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I've not used Enflame on Pooka or Madhouse because of the wonder of Gadgetry's Force Barrier. The survivability it offers is too great to pass up, imho. On both characters it's either a lack of power pools or enhancement slots that makes Enflame a no-go, as far as I'm concerned.

I'll admit that Enflame is an interesting possibility. However, on both Madhouse and Pooka I've got places for the Annihilation proc in Ball Lightning and Dark Obliteration, respectively. On top of Annihilation in Dark Oblit, I've got the Witchcraft proc in there to add to the -res goodness. On Madhouse, I've got Fury o' the Gladiator in Psychic Shockwave to help on that front.

As far as rain powers go, I find that on either character when facing +1s or even +2s that all the minions and LTs are dead by the time a rain power would start ticking in earnest. It might help against bosses, but rains are pretty slow. There isn't a rain option for Pooka, but Siphon Life, Midnight Grasp, Gloom, and even Smite work well to help drop bosses reasonably fast. Madhouse has her Gremlins and some fair single target attacks. On Madhouse, I value Power Sink to sustain Whirlwind more than anything a rain power might bring.

Though neither of the characters I'm going to present here are Controllers, they both feature Whirlwind.

For better or worse, to make Whirlwind work as more than a momentary novelty it needs to be center of the character.

Things I've learned about Whirlwind from experimentation:

1) While +rec is important, it's the +end that really makes all the difference. I'm talking about Power Sink, Dark Consumption, Ageless Core (because it does double duty as +rec and +end), as well as the Theft of Essence proc. For the example of my Brute, Pooka, Power Surge factors in because of it's tremendous +rec. It doubles as a nice, crash free, option for capping out all resistances except Toxic.

2) Relying on Transference will always fail you eventually. Much like the promise/curse of Defense, attack powers always have a 5% chance to fail, meaning that you are guaranteed to have Whirlwind drop if you rely on a single target end gain power like Transference. (more on this below)

3) Killing enemies, especially trash, like minions and lieutenants, as quickly as possible is crucial to maintaining Whirlwind. Unfortunately, since Whirlwind needs to be core to your character if you intend on it being any more than a novelty, once it drops, you've lost a significant amount of what makes your character effective. Builds in CoH are zero sum games, meaning that you only get so many power choices and enhancement slots. What you invest into maintaining Whirlwind may have some utility beyond Whirlwind, but it's very likely to be of limited benefit outside of maintaining the mighty cyclone.

Closest to what you've built here, Thilenium, but suggested by you is an Elec/Psi Dominator that I recently built. One of the apparent advantages of Dominators over Brutes is their 50% higher Recovery cap (750% instead of 500% for Brutes).

Additionally, as you observed, Conductive Aura does grant some +rec and +regen on a per mob basis. On top of that, Static Field grants a +end bonus per mob from every mob in the area of effect. While the detailed power description offers no info on this ability, City of Data 2.0 (an HC resource) indicates that Static Field yields 1.87 End per mob/every 4 seconds. The real question with Static Field is whether that return is worth the 15.6 End cost up front.

Drain Psyche caps out on the +rec front fairly quickly because it yields +100% recovery per mob hit. When you add in Conductive Aura and what you get from Stamina, I concluded that slotting it for Recovery was a waste of slots. The far better yield, imho, is in slotting it for +regen, along with plenty of +acc and +recharge, and a Theft of Essence proc which will give you the +end that you'll really need when trying to use Whirlwind on the sorts of spawns generated by setting a mission to x8. As I have Drain Psyche slotted, it inflicts a -741.25% regen debuff on anything it hits, enough to even matter against AVs!

I've not taken this character to I-Trials, so I don't have Ageless Core available, which should make a difference in terms of +rec and +recharge.

The biggest disappointment that I've found, relative to the Brute build I'll also post, is that Power Sink for Doms/Controllers (as well as Defenders/Corruptors, for that matter) has a 2 minute recharge vs. the 1 minute recharge for Brutes/Tankers.

Much like with Pooka, I've found that slotting some damage into Whirlwind and employing AoE powers that exploit damage procs and -res procs aid greatly in making minions, LTs, and even bosses die relatively quickly. However, Fury and the damage aura available to Elec Armor are advantages that Brutes have over a Dom/Controller.

Transference: while this power theoretically appears perfect for Whirlwind, the chance of missing baked in guarantees that Whirlwind will drop. Power Sink includes no to-hit chance, and even though Dark Consumption (present in my Brute build) does have a to-hit chance, it needs to hit very few enemies to top off end. If you're losing a lot of end, you must be surrounded by enemies, right? They're all targets for Dark Consumption.

I tried Transference on a Corruptor but found that I still needed at least one more source of +end. Since the version of Power Sink available to Corruptors has a 2 minute recharge, a second alternate source was necessary, meaning Ageless Core. The problem with taking Ageless Core means that Clarion can't be taken, meaning that a single mez effect will rain on your Whirlwind parade.

Even trying Whirlwind on an /Energy Composition Guardian, which features mez prot so that they don't need Clarion, I still found the guarantee of a miss off-putting enough to make it not worth it, imho.

While a Controller can take Indomitable Will for mez protection, that locks them out of taking Power Sink. However, I'm still not convinced that on a Dominator that the 2 minute recharge on Power Sink is enough, even with Ageless Core and Drain Psyche (with the Theft of Essence proc) AND Conductive Aura to maintain Whirlwind.

Indeed, Whirlwind appears to be a cruel and demanding mistress.

Here is the best set up that I've found, so far, for Whirlwind in my Brute, Pooka:

Energize and Cardiac Core reduce the end cost of the WW toggle, but nothing can reduce the per target endurance cost. The real benefit to Energize and Cardiac is that they reduce the end cost of EVERYTHING else. I've avoided the Fighting pool as well to minimize the number of toggles I'm paying for. (Cardiac's Resistance boost aids in making the Fighting pool unnecessary)

Ageless Core Paragon, Power Surge, Power Sink, and Dark Consumption all directly give end or rec (or both in the case of Ageless). Furthermore, I've got a Theft of Essence proc in Siphon Life that also helps maintain endurance equilibrium when I wind up with 5 or 6 Bosses or EBs that refuse to die quickly.

A significant aspect of my effort to sustain WW is killing enemies fast. Brutes have Fury to increase the damage in WW. Soul Drain also give a great damage boost, but requires caution in use (more on that below). Lightning Field constantly chews away at enemies and is nicely boosted by Fury.

Additionally, I open with Dark Obliteration, which has the Ragnarok KD proc, Annihilation Proc, Witchcraft Proc and a couple damage procs. The two -res procs really help stuff die faster.

Basically, I throw Dark Obit as I jump in, follow up with Power Sink or Ageless, depending on which is up, use Siphon Life to proc ToE, and use Dark Consumption as a back up since its got a long recharge.

Power Surge is only activated when the Ageless buffs begin to drop. Ageless Core Paragon will put you at the Recovery cap for 30 seconds, so I stagger my usage of Power Surge with it.

Pitfalls:

1) Using Soul Drain immediately. Jumping into a large spawn and using SD straight off will often make WW drop. The activation time is just too long. I use SD after Ageless, Power Sink, or Dark Consumption has refilled my gas tank.

2) Unfortunately timed Hasten drop. Sometimes the -end of Hasten will short out WW.

3) Mob rich environments. UG herds (especially with a large league) can simply overwhelm Pooka's ability to sustain WW. Even popping CaBs sometimes isn't enough. The first phase of Magi can have a similar result, but there's often a Kin around with Transference to shore up end. There are places in ITF that can also be troublesome. Outside of those three problem spots, though, I find that with careful management, I can generally keep WW up.

Here is Madhouse, my Elec/Psi Dom. Perhaps with Ageless Core I'll feel better about her ability to sustain Whirlwind, but so far Pooka is much more stable, in my experience:

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Here is Pooka, whom I've generally found to be quite successful. For reference, she can sustain Whirlwind all the way through DD, excepting for the mandatory drop when Diabolique 'kills' everyone. Another point of reference would be dealing with all the pulled mobs inside TPN, where she really shines.

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While I cannot comment on exactly how Atom built his Atom Bomb (BOOM! Sorry... couldn't help it), I can imagine all sorts of slotting with IO sets bonuses that could result in those numbers. Also, his Alpha slot could be a factor since both Cardiac and especially Resilient Core give a nice boost to a resistance based armor's numbers.

What I would like to comment on is that not all resistances are created equal. A study was done on *ahem* another server back in 2019 that concluded that about 70% of the total damage enemies do across the entire game was S/L. The next largest number was Energy damage at just about 10%. The rest of the damage types, combined, made up 20% of the total damage in the game.

