Mathemagic - plan to get my build back closer to concept

stormturmoil

When I first started playing Champions online, my First Pick was a Grimoire Archetype build, as I didn't want to jump blind into freeform and was testing the waters of the game. The Character was based on the old Alchemist concept and since I'm no good with Character names, I turned it into CAlchemist. Someone who manipulates magic via Mathematics

Well, I liked the game, and went freefrom, and messed with the build, and drifted away from Sorcery into Infernal, Force, Power armour and Gadgeteer, and lost sight of the original draw. I also never got good at min-maxing despite that being why I drifted off concept.

Anyway, Long story short, I'm now looking back and trying to come up with a Sorcery build that fits the concept and the way my Character's outfit evolved (basically a magically powered power armour at this point; Possible inspiration from Professor Paradigm)

Since the concept is Magic controlled by Mathematics, I'm aiming for sorcery powers that involve the symbol effects like Eldritch Bolts, with the symbols not being arcane glyphs so much as mathematical terms in an equation.

However In light of the way I've been playing, and trying to keep some of the changes I have adapted, for example, I want to avoid Circles or Sigils, and also summons, and I Don't want to go straight back to just copying Grimoire, or go Hexslinger either, so I'm considering this build:

CAlchemist MkIV - Freeform (Any / Multiple)
v3.34:32

Super Stats
Level 6: Intelligence (Primary)
Level 10: Constitution (Secondary)
Level 15: Presence (Secondary)

Talents
Level 1: The Hero (Str: 8, Dex: 8, Con: 8, Int: 8, Ego: 8, Pre: 8, Rec: 6, End: 6)
Level 6: Jack of All Trades (Str: 2, Dex: 2, Con: 2, Int: 2, Ego: 2, Pre: 2, Rec: 2, End: 2)
Level 9: Field Ops Training (Con: 3, Int: 3, Ego: 3, Rec: 2, End: 2)
Level 12: Survival Training (Dex: 3, Con: 3, Pre: 3, Rec: 2, End: 2)
Level 15: Martial Training (Str: 3, Dex: 3, Ego: 3, Rec: 3)
Level 18: Discipline Training (Str: 3, Int: 3, Pre: 3, End: 3)
Level 21: Covert Ops Training (Str: 3, Dex: 3, Con: 3, Int: 3)

Powers
Level 1: Eldritch Bolts
Level 1: Aura of Primal Majesty (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 6: Conjuring
Level 8: Star Barrage (Rank 2, Light Everlasting)
Level 11: Spellcaster (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 14: Soul Beam (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 17: Life Essence (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 20: Energy Shield (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 23: Ascension
Level 26: Masterful Dodge
Level 29: Resurrection Serum
Level 32: Will-o'-the-Wisp (Guide, Cursed)
Level 35: Mindful Reinforcement (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 38: Crashing Incantation
Adv. Points: 36/36

Travel Powers
Level 6: Athletics (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 35: Jet Pack (Rank 2, Rank 3)

Specializations
Intelligence: Enlightened (3/3)
Intelligence: Tactician (2/2)
Intelligence: Detect Vulnerability (3/3)
Intelligence: Expertise (2/2)
Vindicator: Aggressive Stance (2/2)
Vindicator: Merciless (3/3)
Vindicator: Focused Strikes (1/3)
Vindicator: Modified Gear (2/2)
Vindicator: Offensive Expertise (1/2)
Vindicator: Mass Destruction (1/3)
Sentinel: Eternal Spring (2/2)
Sentinel: Caregiver (2/3)
Sentinel: Sentinel Aura (3/3)
Sentinel: Moment of Need (3/3)
Mastery: Vindicator Mastery (1/1)

Devices
Slot 3: Primus Spark Shield
Slot 4: Voltanic Potential
Slot 5: Elder Worm Humidity Dome

Additional Notes:
]Calachemist

Eldritch Bolts, Star Barrage and Soul Beam all have the Glyphs=Equation thing for theme points. Conjuring and Spellcaster scale off Int and can be proc'ed by Wil'o'the wisp, which also adds Toxic DoT, elemental debuff and hexed Debuff with it's advantages, and illuminations for some bonus healing. Star Barrage is theme AoE that can also potentially Illuminate, and spread minor healing on fully maintain. Soul Beam is theme single target Damage, and is buffed by Spellcaster stack and any Curse on the target including Hexed, debilitating poison Or Illuminated.

Life Essence without Advantage is a no-damage Multi-heal that's served well in my recent cosmic plays, and synergises with Wil'o'the wisp for easy group healing.

Energy shield is a bit of Divergence from theme compared to Eldritch Shield, but I like the appearance, and it's better balance appeals since the special advantage for Eldritch with AoPM is not attractive.

Ascension has been a great panic button in Cosmics for Burst healing, hold-breaking, DPS check buff and GTFO. I'm less sure on Masterful Dodge; I haven't used it much, but it appears to be fine with no advantage points, which is a plus since this build is strained for those.

Resurrection serum is theme rez that fits the Alchemist part of the title, and also works well, being quick and delivering decent hitpoint return even without spending Advantage points, as above.

Mindful reinforcement is there for an extra self-heal along with the novelty of a bubble shield, and I've tried it and it's fairly good, but I'm also considering swapping it for maybe either Force eruption with Polarity advantage for a bit of a buff, or with Energy Wave with Recharge and maybe hardened particle matrix; in each case it's to get me a no-aim space-maker, with bonuses.

Crashing Incantation is for DPS checks, tacking a 20% overpower debuff on to help everyone, and also fits the theme given the symbology.

The Missing Device is for the Magic Imbued Gauntlets from Death Rattle; while not necessarily optimal, it gets me a chance to punch people with Maths, fitting the theme.

