Recommend a duo combination for me and my 9 year old son

[Blakestr]

I played back during live, think I had one or two toons at 50 but had serious altism and didn't explore much endgame content.  Left before rogue dropped.  
 

I just discovered homecoming and showed my son and I think he's in.  

 

I'm looking for a duo combination that results in max fun, FUN as defined as "effortless destruction of enemies and feeling powerful."   I'm sure we all have our own take on what "effortless destruction is."  But based on my son, he said he'd rather not die than be powerful but die more, so that leans me thinking to some tank/brute combo, maybe a stalker.  I know his personality though, so where I might normally roll a blaster, if he feels like he is just grabbing agroo but I'm doing all the killing, I could see him getting bored.  I'm going to play whatever is the more "support" aspect of the duo, I imagine some aspect of a controller locking down mobs or a defender buffing him so he can take them down.

 

I'd love to hear your options on what would be fun.  I'm currently leaning towards him being some type of brute that is high damaging and low micro and me being some type of buff/healer or again, some controller, maybe even a storm controller, who knows?

We aren't concerned with PVP at all.  We might team up with others for TF's but I'm principly concerned with easily synergizable (?) powers.  I've obviously not played in years, my same age counsin and I played as fire tankers and fire blasters and while that was fun, I think the repetition could be boring for him. 

 

TLDR: Need a fun, versatile PVE duo combo for my 9 year old who will most likely be doing the damage, with me backing him up. 

 

 

[Redlynne]

Trick question ... are there any powersets that you would consider Verboten for pro parenting reasons?

Some parents wouldn't want their child playing a character that uses guns ... so Assault Rifle and Dual Pistols are out ... but wouldn't have a problem with Archery/Trick Archery.

Other parents want to not have their children playing "arsonist" types who set everything ON FIRE ... for what ought to be obvious reasons.

 

If you want to Keep It Simple and not overload your son with myriads of options to keep up with and play through, I would honestly say that my SR/MA Tanker build (the v3.1.1 using Thunder Kick option) is probably going to be the SIMPLEST to play while still feeling powerful and awesome.  The thing is that although it is "simple" to play, there's enough going on with it to keep things interesting (this is the build for my "main" character).  The only thing you wouldn't want to pair it with (as a duo) is ... knockback.  However, that would then open up the opportunity for you to play (yourself) my Mind/Nature/Primal Controller build that would make for an almost ideal combination, since it would give you plenty of "support" options while clearing the way for your son to feel like he's doing "most" of the work of kicking keisters of whatever the two of you are fighting against.  He would be the "martial arts fighter" and you would be the "flower power girly" one who backs him up (and makes life SO MUCH EASIER for him).

 

There are other possibilities of combinations of builds that I have posted which might appeal to your duo combinations, but if guns are a No Go then my Time/Dual Pistols/Soul Defender would not be an option, nor would my Huntsman build (since that's all rifle attacks on a Soldier of Arachnos).  I would say that my Ninja/Time/Mace Mastermind build would be a LOT of fun to play (for you) but can get a bit fiddly and complicated if you're not familiar with how to set up keybind files to control the Ninja swarm and so on, and I've been having an incredibly fun time playing this build through Praetoria.  I also have a Water/Ice Corruptor build, but the "support" on that one would be lacking and would probably appeal more to your son if he's more into ranged blasting than wanting to "suffer" the joys of Scrapperlock (although Tankerlock can happen too).

 

So yeah ... options ...

[Blakestr]

25 minutes ago, Redlynne said:

Trick question ... are there any powersets that you would consider Verboten for pro parenting reasons?

Some parents wouldn't want their child playing a character that uses guns ... so Assault Rifle and Dual Pistols are out ... but wouldn't have a problem with Archery/Trick Archery.

Other parents want to not have their children playing "arsonist" types who set everything ON FIRE ... for what ought to be obvious reasons.

 

 

I can appreciate your consideration for potential parent barriers.  His mother and I are on the same page that total restrictions don't do anything but make kids more curious.  Since they could talk, my kids have been told they could see (and even touch, though obviously unloaded) the guns I keep locked up.  They asked have asked a few times over the years but are no longer curious.  /politics  Again, I appreciate your respect towards potential issues. 

Thanks for the tips, I'll take a look at SR/MA ---also, what's up with the 3rd speciality...is that a power pool or something? 

[InvaderStych]

Many options of Brute/Tank/Scrapper for your son.  /Willpower is very fire and forget for a secondary; currently running a Savage/Willpower brute that is just ludicrous fun.  I'd stay away from /Regen for now.  No hate from me on /Regen, but it is fiddly and technically "Hard Mode" in comparison to other armor sets.  My next Brute will be /regen for the challenge.

