City of Heroes: Rebirth > Controller
Water Control/Time Manipulation (Fluixic)
Redlynne:
What you need to understand is the FORMULA that gives you the answers you are looking for (which I included in my build).
Click powers use a formula that looks like this:
Time Crawl: Impeded Swiftness (3.5 PPM), Pacing of the Turtle (3.5 PPM)
[*]3.5 * ((15 / ( 1 + 0 / 100 )) + 1.6) / (60 * (0.25 + 0.75 * (1 + 0 * (11 * 0 + 540) / 30,000))) = 90% (Pre-clamp: 96.83%)[/list]
Time Stop: Neuronic Shutdown (3.5 PPM), Gladiator's Net (3.5 PPM), Ghost Widow's Embrace (3.5 PPM), Unbreakable Contstraint (4.5 PPM)
[*]3.5 * ((16 / ( 1 + 16.85 / 100 )) + 2.17) / (60 * (0.25 + 0.75 * (1 + 0 * (11 * 0 + 540) / 30,000))) = 90% (Pre-clamp: 92.53%)
[*]4.5 * ((16 / ( 1 + 16.85 / 100 )) + 2.17) / (60 * (0.25 + 0.75 * (1 + 0 * (11 * 0 + 540) / 30,000))) = 90% (Pre-clamp: 118.97%)[/list]
Slowed Response: Shield Breaker (3.5 PPM), Achilles' Heel (3.5 PPM), Touch of Lady Grey (3.5 PPM)
[*]3.5 * ((90 / ( 1 + 59.11 / 100 )) + 2.27) / (60 * (0.25 + 0.75 * (1 + 25 * (11 * 360 + 540) / 30,000))) = 90% (Pre-clamp: 90.02%)[/list]
There are min-max "clamps" to proc chances (no lower than this, no higher than that) to be mindful of.
The information slotted into the formula basically comes from the in-game database of powers.
Let's use Slowed Response as an example because it is both a Click and an AoE, so it uses "both parts" of the formula.
The procs I selected to put into Slowed Response are all 3.5 PPM (you can find this on the enhancement itself in-game when you mouseover it, if the info isn't in Mids already) ... Shield Breaker, Achilles' Heel and Touch of Lady Grey.
So the 3.5 goes into the first term of the formula.
3.5 * ((90 / ( 1 + 59.11 / 100 )) + 2.27) / (60 * (0.25 + 0.75 * (1 + 25 * (11 * 360 + 540) / 30,000))) = 90% (Pre-clamp: 90.02%)
The next term is the BASE UNENHANCED Recharge of the power, which you can find in Mids (or in-game on the power).
In the case of Slowed Response this is 90 seconds, which goes here:
3.5 * ((90 / ( 1 + 59.11 / 100 )) + 2.27) / (60 * (0.25 + 0.75 * (1 + 25 * (11 * 360 + 540) / 30,000))) = 90% (Pre-clamp: 90.02%)
Next, you need Mids to compute for you the total amount of Recharge Enhancement SLOTTED into the power. This is recharge that comes ONLY from the slots in the power itself ... ignore global set bonuses and/or LotG proc modifiers, Hasten buff ... NONE OF THAT. All that matters is the Recharge Enhancement amount computed by Mids as being derived from the enhancements slotted into the power. If you put in a single +0 Recharge SO enhancement into a power, that is +33.3% Recharge enhancement. You use Mids to get this value for all of the enhancements slotted into the power because Enhancement Dysfunction (ED) makes the math really wonky to compute by hand. For the slotting that I used in my build for Slowed Response, I had a combination of 59.11% Recharge enhancement slotted into the power within the slots assigned to the power, which then goes here:
3.5 * ((90 / ( 1 + 59.11 / 100 )) + 2.27) / (60 * (0.25 + 0.75 * (1 + 25 * (11 * 360 + 540) / 30,000))) = 90% (Pre-clamp: 90.02%)
Next, you need to get the animation time for the power, which can be obtained from Mids (or in-game). DO NOT USE Arcanatime for this number! The internal database that is pulling the information to plug into this formula "doesn't know about" Arcanatime and the data in the database is not parsed in terms of Arcanatime. So do not use Arcanatime for this if you are getting the info from Mids. Turn Arcanatime OFF in your Mids copy to see the value you should be using for this term. In the case of Slowed Recharge, the (NOT Arcanatime) animation time for this Click power is 2.27 seconds, which then goes here:
3.5 * ((90 / ( 1 + 59.11 / 100 )) + 2.27) / (60 * (0.25 + 0.75 * (1 + 25 * (11 * 360 + 540) / 30,000))) = 90% (Pre-clamp: 90.02%)
We then need to account for the fact that Slowed Response is an AoE power, which will "dilute" the chances to proc (by "spreading" it out over an area, rather than a single target). That is what the second half of the formula after the divisor is about ... normalizing the results for a 1 minute (60 seconds) time frame. There are really only TWO variables used in the second half of the formula ... the radius of the AoE (in feet) and the Angle of the AoE (to account for Cone attacks).
