Help me reimagine my main?

[Andrewvm]

I'm new to the forums, and so happy the game is back! I played from beta to issue 15. (I can't remember why I left) 

 

I had an ill/kin controller "Glamour" that I plan to reimagine as a sorcerous creature preferably a controller. 

 

I have my eye on grav or dark control (I prefer the effects to be somewhat abstract) and for secondary dark, time and storm. (and I don't think I'd like a dark/dark) 

 

With good soloing in mind, what are good combinations? Did I miss powersets that are available? 

 

In the end I'd like her to feel powerful enough to go Muahahaha once in a while. 

 

Thanks! 

 

Edit: I can't play yet, I'm on holiday so mi mobile phone is all the Internet I can get, but I - can - live vicariously through all of you

Edited August 31, 2019 by Andrewvm

[Coyote]

Dark is very strong defensively, and can also be slotted up pretty nicely for damage. It has a Confuse power which helps avoid trouble with those "wow, those mobs are really annoying" situations. In fact, I'm running a Dark/Dark and kind of regretting the choice, just because they're both so strong defensively that I feel unbalanced with too much defense ability.

 

/Storm will bring damage, which is nice.

/Time is also good, it's more of a defensive set so like /Dark, I worry about having too much "nobody is hitting me, I can raise the difficulty level... but then it will take longer to clear kill-all missions", like I'm seeing with Dark/Dark.

 

/Time works with everything so it can work with Gravity, but /Storm pairs up very well with Gravity, because Storm's small-radius AoEs love it when you Wormhole mobs into a small space and then Immobilize them there so that Tornado and Lightning Storm can really chew them up.

 

So my suggestions would be Dark/Storm or Gravity/Storm. Gravity/Storm will be better with damage, and Dark/Storm will be better defensively.

[Andrewvm]

Thanks!! 

 

Any opinion what"s easier in the lower levels between grav/storm and dark/storm? 

 

 

[Redlynne]

I'll just mention that Gravity/Time seems to have a few adherents aside from just merely myself ... 😎

[Andrewvm]

Just for the sake of esthetics: can storm powers be colored dark? 

 

Thanks redlynne, more food for thought.... 

[Doc Ranger]

All the powers colors are customizable 😉

[Andrewvm]

22 minutes ago, Ice_Warden said:

All the powers colors are customizable 😉

Does it look good though? 😎

 

Can't find videos or images to see what happens when you turn storm summoning black 

[biostem]

5 minutes ago, Andrewvm said:

Does it look good though? 😎

 

Can't find videos or images to see what happens when you turn storm summoning black 

I'd go for grav/storm.  Yes, you can tint the colors dark, but basically every dark option becomes black with little hints of the other color you select.

[Andrewvm]

So the contenders are:

 

Grav/storm (good synergy with wormhole and tornado) 

 

Dark/storm (the dark powers look pretty) 

 

Grav/time (complex gameplay?) 

 

 

We're getting there..... 

 

 

[Redlynne]

48 minutes ago, Andrewvm said:

Grav/time (complex gameplay?)

Not sure that "complex gameplay" is a proper labeling.

 

I prefer to think of Gravity/Time Manipulation as being a combination that doesn't rely on multiple things going Exactly Right™ for you all the time in order to achieve performance.  I myself have often times found that what sounds great in the forums {insert complex chain of powers that takes 10+ seconds to animate} sounds absolutely wonderful in text only to completely fall apart in actual gameplay ... either because the situation is evolving too "fast" for you to pull off your ULTRA COMBOooooooooo!!! of awesomesauce courtesy of HEAVYYYY BARRELLLLL!!! status (some assembly required).

 

Instead, I prefer to think of Gravity/Time Manipulation as having multiple options for a wide variety of circumstances.  Basically the opposite of a One Trick Pony™.  If one tactic/strategy doesn't work, you've got multiple other ones you can use.  So in that respect, I'd say that Adaptable To Gameplay would perhaps be a better descriptor.  It's only "complex" in the sense of needing to figure out what you want to do NOW ... with an eye towards what you're going to be doing Soon™ factored into that ... and at each decision point, you've got multiple options helping to keep the gameplay both fresh and varied (and therefore, interesting).

[Ankhammon]

I think a Dark/Poison sounds pretty awesome. Two PBAOE that can take tons of procs (so each dealing like 300 damage, 1 is a hold the other a stun), three pets, 3 single target damage powers. another big hold and the awesomeness of fearsome stare to get everything started. Topping it all off with lots and lots of debuffs and it sounds like a party.

I know, i missed the secondary choice you wanted but thought I'd throw it in for your amusement. And that combo could easily be a sorcerer or ensorcelled creature.

[Andrewvm]

I think I'll leave posoin for plants, that's an alt waiting to happen. 

 

What about dark/time? Any synergy there? 

 

I guess that's what I'm looking for in the end, synergy and theme

[Nightmarer]

I am currently lvling an Ill/Dark and I absolutely love him plus the concept fits as some sort of arcane warlock / sorcerer / magician. I think Dark/Storm could work too for soloing with enough procs and KB to KD enhancements for better control.

[Silvanthis]

Grav/Storm sounds like a fun time, I'll have to find a build for it.

[Andrewvm]

As far as synergy goes, how is dark/time? 

Time was added after Ieft the game, I have no clue what it's strengths and weaknesses are... 

 

I saw a poison suggestion (gone now) but I'll keep that for an alt with plants, it seems in theme..... 

Edit: and the post, with my reply is back again. 

Edited September 1, 2019 by Andrewvm

[Redlynne]

1 hour ago, Andrewvm said:

Time was added after Ieft the game, I have no clue what it's strengths

Numerous ...

1 hour ago, Andrewvm said:

and weaknesses are...

