My Frost Mage leveling build

[tiwick]

Hello all! My first time posting here, though I've played City of Heroes back when it first came out. I wanted to recreate my 'Frost Mage' from a (cough) another game. However I was looking to build a ranged character who uses ice powers and is capable of soloing without needing a whole lot of attention. I struggled to find any recent builds for ice/energy and ended up combining what looked to be the most comprehensive ones I did find. Also, I'm currently interested in a leveling build as I have absolutely no influence and no character above level 15 yet. So, if you're willing to take a look at what I've cobbled together and offer any advice, I'd appreciate it:

 

 

http://www.cohplanner.com/mids/download.php?uc=981&c=415&a=830&f=HEX&dc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

 

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.962
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Chibbikitty: Level 49 Magic Sentinel
Primary Power Set: Ice Blast
Secondary Power Set: Energy Aura
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Teleportation

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Ice Bolt -- Acc(A), Acc(5), Dmg(17), Dmg(25), Dmg(25)
Level 1: Kinetic Shield -- EndRdx(A), EndRdx(3), DefBuff(3), DefBuff(5), RechRdx(21)
Level 2: Kinetic Dampening -- ResDam(A), ResDam(23)
Level 4: Frost Breath -- Acc(A), Acc(7), Dmg(9)
Level 6: Chilling Ray -- Acc(A), Acc(7), Dmg(9)
Level 8: Power Shield -- DefBuff(A), DefBuff(11), DefBuff(11), EndRdx(15), RechRdx(17), RechRdx(21)
Level 10: Energize -- RechRdx(A), RechRdx(13), RechRdx(13)
Level 12: Hasten -- RechRdx(A), RechRdx(15)
Level 14: Maneuvers -- RechRdx(A)
Level 16: Entropy Shield -- EndRdx(A)
Level 18: Bitter Ice Blast -- Acc(A), Acc(19), Dmg(19)
Level 20: Teleport -- EndRdx(A)
Level 22: Power Armor -- EndRdx(A), EndRdx(23)
Level 24: Recall Friend -- Range(A)
Level 26: Bitter Freeze Ray -- Acc(A)
Level 28: Repelling Force -- DefBuff(A)
Level 30: [Empty] 
Level 32: [Empty] 
Level 35: [Empty] 
Level 38: [Empty] 
Level 41: [Empty] 
Level 44: [Empty] 
Level 47: [Empty] 
Level 49: [Empty] 
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run 
Level 2: Swift -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Health -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- Empty(A)
------------

Edited August 12, 2021 by tiwick

[oldskool]

You have influence.  You just don't know it yet.  

 

Fresh character? 

 

Step 1... browse threads in the link below and learn how to turn your pennies into millions, if not billions.  

 

https://forums.homecomingservers.com/forum/51-the-market/

 

 

If you have no patience for the above, what so ever, then the "leveling build" is still very simple.

Step 2... Leverage single origin enhancements OR if you have some materials and funds build some invention origin enhancements after level 25.  

Your attacks: 

6 slot them.  Go with 2 accuracy, 1 end, 1 recharge, 2 damage.  You can shift these about if you feel your accuracy is comfortable.  

Your toggles in Energy armor:  use 1 endurance benefit and 3 each of either defense or resistance. 

Your passives, there are like 2 here, use 3 each of either resistance or defense as is relevant to the power.  

You still have power choice room for Boxing or Kick to open up Tough and Weave.  Slot them like the other toggles.  

You'll have 3 open powers, do whatever you like.  

3 Slot Energize with some recharge.  Give your Stamina and Health 3 slots for their respective enhancements.   You can either 2 or 3 slot Hasten with recharge.  

Done.  ^^^^ This is leveling accomplished on a shoestring budget.  Worrying about set bonuses without the means to buy them is a waste of your time, full stop.

If you build some wealth and comfort, then you can worry about a build later.  Do note, you get 5 respecs on Homecoming across your character's journey to 50.  You can explore powers and slotting as you please.  It looks like the path you are on already is fine.  You could still pick up Aim for the damage boost.  You can opt to skip Power Drain and Overload.  I'd suggest taking Ice Storm, but if you hate it then skip it.  You don't need Ice Blast.  

You're not going to close the defensive gaps in Energy Aura without investment.  The two best IOs you could ever buy are the Steadfast and Gladiator's 3% defense to all and they stack.  That'll set you back millions of influence.  Still, just putting 3 defense slots into each of your relevant powers should get you 30-33%.  You'll need set bonuses, and millions of influence - even for multiple cheap sets -, in order to softcap any given type.  This is why I suggest you not worry about it right now.  Enjoy the ride, and worry about a build when you can afford it later in both influence and respec options.

 

 

Edited August 13, 2021 by oldskool

[pblue]

If you really don't want to do the Market thing, note that you can get the Steadfast Protection +3%  Enhancement for only 20 Merits, which you get just doing missions without even noticing.

 

Also, while it might be too late, Super Reflexes is really a very, very effective secondary for someone who is on a budget.

 

 

[tiwick]

Thank you both. How important to soloing is Tough and Weave? Should I invest in the fitness pool for Stamina and Health? Do I really need Hasten?

 

[oldskool]

13 hours ago, tiwick said:

Thank you both. How important to soloing is Tough and Weave? Should I invest in the fitness pool for Stamina and Health? Do I really need Hasten?

 

 

It depends.

 

"Soloing" cannot be viewed in a vacuum when the level of difficulty in CoX is 100% modular.  You can opt to keep your difficulty set to team size of just you with an enemy scalar of 0 or 1.  This is as easy as the game allows and therefore you don't require a min-max build, at all.  You may still find some struggles here and there with some enemy factions later, but this is a problem across all ATs anyway.  