Of particular import for purposes of end-game content is the Energy damage. Not only does just about every robot in the game have Energy attacks (though most still include some S/L), but Incarnate Trials are filthy with IDF, who do Energy damage with almost every attack. Lambda, Magi, TPN, Keyes, and BAF are stocked with IDF as the trash mobs. UG contains a fair number of them as well. Even DD, which has no IDF, still features 2 flavors of Shaman who have Lightning or Radiation attacks that are exclusively Energy damage.

For being a resistance based set, Dark Armor has really weak Energy resistance. I think that's an important factor in comparing armor sets, unless the 40+ game or even just Incarnate content isn't something that you'll be playing regularly.

Of the three damage types you mentioned as being weak on Atom's build (which are the three weakest for Radiation Armor), Cold is almost wholly irrelevant. Outside of the Winter Events, it barely appears in the game. You get some high level BP, a few Crey mobs, and what... the Outcasts? I'm sure I've missed a mob or two, but you get the point that it's almost never a concern, unlike S/L and, in high level content, Energy.

Both Psi and Negative Energy are highly situational. If you're fighting a lot of sub-40 CoT, then you're going to be swimming in Negative Energy. There are a few novelty Portal Corp missions loaded with ghosts and shadows, but I can't recall being on a team since 2005 where anyone wanted to do anything but click glowies and get out of those.

Psi is also absent for large parts of the game. If you're fighting a lot of Arachnos, then you'll certainly encounter it quite often. There are those novelty portal corp missions with psychic clockwork as well. Even the IDF and the Lost, which feature psychic mobs, usually only have a token few, with far more of the damage coming from those groups in the form of S/L/E.

I find that most armor sets provide enough of those three damage types (C/NE/P) that I'd rather focus on broader protections that could also protect against those damage types. An Absorb Shield and a stack of HP is a great way to address those rarer damage types. Afterall, everyone can have Force Barrier if they go, go Gadget (sorry, couldn't help myself again).

I'd also suggest that inspirations can be used as stop-gap, whether purple, orange, or just green, to deal with a momentary spike in those damage types.

Uh-huh

Because I am not familiar with them.
I haven't followed your exploits, nor do I see reference to them here in the Rebirth Forums where I might be able to access that information.

Wow. You really do play with your monitor turned off.

I've tanked everything with an SR Tanker right in front of you at least 8 times. There's no reason for me to post on the forums or blow my own horn when I can just do the thing. The game is the final arbiter of success in these cases because you either survived or your didn't. That's all we're doing here, Redlynne, the thing. In this case the 'thing' is tanking big bad guys, avoiding dying in most cases, and then getting right back up in the unfortunate event of getting killed.

I was not aware that it was possible to multi-stack LFAs onto Targeted Players in overlapping AoEs.
So that's new information that should probably have been shared more widely/thoroughly.

I don't believe I've ever seen you ask a single question. Why on earth should it be incumbent on the rest of us to explain every detail to you? Especially when you behave as if you're an authority. It's particularly maddening when you come in with false information about how Targeted works. Rather than confirming it with anyone who tanks regularly (there are only two of us most nights), you just started telling everyone the wrong thing.

The way that Lethal Force Authorized "works" makes it uniquely challenging for Super Reflexes, because of the mismatch in protection schemes. This creates something of a high hurdle for a Super Reflexes Tanker (such as myself, but also others) to overcome through build strategy, and if necessary, use of powers plus consumables. Super Reflexes is "less than ideal" for the factors you need to be able to survive being hit by Lethal Force Authorized (since the attack is basically Kryptonite to Defense protection schemes

See? Even here you're explaining to me how a powerset I've already successfully played in Incarnate trials works. Since I've played that character right in front of you at least eight times, and I referenced Haste extensively in my previous post and went so far as to include the Mids Data Chunk and provide a basic explanation of how that really simple character works, I can only assume that you're being intentionally obtuse. This is exactly what I mean by condescension. Why on earth would I want to attempt to tell you anything when you're only going to ignore what I've said and, much more importantly, what I've DONE in-game, and just go on explaining like you have exclusive access to the game stats or somehow have ownership of a powerset?

But I've had trouble doing it.

The simple fact of the matter is that in many ways, Super Reflexes (as a powerset) is basically optimized for "tanking trash" (Minions, LTs, Bosses, Elite Bosses) ... but will often times tend to fall short when confronted by AVs, particularly ones with "special attack mechanics" that completely bypass Super Reflexes as a protection scheme. This makes Super Reflexes "great" with leveling content (especially when exemplared) but not particularly great when confronting FINAL BOSS type encounters, because of all the ways that special attacks tend to bypass Defense but not Resistance ... which is a problem for a protection scheme that is all Defense with next to no Resistance.

Once again, this is more explanation of things I already know, and that you SHOULD know that I know because, once more, I've tanked all that stuff right in front of you, several times. Other players commented (not just Merc), multiple times, on how refreshing it was to see an SR Tanker not only dispensing with the WW's rather easily (excepting for the yutz episode), but also facetanking the Avatar of Hamidon. So not only do you regularly ignore what happens in the game, you don't read the league chat. The irony of that is that you fill league chat with announcements about your respecs, using your Destiny power, and the near useless Victory Rush.

Additionally, your issues with the War Walkers are a YOU problem, not an US problem. I really tried with you several times when you first arrived on Rebirth, but you were immune to learning because you knew 'better' in every instance.

And remember, you're not just talking to me here ... you're talking to everyone else who ever comes to Rebirth and reads these forums. Think about how what you're saying will sound to anyone new who comes to Rebirth and reads what you're saying to me. If you didn't know anyone here and saw this level of malice and resentment being thrown around in the forums, would you want to join a server with potentially toxic "know it all" players?

Oh, the irony. You don't consider at all that your writing reads like you're the ULTIMATE know-it-all. As mentioned previously, you fill league chat with self-involved references, but you can't even read enough to figure out who the main tank is many nights, despite that detail being clearly sorted out already.

I think it's very clear that I'm talking to you and only you. You won't find a similar reaction from me anywhere in the forums.

As I mentioned, I repeatedly tried to share knowledge with you when you first showed up on Rebirth, yet you consistently responded like you did above with condescending explanations of powers and power sets rather than even considering that I was giving you new information or a practical work around. I think my 'favorite' example of this behavior was when you were having difficulty dealing with the Avatar's Cripple power and I suggested that you simply use a t4 CaB to counteract the effects. You then explained to me that it was a -Rec effect! As if I didn't know that? You'd watched me facetank the Avatar a couple dozens times by the point. I had to painstakingly explain to you that you simply wait for your endurance bar to get into the 20% range and then pop the CaB.

I'm happy to share my acquired knowledge and experience with anyone who's interested, but I literally cannot recall a single question you've asked, beyond who was tanking, which was usually sorted out less than five minutes earlier. Furthermore, the constant push back and explanation of things that I obviously must be aware of from actually SUCCEEDING with the powerset, such as the extreme limitations of the SR set in main tanking Incarnate Trials, discourages me from even trying.

Go on blaming anyone else if you have to, but you're the one dropping dead dozens and dozens of times, making 16-20 people (on average) sit around waiting for you to do something that other players regularly do without significant issue. All most people will remember is that you can't do the thing.

I have no idea why you're calling tanking the three War Walkers that appear in every instance of the Underground 'Facetanking'. I've seen no alternate strategy for dealing with them, nor does there need to be one. It's simply tanking them. Facetanking was coined by Draggynn to describe simply fighting the Avatar of Hamidon, rather than hiding behind a wall of teammates and taunting it to exploit a weakness in its AI.

I've already built and successfully played an SR tanker many times in Trials to demonstrate (as I've done with /Regen, /Fire and Fire/, and so on) that neither AT nor power sets matter all that much in dealing with everything Incarnate Trials has to offer. The IO system is incredibly powerful and flexible, as is the incarnate system. You never made a single comment about my repeated accomplishments with SR, yet you persist in lauding your own efforts in League chat and in the forums, despite my already covering this ground that you seem to think is virgin. Even in the post I'm responding to you're behaving as if myself, Atom Bomb, and Galvanized Decree (among many others, I'm sure) don't regularly survive LFA just fine.

Included below is the Data Chunk for anyone who wants to see my take on an SR/ Tanker that, months ago now, tanked War Walkers several times. The only death I had was from one yutz who insisted on standing next to me while we were both targeted, meaning that I had to survive two Lethal Force Authorized, something that most of my other tanking characters with better armor sets could survive multiples of with little trouble. Your equation does not include the reality that other yutzes will stand next to you and force you to endure multiple LFAs. It's the nature of the yutz, sorry to say.

