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 dramatically 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
──────────────────────────────
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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