Earth Questions

ozoa · January 2013

I am trying to build an Earth toon and really confused as to what powers work with what.

(1) What powers are considered ranged and what ones are considered melee
While it seems easy to tell on the surface, I can't really be sure as many of them give enrage buffs which would really only benefit melee damage.

(2) What stat would benefit Earth power damage?
Should I take STR or EGO? Ego benefits ranged, but it seems like STR is something that Earth uses.

(3) Any recommendations on making this powerset work before I experiment?

Thank you!

tiresias99 · January 2013

Hey there! I too am pretty confused by Earth -- it seems somewhat "split personality" and that has discouraged me from trying it out.

Having said that, the Wiki page explains some of the powers:

http://www.champions-online-wiki.com/wiki/Earth

You may want to start there, but you will need someone who has not very recently returned to the game after a long hiatus (i.e. someone other than me) for a more in-depth explanation.

kenpojujitsu3 · January 2013

ozoa wrote: »

I am trying to build an Earth toon and really confused as to what powers work with what.

(1) What powers are considered ranged and what ones are considered melee
While it seems easy to tell on the surface, I can't really be sure as many of them give enrage buffs which would really only benefit melee damage.

(2) What stat would benefit Earth power damage?
Should I take STR or EGO? Ego benefits ranged, but it seems like STR is something that Earth uses.

(3) Any recommendations on making this powerset work before I experiment?

Thank you!

Earth is very much a fragmented and not at all well optimized set in that some of the powers are tagged melee, some ranged, etc. which means it's best to just take a general approach to playing it and not try to min/max it too much.

My suggestion is to not get too wrapped up in the STR and EGO bonuses to melee and ranged damage specifically and to focus on a stat like DEX for a general damage buff. I'd also look at the more general damage boosting passives unless you're planning to use a defensive passive.

Another idea is to take the character to the powerhouse and equip concentration...then test the earth powers from 25 feet or more away. If they proc concentration stacks then you know the power is ranged. If it doesn't proc concentration, it's not tagged as a ranged power.

cheesesloppy · January 2013

http://co-forum.perfectworld.com/showpost.php?p=2849911&postcount=22

I've linked a build that I made for Earth. It has a focus on Ranged abilities, which Earth is best at. It's much like a Ranged Might, as it has lots of knocks and other CC things to keep your foes locked down. As such, Ego is the main stat. Could be Int, but I liked Ego for the knock strength. Ranged earth is pretty fun if you are fine with all the knocks and lots of debris/camera shaking.

I wish I could say the same for Earth Melee, however. All of the powers are pretty lackluster. Onslaught is -Ok-, but is outshined by other melee abilities of the same type. You can totally make a good build, just don't expect to be as good as an Unarmed MA char. If you were going melee, then Str would be the good option here.

theravenforce · January 2013

As others have rightly said, Earth seems to be in a similar vein to Force Powerset in that it is "a mixed bag of tricks" which dont seem to function well together :redface:

It's ranged components are fun and have very appealing FX *looks at Cave In, Faultline and Fissure*

I've never actually tried it's melee aspects, so I can only comment on the ranged.

Recently I've been leveling a toon who is a geomancer so has very earth/rock/geothermal energy kind of theme going on...

I felt that Earth was supposed to be sort of an "all rounder" type of powerset so I chose to stay in Hybrid Role and go with good old AoPM as a "connection to the earth" style passive.

I found myself using INT as a primary superstat purely for the specs it provides to function with AoPM and enhance its effect, normally I would have gone for either Quarry or Defiance.

You can use the ranged powers along with Concentration to make Earth work well, which is what I did.

Here is a link to the build I'm running;
>>Here<<
I'm only up to my little helper Golem

But so far she stands up pretty well against the content I am using her in. Of course this is a theme build so it may not do so well in PvP.

Although I dont see this power used alot, Faultline is a nice looking power for me, I've been hit by it before, but never actually seen if the damage is that good, but I'm sure with enough Concentration Stacks and AoPM it should hit alright

.

Stone Shroud (Block Enhancer) and Fissure have a potential for synergy in terms of survival, standing in the Fissure with the Reconstruct advantage and blocking will double the regeneration it gives whilst it is active. This Regeneration is also given to other party members in your fissure, so it can become a very minor supportive power. I am not too sure what it scales with, I am inclined to think bonus healing or presence or maybe CON/STR.

I am sure someone will provide a better answer when they find out, but if I do I'll post it ^^.

As for stat suggestions, I chose INT for it's benefits and for my passive, DEX or EGO is fine here in place of INT. CON was chosen because I wanted to be able to embody the toughness of the earth and EGO was purely for ranged damage for leveling, but I am planning to retcon to INT, CON and DEX or something similar to that set up.

Strength really is only for the melee aspects of it and as was already stated by Kenpo, STR and EGO are really just additive damage bonuses. I'd include strength in your stat layout if you intended to be upclose, like a hybrid mix between Earth Melee and MA or something like that and despise knockback. EGO is a nice ranged damage buff but I'd only use it if you are planning on alot of ranged Knocking to proc Enrage or just for laughs.

Earth is a bit tricky, I feel that alot of things are missing, similar to the telepathy powerset. Including an Earth Passive which I recall was on the PTS (I saw it in a vid on Ytube by IronMarble) but didnt make it to LIVE.