I'd add that tanking WW's is something that I've been forced to do with +1 Brutes because no one else would tank. Both times I had to do that went fine, by the way.

I appreciate your experimentation with Valiance. On its own it is a supremely mediocre power. Knowing that it will cause Panacea to proc on other players makes it an interesting option. Thank you for that.

But any attempt on your part to celebrate actually surviving the War Walkers (which is a basic requirement of tanking I-trials and that has already been done on SR, as well as other, much better equipped powersets) seems like self-absorbed flexing. Why you can't celebrate anyone else's previous accomplishments in this area is beyond me. Plenty of other people have figured our how to survive it just fine, even on lame SR. Would it really kill you to just ask how?

When you first landed on Rebirth, I attempted, in polite and respectful ways, to counsel you several times on how to deal with WW's, but you rebuffed me every time with condescending explanations of enemy powers that I clearly understood due to my repeated success in addressing them. Your self-involvement was so great that you even tried to claim in League chat that when I dusted off my Dark/Time Corruptor that it was somehow inspired by your MM, despite that character being a MoAT long before you showed up.

For anyone else who wants to see a less convoluted and more broadly effective build (though expensive still), I've included Haste's build here. She uses a t4 Core Barrier to shore up her positional defenses so that they are all at or above the incarnate caps. I've not enabled it because of the way Mids renders Destiny powers by only showing the maximum buffs they grant. The same goes for Genesis, which also screws up the other totals. I use a t4 Socket. Pick what you like on that one because I see little difference between the Core and the Radial versions.

I refer to this character as more broadly effective because the 185% global recharge allows for all the heavy hitters/crowd controls to be used with great frequency. The recharge also enables Force Barrier to have less than a 10 second down time. With liberal use of the Force Feedback procs in Lightning Rod, Lightning Clap, and Thunder Strike that down time can easily be reduced to the 5 second range or even less with some luck (as well as dramatically increasing the recharge on those same powers). With a single dose of Speed Boost or a Chronoshift, that downtime can be reduced to a few seconds or even be made perma. This allows for a character with 3281 HP to have an 1847 absorb shield in addition to what Practiced Brawler and the Gauntleted Fist proc offer, meaning that Haste can be at the 1874 Tanker absorb cap basically all the time that she's not been recently hit. With all her positional defenses at 60% or greater with the absolute least T4 Core Barrier will do, along with her resistances, she's not taking very much damage all that often, except for trials specials like LFA, which she survives a single dose of just fine.

Actual Facetanking, meaning simply fighting the Avatar of Hamidon, only requires a few T2 or T3 Sturdies, used one at a time, along with some modest support, unless it's a full League without much support. In that case, T4 Sturdies or multiples of lower tier are required. With really good support, the Sturdies probably aren't necessary at all.

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Unfortunately, Mids bugs when I attempt to export the text version. Sorry to anyone unable or unwilling to use Mids. That's the nature of an independently developed bit of software: not everything is going to be bug free.

I use 'Armageddon' for its stats. also it caps the recharge. also also I do not want the enemy to be knocked down, in fact they have to start running towards me immediately to be caught in the other area of effects. When I do builds i try to squeeze in all the global recharge and accuracy i can get. Sustain and survivability. And i use a lot of complete sets or 5 out of 6. Yup, kinda boring and straight forward but it works for me.

I don't understand why you wouldn't want to knock the enemies down, especially if you're going to melee them. You've got Blink Blitz, just go to them and bring all your effects.

You obviously don't want all the global recharge you can get because you skip Hasten on all the builds you've posted. On most of them it's just one power pick, 2 level 50+5 recharge IOs and you're at perma-Hasten or close enough that most people wouldn't care.

Furthermore, in your SS/Bio build you've not used a single Force Feedback proc. With Rage easy to double stack, you're looking at +40% to hit which means you can slot procs all you want and not worry about hitting in most situations (this isn't even considering the +Acc bonuses in most of the purple sets, some ATOs, and several other sets).

What I'm suggesting is if you get away from using the Agility Alpha on most of your builds and DON'T slot recharge in powers like Foot Stomp, KO Blow, and Hand Clap (though you'd really want an Imperial Might proc to avoid scatter in Hand Clap and maybe some Acc because it has a penalty), you can reliably chain the +100% bonus from the FF proc against groups of enemies. For Foot Stomp and Hand Clap, you only need it to trigger on one enemy in those powers' relatively large areas of effect to activate the proc.

This is what I do on Vulcana (SS/Fire Brute). She has 16 procs of various kinds in Foot Stomp, KO Blow, and Hand Clap alone, does heaps of damage, yields plenty of net recharge (her base global recharge is atrocious), and tanks everything I-trials has to offer with only the use of some T4 Lucks against OGs and a few Sturdies of any rank for facetanking the Avatar of Hamidon. Sure, the league helps with buffs/debuffs, but even on leagues without a lot of support I can make it work. The sturdies drop on their own or can be easily made by way of the match-3 game, and T4 Lucks can be easily acquired by simply choosing Super Inspirations for Common, Uncommon, and Rare rewards since I've got all my incarnate powers up to T4. If the Lucks don't drop, there's always the match-3 game to make them. I very rarely buy inspirations of any kind. You've got 20 slots, so why not use them?

I mention all of this not to just point out how effective force feedback procs can be in the right context, nor just to point out how powerful Hasten can be for such a low cost in terms of slotting and power pick, but to challenge the notion you've expressed in your SS/Bio Brute post that characters tanking end game content need to somehow be super specialized and give up damage. If you can survive War Walkers, Hamitar, AM, etc and give up almost nothing in terms of damage, then why not?

Attached is the next version of Vulcana I'm planning, which merely trades out Darkest Night for Weave to muster a little more global recharge by way LoTG muling and have just a tad more base S/L defense (the only defense that matters in the vast majority of situations in CoH) to build on with the t4 lucks to hit the incarnate 59% soft cap. Frankly, the T4 lucks can be a bit of overkill because there's often +def buffs in the league, but I like to cover my bases as best as possible.

You go ahead and do you. I'm only responding because you seemed to be asking for feedback both on the Discord and in-game, and you seem to be presenting things you believe to be facts that just don't match either my play experience or even the base numbers in-game, like the assertion in your Dark/MA Tanker post where you actually claim that Radiation Armor is somehow starved for end like Dark Armor is. I question whether you've even played Radiation Armor because Gamma Boost is a font of +rec that on a Tanker you can literally start the game with. Radiation Armor also features the second best -rec resistance, second only to Electric Armor's 100% -rec resistance. And if you're still looking for more end, simply slot Radiation Therapy with a Theft of Essence proc. By the way, that same trick with Theft of Essence works with Dark Regeneration to defray the enormous end cost.


Getting a good gaming mouse like a Naga or the much less expensive but just as effective Red Dragon would allow for much simpler macros and easy access to far more powers since you can have at least 10 programmable buttons at your thumb, which you can turn into 20, 30, or even more effects by way of using a chord key like Shift or Left Control.

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I agree that Blink Blitz is a fabulous AoE. I don't currently use it on any characters because I just don't like teleportation in general. When I have experimented with Blink Blitz, I've much preferred to turn it into a proc bomb because it does have some great slotting options available and the long recharge sets you up to land those procs with great frequency, even if you wind up adding a little recharge to the power.

You've mentioned Armageddon, which has a fabulous proc. I'd add that the Avalanche proc works really well in turning Blink Blitz into a crowd control power. Obliteration is intriguing as well because even just adding either the A/R or the A/D/R enhancement to the proc yields +2.25% S/L res. Fury of the Gladiator, Scirocco's Dervish, and Eradication are all fine choices. Of course, nothing saying you can't take partial sets of two, as well, to maximize the really useful set bonuses.

As you mentioned, Blink Blitz also makes a great Luck of the Gambler proc mule.

Dark Obliteration has even better slotting options, in my opinion. It accept both the Annihilation and the wonderful Witchcraft procs. Positron's Blast is good, but the Cloud Senses proc is a tad better since fewer mobs resist negative energy damage.

You've already mentioned the Ragnarok set, but if you use the proc without adding any recharge (i.e. go with 4-5 procs and only slot set pieces that lack recharge for Acc or Dam) you significantly increase the chances of landing the knockdown effect.

Of the crowd controls available in the game, KD is the most broadly effective. (especially is you stack up multiple KD equipped powers in a chain) Using Blink Blitz and either Ball Lightning or Dark Obliteration back-to-back results in a heap of KD, when slotted as I've described. Also, there are plenty of attacks, particularly in the melee sets, that include KD effects. For example, Mace, Stone Melee, Super Strength, and Staff have several. But Claws is a real winner since even though its only got two, they both have 1 second activation times and relatively short recharges (though with Shockwave it's actually KD, but an Overwhelming Force proc fixes that right up).

