Water Blast/Storm Summoning build request and discussion

[ParaBruce]

I have a troubled history with Storm, but love Water Blast and figured, hey go for the theme. Does anyone have a good build for that combo, or just advice on which powers to take and skip? I've already got a Sudden Acceleration ready to slot into Gale. :)

[ParaBruce]

I'm still fumbling together a build as I go, but I'm having a blast with it. It turns out that in some ways I really am a very simple person and do not get tired of watching enemies slip and fall down.

 

[srmalloy]

Likewise; I'm still poking at the sets, looking to see what I should be building for. It does appear to be a fun build. Amusingly, I created the character on a whim after I happened across the term 'burevestnik', the Russian word for the storm petrel, a seabird historically believed to be a harbinger of bad weather, and thought that it would make a good name for a Water/Storm character.

[ParaBruce]

Likewise; I'm still poking at the sets, looking to see what I should be building for. It does appear to be a fun build. Amusingly, I created the character on a whim after I happened across the term 'burevestnik', the Russian word for the storm petrel, a seabird historically believed to be a harbinger of bad weather, and thought that it would make a good name for a Water/Storm character.

 

That is a good name, and as a good reason as any to start a character, I tend to think.

 

I was out doing some solo missions at 24, opening up Twilighter access, and had a great time. Things go wrong if both Whirlpool and Freezing Rain fail, or get heavily resisted. But otherwise, smooth sailing.

 

[Hjarki]

I have a discussion of the build.

 

Storm Summoning

Gale. KB->KD makes this more practical, but truthfully I think it's a power you should skip if you could. The activation time is too high and the low accuracy Cone nature makes it difficult to use well without spending a lot of spots you'd prefer not to spend.

O2 Boost. Dealer's choice here. The power is useless for you and it's only marginally useful in groups. However, many groups will be annoyed at a Corruptor who can't heal or buff at all.

Snowstorm. The only reason use for this power is to knock enemies from the air. Whether or not that's a worthwhile use is up to you.

Steamy Mist. Take and slot up to reduce endurance and (maybe) increase resist damage.

Freezing Rain. This pairs with Whirlpool in primary and should have the same recharge slotting. Otherwise, a couple of slow will push it near the slow cap.

Hurricane. End reduction primarily. -hit if you've got the slots. KB->KD doesn't seem necessary here due to the way it gets used.

Thunder Clap. Skip. It's slow and only Mag 2.

Tornado. Slot like any other recharge-intensive pet. Here, KB->KD and Force Feedback recharge reduction both seem like solid choices.

Lightning Storm. It's a big AE damage ability; slot it as such.

 

Water Blast

This is where it gets a bit odd due to the nature of Tidal Power and what it does to your rotation.

 

In terms of a pure damage rotation, you can do AB, Dehydrate, AB, WJ, WJ, AB, Dehydrate, WJ. This requires 62% AB, 102% Dehydrate, 136% WJ recharge. Note that you get +50% more healing from Dehydrate if you consume Tidal Power with it, so you won't be healing as optimally as you could (Dehydrate is about 50% more healing when it consumes Tidal Power). More realistically, you can also throw HB into the mix and not waste the second tidal power stack. However, taking all those offensive powers means you can't take both supplemental AE (Whirlpool and Geyser are must have). You can theoretically intermix Gale as your 'delaying tactic' and keep enemies on the ground.

 

The Cone technically does more damage, but Water Burst seems more thematically appropriate and is a lot easier to use/slot.

 

Ordinarily, I'd skip the Aim-style Tidal Forces. However, it makes a bit difference with Geyser and gives you another way to (intermittently) expand out your rotation to maximize damage with the double-tap Water Jet (Tidal Forces + Whirlpool/Dehydrate consumes a few seconds).

 

That means 8/9 powers in primary. 7 of them will ultimately be 6-slotted (Tidal Forces only needs triple recharge):

 

Aqua Bolt. Lean heavy on the recharge here - you need this to be up every other time you activate a power.

Hydro Blast. This can be a more conventional damage slotting since you don't need it to recharge nearly as fast.

Water Burst. I think heavy recharge works here as well since you'll be using it not only as damage but as knockdown.

Whirlpool. You need heavy recharge here to match Freezing Rain.

Tidal Forces. Just recharge.

Dehydrate. Slot this as an enemy target heal rather than a damage effect.

Water Jet. Slot for damage.

Geyser. Slot to reduce the recharge as far as practical, then damage.

 

Power Pools

I don't see anything particularly necessary here beyond the usuals. Since its an entirely ranged build, Flight seems tempting. However, I don't believe that Hasten is really all that necessary on this build since it lacks many long recharge powers and the basic rotation can only be sped up so far. I like Fire for the Epic.

[ParaBruce]

Thank you, that's precisely the kind of discussion that does me a lot of good.

 

[Tux]

On the Water Blast front I'm curious about what's necessary too for end-game stuff.

 

Basically looking to do solid AoE and have a good ST chain for AVs.

 

So to that end, how necessary is tidal power? Does it increase DPS? I'm also looking at skipping one of the first two, maybe Hydro since like you say AB can build up tidal power fast. Then other potentials to skip are: Whirlpool, Dehydrate (with a healing secondary - its debuffs don't seem great) and potentially also Steam Spray?

 

What do people think?

[ParaBruce]

I wouldn't skip either of the first two, because they're the most rapid ways of building tidal power, or Whirlpool, because it's a very handy bit of CC. Dehydrate, maybe, particularly if you've got healing covered some other way?

 

Tidal Power gives a significant oomph to dps, and secondary effects in some cases. It's good stuff, use it early and often.

 

Steam Spray does seem skippable.

 

[Destruye Arepas YV]

I have a Water/Storm corruptor build that I got from an earlier post and this guy can do +4x8 Energy Farms with some difficulty if I pay attention to inspiration gobbling and proper chain rotations + works wonders in TFs, mishes and regular pve content. 

 

Overall I believe Water Storm is a beast of a build combo and can shine in any content you set it up against.

 

Amazing interaction