City of Villains Coldfront (CoH, CoV)

So You Want to Be a Corruptor? (A Guide, v1.0)

So, you want to be a Corruptor? Well, whether you picked the AT because the name sounds cool, because you were a Blaster Hero or Defender Hero who wants to reap the fruits of villainy, or just joe shmuck who picked up the box and rolled up a random toon, here's the skinny.

A few abbreviations before starting: Dmg = Damage, Acc = Accuracy, Def = Defense, Res = Resists, Rch = Recharge, End = Endurance, Spd = Speed, AoE = Area of Effect, KB = Knockback (D for Down).

First, credit North Star (Truth): Disclaimer:
Corrupters are a balanced hybrid; they do both damage and group support (in the form of heals, buffs, and debuffs.) Both roles are important; a corrupter overly focused on damage is just a gimped blaster; a corrupter focused on support is nothing but a gimped defender. As a personal preference, I want a character who can solo effectively, bring a lot to groups, and be viable in PvP. There's a lot of ways to play a corrupter; this is my personal opinion. Mileage may vary.

And now back to your scheduled programming:
Rule numbah 1: You are NOT a Blaster.
Rule numbah 1A: You are NOT a Defender.
Rule numbah 2: You can put them both to shame.

I'll go back over these rules in the "CoH rehab" section, but for now, we'll stick with more generics. Corruptors ARE the ranged damage AT for villains, and are also the primary buff/debuff class. This means you're filling TWO roles, and while you don't have to choose, you do need to manage them both. This means (first and foremost) you have to put up with people who want a healer. No, seriously. The two most common misconceptions about what you do are covered in Rule numbah 1. So what's the deal?

Your primary is identical to a Blaster Primary (or Defender secondary, which gives you access to two Blast sets that Blasters cry themselves to sleep at night because they can't have them). Almost. Although you're techincally supposed to look at your Damage as being 115% of a Defender, it helps to look at it as 75% Blaster damage. You also get Scourge, which gives you free criticals more often the lower an enemies' health gets low. So, a Scourge attack actually does 150% Blaster damage! For those of you who missed that, that means you're more effective picking off weaker targets than starting on one at full health. In team settings, be the vulture, at least when you start out.

Only there's that other lingering catch, your Secondary. Your secondaries look a lot like Defender Primaries...but you aren't as effective as they are on a power by power basis. This is not an excuse to not take your buffs if you have them! Any buff is well appreciated by team-mates, and the longer your team-mates are alive, the longer YOU'RE alive. Even if you take every power in your Blast set, make sure to pick up the better powers from your secondary, or you're going to regret it in the long haul. No-one wants to play a gimped Blaster (too much Primary, not enough Secondary) or a gimped Defender (too much Secondary, not enough Primary), but will love plaing the mix that gets to solo well and be welcomed on teams.

Here's a look, more from a powerset perspective. Your concept toon is great...but here's a (very) basic overview of what your sets DO:
Primary
1Assault Rifle - Grab bag. You have lots of different ammunition (and a flamethrower!). This is a high damage, high endurance cost set, but Smashing and Lethal damage (your bread and butter) are often resisted in-game. Despite this, your damage output is still often as good or better than other sets (unless you PvP). Instead of a Nuke, you get Full Auto, which recharges far faster and can be very useful to follow up AoEs from teammates (especially with Scourge!).

2Dark Blast - An interesting middle of the road set in terms of damage, you do Negative Energy damage, which is not often resisted by NPCs or Players. You get resonable damage and some interesting powers (some with DoT). Your attacks also leave a target with a -Acc penalty...and every bit less they hit you and your team helps. You also get some soft control (Immobilize) and even a minor self heal. You may be trading damage for utility, but that utility facilitates more damage.

3Energy Blast - My personal favorite (but I'm heavily biased in this case). This, like Assault Rifle is a fairly high damage, high endurance set, but is not as draining. As Energy damage, it's kind of hit or miss: mobs that resist it resist it a lot, but for the most part only certain groups do. The other portion of your damage is actually Smashing/Lethal, which is also hit-or-miss. However, you have KnockBack in every power (except Aim), and managing this can be the key to both a great solo career and a happy team. Mismanaging it can lead to a dead you and a pretty angry team.

