My first corruptor - Psi/?

[Aeroprism]

Hello beautiful people.

 

I want to try my hand at red side with a corruptor.  It will have to have some solo capability because my friends are not at all interested by red side.

 

So what goes well with the psychic damage blast set?  It doesn't seem popular at all, is it even reliable?

 

Talk to me, tell me all the beautiful corruptor facts!

[ZorkNemesis]

Psi is a bit on the lower side for damage, has some lengthy animations, lacks a variant of Aim, and when mobs resist psi it's not uncommon for the resist to be significant (often 50% for things like machines and zombies).  The set's not bad though, Psi breaks through to a lot of tougher, tanky mobs (Crey Tanks and Protectors being a noteworthy example), a lot of variety in secondary effects (which also helps with proc builds since psi's normal -recharge can't be enhanced), the T9 nuke has very little cast time and stuns the survivors, and Psi also gets a range bonus allowing you to keep futher out of harms way (your single target attacks have a 100ft range where most other sets have 80ft as their default limit).

 

I just got my Psi/Dark to 50 last night, a good mix of debuff and control with some damage.  Tar Patch was a big help with its sharp -res effect and large slow patch letting me keep my distance.  Fearsome Stare kept things in constant panic making it easier to deal with large mobs and Shadow Fall along with the Dark Servant's -to hit aura made sure most things couldn't hit me.

 

Some other suggestions:  /Storm would help keep enemies out of your face letting you keep Psi's range boost in your favor.  /Empathy and /Pain are thematic but tend to not give you personal debuff support for solo.  /Cold would stack more -recharge ensuring nothing can ever attack again after the alpha strike, /Sonic would be a big help against mobs that resist Psi damage, and /Rad is just as overpowered as ever no matter your primary.

 

Edited September 1, 2020 by ZorkNemesis

[Aeroprism]

Thank you for your suggestion, and I see your point.

 

Perhaps another primary would suit best for a first corruptor.  I've never played a fire/ anything.  Might be time to see what the legend is all about.

 

So besides Fire/kin, what works?

[TygerDarkstorm]

I think you'll find that fire works with just about any of the secondaries. Fire/kin, as you noted, is a good one. Fire/dark should be good as well. Fire/storm for total chaos. With 1000 slots you can roll any flavor of fire/* you want and see what fits you best!

[Darkir]

On 9/1/2020 at 2:11 PM, Aeroprism said:

Thank you for your suggestion, and I see your point.

 

Perhaps another primary would suit best for a first corruptor.  I've never played a fire/ anything.  Might be time to see what the legend is all about.

 

So besides Fire/kin, what works?

Fire works best with a buff/debuff secondary that has a heal, so /kin /dark /time /nature and /rad. Of those, time is the most solo friendly from low level. 

[Psylenz0511]

I had a Fire/Dark Corruptor on Live. It starts out very strong with Twilight grasp, Fireball, Tar patch, and Rain of fire coming very early. Any fire on a tar patch is just beast and you build on that on up.

[Doc Ranger]

Would you recommend Fire/Dk Corr or Dk/Fire Def?

[Darkir]

47 minutes ago, Doc Ranger said:

Would you recommend Fire/Dk Corr or Dk/Fire Def?

The corruptor, with shadow fall maxing pos def is still relatively easy and you will do a bit more dmg. You can also get a lot out of tar patch+rain of fire+ scourge.

Edited September 12, 2020 by Darkir

[Doc Ranger]

Trying a Nature/Fire Def right now. Not sold on it right now at level 23. But we'll see. 

 

Never played Fire blast before...I do like it. But wondering where I can leverage more of that carnage. Fire/? Corr? I play mostly in teams. ?/Fire Defender?  

[Darkir]

2 hours ago, Doc Ranger said:

Trying a Nature/Fire Def right now. Not sold on it right now at level 23. But we'll see. 

 

Never played Fire blast before...I do like it. But wondering where I can leverage more of that carnage. Fire/? Corr? I play mostly in teams. ?/Fire Defender?  

In general fire blast is better on a corruptor for the higher base damage of it's powers and it's lack of proc opportunities (sets with proc opportunities are generally better on defenders and controllers, unless you are going /time where even the corruptor can take advantage of them).

[Doc Ranger]

Top secondaries for it?

[Darkir]

1 hour ago, Doc Ranger said:

Top secondaries for it?

For fire blast? Kinetics hands down, every single fire dot scales with +dmg and so you just shred mobs as a corruptor and you get scourge. A well built and well played fire/kin corruptor often does more dmg than a blaster in pve. Time and dark also work very well. I wouldn't pair it with cold though because of the lack of a heal. 

