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Embarrassed by an AV! What am I doing wrong???

VV

By VV
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VV

VV

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So, last night, I decided to solo Ice Mistral's SF on my (supposedly) tricked out Grav/Storm/Ice. SF max level was 40, so no Incarnates or Epics. I was being lazy/half-asleep, so doing it on a lame-o setting like +1x3 or something. Steamrolling through it, of course. Forgot I had AVs still turned on. Got to the last mission to beat up Mage Archus. Ran into a bit of trouble with him. So, my first question is, Can a Grav/Storm beat an AV at all? Not sure if she has the debuffs/damage to do it, even properly tricked out? If so, what are the proper tricks? Money is no issue, so whatever she needs, let me know.  Build in the spoiler.

 

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Edited by VV
Meknomancer

Meknomancer

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I've had the same problems usually when he hits with his heal for 5k and tops up his hp or when i forget to take envenomed daggers. If you can keep hurricane up you should be able to avoid getting hit by twilight grasp heal and then all you need is the - regen which grav/storm doesnt have. Mez protection would be essential break free's are your best option but i'm pretty sure the supercollider in base has some buffs you can craft from junk salvage to help. I like to slot single target hold with some damage/procs if possible and propel can put out good numbers with some apocalypse pieces in, i like to mix bits up in there too, 3 apoc include the proc, ff+rech, glad chance for toxic, overwhelming force dmg/kb/kd. I don't like slotting freezing rain with no end red and the procs hardly seem to fire off in pseudopets. If you dump ice epic for psi you'll be giving up a lot of defence in exchange for mez protection which is great especially when he summons his succubus and they start throwing out confuse but would it be perma mez protection at 40? You'd be better off using psi epic with a ranged def build and hovering out of melee possibly. Can't say i've tried it solo on a grav/storm just some thoughts.

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Coyote

Coyote

Posted
Posted
  On 3/11/2021 at 12:49 AM, VV said:

Can a Grav/Storm beat an AV at all? Not sure if she has the debuffs/damage to do it, even properly tricked out?

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Absolutely, if you build for Ranged Defense so you survive. Offense isn't much of a problem, /Storm alone can generall beat or come close to an AV's regeneration, and Gravity is good at single-target damage. Certain AVs who debuff Defense would be quite hard, though.

 

However, in your build, I can see that you clearly built for S/L defense, and not capped... that would be a problem when fighting S/L AVs, because 36% defense against a +1 AV, with no other strong defense = dead. And that's against a S/L AV, who doesn't debuff Defense, which is the BEST case scenario. So in the best case... you'll still get killed, and pretty fast. In worse cases, like an AV who lowers Defense or who does mostly damage without a S/L component, it's going to be ugly.

 

My best overall suggestion is to just make a 2nd build for soloing AVs. Then you can avoid AoE powers on it, no wasted team buffs, etc, and just focus on building Defense. You ARE a ranged Blaster-type (high damage, almost no defenses), with a bit of of Defense from Steamy Mist and nothing else, but no Sustain power. So you really have to hit 40+ in your Ranged Defense, if not 45... plus some decent AoE. You can actually plan on running Hurricane (it's still about a 5% debuff or so even against AVs, so it's better than many pool Defense powers), since you can Immobilize an AV and not worry that they'll come at you.

 

Some design concepts for such a build are: almost every fully-slotted power should give +Defense if possible. If not, then +Recharge is acceptable, but Defense is your primary goal. If you don't manage mez protection, then carrying Break-Frees will be needed for almost all AVs... if you do set up for mez protection (45+ with Clarion, or Indomitable Will or Rune of Power), then you can carry Lucks to help get the defense up. I like the build that you have for general soloing, but powers like Frost Breath/Ice Storm, which I personally love... are useless against the AV. So it has to be changed drastically. BTW, one change to make on even this build is in Tornado: get the Overwhelming Force KB2KD converter since it also enhances damage, then you can change the Acc/Dam IO to an Acc/Rech and get better Recharge in Tornado.

 

Here is a sample build, going into the Mu pool to add Resists behind the Defense build (and to get a Heal since the Guardian has a decent Heal Other power). I'm not happy with the AoE Defense, and I'd like to proc out at least one attack for more damage, but it has a much better chance against pretty much any AV:
 

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Coyote

Coyote

Posted
Posted

Updated build: just realized that I copied from an Illusion/Storm, who didn't have a need for personal defense so she didn't have the Fighting pool. This version has Fighting for better resists and defenses:

 

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Frosticus

Frosticus

Posted
Posted
  On 3/11/2021 at 12:49 AM, VV said:

 So, my first question is, Can a Grav/Storm beat an AV at all?

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Definitely, but that particular AV is more challenging than many others.

 

That said, storm doesn't give you much other than a nice dps boost (steamy mist is basically it). They are nearly immune to slow/rech debuffs, tohit debuffs and you won't be holding them unless the triangles are down.

As mentioned above your best bet is to softcap ranged def, make sure you have mez protection in place and then hope they miss you enough.

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Earth/Psi Dom - AV killer

Arsenal/Sav Dom - AV Killer

Poison - a guide to the most deadly poisons

nihilii

nihilii

Posted
Posted

Echoing what others said, Archus is a tough one. Even at level 50 he would be reasonably strong, and even with perma -regen he DPSchecks you through his healing. I've had many AV-capable characters struggle a little bit against him.

By the way, on a Task Force an AV will always be an AV. Even if you're solo and with AVs off.

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