are their own issue entirely.  Corruptor buff/debuff ability isn't really that different from Controllers and Masterminds.  Really, about the only bad thing about Corruptors is the the name.  "Scourge" would probably fit them better.

 

In any case, I've tried my hand at a number of different Corruptors.  A couple Assault Rifle ones (AR/Traps, AR/Poison), I remade my archery Defender as a Corruptor, I'm toying with a Water/Ice one and then there's my Beam Rifle/Time one.  About the only one I haven't rebuilt from the Paragon days is my old Dark/Dark Corrupter, and that's more because of storyline reasons that occurred during the interim (meaning he's dead in my mind).  It's fun.

[Mikewho]

I love corruptors. My only tiny issues are with sets like sonic blast where you should practically always go Defender, and the current state of procs being a bit more favorable to Defenders due to build flexibility. Someone had mentioned the possibility of having Scourge start to kick in slightly earlier, which I think would solve those issues. Other than that I just can't get enough of corruptors 😄

[Silverado]

Hands down the best AT to solo AVs and GMs with

[ArchVileTerror]

I think Corruptors are a-okay right now.

And even though Defenders came first, I think it's they who would benefit from a more Archetype-defining Inherent.  Vigilance as it stands doesn't really do it for me.  Scourge, however, is a distinct and functional signature.  

[carroto]

It's a bit odd that there are a number of Defender combos that will out-damage a comparable Corruptor considering they also get better buff/debuff numbers.  I know that there are also many Corruptor combos that will outdo Defenders on damage, but it's always seemed to me that Corruptors don't generally get enough damage to offset how much weaker their buffs and debuffs are.  For soloing I'd guess that Defenders will almost always be better on all fronts, considering the damage boost they get when solo.  On teams their debuffs will often contribute more damage than their attacks, so Defenders get the nod there as well.

 

The one thing that keeps me playing Corruptors is Scourge.  Even though I know that it's not actually that much of a damage increase in practice, any time I play a Defender and an attack leaves an enemy with a tiny sliver of health it just bugs me.

 

 

[Clave Dark 5]

I've always enjoyed them, my first 50 since the lights came back on was one, out of probably ten new faces I rushed in and made.  I like them moreso than blasters (madness, I know), because I've gotten in touch with my inner "support" demon.  Just going pew pew pew doesn't do enough for me, I want ways to affect other things, other choices to make, and so on.  Sure sure, "damage IS support."  YOU go plink at tin cans, I wanna freeze them, or armor them, or confuse 'em or whatever too.  And then super-plink them for extra damage.

[Peacemoon]

I have to admit, Corruptors are not an AT I have much experience with. I tried them out a few times, and really was unimpressed with Scourge. It felt like it never really went off reliably unless the mob was pretty much dead, by which point they were dead anyway. I'm not as invested in a Corruptor as others, so take this for what it is, but personally I'd much rather the bonus Scourge damage was 100% chance to fire, but that the extra damage scaled with the mobs health. Like +10% if they're at 90% health, and +90% if they're at 10% health, etc. Might be overpowered, but would feel a lot less random and consistent! Also the extra damage would not always just be overkill damage. 

 

Of course, the randomness might be why people like their Corruptors *shrug*. But this is why I prefer Containment, I know what is going to happen when I activate the power! 

Edited April 14, 2020 by Peacemoon

[ILIWAPCT]

Haven't touched Corruptors since live. Ran a Speed Boost to 50 maybe a few others. But found the experience lacking. Back when it was hero/villian side the only benefit was either a healer (Radiaton) or Speed Boost. Damage was lacking. Just found other AT's were better and scourge was useless.

 

Fast-forward to Homecoming I read that Scourge shines when you are fighting the high-level bosses. So it makes sense why the AT never clicked for me. I enjoy all the content, not just the epic battles. Solo the routine battles were exhausting and not fun. I'd give it another look, but their best powers have been given to MM's, which once again, a SB mm versus SB Corruptors is not contest for me at this time. 

 

Or to put it another way, the comparable experience is the epic Villain AT Bane/Crab. After running then to 50 they didn't feel "super powered" like the other AT's. Outside of SB and Healing they play just like Corruptors to me. However I've made new Bane/Crab's on Homecoming because it fits the theme of "regular" person i.e. Batman in a way. So I could hype myself up to play Bane/Crab again in a way that I can't for Corruptors. 

 

TLDR Scourge outside of the high-level bosses is useless.

[Rathulfr]

I have trouble playing Corruptors because I'm not always sure of what I should be doing: damage or support?  When I play Blasters, I know what to do: BLAST!  When I play Defenders, I know what to do: heal/buff/debuff/etc.

 

But with Corruptors, I find myself wondering: "Am I spending too much time on DPS?  Should I heal that teammate now, or wait until their health is lower?  Wait, they're dead now.  I should've healed them.  Okay, I'll focus on healing, then.  Wait, everyone's at full health now.  Okay, I'll focus on DPS again.  Wait, that boss isn't going down fast enough, I'll debuff it.  Wait, didn't I just debuff it like 10 seconds ago?  The debuff lasts 30 seconds, so I should be able to get in a couple more attacks.  What, the debuff expired already?  Dammit."  The mental effort of keeping track of both DPS and support is exhausting.