Anyhow, thanks for sharing your ideas. I'm just adding my two influence.

Have fun and see you in game!

Hey there! I'd no interest in reading through Redlynne's wall of text, so this may have been pointed out already, but the defense numbers you're displaying are inaccurate. Unfortunately, whenever you slot a power in Mids, it activates it. So, the 70+% you're displaying is due to Vengeance.

That said, the real numbers are all in the vicinity of the soft cap, so in regular content you'll be just fine. In incarnate content, however, you can expect to take some hits unless you're hanging out with people who are going to buff your defense, which, if you're running incarnate trials, is a pretty safe bet (as you pointed out).

I'd also mention that taking Agility for your Alpha means that you've got a significant amount of extra recharge slotted in ALL your powers, meaning that you've reduced the odds of any of your procs firing. Besides, any high damage scalar AT (like the VEATS) do really well with Musculature or Intuition Radial (the only ones that give a damage boost). Swapping to one of the damaging Alphas would reduce your defense a bit, as well as your recharge (which you've got plenty of), but the damage and the increased odds of your procs firing is well worth it, imho.

In fact, going Radial Intuition would give you a +20% range boost, in addition to the damage increase (as well as help with -def and -spd), meaning that you might find another more useful slotting for Heavy Burst. Honestly, I find the base 50' to be enough, but I get the idea of wanting to maximize the area of the cone.

I will say that I don't understand all the under-level enhancements. I can count on one hand the number of times that I exemplared down to do something (on live, Rebirth, or HC) and the content was any higher than +0. Level 50's, even when scaled down, retain immense power that allows them to destroy lower level content. Remember, those sub-40 enemies have fewer attacks and much less debilitating abilities than endgame foes. Damage procs alone are often enough to make those lower level enemies fold.

You've woefully under-slotted Fortification, which could give you really good all around resistances. I'd suggest that powers like Tactics are drastically over-slotted, so you could easily take some from there to bolster your resistance. Defense is designed to fail (the ole 1 in 20 chance to hit), but in comparison not all that much in the game reduces resistance, meaning that it essentially always works. Furthermore, since resistance acts as resistance against -res debuffs, the higher your resistance the less it'll be reduced (granted Hamitar and AM have unresistable res debuff abilities, but that's just two foes).

I hope you're planning on taking Ageless for your Destiny because your net end gain with your toggles running is only 1.1 end/sec. That's even with Agility slotted. The VEATS just chug the juice, right?

Anyhow, those are my thoughts. Hope any of them are helpful and that you have fun with your Crab Spider!

Hey Generator!

Thanks for sharing your build.

Unfortunately, some of my suggestions revolve around things you've already said that you don't want to do (i.e. Hasten, Fighting Pool, and Tactics for the wonder of perma-insta-snipe). I don't know if you've looked at it, but in my character profile of Icebox I include much of my philosophy on Blasters and some reasons for taking Hasten, Tactics, and the Fighting pool. Here's the link https://forum.cityofheroesrebirth.com/index.php/topic,3800.0.html

Setting that aside, I would submit that with Ki Push, Storm Kick, Short Circuit, Burst of Speed, Dragon's Tail, and Eagle's Claw, 6 powers that all require you to be in melee range, this actually is a melee character. I suppose you could use Burst of Speed without taking advantage of the melee damage, and you could argue that you're stuck with Ki Push, but that still leaves 4 affirmative choices to be in melee. I don't know if that observation changes your calculus on trying to hit the S/L soft-cap. If you really don't plan on being in melee, I'd suggest dropping all of them that you can because you're never going to use them.

All Blasters (except /Devices) are actually hybrid ranged/melee characters like Dominators and Guardians. Sure, you can choose not to take most of the melee powers, but I'd argue that, with the exception of missing out on a nuke, that character would be almost as effective at dealing ranged damage if it was a Guardian and would be much more survivable, as well as having access to some sweet buffs/debuffs that (depending on the secondary chosen) can go a long way toward not only closing the ranged damage gap with a Blaster but also increase team damage/survivability. Just some food for thought.

Working inside your constraints, I'd encourage you to consider Clarion for your Destiny. Defiant Barrage procs have to be stacked up and maintained, and I've frankly never been impressed with them beyond being a nice perk while leveling. At end game, which is what we're talking about with a Destiny pick, there are far more mez effects. Without much defense to make them miss, you're likely to get mezzed a lot, which usually means dead.

I'm with you in shaking my fist at Mids. I wish we could effectively export data chunks. So, I'm a little limited in making intelligent comments on your enhancement choices without rebuilding your character by hand.

Here are some suggestions:

Ball Lightning: 5 pieces of Ragnarok would give you more recharge and a wonderful CC proc. The sixth slot could be a Posi's proc, Annihilation proc, or simply moved elsewhere,

Aim: While the increased perception of Rectified Reticle is nice, the Gaussian's proc is almost like adding a short-acting Build-Up which will dramatically increase the kill potential of Thunderous Blast, as well as help with general Boss/EB beatdowns.

Combat Jumping: The Kismet proc is nice, but it's far less appealing on a Blaster without an over-slotted Tactics to make for the sweet, sweet insta-snipe. I'd put an LotG proc in here.

Reaction Time: I'm always inclined to maximize the +rec from Blaster sustain powers, so I'd swap out the Slow enhancement and put a second End Mod IO in it. Also, I'd swap out the Doctored Wounds for Preventive Medicine to get more S/L resistance and HP. There's almost no cold damage in the game, and fire rarely appears in any concentration, but the HP is always useful. The other choice I'd consider would be just going with 2 level 50 Heal IOs and +5 them both, which would save you a slot.

Acrobatics: Once again, I'd suggest muling a LotG proc in here.

Dragon's Tail: I'm not impressed with the full set bonuses for Scirocco's Dervish. I'd put either an Obliteration set in here for more S/L res, recharge, and melee defense or 5 slots of Armageddon for more recharge and a great damage proc, then fill with a Force Feedback proc for more recharge. You could do 5 pieces of Obliteration and a FF proc, also. Or frankenslot with 3 pieces of Scirocco's, 2 pieces of Obliteration, and the FF proc. This would yield 2 damage procs, the FF proc, reasonable accuracy and damage, 2.25% S/L res, 2,25% En/NEn, and a trivial amount of +regen. That same methodology could be applied to Short Circuit, but subbing in the Avalanche proc instead of the FF proc for CC.

I don't know if any of that is helpful to you, but those are my insights/feedback.

Have fun and happy hunting!

Edit: I totally missed that you had Inner Will in your build. I'll curse Mids first, then my own carelessness second. If you feel like that's enough Mez protection, then ignore my comments about Clarion. Of your two choices for Destiny, I'd go with Ageless to get your nuke, Aim, and other heavy hitters back faster. Rebirth just does not provide enough survivability for a Blaster, IMO.

NOTE: I could not get the current version Mids to export the build as anything other than plain text and not show all the code when in preview. I tried BBcode, HTML, Markdown, and none of them seemed to work properly.

If anyone has any suggestions/advice for making the data export properly, please let me know. In my Incarnate Trial tanking guide,  https://forum.cityofheroesrebirth.com/index.php/topic,2359.0.html , I'd no problem exporting builds in format. I don't know if something changed in Mids or if my head broke between now and then.

[Icebox Character Profile (Dark Blast/Ice Manipulation Blaster)]

Icebox Character Profile (Dark Blast/Ice Manipulation Blaster)

Purpose:
This character profile is intended to act as build guide for an extremely flexible Blaster that can deal plenty of damage and survive most situations, up to and including herding large groups of enemies in Incarnate Trials, as well as soloing most enemy groups at endgame on +4/x8 difficulty setting.

Furthermore, this profile is meant to be a broader guide for improving the survivability for Blasters of other powersets, broaden the definition of what a Blaster is capable of, and to demonstrate the power and flexibility of the Invention System to make any character both more damaging and survivable.

General Premises of Blasters:

1)   Blaster damage is great damage. While some powerset combinations yield more damage than others, any Blaster can be built to put out tremendous amounts of damage in a flexible way. It may not always be the best damage in every situation, but it can always be very good damage.

