I want to talk Storm Summoning

[Story Archer]

This is a very new power set for me and I've only seen it used a handful of times. Reading through the boards I've come across some conflicting information regarding powers and how to best slot them and I'm trying to figure out what my playstyle might be in this controlled chaos of a power set. I want to present my thoughts and some questions in the hope that some of you vets can properly educate me. FWIW, I'll probably be going Electrical Blast or possibly Storm Blast for my Primary.

 

One of my concerns is how it will play out on teams. At mid-to-higher levels, it seems like I'd spend my time setting things up and by the time I do everything will already be dead and the group moving on. Is that a realistic concern?

 

Gale:

Seems like a decent early power, but the only long-term value I see in it would be if it were slotted with two Accuracy, a KB/KD and a Force Feedback proc. Even then, with everything I expect to be doing at higher levels, it just doesn't seem like I'd get around to using it very often. Still a decent way to soften up a potential alpha, though.

 

O2 Boost:

Feels like a relatively weak Heal and mez protection. At higher levels I'd expect everybody to be taking care of their own mez protection and the last thing I want to spend my time doing in combat is healing.

 

Snow Storm:

Another power that feels like it would be useful at lower levels but there wouldn't really be time for at the higher ones. Honestly, all three of the initial powers seem like options I'd choose initially but respec out of later.

 

Steamy Mist:

Now this power seems great, group +Def and +Res and a little Stealth over a really wide radius. Plus is seems like a potentially useful place to mule a host of Uniques.

 

Freezing Rain:

Also seems like a must take, it should probably be used to open most combats, yes? Maybe toss in an Achilles Heel proc, or should it get proc'ed out completely?

 

Hurricane:

Now this is one of the powers I have the most questions about. It seems wildly powerful and like it would be one of the foundational powers of the entire set. A couple of -Hit DeBuff IO's and you're burying their chance to hit. I'd expect to slot it with a KB/KD and a Force Feedback proc as well. Seems like it'd offer good protection for other players who want to stay back with me, and let me focus my defensive build almost exclusively on range? Is this right? I ask because I honestly can't remember the last time I saw anyone running Hurricane in-game and it makes me wonder if my evaluation of it is accurate. Between Steamy Mist and Hurricane, I'd think set it and forget it.

 

Thunderclap:

PBAoE with low accuracy, long recharge, Mag 2 effect - this power seems imminently skippable to me.

 

Tornado & Lightning Storm:

I'm including these together because they seem to be so related, pretty much my one-two drop in every group of enemies, moreso than even my primary attacks. The question becomes how best to slot them? Do they both need to be six-slotted? I'd think KB/KD and a Force Feedback procs in both - but how would FF procs work with these, would they proc off of the time that I cast them or continually while they were in effect? Do these two powers have the self-negating result of chasing all the mobs out of their area of effect? Lightning Storm takes ranged damage sets, so I'm not really sure how to read that.

 

From a playstyle perspective, my initial expectation is that it basically consists of running around with Hurricane and Steamy Mist up, opening each combat with Freezing Rain, Tornado and Lightning Storm - possibly popping of my primary T9 - and then picking off stragglers with the rest of my primary powers. Does that sound right? Finally, not to be sacrilegious on the Corruptor forum, but is this a power set better suited towards Defenders, because we seem to focus so much more on it than on the ranged attacks?

 

TIA for any responses, I'm really curious as to how this set plays out.

[kelika2]

gale skip

o2 boost regret take, 1 slot, 1 heal.  dont use most of the time

snowstorm overshadowed by freezing rain

steamy mist is just "ok" at lower levels, really shines at 47+ when i can slot it with 3 ribos, 1 lotg and 2 random defense ios

freezing rain is 1/3 of the set.  using this to stack with rain powers just makes my day and due to it being available at a low level means it comes in handy for posi, +4 frostfires and so on

hurricane skip

thunderclap skip

tornado and lightning - generally 5/6 whatever set and 1 KB2KD.  tornado is just a blender of smashing damage and storm is a nice turret

[Story Archer]

5 minutes ago, kelika2 said:

 

hurricane skip

 

 

Thanks for the response - out of curiosity, why skip Hurricane? It seems so powerful...

[kelika2]

it pushes enemies around.  screws up agro, aoes and fun.

if there was a way to remove the Repel on it then yes, it would be powerful.  or at the very least, useful.

[arcane]

Steamy Mist, Freezing Rain, Tornado, and Lightning Storm are your core do-not-skip powers. Both Tornado and Lightning Storm should have a KB->KD, an FF proc, and solid damage/recharge slotting.

