What I play but never see another of...

[roleki]

6 hours ago, Clave Dark 5 said:

Yeah, that's me too, but I dunno if my build ever managed a bomb.  You're talking Hurl Boulder?  I didn't have too many slots to play with so I just stuck to Seismic Smash, sigh.  I really should fine a way to respect her for both, throwing giant rocks at people sounds like fun to me.

Nah, that's what Siesmic Smash does 6-slotted with five procs and a Hecatomb A/D/R.  Poison has all that -Res, might as well use it!

[Patti]

I think stone and claws can't actually be made.

[Burnt Umber]

On 8/21/2020 at 6:59 PM, Li_Sensei said:

it may be that I've just not noticed, but I don't recall seeing any other Sonic/Cold Corruptors out there, which is a shame, because when you decide to *really* ensquishify a hard target and unload all of your debuffs, a Dreadful Wail, and a couple of other shouts on a target, then they don't have any choice other than to become squishy.

 

I really need to get round to a respec on mine and make *her* less squishy, too.

Ooh, I'm a fellow Sonic/Cold Corruptor.  It's rare even though it's super fun to play.

 

Seems I actually have a few rarities:  I also have a rare Water/Sonic corruptor; somewhat rare (or at least uncommon) Grav/Rad and Ill/FF controllers; a rare Stone/Fire tank; a rare Dark/Elec; brute; and a really rare (there's only 5 of us!) Necro/Traps MM.  All of them are very fun to play so it's a little surprising that they're as rare as they are.

Edited August 23, 2020 by Vigilant Vergil

[Li_Sensei]

On 8/24/2020 at 12:10 AM, Vigilant Vergil said:

Ooh, I'm a fellow Sonic/Cold Corruptor.  It's rare even though it's super fun to play.

 

Seems I actually have a few rarities:  I also have a rare Water/Sonic corruptor; somewhat rare (or at least uncommon) Grav/Rad and Ill/FF controllers; a rare Stone/Fire tank; a rare Dark/Elec; brute; and a really rare (there's only 5 of us!) Necro/Traps MM.  All of them are very fun to play so it's a little surprising that they're as rare as they are.

"fun to play" is unfortunately subjective.

 

Some people like the knife edge experience of blapping.  Other people like the 'Haha!  Try harder to hurt me, weaklings!' playstyle of tanking.

 

Traps for example is *really* hard to play on a fast moving team, as by the time you've got your traps set up, the spawn you were going to use them on has been evaporated and the rest of the team is three spawns down the corridor and accelerating.  Solo, traps is fine as you can go at your own speed and take malicious glee in setting up minefields with gas traps and caltrops in the middle of them in doorways and choke points.  I've got a Bots/Traps MM that is almost schizophrenic in the playstyle changes between solo and teamed.

 

And Stone/Fire tankers can't be rare, I've got one... So long as you actually mean Stone Armour/Fire and not Granite Armour/Fire.  I'm in the normal armours 95% of the time, and only Granite when really needed.  The fact that it (the normal armour toggles) makes me functionally immune to Carnies and lets me get cathartic payback for the suffering Carnies put some of my other alts through is a nice side bonus though 🙂

Edited August 25, 2020 by Li_Sensei
Unclear last sentence.

[Burnt Umber]

4 hours ago, Li_Sensei said:

"fun to play" is unfortunately subjective.

 

Some people like the knife edge experience of blapping.  Other people like the 'Haha!  Try harder to hurt me, weaklings!' playstyle of tanking.

True, "fun" is subjective.  I guess a better way to phrase it might be "these builds aren't a chore for me to play or failing basic gameplay."  I've tried some builds in the past that were more annoying than it was worth, like when I tried a regen scrapper back in its hay-day in Issue 2/3 or my experimenting with Khelds on Homecoming.  I've also seen some ways to play that just cause me to scratch my head, like so-called "pure" empathy defenders or petless MM.  I realize some people might think of those builds as "fun," so one's mileage may certainly vary.

 

 

4 hours ago, Li_Sensei said:

Traps for example is *really* hard to play on a fast moving team, as by the time you've got your traps set up, the spawn you were going to use them on has been evaporated and the rest of the team is three spawns down the corridor and accelerating.  Solo, traps is fine as you can go at your own speed and take malicious glee in setting up minefields with gas traps and caltrops in the middle of them in doorways and choke points.  I've got a Bots/Traps MM that is almost schizophrenic in the playstyle changes between solo and teamed.

