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The Strongest "Hold" Power in-game

So as the title says

I know most of the hold powers in-game is not so great, but is there one that is actually useful or considered the "strongest"
Psi.

Comments

  • warcanchwarcanch Posts: 1,069 Arc User
    edited October 2018
    A stun is the strongest as no amount of damage applied to the target lessens it's effects. Usually these are very short durations.

    Paralyze is next, as it is a longer control, but damage shortens it's duration.

    Incapacitate is similar to Paralyze, but has a shorter duration.

    Sleep has the longest duration but breaks upon any damage, other than those designated NOT to break sleep (ego sprites, mental leech, electrical arcing, are the ones I know of).

    All of these are affected by Hold Resistance stacks. As one of these effects wears off, it applies a HR stack. Each stack, up to 3, is another -1 second to the duration countdown timer. At 3 or more HR stacks, none of the above effects will work on the target.


    Snares slow the movement speed of the target. Root stops the movement of the target. Neither of which prevent the target from other actions.



    If you are looking to build up someone using any of these control effects, keep in mind: +Duration is useful to all of them (not sure about snares and roots). +Strength is only useful for Paralyze and Incapacitate. +Strength doesn't affect stun, but it doesn't have to, as stun is only affected by duration and HR stacks.


    Was this your actual question or were you looking for the best POWER to use? In that case, the answer is always situational. Decisions on what to get/use should be based upon the above information.​​
    .

    -=-=-=-=-=-(CO in-game handle: @WarCan )-=-=-=-=-=-
    "Okay, you're DEAD, what do you do NEXT?"
  • theravenforcetheravenforce Posts: 7,065 Arc User
    edited October 2018
    You're going to have to elaborate, otherwise you'll get information that's not directly what you're after!

    But...

    There's an actual Crowd Control information page on the new Wiki, use that as an information source and to make your decisions. (also page on Hold Resist for information on Hold Resistance and what it does)

    In terms of sheer duration across all ranks of affected targets...Sleep is the most consistent Crowd Control ability in Champions Online (Ego Sleep) as it is relied upon for Cosmic Encounters where CC has been carved a place.

    In terms of raw (tooltip) duration, Sleep and Paralyzes are equal in listed duration.

    However, in terms of stopping power and speed of application...Stuns generally have the field there. Since they are not eroded by damage or Z-mashing, just their duration.

    Incapacitates and Paralyzes, in theory have a similar if not equal duration, since Incaps are just maintained paralyzes, however due to mechanics...Incapacitates can be a little unreliable or feel shorter in duration and less effective vs Paralyzes on basic targets.

    Incapacitates are designed for use vs Super Villain Rank targets, to apply some level of Crowd Control to them. So depending on the target you are going after, Incapacitates may be the best option.

    As for augmenting Crowd Control "duration"* (applies to Stuns, Sleep, Paralyze and Incapacitates), Manipulator is the primary and most effective way of doing so, via activating the form and stacking either Intelligence or Presence to fuel it, as well as various specs which help in minor ways.

    Gear can have some impact too: e.g. Rank 9 Sentinel Brooches adding '+51 CC Strength' which translates into around 1.9/2 extra seconds of a crowd control powers duration.

    *Do note that Manipulator does not increase the strength/hold HP of your crowd control abilities, it simply increases your crowd control magnitude, allowing you to breach the resistance that your targets have to crowd control effects. This increase in magnitude allows you to utilize control effects, to affect opponents of up to and including Super Villain Rank foes.
  • pantagruel01pantagruel01 Posts: 7,091 Arc User
    The problem with hold powers isn't really that they're weak; hold powers are actually quite strong at what they're designed to do. The problem is that what they're designed to do is unnecessary in most of the game.