Edited September 13, 2020 by Darkir

[Doc Ranger]

Probably going to play this Nature/Fire to 32 and see how I feel and then start a Fire/Kin.

 

Thanks!

[kiramon]

I have a nature/fire def. Im not a huge fan of it. 

[Doc Ranger]

Same...already playing a Fire/Kin Corr. Much more fun thus far.

[Jolly Ogre]

Well what to pair with Fire...Rad of course. 

 

Its overpowered and who does not want to be overpowered.

 

Besides it is fun to irradiated them and watch them burn.

 

Frads FTW all the time. Trollers, Blasters, Tanks, Brutes, Srappers, Corr. All of them, nuke them till they glow and burn them to ash its the only way to be sure they are clean.

[Darkir]

On 9/14/2020 at 2:35 PM, Doc Ranger said:

Same...already playing a Fire/Kin Corr. Much more fun thus far.

I should also note that a Fire/Kin Corr can also farm pretty well. It's a good character for just about everything...except pvp, don't pvp with a fire/kin.

[Onlyasandwich]

For a first corruptor that solos with relative ease, my shortlist would be rad or dark.

 

Plenty of others can solo quite well, but require either more finagling of encounter strategy, or io investment to enable personal safety.

 

Traps and storm are also strong solo right out of the box, but have some peculiarities that take getting used to.

 

For a strong io defensive build, it's hard to argue with a well-slotted kin.

 

I would leave primary up to theme and fun. Others have given very valid advice already above me.

[XylstoBanks]

On 9/1/2020 at 5:19 PM, ZorkNemesis said:

Psi is a bit on the lower side for damage, has some lengthy animations, lacks a variant of Aim, and when mobs resist psi it's not uncommon for the resist to be significant (often 50% for things like machines and zombies).  The set's not bad though, Psi breaks through to a lot of tougher, tanky mobs (Crey Tanks and Protectors being a noteworthy example), a lot of variety in secondary effects (which also helps with proc builds since psi's normal -recharge can't be enhanced), the T9 nuke has very little cast time and stuns the survivors, and Psi also gets a range bonus allowing you to keep futher out of harms way (your single target attacks have a 100ft range where most other sets have 80ft as their default limit).

 

I just got my Psi/Dark to 50 last night, a good mix of debuff and control with some damage.  Tar Patch was a big help with its sharp -res effect and large slow patch letting me keep my distance.  Fearsome Stare kept things in constant panic making it easier to deal with large mobs and Shadow Fall along with the Dark Servant's -to hit aura made sure most things couldn't hit me.

 

Some other suggestions:  /Storm would help keep enemies out of your face letting you keep Psi's range boost in your favor.  /Empathy and /Pain are thematic but tend to not give you personal debuff support for solo.  /Cold would stack more -recharge ensuring nothing can ever attack again after the alpha strike, /Sonic would be a big help against mobs that resist Psi damage, and /Rad is just as overpowered as ever no matter your primary.

 

Have any tips on how to build a psi/dark corruptor?

[ZorkNemesis]

4 hours ago, XylstoBanks said:

Have any tips on how to build a psi/dark corruptor?

I wish I did, I wing almost all of my builds and am pretty sure i'm nowhere near optimized.  Let me pull her up and see what kind of duct tape she's held together with.

 

One thing I liked about Psi Blast is that since many of the attacks have secondary effects it procs pretty well.  On my setup I have two damage procs in both Subdue and Telekinetic Blast, filling out the other three slots with Scorging Blast (Recharge boost at 3) and Thunderstrike (Ranged defense at 3).  Psychic Scream and Psionic Tornado get damage procs in their Targeted AoEs, along with a bonus proc, a -Res in Scream and an extra damage in Tornado.  Malice of the Corrupter in Will Domination, being the strongest ST power and the one with the least damage procs (no options for sleeps).  I skipped Lance and Scramble, Lance is nice but doesn't do much special, and Scramble is unnecessary.

 

Twilight Grasp likes procs, and you should be using it often anyway for the debuffs.  I fitted it with Touch of the Nictus to boost the healing, but boosting the -To Hit helps too, and it can also take an extra damage proc from Cloud Senses.  Tar Patch and Howling Twilight don't need slots to be good, slot them for Recharge is all you really need.  I threw a slow into Tar Patch to help keep things in place, but it's probably not necessary.  Frakenslot Shadow Fall for both Defense and Resistance.  I have three LotG (one Recharge boost), two UBG, and the Steadfast Res/Def.  It provides a nice buff with all that.  Fearsome Stare Frankenslotted with four Cloud Senses and two Glimpse of the Abyss, damage procs from both sets.  Handy to have up for every fight.  Petrifying Gaze foiur slotted with Basilik's for the great set bonuses.  Dark Servant I did the same, but I also threw in a Cloud Senses damage proc and an IO heal; nearly everything it does has -To Hit, so it procs fairly often, and the Servant is a reliable source of healing.  Skipped Darkest Night and Black Hole; Darkest Night being an anchor power makes it easy to screw up use but it is potent and still useful so it's up to you if you want it, but Black Hole is just awkward and not so great (but can be a good panic power if too much gets pulled).