I feel like one of the amazing synergies of Necro/Traps is that you can get your pets to pull enemies into traps so you don't have to be nearly as meticulous.  And even then, while teaming, I'll definitely lean toward toe-bombing with selective traps that recharge quick enough.  At the same time, all of my traps can be great when the team hits a speed bump or just an AV that needs to be turned to jelly.

 

[Lusiphur Malache]

I don't see a lot of Dark/poison controllers like my Cruel 2b Kind, but maybe I'm not on at the right time.

[Aeroprism]

This is an interesting topic.  I'm browsing the huge list of powersets now and I'm trying to plan ahead, wondering if there was really bad choices with very little synergy.

 

I used to play an Elec/Ice blaster back in the day, she was insane fun but people kept telling me it was a terrible combo.

 

Looking at the stats, there's probably a reason why 1/4 of the server plays a Spine/FireAura brute but, are there REALY bad combos I should stay clear of?

[Lines]

1 minute ago, Aeroprism said:

Looking at the stats, there's probably a reason why 1/4 of the server plays a Spine/FireAura brute

It's a farming build. Lots of PBAOE damage and specific defence against fire. It doesn't have so much utility in the rest of the game.

 

You can't really go wrong. Ninjas/Trick Arrow MM is somewhere down the bottom of the pile, but if you have fun playing it you can still make the best of it.

[Aeroprism]

For my first few characters (Alting is life), I am considering these guys:

Blasters:

Energy/Atom (science)

Water/Elec (Mutant)

Beam Rifle/Energy (Tech)

Dark/Time (Energy)

 

Scrappers:
Dual blade/Willpower (Natural) (Only if the blades can be customized)
Dark Melee/Rad Armor (Magic)
Electric Melee/Energy Aura (Tech)

 

Controller:
Electric/Kinetics (Science or Tech)
Has Gravity control damage ever been fixed? I remember it used to suck

 

Tanker: 
Bio Armor/Titan Weapons (Muant)
Dark Armor/Psi Melee (Magic)

 

Defender:

So many cool options...  Elec, Cold, FF, Nature with any of the blasts...

 

Thoughts, anyone?

 

 

 

[SeraphimKensai]

The most rare combo I have is a 40 something Demons/Trick Arrow MM.

 

That's likely due to the fact that trick arrow overall is undertuned, and requires a heavy proc slotting to make it strong. The debuff values should have a higher magnitude.

 

Other note worthy underused toons:

Elec/Cold Controller - no damage, but great at debuffing/sapping.

Gravity/Sonic Controller - a very control heavy troller with some strong (controller damage) due to impact and sonic debuffs.

[Coyotedancer]

1 hour ago, Aeroprism said:

For my first few characters (Alting is life), I am considering these guys:

Blasters:

Energy/Atom (science)

Water/Elec (Mutant)

Beam Rifle/Energy (Tech)

Dark/Time (Energy)

 

Scrappers:
Dual blade/Willpower (Natural) (Only if the blades can be customized)
Dark Melee/Rad Armor (Magic)
Electric Melee/Energy Aura (Tech)

 

Controller:
Electric/Kinetics (Science or Tech)
Has Gravity control damage ever been fixed? I remember it used to suck

 

Tanker: 
Bio Armor/Titan Weapons (Muant)
Dark Armor/Psi Melee (Magic)

 

Defender:

So many cool options...  Elec, Cold, FF, Nature with any of the blasts...

 

Thoughts, anyone?

 

 

 

 

The only one of those specific AT/set combinations I've played myself is the DB/WP Scrap, and that can definitely be some good fun.

 

Back in the Live days on Liberty, I had one named Ashirion.  'Not *quite* as the scary a character as my DB/WP Stalker main... But almost. If I'd thrown the same INF into Ash's build that I had put into Kestrel's, he probably would have been every bit as fierce as she was.

 

Bio is a solid set with an END-friendly mode, so you shouldn't run into any trouble with that Titan Tank. It'll likely spoil you on that Dark Armor fellow, though. DA is a total endurance hog if you try to run all of the toggles. 

