Beasts/Sonic ?

[Xandyr]

Anyone ever played this combo? With Beasts' fairly high defenses (without using Fortify Pack) and heals, combined with the high Resists from Sonic, sounds good. Just wondering if anyone has played it, or has any insight on these 2 powersets.

 

Appreciate it. 

[Nyghtmaire]

I can only comment on Sonic. It is - nicely put - a little lackluster. I like it for some reason that I can’t really articulate (Necro/Sonic and Earth/Sonic Controller both of whom are incarnated out, and leveling a sonic/dark blast defender because of theme - listening to too much Cure so I wanted a goth kid character).

 

Pros: You’ll have plenty of time to use your primary attacks and PPP/APP abilities. Some benefit to the MM also as Sonic Dispersion buffs you and gives you a bit of mez protection. Disruption Field pairs nicely with melee pets (which you have many to choose from!). There are also only 4 must-take powers - the 3 shields and Disruption Field. The rest is to taste. With all 3 pet uniques and fully slotted shields, your pets will capped to smashing, lethal, and cold, and be at ~75% resistance for the rest except psionic (a mere 35%).
 

Cons: Liquify could be a great power but has a prohibitively long recharge. Endurance is a challenge, requiring thoughtful build choices to minimize the impact, especially if you want to avoid being lazy and going Cardiac for your Alpha (think this is a weak idea for MMs since it does next to nothing to help your pets melt face). Ignoring Liquify, it is a one trick pony for debuffs: -res (though it’s a nice trick). 

If you’re a player that is not inclined to resummon, you’ll also want some sort of heal. Either Heal Other or Spirit Ward will patch up well enough except on the highest difficulties. However, it locks you into a pool power that may not suit your theme or overall design. Also (and by no means do I have any experience slotting Beasts), it looks challenging to get all the protective pet uniques shoved in there while taking care of the rest of their slotting needs.

 

All that said, sounds cool to me. Might have to try it!

[StrikerFox]

Haven't tried it but I think the Beast/Sonic combo would be pretty legit. Bursts of brilliance when Lion's Roar activates for +6% def (unenhanced, x2 Lions) but they last for 15s with a 60s CD. Pet's def will be at around +26% M/R and +41% AoE without Lion's Roar. That includes pet inherent def + pet unique IOs + heavily slotted Maneuvers.

 

Only half the pets (Lions and Alpha Wolf) get Lick Wounds to heal themselves on a 60s CD. Dire Wolf has a heal on a 120s CD. Two T1 wolves have no self heal.

 

Their resists will be spectacular. Capped at +90% to S/L/C. Around +75% to F/E/N/T and +35% to P. That's with the pet inherent + IO unique auras + heavily slotted Sonic Barrier/Haven/Dispersion.

 

I sort of want to recommend Thermal instead of Sonic. Less resists but heals in a more controlled/timely manner. But regardless you can probably make Beast/Sonic work well.

[Xandyr]

13 hours ago, StrikerFox said:

Haven't tried it but I think the Beast/Sonic combo would be pretty legit. Bursts of brilliance when Lion's Roar activates for +6% def (unenhanced, x2 Lions) but they last for 15s with a 60s CD. Pet's def will be at around +26% M/R and +41% AoE without Lion's Roar. That includes pet inherent def + pet unique IOs + heavily slotted Maneuvers.

 

Only half the pets (Lions and Alpha Wolf) get Lick Wounds to heal themselves on a 60s CD. Dire Wolf has a heal on a 120s CD. Two T1 wolves have no self heal.

 

Their resists will be spectacular. Capped at +90% to S/L/C. Around +75% to F/E/N/T and +35% to P. That's with the pet inherent + IO unique auras + heavily slotted Sonic Barrier/Haven/Dispersion.

 

I sort of want to recommend Thermal instead of Sonic. Less resists but heals in a more controlled/timely manner. But regardless you can probably make Beast/Sonic work well.

After debating, I ended up rolling a Ninja/Sonic. The Ninjas have better Defenses, and a heal. Figured with that, coupled with the Resists from Sonic might be pretty decent.

 

I really don't know why, but I just want a /Sonic toon. Maybe because I hardly ever see any in game?

[TygerDarkstorm]

Yeah, /Sonic is one of those sets that suffers from being old and a tad outdated, though of some of the older "useless" sets, I feel it's one of the better/stronger ones. Some people also don't like it for MM's because there's no heal, but I don't mind that as much, especially if paired with a primary that does have one. I have a necro/sonic and just rolled a demons/sonic. I don't blame you for shifting away from beasts, especially after the page 5 buffs primaries like ninjas got--poor beasts went from being better than people gave them credit for to last place.