 

Pool choices are up to you.  I have the three Leadership toggles and Fly/Hover/Afterburner.  End Redux in Leadership, LotG in Hover/AfB, Shield Wall/Reactive Defenses in Hover, BotZ KB protection in Fly.  Dropping Flight for another means of travel could easily fit in Hasten or Vengance if desired.

 

I took Dark Mastery for my Anchilary.  Dark Consumption is a nice Endurance refill when it's up, but the recharge is long.  Slotted it up with Preemptive Optimization to help boost the recharge and endurance drain.  Dark Embrace slotted with three UBG (the +HP is here) and the Gladiator's Armor +DEF.  Soul Drain is great to make up for Psychic Blast's lack of Aim, plus with a Gladiator's Fury -Res it's a fantastic setup for a Psychic Wail.  Avalanche KD proc in there for extra safety.  Soul Transfer is nice to have if things go south, and is free slots.  All it really needs is a Recharge.

 

Still building for Incarnate stuff, likely looking at Intuition Radial for Alpha choice due to the most effectiveness across all powers as well as the extra range on top of Psi's already increased range; Cardiac is also good to help patch some endurance holes plus a fear boost for Stare.  Other Incarnate powers on theming; Void Judgement, Spectral Radial Interface, Ageless or Clarion Destiny (Ageless would very much help endurance woes), Assault or Support Hybrid for whatever is needed.

 

Plenty of choices, I just go with what I think I need.  I would suggest checking around the board for some tips for Psi and/or Dark builds and go from there.  I'm positive I'm inefficient but I found something that works for me.

Edited October 13, 2020 by ZorkNemesis

[DreadShinobi]

Also not mentioned in this thread is fire/cold corrs, which can outperform a fire/kin corr at endgame in total damage output when people are running around with full trays of red insps cause they don't need anything else or theyre damage capped from other various damage buffs, especially common in league content. That said fire/cold is not as easy to level up compared to a fire/kin or fire/dark that have self/team heals.

[Darkir]

On 10/12/2020 at 10:33 PM, DreadShinobi said:

Also not mentioned in this thread is fire/cold corrs, which can outperform a fire/kin corr at endgame in total damage output when people are running around with full trays of red insps cause they don't need anything else or theyre damage capped from other various damage buffs, especially common in league content. That said fire/cold is not as easy to level up compared to a fire/kin or fire/dark that have self/team heals.

For situations where your team does not need more dmg, bring a water/cold corr instead of a fire/cold. The FF procs you get in geyser and water burst give you even more sleet stacking and dehydrate gives you a way to heal, which /cold desperately needs to survive on its own against hard/incarnate content.

[Darkir]

On 10/12/2020 at 8:53 PM, ZorkNemesis said:

I wish I did, I wing almost all of my builds and am pretty sure i'm nowhere near optimized.  Let me pull her up and see what kind of duct tape she's held together with.

 

One thing I liked about Psi Blast is that since many of the attacks have secondary effects it procs pretty well.  On my setup I have two damage procs in both Subdue and Telekinetic Blast, filling out the other three slots with Scorging Blast (Recharge boost at 3) and Thunderstrike (Ranged defense at 3).  Psychic Scream and Psionic Tornado get damage procs in their Targeted AoEs, along with a bonus proc, a -Res in Scream and an extra damage in Tornado.  Malice of the Corrupter in Will Domination, being the strongest ST power and the one with the least damage procs (no options for sleeps).  I skipped Lance and Scramble, Lance is nice but doesn't do much special, and Scramble is unnecessary.

 

Twilight Grasp likes procs, and you should be using it often anyway for the debuffs.  I fitted it with Touch of the Nictus to boost the healing, but boosting the -To Hit helps too, and it can also take an extra damage proc from Cloud Senses.  Tar Patch and Howling Twilight don't need slots to be good, slot them for Recharge is all you really need.  I threw a slow into Tar Patch to help keep things in place, but it's probably not necessary.  Frakenslot Shadow Fall for both Defense and Resistance.  I have three LotG (one Recharge boost), two UBG, and the Steadfast Res/Def.  It provides a nice buff with all that.  Fearsome Stare Frankenslotted with four Cloud Senses and two Glimpse of the Abyss, damage procs from both sets.  Handy to have up for every fight.  Petrifying Gaze foiur slotted with Basilik's for the great set bonuses.  Dark Servant I did the same, but I also threw in a Cloud Senses damage proc and an IO heal; nearly everything it does has -To Hit, so it procs fairly often, and the Servant is a reliable source of healing.  Skipped Darkest Night and Black Hole; Darkest Night being an anchor power makes it easy to screw up use but it is potent and still useful so it's up to you if you want it, but Black Hole is just awkward and not so great (but can be a good panic power if too much gets pulled).