2)   Blasters do great damage at all ranges. The idea that Blasters are a strictly ranged AT is belied by the compositions of the secondary Manipulation sets. Electricity Manipulation contains 7 powers that require the user to enter melee range! All the other sets (except the lone outlier of Devices) contain at least 4 powers that only work in melee. Except for Devices, every combination of Blaster powersets is significantly improved by adding in the melee attacks. DPS drops significantly with only ranged attacks. Even some of the primaries have PBAOE melee attacks. In fact, about half the T9 'Nuke' powers require the Blaster to enter melee range.

3)   Blasters have fantastic sustain powers. By sustain powers I am referring to a power in every secondary that offers some combination of the following: Heal, Regen, Absorb, Recovery, -End Cost. These phenomenal powers afford Blasters increased survivability as well as excellent endurance management tools. These sustain powers make Blasters much tougher than they were on live while putting more gas in the tank to keep attacking.

4)   Instant-cast sniper attacks are a combination of the best DPA and flexibility, making them the best single target attacks in the game. Every Blaster with a sniper attack can make it instant cast (meaning that it skips most of the lengthy 4+ second interrupt time). While Devices Blasters have the easiest road to achieving permanent insta-snipe, any Blaster can achieve the effect. Unfortunately, not every blast set comes equipped with a sniper attack. In melee or at extreme range, the Blaster snipe can be used in virtually every situation to devastating effect. IMPORTANT NOTE:  By triple slotting tactics with level 50 to-hit buff IOs and adding a total of 8 enhancement boosters, along with the Kismet global, any Blaster can achieve the +22% to-hit/97% total to hit required for an insta-cast snipe. However, the yellow circle will not appear around the snipe icon until you hit +22.51%/97.51% total to-hit.

5)   Blaster T9 'Nukes' are the most damaging AoE attacks in the game. Firing off these nukes in tandem with whatever versions of Aim/Build Up that are available to a Blaster means that, for the most part, minions and lieutenants are deleted and bosses/EBs are significantly damaged. The T9 nukes are not all built the same, though. For instance, Inferno and Blizzard both put out significantly more damage (on average) than the other T9 nukes. Similarly, there are powers like Full Auto and Rain of Arrows that put out less damage but with a faster recharge. The point here is that the T9 'Nukes' are the AoE equivalents of the single-target sniper attacks: use them as often as you possibly can.

6)   We're racing the mobs to 0 health, not -100 health. While enemies do the same amount of damage with 1 health or a full health pool, at zero health they all cease to be threats. Taking them to -100 health doesn't make them any deader. As an example, when playing a Fire/Energy or Fire/Ice Blaster, there's more potential AoE and single target damage, however I find little difference in how fast I take down trash mobs (which is the vast majority of what we fight in the game). Against AVs/GMs, the extra damage can matter. Even there, I'm not convinced it's significant enough more to warrant giving up the incredible survivability and extra sustain of Dark Blast for the uber-damage of Fire Blast, especially given all the excellent slotting possibilities for Dark Blast over Fire Blast.

Advantages of Dark Blast and Ice Manipulation:

These two powersets together grant a tremendous number of debuffs, crowd controls, a fantastic absorb shield, excellent end management, an enormous number of slotting possibilities, as well as the patented Great Blaster Damage™.

Damage:

At first glance, Dark Blast is very middle of the road in terms of damage.

However, given that all the damage is Negative Energy, except the DoT of Tenebrous Tentacles and a portion of the damage in Blackstar, very few enemies resist its attacks. Most of the foes that resist Negative Energy are undead, usually ghosts, which comprise a very small subset of all the enemies encountered in the game.

Meanwhile, sets like Assault Rifle and Archery struggle due to so much of their damage being Lethal, which more and more foes resist as the Blaster levels.

Another benefit to Dark Blast is the tremendous number of Enhancement Sets that can be slotted in the attacks.

A mediocre-looking power like Abyssal Gaze can do great damage by combining three slots of your favorite Ranged Damage set (I like Thunderstrike, but Devastation can be a fine choice), add some Enhancement Boosters to move well into the Enhancement Diversification limits, then put in your three favorite procs and you've got a hold that does damage equivalent to most other sets 'Third Blast' power (i.e. Power Burst, Cosmic Blast, Shout, etc.)

Similarly, Tenebrous Tentacles and Umbral Torrent can take a huge variety of sets/procs that can yield extra damage, debuffs, or crowd controls that most other Blast sets can't do. Umbral Torrent can accept 7 classes of IO's, while Tenebrous Tentacles can take 8 classes!

Ice Manipulation allows for many slotting options, as well. This creates more situations where partial sets can be exploited for set bonuses and yield good base damage, while adding in procs for even more damage.

Freezing Touch is the real standout here by being both the highest DPA Blaster melee attack and allowing for slotting from 5 different classifications of IO sets. In fact, setting aside crits/Assassination Strike, Freezing Touch is the highest DPA melee attack in the game except for... drum roll, please... the Scrapper version of Freezing Touch.

Both Freezing Touch and Frozen Aura (a solid PBAoE attack) are entirely cold damage, which isn't terribly well resisted by mobs throughout the game.

Another advantage of this combination is getting both Aim and Build Up. This allows for awesome on-demand to hit/damage boosts. While most combinations of sets get both Aim and Build Up there are several combos that will lack one or the other of the two powers.

Debuffs:

Dark/Ice grants -to hit debuffs, -speed, -recharge debuffs, and a -damage debuff.

The -to hit debuffs are individually small, except for Blackstar. However, using Intuition Radial in the Alpha not only increases the -to hit debuffs and slow movement effects, but it also increases Damage, Range, and Hold Duration, all things that a Dark/Ice Blaster can take advantage of.

Since the individual -to hit debuffs can stack with one another, it is possible with even modest Defense to effectively floor a mob's to-hit chance to the base 5%.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Dark Blast's -to hit debuffs don't stack with themselves, meaning that only one stack of Gloom can be active on a particular mob at a time. However, you can still apply to that same mob Umbral Torrent's debuff, Tenebrous Tentacles debuff, etc.

Blackstar is the real standout here. On a Blaster, it gives a 35% -to-hit debuff to any enemy it hits. With the aid of the Intuition Radial Alpha, this debuff goes up to 42%. Even better, this whopping debuff lasts for 20 seconds!

With 45% defense to Smashing/Lethal/Energy damages and the -to hit debuffs of Umbral Torrent and Tenebrous Tentacles (as I have them slotted), hitting a spawn of Incarnate mobs with both can effectively create a situation where Icebox is at the Incarnate cap for the most important defenses, meaning the mobs only have a 5% to hit her with most of their attacks. (I'm looking at you, Olympian Guards)

On top of the -to-hit debuffs, Frigid Protection gives a -14% damage debuff on up to 11 targets in its massive 30' radius. Of note for -damage debuffs is that AVs don't have any special resistance to them, much like how they have no special resistance to -resistance debuffs. Endgame AVs have 85%+ resistance to all other debuffs, in addition to what the Purple Patch grants them for their level difference. Of course, -damage and -resist debuffs are resisted by the AVs relevant damage resistance (like all mobs do), but this will still grant a greater effect against AVs than -to hit debuffs, -speed, -recharge debuffs, etc.

The -speed and -recharge debuffs granted by Frigid Protection are substantial. Shiver has an even greater effect, with Frozen Fists, Chilblain, and Ice Sword supplementing. Ice Patch has a huge -speed debuff but no -recharge debuff, making it the outlier here.

The -speed and -recharge debuffs can be quite effective at lower levels where most enemies have much stronger melee attacks than ranged attacks. Similarly, the -recharge effect can be valuable at lower levels because Blasters won't necessarily have all their best attacks, meaning it might take longer to defeat mobs so that the -recharge effect could matter in preventing mobs from firing their most troublesome attacks a second time.

At endgame, I find the -speed effect to be modestly useful for keeping enemies grouped and the -recharge effect almost irrelevant.

-Recharge does nothing to stop enemies from making their initial attacks or 'Alpha Strike'. It only slows down a later 'Beta Strike', when their best powers have recharged. I find that at endgame all trash mobs will be dead before they can Beta Strike.

Controls:

Dark/Ice grants holds, immobilizes, a sleep, and knockdown/knockback. By utilizing enhancements like the Ragnarok and Avalanche procs, more knockdown can be added. With the Overwhelming Force proc, annoying knockback can be converted into the more useful knockdown.

Between Abyssal Gaze and Freezing Touch, there are two magnitude 3 holds, meaning that most bosses can be held when both holds hit. Even better, with a hold proc slotted, a boss can often be held with only one hold hitting. Hitting with both (and the proc firing) can hold many elite bosses.

