Sonic Blast and Kinetics

[Lhanis]

On one hand, a blast set I've been repeatedly told to just play on Defender for the better -res values.

 

On the other hand, a support set I've been repeatedly told to run on Corruptor for the higher damage cap.

 

I want to put these two together, but I'm not sure which AT to use. I don't know how well they'll mesh, though I figure Kin will at least help with Sonic's traditionally lower damage output and either way I'll have a decent little support package to use as a tag-along for a friend's farms. I'd like it to be able to reasonably solo, which I figure Siren Song > FS can help facilitate despite the lack of traditional defense tools.

 

Is this wishful thinking? Am I mad for trying? Should I give in and make a Sonic/Sonic Def instead? Advice is needed!

[MoonSheep]

hey lhanis

 

my main on HC is a kin/sonic defender, i had one on live and have been playing this one as one of my two primary alts since summer 2019. it experienced the nerf to sonic blast and now enjoys the buff it received to the -res component (now a flat -15% across all powers for a defender)

 

the choice between defender and corrupter depends on whether you want to be a damager dealer or a buffer in my opinion

 

my kin/sonic def is purely buff/debuff focused. the damage it deals is insigifnicant, this lets me focus on playing a team role - making sure SB is applied to everyone, maximum fulcum shift, hitting each mob with a good amount of -res and having powerboosted veng ready for when it's needed

 

kinetics is still very effective on corrupters, i would find it too burdensome to be focusing on both damage and managing kin effectively if i was to play a corrupter. if you're solo'ing then it's less hectic, therefore corrupter would definitely be the right choice

 

saying that, if i was to make a /kin corrupter for solo play i'd pick ice blast or fire blast for the higher damage output

[Maelwys]

Given that Kinetics will comfortably cap a team's damage even on a Mastermind... I'd go Corruptor every day of the week.

The difference therefore comes down to Sonic Blast, which deals more damage on a Corruptor but inflicts more -res on a Defender.
(and to be perfectly honest; I'd probably just swap to BR or DP + then stack damage procs and Achilles Heel -Res... Sonic Blast is better than before but it's still not great)

 

[Uun]

I have a Poison/Sonic defender and an Ice/Kinetics corruptor. The issue combining Sonic Blast and Kinetics is that, other than Dreadful Wail, all of Sonic's AoEs are cones. You'll end up hopping into melee range to fire Fulcrum Shift and Dreadful Wail, then hopping out to fire your cones. This is manageable but takes a little practice (consider taking Combat Teleport). Be aware that only 1 of the 3 cones has -res (Howl), so you'll need to cycle your ST attacks in order to spread -res debuffs around. My inclination would be to do this as a corruptor.

[Lhanis]

6 hours ago, MoonSheep said:

kinetics is still very effective on corrupters, i would find it too burdensome to be focusing on both damage and managing kin effectively if i was to play a corrupter. if you're solo'ing then it's less hectic, therefore corrupter would definitely be the right choice

 

That is the rub, I think. My first thought with this combo was simply take advantage of Def's scalar and let the character just be pure support, in which case my damage simply wouldn't matter as much compared to the buffs/debuffs it brings. But I always have a hard time letting myself gear out a character I know won't be able to play by itself. Corruptor probably is the way to go, simply because of that, even if the difference has never felt that big to me to begin with (Beyond Def's ATOs generally being awful, anyway).

 

5 hours ago, Maelwys said:

(and to be perfectly honest; I'd probably just swap to BR or DP + then stack damage procs and Achilles Heel -Res... Sonic Blast is better than before but it's still not great)

 

This I would normally agree with, but it's actually Sonic Blast that I'd consider non-negotiable over Kinetics due to concept. I'd never done anything with it before and I'd like to rectify that. Kinetics is more of a "how do I fix this low damage set" over any desire to bring the buffs to a party - that's just icing. There were other options on the table, but I'm trying to break my long-ingrained habit of slapping Dark Miasma on everything and calling it a day. 🤣

 

3 hours ago, Uun said:

The issue combining Sonic Blast and Kinetics is that, other than Dreadful Wail, all of Sonic's AoEs are cones. You'll end up hopping into melee range to fire Fulcrum Shift and Dreadful Wail, then hopping out to fire your cones.

 

My main for many years now has been my D3 Def from live, the eternal cone-dance is long ingrained at this point. It's annoying, but manageable and I already have CT binds in mind to alleviate this.

 

-

 

Good information all around though, I do appreciate the pointers. I hadn't realized Sonic has changed again, Mids still reflects old values and the Short/Lingering vibrations system... I may need to reconsider my power picks in that case. What has me curious then is wether or not I should be chasing procs on Sonic Blast over full sets; If the -res componant is higher and more straightforward now it feels like I should be implementing recharge to keep it layered over worrying about PPM, and I know procbombing Siren Song will kill the sleep effect entirely. 

