Goldside AT choices

[Snarky]

I am going to be part of a team doing Praetoria 1-20 story arcs and then on through the wards.  
 

I am planning on running  a Dark/Dark.  I cannot decide between Defender Controller Corruptor or Dominator

 

Are there certain ATs that do less well Goldside.  I know if we were fighting non stop Arachnos holds are less useful (or so i have heard).  Anything i should be aware of Goldside before i make my choice?

[Blackbird71]

Deja vu all over again.

Archetypes - Homecoming (homecomingservers.com)

[Apparition]

11 minutes ago, Snarky said:

I am going to be part of a team doing Praetoria 1-20 story arcs and then on through the wards.  
 

I am planning on running  a Dark/Dark.  I cannot decide between Defender Controller Corruptor or Dominator

 

Are there certain ATs that do less well Goldside.  I know if we were fighting non stop Arachnos holds are less useful (or so i have heard).  Anything i should be aware of Goldside before i make my choice?

 

The only ATs that really struggle gold side are Masterminds and Stalkers.  Masterminds because ambushes completely ignore your pets like they aren’t even there and focus all of their Fire directly on your Mastermind.  Stalkers because many ambushes ignore your stealth, negating one of the Stalkers’ biggest tools.

 

All four of the ATs you mentioned will do just fine.

[The_Warpact]

I've done both doms and trollers over there and had better success with a troller.

[Darmian]

Goldside?  Hmm, my main is a Goldside Controller (Mind/Empathy) but even so a Controller can handle the content, just don't expect to be a heavy damage dealer against Ghouls and so on, those bastiches are worse than Freakshow, fast mobs that claw you down and keep coming.  Destroyers?  Oddly enough the Big Dogs, while hard as nails, are easier to weather than the Rocket Girls, who just bazooka the bejebus out of you from a distance. Seers?  Individually Seers are weak. In a mob?  Ick. Clockwork aren't incredibly tough - apart from the odd bit of arc lightning that drains your endurance - but they don't close on you, so melee characters can have a bit of trouble there. Syndicate can be fast, Tsoo-like in some ways. Resistance have a mixed variety of attacks but are manageable, same for the PPD mostly.  Watch for Runesoldiers around level 19/20 in Neutropolis, they're rare but can drop you.

 

As for the Wards?  Well, burn that bridge when you come to it.

 

(There's a set of pre War AE arcs set Goldside in my sig, levels 19-25, designed to slot right in, if more content is what you want.)

[Coyotedancer]

1 hour ago, Apparition said:

 

The only ATs that really struggle gold side are Masterminds and Stalkers.  Masterminds because ambushes completely ignore your pets like they aren’t even there and focus all of their Fire directly on your Mastermind.  Stalkers because many ambushes ignore your stealth, negating one of the Stalkers’ biggest tools.

 

All four of the ATs you mentioned will do just fine.

 

What App said...

 

I've taken Stalkers through Praetoria successfully, but... yeah. Just go into it knowing that you're basically going to be playing an occasionally-sneaky Scrapper for the duration of your stay gold-side.  

[MTeague]

2 hours ago, Apparition said:

The only ATs that really struggle gold side are Masterminds and Stalkers.  Masterminds because ambushes completely ignore your pets like they aren’t even there and focus all of their Fire directly on your Mastermind.  

Certain MM's will do much better in Praetoria. My Mercs/Rad is doing well there, because he's Always in Bodyguard Mode, they shoot him, damage is spread across him and pets, aura heal helps keep them all going, and Rad Debuffs can kittenize the majority of incoming pain well enough.  A /Storm or a /TrickArrow MM might have a harder time avoiding being worn down. 

 

re the OP:   of those choices I would probably do a Darkity/Dark/Dark Corruptor, or a Darkity/Dark/Dark Controller. 

Mostly because Dark Miasma I want several early powers, having it has my secondary won't waste any power picks I don't want.

 

I have an Dark/Rad Dominator that... has been a struggle. Admittedly, I solo him in Praetoria on +1x3 and that is not always wise.  Most missions he gets it done and it feels good.  Then I get a mission with several waves of amushes that simply overwhelm me and I am incapable of firing off enough control fast enough, and I have to suck up my pride hubris and lower difficulty down to +1x2 to get past it.  Or I have to walk in with an inspiration bar full of large inspirations, and that's hardly sporting. 

[ZemX]

17 hours ago, Coyotedancer said:

I've taken Stalkers through Praetoria successfully, but... yeah. Just go into it knowing that you're basically going to be playing an occasionally-sneaky Scrapper for the duration of your stay gold-side.  

 

More than occasionally.  It's really ONLY the ambushes that prevent you from starting off with a hidden Assassin Strike and even those you can usually pop at least one of the ambushers with a hidden crit normal attack by waiting to ambush THEM at a corner.    In a lot of cases, even in Praetoria, the built in stealth and controlled crits are still very much a benefit.

 

It rewards careful play.  Don't just blitz to the end because you might be spawning location-triggered ambushes all along the way.  If you know you're rescuing a hostage (or kidnapping one) be sure to clear a path first.  It's good training for a Stalker.  On the escort point, I don't think Praetoria has any greater amount of these than anywhere else.  The main difference is the ambushes.  Whoever designed most of the missions in Praetoria LOVES ambushes and thinks that if one ambush is fun, ten ambushes must be TEN TIMES as fun! Wheee!