Immobilizes come in the form of Tenebrous Tentacles and Chilblain. Chilblain has the unfortunate side effect of applying KB/KD protection to mobs it hits (fair warning that Freezing Touch does the same thing, but the damage and the hold usually make it worthwhile). Combining TT and Chilblain will allow for quick immobilization of vanilla AVs, though the Incarnate versions are essentially immune to mez effects of any kind.

Frozen Aura does apply a magnitude 2 sleep effect. Sleep, in general, isn't terribly useful. Sleeping minions when you can just blast them into nonexistence seems like a terrible waste of time. Fortunately, Frozen Aura does plenty of damage in a 10' radius.

Umbral Torrent applies a 100% knockback that can be turned into a knockdown with the Overwhelming Force proc. Tentacles is an excellent place for the Ragnarok proc, granting a second cone with knockdown. Frozen Aura is a fair candidate for the Avalanche proc, but I prefer the Fury of the Gladiator -res proc.

Finally, Ice Patch gives great knockdown and a massive -speed debuff to any enemies who step on it.

Of all the controls, I find knockdown to be most effective. Outside of AVs/GMs, there just aren't very many mobs in the game with KB/KD resistance.

Sustains:

Dark/Ice has great sustains in the form of a self-refreshing absorb shield, a huge +recovery buff, and a solid hybrid blast/self-heal.

Every 3 seconds, Frigid Protection will grant an absorb shield. This allows you to essentially ignore many DoTs, and/or multiple minions.

Frigid Protection also yields a large +recovery buff so you can blast away and run toggles.

Life Drain is much like Abyssal Gaze in being a multi-functional power with a ton of slotting possibilities. Its damage is a bit worse than Gloom's, but it can be a fairly reliable way of healing up when an alpha strike or a big boss hit breaks through your absorb shield.

Disadvantages of Dark Blast and Ice Manipulation:

These two powersets contain DoTs, which some players don't like. Dark Blast has 2 cones, which some players will also dislike. Both Dark Blast and Ice Manipulation are charged a damage 'tax' due to some of their secondary effects. That damage 'tax' can be mitigated by exploiting the tremendous number of slotting options the two sets provide.

Damage over Time (DoTs):

Gloom, Abyssal Gaze, Tenebrous Tentacles, and Freezing Touch all inflict some measure of their damage over time. Waiting for the damage to be inflicted does mean giving enemies the opportunity to attack you. Granted, all those powers feature debuffs and/or controls that make it more difficult for them to attack. Still, some players won't appreciate the DoTs in these sets.

Cones:

While Umbral Torrent is a relatively narrow cone, it has the same 80' range as typical T1 and T2 blasts, enabling whole spawns to be hit at long range. The Intuition Radial Alpha adds range and the Positron's Blast set has an enhancement that will help, along with the Blaster's Wrath ATO set bonus.

Tenebrous Tentacles is wider than Umbral Torrent, but half the range. This power benefits much more from the assorted range boosts available. Even so, utilizing both TT and UT together requires sitting in a sweet spot that lets both hit the targeted mobs or (more likely) repositioning.

Some players don't care for repositioning. I not only enjoy mobile playstyles, but I also find it crucial to Blaster survivability. Being evasive makes it difficult to impossible for mobs to land melee attacks, especially considering that TT is an immobilize which can be further enhanced with Spectral Interface, which also adds more Negative Energy damage. Also, slotting the Frozen Blast proc adds a chance for Immobilize.

The damage 'tax':

While Dark Blast provides enough defensive benefits from stackable -to hit debuffs, knockback/KD, cone immobilize, a ranged hold, and a self-heal to warrant lower damage totals (which, once again, can be made up for with the tremendous number of slotting options), Ice Manipulation got smacked hard by the original developers.

Fortunately, Ice Manipulation got a makeover courtesy of the Rebirth devs, making Freezing Touch an outstanding melee attack and Frozen Fists not terrible. Unfortunately, both Frozen Fists and Ice Sword still suffer from anemic damage compared to equivalent powers in other sets. For some reason the modest -recharge and -slow abilities of these powers warrant them doing significantly less than obvious comparable powers.

Dark Blast: A power-by-power breakdown:

Dark Blast: Since all T1 blasts were standardized during Live, there's little to compare between them beyond secondary effects. In this case, the -to-hit debuff which can be stacked with others in the set is a meaningful bonus. Still, I've skipped it for Gloom. Umbral Torrent makes a pretty good substitute for Dark Blast.

Gloom: Once again, the standardization of T2 blasts gave them all the same activation times, but at least their damage varies more than the T1s. Gloom does the most damage of any T2 blast; granted, it's a DoT. I chose this one for my filler attack for Icebox. The whole Superior Defiant Barrage set gives great set bonuses, along with a stacking mez protection buff that helps when exemplaring. Also, due to Defiance, this power can be used while mezzed.

Umbral Torrent: A great combination of crowd control, -to-hit debuff, and reasonable damage in a long-range cone package. With the Overwhelming Force Proc, the annoying knockback becomes wonderful knockdown. This one accepts 7 different IO sets, so there are tons of ways to slot it. I currently have 4 Witchcrafts for the energy defense and recharge set bonuses, added -to hit debuff, and the -res proc. Overwhelming Force adds a little bit of damage and turns the KB into KB. A Force Feedback proc rounds out the slotting, although I'd say that I need to hit at least 5 mobs to have a reasonable chance of seeing it fire. I spam this one in most situations.

Aim: Straight forward +to hit and +damage. I'd rather have two 50+5 recharge IOs, but to hit the S/L defense soft cap I've compromised with a pair of Rectified Reticle IOs.

Moonbeam: It's a snipe, so it's awesome. It's not Blazing Bolt, but only Blazing Bolt gets to be Blazing Bolt. All negative energy damage and with a -to hit debuff, this one comes in a distant second place to Blazing Bolt, imho. I've 5-slotted Apocalypse, primarily for the +recharge, but the +3% HP is nice, as is the damage proc. I'd probably better off with a Cloud Senses damage proc to round it out, but I love gambling on the Decimation proc.

Tenebrous Tentacles: As I mentioned, some people won't like it just because it's a mid-range cone with different dimensions than Umbral Torrent. I say, just move your character. Mobility is life for Blasters. TT does fair damage if you add up the DoT with the measly initial hit, but it takes 8 different classes of IOs, meaning that you can load it with procs. In this care, I've got a pair of Positron's Blast IOs, one of which is the damage proc. Also, there's a Cloud Senses damage proc and the Forced Indoctrination damage proc. The Ragnarok KD proc and the Annihilation -res proc round out the slotting.

Abyssal Gaze: This power is a solid ranged hold that does fair damage, includes a -to hit debuff, and the long recharge makes it an excellent proc bomb. The range is a little shorter than the other blasts, but there's enough range boost in the build to make up for that deficiency. I've gone 3 Thunderstrikes for energy defense, Accuracy, and Damage. Some enhancement boosters mean that I'm taking advantage of the high Blaster damage scalar. Cloud Senses, Neuronic Shutdown, and Unbreakable Constraint are the 3 damage procs I've chosen. Though the recharge is a little long, this power makes for a good 'third blast' with the damage procs.

Life Drain: This is another multifunctional power that allows for fair damage, a solid heal, as well as some Franken-slotting for set bonuses. The damage is a little less than Gloom, and it has a slightly longer activation time. This power accepts 8 different classes of IOs, so there are a tremendous number of ways to slot this one. With three Thunderstrikes and three Preventative Medicines, I've gone for a mix of damage and healing. For reference, I get 222 HP of healing and a recharge of just over 3 seconds.

Blackstar: All nukes are great. This one has the added advantage of inflicting a massive -to-hit debuff on everything it hits and doesn't kill (this is usually bosses with my typical tactics). I've 6-slotted it with Blaster's Wrath, which yields some nice set bonuses and a damage proc.

Ice Manipulation: A power-by-power breakdown:

Chilblain: You're stuck with it because it's in the secondary, still it can stack with TT if you need to immobilize a boss or a vanilla AV fast. Unfortunately, this power grants targets KB/KD resistance, making it even less desirable. On the plus side, its -speed and -recharge are twice what you'd get out of Frozen Fists and Ice Sword, making it a modest slow instead of measly.

Frozen Fists: Compared with Energy Punch/Charged Brawl this attack is weaker damage-wise. On the plus side, it can accept the Winter's Storm damage proc, which along with the Hecatomb proc could make up for the lower damage. I don't think it's horrible, but I didn't have room for a second melee attack.

Ice Sword: Another slightly underpowered melee attack with a negligible secondary effect. The lower DPA than Frozen Fists makes it even less appealing. I've skipped this one in favor of the much better Freezing Touch.