[Lhanis]

And actually, that brings up another point entirely - if Sonic Blast is back to being flat and individualized -res packets, would it do any better as a Blaster? I'd think no, simply due to it's anemic damage output, but it's worth asking I suppose. I'm still looking for an excuse to run a /Ninja, and stealth/crits + Blinding powder are on theme for what I had in mind.

[Uun]

The new Sonic system has the same strength -res on each power with an 8s duration for Shriek, Scream and Howl, 10s for Shout, 15s for Screech and 20s for Dreadful Wail. The -res value is 15% for defenders, 11.25% for corruptors, 9.75% for blasters and 7.2% for sentinels. The debuff from one power stacks with that from any other power, but it doesn't stack from the same power. If you're using ST attacks on one target, it's pretty easy to maintain 3 stacks.

 

The only power I slot multiple procs in is Howl (2). I've got the defender ATO procs in Screech and Dreadful Wail and a full set of Bombardment (including the proc) in Siren's Song.

[MoonSheep]

9 minutes ago, Uun said:

The new Sonic system has the same strength -res on each power with an 8s duration for Shriek, Scream and Howl, 10s for Shout, 15s for Screech and 20s for Dreadful Wail. The -res value is 15% for defenders, 11.25% for corruptors, 9.75% for blasters and 7.2% for sentinels. The debuff from one power stacks with that from any other power, but it doesn't stack from the same power. If you're using ST attacks on one target, it's pretty easy to maintain 3 stacks.

 

The only power I slot multiple procs in is Howl (2). I've got the defender ATO procs in Screech and Dreadful Wail and a full set of Bombardment (including the proc) in Siren's Song.

 

-45% res on a defender combined with fulcrum shift is the reason i keep playing mine. if someone on the team also has a -res power that’s when things really start to get fun

 

@Lhanis i personally find playing a defender very liberating *because* of the fact my damage output is meaningless. some sessions i’ll want to be the one slinging out the damage, other times it’s fun to be the buffer and debuffer

 

i think deciding on what suits your playstyle the best will help you land on the right alt

 

regardless, like others have alluded to, it’s a fantastic set and hard to get wrong. if you keep SB up on your team and FS regularly you’ll have a great time

[Maelwys]

1 hour ago, Lhanis said:

Good information all around though, I do appreciate the pointers. I hadn't realized Sonic has changed again, Mids still reflects old values and the Short/Lingering vibrations system... I may need to reconsider my power picks in that case. What has me curious then is wether or not I should be chasing procs on Sonic Blast over full sets; If the -res componant is higher and more straightforward now it feels like I should be implementing recharge to keep it layered over worrying about PPM, and I know procbombing Siren Song will kill the sleep effect entirely. 

I don't think that's true... IIRC Siren's Song applies the Sleep "after 0.25s" precisely to avoid procs waking them up...
So by all means proc it up and potentially stick an Annihilation -Res in it too.

Also since you're going for -Res; I'd very much recommend picking up Corrosive Vial from the Experimentation pool and using it for an Achilles Heel proc.
And ideally Electricity Mastery for Thunderstrike (damage procs plus a Fury of the Gladiator -Res proc!)

[Lhanis]

I put this together to give it a run and see how I feel about it. My power picks/slotting won't be to everyone's taste of course, I take a lot of powers for "flavor" over minmax (see Dark Embrace), but I figured it's at least worth sharing so people can yell at me for my poor choice of pool powers 🥲

 

Notes:

- Shout and Scream slotting is interchangable. I could make better use of the ATO by splitting it, especially since I'm forgoing Hasten, but it's probably not that important and the free global acc and bit of AoE Def is nice.

- The 4piece LotGs are much of the same. I could probably get better slotting on Stealth and Maneuvers, but Transfusion and Shockwave could use the help as far as acc and the HP is nice.

- Power Boost likely isn't doing much for me here but I've always found it makes a nice +Def button on Def/Corr, and the fact that it bumps up the +End on Speedboost is nice (it also entertains me that it boosts runspeed as well, for those who forgot/didn't disable it at Null). Bonus: I get to occasionally use @MoonSheep's signature Power Boosted Veng!

- Stealth IO should probably be in Sprint over taking up a slot on Hover, but I see it as QoL as I am lazy and don't like flicking Sprint on and off. Kin likely won't care about the extra toggle cost and I could just leave it running, but... eh.

 

I'll take it to 50 and see how I feel, maybe tweak things here and there. But this should be good enough for now. And if all else fails and I'm not satisfied with it, I can strip it for a Kin/Sonic Def just to have for party play. Ya'll are wonderful people, and your advice was lovely as always!

 

Edit: I realized when browsing my enhancement tables that I forgot Amplify - dropped Infiltration and slotted Gaussian proc into it. Even a weak BU is still free damage for Wail! Oops!

Corruptor - Sonic Kin wip.mbd

Edited 2 hours ago by Lhanis

[Uun]

4 hours ago, MoonSheep said:

-45% res on a defender combined with fulcrum shift is the reason i keep playing mine.

On my Poison/Sonic I get to -110% res before stacking Envenom on a nearby target or including Achille's Heel.