A general guide to defender primaries.

[Killer300]

Great topic! I found this really helpful because a lot of powers have changed a lot since earlier guides I think, or as with radiation, the game changed around them in ways that messed with the power in question.

[Killer300]

On 11/13/2023 at 9:52 AM, drbuzzard said:

Storm Summoning is a very controversial set. The adherents think it is the greatest thing since sliced bread. The detractors would rather have a mime in their room while playing the game. I’m closer to the mime camp myself. I’ve seen good players use Storm Summoning to good effect. I’ve also seen tons of unskilled users unleash chaos which effectively squandered team ability. There’s quite a few garbage powers in the set to offset the few gems (freezing rain, lightning storm are the gems, hurricane is good, but tricky to use well). On a positive note, you don’t really need to chase recharge too hard with the set, so a cheap build will be OK (a few KB->KD will be useful). However this set demands the most skilled play to not be more hindrance than help to a team. As I mentioned before, it’s about being deft and not ham handed. I have a storm, and even knowing what I ought to do, I still find myself ham handed so that alt sits. It’s definitely not the best set, though on a good player it’s a good one. In the hands of a bad player, it’s pretty close to if not the worst. Odd how it comes down mostly to how you use hurricane, but that's really it. 

 

So, I wanted to ask the thread, has the above gotten better?

 

I bring this up because as a new player, I'm okay with a build that isn't optimal, however, a power set that actively angers the rest of the team if I'm not playing optimally is terrible. However, it feels like Homecoming has patched a lot of powers to be better, like Assault Rifle, and I'm curious if that applies at all to Storm Summoning, including in the upcoming patch. Thanks in advance to anyone who replies!

[drbuzzard]

11 hours ago, Killer300 said:

 

So, I wanted to ask the thread, has the above gotten better?

 

I bring this up because as a new player, I'm okay with a build that isn't optimal, however, a power set that actively angers the rest of the team if I'm not playing optimally is terrible. However, it feels like Homecoming has patched a lot of powers to be better, like Assault Rifle, and I'm curious if that applies at all to Storm Summoning, including in the upcoming patch. Thanks in advance to anyone who replies!

 

The guide isn't that old. This is the current state of storm and there's no sign of a change on the horizon. Personally I think removing the repel in hurricane would do a lot to help the set, but I imagine there's current users who like it. 

Edited February 8 by drbuzzard

[Uun]

11 hours ago, Killer300 said:

I'm curious if that applies at all to Storm Summoning, including in the upcoming patch. Thanks in advance to anyone who replies!

There are a few minor changes to Storm in the upcoming patch, primarily for balance and QoL. None of them alter how the set works, which has been largely unchanged since launch (the biggest change to the set was probably the introduction of KB>KD enhancements). Storm is a set that takes practice, as well as some thought as to what it's being paired with. For the latter reason, it's more frequently played by controllers than defenders.

 

Storm Summoning

Similarly to Cold Domination, Storm Summoning has been using incorrect values for one of its powers (Freezing Rain). It now is a true pseudopet and will use that caster's AT modifier tables. Summary of changes for each AT is provided below.

• Freezing Rain
  • Defender: -Res increased from -35% to -40%
  • Controller/Corruptor: -Defense lowered from -30% to -24%
  • Masterminds: -Defense lowered from -30% to -18%
  • Turned into a real pseudopet, inheriting AT modifiers
• Storm Summoning > Steamy Mist: Now only affects teammates and leaguemates.

[Killer300]

Thanks for replying to me guys! 

7 hours ago, Uun said:

There are a few minor changes to Storm in the upcoming patch, primarily for balance and QoL. None of them alter how the set works, which has been largely unchanged since launch (the biggest change to the set was probably the introduction of KB>KD enhancements). Storm is a set that takes practice, as well as some thought as to what it's being paired with. For the latter reason, it's more frequently played by controllers than defenders.

 

Storm Summoning

Similarly to Cold Domination, Storm Summoning has been using incorrect values for one of its powers (Freezing Rain). It now is a true pseudopet and will use that caster's AT modifier tables. Summary of changes for each AT is provided below.

• Freezing Rain
  • Defender: -Res increased from -35% to -40%
  • Controller/Corruptor: -Defense lowered from -30% to -24%
  • Masterminds: -Defense lowered from -30% to -18%
  • Turned into a real pseudopet, inheriting AT modifiers
• Storm Summoning > Steamy Mist: Now only affects teammates and leaguemates.

Your point about Controllers getting more use out of it makes sense. 

[DreadShinobi]

On 2/8/2024 at 2:11 PM, Killer300 said:

Thanks for replying to me guys! 

Your point about Controllers getting more use out of it makes sense. 

 

Storm is also very good with Sonic Attack. The -res from your shouts increases the damage of your tornado and lightning storm which just rips through AV health bars insanely fast even without regen debuffs in the set.

 

Storm Summoning can be an excellent choice to dip into Burnout in the speed pool to double summon tornados, lightning storms, and freezing rain. This is the strongest way to ramp up your damage fast for AVs - starting the fight with 2 lightning storms and then ramping up to 3 storms. You can take conserve power or power sink to manage the burnout crash from ancillary pools or use ageless/vigor. Sonic is also pretty endurance light, to complement the end heavy storm summoning

 

I would think Storm with Beam Rifle would also be a good combo. You get a bit of regen debuff and you still get 1 resist debuff attack in the set compared to Sonic. The t3 blast is also a stun which could theoretically make Thunderclap useful but I've never played Beam rifle.

Edited February 19 by DreadShinobi

[TheMoncrief]

On 11/13/2023 at 9:24 AM, Without_Pause said:

One of the cases where this is different if you are playing a Controller. 

 

Or a Mastermind. On a Mastermind, Choking Cloud and its viny twin from Nature Affinity are incredibly potent for keeping your pets alove. I can't argue with the assessment that on Defenders (and probably Corruptors) they are absolute skips. A lot of endurance spent for not much benefit.

[TygerDarkstorm]

I was only kind of skimming, but I see a lot of talk about how busy Electrical Affinity is and I noticed that you missed a key element in your write up. Standing in Faraday Cage lets you build stacks of the charge effect thing. This set is only as busy as you make it, and if your team is good, you don't have to be pushing a button just because it's up.