Slowed Response is a 25ft radius Target AoE, so it has an angle of 360º, which then goes here and here:
3.5 * ((90 / ( 1 + 59.11 / 100 )) + 2.27) / (60 * (0.25 + 0.75 * (1 + 25 * (11 * 360 + 540) / 30,000))) = 90% (Pre-clamp: 90.02%)
Once you plug in all the variables into the formula, you just run the numbers and compute the results.
Note that this formula will yield a result of 1.0 for a 100% chance and a result of 0.5 for a 50% chance to proc.
Minimum chance to proc clamp is 5+(PPM*1.5) ... which is why a 1 PPM proc like Gaussian's has a minimum proc chance of 6.5%.
Maximum chance to proc clamps at 90% regardless of all other factors.
The formula for Toggles is slightly different (but not by much). Let's use Tactics as the go to example for this.
Tactics: Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control (1.0 PPM)
[*]1.0 x 10 / (60 * (0.25 + 0.75 * (1 + 60 * (11 * 360 + 540) / 30,000))) = 6.5% (Pre-clamp: 2.15%) per Teammate buffed[/list]
A lot of this ought to look familiar by now (especially since I've just explained it all).
The "back half" of the formula has to account for radius (60ft) and angle (360º) and is a literal copy/paste from how it all works in the Clicks (ain't broke, don't fix).
The main difference is up at the front of the formula ... you don't have to worry about base recharge, slotted recharge or animation times when it comes to Toggles, since they just keep activating repeatedly until Toggled Off.
Just take the PPM, multiply by 10 (for the 10 second suppression duration, because it's a Toggle) ... and then divide by the "back half" of the formula (that accounts for area) as normal.
With Tactics, the computed proc chance yields an answer of ~2.15% (mainly because of the large PBAoE radius) ... which then clamps to a minimum of 6.5% for a 1 PPM proc rate.
Note that for Cone attacks, you just pull the Cone Arc (in degrees) from Mids and slot that in ... so a 60º cone uses a value of 60 (instead of 360 for a "circular" AoE).
This gets ... interesting for some powers that are coded as 5º Cones that act as "line of sight piercing" attacks that can hit more than one target (usually max 3) in a straight line.
I've got a frankenslotting arrangement that pushes the Tier 8 power in Dual Pistols out to something like 140-150ft range as a "snipe" attack, which at maximum range as a 5º cone is like 10ft wide at the far end of the cone, so that extra range can help "hit more baddies in a clump of them" when using that power at long range (often times, "too long" for Foes to attack back from, unless if they're Snipers themselves). Hover snipe FTW!
You can also have "melee range" Cones (usually 7 ft) such as the Sands of Mu power (and its counterpart in Dark Melee) and Crosspunch in the Fighting Pool, and so on and so forth. Frost in Ice Melee is one of my favorites.
Single Target powers simply use a radius of zero feet and an angle of zero (0º), which if you look at the math causes the denominator of the formula to simply default to 60 ... because there are 60 seconds per minute.
Things get more complicated for "chain" attacks, such as Jolting Chain out of Electric and the like.
For more information on how to compute those proc chances, I refer you to the original research (that I participated in) back on the Homecoming Forums as initiated by Bopper (hat tip!).
However, once you understand the FORMULA ... you'll begin to grasp how to Proc Monster.
