Top Tier Combos (power/movement/weapon) for each role, please explain.

Hey guys!

I have played this game on and off but never seriously for about a year now. I started playing with my friend who is an acro mental hand blaster and he likes it (he doesn't really care about being the best or strong I don't think, hes new to gaming and just loves being a super hero lol)

However I have played MMOs before and I would enjoy raiding and stuff and I want to have a main that is also a tank. I have all the powers and weapon types.

However I have been reading that there is all these updates going on to Ice and Fire and I know that Ice USED to be the best for tanking, but now I'm not sure because I really don't know much about the changes or have a good enough understanding how the changes will effect anything so I need your help!

Currently I am running
Ice, acrobatic, staff.

I love inescapable storm and think its a great move for pulling enemies, and its the main reason I chose ice over fire. I've also heard that ice has way better defense and is great for teammates, while fire can only really self heal, and can sometimes get its *** kicked while trying to do so.

So I guess my question is, what is the top tier tank and why, and how do the others compare.
Also, what is the top tier Troll, Healer, DPS powers? I really don't have a good understanding of this game, but I would love to as its the only MMO I am willing to invest in.

Below this I'm going to write what I THINK I know, please correct it.

Weapons: Don't really know anything. Bow seems to be the best ranged weapon. Staff I have found awesome for tanking.

Movement Types - I am primarily concerned with late game ability, and combat usage, and world pvp ganking.
Flying - Seems to be the easiest movement type to learn. Sucks in combat, very slow, get knocked out of the air all the time. Does have the perk of being able to just sit high in the air and be a dick with powers. Also seems to be the least glitchy movement speed when traveling. Seems to be the best world pvp ganker.
Acrobatics - Seems to be the best, just as fast as the other movement types, except works great in combat, and has great getaway moves. Although not very good for ganking people (can't really stay still in the air and fire from the skys like flying can)
Super Speed - Seems to be the worst, glitchy when traveling (getting caught on poles, hello nausea) Can't get high in the air or stay even relatively still in the air. Acrobatics seems to outshine it very heavily.

Powers
Ice - Best tank
Fire- Worst tank, but best dps out of all the tanks.
Sorcery - Worst healer, decent dps
Lightning - Great healer, decent dps
Nature - Best healer, Awesome DPS

Thats about all I've heard for powers, don't know anything about trollers but would love to know more.

I really wanted to come in here with my typical trolling attitude and rip on this question that gets it's own thread at LEAST once a week.

Instead I'm going to leave this note here, come back to it when I've calmed down and will make a long, respectful summary of why you are not only wrong in making this thread, but in your thoughts and vague summation of what is top/bottom tier.

I can give an idea regarding HL that there is no top tier power.
It's a combination of powers that maximize their output in different situations. And amazingly our hardest hitting finisher is accessed shortestly by a 35% power and the first power you purchase: Claw. The finisher itself is holding claw.

All this best depends on play style.......

Technically for a weapon any Melee weapon should be better than a Ranged weapon because of the 15% Weapon Crit Damage and 20% Control resistance. BUT Omaar's HL DPS guids showed number crunching for the weapon based construct combos to be doing more AOE damage with the Rifle (Ranged) rather than a melee weapon.

Movements-
Flight - is Easy to use and for tanks allows for easy positioning for some Bridge Pulls
Acrobatics- has great Getaway and seems more PvP biased and lacking in moves available for damage
Super Speed - very fast across map has some of if not the best movement moves available to spec into

Tank Powers-
Ice great beginner Tank before you start hitting the defense CAP- Movement/Iconic/Hibernation healing moves seem lack luster to spec into Resto so you it makes it awkward to spend skill points in healing and more-often-than-not high Skill Point Ice Tanks focus on DPS innates(150+skill points)
Fire - due to a lack of skill point and gear stats early on is much harder to use, but at 150+ skill points grabbing all of the Tank and Healing innates makes Tanking super easy and provides superb Survivability
Earth- can be squishy with low gear and low skill points - at end game 150+skill points DOM makes Earth a real Tank power - if you want a single and a multi-pull from your Powerset Earth has them both

Healing Powers-
Sorcery - great when the correct rotation of ani-clips is used
Electric- Best Emergency Healing (Only healing class I know where you can die and still be healing the team....even though you have died or DC'd...LOL)
Nature - fantastic for keeping health topped off and being mobile

Controller Powers -
Mental - Great for Long-Range and AoE Debuffs is missing a pull from powerset
Gadgets - Superb for setting up power interactions
Hard Light- Has potential to be the best Battery and prec damaging controller in the game (Extra 10 vit _ Conrtuct combos with Brawling weapon for low tier power regen-ticks equates to a lot of great power regen from combos to have a more power to 'Transfer' to group mates) does not have to be played melee BUT an agile melee HL controller is BEAST

Gadgets and HL have pulls. HL only has one Defense debuff. HL and Mental have group Shields. Gadgets and Mental have power returning supercharges (Mental's is also a shield; Gadgets is a Pet)

As for DPS.....any power can be Prec based setup Damage over-time moves utilizing a quick 50%or 45% damage modifies and weapon combo away.
Electric is the only power currently without a 35% finisher move.
DPS is more about postioning and rotation of combos/powers.
All Roles require situational awareness to maintain survivability and thus effectiveness in the game

LOL, Omaar you chimed in before I finished typing ....