[Without_Pause]

1 hour ago, kelika2 said:

it pushes enemies around.  screws up agro, aoes and fun.

if there was a way to remove the Repel on it then yes, it would be powerful.  or at the very least, useful.

Sure, on someone who doesn't know what they are doing. I highly recommend going out and trying out Hurricane and see how much you like it or not. It offers a huge -ToHit Debuff, but it is a rare power in that you actually has to think about how to use it. 

[arcane]

Hurricane is okay against AV’s but ultimately too situational for me to take. 

[ExeErdna]

On my Storms I normally skip O2 Boost and Thunderclap. Sometimes I put 2-3 slots into Gale because KD is good yet it gets SILLY when you make it accurate and give it range so it can really cleave. It becomes one of the best Soft Control of the set for trash mobs. I love Hurricane yet it's so damn loud and if you're not built right it's WAY too hot to even use. So skip it. I often hate I have to skip Snow Storm very often because it's such a good soft control with just small investment becomes oppressive. You can pretty much do whatever with Freezing Rain you can spec it for raw DMG or Debuff either way is valid. Personally don't waste a KB/KD on Tornado since it knocks up, yeah it sucks for some melee players yet having mobs suffer in low ceiling hallways and rooms is too good. Yet you do want it to recharge quickly so you can get two up . Like the rain you can go DMG or a Debuff path and it's good. Lightning Storm, I just throw the whole "Overwhelming Force" set there. Amazing skill, yet be careful. If you're a flyer indoors you maybe summon the cloud beyond the ceiling where it just won't work; also learn to just use it.

[kelika2]

1 hour ago, Without_Pause said:

Sure, on someone who doesn't know what they are doing.

The meta of this thought is not taking Hurricane at all due to it being horrifically situational and said slots can be used elsewhere and praying other people are near your intellect.

 

Please believe me that if Hurricane ever gets its repel removed in some form or another I will unleash a torrent of mastermind alts.  even more other-ATs if the repel gets replaced with a draw-in effect.

All the defense based pets stacking with hurricanes -tohit

or draw-in stuff running away from fire patches made by the arsonist or assault bot

maybe snow storms -speed working in conjunction with the draw-in effect for a no escape scenario for having smaller aoes like exploding shruiken or molotov

 

but no.

fire/storm, ice/storm, water/storm alts are sticking with rain stacking, tornado, lightning storm with some light mist use until the glorious day of repel liberation happens.

[arcane]

As a side note, Burnout is particularly fun for Stormies. 4 Lightning Storms out at once anyone?

[Without_Pause]

5 hours ago, kelika2 said:

The meta of this thought is not taking Hurricane at all due to it being horrifically situational and said slots can be used elsewhere and praying other people are near your intellect.

 

Please believe me that if Hurricane ever gets its repel removed in some form or another I will unleash a torrent of mastermind alts.  even more other-ATs if the repel gets replaced with a draw-in effect.

All the defense based pets stacking with hurricanes -tohit

or draw-in stuff running away from fire patches made by the arsonist or assault bot

maybe snow storms -speed working in conjunction with the draw-in effect for a no escape scenario for having smaller aoes like exploding shruiken or molotov

 

but no.

fire/storm, ice/storm, water/storm alts are sticking with rain stacking, tornado, lightning storm with some light mist use until the glorious day of repel liberation happens.

Hurricane has a -30% -ToHit Debuff unslotted. Dark, known for -ToHit Debuffs, tops out at 15% for a single power. Poison has two powers which combined sit at 25%. If you wish to run around like a bull in the China shop, then by all means, your complaints are valid. If one is to actually understand the power and know that debuff lasts for 10 seconds one can go around 'painting' mobs and spreading the debuff around. One can also move mobs into places such as corners so the rest of the team can AoE them to death in relative safety due to that debuff being tied for 2nd best for a Corr and them being repelled into a corner. Hell, a warehouse mission is a damn near Storm user's wet dream. In a cave mission you can literally block off the pathway from melee based mobs reaching your range based teammates. So again, if you don't want to think about how to play a Storm support set and just want to use it for it's other tools by all means do so. That still doesn't mean it isn't an incredibly valuable tool.

[Thrax]

Hurricane sucks on teams.  Solo it is probably good, but I don't solo so I wouldn't know.  Teams it is unnecessary and usually a burden more than being helpful.  Hurricane's debuff is only helpful on an AV and even then is likely draining your end more than it is helping anything.  And if you're getting in melee to use lighting cloud, like you should, then you're scattering mobs with hurricane on , or toggling it off and on, which keeps you form using other storm powers or you blasts.     Gale is useful if you have a mob or two on you and you want to knock them back into the tank or the storms.  The heal is alright to take and comes in handy.  I like snow storm.  