Frigid Protection: This is the power that just keeps on giving. Frigid Protection provides a huge recovery buff that is well worth slotting so as not to waste any slots on End Reduction slotting in other powers. Additionally, Frigid Protection applies an absorb shield every 3 seconds. In the case of Icebox, this is a 118HP absorb shield 20 times per minute, which results in 2,360 absorb points over the course of a minute. This power allows a Blaster to essentially ignore most DoTs and even several minions when combined with Defense, Resistance, and the -Dam debuff that Frigid Protection applies to 11 enemies in its 30' Radius. Finally, Frigid Protection applies a significant -Recharge debuff to enemies, along with a stronger -Speed debuff. I've gone with 2 50+5 End Mod IOs and 2 50+5 Heal IOs. This is a place where I'd love to put in 6 slots but make do with 4.

Build Up: My go-to for Blackstar. I rotate this with Aim as often as possible when DPSing AVs or dealing with spawns with multiple bosses/EBs. Gaussian's fires 90% of the time when activating Build Up.

Ice Patch: Most useful while levelling, this deceptively large knockdown patch remains useful at endgame in some solo situations or against a large group of Olympian Guards that have just been knocked down with Umbral Torrent. Even enemies on the edge of the patch will be knocked down by it. Once mobs start falling, they rarely stop. Ice Patch also gives a massive -speed debuff so that most enemies (damn you, Council Wolves!) can't get off the patch. Even if enemies can't be knocked down, there are many times where I find myself waiting for the AVs to finish their speech or become targetable (Yes, I mean Dilemma Diabolique). Ice Patch grants a HUGE Defiance damage buff: +22.90%! A 50 Recharge IO is sufficient to keep 2 patches down and three for a little while.

Shiver: I really tried to like this power. I even took it on a Fire/Ice Blaster to see if it was worth using with Rain of Fire, but I found Ice Patch and Frigid Protection to be enough to keep enemies in place. Ultimately, I decided that Rain of Fire wasn't worth using on a Blaster. Even if I had kept Rain of Fire, I wouldn't see any use for Shiver. The problem with Shiver is that it only applies a -Recharge and a -Speed debuff. So many other powers, both within Ice Manipulation and Dark Blast, provide more functions. I always felt like I could be doing something damaging and more effective with the 2 seconds I spent throwing Shiver. I can't recommend this one.

Freezing Touch: As meh as I am about Shiver, I'm enthusiastic about Freezing Touch. It's a 1 second activation time hold that does fair damage up front and a great DoT quickly afterward that makes it the best DPA melee attack available to Blasters. Adding in a hold proc means that this power can often hold bosses in one hit. 5 Superior Blistering Cold (including the hold proc) and the Hecatomb proc yield a nice balance of damage, control, and defense.

Frozen Aura: Or as I like to think of it, 'Ice Stomp'! Not as large as Foot Stomp but you can still use the animation. The damage is solid and all cold. The sleep effect is negligible, though. I've got 5 Armageddons (including the Proc) and Fury of the Gladiator -res proc. I've also used the Avalanche proc instead for even more KD. Ultimately, I valued the -res proc more, but the Avalanche proc is a ton of fun.

Pool Powers:

Leadership:

Maneuvers: This power grants a small defense buff as well as being a great Luck of the Gambler proc mule. This power also enables hitting the S/L/E soft cap, as well as opening up Tactics.

Tactics: We get +to hit, +per, and Confuse prot/res, as well as Fear res. By slotting a total of 8 Enhancement booster and slotting the Kismet proc somewhere, any Blaster can achieve permanent insta-snipe.

Vengeance: Partly in the build for the Luck of Gambler proc slot, partly here as a great team buff for iTrials or any team with a high mortality rate, Vengeance is a power I used to hate and have come to love. It's rare that I play iTrials and don't get to use this one multiple times.

Fighting:

Kick: Not the most optimal from a DPA/DPS perspective, I chose Kick because the animation makes me giggle. I almost never use this power. It's here to open up Tough and Weave.

Tough: Yields resistance to the most common damage types in the game, Smashing and Lethal. Tough also allows for the slotting of the Steadfast Protection proc and the Gladiator's Armor proc, both of which are necessary to hit the defense soft cap against S/L/E damage.

Weave: Yet another Luck of the Gambler proc mule. This one also allows for slotting a couple pieces of Reactive Defenses. I elected to use the Reactive Defenses pieces because I value the 1.5% S/L resistance over the paltry +10% regeneration boost and the tiny 1.12% HP boost from slotting 3 Luck of the Gambler's instead. Going with 3 LoTGs instead is likely a minimal difference from the way I've slotted. Regardless, this power is necessary for reaching the soft cap for S/L/E defense.

Speed:

Hasten: This gives a huge global recharge buff. While I don't have enough +recharge in this build to make Hasten truly permanent, liberal use of Umbral Torrent against groups of enemies goes a long way toward closing the gap, making Hasten effectively permanent in most situations.

Super Speed: This power acts as a mule for a Blessing of the Zephyr -KB proc. Furthermore, the -threat aspect of this power allows it to stack with a stealth IO in Sprint to make Icebox effectively invisible to the vast majority of mobs, except for Snipers, Drones, and a few others. Frigid Protection must be turned off to maintain this 'invisibility' because it is a huge PBAOE debuff aura.

Leaping:

Combat Jumping: Another Luck of the Gambler mule that also helps reach the soft cap for S/L/E defense. Also, this power grants great protection from Immobilize and tremendous mobility. While Hover can be great for positioning, CJ excels at mobility. By leaping and THEN activating a power it is possible to move and attack. I make liberal use of CJ to hit mobs at range while closing to hit them with melee or using PBAOE attacks while jumping back to range. While it takes a little practice, this power allows a Blaster to control when (and if) enemies get to use melee attacks while also using their own melee and ranged attacks in alternation. Combined with Icebox's multiple ways to knock enemies down, slow them, Immobilize them, and debuff them, liberal use of jumping makes her incredibly survivable.

Mace Mastery:

Scorpion Shield: This power yields yet another LoTG mule slot, as well as a place for more Reactive Defense enhancements for 1.5% S/L res, more HP, and to maximize the S/L/E defense granted by this power. Scorpion Shield yields a modest amount of Toxic res that can't be slotted for.

Battle Tactics:

Having Superspeed and a Stealth IO gives me the opportunity to decide when, where, and how I want to attack with Icebox. Even if there is an incoming ambush, Snipers, or Drones (or other enemies that can see 'Invisible' characters), the ability to knockdown virtually all enemies with Umbral Torrent buys time to set the table in my favor.

My most typical attack sequence with Icebox is to pop Build Up. This has a 90% chance of firing the Gaussian's Proc, meaning that the next 5.25 seconds of attacks have a very high to-hit and loads of damage.

I'll then hit a boss in the middle of the spawn (an LT will do in a pinch) with Umbral Torrent while jumping into the spawn. This does some damage, will knockdown up to 10 enemies, apply a -to-hit debuff, apply the Witchcraft -Res proc to the majority of enemies, and have a good chance of activating the Force Feedback proc.

Once in the middle of the spawn, I'll bounce back out while activating Blackstar. This will kill all the minions it hits, usually all the LTs, and do significant damage to the bosses. Any enemies hit by Blackstar but not killed will have a -42% -to-hit debuff applied to them (on top of Umbral Torrent's debuff), meaning that they are almost certainly floored in their accuracy, provided they aren't AVs or GMs.

At this point, if the enemies are +1's or +2's, I will often hit the boss I have targeted with Moonbeam.

If the enemies are +4's then some of the LTs may have survived, in which case I'll jump back in and use Tenebrous Tentacles instead, which has three damage procs, as well as the Annihilation -res proc. I'll immediately bounce back out, firing Frozen Aura as I go, which does good damage and has a chance to apply the Fury of the Gladiator -res proc.

The beauty of the -to-hit debuffs and the -res procs is that they benefit the entire League by either making it harder for the enemies to hit my teammates or making my teammates' attacks do more damage.

Usually at that point I'm content to snipe with Moonbeam, spam Umbral Torrent, use Abyssal Gaze, and reapply Tenebrous Tentacles.

Should any enemies get into melee range, I have Freezing Touch ready to do piles of damage and hold bosses most of the time. Stacked with Abyssal Gaze, this will often briefly hold Elite Bosses.

If multiple enemies enter melee range, Frozen Aura should be ready, in which case I'll fire it while bouncing out. Umbral Torrent, Tentacles, Moonbeam, and Abyssal Gaze should clean everything up. I'll throw Gloom in a pinch, but it's there as filler. If I'm taking damage, then Life Drain is perfect for healing up and finishing off damaged enemies.

