Symphony / Pain feedback

[Carnifax]

So I need a new character and since Symph is new and I've never done Pain thought this might be a useful combo. Still at the pure build theory stage but I've tried a more aggressive-than-usual proccy build. No idea how the pet should be slotted overall so I went with the usual Expedient. 

 

Went with Sorcery because I like it and it seems to fit the theme well. Ice Epic I'm willing to change on. 

 

Tips or tweaks appreciated. 

Spoiler

This Hero build was built using Mids Reborn 3.4.7
https://github.com/LoadedCamel/MidsReborn

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Level 50 Magic Controller
Primary Power Set: Symphony Control
Secondary Power Set: Pain Domination
Power Pool: Sorcery
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Concealment
Ancillary Pool: Ice Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Hymn of Dissonance

• (A) Superior Will of the Controller - Accuracy/Control Duration
• (3) Superior Will of the Controller - Control Duration/Recharge
• (3) Superior Will of the Controller - Endurance/Recharge
• (5) Superior Will of the Controller - Accuracy/Control Duration/Endurance
• (5) Superior Will of the Controller - Accuracy/Control Duration/Endurance/Recharge
• (7) Superior Will of the Controller - Recharge/Chance for Psionic Damage

Level 1: Soothe

• (A) Panacea - Heal/Endurance
• (7) Panacea - Endurance/Recharge
• (9) Panacea - Heal/Recharge
• (9) Panacea - Heal/Endurance/Recharge
• (11) Panacea - Heal

Level 2: Melodic Binding

• (A) Accuracy IO
• (11) Apocalypse - Chance of Damage(Negative)
• (13) Ice Mistral's Torment - Chance for Cold Damage
• (13) Trap of the Hunter - Chance of Damage(Lethal)
• (15) Impeded Swiftness - Chance of Damage(Smashing)

Level 4: Share Pain

• (A) Panacea - Heal/Endurance
• (17) Panacea - Endurance/Recharge
• (17) Panacea - Heal/Recharge
• (19) Panacea - Heal/Endurance/Recharge
• (33) Panacea - Heal

Level 6: Impassioned Serenade

• (A) Coercive Persuasion  - Confused
• (21) Coercive Persuasion  - Confused/Recharge
• (21) Coercive Persuasion  - Confused/Recharge/Accuracy
• (23) Coercive Persuasion  - Recharge/Accuracy
• (23) Coercive Persuasion  - Confused/Endurance
• (25) Coercive Persuasion  - Contagious Confusion

Level 8: Dreadful Discord

• (A) Superior Overpowering Presence - Accuracy/Control Duration
• (25) Superior Overpowering Presence - Accuracy/Control Duration/Endurance
• (27) Superior Overpowering Presence - Accuracy/Control Duration/Endurance/RechargeTime
• (27) Glimpse of the Abyss - Chance of Damage(Psionic)
• (29) Bombardment - Chance for Fire Damage
• (29) Positron's Blast - Chance of Damage(Energy)

Level 10: Mystic Flight

• (A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Knockback Reduction (4 points)

Level 12: Maneuvers

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed

Level 14: Arcane Bolt

• (A) Apocalypse - Damage/Recharge
• (31) Apocalypse - Damage/Recharge/Accuracy
• (31) Apocalypse - Recharge/Accuracy
• (31) Apocalypse - Damage/Endurance
• (33) Apocalypse - Damage

Level 16: Enflame

• (A) Superior Frozen Blast - Accuracy/Damage
• (33) Superior Frozen Blast - Damage/Endurance
• (34) Superior Frozen Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance

Level 18: Confounding Chant

• Hamidon Origin:Endoplasm Exposure
• (36) Bombardment - Chance for Fire Damage
• (36) Positron's Blast - Chance of Damage(Energy)
• (36) Javelin Volley - Chance of Damage(Lethal)

Level 20: Soothing Aura

• (A) Numina's Convalesence - Heal/Endurance
• (37) Numina's Convalesence - Endurance/Recharge
• (37) Numina's Convalesence - Heal/Recharge
• (37) Numina's Convalesence - Heal/Endurance/Recharge
• (19) Numina's Convalesence - Heal
• (39) Numina's Convalesence - +Regeneration/+Recovery