 

Defense sets (Energy Aura, Super Reflex, Etc) excel on Scappers, Resistance sets Excel on Brutes/Tanks because they have a higher cap.  That's not hard and fast though. Defense Tanks (See @Redlynne's suggestion above) are very good as well, for example.

 

That said, it is easy to look through the animations during character creation (power customization screen) and he could pick pretty much any combination of sets that appeals to him in terms of fun factor/aesthetics.

 

If his preference is to be "Indestructible" over doing tons of damage but being more fragile, then lean towards Brute/Tank.  If your son likes to move Fast, Fast, FAST, go Brute.

 

For your support role, hard to go wrong with Kinetics, especially partnered with melee.  Defender or Corrupter versions.  Thermal is another good choice. My preference (as someone who plays 90% melee) would be to stay away from anything Storm (or similar sets) because mobs flying all over the place is (imnsho) really annoying to pair with for a melee toon as we're constantly chasing them down and that gets old fast, again, imnsho.

 

"3rd" set is either an Epic or Ancillary (depending on hero or villain) power pool that unlocks at later levels.  Different flavors available for different ATs - usually designed to shore up certain aspects.  Like ranged attacks for melee ATs, or Mez Defense and assorted Shields for ATs that usually lack those.

Edited May 1, 2020 by InvaderStych

[JJDrakken]

2 Arachnos Spiders.  Fun, destructive, & buff each other.

 

[Blakestr]

1 hour ago, InvaderStych said:

For your support role, hard to go wrong with Kinetics, especially partnered with melee.  Defender or Corrupter versions.  Thermal is another good choice. My preference (as someone who plays 90% melee) would be to stay away from anything Storm (or similar sets) because mobs flying all over the place is (imnsho) really annoying to pair with for a melee toon as we're constantly chasing them down and that gets old fast, again, imnsho.

 

 

Why do you say defender/corrupter and not controller.  I'm assuming because those are quicker due to the damage and those two damage groups will kill anything that would otherwise need to be controlled? 
 

Which leaves me to wondering, how important is the difference between the two.  Does the corrupter's secondary nature of kinetics make it a poor comparision, or would we ever notice the difference in just the two of it?  

In which case, what would be a good corrupter primary to go with this? 

[Yoru-hime]

To start with, welcome back!

 

An Invuln/? Brute plus a Dark/Dark Controller would probably be my initial recommendation.

 

I'd suggest a Dark/Dark Controller for the support because of the versatility. The heal, fear cone and -tohit help early on with survivability while the -res and -regen debuffs never lose their value even as the attacker matures and no longer has as many defensive holes to fill. Dark/Dark Defender would also work, though popular opinion is that it's been overshadowed by its younger sibling.

 

For the attacker, I'd recommend a Brute for raw destruction. Scrappers could be an option as well, but they won't do as well keeping aggro off the support. Assuming you take the advice for the support, I'd suggest Invulnerability for the armor set though any resistance based set will probably synergize well.

 

Defensive sets certainly work wonders on Brutes, but once you hit the soft-cap there's really not much to gain from adding more defense, which limits your chances for synergy. It's a lot more common for a support character to provide defense and/or to hit debuffs than it is to provide substantial resistance.

[Blakestr]

Well, he decided he wanted to roll a PSI/Rad brute.  That's cool, I'm trying to think of things that are complementary to that...

[Funkenstein]

I'll go with a set that increase res like */thermal or */sonic Corruptor or Defender.

* could be sonic blast, Ice, DP, Fire ... anything you like in fact.

 

-Thermal shields help rising the res of Rad armor backed with heals if needed (and rez and forge, and some late debuffs). Then you'll be a really good support/finisher.

 

-Sonic/sonic Defender: buff most of the res to 90% cap, big debuff res with Disruption Field anchor + the blast. Sonic resonnance is very passive set and only 5 power to take.  So give lots of time to blast :

Sonic blast don't shine alone, it mostly helps boosting team damage. Plus it has some utility powers in the sleep cone and the kb cone.

Back it with Sorcery pool for the Spirit Ward absorb shield, and Enflame patch (which synergize very well with Disruption Field anchor) and it's a stomping duo.

Edited May 2, 2020 by Funkenstein

[Hardboiled Hero]

I know it's a touch late, but why not try a Brute (for Dad) and a Sentinel (for son)?  The Sentinel seems like it might be good for the kid since it doesn't have to be the focus of enemy attacks, but still gets some strong defenses and good damage.  I suggest you go into the Sentinel forums and read @oldskool topic on his "year in the trenches".

[WanderingAries]

Not related to the thread, but I'd suggest you have a GM change your forum name to something more PID secure. Unless that's something the user can do?

 

*coughs*@GM Tahquitz*coughs*

Edited May 3, 2020 by WanderingAries

[GM Tock]

4 hours ago, WanderingAries said:

Not related to the thread, but I'd suggest you have a GM change your forum name to something more PID secure. Unless that's something the user can do?