Should Blackstar not be ready or there are two spawns close together and there is no tanking character, then I'll open with either my Cryonic Judgement power or Umbral Torrent, duck around a corner or behind an obstacle, drop Ice Patch, and wait for everyone to come running.

The dumb AI will pile up on Ice Patch at the corner which will make the vast majority of enemies bounce, at which point Aim, Umbral Torrent, Tentacles, and Frozen Aura can clean up all the minions and most of the LTs. Moonbeam, Abyssal Gaze, Freezing Touch, and Gloom can finish the bosses.

The mix of high damage melee powers, debuffing and control cones at various ranges, and the extreme range of Moonbeam, all allow Icebox to do great damage at any range, against single targets or groups, as well as applying debuffs and controls the whole time.

Once again, some might not like the cones or be afraid of melee, but once you get the hang of bouncing and attacking, it's possible to be at a range that is disadvantageous to the enemies but perfect for your attack.

Icebox Mids' Build:

Villain Blaster
Build plan made with Mids' Reborn v3.6.6 rev. 3
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Primary powerset: Dark BlastSecondary powerset: Ice ManipulationPool powerset (#1): SpeedPool powerset (#2): LeapingPool powerset (#3): LeadershipPool powerset (#4): FightingAncillary powerset: Mace Mastery

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Powers taken:

Level 1: Gloom
A: Superior Defiant Barrage: Accuracy/Damage3: Superior Defiant Barrage: RechargeTime/+Status3: Superior Defiant Barrage: Accuracy/Damage/RechargeTime5: Superior Defiant Barrage: Accuracy/Damage/Endurance5: Superior Defiant Barrage: Damage/RechargeTime7: Superior Defiant Barrage: Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/RechargeTime

Level 1: Chilblain
A: Invention: Accuracy

Level 2: Umbral Torrent
A: Superior Witchcraft: Accuracy/ Universal Debuff7: Superior Witchcraft: Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge9: Superior Witchcraft: Chance for Res Debuff9: Superior Witchcraft: Universal Debuff/Endurance/Recharge9: Overwhelming Force: Damage/Chance for Knockdown/Knockback to Knockdown11: Force Feedback: Chance for +Recharge

Level 4: Super Speed
A: Blessing of the Zephyr: Knockback Reduction (4 points)

Level 6: Aim
A: Rectified Reticle: To Hit Buff15: Rectified Reticle: To Hit Buff/Recharge

Level 8: Moonbeam
A: Apocalypse: Damage/Recharge15: Apocalypse: Accuracy/Damage/Recharge17: Apocalypse: Accuracy/Recharge17: Apocalypse: Damage/Endurance17: Apocalypse: Chance of Damage(Negative)19: Decimation: Chance of Build Up

Level 10: Frigid Protection
A: Invention: Healing19: Invention: Healing21: Invention: Endurance Modification21: Invention: Endurance Modification

Level 12: Tenebrous Tentacles
A: Positron's Blast: Accuracy/Damage/Endurance23: Cloud Senses: Chance for Negative Energy Damage23: Forced Indoctrination: Chance of Damage(Psionic)23: Positron's Blast: Chance of Damage(Energy)25: Ragnarok: Chance for Knockdown25: Annihilation: Chance for Res Debuff

Level 14: Combat Jumping
A: Luck of the Gambler: Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed

Level 16: Build Up
A: Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control: Chance for Build Up

Level 18: Maneuvers
A: Luck of the Gambler: Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed33: Kismet: Accuracy +6%33: Shield Wall: +Res (Teleportation), +5% Res (All)

Level 20: Abyssal Gaze
A: Thunderstrike: Accuracy/Damage29: Cloud Senses: Chance for Negative Energy Damage31: Thunderstrike: Damage/Endurance31: Thunderstrike: Accuracy/Damage/Endurance31: Neuronic Shutdown: Chance of Damage(Psionic)33: Unbreakable Constraint: Chance for Smashing Damage

Level 22: Tactics
A: Invention: To Hit Buff34: Invention: To Hit Buff34: Invention: To Hit Buff

Level 24: Ice Patch
A: Invention: Recharge Reduction

Level 26: Life Drain
A: Thunderstrike: Accuracy/Damage27: Thunderstrike: Damage/Endurance27: Thunderstrike: Accuracy/Damage/Endurance34: Preventive Medicine: Heal36: Preventive Medicine: Heal/Endurance37: Preventive Medicine: Chance for +Absorb

Level 28: Kick
A: Kinetic Combat: Accuracy/Damage29: Kinetic Combat: Damage/Endurance36: Kinetic Combat: Damage/Recharge36: Kinetic Combat: Damage/Endurance/Recharge

Level 30: Hasten
A: Invention: Recharge Reduction37: Invention: Recharge Reduction

Level 32: Blackstar
A: Superior Blaster's Wrath: Accuracy/Damage37: Superior Blaster's Wrath: Damage/Recharge39: Superior Blaster's Wrath: Accuracy/Damage/Recharge39: Superior Blaster's Wrath: Accuracy/Damage/Endurance39: Superior Blaster's Wrath: Accuracy/Damage/Endurance/Recharge40: Superior Blaster's Wrath: Recharge/Chance for Fire Damage

Level 35: Scorpion Shield
A: Luck of the Gambler: Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed40: Reactive Defenses: Defense40: Reactive Defenses: Defense/Endurance42: Reactive Defenses: Defense/RechargeTime

Level 38: Freezing Touch
A: Superior Blistering Cold: Accuracy/Damage42: Superior Blistering Cold: Damage/Endurance42: Superior Blistering Cold: Accuracy/Damage/Endurance43: Superior Blistering Cold: Accuracy/Damage/Recharge43: Superior Blistering Cold: Recharge/Chance for Hold43: Hecatomb: Chance of Damage(Negative)

Level 41: Frozen Aura
A: Armageddon: Damage/Recharge45: Armageddon: Chance for Fire Damage45: Armageddon: Accuracy/Damage/Recharge45: Armageddon: Accuracy/Recharge46: Armageddon: Damage/Endurance46: Fury of the Gladiator: Chance for Res Debuff

Level 44: Tough
A: Unbreakable Guard: Resistance46: Unbreakable Guard: Resistance/Endurance48: Unbreakable Guard: Resistance/Endurance/RechargeTime48: Unbreakable Guard: +Max HP48: Steadfast Protection: Resistance/+Def 3%50: Gladiator's Armor: TP Protection +3% Def (All)

Level 47: Weave
A: Luck of the Gambler: Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed50: Reactive Defenses: Defense50: Reactive Defenses: Scaling Resist Damage

Level 49: Vengeance
A: Luck of the Gambler: Defense/Increased Global Recharge Speed


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Inherents:

Level 1: Defiance


Level 1: Brawl
(Empty)

Level 1: Sprint
A: Unbounded Leap: +Stealth

Level 2: Rest
(Empty)

Level 2: Swift
(Empty)

Level 2: Hurdle
(Empty)

Level 2: Health
A: Panacea: +Hit Points/Endurance11: Miracle: +Recovery13: Numina's Convalesence: +Regeneration/+Recovery

Level 2: Stamina
A: Invention: Endurance Modification13: Invention: Endurance Modification13: Performance Shifter: Chance for +End


──────────────────────────────
Accolades:

High Pain ThresholdMarshalBorn In Battle


──────────────────────────────
Incarnates:

Intuition Radial Paragon
──────────────────────────────

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In the inbox

Thank you for explaining the design philosophy. Looks like a ton of new stuff to play with. I appreciate the effort a handful of people have put into breathing some life back into this delightful zombie of a game. Bravo!

In regard to the T1 vs T2 blast, I do agree that the DPA is minimally different. The primary difference is spending only 1 second not doing a lot of damage, versus 1.67 seconds doing not much more. With so many other choices available to a character (In this example, you've got two toggle debuffs, a heal, AM, LR, Cosmic Burst, Irradiate, Proton Volley, Atomic Blast, and eventually a Destiny power), I'd find my time better spent doing any of those than waiting for a filler attack to finish animating. I don't mind slapping the T1 again (or setting it on auto) if simply attacking again is the most expedient thing to do. The incredibly short recharge means that Neutrino Bolt can be its own attack chain. Carpel tunnel is its own over-riding issue, of course, and you have my sympathy.

Of course, if you're talking about an AV at less than 30% health, then mashing attacks might be all that matters.

It's all a matter context (what are your build goals and what content do you find yourself playing?. I find Corruptor blasts (at least until you're dealing with enemies at low health) to be underwhelming, which is perfectly fine with me because the secondaries are packed with awesome buffs/debuffs/controls for setting them up