Part 4

City of Heroes Part 4 discusses Fire vs AR effectiveness, Ice Blast powerset, and secondary power options like Devices.

Fire vs. AR: Fire is better than AR until level 32, and then AR takes the lead until about 40-42, after which Fire pulls ahead again. Both are still viable, but since AR is only better for about 8-10 levels, and Fire can easily hold its own on those levels, Fire is recommended.

Ice Blast Powerset: Ice Blast is a decent powerset. Energy's knockback is superior to Ice's slow, but both have uses. Ice Blast gets two holds, which are very useful for soloing missions, as you typically fight two to three enemies at a time. This also helps with fighting bosses. Ice Blast lacks a sniper ability. Ice Blast has very low activation times, allowing you to cast your three main nukes quickly. Frost Breath is considered useless as it is the only Area of Effect (AoE) power. Freeze Ray and Bitter Freeze Ray are good holds, especially for solo players. Ice Storm is also considered rather useless; even though you are not AoE like Fire, taking another power would be better. Enemies will attack you as they run from the storm, diminishing its effectiveness. Blizzard is reported to be horrible compared to other drain endurance and kill everything powers.

Ice Blast Rating: 2/5. Both Energy and Ice Blast can hold their own in combat, with good and bad aspects for single-target damage. Energy has a snipe ability, while Ice Blast has two holds. Choose based on your character concept.

Secondary Powers - Devices: Devices is often considered the best secondary powerset. Web Grenade provides Immobilization. Caltrops is very useful for stopping enemies from attacking you in melee. Taser is not recommended. Targeting Drone is highly beneficial, allowing you to forgo Accuracy enhancements entirely. Smoke Grenade is also excellent, making enemies barely able to hit you. Cloaking Device is good and stacks well with other Defense powers. Trip Mine can be stacked repeatedly in one location, making it effective for destroying bosses. Time Bomb is generally not very useful due to its difficulty in effective use, despite its high damage. Auto Turret is considered bad and not worth using, with negligible damage in a fight.

Devices Rating: 5/5. It is not a contest; the utility is excellent. Targeting Drone combined with Perma-Hasten allows you to 6-slot all your attacks with Damage enhancements, enabling you to defeat anything quickly. All other powers in the Devices set are also excellent.

Secondary Powers - Electricity Manipulation: This powerset is not very good. Electric Fence is standard, but the rest is considered a decline. It is advised to stay away from all Blaster melee powers, including Charged Brawl, Havoc Punch, and Thunder Strike, as well as all Blaster PBAoE (Point Blank Area of Effect) powers like Lightning Field, Lightning Clap, and Power Sink. The only remaining power is Build-Up. Power Sink is somewhat useful but too late at level 35. Shocking Grasp is not bad, but a melee hold at level 38 is considered late.

Electricity Manipulation Rating: 1/5. This set is filled with only close-range powers, and Blasters are vulnerable in melee past level 20. Electricity Manipulation cannot hold up. The set is considered to have only a few useful powers.

Secondary Powers - Energy Manipulation: Generally regarded as the second-best secondary, with good reason. Build Up at level 4 is appealing, but there are too many melee attacks. Conserve Power is nice but unreliable; even with Perma-Hasten and 6-slotted Recharge, it cannot be permanent. Stamina generally works well. Power Boost is not widely discussed and does not sound very useful. Boost Range is also nice but not as impressive as Targeting Drone, Smoke Grenade, or Caltrops.

Energy Manipulation Rating: 4/5. The early availability of Build Up is the primary benefit, which is better than other sets.

Secondary Powers - Fire Manipulation: This set has too many PBAoE and melee powers. Ring of Fire is acceptable, similar to Web Grenade. Build Up is available at level 16, compared to Energy's level 4. Consume is nice but not a replacement for Stamina. Most other powers are PBAoE or melee. Consume is considered nice but not great, especially at level 28.

Fire Manipulation Rating: 2/5. Energy Manipulation is superior in all aspects, and Ice Blast at least offers a slow.

Secondary Powers - Ice Manipulation: This set also has too many melee/PBAoE powers. Chilblain slows recharge, which is beneficial, similar to Web Grenade. Build Up is available at level 16, the same as Fire, but much later than Energy. The primary advantage is Shiver, which is quite nice, functioning like a ranged Caltrops but also affecting recharge. This is its main benefit.

Ice Manipulation Rating: 3/5. Shiver places it slightly ahead of Fire Manipulation, behind Energy Manipulation, and significantly behind Devices.

Controller Primaries - Earth Control: Generally not considered very good. Stone Prison, Fossilize, and Stone Cages are standard Controller powers. Skipping the immobilize and taking the AoE version is likely a good idea. Quicksand is considered quite bad, offering an AoE immobilize followed by an AoE slow. Salt Crystals is also rather bad, and Sleep is generally undesirable. Stalagmites is much better. Targeted Disorient is very good. Earthquake is not very good, with -Accuracy and -Defense that leave much to be desired, though it might be worth taking. Volcanic Gasses is standard AoE hold Controller fare, but it is obtained 8 levels later than for other Controllers, which is a significant drawback. Animate Stone is considered a poor Controller summon.

Earth Control Rating: 2/6. It functions but is not comparable to other Controller primary powersets.