City of Heroes: Rebirth Forums

City of Heroes: Rebirth => Archetypes => Controller => Topic started by: wyldhaunt on September 29, 2021, 07:03:34 pm

Title: Water Control/Darkness Affinity (Cool Hand Lexi)
Post by: wyldhaunt on September 29, 2021, 07:03:34 pm
As requested, I'm sharing my build and thoughts on the new Water Control here. Gonna get wordy, so hang on.

First: I tried Water Control/Kinetics Assault Dominator when these were only on PTS, in order to see how the new sets were together. They worked, but didn't seem to have any special synergies. However, Water Control had me hooked - I like KD anyways (quite a lot). So I looked at other Dominator secondaries, and nothing struck me as a standout. Then I looked at Controller, and as always, I thought... what if I add Fluffy?

Dark on at least Controllers, Masterminds and Corruptors can make any primary look good (I know, since my villain main back on the original CoX run was a Beasts/Dark MM).

The character name, backstory and initial outfit for Cool Hand Lexi remained from the PTS run, and so a magic origin was there. I wanted to go Sorcery for travel power and get Rune of Protection, at much for its damage resists as for its mez protection. This worked somewhat while leveling, but wow was end management a problem, even after picking up Soul Absorption. The build I'd planned included Mu Mastery's Power Sink, so once I unlocked my Patron Power Pools, I dropped Rune of Protection and Soul Absorption, and picked up Fighting's Tough instead.

Thunder Bug had Water Bug also going while I was leveling, and while I thought procs wouldn't be a good idea in Turbulent Aura because it is a toggle, Water Bug found that Theft of Essence: Chance for End worked very well. So, I procced out Turbulent Aura, especially including Forced Feedback: Change for Recharge. Oh yeah, good stuff there. BUT, the end recharge from this is swingy, so I still rely on Power Sink a lot.

Mez mitgation comes from my Destiny: Clarion Core Epiphany and carrying some Breakfrees. Yet, I have two pets - even when I'm held/stunned, they're around to help.

I've been slowly pushing my soloing, and can solo +2/x8 (as at +1 incarnate) with bosses pretty easily. I'm about to test +3. Honestly, Water Control likes having lots of enemies, as my build has MORE AoE than ST, and Turbulent Aura helps more with more enemies.

Turbulent Aura - let me repeat the name - Turbulent Aura - is the foundation of the strength of this set. It's something Water Blast doesn't get. I think it is overpowered, and could stand a wee nerf. I don't have to cast a mez before moving into melee - Turbulent Aura will do it for me. Even in my 20s, I could easily herd three even-level spawns with lieutenants together and focus on the lieutenants while Turbulent Aura, Tar Patch, Riptide, and Geyser defeated the minions.

The later 20s and 30s/40s were only an issue for me solo due to enemy mez. No other reason. It's why I went ahead and farmed a some during those levels, then joined some ITFs, to get to 50.

When this build is finished, and assuming the numbers I have from Mids Reborn are correct when applied to Water Control rather than Fire Control, I'll have:

Fluffy and Gushy also work together quite well as pets, and Gushy is really where my damage is. Once the minions are down, he helps with the boss.

I don't often use Drowning Pool (my AoE hold) or Howling Twilight unless things get really fun or on large TFs/iTrials. But then, I don't reserve Howling Twilight for rezzes; it's a damn good stun, and I primarily use it for that.

The Fire Control/Darkness Affinity build I used to mock up my build follows - after that I'll talk about the Water Control changes:

Hero Plan by Mids' Reborn : Hero Designer 2.7.2.10
https://github.com/Crytilis/mids-reborn-hero-designer

Click this DataLink to open the build! (http://www.cohplanner.com/mids/download.php?uc=1536&c=717&a=1434&f=HEX&dc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

test3: Level 50 Magic Controller
Primary Power Set: Fire Control
Secondary Power Set: Darkness Affinity
Power Pool: Sorcery
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Mu Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Ring of Fire Level 1: Twilight Grasp Level 2: Char Level 4: Mystic Flight Level 6: Fire Cages Level 8: Hot Feet Level 10: Tar Patch Level 12: Flashfire Level 14: Darkest Night Level 16: Shadow Fall Level 18: Howling Twilight Level 20: Fade Level 22: Hasten Level 24: Assault Level 26: Cinders Level 28: Tactics Level 30: Maneuvers Level 32: Fire Imps Level 35: Power Sink Level 38: Dark Servant Level 41: Charged Armor Level 44: Boxing Level 47: Tough Level 49: Weave Level 1: Brawl Level 1: Containment
Level 1: Prestige Power Dash Level 1: Prestige Power Slide Level 1: Prestige Power Quick Level 1: Prestige Power Rush Level 1: Prestige Power Surge Level 1: Sprint Level 2: Rest Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift Level 2: Health Level 2: Hurdle Level 2: Stamina Level 50: Intuition Radial Paragon
Level 50: Degenerative Core Flawless Interface
Level 50: Polar Lights Core Superior Ally
Level 50: Clarion Core Epiphany
Level 50: Support Core Embodiment
Level 50: Void Core Final Judgement
------------



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Water Control substitutions for Fire Control:

If there's a large enough spawn (which I love) and unless there's a problem enemy, this is my opening sequence: run into the center of the spawn, Riptide where I am, Tar Patch where I am, Geyser Burst where I am. Then I'll alternate Suffocate and Deluge on bosses. I'll sprinkle with Twilight Grasp, Drowning Pool, and/or Howling Twilight when they're useful. I'll always hit Power Sink when it's up and I need to - notice the "when it's up." Even with Power Sink, I still carry two rows of blue insps. This is still an amazingly end-heavy build!