 

Pool choices are up to you.  I have the three Leadership toggles and Fly/Hover/Afterburner.  End Redux in Leadership, LotG in Hover/AfB, Shield Wall/Reactive Defenses in Hover, BotZ KB protection in Fly.  Dropping Flight for another means of travel could easily fit in Hasten or Vengance if desired.

 

I took Dark Mastery for my Anchilary.  Dark Consumption is a nice Endurance refill when it's up, but the recharge is long.  Slotted it up with Preemptive Optimization to help boost the recharge and endurance drain.  Dark Embrace slotted with three UBG (the +HP is here) and the Gladiator's Armor +DEF.  Soul Drain is great to make up for Psychic Blast's lack of Aim, plus with a Gladiator's Fury -Res it's a fantastic setup for a Psychic Wail.  Avalanche KD proc in there for extra safety.  Soul Transfer is nice to have if things go south, and is free slots.  All it really needs is a Recharge.

 

Still building for Incarnate stuff, likely looking at Intuition Radial for Alpha choice due to the most effectiveness across all powers as well as the extra range on top of Psi's already increased range; Cardiac is also good to help patch some endurance holes plus a fear boost for Stare.  Other Incarnate powers on theming; Void Judgement, Spectral Radial Interface, Ageless or Clarion Destiny (Ageless would very much help endurance woes), Assault or Support Hybrid for whatever is needed.

 

Plenty of choices, I just go with what I think I need.  I would suggest checking around the board for some tips for Psi and/or Dark builds and go from there.  I'm positive I'm inefficient but I found something that works for me.

May I ask what your defense and resistances are (with/without your planned alpha T4)? It sounds like you went for damage procs over defenses.

[ZorkNemesis]

8 hours ago, Darkir said:

May I ask what your defense and resistances are (with/without your planned alpha T4)? It sounds like you went for damage procs over defenses.

I don't have the build in Mids or anything, but let me load her up and see what I have.  She's not perfectly survivable but Fearsome Stare's Fear and -To Hit along with Dark Servant's -To Hit aura significantly boost survivability.  Most things aren't able to hit me after I open with Stare and my Tar Patch > Void Judgement or Tar Patch > Soul Drain > Psychic Wail usually eliminates all but bosses (and stuns any non boss survivors).  You'd be right about the proc build, most of my attacks have two damage procs, even Fearsome Stare has two.  Mental Blast is the only normal attack without one, but I used it to three-slot Superior Scourging Blast for the 10% Recharge instead.  Where i'm at right now I managed 102.5% Recharge with potential to add a bit more once purples are in.

 

With everything active other than Afterburner:

Defense: Defensive Toggles are Hover, Shadow Fall, and Maneuvers: 17.29% across the board, with 26.04% Ranged and 27.29% Energy/Negative.  Afterburner would add 14.78% to everything, but obviously not helpful in the "Only Affecting Self" state.

Very few defensive set bonuses in the build, Superior Malice, one Thunderstrike at 3 slots and two Basilisk's Gaze, are providing the R/E/N boosts.  I'd say more defense comes from the -To Hit components of Dark than anything; Fearsome Stare has -19.7% To Hit, and Dark Servant just flatlines anything's To Hit by being close as long as they're not resisting. Intuition Radial can increase that -To Hit further.

 

Resistance: Resist toggles are Shadow Fall (E/N/P) and Dark Embrace (S/L/N/T): 39.04% S/L, 12.5% F/C, 33.74% E, 48.21% N, 32.24% P, 25.48% T. 

Reactive Defenses can boost all of that by up to 10% at low health.  Twilight Grasp on a single target will reduce the damage it does temporarily, Void Judgement Radial has a steep damage debuff and the Dark Servant can also use Twilight Grasp along with Darkest Night. My usual builds tend to shoot for Recharge bonuses when possible, so I generally pick up a couple minor increases along the way to that.

 

If you want, I can rebuild this in Mids and get a proper setup to show it off.  Again it's not professional and very scotch tapey, it's not even complete as I don't have any of the VRs in place besides ATOs.