Storm Summoning/

[Maxzero]

7 hours ago, Obitus said:

 

I'll echo much of what Hjarki said.

 

On the live servers, one of my "main" characters was an Ice/Storm Controller.  I loved that toon to death, but even on its best day the damage output was never particularly impressive.  Sure, the Storm powers would take down Pylons and the like - and back then, having spammable immobilize was the only way to get consistent benefit out of Tornado/LS, so the Controller certainly had an advantage.  And I love the way Storm powers look, so I was happy to take a little bit of a killing speed penalty to enjoy the majestic view.

 

But in the average fight?  The majority of my practical killing speed on the Corruptor comes from his Primary set.  Now that you can get consistent utility out of Tornado/LS by slotting a Sudden Acceleration proc - and now that we have crashless nukes - I'd say that the comparison generally isn't close: a Defender or Corruptor will kill most things faster than a /Storm Controller - leaving aside a couple of outliers.

 

Is there a trade off?  Absolutely, it's possible that my failing to wring out every last drip of Storm-power performance hurts my DPS against Pylons/AVs, but not by much, certainly not by near enough to offset the gain in practical kill speed in more common situations.

 

Yes, Tornado and LS have hellaciously high DPA, perhaps the highest in the game.  On paper, Lightning Storm gives you somewhere around 1100 damage in return for 2.244s of cast time, which works out to a DPA of ~490.  For contrast, the Blaster version of Blaze, widely considered one of the most overpowered attacks, only does ~280 DPA, with standard damage slotting.  But of course the crucial difference is that Blaze can be cast every ~3 seconds; LS has a minimum cycle time of ~20 seconds, and it takes 60 seconds to deliver its full damage.  And it costs a buttload of endurance up front, which is only justified from a cost-efficiency standpoint if it delivers about half of its full payload (30 seconds).  So although I'm a huge fan of the power's aesthetics, LS is not among the most practically useful powers in the game - situationally awesome for sure, but not necessarily spam-worthy.

 

Tornado, on the other hand, should be cast on CD whenever possible, provided that you've slotted a KB-to-KD IO; it has even higher DPA by default; it has a much larger AoE; it's mobile, and it's virtually guaranteed to proc Force Feedback.  But no amount of Storm-power spamming will replace a Corruptor's ability, in the average situation, to toss out ~200 DPS over the short term using active attack powers, or more importantly, the ability to toss out massive, bursty AoEs.

 

Now, you're rolling with Illusion, and Illusion has its own unique perks.  As far as I know, Illusion will never break any damage records, but the combination of perma-PA and Deceive gives you the ability to solo things that most other builds in the game could never even attempt.  There's a reason that Ill/* is on the short list of prime powergamer options.  Given that Illusion's specialty is soloing ridiculous challenges, you might even say that an Ill/Storm should prioritize AV-fight effectiveness over general killing speed. 

 

I certainly wouldn't argue that a Corruptor/Defender is better than an Ill Controller, but they all have their plusses and minuses.

 

It's also worth keeping in mind that Illusion heavily incentivizes a +recharge-first build strategy, because recharge takes care of both your offense and your defense, the latter via perma-PA.  Other Storm builds have to balance the desire for max Tornado/LS spam against the need for extra durability.  (For giggles, I just spent a few minutes trying to throw together a ranged soft-cap Ill/Storm that also has passive perma-PA, i.e. perma-PA without FF procs factored in.  Couldn't do it.  There really isn't any point, anyway.)

 

All of that said, there's no reason you couldn't proc out Blind.  Seems to be an excellent candidate.  A build like this looks pretty appealing:

 

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My current build: pretty tanky, Psi Tornado is for AoE FF +recharge procing only and I am usually spamming FR, LS and Tornado at near recharge cap. ST is a pretty basic rotation of weaving Arcane Bolt and Blind in between Storm Casts. Even with T4 Ageless and T3 Cardiac end can get a bit tight if I drop all my AoEs in arow. Hopefully T4 Cardiac will finally put that to bed. Recharge is at least 10% higher then that due to Ageless.

 

Basically yes I have a rotations but its mainly support and helping enable of Storm powers.

 

It won't reach full power till Utility Belt pool comes out with its fast casting ST Immo (that also has KD) and a surprising good ST Dagger power that is like Spectral Wounds but no heal back and full Containment damage.

Edited July 27, 2019 by Maxzero
ideas

[Obitus]

21 hours ago, Maxzero said:

My current build: pretty tanky, Psi Tornado is for AoE FF +recharge procing only and I am usually spamming FR, LS and Tornado at near recharge cap. ST is a pretty basic rotation of weaving Arcane Bolt and Blind in between Storm Casts. Even with T4 Ageless and T3 Cardiac end can get a bit tight if I drop all my AoEs in arow. Hopefully T4 Cardiac will finally put that to bed. Recharge is at least 10% higher then that due to Ageless.

Very tanky.  Well done.

 

It really is an excellent build.  I spent some time messing with it, and though I think I've come up with a version I'd prefer to play, I can't honestly say that yours can be improved.  In case you're curious, here's my version:

 

Spoiler

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Highlights:

• Much more recovery, and a bit more end reduction in various places.  It should be end-sustainable with Musculature Radial instead of Cardiac, as long as you run Ageless Core Destiny (given Ageless Core's worst-case 1.67 EPS boost).  My notes on this are below, in another spoiler.
• Full damage slotting in Psionic Tornado
• Much more Hover speed (36.1 MPH vs 25.4), and greatly increased travel speed, as we ditched Thunder Clap for Afterburner
• Musculature Radial Alpha, for a healthy boost in Lightning Storm and Tornado damage (among other powers, but these are most notable given that they don't respond to non-enhancement damage buffs)
• Slightly more Defense to supplemental positions (Ranged is still soft-capped, when you account for suppression on Group Invisibility)

Lowlights:

• The big downside is that I Iost ~11% in global recharge.  I don't think you'd lose perma-PA, given all of the FF procs you've got going on, plus the average contribution of Ageless, but it's still a clear downgrade.
• I lost about 5% in S/L and Negative/Toxic/Psi resistance, and more than that in certain other categories.
• Slightly fewer hitpoints

That's all I can think of, probably missing something.  Again, yours is a great great build; I'm grateful you posted it, as it really got the noggin joggin.

