Looking for an AOE monster to Hover Farm with.

[Jacktar]

Hi guys, just found out about hover farming yesterday and then did a search on forum and found a couple of builds but they were in mids script so had to leave them till I could get on my mids PC.

Now I can’t find them ☹️

All I know is they mentioned Water/Rad but no AT.

So if anybody can link me or indeed suggest a better combo and AT I would be really grateful.

I just tried a Hover Farm map with my general purpose Fire/Fire Blaster and it was okay  enough to wet my appetite for a proper build.

Thanks for help/advise 👍

[Call Me Awesome]

Soft cap ranged damage on a Fire blaster and you'll do very well; mine's Fire/Energy and focused on ranged with Boost Range.  Rain of Fire, Bonfire (with KB-KD proc) & Fireball work wonders with Blaze and other ST attacks for bosses.

[fitzsimmons]

“All I know is they mentioned Water/Rad but no AT.”

 

Water/Rad can only be a corrupter.  Then there’s a rad/water which could only be a defender.

[Carnifax]

22 minutes ago, fitzsimmons said:

“All I know is they mentioned Water/Rad but no AT.”

 

Water/Rad can only be a corrupter.  Then there’s a rad/water which could only be a defender.

Blasters can have a Rad secondary.

 

As can Sentinels 🙂

[fitzsimmons]

4 minutes ago, Carnifax said:

Blasters can have a Rad secondary.

 

As can Sentinels 🙂

Blasters can’t.   Sentinels stink so I don’t even consider their existence.

[SeraphimKensai]

25 minutes ago, fitzsimmons said:

Blasters can’t.   Sentinels stink so I don’t even consider their existence.

Blasters have atomic, which might as well be called rad as a lot of powers overlap.

[fitzsimmons]

3 minutes ago, SeraphimKensai said:

Blasters have atomic, which might as well be called rad as a lot of powers overlap.

... but it’s called atomic.

 

I might as well be called dumbo because I have big ears.

 

Anyway, with regards to hover farming and the poster’s recollection of water/rad, I’d fancy a guess that it was a corruptor.

 

However several combos could work.  BR/TA, Fire/TA blasters, etc.

 

GLHF

[Neiska]

@Jacktar - Apologies for the late reply! Only just now noticed the thread.

 

And I have an unconventional suggestion - A Mastermind.

 

Wait wait wait, hear me out! I'm serious! STOP LAUGHING! FOR REALS!

 

Are you done with the giggles? Okay, here are the important deets -

 

1.) Awhile back, they changed how pet AI works. Simply said, if the pets have ranged attacks, they will not run into melee. Instead they will hang back, and pew pew away.

The main ranged attack sets, are Robots, Mercs, and a few of the Demons. But I strongly consider robots the best overall choice.

 

Anyway, you pair this AI change, with group fly. Poof! Now you have a whole flying Team of hover farmers!

 

So I rolled up a Robot/Time MM, with group fly in mind. Well, it proved SO successful, that I made a Robot/Electric MM as well, who is now the "main" of the team.

 

2.) Now here is an IMPORTANT note - Threat tables work differently for ATs with pets. Usually, the threat table is limited to 16 for tanks, 12 for everyone else. (I believe?) Well, what isn't written is that each PET can also have 12 mobs. PER PET. So, do the math - 1 (you) + 3 (t1 pets) + 2 (t2 pets) + 1 (t3 pet) = 7. But I run two MMs! so that's 14. 14 "threat tables", which means - 14 threat tables x 12 mobs per = a grand total of 168 mobs at once! (in theory.) 8 mobs per spawn. So in theory, two MMs could engage up to 21 spawns of 8 mobs EACH. (assuming each pet and MM has 12 mobs on them apiece.) Now in practice, it doesn't work out this way, due to restricted area and available standing space and distance involved between spawns. But I quite regularly fight between 5 and 8 spawns with my MM team on the maps mentioned below. In fact when on the Moon AE map, I pretty much fight half the map at once, the wandering spawns aggro themselves, and at the end of it I have only 1 or 2 straggler groups to mop up before doing the next part.

 

NORMALLY, fighting such a mass of mobs would mean death. But my /electric and /time Robo MMs just compliment each other so well, that they and all of their pets survive just fine. On the hardest difficulty. So not only can they "farm", since they are engaging so many MORE mobs at a time than a brute (their 40+ compared to the brutes 12 or so) they clear maps faster, despite doing less damage individually, they do much more "en masse" vs the map as a whole.

