Ice/??? Help

[Bubbles232]

Looking to make an ice control and can't decide on a secondary, I was thinking /storm.

 

Any other ideas?

[blazingcoconut]

I played a Ice/Storm on Live and it was a beast.  Since you had so many Proc options, it was fantastic.  Now... with the changes to Procs, you just have to realize that you're not going to have much in the way of damage.  Yes, Tornado and LS will help as well as whatever epic you choose, but it's just a slow go and very team oriented controller.  On this server, I have left mine at 40 and had little desire to continue them.

 

I imagine from 40-50 and post 50 they are okay, not spectacular, but decent enough.  But nothing you can't get with any other power set.

 

Ironically, at low levels, you're one of the better controllers as AA + SS will soft shut down just about anything.  So yeah, storm is okay... but really, I'd do a different primary.

[oedipus_tex]

Ice is in a bit of a weak spot currently. It has very low damage, and its signature Ice Slick is out performed by Fire Control's Bonfire with a kb to kd IO. Expect your Ice Control character to be very team dependent and to potentially even be a drag on teams that need high DPS to succeed, like in the final battle of the ITF.

 

Overall you'll want a solid secondary set. Having a self heal is big plus for Ice Control, so Radiation or Time are attractive options. Thermal might be an interesting pick if you want a healer type. Storm has no self heal but adds some damage and control options to shore up your weaknesses, altho it hits your blue bar hard.

 

The only secondary set I would for sure rule out is Sonic Resonance because the endurance costs would murder your blue bar.

 

If you are determined to solo, an Ice Control Dominator may be more up your alley. Dominators get Assault sets that cover the holes in Ice's damage output, and mezz protection helps you keep Arctic Air running. It's probably not the "best" Dominator set choice, but it's probably not as difficult to run as Ice troller.

 

(Signed, someone who has run 4 Ice trollers and 4 Ice Dominators to 50).

 

 

[Sailboat]

I like Ice/Time, if for no other reason than pairing Arctic Air and Time's Juncture.  Running both is hell on the endurance bar, but surprisingly awesome soft control.  The radius of both PBAoE toggles is the same.  The dual slows are nice, but AA has a "flee" component that makes mobs run from side to side uselessly (and very, very slowly) when they are not confused into attacking each other.  TJ reduces their chance to hit and damage -- combined with Ice Slick, allowing you to safely enter the spawn and apply your toggles -- but also reduces the chance to hit and damage dealt by confused mobs.  Confuse has already been demonstrated to be a good status effect even though you don't get exp for damage foes do each other...in this combo, they do each other a lot less damage, "stealing" less of your potential exp.

 

You will, however, want to team up with such a build, as you will want someone to help dps them down.

[Erratic1]

I took my Ice/Time the other way, dropping Arctic Air and Time's Juncture, and using the endurance to run the Leadership toggles (especially Manuevers so that it can stack on with Farsight). I have slotted Temporal Selection so it can be cast once per minute and try to keep it on two party members at all time for the healing/damage buff it grants. For area "control" I use Ice Slick, Distortion Field, and Shiver, and it is nice having two single target Holds you can stack to lock up bosses or divide up for easier targets. Still have half a level to go for Chrono Shift.

 

Honestly I feel at times much more like a Time Controller than an Ice Controller.

 

[Coyote]

I really like Ice/Rad statistically.

 

Mobs are not controlled, but they are greatly nerfed... their attacks:

1: about 50% of the non-boss attacks will be directed at their allies

2: they attack at about a quarter of their usual rate

3: when they do attack, they miss a lot.

4: when they do hit, they hit for less damage.

5: you have a Heal to heal the damage.

 

That's without Ice Slick or single-target Holds, just from the Ice and Rad toggles, so they're up every spawn starting at low levels.

 

While it doesn't shut down mob activity, it makes it very very ineffective. And the -Def from RI helps you do damage with the Veteran Reward powers. But you have poor AoE damage (though, getting 50% of the damage from enemy LTs and minions pushes it up from "terrible" to merely "bad").

[Jaxman100]

Ice/Rad was my main support Alt for the entire run the game. It was wonderful before and after IOs.  Damage is certainly lacking for soloing before getting into the epic power pools. 

 

But with so many control and debuff options there's always something to do. I like being in melee range so I either have Arctic Air or Chocking Cloud in my build.

 

It's a team friendly combo and I'll play it as long as I am able.