 

Oh, here are my rambling notes on end consumption:

 

Spoiler

Maxzero build revision end-sustainability, w/ Musculature Radial

• blind - 8.53 End, ~5 second cycle time (1.848s act)
• Arcane Bolt - 5.14 End, ~4.2s cycle time (2.244s act)
• Freezing Rain - 13.67 End, ~15s cycle time (2.244s act)
• Phantom Army - 17.6 End, ~60s cycle time (3.3 act)
• Tornado - 15.62 End, ~14s cycle time (1.32 act)
• Lightning Storm - 23.44 End, ~21s cycle time (2.244s act)
• Psionic Tornado - 15.67 End, ~9s cycle time (2.508s act)

So assuming that all of these can be cast every time they recharge (impossible), we'd burn a total EPS of

• Blind - 1.706 EPS
• Arcane Bolt - 1.224 EPS
• FR - 0.9113 EPS
• Phantom Army - 0.294 EPS
• Tornado - 1.115 EPS
• Lightning Storm - 1.116 EPS
• Psionic Tornado - 1.741

Total - 8.1073 EPS, which is monstrous.

 

Max's recovery on this revised build is 3.31 EPS; he also has the Panacea and Performance Shifter procs, which should be worth 0.4125 EPS and 0.275 EPS, respectively, giving us a total recovery rate of 3.9975 EPS.  His toggle use is 1.19.  So at this rate of burn he'll run his 110-End pool dry in 20.75 seconds.

 

But he also has Ageless.  At worst, Ageless Core (t4) offers 100% recovery, which is 1.67 EPS, which raises our total recovery to 5.6675.  If we add that into the equation, he'll burn his end pool in 30.3 seconds.  Still not good enough.

 

The target is 60 seconds, because presumably the first half of the Ageless buff will carry us.

 

Let's dive in a little deeper.  If we assign priority to the powers above, we end up with the following:

 

1.  Phantom Army - 0.294 EPS, 3.3s act, ~60s cycle - therefore 3.3 / 60 = 5.5% of our total activation time
2.  Freezing Rain - 0.9113 EPS, 2.244s act, 15s cycle - therefore 2.244 / 15 = ~15% of our total activation time.
3. Tornado - 1.115 EPS, 1.32s act, 14s cycle - therefore 1.32 / 14 = 9.4% of our total activation time
4. Lightning Storm - 1.116 EPS, 2.244s act, ~21s cycle - therefore 2.244 / 21 = 10.6% of our total activation time.

These four powers alone take up 40.5% of our available activation time.

 

We fill out the rest of the list as follows:

• 5. Psionic Tornado (in AoE scenarios) - 1.741 EPS, 2.508s act, ~9s cycle time, therefore it would take up a whopping 27.9% of our total animation time.
• 6. Blind - 1.706 EPS, 1.848s act, ~5s cycle time, therefore 1.848 / 5 = 37% of our total animation time
• 7. Arcane Bolt - 1.224 EPS, 2.244s act, ~4.2s cycle time, therefore 2.244 / 4.2 = 53.4% of our total activation time.

Obviously, you can't cast all of these as often as possible.  Add all of the percentages above together and you end up with 158.8%.  Even the top priority powers will occasionally be delayed by a fraction of a second due to other animations.  So how do we model this?

 

Well first, let's take the first four powers as if they were cast as often as possible.  That gives us a starting burn rate of 3.4363 EPS, plus toggle costs of 1.19, for a total of 4.6263 EPS.  At this rate of burn, and if we take for granted the worst-case Ageless recovery bonus (+1.67), then Max is sustainable, forever.

 

So let's add in Psionic Tornado as if it could be cast immediately on CD. Our burn rate rises to 6.3673 EPS, which means max would run dry in 110 / (6.3673 - 3.9975 - 1.67) = 157.2 seconds.  Boom.

 

But Max will want to do more than spam Psi Tornado during gaps in his Storm powers.  If we take it as given that the first four powers and Psi Tornado can all be spammed immediately on CD, then we've only accounted for 40.5+27.9 = 68.4% of our total activation time.

That leaves 31.6% for Blind and Arcane Bolt.  For the sake of argument, and because we want to err on the side of overestimating our end drain, let's assume that Blind takes up 2/3rds of that remaining animation time.  So we take 2/3rds of Blind's 1.706 End drain, and 1/3rd of Arcane Bolt's 1.224 End drain, and we end up with 1.545 EPS.

 

Then we have to account for the fact that our remaining animation window of 31.6% is roughly a third of the 37 + 53.4 = 90.4% the two ST attacks would otherwise occupy in our rotation, if we were attacking as often as possible with them.  So our estimated end drain from Blind/AB of 1.545 gets modified by 31.6 / 90.4 = 0.35, giving us a new modified total of 0.54 EPS from Blind and Arcane Bolt.

 

If we add that to the burn rate from our AoE rotation, we get 0.54 + 6.3673 = 6.9073 EPS.  At this burn rate, Max will run dry in 88.7 seconds, which is above our target of 60 seconds.