 

20 hours ago, Snarky said:

I am planning on running  a Dark/Dark.  I cannot decide between Defender Controller Corruptor or Dominator

 

I don't know about anyone else, but the problem I'm having coming up with an answer to this is that I've only ever soloed Praetorian content 1-20.  Running it on a team with larger spawns and probably more bosses?  Could be a whole lot nastier.  But if it's just more and harder of the stuff you face solo, then I'd say the -toHit debuffs will be nice.  There's a fair amount of -def debuffing in gun-toting enemies.  There's also -regen in a lot of clockwork attacks so healing is nice too.  Control is handy for ambushes.  Even my Stalker's Ice Patch makes a huge difference there.  Tar Patch will be nice, though in those levels it will have fairly lengthy recharge if the team is moving fast.

 

Okay here's one thing I don't think has been mentioned yet but I am always noticing it, even solo in Praetoria.  The spawn placements are either careless... or sadistic.   They are often VERY close together such that even solo I sometimes have trouble not getting a double spawn on me especially in underground tunnel rooms.  I have to assume that's even worse with team-sized spawns so... think about stuff that handles that.  Are you going to round up nearby spawns with a tanker/brute or will you want to cloak the team in Shadow Fall or use controls to put unwanted adds on standby until you're ready for them?

[Tahliah]

19 hours ago, MTeague said:

Certain MM's will do much better in Praetoria. My Mercs/Rad is doing well there, because he's Always in Bodyguard Mode, they shoot him, damage is spread across him and pets, aura heal helps keep them all going, and Rad Debuffs can kittenize the majority of incoming pain well enough.  A /Storm or a /TrickArrow MM might have a harder time avoiding being worn down. 

When I am in the mood to roll an MM, I typically choose to start out Goldside.  Keeping your pets on bodyguard mod will alleviate any problems with pets being ignored (I honestly can't recall that ever happening to me, but when I solo, I tend to keep them on bodyguard, or at least keep the Tier 1 on it, since they get dead fast on aggressive).  I prefer to run demons/whatever, so YMMV.  I do also have a beast/nature MM that I rolled through Gold so, and it was a blast. 

 

If you're going to be on a set team that is going through Goldside together, @Snarky, I'm not sure it really matters what AT you choose, or you may want to coordinate a bit with the others intending to join to ensure you have enough damage and debuffs.  Good holds will also come in helpful on more than a few mishes.  😉

[oedipus_tex]

Doing it as a Dark Controller might bring you closest to the original experience, if that matters. Altho Dark Control didn't exist when Praetoria came online, it was the last Control set added to the game and has that new-er feel. I also personally consider it the best balanced Control set, doing exactly what it needs to do in terms of safety without being over or under powered.

 

Electric Control did release with Praetoria and is the set I first played all that content with.

Edited June 11, 2021 by oedipus_tex

[Coyotedancer]

2 hours ago, ZemX said:

Whoever designed most of the missions in Praetoria LOVES ambushes and thinks that if one ambush is fun, ten ambushes must be TEN TIMES as fun! Wheee!

 

And every bloody one of them is player-targeted, just for a little extra "sticking it" to the sneaky sorts...  

 

Anyway, I never said it was impossible to stalk your way through Praetoria... My very first Praetorian was a KM/WP Stalker way-back-when, and I just caught a rift gate with my most recent one yesterday afternoon (DB/Energy). The heat-seeking ambushes are just something to be aware of. Depending on the path you take and the contacts you run, you'll spend more time scrapping than you would red side or blue. That's particularly true if you stick around and carry through to First Ward, which seems almost intentionally designed to make stalkers face-palm.

[MTeague]

2 hours ago, Coyotedancer said:

 

And every bloody one of them is player-targeted, just for a little extra "sticking it" to the sneaky sorts...  

 

Anyway, I never said it was impossible to stalk your way through Praetoria... My very first Praetorian was a KM/WP Stalker way-back-when, and I just caught a rift gate with my most recent one yesterday afternoon (DB/Energy). The heat-seeking ambushes are just something to be aware of. Depending on the path you take and the contacts you run, you'll spend more time scrapping than you would red side or blue. That's particularly true if you stick around and carry through to First Ward, which seems almost intentionally designed to make stalkers face-palm.

First Ward really tests how well you've kitted yourself out, and whether or not you can learn to run when you need to. 

 

Shepherds with all their massive Debuffery. Oh you're a defense build? Too bad we don't miss anymore.

Awakened with Psilopalooza, some attacks which are also Auto-Hit.

 

It can be done solo, and it's worth it at least one to really be able to read the missions and appreciate the storyline at liesure. 

But you do appreciate having support and controls at your back, or a Weebels Wobble But They Don't Fall Down tank in front of you. 

[Placta]

2 hours ago, Coyotedancer said:

First Ward, which seems almost intentionally designed to make stalkers face-palm.

 

Oh, God. I got Synaptic Overload on my dom right around the time I started fighting the Possessed.

 

Do you know what the point of AoE Confusing a group of enemies that are defeated in one hit is?

 

Neither do I.

 

Even after multiple applications.

 

At least I had the choice not to lead with it, which I think I figured out.

 

Eventually.

 

Stalkers? Yeah, critical hit from hide on an enemy with basically 1 hp. Every time. Woooooo.

[huang3721]

48 minutes ago, MTeague said:

Awakened with Psilopalooza, some attacks which are also Auto-Hit.

 

Two things I hate when I am battling Awakened:

• Subjugator lurking around the corner
• Subjugator ambush

[Carnifax]

We're doing a goldside team at the mo too (we = Hounds of Love on Reunion). Honestly on a dedicated team any AT is good. Ours does have a large chunk of Domis and Corruptors but that was down to what people wanted to play coupled with theme (Wizard of Oz themed so quite a lot of Nature, Water and other elements).

 

But if you are not soloing the content anything will do. Solo my Dark/Martial tank is struggling but that's more battling the blue bar than anything.