 

Here is how it all comes together-

 

I pilot my /EA, with my /Time on follow. All pets are in bodyguard mode at all times, both with group fly enabled. KEEP your PETS targeted! Super important for +absorb and other powers that require targeting! With my /EA, I focus on +absorb, but when I move from spot to spot, I throw up a cage. I throw on the damage buff if I feel like it, but it largely isn't necessary. She has barrier as well, since ageless and clarion aren't needed with +End and Cage powers. With my /time, I have her on follow mode, and when barrier is down, I click my power boost and my +def to cap "everyone's" defenses. When mobs really bunch themselves up, I throw down a Zone of slow on the patches of fire, just to make sure between that, and web grenade, everything is super slow to escape the wrath of my robots! Even Elite Bosses melt quickly under the giant zone of death I plop down beneath myself.

 

Now, keep in mind, we are all flying. With that, mobs naturally want to run right beneath you, even being so courteous enough to stack and bunch themselves up into a nice big ball! This is where the fun begins...

 

Missile swarm from two assault bots, that stacks great big ole burning patches. My my my.. what a lovely spot for a... Bonfire! (from my /ea.) With a Web Grenade from my /Time! Mwahahah! Burn mobbies! Burn! Yes yes yes!

 

This has proven to be "incredibly" effective. Not only is the team pretty immortal, even on highest difficulty, but on some maps I can fully go AFK and do dishes or do a load of laundry.

 

In case you were wondering, the 2 main maps I run with this setup are -

 

Night at the Movies - Fire, no elite bosses - A nice, big, map with lots and lots of enemies. You have all the space you need to hover. I can even go AFK on this map with my MM team while fighting 4-5 mobs at a time, because they have few ranged attacks to speak of, and zero -fly powers. So my +absorb and +heal on autocast, are plenty enough to deal with whatever damage does come in! So if you want to hover farm with a Mastermind, this map has my vote!

 

Comicon - Fire Moon Map -

With this map, its the high risk/high reward. More or less as soon as all pets arrive, I throw up barrier and move to the very center of the map. Throw up Cage, as well as +absorb, and begin killing. You "can" hover on this map, but it has a lower ceiling. But you have to pay attention because its easy to get in over your head and get mobbed. And honestly, it does work better on foot on this map. But you can "hover farm" on it. But I mention it out of a sake for completeness.

 

TLDR - a robot mastermind can hover farm quite well, because most of its damage comes from the assault bot's fire patches. And since you are flying, mobs want to naturally run under you. So they more or less heard themselves into it, with no effort on your part. All that's really required from you, is to make sure you are hovering "over" your assaults fire patches. But you can make it much more complex and effective than that!

 

Hope this helps!

Edited April 6, 2021 by Neiska

[BLVD]

Archery/TA has been my favorite hover blasting experience. The AOE burst damage feels even better than my fire/fire blaster because it isn't limited to Burn's radius.

[Jacktar]

Hi, wow, just wow, I am going to be all over your info like a flash.

I also dual box so can get all the assets up and levelled and paired up real soon.

So excited about this new venture can’t thank you enough 👍🥳😀

 

Will also roll an arch/ta because that will be a new combo for me as well and sounds great for when I just have a short play time or am on my “can only run one instance at a time “ machine 😢

 

Thanks to you both, so much appreciated 👏👏

[Neiska]

@Jacktar - well I am on everlasting if you want to see my robo/ea + robo/time MM team at work, can show you how it looks/plays. Glad to hear you like it though!

[Tacheyon]

I am having fun with a Water/TA Blaster.  Although You could try a Water/TA Corr for a few more debuffs to boost damage.

[BurningDezire]

On 4/6/2021 at 10:48 AM, BLVD said:

Archery/TA has been my favorite hover blasting experience. The AOE burst damage feels even better than my fire/fire blaster because it isn't limited to Burn's radius.

Is there a build somewhere for this?

