Ice/traps leveling and solo help

[Zulgeek]

I recently started an ice/traps and was looking for some help and suggestions. I will mainly be soloing, and am still leveling. 
 

What are some things that could help my damage and help me level faster? Are there any sets or procs that could help me?

 

Thanks all!

Edited September 10, 2022 by Zulgeek

[Carnifax]

Traps loves Recharge first of all. Like really really likes it. Also Ice has meh damage so Sorcery for Arcane Bolt is a really good idea. Epic wise hard to look past Earth for melee compatible powers and Forced Feedback in Fissure along with a Def shield and a Heal / +HP which can take Resist uniques. 

 

Mine was born of when Sorcery got the revamp and Fold Space became a thing and isn't Page 4 compatible (no Shiver) so could be considered out of date. Conceptually he's a "Junkbot", I recoloured Ice to look like Pollution Control and it works quite well. 

 

I skipped quite a few Traps powers (Caltrops, Seekers and Triage) in order to squeeze in Teleport and Sorcery. Obviously you don't need to do that if you don't want (I was also running a Thugs / Traps at around the same time so wanted them to have different flavours). 

Spoiler

This Hero build was built using Mids Reborn 3.2.17
https://github.com/LoadedCamel/MidsReborn

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Jury Rigged: Level 50 Magic Controller
Primary Power Set: Ice Control
Secondary Power Set: Traps
Power Pool: Sorcery
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Teleportation
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Stone Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Block of Ice -- UnbCns-Hold/Rchg(A), UnbCns-Hold(3), UnbCns-Acc/Hold/Rchg(3), UnbCns-Acc/Rchg(5), UnbCns-EndRdx/Hold(5)
Level 1: Web Grenade -- Acc-I(A)
Level 2: Frostbite -- Artl-Acc/Dam(A), Artl-Dam/End(7), Artl-Dam/Rech(7), Artl-Acc/Dam/Rech(9), Artl-Acc/Rech/Rng(9), Artl-End/Rech/Rng(11)
Level 4: Arcane Bolt -- Thn-Acc/Dmg(A), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(11), Thn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(13), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx(21), Thn-Dmg/Rchg(31), Thn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(31)
Level 6: Arctic Air -- CrcPrs-Conf(A), CrcPrs-Conf/Rchg(17), CrcPrs-Acc/Conf/Rchg(19), CrcPrs-Acc/Rchg(19), CrcPrs-Conf/EndRdx(21), CrcPrs-Conf%(43)
Level 8: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(40)
Level 10: Acid Mortar -- AchHee-ResDeb%(A), TchofLadG-%Dam(15), Apc-Acc/Rchg(25), Apc-Dam%(33)
Level 12: Ice Slick -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 14: Combat Teleport -- GssSynFr--Build%(A)
Level 16: Force Field Generator -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(34), DefBuff-I(36)
Level 18: Teleport Target -- Acc-I(A)
Level 20: Poison Trap -- GhsWdwEmb-Dam%(A), GldNet-Dam%(23), RechRdx-I(31), NrnSht-Dam%(33), Lck-%Hold(33), UnbCns-Dam%(34)
Level 22: Fold Space -- Acc-I(A), RechRdx-I(37), RechRdx-I(45)
Level 24: Mystic Flight -- BlsoftheZ-ResKB(A)
Level 26: Glacier -- SprWiloft-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear(A), SprWiloft-Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/Rchg(27), SprWiloft-EndRdx/Rchg(27), SprWiloft-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/EndRdx(29), SprWiloft-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/EndRdx/Rchg(29), SprWiloft-Rchg/Dmg%(39)
Level 28: Enflame -- PstBls-Acc/Dmg(A), JvlVll-Dam%(34), Bmbdmt-+FireDmg(37), Dmg-I(49), Ann-Acc/Dmg(50), PstBls-Dam%(50)
Level 30: Rune of Protection -- GldArm-3defTpProc(A)
Level 32: Jack Frost -- ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg(A), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(40), ExpRnf-Dmg/EndRdx(40), ExpRnf-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(42), ExpRnf-Acc/Rchg(42), ExpRnf-+Res(Pets)(42)
Level 35: Trip Mine -- Arm-Dmg(A), Arm-Dmg/Rchg(36), Arm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(36), Arm-Dmg/EndRdx(37), Arm-Dam%(43), SuddAcc--KB/+KD(43)
Level 38: Fissure -- Artl-Acc/Dam(A), Artl-Dam/End(39), Artl-Acc/Dam/Rech(39), Bmbdmt-+FireDmg(46), FrcFdb-Rechg%(46), PstBls-Dam%(50)
Level 41: Rock Armor -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(46), DefBuff-I(49)
Level 44: Earth's Embrace -- DctWnd-Heal/Rchg(A), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(45)
Level 47: Seismic Smash -- Acc-I(A), TchofDth-Dam%(47), Mk'Bit-Dam%(48), NrnSht-Dam%(47), GhsWdwEmb-Dam%(48), Hct-Dam%(48)
Level 49: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A)
Level 1: Containment 
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Swift -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A), EndMod-I(13), PrfShf-EndMod(23)
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 4: Ninja Run 
Level 4: Arcane Power 
------------