 

Don't get me wrong, I like playing Corruptors: they're like my 3rd or 4th favorite AT, because they're like Blasters, my #1 (Sentinels are #2).  But I don't enjoy them unless/until I decide in advance that I'll be blasting or supporting, based on team composition or mission parameters.  And then I stick to that decision for the duration, damn the consequences, or else the anxiety would overwhelm me.

 

[Troo]

For ranged sets, this is the one Goldilocks would pick.

 

Curruptors are the swiss army knife. Can blast, Can control, Can support. Never left out. "let me be a blaster that doesn't like the taste of dirt!"

Scourge is amazing.

 

/dark

/kin

/time

oh my

 

guns, bows & arrows, lasers, elementals, mental, energy blast..

 

[Greycat]

I think corruptors are fine, honestly. My "Do I pick this or a Defender" is solely based on if I want to build up offense or buffs first (and occasionally if Scourge fits what I want.)

 

[Jolly Ogre]

21 hours ago, Rathulfr said:

I have trouble playing Corruptors because I'm not always sure of what I should be doing: damage or support?  When I play Blasters, I know what to do: BLAST!  When I play Defenders, I know what to do: heal/buff/debuff/etc.

 

But with Corruptors, I find myself wondering: "Am I spending too much time on DPS?  Should I heal that teammate now, or wait until their health is lower?  Wait, they're dead now.  I should've healed them.  Okay, I'll focus on healing, then.  Wait, everyone's at full health now.  Okay, I'll focus on DPS again.  Wait, that boss isn't going down fast enough, I'll debuff it.  Wait, didn't I just debuff it like 10 seconds ago?  The debuff lasts 30 seconds, so I should be able to get in a couple more attacks.  What, the debuff expired already?  Dammit."  The mental effort of keeping track of both DPS and support is exhausting.

 

Don't get me wrong, I like playing Corruptors: they're like my 3rd or 4th favorite AT, because they're like Blasters, my #1 (Sentinels are #2).  But I don't enjoy them unless/until I decide in advance that I'll be blasting or supporting, based on team composition or mission parameters.  And then I stick to that decision for the duration, damn the consequences, or else the anxiety would overwhelm me.

 

pfft...my corruptor is Fire/Rad. The heal is for me not you. if you are close then you get it, but i am not going to chase you down. Like on my troller the heal is for my imps, but then i consider all my teammates my imps.

I did not take a rez but i did take veng. again not for you but for me. 

 

I debuff for me, but you may get the side benefit, lucky for you!

 

[Brynstar]

For me it depends on how busy the secondary is. I love my Water/cold and she is pretty damn powerful. I just drop Sleet and start blasting. However on my pistols/pain I feel like I spend far to much healing and buffing and not much free time to blast, and often feel like I would have been better off to have rolled him as a defender. 

 

Now this may just be my perception, but in the endgame content, I feel like the difference between them is Negligible. Once you take into account procs, IOs bonuses, incarnate powers/passives, most toons are pretty tough, and deal more than enough damage. This makes larger buff/debuffs numbers less important, but it also makes more damage fairly pointless too. There's never really been a time where I feel like "if only that defender was a Corruptor" or vice versa. 

[Eldyem]

On 4/14/2020 at 10:43 AM, Peacemoon said:

I have to admit, Corruptors are not an AT I have much experience with. I tried them out a few times, and really was unimpressed with Scourge. It felt like it never really went off reliably unless the mob was pretty much dead, by which point they were dead anyway. I'm not as invested in a Corruptor as others, so take this for what it is, but personally I'd much rather the bonus Scourge damage was 100% chance to fire, but that the extra damage scaled with the mobs health. Like +10% if they're at 90% health, and +90% if they're at 10% health, etc. Might be overpowered, but would feel a lot less random and consistent! Also the extra damage would not always just be overkill damage. 

 

Of course, the randomness might be why people like their Corruptors *shrug*. But this is why I prefer Containment, I know what is going to happen when I activate the power! 

I get the reasoning behind this, but part of my problem with this is that it doesn't really lower the number of "casts" I have to make of AoEs vs trash mobs either way (though, to be fair, neither does current Scourge). If a DPS boosting inherent isn't making me use less attacks, it's not doing anything. Personally, I think Scourge could use bigger values in the early part of the ramp up, but it's a pretty precarious balance - I think the current value might be too low, though, if there's any core problem with Corrs as an archetype. Damage relative to Defenders is also mildly problematic, but I'd fear that a ramp up in damage scale could send Corrs flying from "good but occasionally outclassed" to "ridiculous".

 

I think current Scourge is slightly better in that it's physically possible for it to lower my AoE casts from ~4 to ~3 in niche situations, though.

