Anyone tried Grav/Elec?

[Damoklese]

So im trying to find SOMETHING to make using electric affinity fun.  Overall im not wowed by the set, but I LOVE faraday cage and everything it provides, so im trying to brainstorm a character that makes electric affinity enjoyable. 

 

Ive always loved Gravity, so that could help, but more importantly I was looking at how Amp Up in electric affinity is a nice boost to defense, accuracy, and damage.. and also gives a nice big boost to secondary effects. 

 

Has anyone tried casting this on singularity?  And if so, was it awesome? Or meh?

[SeraphimKensai]

Honestly I've never seen this power combination and it seems like a cool idea.

 

Well the heal and damage boost of EA won't affect Sing, they should chain off it to also hit you. You'll be able to place faraday cage in a corner and wormhole mobs into sing/the cage and go to town.

 

Sure you're not winning any damage races, but overall I think if controllers are your jam you'll have a lot of fun.

[tidge]

I haven't tried it, but I'm curious to read the thoughts of others. The graphics would likely be pretty cool to watch.

 

Full disclosure: I recreated a Gravity/Kin controller from Live on HC Day 1 (or 4, depending on how you think about that first week), took it to 50+ and then it took me 5+ years to revisit Gravity (the second time as a Dominator). The Dominator is my current 'flavor of the month'... I think it offers me more to do than the Controller, and leveling was slightly easier (although I didn't have permaDom until I could slot Purple sets) but even so it was somewhat slow to level (doing typical content). The primary gauge of leveling speed for me is that once I have some AoE I like to set the solo missions to -1x3... and the Dominator did take a lot longer to clear those than I'd expected... see @SeraphimKensai comment above about not winning any damage races.

[Death2Tyrants]

20 hours ago, Damoklese said:

So im trying to find SOMETHING to make using electric affinity fun.  Overall im not wowed by the set, but I LOVE faraday cage and everything it provides, so im trying to brainstorm a character that makes electric affinity enjoyable. 

 

Ive always loved Gravity, so that could help, but more importantly I was looking at how Amp Up in electric affinity is a nice boost to defense, accuracy, and damage.. and also gives a nice big boost to secondary effects. 

 

Has anyone tried casting this on singularity?  And if so, was it awesome? Or meh?

 

You can make one on Brainstorm to test. I recommend trying the pair to see if you like it.

 

I have one at 50 which I shelved for a rework at some point. It was one of the better pairs with /EA but didn't wow me like other Controller pairs I've discovered and enjoyed.

 

It wasn't terrible it just didn't address my issues with Grav/ in general. I paired it for the same reason for a boosted Singy but also was attempting to squeeze out some End Drain from Shock and Galvanic for some added control. I also dislike /EA mechanics despite it being a strong set in certain configurations.

 

In a nutshell my preference for Grav/ is added control from the secondary and my preference for /EA is a primary set with fire and forget persistent controls which open up opportunity to buff/heal.

 

The pros:

AUed Singy works and is pretty tough and can have some fun interactions when the Shock Therapy PROCs trigger KU on a boosted Lift; it basically launches mobs off-screen when the effects stack. The added lockdown duration are noticeable as well, tough bosses aren't moving.

Grav/ has some skip powers while /EA has less hard skips. The set up lets me select more pool pick ups than I would have with my other /EA Controllers.

 

The cons:

My gripe with Grav/ is it has a ST chain but sacrifices high uptime AoE controls (I don't mess with DS and I skip the AoE Holds unless they pulse and persist), When your primary set mitigation isn't enough you tend to lean on your secondary a lot more.

On a Controller /EA doesn't feel like a strong set for me. When your team is getting hammered you are working those chain heals. /EA didnt really shine for me until I paired it with the /Energy(Primal) Epic pool. PBed Buffs and heals are uber and the set doesn't feel as great without it based on my expectations. The Enegry Epic feels obligatory.