 

Defenders... I love Defenders. Some are easier to learn than others, but it's hard to really go too far wrong with any of them. Although the people who are more invested in the "meta" of City may try to tell you that Force Field is useless, typically because of the defensive capability a lot of IO set builds can achieve on everyone else's end-game characters, that's not necessarily a universal thing. Lower- and mid-level teams usually won't be as tough as those end-game juggernauts, and so THEY will still absolutely love having you and your bubbles around. Your large area bubble will also be welcomed and valuable on Mothership raids in the War Zone. Not every league has a ton of Incarnates who picked a Clarion Destiny, so *you'll* be the one protecting everyone from the Rikti Magi's stun effects.

 

(Yeah, I have a lot of Defenders in my crew. XD Even though they're all "finished" 50s themselves, with their IO builds and their Incarnate toys and all that, I almost exclusively play them exemplared with mid-level teams. It's just more fun, because your presence as a support type character can make a lot of difference in how that team runs. You CAN still be helpful with end-game teams, mind... No smart group is going to say "Nah. We don't want'ya." to a Kinetic/ or a Time/ or a Dark/.... But most of those groups won't really *need* you the same way the lower level teams might.)  

 

I'd also suggest at least trying out a Stalker (think: "sneaky Scrap") and a Sentinel (something like a blaster who trades some damage for a fair bit of toughness). 

Edited August 25, 2020 by Coyotedancer

[Aeroprism]

And I just realized that Sentinels are a thing and this changes EVERYTHING 💛 😍

[Oskmey]

I have not teamed much since work has kept me away a lot from CoH since the re-launch. I still do not even have a 50 yet.

 

Katana/Dark Armor Scrapper, on Torchbearer. We were a rare breed on live too, I think due to endurance issues.

 

Electric/NRG Blaster, a redo from live. The sets do not have a synergy like many do, but she was an absolute beast once I had a few IO sets slotted.

 

Human-only PB. I see a lot of questions around them but so far have only teamed with Warshades.

 

[Aeroprism]

@CoyotedancerWhat a complete and lovely explanation!  Thank you so much!!

[Coyotedancer]

1 minute ago, Aeroprism said:

@CoyotedancerWhat a complete and lovely explanation!  Thank you so much!!

 

You're welcome. XD

 

I love Sents, too. Some of the damage sets really need a balance pass (They gave up a little TOO much damage in some cases. o_0), but the AT as a whole is fun. Fire and Dual Pistols are probably the best damage-wise, but my favorites so far are my Darks.

[Aeroprism]

Funny you say that. I looked at the class and the first thing I immediately wanted was a Dark/Dark sentinel.

[Coyotedancer]

On 8/25/2020 at 7:46 AM, Aeroprism said:

Funny you say that. I looked at the class and the first thing I immediately wanted was a Dark/Dark sentinel.

I have a Dark/Bio (Tavaris, on Everlasting) and a Dark/WP (Shonokin, on Torch). 

 

I'm a little biased against Dark Armor, honestly. My own Dark/Dark was the only Sentinel build so far that I just completely gave up on... But some people do really love it. Hopefully you'll have better luck with it than I did. XD

 

The great thing about having a thousand character slots? No reason not to try anything that seems interesting!

Edited October 23, 2020 by Coyotedancer

[Aeroprism]

13 minutes ago, Coyotedancer said:

The great thing about having a thousand character slots? No reason not to try anything that seems interesting!

 

Except a limited amount of time in a week,  What was wrong with Dark/Dark? Too much end-cost?

 

Also, keep in mind that I know very little about top-tier mechanics. I only ever got ONE character to 50 and most of the "new" contents didn't even exist by then. I know that a lot of people plan ahead on super awesome and expensive builds.  I just want to have fun 🙂

[Coyotedancer]

Mostly, it just wasn't much fun to play... Constant endurance issues were definitely a part of that, especially given Dark's relatively low damage. The character was a solo, so dependent on being able to knock everything over by himself, and sometimes he just... couldn't. He'd be completely out of END before even half of a small group of goons were dealt with. And then I'd either have to retreat to hit Rest, or risk defensive toggles going down.