[WitchofDread]

here is a fire/energy/fire blaster i have just put together:

 

This Hero build was built using Mids Reborn 3.0.4.7
https://github.com/Reborn-Team/MidsReborn

Level 50 Magic Blaster
Primary Power Set: Fire Blast
Secondary Power Set: Energy Manipulation
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Speed
Ancillary Pool: Flame Mastery

Hero Profile:
------------
Level 1:    Fire Blast            SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg(A), SprBlsWrt-Dmg/Rchg(3), SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(3), SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(5), SprBlsWrt-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(5), SprBlsWrt-Rchg/Dmg%(7)
Level 1:    Power Thrust            Empty(A)
Level 2:    Fire Ball            Artl-Acc/Dam(A), Artl-Acc/Dam/Rech(7), Artl-Dam/End(9), PstBls-Dam%(9), Ann-ResDeb%(11), JvlVll-Dam%(11)
Level 4:    Build Up            RechRdx-I(A)
Level 6:    Rain of Fire            SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg(A), SprDfnBrr-Dmg/Rchg(13), SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(13), SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(15), SprDfnBrr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(15), SprDfnBrr-Rchg/+Status Protect(17)
Level 8:    Hover                LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(17), Rct-ResDam%(19)
Level 10:    Fly                Frb-Stlth(A)
Level 12:    Aim                RechRdx-I(A)
Level 14:    Kick                Empty(A)
Level 16:    Energize            NmnCnv-Heal/EndRdx(A), NmnCnv-EndRdx/Rchg(36), NmnCnv-Heal/Rchg(36), NmnCnv-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(36), NmnCnv-Heal(37), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(37)
Level 18:    Blaze                Apc-Dam%(A), Apc-Dmg/EndRdx(19), Apc-Dmg(21), Apc-Dmg/Rchg(21), Apc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(31), GldJvl-Dam%(31)
Level 20:    Tough                StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), GldArm-3defTpProc(37), GldArm-End/Res(40)
Level 22:    Weave                LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), RedFrt-Def(23), RedFrt-Def/EndRdx(23)
Level 24:    Maneuvers            LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), RedFrt-Def(25), RedFrt-Def/EndRdx(25)
Level 26:    Blazing Bolt            StnoftheM-Dam%(A), StnoftheM-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(27), StnoftheM-Acc/Dmg(27), StnoftheM-Dmg/EndRdx(29), StnoftheM-Acc/ActRdx/Rng(29), GldJvl-Dam%(31)
Level 28:    Power Boost            RechRdx-I(A)
Level 30:    Hasten                RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(34)
Level 32:    Inferno                Erd-%Dam(A), Erd-Dmg(33), Erd-Acc/Rchg(33), Obl-%Dam(33), Obl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(34), Obl-Dmg(34)
Level 35:    Boost Range            RechRdx-I(A)
Level 38:    Total Focus            Mk'Bit-Acc/Dmg(A), Mk'Bit-Dmg/EndRdx(39), Mk'Bit-Dmg/Rchg(39), Mk'Bit-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(39), Mk'Bit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(40), Mk'Bit-Dam%(40)
Level 41:    Bonfire                FrcFdb-Rechg%(A), SuddAcc--KB/+KD(42), ExpStr-Dam%(42), PstBls-Dam%(42), ExpStr-Dmg/KB(43), ExpStr-Acc/KB(43)
Level 44:    Fire Shield            TtnCtn-ResDam(A), TtnCtn-ResDam/EndRdx(45), TtnCtn-ResDam/Rchg(45), TtnCtn-ResDam/EndRdx/Rchg(45)
Level 47:    Tactics                GssSynFr--ToHit(A), GssSynFr--ToHit/Rchg(48), GssSynFr--ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(48), GssSynFr--Rchg/EndRdx(48), GssSynFr--ToHit/EndRdx(50), GssSynFr--Build%(50)
Level 49:    Vengeance            LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A)
Level 1:    Brawl                Empty(A)
Level 1:    Defiance    
Level 1:    Sprint                Empty(A)
Level 2:    Rest                Empty(A)
Level 2:    Swift                Empty(A)
Level 2:    Health                Empty(A)
Level 2:    Hurdle                Empty(A)
Level 2:    Stamina                PreOptmz-Acc/Rech(A), PreOptmz-EndMod/End(43), PreOptmz-EndMod/Rech(46), PreOptmz-EndMod/Acc/End(46), PreOptmz-EndMod/Acc/Rech(46), PreOptmz-EndMod/End/Rech(50)
Level 49:    Quick Form    
------------

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