... hardly any ... aside from being Recharge hungry (oh gee bum!) and Endurance hungry (but you can do things about that).

The only weakness I can think of is that it doesn't inherently protect against Knockback, you have to slot an IO for that ... but that's hardly a disqualifier since most Defender primary powersets are similar in that regard.

 

It's really HARD to go wrong with Time Manipulation on a Defender ... so long as you dedicate enough slots to enhancing it.  Time Manipulation tends to work a in a fashion that can perhaps be described (to your $Targets) as "You're already defeated, you just haven't gotten the memo yet."

[Mercurias]

2 hours ago, Andrewvm said:

As far as synergy goes, how is dark/time?  

Dark/Time is fine. It probably suffers from a lack of damage when you solo, but I can see Chrono Shift being helpful with making your Haunting pets recharge faster.

2 hours ago, Andrewvm said:

Time was added after Ieft the game, I have no clue what it's strengths and weaknesses are... 

Time is a mixed bag that contains strong support. You have some solid PBAoE healing (which is over time rather than instant, so you can hit it and let it do its job while you fight), some nice debuffs to enemy recharge/movement/ToHit/regen/resistance/defense, an extra ST hold, a single target damage buff/recharge buff/minor Heal, a powerful group defensive buff, and an extremely powerful Regen/Heal/Recovery/Recharge buff.

 

The only complexities in /Time gameplay are written oddly. Basically, the ST debuff power you have to take at level 1 will make some of your other /Time powers have extra debuffing effects on that target, so you just use it on the meanest enemy in the room. Your PBAoE Heal makes some of your buffs a little stronger if it’s effect is running when’s you buff the target/s, so you just remember to use your PBAoE Heal before you buff when you can. That’s it. Easy peasy.

 

I find that /Time works well with pretty much everything, but I particularly enjoy it with Gravity. It props up Gravity’s weak points to make it need less downtime to recover endurance, and makes it stronger at crowd control with the added recharge allowing me to make free use of my heavy-hitting powers. Its buffs also let me easily softcap my Gravity/Time controller’s defense, and it’s debuffs allow my Grav/Time to make more effective use of its attacks on more dangerous targets like bosses and EBs. It also, oddly, is super simple to play, since all my powers that effect enemies are ranged while all my powers that affect allies are PBAoE aside from a single ST ranged ally buff.

 

i haven’t seen anyone mention it, but Ill/Dark is a pretty hot commodity right now. Illusion is a lot of really nice fire-and-forget Powers, and /Dark has some solid and varied support options which make the pairing an AV slayer.

[Andrewvm]

Thanks mercurial, 

 

That discounts dark/time. I'd like her to be soloable. 

Looking at /time in general: it looks to be very team centric... 

 

I seem to be leaning towards dark/storm or even dark/dark or go back to ill and do ill/dark

 

I may be wrong but it seems that grav/storm has perfect synergy, so it'd be a shame to break that up (another alt?) 

 

So maybe dark/dark or ill/dark? 

[Ankhammon]

On 9/1/2019 at 9:40 AM, Redlynne said:

... hardly any ... aside from being Recharge hungry (oh gee bum!) and Endurance hungry (but you can do things about that).

The only weakness I can think of is that it doesn't inherently protect against Knockback, you have to slot an IO for that ... but that's hardly a disqualifier since most Defender primary powersets are similar in that regard.

 

It's really HARD to go wrong with Time Manipulation on a Defender ... so long as you dedicate enough slots to enhancing it.  Time Manipulation tends to work a in a fashion that can perhaps be described (to your $Targets) as "You're already defeated, you just haven't gotten the memo yet."

Redlynne, I must disagree ever so slightly.

As strange as it sounds, the biggest weakness on a /Time defender is that you have a legitimate use for every single power... maybe not Mind/Time. I'm talking about Temporal Selection mostly and you don't need it on a defender because the entire rest of your build puts you in the off tank role and buffing a single teammate while worthwhile won't really be on your mind and you will miss opportunities to apply it. On a Controller you will just place it on your pet and no harm if you miss sometimes. 

 

It seems counter intuitive but it leaves you fewer power selections to get the old standard favorites you always want for almost every character. Combat Jumping, fighting up to Weave, Hasten, etc. You will end up losing some of them... Then again, you won't really miss em all that much.

 

The other weakness is scrapperlock but a controller can get out of that by keeping a big ol' aoe hold in back for uh oh situations.

 

Weaknesses for Time are kinda like going on a job interview and they ask for your personal weakness and you reply "I think outside of the box". They look at you funny.

Edited September 4, 2019 by Ankhammon

[Andrewvm]

Lol, you're all making this decision soo difficult! 

 

I'm actually thinking of dark/dark after reading the proc monster thread (even though I don't fully understand the mechanics of proccing) or maybe dark/storm (though harder to explain thematically) 

 

I think I'll leave illu to the wayside in favor of something new.... 

 

One week waiting to go! 

[Redlynne]

5 hours ago, Andrewvm said:

or maybe dark/storm (though harder to explain thematically)

"It was a dark and stormy night ..."

 

Sounds pretty thematic to me.

[Ankhammon]

28 minutes ago, Redlynne said:

"It was a dark and stormy night ..."

 

Sounds pretty thematic to me.

Ooo. Can it be named Cliche? 🙂

[biostem]

2 minutes ago, Ankhammon said:

Ooo. Can it be named Cliche? 🙂

Once upon a dark and stormy night... lived happily ever after?

[Coyote]

16 minutes ago, biostem said:

Once upon a dark and stormy night... lived happily ever after?

A long, long time ago, once upon a dark and stormy night... Cliche lived happily ever after?

[Without_Pause]

While I like my Dark/dark a lot, it is definitely going to need to work to solo before 32. 38+ and things should pick up nicely.