Level 22: Chords of Despair

• (A) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Hold
• (39) Basilisk's Gaze - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge/Hold
• (40) Basilisk's Gaze - Recharge/Hold
• (40) Basilisk's Gaze - Endurance/Recharge/Hold

Level 24: World of Pain

• (A) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance
• (40) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance
• (42) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance/RechargeTime
• (42) Unbreakable Guard - +Max HP
• (15) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Chance for Build Up

Level 26: Reverberant

• (A) Expedient Reinforcement - Accuracy/Recharge
• (43) Expedient Reinforcement - Accuracy/Damage
• (43) Expedient Reinforcement - Damage/Endurance
• (43) Expedient Reinforcement - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
• (45) Expedient Reinforcement - Endurance/Damage/Recharge
• (45) Expedient Reinforcement - Resist Bonus Aura for Pets

Level 28: Anguishing Cry

• (A) Achilles' Heel - Chance for Res Debuff
• (45) Recharge Reduction IO
• (46) Recharge Reduction IO

Level 30: Painbringer

• D-Sync Origin:D-Sync Reconstruction
• (46) Recharge Reduction IO

Level 32: Rune of Protection

• (A) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%

Level 35: Hibernate

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO

Level 38: Frozen Armor

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
• (48) Gladiator's Armor - TP Protection +3% Def (All)
• (50) Luck of the Gambler - Defense
• (50) Defense Buff IO

Level 41: Hasten

• (A) Recharge Reduction IO
• (50) Recharge Reduction IO

Level 44: Ice Storm

• (A) Ragnarok - Damage
• (42) Ragnarok - Damage/Recharge
• (46) Ragnarok - Damage/Recharge/Accuracy
• (48) Ragnarok - Recharge/Accuracy
• (48) Ragnarok - Damage/Endurance

Level 47: Aria of Stasis

• (A) Artillery - Accuracy/Recharge/Range

Level 49: Stealth

• (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed

Level 1: Brawl

• (A) Empty

Level 1: Containment 

Level 1: Sprint

 

Edited January 4, 2023 by Carnifax

[Doomguide2005]

     No idea if you saw my post in the thread looking for advice about Symphony/DarkAff but I wondered if, given the odd way the pet works,  if it wasn't a good place to skip the idea of set bonuses (or at least sacrifice some of them) and use several HO, SHO or DSO for Acc/Mez and or Dam/Mez.  Checked several previous threads about Symphony all seem to use the Recharge Intensive Pet set IOs but didn't get the impression it wasn't essentially a default choice similar to yours.

[Onlyasandwich]

@Carnifax have you had the opportunity to drive this build yet?

 

I just came back after a break, and am intrigued by the blasty nature of Symphony. I haven't played /Pain yet either, and have a good thematic concept for the two, so am inspired.

 

I'd love your thoughts based on experience with the set, or the insight of others.

 

My goal is to play this similar to my dominators. I like to more or less ignore the pursuit of defense stacking, only picking up incidental strong bonuses like the uniques or the odd set bonus. Instead, I'm leaning straight into as much damage as possible while maximizing resistances. The idea is to rely on controls for survival, with strong resists and heals to patch any mistakes or overflow. Rune provides a good solution when I'm caught out of rhythm with mezzes or miss key mobs as well. It's true that softcapping would provide more safety overall, but the reward of more damage and real sense of danger here makes my control-oriented characters more fun to play!

 

With such builds, I like to jam as many procs into well-cycled powers as possible. Symphony is really great for this! Confounding Chant is almost like having a controller nuke.

 

Focuses here:

• Slow resist
• Maximize damage through all means in heavily cycled powers.
• Grab as much recharge as I can along the way.
• Maximize my resistances across the board.
• Max hit chance against +3's.

 

Power Considerations.

