Kinetic/Sonic help

[TungstenShark]

I wanted to roll a toon to both buff my party and debuff the enemy and settled on a Kin/Sonic defender. I have not seen any posts on this combo on the boards. I last played waaaaay back in Issue 3 (or maybe very early 4) so IOs were not even a glimmer in anyone's eye yet. As such, I am pretty lost when it comes to trying to slot set IOs, so let me ask some general questions:

 

1.) On the Kinetic side, I am likely going to take all powers except Repel and Inertial Reduction. On the Sonic side, I'll probably skip Shockwave, Amplify, Siren's Song and (maybe) Screech (unsure at the moment on this one). Have I over looked obvious reasons to include any of the skipped powers?

 

2.) Should I be 6 slotting all my attacks and using sets in each, or do some attacks manage fine with less slots? I see other builds and slotting is all over the place...3 slot attacks, or 5 slot, or 6 slot. I am still trying to figure out the optimal setup.

 

3.) On the buffing side, a lot of the Kinetic powers do not seem to require a lot of slotting (like Siphon Power, Siphon Speed, Speed Boost), but I might be terribly wrong. What about the "big" ones like Transference and Fulcrum Shift (and Transfusion to a lesser extent)?

 

4.) I plan on running the three Leadership toggles - how should these be slotted? Assault seems to require no additional slotting, but what about Maneuvers and Tactics?

 

5.) Are Tough and Weave needed in a build like this? If so, how should they be slotted? I was planning on getting them both, but maybe neither is necessary.

 

6.) Same with Hasten...I was planning on taking and 3-slotting for Recharge. But this might be some archaic thinking leftover from "the good old days."

 

So...yeah...pretty lost, outside of knowing the the two powersets i want to use. LOL Any and all help/feedback/comments/criticism appreciated. Thanks!

[Erratic1]

I played a Kin/Sonic Defender pre-shutdown and enjoyed him so much I am rebuilding him currently. I cannot give answers to all your questions, but here are my thoughts:

 

(1) Repel has its uses, situational though they may be. I have prevented wipes before by going bowling--mobs knocked off their feet do not get to attack your party. Less flashy and dramatic, standing in front of other squishy ATs prevents a lot of melee from getting to them. Siren's Song is awesome because slept things don't mind you getting close and doing Fulcrum Shift. It also has wipe prevention possibilities. I am toying with slotting Shockwave for knockdown as another means of control but have not gotten there yet.

 

(2) While you will want to and should be doing attacks, I find enough of my time occupied by buffing, debuffing, and healing that attacks are part of the mix, not a primary function and done as much to debuff the resistance of what is hit as to damage it. Obviously solo you will want to be dealing damage. 1 Accuracy + 3 Damage is as far as I would go, but that also relies on taking Tactics.

 

(3) The primary thing about your Kinetic buff powers is you want them to hit and you want them to cycle quickly. While Tactics helps with this, for things that absolutely critically need to hit, 2 Accuracy enhancements is my go to. As example, Siphon Power had 2 Accuracy + 3 Recharge in it on my pre-shutdown build.

 

(4) Tactics should have 3 To-Hit Enhancements, Assault I previously slotted for Endurance Reduction (what else are you going to put in that slot?).

 

(5) I would imagine you might get more use from Combat Jumping and Acrobatics, but some things come down to personal preference.

 

(6) Hasten, yes, Yes, YES! Your major perk as a Kinetic is you should neve be out of endurance so long as you have Transference up often enough. Stacking Power Siphon along with Fulcrum Shift should allow your team to mow through opponents. For that you want powers cycling as fast as possible. So on top of Siphon Speed, you want Hasten. And Recharge Enhancements in those powers.

 

[Charistoph]

Unless you have some personal or thematic reasons, wouldn't Radiation Blast make hitting with your Kinetic Debuffs a lot easier?

[Erratic1]

Unless you have some personal or thematic reasons, wouldn't Radiation Blast make hitting with your Kinetic Debuffs a lot easier?

 

 

Matter of what you want to debuff. Debuffing resistance requires Sonic.

[kelly Rocket]

Unless you have some personal or thematic reasons, wouldn't Radiation Blast make hitting with your Kinetic Debuffs a lot easier?

It really doesn't. -Def isn't very useful in PvE. Very few enemies have any significant amount of Defense in PvE, and you can--and should--take Tactics, which is equivalent to an unresistable -15 to -20% def debuff on everything you're fighting. (+ToHit and -Def are mathematically equivalent).

 

There are a few rare cases where -Def is valuable, but -Res is always much more valuable.

 

It's particularly so on a Kinetics toon, as you can probably boost the team to the damage cap with Fulcrum Shift, and -res lets you then break the damage cap. To the tune of 4x the damage cap in damage output, if you can floor an enemy's resistance. Which you can't, with just one character throwing Sonic Blast, but you can nearly double it all by yourself, and if you have teammates who also have resistance debuffing powers, you may well be able to get the targets to the resistance floor.

[Without_Pause]

/rad has benefits, plays better up close which Kin likes and has quick animations, but -def isn't one of them. I think once level 25 IOs and beyond get involved, -def matters little. Stacking -res on a damage capped team is always welcomed though.

[Purple Spy]

Can someone enlighten me on this damage cap, or point me to where i can find more numbers? Im never really sure how much damage my kin/sonic is adding to the team with each cast. Whats the point where im reaching a cap and throwing out a couple attacks may be better than another shift/siphon.

 

Also from my experiences, dont worry too much about slotting endurance reduction, i have around 2 in each of my toggles (3 leaderships and hover) and never have endurance issues, to the point where i basically never hit transference. I could easily dump a few and work it in to my build, or actually slot siphon speed for recovery.

[Erratic1]

Damage Cap explained.

[Without_Pause]

Also from my experiences, dont worry too much about slotting endurance reduction, i have around 2 in each of my toggles (3 leaderships and hover) and never have endurance issues, to the point where i basically never hit transference. I could easily dump a few and work it in to my build, or actually slot siphon speed for recovery.

 

Toggles are pretty much the lowest end drain. Your attacks will be a bigger source of end drain. No real need to slot more than one end redux into toggles.