 The Paragon Wiki Archive documents the state of City of Heroes/Villains as it existed on December 1, 2012.
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User:GuyPerfect/Katharsys
No Pain, No Pain
Some people are good: righteous in their ways and will fight to defend the things that are proper. Some people are evil: delighting in the misfortune of others and manipulative to their own ends. For the most part, the difference is pretty clear-cut. There are the heroes on one side, fighting for what is right and hoping to abolish villainy. Then there are the villains on the other side, power-driven fiends who forever devise new ways to overcome the heroes. Such a dichotomy is easy to identify, easy to understand, and despite the troubles it causes, people are comfortable accepting it as one of the facets of reality. Unfortunately for those who find comfort in such simple terms, the world is full of tricks and twists and there are people out there even more intriguing than what so easily comes to mind. Such is the case with Katharsys, and his influence bears unusual weight on those he encounters.
They say that when someone becomes too engrossed in the sciences, they begin to lose their sense of being and forget who they are. While once they were people with their own rights and wishes, they now are merely intelligent organisms seeking to learn more about the world they find themselves in. The man Katharsys once was can be described as a mixture of both worlds: engrossed in science, but with a strong sense of humanity. This has proven to be a frightening combination, as his research has delved deep into the human identity; who we really are. What he found on the inside has, in certain circles, changed the face of science forever. What he has made of it, however, has become disturbing to even the most cold-hearted criminals out there. For Katharsys has discovered pain, and from pain, power.
There are many forces that weigh down on the world. Physics has its share of kinetics and electromagnetism, which can be harnessed to cause great destruction or reach distances once thought impossible. The arcane brings with it knowledge of other worlds and magics that confound even those who study them. Still other forces exist, and wherever it is Katharsys went, things haven't been the same since. He was somehow able to find a way to capture pain--the anguish and discomfort that people feel--and convert it into electrical current. Whenever someone hurts, the energy flows. Katharsys devised an application for his discovery that has proven to be quite a spectacle, but at the same time quite unnerving. Katharsys changed himself. He can now absorb the pain of those around him and hurl electrical bolts at everyone else.
His body is like a chemical battery: whatever contraption allows him to capture pain also allows him to dish it out. And since most people are not accustomed to the trauma involved with electrical shock, there is typically more pain perceived than is actually dealt, making Katharsys all the more powerful. A physical assault of energy coupled with the confusion of the unknown and unfamiliar makes his victims wrench in agony, only to ensure that he will continue doing what he does. Katharsys is not deranged, nor is he unobservant. Every step he takes is fully controlled; every body he hurts is carefully attacked. The nature of his powers makes them non-fatal but nonetheless painful. Katharsys will never kill a victim, though this decision is not one of mercy. From his point of view, anyone who is dead cannot feel pain.
The costume that Katharsys has designed for himself has been met with its share of ridicule, but his critics quickly learned that it indeed serves as an unmistakable icon of who he is. Faceless and unrelenting, Katharsys has either frightened or disgusted everyone in the Rogue Isles. Perhaps the most ironic aspect of the costume is the abstract presence of hearts; typically a symbol of comfort and encouragement. Those who have allied with him have learned the significance of these hearts, as his pain-absorbing capabilities can also be used as an incredible source of healing. While Katharsys is empowered by the pain of others, he is in fact able to take away any pain from his subjects, even wounded comrades. This has proven to be exceptionally effective on several operations to date, where his colleagues become less apprehensive about their own well-being and more ferocious in battle. Indeed, even they are empowered by his ability to take pain: they become much stronger without it.
His name is a permutation of the word "catharsis": an emotional discharge. Fitting, really, as he expresses the pain of others as bolts of lightning.
Character Details
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Club Test Once Again
I like the red lightning. I always have. As I went through my considerations for one of each archetype, I landed on Corruptor and considered the then-new proliferation of Electrical Blast, which made the ever-so-familiar lightning from the Clockwork, Freakshow, and others become much more interesting and original. It was one thing to see Electric Melee and Electric Armor in action, but there's just something about the authentic zapping with lightning that really drew me in. I knew I had to make an Electrical Blast Corruptor. I mean, just look at the Mu: how is that not awesome!? Ah, but what secondary? Well, I knew my Defender and Controller would absolutely not be reduced to the healbot that gets ordered around on teams, so this was my chance to get some experience on the healing front without becomming a slave to the aggro magnets and damage dealers. So Pain Domination it was. And oh, what a nice combination this has turned out to be.