On a sort of tangential topic , my personal biggest issue with Corruptors is that there's really one piece of content where I feel like they should, mechanically, shine - Summer Blockbuster - and they just. don't. There's not really a fix for it, but it's kind of frustrating that the only content I could really describe as a "Boss rush without incarnates" ends up locking Corrs out of 2 powers that would let them differentiate themselves from Defenders. I really like Summer Blockbuster as a piece of content, so it's just disappointing.

Edit: Favorite Primary is for sure Water - it's very active, has access to a great "burst window" power in tidal forces, and has several AoEs, which feel like they mostly scale well with Scourge. Ice and Fire are also obvious standouts.

Secondaries - Time, Cold, Dark. Proactive sets that let you throw out your debuffs and then get to attacking, hopefully just after the first wave of AoEs hit so you Scourge better.

Edited April 16, 2020 by Eldyem

[Luigrein]

I had a fire/cold/mu back on live that I quite enjoyed.  If not for my promise to myself that I would mix up my powerset choices and not exactly repeat things I would have remade him lol.  Playstyle wise he was mostly a blaster, shield the team periodically, drop sleet, maybe benumb tougher targets, and run in for heat loss once in a while.  Everything else is setting things on fire.  (Also? Raining fire and ice at the same time? Great!)  Of course, my Time/DP defender also mostly blasts, but I suppose it's another fairly low maintenance powerset.  I definitely would feel a little guilty about taking a very busy support set on a corruptor.  If I'm not going to have much time to blast anyway, may as well do it on a defender.  On corrupters (and controllers for that matter) I prefer a more passive support set so I can devote more attention to my primary powerset.

 

I made a water/dark the other day and he seems fine so far but he's still pretty low level.  Can't really weigh in on how he feels later on yet. I will second hoever that if we're talking higher end IOd and/or incarnated characters running content, I don't think it really matters which AT you are bringing to the table, not even as a corrupter vs defender question, just in general.  Go a step below that to running at max level without incarnates and maybe a less expensive IO build though and I think ATs have a little more space to shine in their niches.  Even then though for support sets I think which support set you are bringing matters more than the AT you are doing it on.

[Primantis]

Defenders and Corruptors are easily my favorite AT's in this game!

 

However, lately I find myself solely making Defenders.. Which is *not* a knock against Corruptors. It just boils down to preferences. In my experience the biggest difference in the two is asking ones' self  "Do I want to get my support powers first, or my attacks first?"

 

Well I really love the support in this game, so I almost always answer that question with "Support powers first". Now this isn't a huge deal if you shoot to 50 and never exemp. However a Kin with FS makes a huge difference in those low 30 something TFs. Along with many other key abilities from other power sets.

 

Once you hit 38+ I feel they are virtually interchangeable for all but the most min-max minded people. Corruptors are a bit squishier, deal a tad more damage (almost soley due to Scourge), and bring marginally weaker buffs/debuffs. But not enough to really notice in actual game play.

 

 

Solo wise I believe they are about even for most builds. Defender's +30% dmg inherent along with higher buff/debuff numbers equalizes damage, except for EBs/AVs (and perhaps bosses) where Scourge really shines. While Corrs will still be slightly squishier due to weaker armor values. The recent fix to various "Rain" powers also reigned them in a tad. Both double scourge and improper AT modifiers were fixed iirc.

 

 

Now, there are some outliers.. Cold Dom's "Sleet" is equal for both classes for example, which would give Corruptor the damage edge. Higher damage caps also let them leverage their own FS more effectively (Although it does take two applications, so it's a ramp-up routine). Dark was recently fixed, but I'm sure there's a few more. (Do storm psuedo summons do the same damage on both ATs?)

 

 

To summarize, I think Corruptors are very well off! They along with Defenders feel almost perfectly balanced to me. They can be very powerful, but it takes attention, knowledge, and a good build. Get sloppy and you'll face plant. Helping to keep things stimulating. They bring a ton to the table and will always be a valued addition to a team!  A+++ would roll again.

 

Edited April 17, 2020 by Primantis

[Lusiphur Malache]

I only have 1 corrupter in my stable a sonic/pain/dark  that I'm only happy with when I'm tampering with it.  I pretty much only play it on supergroup task force teams, that needs more dps and more support.  She is sorely lacking on offense and her buffs leave something to be desired, but given the chance to only have one task she excels.

 

I'd like to be able to do more damage outside of Scourge, but my choice of sonic precludes that at some point I'll create another corrupter that is more offensive and see how that goes.

[Oubliette_Red]

@GM Miss You realize that it's 'Corruptor' not 'Corrupter' right?

 

<.<

 

>.>

 

[GM Miss]

16 minutes ago, Oubliette_Red said:

@GM Miss You realize that it's 'Corruptor' not 'Corrupter' right?

 

<.<

 

>.>

 

Fixed 🙂

[The_Warpact]

My first corr was a dark/dark on live, I had a rad/rad who haunted SC and BB pre I13.

Now I have a ice/kin that's working out well.

I like the AT, I find if Scourge kicked in a little earlier it would be perfect.