Short answer is that longer base recharge times, with NO recharge enhancement slotted into the power, leads to higher proc chances ... so long recharge times "are not bad" depending on the rest of the context of your build. If you have a lot of "global recharge modifiers" in your build, you can even make long (base) recharge powers (like Time Stop) have extremely high proc chances (in excess of 90%!) while still having a not bad overall recharge time in the context of the overall build (especially if you have Hasten and Chrono Shift buffing for +120% global recharge before accounting for any set bonuses or LotG proc slots). So sometimes, you WANT powers with long recharge times in your build (such as Slowed Response) in order to turn them into "reliable" Proc Monster powers.
Understand the formula and you'll start to understand how (and where, and when!) to Proc Monster.
Enjoy.
wyldhaunt:
Redlynne, thank you for jumping in with a fully-detailed explanation of proc chances - definitely saved me from finding another source for it, and I think your response deserves its own post in the Guides section of our forums rather than just a response for my build. I will be definitely be using this to compare proccing variations in Fluixic's build.
Redlynne:
--- Quote from: wyldhaunt on October 18, 2022, 08:00:25 am ---Redlynne, thank you for jumping in with a fully-detailed explanation of proc chances - definitely saved me from finding another source for it, and I think your response deserves its own post in the Guides section of our forums rather than just a response for my build. I will be definitely be using this to compare proccing variations in Fluixic's build.
--- End quote ---
And that's part of the FUN challenge of weaving all the disparate threads of the totality of a build together.
Pick your Powers.
Assign your Slots.
Choose your Enhancements that go into all those Slots.
Verify your choices of Enhancements in Slots do not violate the Rule Of Five on global set bonuses (so you aren't "wasting" set bonuses).
Determine what your "standard rotation" attack chain(s) are going to be using those Powers as slotted up (paying attention to Arcanatime animation sequence stacking and recharge times).
And then when you've done ALL OF THAT and gotten everything settled where you want it ... that's when you go in and compute what your proc chances are for all your offensive Powers and have to decide if you like those proc chances AS IS, or if you want to adjust things a bit to reshuffle how your attack chain(s) stack up so as to get higher proc chances per activation of powers (along with, undoubtedly, alternative slotting of sets into selected powers). Mind you, barely anyone goes to THAT level of effort in both laying out and integrating the totality of their builds that they post. To my knowledge, I'm the only one who (consistently) gets that detailed once the PPM Formula was teased out and tested over on Homecoming by Bopper (and friends).
If you want to have a 90% proc chance in a power, you can use the formula to compute where the "Recharge Threshold" for that power is and then scrupulously select the enhancements you're going to slot into that power so as to "Price Is Right" it so that you get as close as possible to that threshold "without going over" (so to speak). In the case of Slowed Response in my build, I was able to use the formula to determine that a 3.5 PPM proc has a 90% chance to proc threshold at 59.14% slotted Recharge. I then played around with various combinations of slotting options until finding a combination that yielded a total of 59.11% slotted Recharge ... thereby giving me the combination of the "most" Recharge in Slowed Response for the "highest" proc chances possible (90%). That then represents the "sweet spot" for both recharge and procs that can be usefully combined within Slowed Response, so it can be used both OFTEN and RELIABLY (both highly favorable features for a Proc Monster power, particularly for an AoE!).
This is why I say that just because an attack power has a slow(er) recharge than other alternatives (or a longer animation time) ... that doesn't necessarily make that power a Bad Power™ to have (and Proc Monster) in the context of an overall build. It just means that (native) Damage and Recharge are not ALWAYS the answer in every single case. Sometimes you WANT to have slower (base) recharge powers that can then be augmented by the totality of the rest of your build into being something simply extraordinary when put into the full and complete holistic context of the rest of your build.
Sure, Slowed Response has a 90 second (base) recharge time ... so what? That just gives me MARGIN I CAN USE to slot the power up intelligently, using the Proc Formula, to maximize output from enhancements slotted into the power, and then leverage the totality of the rest of the build's global recharge buffing (mainly from Hasten and Chrono Shift, but also set bonuses) to knock the recharge time on Slowed Response down to something ~30 seconds (or less in some build combinations!), which then opens the door to being able to STACK multiple castings of Slowed Response on Foes when the PLAYER knows what they're doing and employs their powers SKILLFULLY in actual gameplay.
So long recharge times kind wind up being among your best opportunities to Proc Monster your powers.
As a bit of "left as an exercise for the disinterested viewer" ... have a look at computing how much Recharge you have to slot into Level 18 AoE Holds for Controllers before you hit the 90% threshold on procs for those powers.
