Best Primary for a /Sonic Defender

[StriderIV]

i Heroes!

 

I’m looking to roll my first Defender, and I’m drawn to /Sonic as my secondary for the -res (I group with 2 friends often).

 

I was curious what generally are the best primaries to go with Sonic secondary. I’ve read good things about both Sonic/Sonic and Kin/Sonic. Is there one set that is most optimal? Another option I’m not aware of?

 

thanks!

[Normal Thomas]

Literally anything goes with kinetics. If you team with friends they will very much appreciate the speed boost and the massive damage output you'll enable them to have. I'd say Kinetics is far more optimal than sonic resonance just because of its force multiplication capabilities. As far as other set, I'm not entirely sure. Don't know how the other support sets rank against each other but as someone who has a lvl 50 /Kin I know its a very powerful set.

[StriderIV]

8 minutes ago, Normal Thomas said:

Literally anything goes with kinetics. If you team with friends they will very much appreciate the speed boost and the massive damage output you'll enable them to have. I'd say Kinetics is far more optimal than sonic resonance just because of its force multiplication capabilities. As far as other set, I'm not entirely sure. Don't know how the other support sets rank against each other but as someone who has a lvl 50 /Kin I know its a very powerful set.

Appreciate the input man!

[Doomguide2005]

Begs the question as to what are your two friends playing?

 

Both a Kin and Sonic Resonance can be potent force multipliers.  The Kin will put someone near or at the damage cap.  A Sonic/Sonic will seriously debuff resistance.  Someone at the damage cap can only see bigger orange numbers if the target is getting resistance debuffed.  If you primarily play either with your two friends or solo then taking into account what they're playing would be a good idea for synergy.

Edited December 15, 2020 by Doomguide2005
Afterthought

[StriderIV]

37 minutes ago, Doomguide2005 said:

Begs the question as to what are your two friends playing?

 

Both a Kin and Sonic Resonance can be potent force multipliers.  The Kin will put someone near or at the damage cap.  A Sonic/Sonic will seriously debuff resistance.  Someone at the damage cap can only see bigger orange numbers if the target is getting resistance debuffed.  If you primarily play either with your two friends or solo then taking into account what they're playing would be a good idea for synergy.

That is a great question man and really good point.

 

One of them plays a Bots/Devices MM and the other a DP/Martial Blaster. He also spends some time on a TW/Fire Brute.

[macskull]

Cold/Sonic best Sonic

[StriderIV]

5 minutes ago, macskull said:

Cold/Sonic best Sonic

Cool option! Why is that combo so good?

[macskull]

5 minutes ago, StriderIV said:

Cool option! Why is that combo so good?

If you're going Sonic for the -res might as well pair it with the primary that does the most -res. Makes sense to take Burnout on that build too since you can essentially stack something like 150% -res before factoring in any -res procs or additional -res from Sonic.

[StriderIV]

Solid points!

[StriderIV]

2 minutes ago, macskull said:

If you're going Sonic for the -res might as well pair it with the primary that does the most -res. Makes sense to take Burnout on that build too since you can essentially stack something like 150% -res before factoring in any -res procs or additional -res from Sonic.

Solid points!!!

[Lazarillo]

I have a Pain/Sonic, and love the combo; it's probably my favorite support AT build I've done so far.  There's a fair bit of synergy with how /Sonic increases your damage through -Res while Pain/ allows you to buff your own damage by using Share Pain on your allies (just be a bit careful when using it since it makes you vulnerable!).  And then there's Anguishing Cry for further stacking -Res, and World of Pain which lets you boost not only damage for the whole team but also Res (not necessarily mechanically synergistic on that second point, but feels thematically so).

Edited December 15, 2020 by Lazarillo

[Doomguide2005]

Cold is in fact a beastly good debuffer.  Their shields would be very helpful to a resistance set like /Fire as well. 

 

There are a lot of strong choices to pair with Sonic Blast.  Hard to go wrong.  You also got a thousand character slots.  Make several different pairings and see which 'sticks'.

[StriderIV]

1 hour ago, Doomguide2005 said:

Cold is in fact a beastly good debuffer.  Their shields would be very helpful to a resistance set like /Fire as well. 

 

There are a lot of strong choices to pair with Sonic Blast.  Hard to go wrong.  You also got a thousand character slots.  Make several different pairings and see which 'sticks'.

Very true! Seems like there is a lot of synergy with Sonic. I really appreciate all the advice! I’m typically only able to get on about 2 nights a week for limited time, so I know I’ll probably only be sinking hours into 1-2 heroes. Good to know I can’t really go wrong!

[Parabola]

As mentioned it's hard to make a really bad /sonic defender. I've played several at one time or another. I'll throw a particular mention out for dark/sonic. Dark miasma is simply an awesome set merging control with debuffing in a very satisfying way. It gets going early and can really ruin almost any enemies day. Positionally the sets work well together as they both use cones and only the nuke will force you to move from range.

[Marshal_General]

I remember back on live, people were soling giant monsters with rad/sonic.

[StriderIV]

6 hours ago, parabola said:

As mentioned it's hard to make a really bad /sonic defender. I've played several at one time or another. I'll throw a particular mention out for dark/sonic. Dark miasma is simply an awesome set merging control with debuffing in a very satisfying way. It gets going early and can really ruin almost any enemies day. Positionally the sets work well together as they both use cones and only the nuke will force you to move from range.

Nice man! I’ve rolled a Dark/Dark Blaster in the past and a Demon/Dark MM. I guess I just love the aesthetics and well rounded ness of Dark =P

Might switch it up with this Defender. Do you have any experience with Storm Summoning and who it would stack up with the other primaries when paired with /Sonic?