I hate the mechanics of /EA and the rotation of having to constantly recast Faraday as you incrementally move to the next mob. The set has a very spammy feel to it especially if you are chasing the recharge buff.

I also worked around trying to get -End/-Recovery to work from Shock and Galvanic. With some EndMod slotting you can get some draining going but more so for tough longer fights. Other than that -DMG from those powers are more useful at the lower levels IMO and are completely skipable for late game builds.

 

You may enjoy the pair, for me it was one of several experiments to find interesting combos. Mine is on the docket to get reworked so it sits in the pile with the other 100+ Controllers.

[TygerDarkstorm]

Just to point it out there, AFAIK, Amp Up does not work on pets/henchmen.

 

Edit: And I apologize if I'm wrong. I just remember it being a discussion before that it didn't really work on MM henchies or something.

Edited Sunday at 02:48 AM by TygerDarkstorm

[Death2Tyrants]

2 hours ago, TygerDarkstorm said:

Just to point it out there, AFAIK, Amp Up does not work on pets/henchmen.

 

Edit: And I apologize if I'm wrong. I just remember it being a discussion before that it didn't really work on MM henchies or something.

That's a fair comment.

There are a few components to the power. The bonus to healing and +Recharge are registering in the pet combat attribute window.

The +Recharge is the only component that shouldn't work on pets and henchmen.

The rest of Amped Up is basically a Powerboost Other power + two parts to the Shock Therapy buff. ST grants a -End% and the chance to KU PROC as far as I understand it and that is delivered via electric bolts when in proximity of the target.

 

Now if you are saying none of the buffs work despite showing in the window it is a possibility but I would probably have to figure a way to test it.

 

Edited Sunday at 05:25 AM by Death2Tyrants

[TygerDarkstorm]

20 minutes ago, Death2Tyrants said:

That's a fair comment.

There are a few components to the power. The bonus to healing and +Recharge are registering in the pet combat attribute window.

The +Recharge is the only component that shouldn't work on pets and henchmen.

The rest of Amped Up is basically a Powerboost Other power + two parts to the Shock Therapy buff. ST grants a -End% and the chance to KU PROC as far as I understand it and that is delivered via electric bolts when in proximity of the target.

 

Now if you are saying none of the buffs work despite showing in the window it is a possibility but I would probably have to figure a way to test it.

 

I remember reading that Amp Up is a bit borked when it comes to pets (my quick google search is showing that this may still be true, but a lot of the info is a bit outdated so idk). I guess maybe it's the discharge damage that isn't working? I thought that I had seen a lot of MM's who solo with /EA skip Amp Up, but controller pets are different than MM henchmen and maybe things have changed since then.

[Death2Tyrants]

10 hours ago, TygerDarkstorm said:

I remember reading that Amp Up is a bit borked when it comes to pets (my quick google search is showing that this may still be true, but a lot of the info is a bit outdated so idk). I guess maybe it's the discharge damage that isn't working? I thought that I had seen a lot of MM's who solo with /EA skip Amp Up, but controller pets are different than MM henchmen and maybe things have changed since then.

Well thanks for pointing this issue out. Unfortunately this is likely still true and applies to Controller pets as well.

 

I checked the combat logs on two different **/EA Controllers and the -End% component nor KU isn't showing in the logs. The -End% certainly isn't triggering. Now I am skeptical the Powerboost-like portion works at all on pets.

 

/EAs release was in Issue 26 Page 5 March 31st  2020 so I doubt this is a bug considering the set has been around for a while. For pet classes this is lame if it is working as intended.

Edited Sunday at 03:43 PM by Death2Tyrants

[TygerDarkstorm]

2 hours ago, Death2Tyrants said:

Well thanks for pointing this issue out. Unfortunately this is likely still true and applies to Controller pets as well.

 

I checked the combat logs on two different **/EA Controllers and the -End% component nor KU isn't showing in the logs. The -End% certainly isn't triggering. Now I am skeptical the Powerboost-like portion works at all on pets.