If you can run the math for that, I'm pretty sure you're going to learn a thing or two about "how to maneuver" within the min-max clamps for slotting procs into long recharge powers.
After all ... doing a Show Your Work like that helps not only yourself, but also anyone else who might come along afterwards who wants to LEARN from your example.
Knowledge shared is knowledge multiplied, after all.
/em thumbsup
wyldhaunt:
I have gone through proc chances now, and tested and verified that Overpowering Presence's Recharge/Energy Font is underwhelming even in an AoE like Hypothermia, and below is Fluixic's live build right now. This is a step up in power, in that where before I could run any +4/x8 solo without issues, now I can do with enemy bosses included. I'm not defeating bosses like a scrapper would, but they don't take much longer than my typical way of grabbing two spawns and melting them all down. Also, you may have read the conversation between Redlynne and I above concerning controlling spawns at my feet and at range - this build can do so with ease.
I'm going to go through some details about decisions and play in the build in the next post, however to keep this post from getting too long, here's the build itself:
This Hero build was built using Mids Reborn 3.4.7
https://github.com/LoadedCamel/MidsReborn
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Fluxic: Level 50 Natural Controller
Primary Power Set: Water Control
Secondary Power Set: Time Manipulation
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Mu Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Suffocate [*] (A) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage
[*] (3) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance
[*] (5) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
[*] (21) Thunderstrike - Damage/Recharge
[*] (19) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
[*] (21) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
[/list]Level 1: Time Crawl [*] (A) Impeded Swiftness - Chance of Damage(Smashing)
[*] (37) Superior Winter Storm - Recharge/Chance for Cold Damage
[*] (37) Superior Winter Storm - Accuracy/Slow
[*] (40) Pacing of the Turtle - Accuracy/Endurance
[/list]Level 2: Deluge [*] (A) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage
[*] (3) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance
[*] (5) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
[*] (43) Thunderstrike - Damage/Recharge
[*] (43) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
[*] (45) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance/Recharge
[/list]Level 4: Fly [*] (A) Blessing of the Zephyr - Knockback Reduction (4 points)
[/list]Level 6: Geyser Burst [*] (A) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage
[*] (7) Positron's Blast - Damage/Endurance
[*] (7) Positron's Blast - Damage/Recharge
[*] (23) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
[*] (23) Positron's Blast - Chance of Damage(Energy)
[*] (37) Superior Witchcraft - Chance for Res Debuff
[/list]Level 8: Turbulent Aura [*] (A) Obliteration - Chance for Smashing Damage
[*] (9) Armageddon - Damage/Endurance
[*] (9) Armageddon - Chance for Fire Damage
[*] (15) Accuracy IO
[*] (17) Theft of Essence - Chance for +Endurance
[*] (19) Force Feedback - Chance for +Recharge
[/list]Level 10: Temporal Mending [*] (A) Numina's Convalesence - Heal/Endurance
[*] (11) Numina's Convalesence - Endurance/Recharge
[*] (11) Numina's Convalesence - Heal/Recharge
[*] (15) Numina's Convalesence - Heal/Endurance/Recharge
[*] (45) Numina's Convalesence - Heal
[*] (45) Numina's Convalesence - +Regeneration/+Recovery
[/list]Level 12: Riptide [*] (A) Ragnarok - Damage/Recharge
[*] (13) Ragnarok - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge
[*] (13) Ragnarok - Accuracy/Recharge
[*] (40) Ragnarok - Damage/Endurance
[*] (42) Ragnarok - Chance for Knockdown
[*] (50) Annihilation - Chance for Res Debuff
[/list]Level 14: Time's Juncture [*] (A) Dampened Spirits - To Hit Debuff/Endurance
[/list]Level 16: Hasten [*] (A) Recharge Reduction IO
[*] (17) Recharge Reduction IO
[/list]Level 18: Assault [*] (A) Endurance Reduction IO
[/list]Level 20: Tactics [*] (A) Rectified Reticle - Increased Perception
[/list]Level 22: Boxing [*] (A) Accuracy IO
[/list]Level 24: Time Stop [*] (A) Ghost Widow's Embrace - Accuracy/Endurance
[*] (25) Ghost Widow's Embrace - Chance of Damage(Psionic)
[*] (25) Superior Will of the Controller - Accuracy/Control Duration