 

*coughs*@GM Tahquitz*coughs*

That's something a user can do.  Open your Account Menu, Account Settings, then change your Display Name.

[Jimmy]

I've hidden a bunch of posts that quoted an email address - please be careful about posting your personal info!

[Zepp]

I'm going to go a little out of the box. I think an Illusion / Kinetics Controller would be very good for the parent (Illusion helps manage aggro so it takes the pressure off the child) and an electric / ninja for the child. This combo would shred, feel powerful, and give the child a lot of stuff to play with but no need to stick to a limited pattern.

[Blakestr]

4 hours ago, Jimmy said:

I've hidden a bunch of posts that quoted an email address - please be careful about posting your personal info!

Thank you! I had no idea it was displaying that.  Somehow my account name got tied to my display name, not sure how I did it when I signed up, but thank you for looking out.  Forum of Heroes!

[Ironscarlet]

I was thinking exactly the same thing op.

 

For your kid a brute or scrapper would be great. 

 Willpower as someone else said is a really good secondary to start with not very complicated. Super reflex is also good and develops well threw the leveling experience especially on a Tank by lvl 18 on a Tank he will be def soft cap (almost unkillable). Brute and scrapper super reflex develops alittle later but still is a safe bet through all content.

 

For primary what ever the kid likes you can't go wrong some do better than other but not much diffrent. 

 

For Pops I would say go with /kin or / Dark on a controller.  Kin for more damage dark for more life. Strongest sugestion fire/kin or plant/kin.

 

Strongest sugestion for combos

 

Brute 

Anything/SR

Controller 

Fire/ kin

 

Mid game your son will get def cap and you will cap his damage to 700% with your kinetic powers. Maxing your kids character out with damage you cant go wrong.  Also before mid game you will have heals, speed boost and other tool early. Threw out the game it should be fun. Fyi if you do go Fire controller  drop a knockback to knockdown IO in bonfire  turns it into a knockdown fire patch.

 

Best of luck.

 

 

After thought edit.:: /Thermal for a controller is also a good option and might be the safest  bet with a mix between kin and dark not as strong as either but you get a heal,damage buff and resistant shields.

Edited May 4, 2020 by Ironscarlet

[Ravenbane]

I would go through the character creator with him and let him have a pick, but guide him as you see fit.   Then you just pick whatever provides good synergy.

But if you want a specific recommendation: brute for your son and you play as a kinetics/something.  Whatever strikes your fancy.  Kin is fun but also pretty subtle, so you will keep him alive and buff him without him noticing it much.  He'll just think he's a god.

My 11 year old daughter has a duo with her 8 1/2 year old brother where she is a Rad/Kin corrupter and he is a Fire/Fire brute.  I think this is a really good set up for both of them.  She knows she's helping keep him alive and she gets to do plenty of damage herself, and he gets to run around and do ridiculous amounts of damage and is quite hard to kill.  I hear very little fighting when they're playing together, so I consider that a win.

[TJBC]

I’m very late to this but it got me thinking. If it were me I’d choose a Tank for dad and let son choose whatever. A well built Tank doesn’t need any support to stay alive in a duo team, just needs to hold aggro to keep teammate from getting attacked, which isn’t hard for a Tank if that’s your goal. Then teammate can do whatever they want.

Edited July 29, 2020 by TJBC

[Saikochoro]

If you haven’t already picked your character I’d suggest playing a kinetics corruptor or defender.  One of the biggest fun suckers in the game is endurance problems (though he probably won’t have much issue with that playing a rad armor brute). But kinetics makes everyone feel more powerful as you buff damage up to obscene levels. 
 

You could go fire/kin corruptor. Or kin/sonic defender. Those would be my choices for a more supportive duo partner. 

[Six-Six]

Your son's 9? Let him loose and he'll be better than you in a few hours. My 9 year old son used to kick my butt around the block on console games WHILE he was watching TV. 

[Dauntless]

In the beginning let him pick whatever he wants and pick something to compliment it. 

 

If your son is like my son it'll take about a week or two before he wants to play what I'm playing so we roll new toons and I pick another something to support him.  We chase that pattern for a bit until he starts just absolutely trying to play all the ATs at once (so hitting altitis and changing toons nearly every day).  Once he started to 'gronk' the game it ceased to matter I play (outside of those first few pairs because they are buddies) because he knows enough about the game and how to play with me that we can make it work. 

 

And honestly at this point in time I don't think I could be happier.

[SpookTheHerd]

Stalker could be fun for a kid with all the sneak attacks.

I'd suggest a kinetic controller of some type as support. Locking down the enemy (or repeling them away for pure chaos!) seems like it would be beneficial no matter what he plays as.