 

And a planned Page 4 Respec I'm kind of reluctant to do (because I enjoy Enflame on Jack a lot)

Spoiler

This Hero build was built using Mids Reborn 3.2.17
https://github.com/LoadedCamel/MidsReborn

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Jury Rigged: Level 50 Magic Controller
Primary Power Set: Ice Control
Secondary Power Set: Traps
Power Pool: Sorcery
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Teleportation
Power Pool: Concealment
Ancillary Pool: Stone Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Block of Ice -- SprWiloft-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear(A), SprWiloft-Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/Rchg(3), SprWiloft-EndRdx/Rchg(3), SprWiloft-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/EndRdx(5), SprWiloft-Acc/Conf/Hold/Immob/Sleep/Stun/Fear/EndRdx/Rchg(5), SprWiloft-Rchg/Dmg%(17)
Level 1: Web Grenade -- Acc-I(A)
Level 2: Frostbite -- Artl-Acc/Dam(A)
Level 4: Arcane Bolt -- Thn-Acc/Dmg(A), Thn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(11), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(13), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx(21), Thn-Dmg/Rchg(31), Thn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(31)
Level 6: Arctic Air -- CrcPrs-Conf(A), CrcPrs-Conf/Rchg(17), CrcPrs-Acc/Conf/Rchg(19), CrcPrs-Acc/Rchg(19), CrcPrs-Conf/EndRdx(21), CrcPrs-Conf%(43)
Level 8: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(9)
Level 10: Acid Mortar -- AchHee-ResDeb%(A), RechRdx-I(25), RechRdx-I(33)
Level 12: Ice Slick -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(15)
Level 14: Combat Teleport -- GssSynFr--Build%(A)
Level 16: Force Field Generator -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(34), DefBuff-I(36)
Level 18: Teleport Target -- Acc-I(A)
Level 20: Poison Trap -- GhsWdwEmb-Dam%(A), RechRdx-I(23), RechRdx-I(31), NrnSht-Dam%(33), Lck-%Hold(33), UnbCns-Dam%(34)
Level 22: Fold Space -- Acc-I(A), RechRdx-I(37), RechRdx-I(45)
Level 24: Mystic Flight -- BlsoftheZ-ResKB(A), BlsoftheZ-Travel(25)
Level 26: Glacier -- Lck-Acc/Hold(A), Lck-Acc/Rchg(27), Lck-Rchg/Hold(27), Lck-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(29), Lck-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(29), Lck-%Hold(39)
Level 28: Shiver -- IceMisTrmt-End/Slow(A), IceMisTrmt-Dam/Rech(34), IceMisTrmt-Dam/Slow(37), IceMisTrmt-Acc/Dam/End(45), IceMisTrmt-+ColdDmg(49), ImpSwf-Dam%(50)
Level 30: Stealth -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), DefBuff-I(47)
Level 32: Jack Frost -- ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg(A), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(40), ExpRnf-Dmg/EndRdx(40), ExpRnf-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(42), ExpRnf-Acc/Rchg(42), ExpRnf-+Res(Pets)(42)
Level 35: Trip Mine -- Obl-Dmg(A), Obl-Acc/Rchg(36), Obl-Dmg/Rchg(36), Obl-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(37), Obl-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(43), SuddAcc--KB/+KD(43)
Level 38: Fissure -- Artl-Acc/Dam(A), Artl-Dam/End(39), Artl-Acc/Dam/Rech(39), Bmbdmt-+FireDmg(46), FrcFdb-Rechg%(46), PstBls-Dam%(50)
Level 41: Rock Armor -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(46), DefBuff-I(49)
Level 44: Seismic Smash -- Acc-I(A), TchofDth-Dam%(45), Mk'Bit-Dam%(48), NrnSht-Dam%(47), GhsWdwEmb-Dam%(48), Hct-Dam%(48)
Level 47: Earth's Embrace -- DS:DSyncHealRech(A), GldArm-3defTpProc(40), DS:DSyncHealRech(50)
Level 49: Rune of Protection -- StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(A)
Level 1: Containment 
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Clr-Stlth(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Swift -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A), Mrc-Rcvry+(15)
Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A), EndMod-I(13), PrfShf-EndMod(23)
Level 4: Arcane Power 
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 4: Ninja Run 
------------