    Essentially, the design purpose of non-stun powers is "monster X, don't bother me while I beat up monster Y", and they're actually pretty good at that. Unfortunately, in 99% of the game you can solve that problem by just AoEing both X and Y, so there's not much reason to use CC. Stuns are okay at buying you a small amount of time, but standard duration is about 2s, so for a non-specialist they just don't make that much difference.
  • spinnytopspinnytop Posts: 16,450 Arc User
    edited October 2018
    cryneting wrote: »
    So as the title says

    I know most of the hold powers in-game is not so great, but is there one that is actually useful or considered the "strongest"

    If your targets are going to be taking damage, then it's Stuns. Any of them, they all have the same duration. As they all differ in terms of range, mobility and area of effect there is no one Stun that is objectively "the best" and you really just need to decide what you want. Any of the cone-type Stuns are likely to please since they effect a large area and you remain mobile while maintaining them. On the other hand if you want something reliable, melee stuns have no setup and no rng.

    In general tho "pick one that fits your theme" applies. But Stuns are effectively the strongest holds because you can lock things down while they're being damaged.​​
  • warcanch wrote: »
    A stun is the strongest as no amount of damage applied to the target lessens it's effects. Usually these are very short durations.

    Paralyze is next, as it is a longer control, but damage shortens it's duration.

    Incapacitate is similar to Paralyze, but has a shorter duration.

    Sleep has the longest duration but breaks upon any damage, other than those designated NOT to break sleep (ego sprites, mental leech, electrical arcing, are the ones I know of).

    All of these are affected by Hold Resistance stacks. As one of these effects wears off, it applies a HR stack. Each stack, up to 3, is another -1 second to the duration countdown timer. At 3 or more HR stacks, none of the above effects will work on the target.


    Snares slow the movement speed of the target. Root stops the movement of the target. Neither of which prevent the target from other actions.



    If you are looking to build up someone using any of these control effects, keep in mind: +Duration is useful to all of them (not sure about snares and roots). +Strength is only useful for Paralyze and Incapacitate. +Strength doesn't affect stun, but it doesn't have to, as stun is only affected by duration and HR stacks.


    Was this your actual question or were you looking for the best POWER to use? In that case, the answer is always situational. Decisions on what to get/use should be based upon the above information.​​

    This was pretty much what I was asking for but even better, so thanks for this. But the qeastion was the best "Power" to use, but this works just fine and helps much better than just a power on its own


    Thanks!
    Psi.
  • spinnytop wrote: »
    cryneting wrote: »
    So as the title says

    I know most of the hold powers in-game is not so great, but is there one that is actually useful or considered the "strongest"

    If your targets are going to be taking damage, then it's Stuns. Any of them, they all have the same duration. As they all differ in terms of range, mobility and area of effect there is no one Stun that is objectively "the best" and you really just need to decide what you want. Any of the cone-type Stuns are likely to please since they effect a large area and you remain mobile while maintaining them. On the other hand if you want something reliable, melee stuns have no setup and no rng.

    In general tho "pick one that fits your theme" applies. But Stuns are effectively the strongest holds because you can lock things down while they're being damaged.​​

    Exclay thank you!
    Psi.
  • You're going to have to elaborate, otherwise you'll get information that's not directly what you're after!

    But...

    That is ture, but this turned out to be a wonderful mistake lol!

    Psi.
  • pwestolemynamepwestolemyname Posts: 978 Arc User
    cryneting wrote: »
    So as the title says

    I know most of the hold powers in-game is not so great, but is there one that is actually useful or considered the "strongest"

    Psionic Accelerator. It's not a power, it's a device.
    - - - - -
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    Used to be coach on the forums. Still @coach in game.
  • spinnytopspinnytop Posts: 16,450 Arc User
    cryneting wrote: »
    So as the title says

    I know most of the hold powers in-game is not so great, but is there one that is actually useful or considered the "strongest"

    Psionic Accelerator. It's not a power, it's a device.

    It's pretty good, but certainly not in the running for strongest. It can't be ranked up, so it falls behind other Paralyzes.​​
  • theravenforcetheravenforce Posts: 7,065 Arc User
    spinnytop wrote: »
    cryneting wrote: »
    So as the title says

    I know most of the hold powers in-game is not so great, but is there one that is actually useful or considered the "strongest"

    Psionic Accelerator. It's not a power, it's a device.

    It's pretty good, but certainly not in the running for strongest. It can't be ranked up, so it falls behind other Paralyzes.​​

    Mhm, it's default duration is capped at a standard rank 2 paralyze.
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