 

/EAs release was in Issue 26 Page 5 March 31st  2020 so I doubt this is a bug considering the set has been around for a while. For pet classes this is lame if it is working as intended.

Yeah, that's why I felt it worth mentioning. /EA is still considered a pretty top tier secondary for MM's, but yeah, many solo MM's tend to skip Amp Up because it doesn't work on henchmen. I know controllers aren't MM's, but I thought it might be worth the caution just in case it similarly doesn't affect controller pets.

 

If you team though, Amp Up is worth taking to boost your teammates. Sadly not much in the way for solo benefits though. 😞

 

[Death2Tyrants]

53 minutes ago, TygerDarkstorm said:

Yeah, that's why I felt it worth mentioning. /EA is still considered a pretty top tier secondary for MM's, but yeah, many solo MM's tend to skip Amp Up because it doesn't work on henchmen. I know controllers aren't MM's, but I thought it might be worth the caution just in case it similarly doesn't affect controller pets.

 

If you team though, Amp Up is worth taking to boost your teammates. Sadly not much in the way for solo benefits though. 😞

 

I agree it is a top tier set I just really dislike the general mechanics of it and that /Energy feels like an obligatory pick for my expected performance. I wish it had some special interaction with the Elec/ Controller primary as it does with Elec Blast.

 

Yes I like the set more on my MM than any other AT. I probably like it more because henchmen are a walking DoT and I play it using a minimalist stance dance approach which allows me to lean into my secondary more.

 

I'm reluctant to roll another Controller but I suspect I will like the set more paired with Arsenal/ or Earth/ since I can throw out persistent patch effects which open up cast time for my secondary.

 

 

[Wimbochismo]

I have an Electric/Electric Controller and a Merc/Electric MM. I sliiightly prefer Electric Affinity more on an MM. With their high recharge + Hasten the powers recharge very quickly and it feels great to be busy on an MM. However, my Controller feels almost as good but for vastly different reasons.

 

I've found that the trick to enjoy EA on a Controller is to skip Hasten and the Speed pool entirely. Why? Pretty much all of EA's buffs are perma out of the gate. The only thing recharge is doing is allowing you to spam the crap out of the heals or get Energizing Circuit up slightly faster. Less recharge also means a more balanced approach to long cooldown controls. You still want to slot controls appropriately for recharge, but longer recharges means more opportunities to weave in EA powers.

 

In terms of building, by not chasing after recharge you can instead focus entirely on safety and proccing. For single target dmg I procced out the Hold and Jolting Chain from Electric Control. For aoe dmg I chose to proc out the aoe immobilize and Ball Lightning from the epic pool. For my 2 long recharge cc powers - Paralyzing Blast and Synaptic Overload I went for sets like the ATO Superior Will of the Controller that enhance recharge. This setup gives procced single target, quick short cooldown aoe dmg, and decent cc uptime.

 

I generally skip Amp Up just because it's best used on someone like a Dom/Controller/Defender who spends lots of time in melee. The effectiveness just comes across as kinda meh. In terms of Alpha's, Cardiac Radial pairs very well with EA and its functions.

 

As for driving and playstyle? On supports I usually Hover right over my Tank's head like a fancy ornament. For me it's just instinct to drop a Faraday Cage as soon as the Tank stops moving. The most important buffs to always keep up are Insulating Circuit for absorb and Energizing Circuit for recharge. I only use Empowering Circuit between mobs. On high end teams especially I rarely use Rejuvenating Circuit. If that much dmg is coming in then I should probably use my aoe Hold. This playstyle gives me more than enough time to use non-EA powers.

 

I was inspired to revisit my old Electric/Electric by this thread. I'll attach the build to show what it's possible to do with EA on a Controller. It's probably one of my more balanced and relatively tanky builds, while squeezing out some dmg. You could just switch the Electric Control/Arcane pool powers for the Gravity equivalent's.

 

 

Controller (Electric Control - Electrical Affinity).mbd

Edited 22 hours ago by Wimbochismo