[StriderIV]

4 hours ago, Marshal_General said:

I remember back on live, people were soling giant monsters with rad/sonic.

0.o 

 

that’s insane haha

[Parabola]

7 minutes ago, StriderIV said:

Nice man! I’ve rolled a Dark/Dark Blaster in the past and a Demon/Dark MM. I guess I just love the aesthetics and well rounded ness of Dark =P

Might switch it up with this Defender. Do you have any experience with Storm Summoning and who it would stack up with the other primaries when paired with /Sonic?

I prefer dark blast with storm for the utility of the immobilize. From a damage point of view storm/sonic is very good on paper but I'd worry about actually applying that damage when things start flying all over the place.

 

Rad/sonic had a reputation on live for being just about the best defender for a long time. Rad has lost a little of it's sparkle over the years due to other really powerful debuff options (cold in particular) and because the pace of the game has changed (long animation toggle debuffs really hurt it now). It is still a really solid set though and does allow solo big game hunting if that appeals.

 

The other set I love is thermal. It's a bit more understated, in that it doesn't do anything much that another set can't do better. But it can do a lot of things well and it brings variety to the table. It's hard to imagine the team or situation that wouldn't benefit from something thermal can do. It's heals don't require tohit checks so they are always reliable, it offers resist shields which are always well received, it has solid debuffs, forge is great and it has a rez. It really is a swiss army knife set.

[Grouchybeast]

I recently duoed a DP/Martial blaster with a Thermal/Sonic defender, and it was a fantastic combo that made my blaster feel absolutely godly.  Shields, heals when I inevitably managed to blap myself into trouble despite the shields, no mez to worry about, debuffs turning EBs into jelly, and a permanent 50% damage buff to top it all off.  A+++, would rampage wildly across the map again.

Edited December 15, 2020 by Grouchybeast

[StriderIV]

3 hours ago, parabola said:

I prefer dark blast with storm for the utility of the immobilize. From a damage point of view storm/sonic is very good on paper but I'd worry about actually applying that damage when things start flying all over the place.

 

Rad/sonic had a reputation on live for being just about the best defender for a long time. Rad has lost a little of it's sparkle over the years due to other really powerful debuff options (cold in particular) and because the pace of the game has changed (long animation toggle debuffs really hurt it now). It is still a really solid set though and does allow solo big game hunting if that appeals.

 

The other set I love is thermal. It's a bit more understated, in that it doesn't do anything much that another set can't do better. But it can do a lot of things well and it brings variety to the table. It's hard to imagine the team or situation that wouldn't benefit from something thermal can do. It's heals don't require tohit checks so they are always reliable, it offers resist shields which are always well received, it has solid debuffs, forge is great and it has a rez. It really is a swiss army knife set.

Yeah, I thought about Rad/Sonic as well! I just know a ton of people rolled them, so thought maybe I’d switch it up.

 

That is good to know about Thermal. Seems like a jack of all trades.

[StriderIV]

1 hour ago, Grouchybeast said:

I recently duoed a DP/Martial blaster with a Thermal/Sonic defender, and it was a fantastic combo that made my blaster feel absolutely godly.  Shields, heals when I inevitably managed to blap myself into trouble despite the shields, no mez to worry about, debuffs turning EBs into jelly, and a permanent 50% damage buff to top it all off.  A+++, would rampage wildly across the map again.

Haha that does sound like a blast 😂 Thermal paired well with Sonic? Is there a different secondary you’d recommend with Thermal as well?

[Grouchybeast]

18 minutes ago, StriderIV said:

Haha that does sound like a blast 😂 Thermal paired well with Sonic? Is there a different secondary you’d recommend with Thermal as well?

Sonic is a deservedly popular Defender secondary because their -res debuff values are so good.  As long as you throw in a blast every few seconds, then you're not only doing damage yourself but you're buffing your teammates' damage by 20%, too.  It's just a great team buff across the board.  But honestly, you could equally well just take whatever secondary you fancy for thematic reasons.  A trio of anything in CoX is going to be robust enough to trade some mix/maxing for theme. 

 

The sonic sounds are pretty annoying, but you can mod them.

[StriderIV]

37 minutes ago, Grouchybeast said:

Sonic is a deservedly popular Defender secondary because their -res debuff values are so good.  As long as you throw in a blast every few seconds, then you're not only doing damage yourself but you're buffing your teammates' damage by 20%, too.  It's just a great team buff across the board.  But honestly, you could equally well just take whatever secondary you fancy for thematic reasons.  A trio of anything in CoX is going to be robust enough to trade some mix/maxing for theme. 

 

The sonic sounds are pretty annoying, but you can mod them.

Haha you CAN mod them? Nice, is it just in the create tool or option select?

[Grouchybeast]

8 minutes ago, StriderIV said:

Haha you CAN mod them? Nice, is it just in the create tool or option select?

No, unfortunately you need to replace the specific sound files in the CoH folders.  @Solarverse's thread here has a few mods for Sonic, and instructions on how to deploy  them.

 

ETA: This is my DP/MC Blaster, Gun Sue, as screenshotted by my duo partner.  Thermal shields coloured to match!

Edited December 15, 2020 by Grouchybeast

[StriderIV]

14 minutes ago, Grouchybeast said:

No, unfortunately you need to replace the specific sound files in the CoH folders.  @Solarverse's thread here has a few mods for Sonic, and instructions on how to deploy  them.

 

ETA: This is my DP/MC Blaster, Gun Sue, as screenshotted by my duo partner.  Thermal shields coloured to match!

Thanks so much for taking the time to answer my questions man, I appreciate it!