[*] (31) Superior Will of the Controller - Accuracy/Control Duration/Endurance
[*] (34) Superior Will of the Controller - Recharge/Chance for Psionic Damage
[*] (36) Unbreakable Constraint - Chance for Smashing Damage
[/list]Level 26: Drowning Pool [*] (A) Lockdown - Accuracy/Hold
[*] (27) Lockdown - Accuracy/Recharge
[*] (27) Lockdown - Chance for +2 Mag Hold
[*] (43) Lockdown - Recharge/Hold
[*] (46) Lockdown - Endurance/Recharge/Hold
[*] (48) Lockdown - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge/Hold
[/list]Level 28: Farsight [*] (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense
[*] (29) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
[*] (29) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
[*] (40) Shield Wall - +Res (Teleportation), +5% Res (All)
[/list]Level 30: Tough [*] (A) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance
[*] (31) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance
[*] (31) Unbreakable Guard - +Max HP
[*] (46) Gladiator's Armor - TP Protection +3% Def (All)
[/list]Level 32: Water Golem [*] (A) Blood Mandate - Accuracy/Damage
[*] (33) Blood Mandate - Damage/Endurance
[*] (33) Blood Mandate - Accuracy/Endurance
[*] (33) Blood Mandate - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance
[*] (34) Blood Mandate - Accuracy
[*] (34) Blood Mandate - Damage
[/list]Level 35: Power Sink [*] (A) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod
[*] (36) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Recharge
[*] (36) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Accuracy/Recharge
[/list]Level 38: Chrono Shift [*] (A) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod
[*] (39) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Recharge
[*] (39) Efficacy Adaptor - EndMod/Accuracy/Recharge
[*] (39) Efficacy Adaptor - Accuracy/Recharge
[/list]Level 41: Charged Armor [*] (A) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance
[*] (42) Unbreakable Guard - Resistance/Endurance
[*] (42) Unbreakable Guard - RechargeTime/Resistance
[*] (46) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%
[/list]Level 44: Temporal Selection [*] (A) Preventive Medicine - Chance for +Absorb
[/list]Level 47: Slowed Response [*] (A) Superior Witchcraft - Accuracy/ Universal Debuff
[*] (48) Superior Witchcraft - Accuracy/Recharge
[*] (48) Superior Witchcraft - Universal Debuff/Endurance/Recharge
[/list]Level 49: Maneuvers [*] (A) Luck of the Gambler - Defense
[*] (50) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance
[*] (50) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed
[/list]Level 1: Containment
Level 1: Brawl [*] (A) Accuracy IO
[/list]Level 1: Sprint [*] (A) Celerity - +Stealth
[/list]Level 2: Rest [*] (A) Recharge Reduction IO
[/list]Level 2: Swift [*] (A) Flight Speed IO
[/list]Level 2: Hurdle [*] (A) Jumping IO
[/list]Level 2: Health [*] (A) Panacea - +Hit Points/Endurance
[*] (9) Miracle - +Recovery
[*] (17) Regenerative Tissue - +Regeneration
[/list]Level 2: Stamina [*] (A) Performance Shifter - EndMod
[*] (13) Performance Shifter - EndMod/Recharge
[*] (23) Performance Shifter - Chance for +End
[/list]Level 1: Disintegrating
Level 50: Intuition Radial Paragon
Level 50: Ion Core Final Judgement
Level 50: Degenerative Core Flawless Interface
Level 50: Polar Lights Core Superior Ally
Level 50: Clarion Core Epiphany
Level 50: Support Core Embodiment
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wyldhaunt:
First, my overall build goal is to have fun! With Water/Time, this is built on the following:
* I want to stay vertical and not mezzed, which translates to a) softcap Def Range, b) softcap S/L Res, c) Clarion and Blessing of the Zephyr's KB Prot.
* I want to keep the enemies from affecting anyone, which means continuous mez and debuff.
* I want to protect my team and Water Golem, which means buffing myself and them.
* I want to defeat and facilitate others defeating enemies without taking forever, which means debuffing and damaging them.
While Water/Time provides a lot of this out of the box, my power selections and enhancement choices further this. Also, this build is designed as a leveling build and for exemping, and not to need alternate builds for those. Power by power, this means:
* Suffocate: a ST Hold from level 1 which does damage and -Def? Yes, please. However, it has a recharge which is so quick that it's not the most useful for procs, but 6-slotting Thunderstrike is inexpensive and supports an overall goal of softcap Def to Range.