Fortunately enough for me, I was granted access to the test server during Issue 13 closed beta testing. This means I got to make an Elec/Pain, and they were kind enough to bump it to level 50 for me. Brand new character, and I get to experiment with all the powers while suggesting improvements and giving feedback! It was nice, and it gave me something to think back on every time I wondered what Katharsys would be like when he was done. So hey, this guy's not there yet, but I have so much to say about the trip I'm about to take!
Electrical Utility
I guess Electrical Blast has kind of a bad reputation among the ranged damage crowd. The set as a whole really is inferior when it comes to damage output. But hey, that's not necessarily a bad thing! When it got rid of damage, it introduced utility. Of course, for people who only like seeing the orange numbers, utility is nearly worthless. Let's see, there's a self buff, a hold, an endurance drain and a pet. Four out of nine powers that don't really do any damage worth writing home about. What's left is typical: single-target attacks, a targeted AoE, a snipe, and a nuke. People don't really like Electrical Blast. I can see why.
On the other hand, it's those damage-hogs that dislike the set. Blasters and Corruptors need to sink their teeth into things, but I haven't encountered many Defenders who have bad things to say about Electrical Blast. I've never been too frothy-mouthed about optimal damage output anyway, so the set is right at home with me among my almost team-exclusive secondary. The utility is welcome, and it has plenty of attacks to keep me occupied. I mean, I'm the healer. Sometimes I'll have to switch roles in the team and not end up attacking at all. But that's fine, too, because I have even more tricks up my sleeve.
I'm personally quite fond of the Endurance Drain. People say that's nothing, but looking at an Elite Boss unable to fight back sure is handy at times.
Healing: The Other Skill
With a secondary powerset so tweaked for team play as Pain Domination, solo play relies almost entirely on the primary. Soothing Aura is very nice as it's essentially free +Regeneration for 2/3 the Endurance cost of Sprint, but the rest of the set really needs other people around to be really useful. I've found in my time playing as a healing character that you're pretty much either in blast mode or heal mode... There's rarely time for both.
Empathy hasn't had to worry about it much, but I keep ending up on teams with like three or more Masterminds on them. Any time there's a PBAoE sleep power cast, everything falls asleep and I have to go jump in and save them with Nullify Pain. So many henchmen, so much to heal. While seeing the vast multitude of green numbers is initially a point of joy, I become somewhat disheartened when I cast the power and there isn't quite as much green as I'd have liked. Fortunately again, Soothing Aura fills in that little gap for the most part, and keeping the henchmen up isn't a huge deal.
Every so often I see someone mezzed. I haven't had a lot of "zzzz" on my teams, but I think that's mainly because people who play Villains often times don't so much play Heroes, and since Villains has never had Empathy, people aren't accustomed to asking for mez protection. In fact, I had one team where I eventually told them "Look, if you're mezzed, let me know!" The kinds of mez I deal with are a bit interesting... There's the guy who used an Awaken in battle instead of letting me rez him. He needs mez protection. There's the Shield Brute whose Active Defense was down for whatever reason and is limping along with a stun on his head. He needs mez protection. Then there's the Longbow Warden--Illusion Controller style--and the Spectral Terror that even makes me keep an eye on the Invulnerability Brutes to make sure they're not cowering in fear. They need mez protection too. Always an exercise to keep my eyes open for that kind of thing.
The Other Perks
All of the archetypes that have access to Electrical Blast and thusly Short Circuit also get access to Power Sink. Blasters need to take Electricity Manipulation for it, but Defenders and Corruptors can get it through epics (Electricity Mastery and Mu Mastery, respectively). Using both powers together, unenhanced, will drain 70 endurance from all targets in range. Enhanced, this can easily be pushed over 100, which is the most anything will have short of an Arch-villain or Giant Monster. People scoff at the idea of endurance drain, but when you can make a whole group entirely unable to fight back no matter what they are, you're among the best in terms of enemy incapacitation. It's really quite thrilling for me to take my Electrical Blast into the mission, use two holds on a +2 boss and drain all of his endurance so he can't do anything more than stare at me hatingly until I defeat him. Really, it's a nice way to go about life.
And Mu Mastery? Such a nice thing to have. It's more red lightning to play with, and it fills in all the gaps in my build. High resistance to smashing, lethal and energy damage, that key power Power Sink, and a second hold for me to stack on that boss or on both of those pesky lieutenants. And for those who think the blue bar can never be big enough, there's even Conserve Power in the mix now, so all-in-all, it's one epic set that really ties the whole thing together. Now, for me, this truely is catharsis: one of the few builds I've seen that lets me play the way I want to play.