 

VERDICT:  The build should be end-sustainable as long as Max runs Ageless Core Destiny full time.

 

Edited July 28, 2019 by Obitus

[Maxzero]

3 hours ago, Obitus said:

Very tanky.  Well done.

 

It really is an excellent build.  I spent some time messing with it, and though I think I've come up with a version I'd prefer to play, I can't honestly say that yours can be improved.  In case you're curious, here's my version:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

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		|-------------------------------------------------------------------|

 

Highlights:

• Much more recovery, and a bit more end reduction in various places.  It should be end-sustainable with Musculature Radial instead of Cardiac, as long as you run Ageless Core Destiny (given Ageless Core's worst-case 1.67 EPS boost).  My notes on this are below, in another spoiler.
• Full damage slotting in Psionic Tornado
• Much more Hover speed (36.1 MPH vs 25.4), and greatly increased travel speed, as we ditched Thunder Clap for Afterburner
• Musculature Radial Alpha, for a healthy boost in Lightning Storm and Tornado damage (among other powers, but these are most notable given that they don't respond to non-enhancement damage buffs)
• Slightly more Defense to supplemental positions (Ranged is still soft-capped, when you account for suppression on Group Invisibility)

Lowlights:

• The big downside is that I Iost ~11% in global recharge.  I don't think you'd lose perma-PA, given all of the FF procs you've got going on, plus the average contribution of Ageless, but it's still a clear downgrade.
• I lost about 5% in S/L and Negative/Toxic/Psi resistance, and more than that in certain other categories.
• Slightly fewer hitpoints

That's all I can think of, probably missing something.  Again, yours is a great great build; I'm grateful you posted it, as it really got the noggin joggin.

 

Oh, here are my rambling notes on end consumption:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Maxzero build revision end-sustainability, w/ Musculature Radial

• blind - 8.53 End, ~5 second cycle time (1.848s act)
• Arcane Bolt - 5.14 End, ~4.2s cycle time (2.244s act)
• Freezing Rain - 13.67 End, ~15s cycle time (2.244s act)
• Phantom Army - 17.6 End, ~60s cycle time (3.3 act)
• Tornado - 15.62 End, ~14s cycle time (1.32 act)
• Lightning Storm - 23.44 End, ~21s cycle time (2.244s act)
• Psionic Tornado - 15.67 End, ~9s cycle time (2.508s act)

So assuming that all of these can be cast every time they recharge (impossible), we'd burn a total EPS of

• Blind - 1.706 EPS
• Arcane Bolt - 1.224 EPS
• FR - 0.9113 EPS
• Phantom Army - 0.294 EPS
• Tornado - 1.115 EPS
• Lightning Storm - 1.116 EPS
• Psionic Tornado - 1.741

Total - 8.1073 EPS, which is monstrous.

 

Max's recovery on this revised build is 3.31 EPS; he also has the Panacea and Performance Shifter procs, which should be worth 0.4125 EPS and 0.275 EPS, respectively, giving us a total recovery rate of 3.9975 EPS.  His toggle use is 1.19.  So at this rate of burn he'll run his 110-End pool dry in 20.75 seconds.

 

But he also has Ageless.  At worst, Ageless Core (t4) offers 100% recovery, which is 1.67 EPS, which raises our total recovery to 5.6675.  If we add that into the equation, he'll burn his end pool in 30.3 seconds.  Still not good enough.

 

The target is 60 seconds, because presumably the first half of the Ageless buff will carry us.

 

Let's dive in a little deeper.  If we assign priority to the powers above, we end up with the following:

 

1.  Phantom Army - 0.294 EPS, 3.3s act, ~60s cycle - therefore 3.3 / 60 = 5.5% of our total activation time
2.  Freezing Rain - 0.9113 EPS, 2.244s act, 15s cycle - therefore 2.244 / 15 = ~15% of our total activation time.
3. Tornado - 1.115 EPS, 1.32s act, 14s cycle - therefore 1.32 / 14 = 9.4% of our total activation time
4. Lightning Storm - 1.116 EPS, 2.244s act, ~21s cycle - therefore 2.244 / 21 = 10.6% of our total activation time.

These four powers alone take up 40.5% of our available activation time.

 

We fill out the rest of the list as follows:

• 5. Psionic Tornado (in AoE scenarios) - 1.741 EPS, 2.508s act, ~9s cycle time, therefore it would take up a whopping 27.9% of our total animation time.
• 6. Blind - 1.706 EPS, 1.848s act, ~5s cycle time, therefore 1.848 / 5 = 37% of our total animation time
• 7. Arcane Bolt - 1.224 EPS, 2.244s act, ~4.2s cycle time, therefore 2.244 / 4.2 = 53.4% of our total activation time.

Obviously, you can't cast all of these as often as possible.  Add all of the percentages above together and you end up with 158.8%.  Even the top priority powers will occasionally be delayed by a fraction of a second due to other animations.  So how do we model this?

 

Well first, let's take the first four powers as if they were cast as often as possible.  That gives us a starting burn rate of 3.4363 EPS, plus toggle costs of 1.19, for a total of 4.6263 EPS.  At this rate of burn, and if we take for granted the worst-case Ageless recovery bonus (+1.67), then Max is sustainable, forever.

 

So let's add in Psionic Tornado as if it could be cast immediately on CD. Our burn rate rises to 6.3673 EPS, which means max would run dry in 110 / (6.3673 - 3.9975 - 1.67) = 157.2 seconds.  Boom.

 

But Max will want to do more than spam Psi Tornado during gaps in his Storm powers.  If we take it as given that the first four powers and Psi Tornado can all be spammed immediately on CD, then we've only accounted for 40.5+27.9 = 68.4% of our total activation time.