* Time Crawl: a must-have power, because it must be chosen. Not as useful when compared to other powers while leveling, however it gives a greater impact to Slowed Response, and so comes into greater usefulness when fighting bosses and stronger opponents later. Its recharge is slow enough to take advantage of procs, however it doesn't have very many proc choices. Impeded Swiftness %Smash and Superior Winter Storm Rech/%Cold gives it the potential to do more damage than Suffocate or Deluge. In addition to procs, I put a couple of IOs which help primarily with Acc and also Endurance management.
* Deluge: a ST dmg which does KD. Bread-and-butter stuff while leveling, especially during the early levels. Like Suffocate, Deluge has a recharge which is so quick, it's not the most useful for procs, but 6-slotting Thunderstrike is inexpensive and supports and overall goal of softcap Def to Range.
* Fly: a very useful single-slot travel power. Fluixic doesn't have a concept which calls for anything else, so Fly it is. Since KB is one of the early-encountered frequent mezzes, Blessing of the Zephyr's KB Prot is great here.
* Geyser Burst: At the tender level of 6, Water primes itself to become an AoE monster, and Gesyer Burst is the 2nd of 3 powers (even though the 1st available) which make this happen. It is also the lynchpin of most Fluixic's AoE attacks. If you're teaming with Fluixic and see the geysers, that's the place we're I'll be for a bit. For slotting, Geyser Burst's default recharge is slow enough to make sense for procs, however, most of the procs I would put here make better sense elsewhere. Recharge is a secondary IO goal of this build, so 5-slotting Positron's Blast goes towards that. Also including Superior Witchcraft %-Res has gone a fair way towards quicker defeats of not just single bosses, but entire spawns.
* Turbulent Aura: I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Turbulent Aura is the lynchpin of Water Control, and the largest differentiator between Water Control and Water Blast. An AoE Toggle which causes practically-continuous KD, along with damage, along with the chance to heal? YES PLEASE. This is the power which allows for Water Control to be in melee, and to be tanky. This is the 1st of 3 powers which make Water Control and AoE monster. Now it's a toggle, so it doesn't have the best proc chances, but that's why Water isn't just an AoE monster, but in addition creates a desire to have more and more enemies close by. The KB allows slotting Force Feedback %Rech; the heal allows slotting Theft of Essence %End, which just takes the awesome of this power to stupendous!
* Temporal Mending: oh, a PBAoE heal which affects self, pet and teammates. This is a primary reason why, as iconic as Water/Storm is, Water/Time is better for soloing and maxxing notoriety. I know I'll catch some heat for saying this, but this is my post, and this is my viewpoint, and this is true. I have overslotted Temporal Mending for Heal, and I don't use it often, which means I don't get the benefit of the Numina's Convalescence proc very often, however this does help with softcap Def to Range. There may be a future iteration where I change this, but not now.
* Riptide: this is the 3rd of 3 powers which makes Water Control an AoE monster, and its use is more subtle than the other two. In fact, some might consider skipping it. However, it provides a new mechanic introduced with Water Control, that of Forced Movement. This power overrides enemy's movement, and forces them to move to the center of Riptide. So here's the setup: run into the middle of a spawn, cast Riptide, cast Geyser Burst, then do whatever else. Turbulent Aura will trip up a few, Riptide will drawn them in, and then Geyser Burst begins the show. Note that Riptide's Force Movement will even affect AVs/GMs (hehehehehehe), which... can be awesome, and... can be trouble during certain league events where the facing of AVs matter, so you will want to learn the few times not to use it. My slotting for Riptide is for recharge, along with a KD proc (yes, more KD please) and a -Res proc.
* Time's Juncture: Layer this with Turbulent Aura to cause the enemies which are flopping like fish to also suffer -To Hit, -Damage, and -Speed. Yeah, not much is escaping, nor able to hurt anyone. There aren't any standout procs to put here that I haven't put elsewhere, so a single slot of -ToHit/End is fine.