[UltraAlt]

10 hours ago, Story Archer said:

Hurricane:

Now this is one of the powers I have the most questions about. It seems wildly powerful and like it would be one of the foundational powers of the entire set. A couple of -Hit DeBuff IO's and you're burying their chance to hit. I'd expect to slot it with a KB/KD and a Force Feedback proc as well. Seems like it'd offer good protection for other players who want to stay back with me, and let me focus my defensive build almost exclusively on range? Is this right? I ask because I honestly can't remember the last time I saw anyone running Hurricane in-game and it makes me wonder if my evaluation of it is accurate. Between Steamy Mist and Hurricane, I'd think set it and forget it.

 

It is one of the foundational powers of the entire set but melee players hate it.

Melee players also hate knockback.

Seeing a trend here?

 

You have the correct concept.

The hurricane is there to protect the squishes and, when you are on an all squishy team, you can do the tanking with hurricane.

I don't even bother with the knockback to knockdown proc because hurricane doesn't just have knockback it also has a repulsion effect that doesn't change because of the knockback to knockdown proc.

 

Hurricane is great for cornering enemies and keeping them off their feet, it just takes practice using it to get a good handle on using it.

Also the to-hit debuff on hurricane can be quite good and a real asset to the team, but you have tap the enemy with it in order for them to be debuffed.

 

One of the pro-melee things you can do with hurricane is herd enemies closer to the melee characters when in big rooms.

[kelika2]

1 hour ago, Without_Pause said:

If one is to actually understand the power

all these little "trying to make it work" things is taking away from blasting time

 

1 hour ago, Without_Pause said:

In a cave mission you can literally block off the pathway

This is where Freezing Rain comes in handy again, slows them all down and gets them ready to get mowed down.  Most common example of this would be the last mission in Yin.  omg and the packed tightness you are trying to convey speaks to Tornado and lightning storm way more.  i didnt know that lightning storm could hit up to 3 targets until a few years ago

[Without_Pause]

9 hours ago, kelika2 said:

all these little "trying to make it work" things is taking away from blasting time

At that point I would just rather log on my Blasters.

 

And saying Hurricane sucks on teams but Gale is useful due to KB has to be one of the more mind-numbing statements. 

[arcane]

Talking about how Hurricane is a great power if you know how to use it is not impressive to me. I know how to use it. Most do. I don’t know how to justify using it when it’s, ya know, completely unnecessary. It’s way easier to just spam Freezing Rain, Tornado, and Lightning Storm and blast in between, and I don’t miss the tohit debuff at all.

Edited September 21, 2023 by arcane

[Doomguide2005]

I think Hurricane suffers and opinions are so mixed for two reasons.  First as pointed out above it does have steep learning curve to use without messing with melee combat or causing foe scatter.  But I've also seen skilled users keep a whole spawn debuffed and whiffing clumped along a wall (not in a corner or deadend) without disrupting melee.  Which brings us to the second issue.  In a world of high defense if not capped the value of that applied debuff loses a whole lot of its impact especially in light of the above (required skill).  Back in the day when for even many melee sets reaching high defense was unusual a skilled use of Hurricane was a game changer.  Now that debuff is all too often utter overkill on teams given the downside.  Something it shares with powers like Empathy's Recovery Aura replaced by special IOs and set bonuses.

Edited September 21, 2023 by Doomguide2005

[ExeErdna]

39 minutes ago, Doomguide2005 said:

I think Hurricane suffers and opinions are so mixed for two reasons.  First as pointed out above it does have steep learning curve to use without messing with melee combat or causing foe scatter.  But I've also seen skilled users keep a whole spawn debuffed and whiffing clumped along a wall (not in a corner or deadend) without disrupting melee.  Which brings us to the second issue.  In a world of high defense if not capped the value of that applied debuff loses a whole lot of its impact especially in light of the above (required skill).  Back in the day when for even many melee sets reaching high defense was unusual a skilled use of Hurricane was a game changer.  Now that debuff is all too often utter overkill on teams given the downside.  Something it shares with powers like Empathy's Recovery Aura replaced by special IOs and set bonuses.

 

When I have Hurricane, I normally Gale so they're already knocked down. Yet due to high group power now they maybe dead due to just the Gale setup...

[kelika2]

3 hours ago, Without_Pause said:

At that point I would just rather log on my Blasters.

Which is a form of not taking Hurricane.

 

3 hours ago, Without_Pause said:

And saying Hurricane sucks on teams but Gale is useful due to KB has to be one of the more mind-numbing statements. 

