Elemental Powers? Buffing? Help me pick them please :D

commanderkassy

So I am back in CO after a long hiatus. CoH dying drove me back here. It sucks, but I am going to make the most of it.

I want to play an arcane style healer/DPSer. I got a lot of advice from some friends in the game, which seems very useful, and I was able to piece together the build below, but I need two things.

First, I want to take one power from each element (Wind, Ice, Fire, Electricity). Attacks are fine, but I am also looking for utility, so any advice on what would be the most useful or utility driven powers from those sets would be nice, that said though, if it's just a big boom that causes a ton of damage, I won't complain, as I would like some damage in the build.

Another thing I would like would be some non-heal buffing.. say a shield/absorb or something like that to help further aid my allies? I want to avoid as much psi powers as i want as they are not in theme, but 1 or 2 won't kill the concept (that of a full on arcane mage).

This build is a work in progress, and is pieced together from advice given to me by some friends. I'm not asking specifically FOR a build but just useful things I could plug into it, which talents would be good, etc.

This is here more for reference than anything (hence why this isn't in the builds forum).

PowerHouse (Link to this build)

Name: Isynia

Archetype: Freeform

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

Talents:
Level 1: Divinity
Level 6: Brilliant
Level 9:
Level 12:
Level 15:
Level 18:
Level 21:

Powers:
Level 1: Eldritch Bolts
Level 1: Rebuke
Level 6: Aura of Primal Majesty (Rank 2)
Level 8: Eldritch Shield (Imbue With Power)
Level 11: Empathic Healing
Level 14: Iniquity
Level 17:
Level 20:
Level 23:
Level 26:
Level 29:
Level 32:
Level 35:
Level 38:

Travel Powers:
Level 6: Power Flight
Level 35:

Specializations:

Thanks for any replies.

agentnx5

1. Welcome!

2. AoPM is ideal for making builds that don't have a natural harmony/synergy, that don't cross over on benefits between each other power. It's a solid passive for hybrid builds.

3. I can say right now before going any further that Imbue with Power is a wasteful advantage, get rid of it in favor of the points spent somewhere else. If you want the best block in the game, for damage resistance, get Ebon Void R3 (rank 3) + Voracious Darkness. That block combined with damage resistance and dodge/avoidance is nearly unkillable by all but a few things in the game (Mega D Overseers, clever PvP players, etc.)

4. Basic questions to answer: What's your active offense cycle/combo? What's your active defense cycle/combo? What's your method of self-healing? How will you deal with powerful single foes? How will you deal with swarms of enemies? What is your energy unlock going to be (if any)? How do you want to play this (what works best may differ from what you wanted initially, but you need to have some sort of idea)? What are you going to specialize in (I mean this from a combat perspective)?

5. If you're intent on going INT as the primary superstat as a healer, consider things like Conviction working together with MSA. Or Celestial Conduit working together with Overdrive. Also consider gadgeteering heals.

6. There's no "wrong" choices, but there are more favorable & effective choices that will bring the design together.

7. Here's a build, this is not tested and in reality I would put a few hours into testing it out:
PowerHouse (Link to this build)

Name: Isynia

Archetype: Freeform

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

Talents:
Level 1: Divinity
Level 6: Brilliant
Level 9:
Level 12:
Level 15:
Level 18:
Level 21:

Powers:
Level 1: Radiance
Level 1: Rebuke (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 6: Compassion (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 8: Fireball (Rank 2, Unstable Accelerant)
Level 11: Aura of Primal Majesty (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 14: Thermal Reverberation
Level 17: Ego Surge (Rank 2, Nimble Mind)
Level 20: Unbreakable (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 23: Lightning Storm (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 26: Flashfire (Sweltering Heat)
Level 29: Protection Field (Rank 2, Rank 3)
Level 32: Conviction (Rank 2)
Level 35:
Level 38:

Travel Powers:
Level 6: Power Flight
Level 35:

Specializations:
Intelligence: Enlightened (3/3)
Intelligence: Tactician (2/2)
Intelligence: Detect Vulnerability (1/3)
Intelligence: Tinkering (2/2)
Intelligence: Expertise (2/2)
Guardian: Fortified Gear (3/3)
Guardian: Locus (2/2)
Guardian: Ruthless (2/2)
Guardian: The Best Defense (3/3)
Sentinel: Caregiver (3/3)
Sentinel: Sentinel Aura (3/3)
Sentinel: Moment of Need (2/3)
Sentinel: Genesis (2/2)
Mastery: Intelligence Mastery (1/1)

There are several hidden synergies here and in reality I think this is a really kind of a redundant build, I just made it in a matter of seconds so it's going to have a lot of fixing needed. Rebuke is actually a really good heal at R3 (it's 100ft range too) and especially if you combine it with protection field R3. With AoPM you'll be able to tap spam it or charge it as needed. For a power heal you'd Imbue first and then heal. But really healing somewhat clashes with the damage vesatility INT was intended for, so I've added some powerful fire and thematic lightning, as requested. But again, you're not going to be as good with this as other players who've specialized.

Keep in mind if you want to be really good at healing, you want to be in Support Role and have your PRE be your primary superstat, not INT.

Key weakness with the above build (although I think you'll find it works quite well if you chose to go with it) is that it's going to be more of a "jack-of-all-trades but master of none".

It's actually stronger to specialize. That said, many of my characters, while specialized are capable of taking on anything in the game. Only one of my characters uses AoPM. I don't go for min/maxing per se, I go for theme building. All of the powers have to be both very strong together and match the theme that I see for that character.

My themes are things like celestial healer, AoE lightning destruction, sniper & fleet commander, angry dwarf with a hammer, sneaky rogue with a sword, etc. Although they often pull from various powerset, they all align in theme and have a synergy that makes them very strong together with few weaknesses.

sockmunkey

Im thinking a good over all utility power that fits your theme might be. Hurricane in the wind set. With the perfect storm advantage, it will do wind (crushing), will randomly freeze targets, and adds some electric damage as well. Three of your four elements in one power.

For buffs, the choices are a little more limited. Most of the buffing here comes from your support passive. However, bubbles are pretty useful. Protection Field in the force set is a fairly long duration (20 seconds) HP shield. Mindful Reinforcement in the TK set works similar, but has a shorter duration, (8 seconds) but heals for double its remaining strength. Giving it some utility as a shield that can heal.

The final buff options come in your specialization trees as Auras. They are low power, but are still helpful. The Sentry tree has an aura that gives everyone a direct buff to damage resistance. Sentinel tree has a nice healing aura. its not super strong (not like it used to be) but it can keep a groups health topped off without a lot of micro management.