 

[Psyonico]

As @Carnifax said, Ice control does very little damage.  I tried soloing my ice/ta the other day (which has arcane bolt) and was pretty painful.

 

that being said, ice's control is now way better than it was, so you'll be able to solo safely at least.

[WindDemon21]

This is a hilariously fun/effective combo that i'm surprized I don't see much of. I'll whip up a build for you. Traps, is great, but could use some TA level tweaks, like turning ffgen which always lags behind, into working like faraday cage (with sleep/slow/end drain resist, but immobile, defense instead of resist), make triage/spirit tree get the disruption arrow treatment (much shorter rech, but can only have one out, compensating increasing the regen to 250% since you can't get 2 out but the one is more effective and castable every mob), acid shorter rech and wider aoe. seekers def need bigger target cap, longer/guaranteed stuns, but it's still great, It's definitely a set you want to cap your s/l/e with scorpion shield (even after the terribly dumb nerf but thankfully the slows/control stuff its still too useful on the alpha/long run.

 

And yes, yes,  yes, hasten, and rech bonuses for traps.

[Carnifax]

4 hours ago, Psyonico said:

As @Carnifax said, Ice control does very little damage.  I tried soloing my ice/ta the other day (which has arcane bolt) and was pretty painful.

 

that being said, ice's control is now way better than it was, so you'll be able to solo safely at least.

Traps has the advantage of Trip Mine. It's hella annoying when you get interrupted but it still makes up the bulk of my damage solo. Even without doing the "make a little death camp then Fold Space everything into it". 

 

In fairness the Fear from Shivers should gel with it pretty well. 

[Psyonico]

And TA has oil slick arrow, unfortunately, both come at 35, so it takes a while to get your damaging help

[Carnifax]

7 hours ago, Psyonico said:

And TA has oil slick arrow, unfortunately, both come at 35, so it takes a while to get your damaging help

Trip Mine is more flexible, just thanks to its short recharge, it's not a "once every 2nd spawn" thing like Oil Slick. But yes it takes a while to get there (honestly I PLed my Ice/Traps to 30 like I do with most of my chars now). 

 

 

[WindDemon21]

Yeah the biggest issue with Trip Mine really is the interrupt. I wish they'd get rid of that on all powers tbh, but especially that. That being said though, it's also a great place to put a FF proc too.

 

On a note too, regarding ALL sleeps: They were in the right direction on symph, but all sleeps should really be mag 4 base (initial cast only for elec's, not pulsating), and do -damage, to account it to the true starter/get in and debuff nature of the power, since the actual sleep, is largely almost entirely dismissed in most situations. But being able to shut down the mob first to debuff and set up, or lasting -damage, should be a staple of every sleep (at least the aoe ones).

[WindDemon21]

Ok, so made the build. Uses cold snap just to close in, seekers are just for avs later on for the -damage, but could probably be skipped for a travel or something. Most of the damage is in the pets, but cross punch helps a LOT too fairly early on, and helps out recharge a lot too even with it's bonuses. Caltrops on ice slick, since for a STILL dumb reason, you can't slot ice slick/patch with slows or knockback sets, but helps cap the -speed, and works nicely with the 15ft radius being a little smaller than slick's so if  they run out of caltrops (when not spamming frostbite which is REALLY like this to get multiple orbs out for control/damage, they still kd, then run back in to fear again and confuse.