That leaves 31.6% for Blind and Arcane Bolt.  For the sake of argument, and because we want to err on the side of overestimating our end drain, let's assume that Blind takes up 2/3rds of that remaining animation time.  So we take 2/3rds of Blind's 1.706 End drain, and 1/3rd of Arcane Bolt's 1.224 End drain, and we end up with 1.545 EPS.

 

Then we have to account for the fact that our remaining animation window of 31.6% is roughly a third of the 37 + 53.4 = 90.4% the two ST attacks would otherwise occupy in our rotation, if we were attacking as often as possible with them.  So our estimated end drain from Blind/AB of 1.545 gets modified by 31.6 / 90.4 = 0.35, giving us a new modified total of 0.54 EPS from Blind and Arcane Bolt.

 

If we add that to the burn rate from our AoE rotation, we get 0.54 + 6.3673 = 6.9073 EPS.  At this burn rate, Max will run dry in 88.7 seconds, which is above our target of 60 seconds.

 

VERDICT:  The build should be end-sustainable as long as Max runs Ageless Core Destiny full time.

 

Already altered slightly since you were over the 5 lotg cap (had 6). Easy enough to move to Fly and Hover BotZ slots and delete lotg in Weave to make a second 6 x Red Fortune. Same end cost but more def, resistance, damage (2%) and global recharge.

 

Changed Tornado slotting for near identical end cost but slightly more damage and much more recharge.

 

Some sneaky slotting on Mind over body for more resist and less cost.

 

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[Obitus]

43 minutes ago, Maxzero said:

Already altered slightly since you were over the 5 lotg cap (had 6). Easy enough to move to Fly and Hover BotZ slots and delete lotg in Weave to make a second 6 x Red Fortune. Same end cost but more def, resistance, damage (2%) and global recharge.

 

Changed Tornado slotting for near identical end cost but slightly more damage and much more recharge.

 

Some sneaky slotting on Mind over body for more resist and less cost.

Ha, great catch.  Yeah, I was wondering where I lost 5 points of recharge; now I remember that I'd switched out one of the Red Fortune sets at the last moment. 

 

Digging what you've done with the build; I may just roll one of these myself.  Short of Hamidon, I'm having a hard time thinking of anything that this toon can't solo.  

 

Great convo o7

Edited July 28, 2019 by Obitus

[Hjarki]

9 hours ago, Obitus said:

Digging what you've done with the build; I may just roll one of these myself.  Short of Hamidon, I'm having a hard time thinking of anything that this toon can't solo.  

Remember that enemies run away from Tornado and Freezing Rain. With Illusion, you can create a lot of chaos - but you can't contain that chaos. As a result, your Freezing Rain and Lightning Storm are likely to be useless.

 

Against GM, this probably won't be an issue (if not explicitly stationary, many GM are immune to the fear effects and happily stay in the patch). However, the lack of -regen while solo will prove to be an issue. Against AV, the AV will simply run out of your patch/range of Lightning Storm. Against large crowds, the lack of the AE alpha strikes of Corruptors/Defenders means you'll spend all your time chasing down stray minions (or, at least, watching your pets do so).

 

 

[Maxzero]

1 hour ago, Hjarki said:

Remember that enemies run away from Tornado and Freezing Rain. With Illusion, you can create a lot of chaos - but you can't contain that chaos. As a result, your Freezing Rain and Lightning Storm are likely to be useless.

 

Against GM, this probably won't be an issue (if not explicitly stationary, many GM are immune to the fear effects and happily stay in the patch). However, the lack of -regen while solo will prove to be an issue. Against AV, the AV will simply run out of your patch/range of Lightning Storm. Against large crowds, the lack of the AE alpha strikes of Corruptors/Defenders means you'll spend all your time chasing down stray minions (or, at least, watching your pets do so).

 

 

 

Honestly I really don't find it that much of an issue. Maybe on few AVs that scoot around but for everything else between constant KD, enemy attack animations locking them in place and FR it gets the job done. Enemies run from just about everything nowadays: debuff toggles, burn patches, etc and few groups seem to have Controllers/Doms who are willing to use their AoE Immo anyway or at least use it effectively. You get by especially since a lot of the popular endgame content is in indoor or space restricted areas with fearless bosses: BAF, Lambda, Tin Man, Apex, Market Crash, ITF, LGTF, Hami, MSR, etc.

 

Would I like a ST Immo for AVs? Sure but I can live without till the Utility Belt power pool comes out.

Edited July 28, 2019 by Maxzero

[Hjarki]

3 hours ago, Maxzero said:

 

Honestly I really don't find it that much of an issue. Maybe on few AVs that scoot around but for everything else between constant KD, enemy attack animations locking them in place and FR it gets the job done. Enemies run from just about everything nowadays: debuff toggles, burn patches, etc and few groups seem to have Controllers/Doms who are willing to use their AoE Immo anyway or at least use it effectively. You get by especially since a lot of the popular endgame content is in indoor or space restricted areas with fearless bosses: BAF, Lambda, Tin Man, Apex, Market Crash, ITF, LGTF, Hami, MSR, etc.

 

Would I like a ST Immo for AVs? Sure but I can live without till the Utility Belt power pool comes out.

I was specifically talking about soloing.

[Obitus]

8 hours ago, Hjarki said:

Remember that enemies run away from Tornado and Freezing Rain. With Illusion, you can create a lot of chaos - but you can't contain that chaos. As a result, your Freezing Rain and Lightning Storm are likely to be useless.

 

Against GM, this probably won't be an issue (if not explicitly stationary, many GM are immune to the fear effects and happily stay in the patch). However, the lack of -regen while solo will prove to be an issue. Against AV, the AV will simply run out of your patch/range of Lightning Storm. Against large crowds, the lack of the AE alpha strikes of Corruptors/Defenders means you'll spend all your time chasing down stray minions (or, at least, watching your pets do so).