 

I also had to do a lot of "toggle switching", to keep ONLY the ones I really needed for any particular goons' specific attack types running. There was just no way I could afford to keep them all up all the time, which isn't an issue I've had with any other armor set. A Cardio Alpha and an END-focused IO set build would eventually have helped there, but leveling the character was such a slog that I couldn't even imagine actually getting him to that point. 

 

Running with teams would have lessened some of those issues, but Sents are usually great soloists. It bugged me that THAT particular one wasn't really capable of it in any reasonable way.

 

ETA: I'm not a power-gamer by any means, and I poke fun at the more meta-focused gang a fair bit, but I "grew up" in the City running with a pack of crazy badgers and speed-runners, and I picked up some of their habits.  I'm still no build- or mechanics-expert, but I do like a solidly put together character and occasionally tinker with high-end builds. I'm just as likely to do something completely off-the-wall, though. Like my human-only perma-Light Form "Photonic Sentinel" Peacebringer (Bahir, on Everlasting). Who is just... all kinds of utterly silly. XD   

 

 

Edited August 25, 2020 by Coyotedancer

[cranebump]

2 hours ago, Aeroprism said:

For my first few characters (Alting is life), I am considering these guys:

Blasters:

Energy/Atom (science)

Water/Elec (Mutant)

Beam Rifle/Energy (Tech)

Dark/Time (Energy)

 

Scrappers:
Dual blade/Willpower (Natural) (Only if the blades can be customized)
Dark Melee/Rad Armor (Magic)
Electric Melee/Energy Aura (Tech)

 

Controller:
Electric/Kinetics (Science or Tech)
Has Gravity control damage ever been fixed? I remember it used to suck

 

Tanker: 
Bio Armor/Titan Weapons (Muant)
Dark Armor/Psi Melee (Magic)

 

Defender:

So many cool options...  Elec, Cold, FF, Nature with any of the blasts...

 

Thoughts, anyone?

 

 

 

Feel like the Energy/Atomic might be a great one for solo. You get the KBs and Debuffs, plus, if I remember right, some Recovery from Atomic? 

[Photographer]

On 8/5/2020 at 1:18 PM, ShardWarrior said:

I have yet to come across another Firey Aura/Stone Melee tanker

I've got one, Ruamoku, a Volcano God (from the Maori of New Zealand) theme.

[Aeroprism]

1 hour ago, cranebump said:

Feel like the Energy/Atomic might be a great one for solo. 

So far she's been... ... ...

 

a blast.

 

🤪

[Uun]

6 hours ago, Aeroprism said:

Has Gravity control damage ever been fixed? I remember it used to suck

Yes, Issue 22 and Issue 22 Patch 1 updated the way Gravity Control powers work:

• Dimension Shift is a 20-second, location-based toggle that immobilizes enemies, and phases both allies and enemies, in the area. All characters in the area are free to attack enemies (and are attackable by enemies). Characters can choose to stay safe outside the location, or to move between phases. The toggle can be prematurely turned off to remove the phase effect early. Recharge time reduced from 90 seconds to 60 seconds.
• Lift (Controllers only) increased in damage.
• Propel casts faster, the projectile travels faster, and does "splash knockdown" on up to three more enemies near the target.
• Wormhole's radius increased and will no longer cause aggro on the caster.
• Singularity's cast times reduced for Crush and Gravity Distortion, and Lift increased in damage.
• Impact! introduced: Enemies attacked with Lift or Propel will have bonus damage applied if the enemy has been recently held by Gravity Distortion (regardless of who cast Gravity Distortion).

[Aeroprism]

Sooo awesome!

 

Thank you so much!  

Edited August 25, 2020 by Aeroprism

[Outrider_01]

Psi Melee / Fire brute, farmer 

 

Its basically a SS/Fire brute build, slightly slower animation AoE power at 32 with a knockback +rec proc and a build up power (45 sec recharge down to 23) instead of rage.  Combo mechanic with Insight when it triggers, 15 up and 15 down...only part is it doesn't really trigger with single target attacks so if I want to use Mass Levitate its usually not with the Insight up as it triggers nearly every time I use ML.

 

Super Strength is the brawn set, Psi Melee is the brain set.