Tough and Weave get better the more you want to min-max and in turn push harder content by yourself.  The reason being is that Tough gives you more slotting opportunities from the resistance sets plus the resistance itself.  Weave just helps push you to soft-cap defense due to its high base bonus which also helps in harder content.  

You get Stamina and Health for free at level 2.  You should invest some slots into those anyway because getting recovery is great.  There are unique invention slots you can add to those, like Numina, Miracle, Panacea, and the like that will help with endurance issues eventually.  

Hasten isn't required if you're not trying to push the most powerful version of your build possible.  However, if you are doing that, then Hasten is potentially a damage increase because the heightened recharge allows you to only use the most powerful attacks you have vs relying on extra fillers.  This concept is almost completely irrelevant if you're not aiming to push the toughest content you can solo, and even then you'd need a specific build plan to do that.  You're not ready for that, yet, anyway.  So in other words, you may not need Hasten, or maybe you do if you want to push bleeding edge.  The only person that can truly answer this is you. 

 

[tiwick]

So I ultimately switched to Regen instead of Energy Aura and am really enjoying it's ease of play-style (at least in the low levels thus far). However, I used the basic suggestions that you gave on the original build as I went along. So thank you for that useful bit of advice! I also discovered the Sorcery Power Pool and instantly loved it, especially the occasional crit chances (felt like about 33%)! So I focused on Arcane Bolt as my primary attack until Bitter Ice Blast came online. Also, the Mystic Flight is extremely useful for both mobility and defense, in addition to the cool effects. I don't *really* know what the higher levels will bring but continued the build basically as outlined by your suggestions. I certianly wouldn't mind tweak suggestions on this updated version of my ice mage leveling build, if you please. Especially if this ends up helping other newbs like myself.

 

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.962
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Chibbikitty2: Level 44 Magic Sentinel
Primary Power Set: Ice Blast
Secondary Power Set: Regeneration
Power Pool: Sorcery
Power Pool: Fighting

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Ice Bolt -- Acc(A), Acc(7), RechRdx(9), Dmg(13), Dmg(42), Dmg(43)
Level 1: Fast Healing -- Heal(A), Heal(11), Heal(15)
Level 2: Reconstruction -- RechRdx(A)
Level 4: Quick Recovery -- EndMod(A), EndMod(11), EndMod(15)
Level 6: Arcane Bolt -- Acc(A), Acc(7), RechRdx(9), Dmg(13), Dmg(19), Dmg(19)
Level 8: Mystic Flight -- EndRdx(A)
Level 10: Instant Regeneration -- Heal(A), Heal(21), Heal(21)
Level 12: Ice Storm -- Acc(A), Slow(17), Slow(43), Slow(43)
Level 14: Enflame -- Acc(A), Dmg(17), Dmg(27), Dmg(31)
Level 16: Dismiss Pain -- Heal(A), Heal(36), Heal(36)
Level 18: Bitter Ice Blast -- Acc(A), Acc(23), RechRdx(23), EndRdx(25), Dmg(25), Dmg(27)
Level 20: Integration -- EndRdx(A), EndRdx(36), Heal(37), Heal(37), Heal(37)
Level 22: Aim -- ToHit(A)
Level 24: Kick -- Acc(A)
Level 26: Bitter Freeze Ray -- Acc(A), Acc(40), Hold(40), Hold(40)
Level 28: Resilience -- ResDam(A), ResDam(29), ResDam(29)
Level 30: Tough -- EndRdx(A), ResDam(31), ResDam(31), ResDam(34)
Level 32: Blizzard -- Acc(A), Acc(33), RechRdx(33), Dmg(33), Dmg(34), Dmg(34)
Level 35: Second Wind -- RechRdx(A)
Level 38: Weave -- EndRdx(A), DefBuff(39), DefBuff(39), DefBuff(39)
Level 41: Moment of Glory -- RechRdx(A), RechRdx(42), RechRdx(42)
Level 44: [Empty] 
Level 47: [Empty] 
Level 49: [Empty] 
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run 
Level 2: Swift -- Run(A)
Level 2: Health -- Heal(A), Heal(5), Heal(5)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod(A), EndMod(3), EndMod(3)
------------

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Again, thank you!

Edited August 17, 2021 by tiwick

[Bill Z Bubba]

Always happy to see another mage running around. My fire/bio sent's powers were recolored to purple/black and he's my chaos mage.

[oldskool]

6 hours ago, tiwick said:

So I ultimately switched to Regen instead of Energy Aura... <snip>

 

I'd still recommend using an endurance reduction in your attacks vs expanding a power like Instant Healing to compensate.  Attacks cost more endurance than your toggles do.  The drain on your blue bar is going to come from two sources:

 

1) Missing attacks, this is a net loss of endurance with no gains at all. 

2) Chain attacking at targets.  This is going to burn your blue bar faster than your toggles ever could.  

 

It is tempting to skip end redux on Regen because of Quick Recovery.  You can do that later once Quick Recovery and Stamina have some enhancement.  The stronger enhancement percentage is usually around level 22 (for invention origin enhancements at least).  This means you can actually socket level 25 IOs at level 22.  These will never decay like single origin enhancements which have cost savings over several levels afterwards.  I'd consider trying to put at least level 25 endurance boosting IOs into QR and Stam around level 22.  You may only be able to create 1 or 2, but try to get 3 each as soon as you can.  Then you can see how endurance feels in your attacks and drop them as you go for more damage.