Ha, well first, I was engaging in a bit of hyperbole, there.

 

Second, I think Illusion actually has the potential to contain scatter better than the average Storm Corruptor/Defender, because although it lacks an Immobilize, Ill does have invincible taunting pets.  But I don't have direct experience mixing Illusion and Storm, so I'll defer if someone corrects that notion.  Anyway, it seems to me that Illusion's biggest weaknesses, RE chaos, are that its pets have a mind of their own, and they have KB.  Presumably you can at least mitigate the latter via Sudden Acceleration, though that is a bit of a slotting tax.

 

One of the reasons Ill/Storm interests me is that it feels novel, given various changes to the game's code since the last time I played.  Back in the live-server days, I would have said that Ill/Storm or Mind/Storm are non-starters:  Lightning Storm and Tornado were basically unusable on a consistent basis, back then, unless you had spammable immobilize - and so choosing one of the two Controller primaries without immobilize seemed to defeat the purpose of picking a Controller in the first place.

 

Clearly, Storm works best in combination with immobilize, particularly in fights against hard targets, which tend to run a lot.  That hasn't changed, in principle; what I'm describing is a difference of degree, not kind.  Still, Illusion is the powergamer's choice for soloing ridiculous challenges, and Storm has lots of useful tools.  If you want to be a GM/AV-killing monster, Ill/Cold is better - but Ill/Storm should do fairly well too.

 

Definitely still prefer my Ice/Storm Corruptor though, from a thematic/aesthetic standpoint.  Dropping three rains along with your Tornados and Storm clouds just never gets old.

Edited July 28, 2019 by Obitus
grammar

[Maxzero]

19 hours ago, Obitus said:

Ha, well first, I was engaging in a bit of hyperbole, there.

 

Second, I think Illusion actually has the potential to contain scatter better than the average Storm Corruptor/Defender, because although it lacks an Immobilize, Ill does have invincible taunting pets.  But I don't have direct experience mixing Illusion and Storm, so I'll defer if someone corrects that notion.  Anyway, it seems to me that Illusion's biggest weaknesses, RE chaos, are that its pets have a mind of their own, and they have KB.  Presumably you can at least mitigate the latter via Sudden Acceleration, though that is a bit of a slotting tax.

 

One of the reasons Ill/Storm interests me is that it feels novel, given various changes to the game's code since the last time I played.  Back in the live-server days, I would have said that Ill/Storm or Mind/Storm are non-starters:  Lightning Storm and Tornado were basically unusable on a consistent basis, back then, unless you had spammable immobilize - and so choosing one of the two Controller primaries without immobilize seemed to defeat the purpose of picking a Controller in the first place.

 

Clearly, Storm works best in combination with immobilize, particularly in fights against hard targets, which tend to run a lot.  That hasn't changed, in principle; what I'm describing is a difference of degree, not kind.  Still, Illusion is the powergamer's choice for soloing ridiculous challenges, and Storm has lots of useful tools.  If you want to be a GM/AV-killing monster, Ill/Cold is better - but Ill/Storm should do fairly well too.

 

Definitely still prefer my Ice/Storm Corruptor though, from a thematic/aesthetic standpoint.  Dropping three rains along with your Tornados and Storm clouds just never gets old.

 

You are a champ Orbitus 73 sec pylon kill (653 DPS) on my troller. I did a slight edit on the Arcane Bolt IOs for better proc chance and more damage. The build is in the pylon thread.

Edited July 29, 2019 by Maxzero

[Obitus]

1 hour ago, Maxzero said:

 

You are a champ Orbitus 73 sec pylon kill (653 DPS) on my troller. I did a slight edit on the Arcane Bolt IOs for better proc chance and more damage. The build is in the pylon thread.

Wow, great job, Max.  Love it when a plan comes together. o7

[oedipus_tex]

One thing I've not quite grasped yet about /Storm Defenders is how they solve the mezz protection hole. Or do most of them just not worry about it?

 

 

Edited July 29, 2019 by oedipus_tex

[Hjarki]

7 minutes ago, oedipus_tex said:

One thing I've not quite grasped yet about /Storm Defenders is how they solve the mezz protection hole. Or do most of them just not worry about it?

A combination of high ranged defense, significant soft control and inspirations. The rarity with which any mez can actually hit means that you can normally self-sustain off of inspiration drops. Since Storm Summoning doesn't have any offensive toggles to drop, you just pop an inspiration and keep on trucking.

[Obitus]

15 minutes ago, oedipus_tex said:

One thing I've not quite grasped yet about /Storm Defenders is how they solve the mezz protection hole. Or do most of them just not worry about it?

As I see it, there are two options:

 

• You can take Conserve Power to mitigate the endurance problem, and then take Clarion to cover mez (this is my approach on the Ice/Storm Corruptor that I've plastered all over the thread)
• You can take Ageless Destiny to manage endurance, and rely on Inspirations/Defense/Soft control to manage the mez hole (this has the added benefit that it frees up your Epic pool choice)

 

The main problem with Storm is endurance.  Everything flows from how you choose to manage that problem.   There are no perfect solutions, only trade offs.

 

Controllers are in a slightly better position, as we saw with Max's build, because they have the option to take comprehensive mez protection from their Psi epic pool.

Edited July 29, 2019 by Obitus
context

[Sir Myshkin]

2 hours ago, oedipus_tex said:

One thing I've not quite grasped yet about /Storm Defenders is how they solve the mezz protection hole. Or do most of them just not worry about it?

