Cold/Ice Defender Feedback

[Renatos1023]

Hi y'all!

 

I've been playing a Cold/Ice defender recently. This has become my favorite character so far! I've heard that this combo is better on Corrs but I have had the hardest time playing my Water/Cold Corr, so I decided to remake her as a Defender with /Ice. I have not been disappointed. This combo has been as tanky as my Nature/Sonic defender. I wanted to share my build and get feedback before I started drafting a Cold/Ice Defender guide.

As always, constructive criticism is welcome.

 

Let me know if this build loads correctly, I've been having trouble with Mid's recently. This build has 41.3% def to Ranged and AoE and 24.75% to Melee; plus 50% res to sm/l; before incarnates. I didn't use purples, but still have Sleet up every mob (+also Ice Storm) and I tend to be the first person in the middle. This build has been very tank-fendery (at least at normal +4 TFs and missions). 

 

**Editing to say: I'm sure there are 'better' Cold/Ice builds. But I am just putting forward one that works for a Defender minded, support build -- that also likes to semi-tank. Perma-Sleet and Ice Storm are not to be trifled with. I am curious to see other builds. 

 

 

Liza Frost - Defender (Cold Domination).mxd

Edited February 28, 2023 by Renatos1023

[Zect]

I think 1) your alpha choice is terrible, 2) many of your IO set choices are awful, and 3) your amount of global rech is too low. To be fair, I also think you have chosen build goals that are somewhat difficult for a budget build - slot-efficient aoe def does not come cheap, see e.g. 6x frozen blasts for a cool 120 million.

 

1) You choose spiritual radial, which enhances healing (?), recharge, slow (??), and stun (???) duration. Note that slow in enhancements refers to -movespeed, not -recharge, which in any event should not need enhancing given the sleets and ice storms you are stacking on enemies. So in fact, apart from the rech (which you do need), the only thing this alpha is boosting is the +regen from health and the HP from hoarfrost.

 

A much better alpha would be agility (partial core revamp, if you intend to stop at the rare tier) which buffs recharge, endmod and defense. These apply to a broad swathe of your powers - your stamina and heat loss, your defense auras and shields, and all of your powers that need rech. For example, the endmod part of agility not only increases the recovery gained by your heat loss, but could replace the performance shifter: endmod in your stamina, saving a slot; and the defense part could save many slots currently dedicated to shields, maneuvers, and arctic fog.

 

2) Your IO set choice is puzzling at times, and I'm not certain how much of this is due to budget and how much is unfamiliarity with the options available. Here's an example for defense. In maneuvers you put 5x serendipity for 1.25 AOE defense. Discounting the free base slot, this is 0.3125 Defense Per Added Slot - a complete joke. Put this back in the trash where it belongs.

 

Compare that to the following positional defense per added slot:

• 2x botz: 1.250
• 6x defender's bastion: 1.000, +10% rech
• 6x ice mistral's torment: 0.750, +6.25% rech
• 6x thunderstrike: 0.750
• 3x thunderstrike: 0.625
• 6x red fortune: 0.500, +5% rech
• 5x serendipity: 0.316

We want to choose sets with a reasonable DPAS (>0.7), and/or which offer an accompanying rech or other desired bonus as well. Obviously, the set bonus is not the only important factor, but it is a useful guide.

 

Here's an example of how your build can be improved by more efficient choices.

• Ice bolt: 6x ice mistral's torment. No, I'm not kidding - it has damage enhancement.
• Maneuvers: 6x red fortune
• Heat loss: 6x preemptive optimization
• Dominate: Endoplasm: acc/mez
• Drop ice blast. Take ice shield as the level 2 power and combat jumping at level 4. Your attack chain is ice bolt > freeze ray > (0.062s gap) > ice bolt > bitter ice blast.

This costs the same number of slots, but gains 15% rech, about 2.5% aoe def, and a damage proc in ice bolt, in addition to other minor bonuses. This would further allow us to either cut a slot of botz in super jump and save a slot (if keeping the original defense amount of 41.3%), or push further to 45%. You also save a power choice.

 

3) try to get to 150-156% global rech if possible, which is permahasten with a T4 agility core alpha. Your low amount of global rech means more common IO's dedicated to popping up the rech of things like benumb and sleet and heat loss. More common IO's means less set bonuses. See the chain reaction?

 

Mids assumes your hasten is active for the full duration and when it is not permanent, the displayed recharge time is shorter than it really is. Your hasten will actually recharge in 136s (explanation - warning, math), or with a 16s downtime, which then has a knock-on effect on your uptime of sleet and heat loss.

 

You can drop a slot of acc from infrigidate and benumb, by the way; they are overcapped for +3's, and you have -def and aim to help out.

 

This is much less playstyle-agnostic, but for a tanky fender, and I'm only saying this because you specifically say your fender is tanky: you should contemplate the fighting pool. Right now, a lot of your slot-efficiency is tied up chasing SL res and aoe def bonuses. You don't have any room to slot an unbreakable guard +7.5% hp for example, because you need the SL res from lotg and aegis. This then reduces you to slotting 3x lotg for HP. See what I mean? You already have a free power choice from the optimization above. You don't need vengeance when you're turning the team into SR scrappers. You can arguably drop dominate (but I understand the appeal of boss holding) and choose one of the villain epics with a resist toggle as the 1st power pick. That's 3 powers to take tough/weave and effortlessly get the def and SL res you seem to value so much.

 

 

Edited March 1, 2023 by Zect

[Renatos1023]

Hi @Zect, thank you for your feedback. It is appreciated! You are 100% right when it comes to my Alpha power. I always went Spiritual in the past for +recharge, I did not realize that Agility also offered the same +recharge buff, plus other buffs that I can use...I have switched to the Agility T3. Thas brought my def up to 42.92% ranged/AoE and 26.3% Melee. Thank you for pointing that out!

 

I'll be honest, I hated going the 5 Serendipity slots for the AoE def, but as you said, that what I was chasing at that point. I have a hard time dropping 3 powers to get to Weave - especially since I'm not sure I need it now. I went the Destiny Barrier route, which will perma cap me to Ranged and AoE, and put me over 30% for Melee. I'm sure I'll get slack for not going the Ageless route, but I just don't feel like it is necessary on this build, as I have 0 endurance issues (I know, I lose the +recharge; people may disagree, but I have no probs so far).

 

I honestly don't have an issue with my recharge and endurance. I know I could easily drop Vengeance and Frostwork, as they are rarely used, but I am hesitant to drop Ice Blast. I will put some builds into Mids and see what I can do there with the slotting examples that you gave me.  But thanks for your honest feedback, it is appreciated. I am curious to see if I can up those defense numbers even more. Thanks again! I'm always looking to improve. 

 

-Renatos

 

 

Edited March 2, 2023 by Renatos1023
copyedit

[Renatos1023]

Just wanted to post this final build here for anyone who is interested. Based on the feedback, I made some slotting changes and swapped some powers around. Currently running at 51.9% AoE, 51.3% Ranged, and about 34.7% melee defense. Plus 55.8% s/l resist w/o tough. I took the incarnate that gives +Def/Res for when it hits the fan, which helps push those numbers even higher. There's no endurance issues (thanks Heat Loss) and Sleet/Ice Storm are up every mob (currently at like 22 secs w/out hasten - if Mids is to be believed). 

 

This is easily the defender that I've had the most fun with in a while. Definitely feels like it brings a lot to a team and is a blast to play. 🙂

Liza Frost - Defender (Cold Domination).mxd

Edited March 4, 2023 by Renatos1023