Help with Beam/Time - which powers do I take, and which should I skip?

Bilious Slick · January 26, 2021

I've seen a lot of differing opinions about Beam Rifle; currently, I skip Single Shot and Piercing Beam. With Power Boosted Farsight, my ranged and AoE defenses are softcapped, and Time's Juncture covers the gap in melee defense. I've heard Distortion Field is skippable, but I like the extra mitigation offered by its -Recharge and occasional holds. With both Hasten and Chrono Shift, I barely have enough recharge to make the latter permanent, although I have to remember to use it on cooldown.

My main questions are:

Should I keep Charged Shot for its higher DPA (if target is Disintegrated), or take Single Shot for the extra -Regen? Between Disintegration, Time Crawl, and Time Stop, I can apply a total of -300% Regen to a single target. Is that enough for AVs and GMs, or would the extra -75% Regen be more beneficial than the extra damage?

and

Should I drop Cutting Beam in favor of Piercing Beam, keeping all the same enhancements? Time's Juncture seems to reward jumping into melee, which puts it at odds with cones like Cutting Beam that encourage staying at range. But for particularly hard targets, I'd already be trying to maintain debuffs from 3 separate powers (all the -Regen ones mentioned above except Single Shot, which I'm not including because it would be part of my standard rotation), so adding a fourth in Piercing Beam seems like a bit much. Is the added -Res worth it when I already have Slowed Response?

Here's my build; I don't include any Incarnate abilities because I like to make characters that work without them.

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Carnifax · January 27, 2021

I always like splitting Scourging Blast into 3 and 3. That way you get 2x 10% recharge.

I've also found that Chrono is perfectly happy with 2 level 50+5 recharge IOs in it and nothing more. That gives you 4 slots to play with, letting you stick 4 Unbreakable Guard into tough, giving you precious Melee Def (although really anything getting close enough to melee gets debuffed by Juncture anyway).

So minor-tweak version I'd switch Cutting to take 3 of the Scourging, plus some frankenslotting aimed at adding Range to it (Cones love +range), pare back Chrono and that gets you closer to melee cap. Costs you some AoE but since nearly everything is capped anyway it won't matter too much.

Do you need Conserve Power? Layering Temp Inv on top of Tough gives you nice s/l resists instead, at the cost of one more toggle. But you look well slotted up for +Recovery and Chances for End.

This Hero build was built using Mids Reborn 3.0.4.6
https://github.com/Reborn-Team/MidsReborn