I've gotten rather use to the tactic of "If you're all too busy running for your lives, you wont have time to stop me!"

 

This, however, comes with enough time and experience on how to utilize/maximize Storm to your benefit to be able to really pull off. It's not a "flawless" approach by any means. Learning and understanding the set, along with what Hjarki and Obitus pointed out, are key elements. But in its simplest form if I go into a mob under stealth, and Gale them into a corner, block them in with Tornado, and drop Freezing Rain, that entire mob is going to spend its entirety KD/KB and running in Fear to get out of the Rain patch. Will they attack me? Some will try, many will fail.

 

I'm running around on an underslotted/not-yet-50 build and even when I'm teaming with a Melee, I'm still rushing to get into the next mob to lay down the maximum amount of chaos I can. Office buildings are some of the best maps to be in since I can corner and pin things so easily it's ridiculous, and the Melee might get that initial run-in before me, but my primary goal has been trying to clump things faster, before they get there, so they don't have to run after them (albeit it is only once before they're pinned down). In the event that any mezzes slip through, I'm carrying half a tray of Break Frees to shrug it off and keep moving, and the other half is Blues cause Storm has a serious case of asthma.

 

TL;DR: Storm is the mez protection.

[Scrapulous]

I think mezzes are probably the best argument for focusing on ranged defense instead of the easier path of S/L/E enabled by Scorpion shield. The build I planned out (linked below) takes the SLE approach and I suspect that I'll encounter mez problems once I have leveled up. I haven't decided on Incarnates yet, but I suppose Clarion will be in my future.

 

For solo AV/GM slaying, I think Storm should probably at all times carry Envenomed Blades from the P2W vendor.

 

Scrap

 

Villain Plan by Mids' Villain Designer 1.962
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Chilling: Level 50 Magic Corruptor
Primary Power Set: Ice Blast
Secondary Power Set: Storm Summoning
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Speed
Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery

Villain Profile:
Level 1: Ice Blast -- Thn-Acc/Dmg(A)
Level 1: Gale -- Acc-I(A), Range-I(3), Range-I(3), SuddAcc--KB/+KD(5), FrcFdb-Rechg%(5)
Level 2: Frost Breath -- Rgn-Dmg/Rchg(A), ImpSwf-Dam%(7), Rgn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(7), Rgn-Acc/Rchg(9), Rgn-Dmg/EndRdx(9), Rgn-Knock%(11)
Level 4: Snow Storm -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 6: Aim -- GssSynFr--Build%(A), RechRdx-I(11)
Level 8: Freeze Ray -- Dcm-Acc/Dmg(A), Dcm-Dmg/EndRdx(13), Dcm-Dmg/Rchg(13), Dcm-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(15), Dcm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(15)
Level 10: Steamy Mist -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), RedFrt-Def(17), RedFrt-Def/EndRdx(17), GldArm-3defTpProc(19), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(19), StdPrt-ResKB(21)
Level 12: Ice Storm -- SprScrBls-Acc/Dmg(A), SprScrBls-Dmg/Rchg(21), SprScrBls-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(23), OvrFrc-Acc/Dmg(23), OvrFrc-End/Rech(25), OvrFrc-Dmg/End/Rech(25)
Level 14: Combat Jumping -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), Rct-ResDam%(27), ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(27)
Level 16: Freezing Rain -- SprScrBls-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(A), SprScrBls-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(29), SprScrBls-Rchg/+End(29), OvrFrc-Acc/Dmg/End(31), OvrFrc-Acc/Dmg/End/Rech(31), OvrFrc-Dam/KB(31)
Level 18: Bitter Ice Blast -- Apc-Dmg/Rchg(A), Apc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), Apc-Acc/Rchg(33), Apc-Dmg/EndRdx(33), Apc-Dam%(34)
Level 20: Hurricane -- EndRdx-I(A), SuddAcc--KB/+KD(34)
Level 22: Maneuvers -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), RedFrt-Def(34), RedFrt-Def/EndRdx(36)
Level 24: Tactics -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 26: Bitter Freeze Ray -- SprWntBit-Dmg/Rchg(A), SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(36), SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(36), SprWntBit-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(37), SprWntBit-Rchg/SlowProc(37)
Level 28: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 30: Boxing -- CrsImp-Acc/Dmg(A)
Level 32: Blizzard -- SprMlcoft-Acc/Dmg(A), SprMlcoft-Dmg/Rchg(37), SprMlcoft-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(39), SprMlcoft-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(39), SprMlcoft-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(39), SprMlcoft-Rchg/Dmg%(40)
Level 35: Tornado -- SlbAll-Dmg(A), SlbAll-Dmg/EndRdx(40), SlbAll-Acc/Rchg(40), SlbAll-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(42), SuddAcc--KB/+KD(42), FrcFdb-Rechg%(42)
Level 38: Lightning Storm -- Thn-Dmg/EndRdx(A), Thn-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(43), Thn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(43), Thn-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(43), SuddAcc--KB/+KD(45), FrcFdb-Rechg%(45)
Level 41: Scorpion Shield -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), RedFrt-Def(45), RedFrt-Def/EndRdx(46)
Level 44: Tough -- UnbGrd-ResDam(A), UnbGrd-ResDam/EndRdx(46), UnbGrd-Rchg/ResDam(46), UnbGrd-Max HP%(48)
Level 47: Weave -- LucoftheG-Def/Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def(48)
Level 49: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(50)
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Scourge
Level 1: Sprint -- Clr-Stlth(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(48), Mrc-Rcvry+(50)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-End%(A), PrfShf-EndMod(50)
------------

 

 

[SmalltalkJava]

Hey everyone.  I see people mentioning things that are inaccurate in Pines/Mids.    They do have a github for posting changes and errors.   The link is in my signature.  There is also a link to the most recent version of the Pines that is posted on the Tools section of these forums.    I do recommend that you keep back up installs of your old Pines Versions.  That way you don't lose the ability to use the old build import data hashes and mxd files.  

