Damage numbers everywhere!

[Latex]

I'm thinking of a new character and really want that buzz of just seeing chaos occur as far and wide as possible, with damage numbers cropping up on as many enemy heads as possible.

 

What powerset and archetype combo might achieve this whilst being strong on it's own? Also, sadly i'm not sure on MM as a choice, I like to have all the agency so pet type powers aren't really my thing.

It's been a while since I played, but target cap went up? I'm sort of assuming Tankers might be good for this with huge AOE attacks hitting a ton of enemies, I'm not sure my game knowledge is lacking.

[Spaghetti Betty]

If you're just looking to hit as many targets as possible I'd probably go with a Rad/TW Tank. Lots of AoE destruction to be had there.

[Zect]

Tankers, as a melee AT, are unlikely to be good for this. Melee set aoe's generally have smaller sizes and lower target caps than blast set aoes. A lot of the best tanker aoe attacks are also specifically excluded from the tanker aoe area buff (and rightfully so, for balance reasons).

 

If MM's aren't an option, it's probably going to be something storm. A very high recharge stormie can almost have 3 lightning storms and 2 tornadoes out permanently. You can add something like 3 PA's or 3 fire imps for the chaos feel, but if you want to actually do good damage it will have to be a corr. My personal recommendation is DP/storm, as DP is one of the strongest and most proccable sets out there, with nearly every power able to slot 5 or 6 non-unique damage procs (pistols takes 4). Nothing quite like shooting someone and seeing half a dozen damage numbers pop up.

[Psyonico]

Ice/Storm corrupter.  You get Ice Storm, Blizzard, and Freezing rain for lots of numbers popping up.

[Six-Six]

Or... just hang out RWZ and do MSR all the time. Doesn't matter what AT/powers you got. you'll be seeing a lot of floaters of all colours. 😃

[ViciousCabaret]

For melee characters, the most numbers I've seen ticking has to be the combination of Bio Armor and Savage Melee. Bio Armor has a damage aura and a damage proc when in Offensive Mode. Savage Melee is very DoT-heavy (though avoid Hemorrhage unless you really want it), so you'll see a lot of orange numbers going off with it as well. For a bit of extra chaos you can also put an OF knockdown proc in Savage Leap.

 

For ranged damage characters, I'd suggest anything that creates a lot of damage patches. So Ice Blast, Fire Blast, Water Blast, Archery (with Rain of Arrows), something like that, and then a support set that does the same -- Storm and Cold would both be good choices. I haven't played Cold much, but I've play Storm with Ice, Fire, and Water and it works very well with all of them. Storm is about as chaotic as it gets, Cold is more controlled.

 

Finally, if you want a control character with a lot numbers, Storm or Cold with Illusion would work out quite well, I think. I haven't played those specific combinations, but Storm and Cold have the damage/debuff patches, and Illusion will get you a lot of both numbers and chaos with Phantom Army. You can also toss a set with a damage proc into Spectral Terror if you want that to contribute as well.

Edited December 13, 2022 by ViciousCabaret
Added chaos.

[Carnifax]

Plant / Storm / Ice epic with proceed up creepers in an invasion event.

 

You don't even need to aim. Just drop things and leave them go.

 

Might go against your requirement for agency though.

Edited December 13, 2022 by Carnifax

[Arbegla]

If you really want high damage numbers everywhere, I recommend a bot/storm/mu MM. You have plenty of DoTs from the robots, plus fire patches, and the mu mastery gives you a -KB AoE immobilize so you can keep everything in your kill patches of fire, lightning, and tornadoes.