Gravity Control - damage procs in the pet?

[Black Zot]

As the title suggests, I'm fiddling around in Mids and I noticed Singularity has a couple options for damage procs.  Is that worth pursuing, or should I stick to more "traditional" pet slotting and look for damage elsewhere?

[Luigrein]

I'm not going to pretend I've mathed it out and proven it's strength,  but I personally am a fan of putting some hamis in there so it can have good accuracy damage and cc without necessarily needing 6 slots. (Procs in the last slot/s maybe?) It won't be super quick about it,  but it can take a boss by itself.

[Omega-202]

Damage procs will only trigger in powers that the Singularity uses that would be able to slot said proc.  For example, Explosive Strike (KB set) will have a chance to trigger on Lift and Repel but not Crush or Gravity Distortion.  

 

Generally, I find that damage procs are good on some pets and less good on others.  For example, all of Dark Servant's powers do -ToHit, so they can all use the Clouded Sense proc.  Phantasm's attacks all do KB, so they all make use of Explosive Strike.  

 

Singularity is more of a control pet, so I'm not sure how great procs would be for it.  Might be better to just focus on Hami Acc/Mez and Dam/Mez.  

[oedipus_tex]

The best 'proc' for him is Sudden Acceleration KB to KD. That will convert his knockback aura to knockdown and make him less likely to create chaos. Plus if you Wormhole stuff onto him, they will bounce there. 

[Black Zot]

All good to know, thanks!

[RageusQuitus2]

On 8/28/2020 at 11:09 AM, oedipus_tex said:

The best 'proc' for him is Sudden Acceleration KB to KD. That will convert his knockback aura to knockdown and make him less likely to create chaos. Plus if you Wormhole stuff onto him, they will bounce there. 

Is there a limit on how many powers I can use the kb to kd IO.  I mean can i slot em in 6-10 different powers?

[oedipus_tex]

One of the two kb-to-kd's is unique (Overwhelming Force.) It either changes a knockback to a knockdown, or else adds knockdown to a power that doesn't normally have it.

 

Sudden Acceleration is the one you want in Singularity (and probably Wormhole) and is not unique.

Edited August 30, 2020 by oedipus_tex

[VV]

On 8/28/2020 at 12:09 PM, oedipus_tex said:

The best 'proc' for him is Sudden Acceleration KB to KD. That will convert his knockback aura to knockdown and make him less likely to create chaos. Plus if you Wormhole stuff onto him, they will bounce there. 

This is common practice, I know, but I have to respectfully disagree. As a long-time Gravity/ player (backed up by /Storm) I love the KB in Singularity. It has saved my ass from ambushes more times than I can even count. I keep from causing chaos by keeping Singy out of the middle of combat. And, then sometimes, I want chaos.

[oedipus_tex]

It might be worth noting that if my memory is correct, Recall Friend works on Singularity and you can use it to position him in doorways, etc. He'll generally stay close to you so you need to stand nearby.

 

Personally I wish I could toggle back and forth between Singy having knockback or not. I agree it's sometimes useful. In general though I prefer the knockdown because that way you can Wormhole enemies directly on top of Singularity and they will bounce there eternally.

Edited August 31, 2020 by oedipus_tex

[Omega-202]

16 hours ago, VV said:

This is common practice, I know, but I have to respectfully disagree. As a long-time Gravity/ player (backed up by /Storm) I love the KB in Singularity. It has saved my ass from ambushes more times than I can even count. I keep from causing chaos by keeping Singy out of the middle of combat. And, then sometimes, I want chaos.

How is the knockback saving you from ambushes in a way that knockdown doesn't?  They are on the ground the same amount of time.  

 

Also, micro-ing your Singularity's positioning is like herding cats.  It doesn't respond to movement commands so all you can do is TP it or lead it around and as soon as its out of targets in range, it floats towards the next one it sees.  Time spent managing your Singularity is time you're not doing something else, like casting Tornado or your hold.  

 

If you said "I like KB for the cool factor", fine.  But lets not pretend you have any control over what your Singularity is doing or where its knocking enemies.  

[Mister Mass]

On 8/30/2020 at 1:44 PM, oedipus_tex said:

One of the two kb-to-kd's is unique (Overwhelming Force.) It either changes a knockback to a knockdown, or else adds knockdown to a power that doesn't normally have it.

 

Sudden Acceleration is the one you want in Singularity (and probably Wormhole) and is not unique.

Oedipus_Tex, are you sure the Overwhelming Force proc is an either/or on the knock-x?  I just always assumed (which is dangerous) that the proc overwrites the % knock-x on a power to its own 20% chance.  Has this been confirmed that a power with higher than 20% knock-x keeps that higher chance with the proc installed?