 

I have already submitted several change requests regarding the "effects" window myself.

[doyler]

On 6/26/2019 at 1:23 PM, Coyote said:

For Epic Pools, I suggest one with a good End management power. For this reason I like Power Mastery and Mu Mastery. Mu also adds a pet.

Another good option is Dark Mastery... Thunderclap may not seem like a good power. Nor does Oppressive Gloom. Now, pair them together and you have perma-AoE mezzing at Mag 4. It also has a decent PBAoE End regain power.

 

I agree with /Sonic as being far and away the best secondary for Storm. Multiplying Storm's damage by the approximately 100% -Resist that Sonic can maintain on a single target makes Storm/Sonic a good candidate for highest sustained ranged DPS in the game, while also adding a stacking Disorient that can again make Thunderclap useful.

 

I was actually pretty disappointed with Storm/Sonic's DPS, unless I did something terribly wrong attack/build wise.

 

 

[Hjarki]

14 minutes ago, doyler said:

 

I was actually pretty disappointed with Storm/Sonic's DPS, unless I did something terribly wrong attack/build wise.

Sonic's main virtue has always been its -resist debuffs. However, you pay a huge price for them in the form of an extremely weak attack chain.

 

In the current game, this huge price normally isn't justified because you can get similar debuffing via procs (Achilles' Heel, Annihilation, Fury of the Gladiator) with only a fraction of your attack cycle and on significantly more damaging attacks.

[Sir Myshkin]

Just because it was super relevant to this thread, after putting it together based on all the testing I did for "Proc Monsters", I thought I'd post this specific build here. I pulled all the trick-kits of Storm, and Proc insanity of Dark Blast and popped them together. Lost Dominate/Char in favor of having SOME kind of reasonable defense with Scorpion Shield, but Softcap to S/L/E with a quick small purple off Ranged might be an okay consolation. I see this build as being a solid "Universal" Stormer, gets some good damage out of Gloom and Moonbeam in between all the other chaos of the Primary, and gets access to a mass Immobilize to help contain things, which is one of the biggest holes in being a Storm player (in my opinion anyway).

 

Spoiler

Hero Plan by Hero Hero Designer 2.23
https://github.com/ImaginaryDevelopment/imaginary-hero-designer

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Magic Defender
Primary Power Set: Storm Summoning
Secondary Power Set: Dark Blast
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Speed
Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Gale -- FrcFdb-Rechg%(A)
Level 1: Dark Blast -- SprVglAss-Rchg/+Absorb(A), SprVglAss-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(11), SprVglAss-Dmg/Rchg(27), CldSns-%Dam(33), GldJvl-Dam%(48)
Level 2: Gloom -- SprDfnBst-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(A), GldJvl-Dam%(11), SprDfnBst-Acc/Dmg(23), Dvs-Dmg/EndRdx(23), OvrFrc-Dam/KB(25), CldSns-%Dam(25)
Level 4: Moonbeam -- Apc-Dmg/EndRdx(A), Apc-Dmg(5), Apc-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(7), Apc-Dam%(7), Apc-Dmg/Rchg(9), GldJvl-Dam%(9)
Level 6: Steamy Mist -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A), StdPrt-ResDam/Def+(13), HO:Ribo(15), Rct-Def/EndRdx(15)
Level 8: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 10: Hover -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A), LucoftheG-Def/EndRdx(13)
Level 12: Boxing -- Acc-I(A)
Level 14: Tough -- GldArm-ResDam(A), GldArm-Res/Rech/End(27), GldArm-End/Res(34), GldArm-3defTpProc(40)
Level 16: Tenebrous Tentacles -- SprVglAss-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(A), SprVglAss-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(17), SprVglAss-Acc/Dmg(17), GrvAnc-Hold%(19), TraoftheH-Dam%(19), CldSns-%Dam(21)
Level 18: Weave -- RedFrt-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFrt-Def/Rchg(33), RedFrt-EndRdx/Rchg(37), RedFrt-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(40), RedFrt-Def(50), RedFrt-EndRdx(50)
Level 20: Fly -- BlsoftheZ-Travel/EndRdx(A), BlsoftheZ-ResKB(21)
Level 22: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(37)
Level 24: Freezing Rain -- SprFrzBls-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(A), SprFrzBls-Dmg/EndRdx(33), SprFrzBls-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(34)
Level 26: Hurricane -- SuddAcc--KB/+KD(A)
Level 28: Torrent -- Rgn-Dmg/EndRdx(A), PstBls-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(29), Rgn-Dmg(29), PstBls-Dam%(31), FrcFdb-Rechg%(31), SuddAcc--KB/+KD(31)
Level 30: Tactics -- GssSynFr--ToHit(A), GssSynFr--Build%(34), GssSynFr--ToHit/Rchg(37), GssSynFr--ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(43), GssSynFr--Rchg/EndRdx(43), GssSynFr--ToHit/EndRdx(48)
Level 32: Maneuvers -- ShlWal-ResDam/Re TP(A)
Level 35: Tornado -- SuddAcc--KB/+KD(A), ExpRnf-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(36), ExpRnf-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(36), ExpRnf-Acc/Rchg(36), ExpRnf-Dmg/EndRdx(43), AchHee-ResDeb%(45)
Level 38: Blackstar -- Arm-Dmg/EndRdx(A), Arm-Dmg(39), Arm-Dmg/Rchg(39), Arm-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(39), Arm-Dam%(40)
Level 41: Scorpion Shield -- RedFrt-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFrt-Def/Rchg(42), RedFrt-EndRdx/Rchg(42), RedFrt-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(42), RedFrt-Def(45), RedFrt-EndRdx(48)
Level 44: Lightning Storm -- SprWntBit-Dmg/EndRdx/Acc/Rchg(A), SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg(45), SprWntBit-Dmg/Rchg(46), SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(46), SprWntBit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(46), FrcFdb-Rechg%(50)
Level 47: Victory Rush -- EndMod-I(A)
Level 49: Afterburner -- LucoftheG-Rchg+(A)
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Dash -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Slide -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Quick -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Rush -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Prestige Power Surge -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Vigilance
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Flight-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Pnc-Heal/+End(A), NmnCnv-Regen/Rcvry+(3), Mrc-Rcvry+(3)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- PrfShf-EndMod(A), PrfShf-End%(5)
Level 50: Intuition Radial Paragon
Level 50: Degenerative Core Flawless Interface
Level 50: Ageless Core Epiphany
Level 50: Assault Core Embodiment
------------