 

Ray is just to debuff further for bosses/avs, mortar is one of the big ones for traps, and you definitely want it slotted up asap. Cap its acc and rech, damage is low, but that purple damage proc fires fairly well compared to others with its higher proc rate.

 

You also definitely want focus on pets, esp the epic pet too, for damage/perma, plus the defense/resist uniques which go to the TRAPS pets too, esp acid mortar, and ffgen.

 

You can use temps/st hold, and boxing with acid to solo, super safe, and some of the confused enemies will help too, and frostbite is also made damage both slotted, -resist procced, and energy font procced. Spamming this also allows you to spam disruptor blast for aoe without needing a kb-kd.

Ice Traps Mace - Controller (Ice Control).mxd

[Disruptor]

A fun thing to do with any Traps character is 1. Slot a lot of recharge. LOTG, Hasten, etc all very important. You specifically want Acid Mortar and Poison Trap up as much as possible.

 

You can put a LOTG+Recharge into FFG, Scorpion Shield which is also defense and stacks with FFG. Take Infiltration, Stealth and Grant Invis for 5 LOTG+Recharge. Other options for LOTG+Recharge slotting Hover, Combat Jumping, Manueavers, Vengeance but Concealment pool has 3 LOTG options so I pick that one.

 

Put 1 or 2 Recharge enhancements in Poison Trap and Acid Mortar THEN put a bunch of Damage Procs. On controllers at lvl50 you can slot 5 Damage Procs into Poison Trap and its so fun. Poison Trap/Acid Mortar are auto hit abilities which mean they do not require accuracy enhancements.

 

Running Stealth, Scorpion Shield, FFG and Super Speed you should be able to run into a mob set down Poison Trap and hold a bunch of guys while also proccing some decent damage. Along with your AOE holds as a controller.

 

For additional fun you can go deep into Speed for Burnout and get 2 acid mortars and 2 poison traps for special occasions With enough recharge you can reliably get acid mortar and poison trap out quickly.

 

On my current Trap char which is unfinished (107% recharge) I can get Poison Trap/Mortar up every 23-25ish seconds.

 

I also have Adrenal Boost which I can get upwards of 135 recharge bonus w/o sets or incarnates.

 

Basically Poison Trap and Acid Mortar are your bread and butter most important tools in Traps. I slot them with recharge and damage procs and spam them over and over as much as possible. With stealth, defense and movement options you can start off in the middle of a mob and lay your poison trap+ aoe holds and acid mortar at their feet. You can do this with Trip Mine too. Seeker Drones also add -tohitt and -perceptions which can help you lay mines and other traps at the feet of enemies.

 

Triage Beacon is a nice place to slot miracle, numina, panecea, preventive measure procs. I added a picture of my currently unfinished Traps character. You can also put more defense procs into FFG. Running a lot of recharge and a ton of procs in Traps is my favorite build especially while leveling....once you hit 50 and start doing inmcarnate you can potentially move into set bonuses and less proc based but the proc stuff is really fun while leveling.

 

Also a lot of slow in Caltrops makes it a great CC ability, enemies will spend so much time tring to run out of caltrops esp if you put 2 slow enhancements and combine that with your ice they wont be able to move.

Edited October 25, 2022 by Disruptor

[Doomguide2005]

     Both Acid Mortar and PGT do require to hit checks/hitting the foes.  "Auto-hit" in CoD is a bit of a misnomer when it comes to pets (Note, for example, Caltrops CoD entry.  It's "auto-hit" under the pet description as well).  Yes the character can "auto-hit" the ground when placing the trap (the pet).  The pet generated is not "auto-hit" vs its targeted foes.  That said only the initial attack by the poison gas requires a to hit roll (the Hold).  The rest is, in fact, auto-hitting (regen and recharge debuffs).  All of AM's foes require a to hit roll.  Of course, that first hit makes the remaining attacks against defense and resistance debuffed foes.  These effects do not stack from the same pet/mortar (i believe they do reset the debuff duration to 20 sec).  At least that's my recollection and understanding.  I believe you should see the to hit rolls (or if I'm mistaken, not see ... probably) in the combat tab for pets.

     I like to use Range/Slow IOs 2 or 3 of them depending on the build in Caltrops.  I find it much easier to use from under cover or around corners with the increase in range.