 

Asking for a friend. 😉

Edited September 1, 2020 by Mister Mass

[VV]

5 hours ago, Omega-202 said:

Also, micro-ing your Singularity's positioning is like herding cats.

Not to me. I find it quite easy. Then again, I've been playing a Grav controller for years. Played it most of Live, and all of Homecoming. 

[roleki]

On 8/28/2020 at 12:09 PM, oedipus_tex said:

The best 'proc' for him is Sudden Acceleration KB to KD. That will convert his knockback aura to knockdown and make him less likely to create chaos. Plus if you Wormhole stuff onto him, they will bounce there. 

This.  Wormhole a purple boss into Singularity, and not take a single tick of damage?  Yes, please.

[VV]

18 hours ago, roleki said:

This.  Wormhole a purple boss into Singularity, and not take a single tick of damage?  Yes, please.

You can reliably get WH to TP a purple boss?

[roleki]

2 hours ago, VV said:

You can reliably get WH to TP a purple boss?

Absolutely, at least I can on characters where WH isn't just a party trick.

 

Take my Grav/Storm for example; WH has a 1.0 base accuracy, which I have slotted for .74 Acc Enh and have an additional .54 Global Acc Bonus... that puts WH at 2.24 Accuracy. 

 

Against a White Con, my base ToHit is .75.  Assuming no buffs/debuffs, my Hit Chance on that White Con with WH is 1.68 (2.24 * .75) - well above the .95 'Clamp.'

 

Throw a +3 boss at me, and my base ToHit drops to 30%.  Again, assuming no other factors, my chance to hit against that +3 Boss is capped at .672.  

 

BUT!

 

Say I have the Kismet +6 Acc slotted in CJ.  My Base ToHit vs that White Con is now 81%, leaving me at 1.81 chance to hit them.  Against a +3 Boss, my Base ToHit would be .36, leaving me at .80 chance of hitting THEM.

 

BUT!

 

Say instead of Kismet, I took Tactics and slotted it to +14 ToHit.  My Base ToHit vs White Con is now .89; now my chance to hit that White Con is 1.99.  Against a +3 Boss, my Base ToHit is 44%; that would leave WH a .985 chance of hitting that +3 Boss.

 

BUT!

 

In reality, I have Kismet AND Tactics.  White Con is 2.24 * .95, or 2.128 chance of hitting that guy.  And against a +3 Boss, I have a 1.12 chance of hitting, comfortably above the .95 clamp.  

 

Again, everything is clamped to a maximum chance to hit of .95, and I'm not always operating in an environment of no debuffs (or buffs, for that matter). 

 

TL;DR: yes, I can reliably move +3 bosses around a map.  

 

 

[VV]

6 hours ago, roleki said:

TL;DR: yes, I can reliably move +3 bosses around a map.  

I meant, don't most of them have TP resist?

[roleki]

10 hours ago, VV said:

I meant, don't most of them have TP resist?

A lot do, but I don't know if it's 'most' or just 'a lot.'  I don't have trouble moving your standard Radio Mission dudes around when I solo, and that's pretty much the only time things are going slow enough that I feel the need to aggregate mobs and whatnot.

[kiramon]

51 minutes ago, roleki said:

A lot do, but I don't know if it's 'most' or just 'a lot.'  I don't have trouble moving your standard Radio Mission dudes around when I solo, and that's pretty much the only time things are going slow enough that I feel the need to aggregate mobs and whatnot.

 

At 50+4 they won't get hit by WH. Below that they will, I think is what they are referring to. 

 

 

[Riverdusk]

On 8/31/2020 at 8:45 AM, Omega-202 said:

How is the knockback saving you from ambushes in a way that knockdown doesn't?  They are on the ground the same amount of time.  

 

Also, micro-ing your Singularity's positioning is like herding cats.  It doesn't respond to movement commands so all you can do is TP it or lead it around and as soon as its out of targets in range, it floats towards the next one it sees.  Time spent managing your Singularity is time you're not doing something else, like casting Tornado or your hold.  

 

If you said "I like KB for the cool factor", fine.  But lets not pretend you have any control over what your Singularity is doing or where its knocking enemies.  

Definitely not always the same amount of time.  Knockback sometimes ragdolls them and causes them to get stuck on the ground (or on the scenery) for a much longer time than knockdown.  Also of course potentially takes them out of melee range from you which can be helpful sometimes. Not arguing for slotting one way or the other, I can see use in both.

 

If you are rich enough there is always the 2nd build option so you have both options.

 

Edited September 7, 2020 by Riverdusk