Thank you Massah, that was an awesome post. Very informative. Okay, a few more questions then.

1. I like light powers, but seriously, IS THERE A WAY TO GET RID OF THAT DAMN RING GLOW XD
2. You mention the damage modifiers like 45% and 50%. How exactly does this work. Does it mean that after I use this move that all damage done by my WEAPON is increased by that percentage?
3. wtf is hard light? is that the one that isn't support?
4. Are bridge pulls and such important and stuff? I saw a guy do it in a video and I was like eh, that seems useful. I primarily took acrobatics for pvp and in combat agility as I find flight is just so derpy in fights.

I see people beat me to the punch and feel I'd be repeating what's already been said. I will add my own brief notes:

Healers/Trollers: no such thing as "best" power for healers/trollers. All do the same thing in a different way, all are fully capable of solo healing everything in the game under the hands of a skilled player.

Tanks: Ice is easiest and most forgiving to newcomers/unskilled players. The other 2 are harder to learn, but once learned at it's highest level and with high SP, they become near unkillable in PvE.

DPS: A power is only as good as the player and how much that player is willing to experiment and learn his power's strengths and weaknesses. I've seen DPS player of every power pour out insane damage, just because they spent time learning their strengths.

Weapons: Differs based on role/power/loadout. There is no one definitive weapon that is best for everything, and nor should they be. This game is on the brink of being the closest it's ever been to balanced.

Movements: Flight is easiest, Superspeed is best for mid combat as it's running speed and double jump allow for the quickest mobility in combat.

Do yourself a favour and pick a power/movement that you LIKE. You are more likely to enjoy playing it and there for want to experiment and improve on it. A power is only as good as the player behind it.

Thank you sir =)

I just wasnt' sure what was going to happen with all the buffs/nerf thats going on with ice/fire. The main thing I'm unsure about is just whether or not I want to fly vs acrobatics. I'm used to flying, and I like it, it seems to have some perks in combat while acro has others. Suppose I can always just buy to switch it later. I love everything about acrobatics but I feel like I'm missing out a little on being able to just hover mid air as that seems to have its uses.

I couldn't agree more

2. If you look at the info for the power your using it'll say in damage role you get a certain percentage damage buff when you use it and last for at least 5 sec. For example, If I use electrocute, one of the last powers in the tree for electric power so it gives 50% damage buff, right after you use it your damage output for anything will be 50% more until buff runs out. You can tell by the green symbol you get under your supercharge meter all the way on the right. Usually the powers on the bottom of the tree will give you more of a damage buff versus those powers you get first on top.

Gotta disagree with Dis.

1) Yes, "all are fully capable of solo-healing everything," and I've solo-healed everything with every healing powerset, but it is undeniably easier to solo-heal with Nature or Elec than with Sorc. Solo-ing Dawn as Sorc was one of the most stressful things I have ever done in this game, but doing it as Nature and Elec was easy.

2) In regards to DPS, all powersets are NOT created equal. HL, Elec, and Gadgets have an undeniable advantage. You and I both know that, and know the rotations to achieve that. You could be the most skilled Ice DPS (pre-update) ever, and still not beat me in Prime if I'm Gadgets. Every powerset has an upper boundary that can't be crossed, regardless of skill.

3) Spin Chop with 1h was undeniably superior before the nerf. Now, there are other wep combos of similar effectiveness, but Spin Chop is still one of the best, and I'm still addicted to it anyway.

4) Experimentation is important, but all the powersets have already been thoroughly experimented with, and the maximum potentials of each have already been ascertained. That's why you can rank powersets. The maximum potential of Gadgets, for example, is far greater than the maximum potential of Ice. Those maximum potentials will change with hotfixes and updates. But unless an enormous nerf/buff occurs or someone discovers an amazing new rotation (similar to the OP rotation for Gadgets), the ranking will probably stay the same: HL, Elec, and Gadgets on top.

Ah awesome, Thank you for coming man, I was hoping you might. Would you mind answering the question in regards to troller, tanks and healers? Could you rate them from a PVE and PVP perspective?

So far I am using earth tank, gadget troller and lightning healer.

...And every weekly thread has a long list of people placing every power in different spots which only highlights the potential each has for whatever role. You would think people would just start asking which power is the most fun by now.

Most fun? Full iconic because it makes some simple stuff a challenge.

I have been happy with 3 masked heroes (One is a villian)
The BlueWeirdo - (Batman, Acrobatic, Ice, Bow)
LuckySkys - (WW, Flying, Nature, Bow)
The RedWeirdo - (Joker, Acrobatic, Fire, Dual Wield)
I also heard Fire and a staff make a great combo for tanks.