* Hasten: did I mention a secondary build goal was recharge? Yes, twice above. But why? Geyser Burst has a base recharge of 90 seconds. Most double-spawns I fight (even at +4/x8) are gone within 30 seconds. I don't want to wait another minute to use Geyser Burst again. With all the recharge-reduction IO set bonuses and powers I have, my Geyser Burst's recharge is often 31.65 seconds. Sometimes it's faster (Hello Force Feedback %Rech), and sometimes slower (my Hasten isn't quite perma'd, and Chrono Shift doesn't recharge fast enough to apply its +Rech all the time), but it's close enough to work.
* Assault: 15% damage buff for my pets, teammates, and myself? Sure.
* Tactics: Alright, I don't have a snipe, but 10% ToHit and Perception bonus/resistance for the my pets, teammates and myself is great. In fact, I regard -Perception like I would any other debuff or mez: I hate it. I hate it so much that my sole enchancement in this is Rectified Reticle: Increased Perception, which Night Widows hate.
* Boxing: prereq power for Tough, and allows me to spend slots elsewhere.
* Time Stop: alright, this is the controversial power which I used to have little regard for, until this version of Fluixic's build, because procs! Three procs here: Ghost Widow's Embrace %Psi dmg, Superior Will of the Controller %Psi dmg, and Unbreakable Constraint %Smash dmg. This means Time Stop usually does more damage than either Suffocate or Deluge. My global recharge (remember that being a secondary goal of my build) is low enough that Time Stop is part of my regular rotation now, with a higher priority than Suffocate! (Oh, and Time Stop does pretty good -Regen and -Heal, so yeah.)
* Drowning Pool: AoE Hold with a long recharge. I tried to proc this, but I couldn't get its recharge down to ~30s, so I dropped that idea and instead let its primary slotting be for softcap Def Range. Even so, about every other fight, or when I need to hold groups both near and far, I have this power available, and its duration is a sweet 33.9s. Notice that: the duration is around how long it takes for Geyser Burst to recharge, and around how long it takes for me to defeat most +4/x8 double spawns. Amazing how all that timing comes together...
* Farsight: perma 14.79 Def for my pet, my teammates and myself, along with +10% To Hit and more Perception bonus/resistance? YES. Again, I don't have a snipe. But I bet that blasters love being near me with this and Tactics. If all they do is bring Tactics too, they have instasnipe. The Shield Wall IO is to help with my S/L Res, and while an expensive IO, helps me expand my other IO possibilities to allow more proccing.
* Tough: all about that S/L Res, with an IO to help with HP and another (expensive) IO to help with softcap Def Range.
* Water Golem: my Scraptroller. Not a mini-me, because he scraps while I tank. Blood Mandate slotting is for softcap Def Range.
* Power Sink: alright, here's Water Control's dirty secret, as least the way I play it with so much reharge: IT SUCKS END! Not as bad as Storm does, but still. In fact, this latest build uses more end than my first-posted build in this thread. My battles are in melee already, so Power Sink is an easy way to refill my blue bar, and I do make semi-regular use of it now. The slotting in this power is for recharge primarily, and EndMod secondarily. The set bonues are for HP and Recovery, which I consider more useful than Performance Shifter's Movement Speed and HP, and the power gives plenty of End by itself: no need for Performance Shifter's %End proc.
* Chrono Shift: a longer term green and blue buff for all of us. My slotting focuses on recovery at the expense of green: I can always pop Temporal Mending for all every few seconds, and have nothing comparable for green.
* Charged Armor: all about that S/L Res, and in the same Patron Power Pool as Power Sink. Slotting is for Res, with the Steadfast Protection: Resistance/+Def for softcap Def Range.
* Temporal Selection: more green for my pet, or another teammate. A convenient place to slot the Preventive Medicine Absorb Proc for myself.
* Slowed Response: Before this build, I would only hit Time Crawl then Slowed Response every so often while fighting EBs and harder targets. Now, with the damage procs in Time Crawl and Witchcraft -Res in Geyser Burst, Slowed Response is part of my regular rotation, and has an impact on the time to clear all enemies.
* Maneuvers: more Def for my pets, teammates, and me. Sure.
* Slotting in Health is primarily for End, secondarily for Health and Regen.
* Slotting in Stamina is all about that End, with a set bonus for HP.