The nice thing is that I can tank most places (where a dedicated tank isn't actually needed), I can damage well with most things (where a dedicated DPSer isn't actually needed), I can heal those near me very well (when enemies are present), and I can control (even well enough with KB-resistant enemies). But this is not a quick character - it pays to think a couple of steps ahead of what's going on, due to most powers' animation times.

Title: Re: Water Control/Darkness Affinity (Cool Hand Lexi)
Post by: wyldhaunt on October 21, 2021, 08:09:19 am
Update: This build handles +3/x8 (with bosses in) most comfortably wherever. It slows down on +4, so I don't run that consistently. Even at +4, I can stand up to anything except a double-spawn of Longbow or Arachnos.

And "Lexi's Bounce House" is becoming a well-known thing.  ;D

Title: Re: Water Control/Darkness Affinity (Cool Hand Lexi)
Post by: Nod on July 11, 2022, 02:32:58 am
Now that Mids Reborn has Rebirth powersets in it, any chance we could see this actual build laid out?
Title: Re: Water Control/Darkness Affinity (Cool Hand Lexi)
Post by: wyldhaunt on July 14, 2022, 12:38:43 pm
Sure! Updated build below. With the extra slots in Health/Stamina, I moved them around a bit. The two recharges in Fade will help, but I'm seeing plenty of wiggle room in other slots now.

This Hero build was built using Mids Reborn 3.0.2.18
https://github.com/Reborn-Team/MidsReborn

Click this DataLink to open the build! (https://www.midsreborn.com/builds/download.php?uc=1458&c=707&a=1414&f=HEX&dc=78DA5593CB4F135114C6EFB4D396F22C7DD01628B4052CD052C007BAD010A5A20B9A9098E8924C600A136B874C4B024B17AE44372E5CF962A1A2891B31BAF7DF70E1331A147001216A743C9DEF60C749DADF9DEF9EF39D6F6EA7F9E55CE3B37357C785E49B282AE5F2CC845EAA187AB1A81AAEBC32AFCD0ABA9A2774BD183FAF94E6E253EAB2E621295EAB3B68C95E522AB5BB84ADE0CC52A190CD29C6E5924A134E170A5A49ABAC88C669B2CD5ED08D59D558A9C7CDA2AACEB558CB295599538DF282B6D864DD4F6AF30B15AD341F3DBBA8CD6673FA15ADA454746326BF349357CA34792542B952F4F995A62FA91ADC7489874E2146BDC2F108941F83FE75B0ED0918790ABE0DDB7A03D0EA43CC36B02B0C2622608F9F18F38A9F696EA55EE98EC0DCBBA07C0F8CDC073B1F30D7C05B7D4238D12B9C6F1C96F69BFC5C9CC5F51C75EE0DE60BB0F725F315F31A7AFF50AF877B3D0239EB4E62AFEE14D83C0EBD99F3FBB9F71D9D8197B378D3F035890DECD77004758D4799C7C0D41838701C1CFC0CFFF7E4D7C47E4D1BD8FB485A0BFBB504254BF3F9982130B38BFECC1E38B40F7EA0DE56F849AD09E41BE59C9F682F005F39C0BE41F60DB2EF30D71E30492F7488FD42ACB531FDB417E6EC619E2565848872F66844B6B4F628B31D1CEC60768299181820BF0EF6EB58C359B49216839F23C699BB3873176776D0CC6E7EB7BA379123FE95F98DB90526B6993BE0753AB6A4F5669A8EE42A66F6DC60DE04BFD043F6B17FDF18C1ED14870E78E27FA63CD5DFC12D5275E02AA19FCFA37F17DAC01E731F1CFAC10C5361CC2D860FE35EA2674FF379A4DB85A53949CBC24F6407254B93491BE1331A09421BF5314360F5A8057B09932E11AB29E6947D77A83A4916D3F2BF7FAC90AC8EAD7A5278B6D483AA1DBB7651B2B46DBBD68FBAEF76EDB6C3D2AAA6663A486B6C9893E1DA7AB3B7B65E0FD09AA3BE4ED6D6D625DB9AFE02C5ACE576)

Cool Hand Lexi: Level 50 Magic Controller
Primary Power Set: Water Control
Secondary Power Set: Darkness Affinity
Power Pool: Sorcery
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Fighting
Ancillary Pool: Mu Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Suffocate Level 1: Twilight Grasp Level 2: Deluge Level 4: Mystic Flight Level 6: Geyser Burst Level 8: Turbulent Aura Level 10: Tar Patch Level 12: Riptide Level 14: Darkest Night Level 16: Shadow Fall Level 18: Howling Twilight Level 20: Fade Level 22: Hasten Level 24: Assault Level 26: Drowning Pool Level 28: Tactics Level 30: Maneuvers Level 32: Water Golem Level 35: Power Sink Level 38: Dark Servant Level 41: Charged Armor Level 44: Boxing Level 47: Tough Level 49: Weave Level 1: Brawl Level 1: Containment
Level 1: Sprint Level 2: Rest Level 2: Swift Level 2: Health Level 2: Hurdle Level 2: Stamina Level 50: Void Core Final Judgement
Level 50: Degenerative Core Flawless Interface
Level 50: Banished Pantheon Core Superior Ally
Level 50: Clarion Core Epiphany
Level 50: Support Core Embodiment
Level 50: Intuition Radial Paragon
------------



Code: [Select]
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