• Power Sink is a bit of a cludge to fix what appears to be a pretty end hungry combo. Does this combo run hot in your experience?
• I skipped Enforced Morale and even Ball lightning - both good powers. Do you think this unwise, and would you make a swap for anything chosen if building for yourself? I figure I'll be spamming most of my damage through the primary, so no need for blasts from the epic. Also, best to be using powers Reverberant can copy as well when possible.

 

Anticipated Solo strategy:

 

Open with Enfeebling Lullaby to silence the alpha and get in position. Follow up with Confounding chant or Dreadful Discord as available. Spam Aria for containment and font procs, cycling Discord and Lullaby for aoe damage. Single target focus should be strong with proc bombed Hymn and Serenade.

 

If things go south, I have Chords for the quick aoe hold, or Rune to carry me through and allow time to heal and get controls back up. Refill with Sink as needed.

 

Visual:

Spoiler

 

 

Link to build:
View This Build In MRB

 

Edited July 6, 2023 by Onlyasandwich

[Onlyasandwich]

I've been iterating on this build and came to an alternate concept that shares some more choices with @Carnifax's rendition, though am still weighing the benefits of each approach.

 

Struggling to decide if the trade-offs are worth it! I'd still love to hear from others who have informed opinions here.

 

Pros:

• Almost permanent mez protection in indom will.
• Much higher global recharge in support of near perma indom will (10 sec downtime).
• On my fliers, I really enjoy having evasive maneuvers. I don't consider any of the power picks "dead" here as Spirit Ward was on the other build.
• Modest increase in defense totals, though certainly nowhere near any soft caps. Will more easily softcap with the addition of a single defense oriented teammate, or the application of vengeance when able.

 

Negatives:

• No emergency end management tool in Power Sink. Ratios don't look too bad here though, and I'm wondering if I might get away with my end consumption as is.
• Although I have higher up time on mez protection than Rune provides, I lack the extra layer of exotic resist Rune can provide on-demand. Additionally, I need to actively manage my mez protection, as Indom will can't be cast when mezzed as Rune can, leading to another potential failure point.
• No teleport from Mystic Flight! There is no greater tool for playing catchup and doing silly things in missions. 
• I dropped the annihilation proc from lullaby. This proc is rather weak anyhow, but having it in my typical opener is actually pretty nice.

 

Visual:

Spoiler

 

Build Link:
View This Build In MRB

Edited July 7, 2023 by Onlyasandwich

[Onlyasandwich]

After playing with this some more, I think sticking with Rune is the way to go. Managing Indom is just a bit too fiddly, and the emergency staying power of rune is both more flexible and easier to use. The teleport from Mystic Flight plays no small part in this as well!

 

I moved the pretty weak annihilation proc from enfeebling and added overpowering Knockdown chance to the aoe immob. This rounds out damage, and gives me a solid way of blunting the tagback when hammering on feared groups. 

 

I'm at 27 so far, and even with the limited slotting and powers thus far, it works pretty well!

 

Here's how combat typically goes:

 

• Open with Lullaby.
• Discord or Confounding depending on if confound is up, taking advantage of the containment.
• Reset containment with aria. 
• Focus bosses with Hymn/Serenade as I wait for aoes to come back. 
• Keep spamming aria on cooldown, cycle other aoe controls as above until done.

 

Having the backstop of power sink for end crisis is also pretty appealing. I intend of testing this build in hard mode content, and want to be well prepared for a variety of messes!

 

 

Edited July 7, 2023 by Onlyasandwich

[Wimbochismo]

5 hours ago, Onlyasandwich said:

After playing with this some more, I think sticking with Rune is the way to go. Managing Indom is just a bit too fiddly, and the emergency staying power of rune is both more flexible and easier to use. The teleport from Mystic Flight plays no small part in this as well!

 

I moved the pretty weak annihilation proc from enfeebling and added overpowering Knockdown chance to the aoe immob. This rounds out damage, and gives me a solid way of blunting the tagback when hammering on feared groups. 

 

I'm at 27 so far, and even with the limited slotting and powers thus far, it works pretty well!

 

Here's how combat typically goes:

 

• Open with Lullaby.
• Discord or Confounding depending on if confound is up, taking advantage of the containment.
• Reset containment with aria. 
• Focus bosses with Hymn/Serenade as I wait for aoes to come back. 
• Keep spamming aria on cooldown, cycle other aoe controls as above until done.