* I did slot Celerity +Stealth in Sprint because it allows me to get closer to enemies before they're notified, and be more choosy with which side spawns I engage.Incarnates:
* Alpha: Intuition Radial: Yeah, let's extend our Hold durations (Time Stop, Suffocate and Drowning Pool), Defense Debuffs (Slowed Response, Suffocate, Drowning Pool, increase our Range (for controlling both near and far), ToHit Debuffs (Time's Juncture), Damage (most everything), and Slow Movement (Time Crawl, Deluge, Geyser Burst).
* Destiny: Clarion Core: mez prot pure and simple. I have plenty of characters which use other methods for this, however 1) I'm not a Blaster, so no Defiance, 2) I'm not a Dominator, so no Domination, 3) I'm not a Guardian nor a melee AT, so no mez prot toggles, 4) my End usage is high, so I didn't want Rune of Protection, and 5) my End usage is high, so I wanted Mu Mastery's Power Sink over Psi Mastery's Indominatible Will and supporting IOs/powers.
* Hybrid: Support Core > Control. Control Radial offers nothing to me. Control Core only affects my holds, which are already plenty strong. Yeah it adds damage, but that would only normally affect my ST holds. Support helps my pet, my teammates and myself in a lot of small ways (including damage), plus it helps my blue bar all the time.
* Interface: Degenerative Core: -HP debuff please.
* Judgement: Ion. Kinda goes with the electrical theme from Mu Mastery, and is a great way to pull in a side spawn.
* Lore: Polar Lights: more AoE for the AoE monster!I'm not going into the proc math here: Redlynne was gracious enough to give the formulas directly in this thread above ^^^ (THANK YOU REDLYNNE!), however when I ran the formulas with the various powers and PPMs in a workbook, I found these points:
* Drowning Pool's recharge is so long that proccing it is less useful than some other powers. All the procs placed in it would have a 90% chance to proc on each enemy during each activation, but the procs were better-placed in powers which had a faster recharge and still have a 90% chance to proc.
* Suffocate's and Deluge's recharge is too short for them to have decent proc chances, even if no recharge was slotted.
* The recharge and procsibilities (there's your new word for today) were best in Time Stop, Geyser Burst, and Slowed Response, then 2nd-best in Time Crawl and Turbulent Aura (low base proc chance, but bathing in enemies means more chances to proc). Since my focus was on improving ST damage, my procs went mostly to Time Stop, and next to Time Crawl.So, my normal way to start a battle:
* Run in to get Turbulent Aura affecting enemies (KD, damage), and helping me (Heal, End, Rech). My Def, Res and Clarion keep me safe. My Water Golem follows and starts doing his thing.
* Place Riptide at my feet: %KD on some, %-Res on some, Damage and Forced Movement on all.
* Place Geyser Burst at my feet: KU, -Speed, Damage, and %-Res.
* Time Crawl on the biggest bad I have targeted near me. -Speed, -Rech, -Regen, and IO procs for damage. Slowed Response and Time Stop will also enjoy greater effects on that enemy
* Slowed Response on the same enemy: AoE -Def, -Res (greater impact on the targeted enemy).
* If Drowning Pool is up and doesn't need to be be saved for a harder spawn, cast it near me and watch the enemies get caught in electrical bubbles while their Def is debuffed even further....by the way, the DoTs from Turbulent Aura, Riptide and Geyser Burst are still flowing, and the enemies are now flopping like fish (Drowning Pool has no -KB), meaning my pet and I are fine.
After I start the battle, then I'll focus on the hardest targets, casting Time Crawl every so often, and the following as soon as they're up, in this priority order:
* Slowed Response.
* Time Stop: remember, procs more damage than Deluge (even though the procs are 90% rather than 100%) and benefits from Time Crawl.
* Suffocate: yeah, that enemy is held solid.
* Deluge: this happens only occasionally, since often higher-priority powers are available.Now, if there is a second spawn nearby and I want them to join in the bounce party, after starting the battle and before focusing on the primary spawn's hard target(s), I'll cast Deluge on a second spawn's hardest target, which helps notify the entire spawn... they'll join the bouncing soon enough.
Before I did this build, I felt mostly on the sidelines during single GM/AV fights. Sure I could always debuff with Time Crawl, Slowed Response and Time Stop, along with debuff and a little damage from Suffocate and Deluge. I could even hold some AVs/GMs at times with Time Stop and Suffocate. Also, unless facing mattered, I could let my Water Golem do his scraptroller things. None of that has changed, however the additional damage (via procs) just feels better.
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