4Fire Blast - Damage. Lots of it. You get high single target damage with some area blasting capacity and Damage over Time (DoTs) for hit targets. However, this damage and lingering damage mean you'll draw aggro on teams, so you'll learn fast (or die trying). Fire may be just about the second most commonly resisted damage type in the game on average (right there behind Smashing and Lethal), but don't let that stop you!

5Ice Blast - This set gives cold damage (fairly rarely resisted) and slows, along with Holds! You get two, in fact. You also get a Rain (like Fire), and your Nuke is a super-rain.

6Radiation Blast - Fast recharges, decent damage, and -Def to hit targets (which facilitates more hit targets). Built like a "Standard" Blast set, it's anything but standard. Blasters would give their very souls for access to this set.

7Sonic Blast - Never been with a screamer before? They're great. With -Res in every attack, you facilitate more damage to hit targets, and while your first attack (as Smashing/Lethal, mostly) may not be THAT impressive, follow-ups (from teammates, too) will look and work better.

Secondaries
1Cold Domination - Perhaps misnamed (you're no Dominator), this set still has some wicked buff/debuff potential, at the expense of no healing. No rez, either. You have two ally sheilds (one VERY situational), an area buff, and an ally HP buff (Brutes will love it), as well as Dmg/Res debuff (with KD), a Dmg debuff, and an endurance killer.

2Dark Miasma - Debuffer. Dark will debuff the enemy, keep them still, and have an accuracy dependant heal that's gonna make a Thermal jealous. You do have an ally AoE buff, a drop, a pet, a target toggle debuff, some fear...did I mention the debuff? This set is perhaps one of the most surviveable secondaries available to you.

3Kinetics - Whirling Whirlwind Shredder Team of DOOOOOoooom(tm). This set breaks the mold play-style wise: you WANT to be in melee. You also want accuracy, since you can buff and debuff in one go, but need Acc to do it. With some -regen, lots of -Dmg, plenty of -spd and -rch and the accompanying (magnified) +Dmg, +Spd, +Rch, and even nice +End Recovery and AoE target Heal (rivaling even Twilight Grasp from Dark), this late blooming set will make the end game on large teams a thing of joy.

4Radiation Emission - Considered the AV killer set, and it's not hard to see why. You can debuff just about everything straight to heck (AoE, no less), have a self based AoE Hold (and a nice AoE one-shot hold). You can also rez fallen allies (after using them to blow the bippy out of the spawn with Fallout) and you STILL have the fabled Accelerate Metabolism (+Dmg, +Spd, +Rch).

5Sonic Resonance - This set gets little love, because it's misunderstood. This set is heavy on the -Res debuffs and +Res buffs. You can't rez or heal (a major minus in most playbooks), but you have two good ally shields, some AoE buffs, an ALLY TARGET AoE debuff (rather unique, and a great way to debuff things around a Brute), and -Res debuffs that are nothing to dismiss offhand. You can even give (some fairly impressive) Mez protection to your buddies. Honestly, it's a shame more players can't seem to fall in love with this set.

6Thermal Radiation - You prove that setting things on fire is good for them. With heals, ally shields, three great ally buffs, a rez, and a killer debuff and End drain power, you've got a lot going for you. The common misconception, however, is that this is "Empath Lite." You are not an Empath. Debuffing enemies so they fall faster is a wonderful thing to do, and something you should do often. Heal, but don't put up with any team that tries to say that that's all you should be doing (and it may not be wise to stick with a team that you're scrambling to heal, despite your other pluses).

7Traps - Traps is an odd set, to be sure, and is different from the Blaster version. Your odd grab bag includes the famous Caltrops and Web Grenade, with a limited pet, a mobile ally +Def buff, a locational +Regen buff, Seeker Drones, and the also famous Trip Mine (and its not-nearly-as-loved red headed stepchild: Timed Bomb).