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Beam/Time: Level 50 Technology Corruptor
Primary Power Set: Beam Rifle
Secondary Power Set: Time Manipulation
Power Pool: Sorcery
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Power Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Charged Shot -- SprScrBls-Acc/Dmg(A), SprScrBls-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(3), SprScrBls-Rchg/+End(3), Thn-Acc/Dmg(5), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx(5), Thn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(7)
Level 1: Time Crawl -- Acc-I(A)
Level 2: Temporal Mending -- Prv-Heal(A), Prv-Heal/EndRdx(7), Prv-EndRdx/Rchg(9), Prv-Heal/Rchg(9), Prv-Heal/Rchg/EndRdx(11), Prv-Absorb%(11)
Level 4: Mystic Flight -- BlsoftheZ-Travel/EndRdx(A), BlsoftheZ-ResKB(17)
Level 6: Disintegrate -- SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg(A), SprWntBit-Dmg/Rchg(17), SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(19), SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(19), SprWntBit-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(21), SprWntBit-Rchg/SlowProc(21)
Level 8: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(23)
Level 10: Time's Juncture -- DarWtcDsp-ToHitDeb(A), DarWtcDsp-ToHitDeb/Rchg(23), DarWtcDsp-ToHitdeb/Rchg/EndRdx(25), DarWtcDsp-ToHitDeb/EndRdx(25)
Level 12: Cutting Beam -- SprScrBls-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(A), SprScrBls-Dmg/Rchg(27), SprScrBls-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(27), Artl-Acc/Rech/Rng(29), PstBls-Dmg/Rng(29), Ann-ResDeb%(31)
Level 14: Combat Jumping -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(31), Rct-ResDam%(31)
Level 16: Temporal Selection -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(33)
Level 18: Lancer Shot -- SprMlcoft-Acc/Dmg(A), SprMlcoft-Dmg/Rchg(33), SprMlcoft-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), SprMlcoft-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34), SprMlcoft-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(34), SprMlcoft-Rchg/Dmg%(34)
Level 20: Time Stop -- UnbCns-Hold/Rchg(A), UnbCns-Acc/Hold/Rchg(36), UnbCns-Acc/Rchg(36), UnbCns-EndRdx/Hold(36), UnbCns-Dam%(37)
Level 22: Aim -- GssSynFr--Build%(A)
Level 24: Distortion Field -- Hold-I(A), Hold-I(37)
Level 26: Penetrating Ray -- Apc-Dmg/Rchg(A), Apc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(37), Apc-Acc/Rchg(39), Apc-Dmg/EndRdx(39), Apc-Dam%(39), FrcFdb-Rechg%(40)
Level 28: Farsight -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(40), LucoftheG-Def(40), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(42)
Level 30: Kick -- Empty(A)
Level 32: Overcharge -- Rgn-Dmg/Rchg(A), Rgn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42), Rgn-Acc/Rchg(42), Rgn-Dmg/EndRdx(43), Rgn-Knock%(43), PstBls-Dam%(45)
Level 35: Power Build Up -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(43)
Level 38: Chrono Shift -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(45)
Level 41: Slowed Response -- Acc-I(A), RechRdx-I(45), AchHee-ResDeb%(47)
Level 44: Temp Invulnerability -- ResDam-I(A), ResDam-I(46)
Level 47: Tough -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(47), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(48), UnbGrd-Max HP%(48), GldArm-3defTpProc(48), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(50)
Level 49: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(A), LucoftheG-Def(49), LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(49)
Level 1: Scourge
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Swift -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A), Mrc-Rcvry+(13), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(13)
Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A), PrfShf-EndMod(15), EndMod-I(15)
Level 1: Disintegrating
Level 49: Quick Form
------------

Edited January 27, 2021 by Carnifax

Bilious Slick · January 27, 2021

I appreciate the response! I'm not sure I need Conserve Power, but I remember experiencing a net loss of Endurance over time while testing on the beta server. It was a fairly slow decline, but I'm concerned that I'd eventually run out in prolonged fights without it, and replacing it with another toggle would only make that worse. Giving CS some End Mod enhancement helps with this as well, but didn't seem to be enough on its own since its +Recovery buff only lasts 30 seconds. I might need to test it again, though; it's possible that I forgot some changes I made to the build since then.

The defense looks decent as well, but remember that Power Boost/Power Build Up also increases the defense provided by toggles, and that extra Def only lasts as long as Power Boost itself. With the way I've slotted Farsight, it grants 22.14% Def when Power Boosted, meaning that I'd need at least 22.86% Def before Power Boosted Farsight in order to hit the softcap, which Preemptive Optimization slotted in Chrono Shift and Frozen Blast slotted in Cutting Beam both help with. In the case of the former, I'd still hit the requisite Ranged Def without it, but the set's 5-piece bonus is a bit of extra global recharge, and at that point it's just one extra slot for 3.75% more Ranged Def. In the latter's case, I'd be less than 1% shy, but I'm a bit of a perfectionist.

Slotting some range in Cutting Beam would help it hit more targets, yes, but that isn't the issue I'm having with it. My problem is that Cutting Beam wants me at range, while Time's Juncture wants me in melee. So, should I keep Cutting Beam, or should I drop it altogether and take Piercing Beam instead?

Carnifax · January 27, 2021

Time Juncture isn't that good that you want to be close all the time. Think of it more like "if something gets close to me/us it's boned".

I think you're way overslotted for aoe defense, especially given your typed defenses. And I say that running a DP/Kin with about 22% aoe defense and thriving in tough content.

Uun · January 27, 2021

I don't recommend skipping Piercing Beam. Its got 15% -res which stacks with Slowed Response.

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Help with Beam/Time - which powers do I take, and which should I skip?

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