I... never said that.  I said skip gale and rarely use a base slot o2 boost

[Doomguide2005]

23 hours ago, Story Archer said:

This is a very new power set for me and I've only seen it used a handful of times. Reading through the boards I've come across some conflicting information regarding powers and how to best slot them and I'm trying to figure out what my playstyle might be in this controlled chaos of a power set. I want to present my thoughts and some questions in the hope that some of you vets can properly educate me. FWIW, I'll probably be going Electrical Blast or possibly Storm Blast for my Primary.

 

One of my concerns is how it will play out on teams. At mid-to-higher levels, it seems like I'd spend my time setting things up and by the time I do everything will already be dead and the group moving on. Is that a realistic concern?

 

Gale:

Seems like a decent early power, but the only long-term value I see in it would be if it were slotted with two Accuracy, a KB/KD and a Force Feedback proc. Even then, with everything I expect to be doing at higher levels, it just doesn't seem like I'd get around to using it very often. Still a decent way to soften up a potential alpha, though.

 

O2 Boost:

Feels like a relatively weak Heal and mez protection. At higher levels I'd expect everybody to be taking care of their own mez protection and the last thing I want to spend my time doing in combat is healing.

 

Snow Storm:

Another power that feels like it would be useful at lower levels but there wouldn't really be time for at the higher ones. Honestly, all three of the initial powers seem like options I'd choose initially but respec out of later.

 

Steamy Mist:

Now this power seems great, group +Def and +Res and a little Stealth over a really wide radius. Plus is seems like a potentially useful place to mule a host of Uniques.

 

Freezing Rain:

Also seems like a must take, it should probably be used to open most combats, yes? Maybe toss in an Achilles Heel proc, or should it get proc'ed out completely?

 

Hurricane:

Now this is one of the powers I have the most questions about. It seems wildly powerful and like it would be one of the foundational powers of the entire set. A couple of -Hit DeBuff IO's and you're burying their chance to hit. I'd expect to slot it with a KB/KD and a Force Feedback proc as well. Seems like it'd offer good protection for other players who want to stay back with me, and let me focus my defensive build almost exclusively on range? Is this right? I ask because I honestly can't remember the last time I saw anyone running Hurricane in-game and it makes me wonder if my evaluation of it is accurate. Between Steamy Mist and Hurricane, I'd think set it and forget it.

 

Thunderclap:

PBAoE with low accuracy, long recharge, Mag 2 effect - this power seems imminently skippable to me.

 

Tornado & Lightning Storm:

I'm including these together because they seem to be so related, pretty much my one-two drop in every group of enemies, moreso than even my primary attacks. The question becomes how best to slot them? Do they both need to be six-slotted? I'd think KB/KD and a Force Feedback procs in both - but how would FF procs work with these, would they proc off of the time that I cast them or continually while they were in effect? Do these two powers have the self-negating result of chasing all the mobs out of their area of effect? Lightning Storm takes ranged damage sets, so I'm not really sure how to read that.

 

From a playstyle perspective, my initial expectation is that it basically consists of running around with Hurricane and Steamy Mist up, opening each combat with Freezing Rain, Tornado and Lightning Storm - possibly popping of my primary T9 - and then picking off stragglers with the rest of my primary powers. Does that sound right? Finally, not to be sacrilegious on the Corruptor forum, but is this a power set better suited towards Defenders, because we seem to focus so much more on it than on the ranged attacks?

 

TIA for any responses, I'm really curious as to how this set plays out.

     Gale-  useful pretty much as you describe.  Particularly in the early game as Storm Summoning is in general a late bloomer though recent changes to when you get your powers makes this less true.  Its soft control early before Storm gets its later offensive powers can be very useful.

     O2 Boost-  I like it and would rarely skip it even at for a higher level character.  Especially useful vs Endurance Drainers it self stacks.  It also helps boost the targets Perception (cause everyone loves being Blinded right).  Again self stacking.  On top of the other benefits.  All of which are self stacking.  Still I wouldn't call it mandatory by any means just more useful than often thought to be.

     Snow Storm-  Another useful but not mandatory power.  Greater utility in the early game and somewhat dependent on what it's paired with particularly outside of the Corruptor AT.  Ice/Storm for example has a ton of slow and recharge debuff built in leaving only the minus Fly.

     Steamy Mist-  Among the powers I would never skip.  I am almost always looking to 6 slot and get into the DR for its buffs.  Whether I use special IO's depends a fair bit on what other choices I might be making that effect options for placement of those IOs.