There are a lot of Corruptor Guides available (and if you found this, you probably just need to hit the back button in your browser to get to them). Each one will give you tips and tricks. Some will tell you how to put out truly impressive damage, others will give you a solo powerhouse or PvP monster, and others will give you a toon built for team-play. Your playstyle is up to you (it's YOUR fun, not mine), but I recommend the balance mentioned above, since even if just to help yourself out, every secondary has plenty of gems that are also great team-play buttons.

Now, if you're new, there are plenty of other guides to help you out, and I can't really help you much more. However, if you played in City of Heroes it's time for rehabilitation.

(Thinking you're a) Blaster Rehab
The Blaster mindset has issues if ported over to a Corruptor toon. Part of this is that with the exception of Kinetics (and having certain, specific power combos from other sets), getting into melee at all is likely a death sentance, unlike Blasters who can Blap. You get no special damage buff for being in melee, you get no melee powers, even. Unless you have Kinetics or a specific build built for it: STAY OUT OF MELEE. Also, (us) Blasters tend to love opening fights with attacks and making things fall over fast. As a Corruptor, doing so will get you agg you don't need, and you have less hit-points to take it with. Until your toolbox includes the debuffs and/or control you need to open a fight, avoid doing so. Even then, co-ordinate with your team or develop the solo tactics that involve agg mitigation to someone who can handle it (and you can sometimes heal). You're better off sniping from the edge of the battlefield, setting up the team as a mighty hammer, and playing vulture (that's what Scourge does, after all). If you have a Nuke, however, there may potentially be ways to open that DON'T involve a faceplant and still involve lots of dead mobs. Many Corruptors can self buff to an extent, and when teamed with other Corruptors (especially Kinetics buddies) can reach the damage cap and really explode into fights by buffing each other. Whatever the guides tell you, if you find yourself faceplanting, it's time to rethink your tactics, and maybe consider dropping a Range SO into your attacks (an extra 16' or so does more than many realize). Use your tools, and if you constantly remember Rule numbah 1, you can go a long ways towards obeying Rule numbah 2.

(Thinking you're a) Defender Rehab
If you've played a Defender, you actually may not have too much to go over, since you are likely used to managing when to buff/debuff, setting up chains and combos properly, managing aggro for your squishy self, and blasting. It doesn't require too much rethinking to shift to the new equilibrium you'll find as a Corruptor. If, however, you don't play Defenders too much, are trying for a more Empathic style of play, or have misconceptions about what Defenders actually do and how they contribute with both buffing/healing AND their debuffing and blasts, you are gonna be in trouble carrying that over as a Corruptor. Playing a team-friendly or solely team build is nice...but you're a villain! Picking up EVERY power in your secondary isn't always wise, and even if it is, you need the right Blast powers. I mean, come on, you're freezing your allies, summoning the darkness of the Netherworld around your allies, setting your allies on fire (SETTING...THEM...ON...FIRE!!!!), overextending their bodies' resources, infecting them with (potentially lethal) radiation, screaming at them constantly, or using potentially hazordous inventions around them. You are obviously not nice. You do more damage to wounded things!!! Ay carumba. Keep your alies alive, but remember that defeating enemies is also 100% damage mitigation from that mob. Don't hesitate to be a vulture and pick off the wounded so that your allies can move to other threats. You don't want too many Blast powers (barring some exceptions), but you want an attack chain at least. If you have an attack chain (for when things are going sweepingly well), a buff/debuff suite (for helping things go well), and learn to use utility powers and soft (or even hard) control, you can fill both your roles, and learn to balance things to do both when needed.

The moral of the story: learn your primary. Learn your secondary. Always remember that both are equally important, and find the balance that's right for you. Now go prove that you're what Defenders wish they could grow up to be and make those Blasters jealous!

Thanks to all you Corruptor guide writers out there, and thanks for sticking with me. If you spot typos or have other input about how this guide can be better, either post in this thread or PM me! This guide is not meant to be the definitive "C0rrupt07 1s j00" guide, but instead something to help any Corruptor choose what they want and run with it. Help make it better for all the fledgling villains out there, so that Paragon City will fall that much faster.