 

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Isn't this spoiler field thing just the most unironically useful thing for build dumps?

[Griffin]

This this thread is so active, figure I would make sure I’m not crazy.  

 

If a storm summoning defender doesn’t take freezing rain, they are gimping themselves, right? I did an ITF last night and couldn’t figure out why things were not dying faster. Only had two debuggers, myself and s storm defender with no freezing rain. 

[Hjarki]

2 hours ago, Griffin said:

This this thread is so active, figure I would make sure I’m not crazy.  

 

If a storm summoning defender doesn’t take freezing rain, they are gimping themselves, right? I did an ITF last night and couldn’t figure out why things were not dying faster. Only had two debuggers, myself and s storm defender with no freezing rain. 

Yes, they are gimping themselves by not taking Freezing Rain. I'd call Steamy Mist, Freezing Rain, Tornado and Lightning Storm the 'must haves' of the set - if you're not taking them, you really have to question why you're playing the set. Hurricane and O2 Boost are both nice, but optional. Thunder Clap, Snow Storm and Gale are more 'if I have to take this, I will'.

[glutgolem]

I'm reading this thread for quite some time and since I hit 50 this week with my Storm/Ice-Defender, I tried to create my build.

 

My main Goal with this character is support and not so much being able to solo stuff. I think I did not play without a group on the way to max-level.

 

Lately with the incarnate stuff I died more often than ever before and so I tried to pick up some of the great advice of this thread.

 

Differing from other builds here I want some things:

• Storm:
  • no Gale, beause I never needed it and I don't want to take it just for the slotting opportunities
  • O2-Boost is a must, because I use it quite often to help my team
  • Steamy Mist, Freezing Rain, Tornado ans Lightning Storm are also must-haves
  • I like Hurricane, even thou I'm not using it much it has ist uses now and then
• Ice:
  • I like both freeze rays for the opportunity to stun even bosses
  • I never took Frost Breath and didn't miss it
  • maybe with only IB and BIB I'm not able to have a attack Rotation without a gap, but that is alright for me - with all the other powers I have always something to do
• Pools:
  • I like flight and Super Speed
  • and the Leadership Pool because I'm a Defender
• Epic Pool
  • I'm not looking for the most effective pool, but for the pool most in theme with the character.
  • Since there is no Ice-Epic-Pool, I took Power over Elec because Conserve Power is more in line with my play-style than Power Sink
  • Total Focus is only there because I had no better idea

That being said, I present my Build and any comments or suggestions will be very much appreciated:

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Edited August 10, 2019 by glutgolem

[Gentoo]

On 6/26/2019 at 1:23 PM, Coyote said:

For Epic Pools, I suggest one with a good End management power. For this reason I like Power Mastery and Mu Mastery. Mu also adds a pet.

Another good option is Dark Mastery... Thunderclap may not seem like a good power. Nor does Oppressive Gloom. Now, pair them together and you have perma-AoE mezzing at Mag 4. It also has a decent PBAoE End regain power.

 

I agree with /Sonic as being far and away the best secondary for Storm. Multiplying Storm's damage by the approximately 100% -Resist that Sonic can maintain on a single target makes Storm/Sonic a good candidate for highest sustained ranged DPS in the game, while also adding a stacking Disorient that can again make Thunderclap useful.

 

Yeah, but the sound effects of Sonic give me a headache very quickly. Sonic on the ears is right up there with thermal shields on the eyes, and least thermal has an option to tone down the graphics. You cant tone down Sonics's sounds without turning the sound off entirely, can you? That would be a great option. We get multiple visuals to choose from for some powers, so why not multiple sounds?

Edited August 20, 2019 by Gentoo

[Gentoo]

On 6/27/2019 at 1:52 PM, Sailboat said:

No love for Dark Blast?  The strong, hard-hitting self heal seems useful and Dark Pit can stack with Thunder Clap (and Oppressive Gloom from the ancillary) to give you THREE AoE stuns, any two of which can be stacked to stun bosses...that's starting to be useful.

I have been running a Storm/Dark and find it excellent. The rooting of the tentacles plus the ability to move stuff around with hurricane makes herding much easier. You can organize the bad guys exactly how you want them 🙂

[kelly Rocket]

Couple Tornado questions:

 

Given that Tornado is a pet, does the Force Feedback proc benefit you or the Tornado itself (As generally proc buffs go to the pet they're slotted in, when slotted in a pet)?

 

And related, does the Soulbound Allegiance Chance for Build-Up when slotted in Tornado give the Tornado Build-Up, or you? If it goes to the Tornado, does that immediately increase the damage it's dealing?