For those wondering, the weird Innate/Talent Setup is to get the most out of Int Spec Enlightened/expertise and AoPM synergy: I get more skill points this way than if I focused on just superstats, and those points do me more benefit thanks to Enlightened/Expertise. I tested this on the PTS, and doing it this way gets me on average 30 points more in every stat across the board than just superstatting; Leaving me to use my Gear slots for the things stats don't directly buff, like Severity, Dodge and Avoidance.

So, now I've finished my monologue, does anyone have some criticism of advice: I'm sure there are better ways to go about this than I have done.

flowcyto

You mentioned Cosmics, but I hope you aren't playing this is Hybrid role then, as you could be interfering w/ stronger Support auras (and AoPM is very common). I guess I'm a bit unsure how to critique this, since I dunno what the general aim of this build is. If it's mainly to dps, then I recommend ditching the AoPM and Pres approach and making it more of a standard ranged dps build (you can still bring things like the Ult's Overpower, an ally res, and/or Ascension w/ adv + Illum - if you want). It could do okay as a Support/healer, though most of your active healing requires a target and standing nearby allies, and Spellcaster isn't really ideal for a healer that would want to be stacking Pres for the aura (you typically don't want to rank up the toggle/form anyways).

I'd prob not consider Force Eruption w/ Polarity adv (the well's bonus is affected by DR, takes setup, and is immobile); Energy Wave is okay for certain things, but I don't find the 3-pt shield adv to be that great (cool visual, though). Also, I prob would pass on dodge/avoid gearing, since it's rng mitigation for a non-tank (Masterful Dodge will take you well past 100% dodge while it's up anyways).

stormturmoil

flowcyto wrote: »

You mentioned Cosmics, but I hope you aren't playing this is Hybrid role then, as you could be interfering w/ stronger Support auras (and AoPM is very common). I guess I'm a bit unsure how to critique this, since I dunno what the general aim of this build is. If it's mainly to dps, then I recommend ditching the AoPM and Pres approach and making it more of a standard ranged dps build (you can still bring things like the Ult's Overpower, an ally res, and/or Ascension w/ adv + Illum - if you want). It could do okay as a Support/healer, though most of your active healing requires a target and standing nearby allies, and Spellcaster isn't really ideal for a healer that would want to be stacking Pres for the aura (you typically don't want to rank up the toggle/form anyways).

I'd prob not consider Force Eruption w/ Polarity adv (the well's bonus is affected by DR, takes setup, and is immobile); Energy Wave is okay for certain things, but I don't find the 3-pt shield adv to be that great (cool visual, though). Also, I prob would pass on dodge/avoid gearing, since it's rng mitigation for a non-tank (Masterful Dodge will take you well past 100% dodge while it's up anyways).

Oh no, I play this almost entirely in Support mode; that's partly why it's got AoPM with Vind Mastery: I thought the 1/3 Strength buff to ranged attacks would help claw back some of the the 90% Damage from Support mode (I realise this does not properly equate due to the way it's calculated), and also why I ended up picking Con for SSS instead of Dex.

It Is meant to be a Hybrid in terms of approach, Healing with Some DPS/DPS with some Healing, because I cannot cope with going full DPS: I died horribly to everything, and attempting to add self heals just got me more aggro for some reason.
Oddly, I tend to do Okay with Tougher enemies, but struggle with mook mob survival. I also made the mistake of trying Force Cascade, but while the energy on this is good, it's not that Good.

Mainly, this is for me to have a Theme-ish build that can have a role in Cosmics while being sort of ok in other content: I am nowhere near confident enough to attempt a Tank or CC build. With my current build I can manage to heal a group through Dino spines and Kiga Storms without having to block using Life Essence (I do have to block for Dino Jumps and Ape attacks) and I can manage to get enough Damage clear the 100k threshold for rewards, which means I can slowly work towards getting Gold reco Gear to replace the Aurum set I'm using at the moment. (I know that's a leveling/smash set not for endgame).

flowcyto

I see. Well, for solo stuff or easier content you can always just go into Hybrid role if you want to up your personal dmg then, but yeah it's good that you're using Support for the serious stuff. I assume, then, that you are still gearing mostly for Pres, and just using AoPM to boost Int for Spellcaster? For pure healing, Compassion would giver stronger heals, while Spellcaster is more of a hybrid-dps approach (either way, you can manage w/ that toggle/form being left at rank 1). And yea, Vind Mastery isn't that great, but I guess that same could be said of Int Mastery.

Regardless, I can see the build working alright as mostly an AoE healer, w/ some buffs/debuffs and ability to help w/ burst dmg.

stormturmoil

That's about the shape of it: when I get better gear, I plan to stack Pres, maybe some Con. The rest will follow naturally due to AoPM, and Spellcaster can easily be stacked with Wil'o' wisp.

I tried Compassion, but I had a lot of trouble stacking it, since passives and self heals don't count, and neither do heals at teammates with full HP; since a lot of the time many people are self healing as well as healers healing them, that means I have bad odds to actually be able to stack unless I watch every player like a hawk, so I figured Spellcaster, which still offers me some benefits and is easier to stack was a better option.

flowcyto

stormturmoil wrote: »

I tried Compassion, but I had a lot of trouble stacking it, since passives and self heals don't count, and neither do heals at teammates with full HP; since a lot of the time many people are self healing as well as healers healing them, that means I have bad odds to actually be able to stack unless I watch every player like a hawk, so I figured Spellcaster, which still offers me some benefits and is easier to stack was a better option.

I guess that's fair. Self-heals should count still (provided you've taken some dmg), but yea not passive ones.