The main mechanics of Earth are Stagger and Knocks. Stagger is a debuff that reduces the damage resistance of its target by 2% and movement speed by 25% for 12 sec. It can stack up to 3 times. It basically indirectly increases your damage output, I believe Wind uses the same mechanic, so a Wind hero and an Earth hero working together could be quite damaging if they stack their seperate stacks of stagger.

Quick Note though, if you do make an Earth/MA toon which uses melee attacks, for a knock I'd suggest a "Geothermal Blast" (Force Geyser) or Upheaval, they look like fun powers to use in a melee Earth toon :biggrin:

I hope this helped

darkstarcrash · January 2013

I've been thinking about making an earth-based hero myself -- partly in homage to an earth armor/fire melee tanker I leveled to 20ish and put aside in CoH.

I really want to go melee rather than ranged, and was thinking about mostly mixing earth and heavy weapons -- using the Rock Crystal axe from the "melee weapons" costume pack, and taking lava-ish advantages on the HW attacks, like Magma Burst on Eruption.

Earth is definitely a schizophrenic powerset, and throwing Fire into the mix makes it worse -- since now I'm adding a non-physical damage type.

However, the game is easy enough that even mediocre damage will get you to 40, so concept over min/max.

l1ghtstar · February 2013

I too, am interested in Melee Earth.

With my building patterns, I'm looking at testing a certain build;

-Onslaught w/ Excessive Force adv.
-Upheaval Rank 3
-Unstoppable/WotW/Quarry
-Landslide
-Enrage
-Nimble Mind
-Imbue/Lock n Load
Stats-- Str Primary with Secondary Con and Secondary Int or Dex.

Theory-Excessive force should hit hard, and if irc, Upheaval has interactions with stagger. Lots of knocks present for Enrage stacking will probably go on. Will test this out and post my findings.

l1ghtstar · February 2013

Post-Analysis.

Just as I suspected, the following combo above for a melee Earth build is pretty good, and above all else....FUN!

Onslaught ticks for 2k crits per tap, with an frequent 4k hits (excessive force adv). Upheaval taps crits were regularly 3k, while full charges were somewhere in the 8.5k crit neighborhood. Adding Below the Belt will definitely help this combo, but might go out of theme for some.

Onslaught + Upheaval is a nice combo, it's cheaper too. Stagger should come in handy in slowing down folks.

xeiros · February 2013

l1ghtstar wrote: »

I too, am interested in Melee Earth.

With my building patterns, I'm looking at testing a certain build;

-Onslaught w/ Excessive Force adv.
-Upheaval Rank 3
-Unstoppable/WotW/Quarry
-Landslide
-Enrage
-Nimble Mind
-Imbue/Lock n Load
Stats-- Str Primary with Secondary Con and Secondary Int or Dex.

Theory-Excessive force should hit hard, and if irc, Upheaval has interactions with stagger. Lots of knocks present for Enrage stacking will probably go on. Will test this out and post my findings.

Excessive Force is also based on the base powers chance to stagger, which is 20%. That's bad. It's also a weak power in and of itself. Use WotW if you're going full melee and Quarry if you're going hybrid. Meanwhile Upheaval is a slightly harder hitting more expensive self rooting version of uppercut. Both of which are inferior to Dragon Uppercut. That's earth for you. Anything it can do, other sets can do better. Enjoy.

l1ghtstar wrote: »

Post-Analysis.

Just as I suspected, the following combo above for a melee Earth build is pretty good, and above all else....FUN!

Onslaught ticks for 2k crits per tap, with an frequent 4k hits (excessive force adv). Upheaval taps crits were regularly 3k, while full charges were somewhere in the 8.5k crit neighborhood. Adding Below the Belt will definitely help this combo, but might go out of theme for some.

Onslaught + Upheaval is a nice combo, it's cheaper too. Stagger should come in handy in slowing down folks.

When you need critical hits to get the kind of damage you know things are bad. That's earth melee for you. It can't even reach 5 digits. How exactly is Onslaught + Upheaval any sort of a combo, and don't say because of stagger. If stagger were the reason for it, you'd just use the lunge as it's a 100% chance. Either that or a fully charged stone shot. Ranged earth is at the very least amusing/cool looking what with powers like quicksand and fissure.

l1ghtstar · February 2013

xeiros wrote: »

That's earth for you. Anything it can do, other sets can do better.

Yes, I agree, whole-heartedly.

However.

Whoever, I'm not really comparing damage to other powersets, as, where we both agree, Earth is outclassed. I already have several toons that have extreme damage, so why would I (and others) want to build another [x power] build?

My angle/stance is "How can you build a decent Earth build?"

I feel that for PvE, This melee combo is pretty good, not THE best, but not the most horrid of all.

And when I say "combo", I'm NOTreferring to a combo where x power applies x mechanic, so that y power takes adv of it. I am referring to a combo as in 'package' of powers. Like a #1 Combo from Wendy's xD

Anyways, I'll reiterate- I understand Earth isn't nowhere near the best, and I NEVER said it was. I'm simply theorizing for a decent Earth melee build, for fun.

Earth Questions

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