 

Having the backstop of power sink for end crisis is also pretty appealing. I intend of testing this build in hard mode content, and want to be well prepared for a variety of messes!

 

 

 

 

I really like builds that dump most defense and focus on other area's. Your slotting is very thoughtful and covers many contingencies. Recharge resists, decent recharge, perma WoP, Panacea in Soothing, good accuracy against +3 etc etc. The procs are great and well positioned. So long as you stay on top of your own heals you shouldn't have an issue.

 

My only few changes are things like the bit of recharge in Hymn and Impassioned. I totally understand the reasoning, though. Also switch to some recharge from the Superior Frozen set in Confounding. The stun is strong survivability and you can have it up more often.

 

The endurance is a little low outside of incarnates. At 1.72 net, it's borderline ok. The problem is all the procs and paying premium end on some powers. Maybe Muscle Radial? Dunno if you're going Barrier for more survivability. 

 

I'd argue against Share Pain. It looks nice on paper, but the shtick here is that you're taking constant lower levels of dmg with high res low def. It locks you out of any healing/regen for 15 seconds. Unless the mob is firmly on lockdown, it's very risky.

 

If you're going hardmode, I'd propose an alternate build for different scenario's. Mainly for different Epic/Patron res armors. For ITF the neg armor, Aeon the energy armor. Haven't tried a heavy resist only build in hardmode so ymmv.

Edited July 8, 2023 by Wimbochismo

[Onlyasandwich]

3 hours ago, Wimbochismo said:

Share Pain

I'm starting to feel this at times already. I do like the powerful burst and may keep it just to keep a taste of pain's "heal and buff self damage" gimmick, even if less than ideal.

 

End consumption is a bit lower than that, as i don't keep mystic flight on. I do feel that is a bit borderline as you say though, so think keeping power sink is a good idea.

 

Thank you for taking a look at the build! It's very freeing to dump the softcap mentality. 

 

I haven't tried hard mode content before, so will keep your recommendation in mind as a tool to get though if i find myself hitting walls there.

 

I'm very impressed with the primary so far! Tempted to pair it with storm as well.

 

Edit: I went back and checked what you pointed out on recharge. Thanks for the catch! Indeed it is a waste to put the purple ATO proc into Hymn, as the proc formula actually brings a non purple proc ahead without the extra recharge that this ATO brings. I replaced it with Gladiator's net and added the purple ATO proc to dreadful discord, which now does way more damage as a result. 

 

Serenade will have to stand as it is, as there isn't a third piece for Winter's Bite that lacks recharge. No big loss overall - I want these set bonuses.

Edited July 8, 2023 by Onlyasandwich

[Onlyasandwich]

I made some further modifications swapping around recharge values in Frozen Blast per @Wimbochismo's suggestion. Perfect! More recharge in Confounding now with basically no loss in damage, with a better enhanced Aria as well.

 

Here's the final build for any that would like to reference:

View This Build In MRB

 

The character is at 43 now, and the game plan pretty much works as expected. I can take +1 x 8 with bosses. With luck I can go higher, but it's more dependent on which targets reverberant chooses, as I am a vulnerable to bosses without softcap or a reliable mechanism to immediately lock them down.

 

Overall I am quite satisfied! The damage output is exceptional for a controller. I would even say it approaches my Fire/Storm on average, which is quite high. It's also much easier to drive, as everything is in similar, smoothly applied cones. The only repositioning needed is to setup Anguishing Cry. As a result, I don't use it too often. It's mostly reserved for team situations when other stuff is on cooldown.

 

Folks have pretty mixed things to say about Reverberant. I'm loving it! Even without using the purple confuse set yet, this pet does a great job of layering controls to shut down bosses most of the time when I'm applying my alpha, piles on stacking holds in single target, and its damage adds up nicely. Even better, the gimmick of copying your powers helps you control the timing of its activations to some degree, which makes them more impactful than if they were fired off at random.

 

 

Edited July 13, 2023 by Onlyasandwich