     Freezing Rain-  Another I would never recommend skipping.  I rarely use procs there as they would likely fire poorly at best.  It's an AoE and I am going to push the recharge with my slotting almost always to minimize the cooldown on the power.  I might if I have slots to spare (an exceedingly rare thing) drop and Achilles resist debuff in there.

     Hurricane-  So far I usually taking it but use it very situationally.  It's a much a mule and used infrequently as I'm not particularly skilled with it.  I'm also usually on a Controller with my Stormies so have lots of other options.  More comments in my other post.

     Thunderclap-  much more skippable on a Corruptor.  Again I'm usually on a Controller often an Earth/Storm and I'll stack TC with Stalagmites topping it off with Fissure.  Throw in containment and the whole mob is often immobilize and stunned.  But keep in mind your primary.  Dark Blast has the often maligned Dark Pit.  That's a pair of mag 2 stuns at your disposal which when stacked is a stunned Boss.  On teams that's probably slow and not worth it, but solo or a duo (small teams) could be strong overall mitigation.

     The big Guns- never skips without really good reasons in my book.  And on a Corruptor with no AoE -kb yes to slotting a kb to kd proc and any AT will benefit from the FF proc.  One cautionary note on Tornado.  You'll find an Immobilize of almost any sort useful when fighting AVs while using Tornado.  I've seen it turn Recluse in the old Statesman's TF turn into healthy competition for Romulus running all over the map.  It's a mag 10 afraid that does self stack. 

 

Edit:  @ExeErdnaYeah I would totally agree.  Teams in general dispatch even +4 foes quite rapidly in the endgame.  Even a skilled user is going to have trouble even remotely clumping all the foes up before they are long dead.  Basically especially for higher level teams it power is overall greatly diminished by the combo of kill speed and defense of high level teams in particularly.

Edited September 21, 2023 by Doomguide2005

[Without_Pause]

44 minutes ago, kelika2 said:

I... never said that.  I said skip gale and rarely use a base slot o2 boost

Did I quote you saying that? Did you see someone else said it? 

[kelika2]

21 minutes ago, Without_Pause said:

Did I quote you saying that? Did you see someone else said it? 

Hard to tell.  You can use the Quote button more than one time per post btw

[roleki]

21 hours ago, ExeErdna said:

 

When I have Hurricane, I normally Gale so they're already knocked down. Yet due to high group power now they maybe dead due to just the Gale setup...

 

That is why I don't quite understand suggestions to skip Gale, when a KB:KD enhancement makes it one of the better T1s in the AT, and a properly-supported FF+Recharge stack makes it one of the better T1s in the game, period. 

 

If anything, skip O2 Boost; what little utility it has is based off its secondary effects, and most folks have THOSE accounted for by the time O2 Boost's heal starts putting up significant numbers.  It MIGHT be a good set mule, but then you're robbing other powers to get some little global bonuses that likely aren't as useful as fully slotting other powers for effect.

 

As far as Hurricane goes, I still say take it 

even if it's only useful in certain situations. Unless things have changed, the -ToHit is auto-hit, and it's an absolutely massive number so even through resistances it's still a significant debuff.

[kelika2]

5 hours ago, roleki said:

That is why I don't quite understand suggestions to skip Gale

So many things.

First of all, most people probably dont slot it.  and adding all these little things to it adds up when it comes time to finalize a build

Knocking them down does not sound as appealing as debuffing or blasting them

Another thing is, do you solo on said alt or do you join leagues, task forces or large teams in general

and this recharge proc thing if you get perfect RNG and get it all procs you are just shaving seconds off other things.  now factor in the animation time for gale.  probably wont be huge

[bustacap]

Only Freezing rain and Lightning storm can actually hit fliers (maybe gale I never have tried on fliers). 

 

Snow storm (I am not advocating merely stating the purpose) is to ground all fliers in its AOE. This allows it to ground those sky raiders fliers and goldbrickers solo for tornado hit them. 

There is a lot more of each villain side. There's also a few flying AVs running around. 

 

It's skippable on controllers (aoe immobilize grounds fliers) and at 50 with a full build to nuke them down. 

 

Hurricane is very good on controllers (called Herdicaning )and pretty good when leveling and your defenses are not there yet. Posi 1 was the weekly If you hurricane the doors on the last mission everything is stuck to the doors with no ability to hit anything despite ruin mages. 

 

Hurricane is skippable if you have a build in place. It is fun though turn it on and nothing enters your area, or bully mobs into a corner. It's a fun power once you know how to use it. If you don't it is the most chaotic player power bar none (with force bubble being nixed and no one using telekinesis).