Avalanche_EU

The debuff values are low compared to other defenders sets so for controllers they must be even lower still! There are reasons for the debuffs being less, primarily because they are low endurance, single click and MASSIVE! Apart from acid arrow, the aoe debuffs are huge areas, easily 2-3 times the coverage of rad/dark. Several of them stick to the mobs once they leave the area as well.

TA and Archery were made to go together. You have to view your TA/A as part controller, part defender, part blaster and not as a "substandard defender."

The reason that ice brutes were removed (and replaced with energy brutes) in CoV beta was because their attacks and defences reduced enemy recharge and thus slowed fury generation.

And yes brutes generate fury regardless of what attack they use or whether it hits or misses. This is why brutes still brawl and some get boxing, because an attack chain full of fast recycling attacks is the way to get fury before you use your big hitters.

And ice/ice tanker with -Rech in their primary and secondary would be THE way to cripple brute fury generation.

Dark/Rad imo. The one thing that dark doesn't give you is -Def and you can cover that with Rad blasts. It has better AoEs and burst damage as well.

I don't think there is ever a point where ANY defenders are standing around doing nothing, unless you're out of endurance or held etc.

The defenders you see standing around doing nothing need to be pointed towards their secondary power set and given a slap across the back of the head.

Yeah exactly. It drains you to zero and gives you back 10-15% vs about 10 mobs but with no end recharge it doesn't last long. It's enough for another ball lightning or emergency power though I guess, or for transference for a kin/elec, without having to pop a blue.

[ QUOTE ]
If you have Dark blast, the slows are unnecessary.

[/ QUOTE ]

And vice versa imo. Spending 3 slots on tar patch liberates you from that "I must take dark blast because it has a cone immob and everyone tells me it synergises the most and is therefore gospel" situation and lets you get whatever secondary you want.

Personally I deleted my storm/dark just before 20 because the dark blast graphics and sounds are just.. frigging.. awful.

I've just taken to saying "no" on all of my defenders if I get a random tell invite consisting of, "r u h43l0r?" because it usually means the team is sucking and feel they need an empath to suddenly make them play better, or the leader just has no idea what powers his team has or how to coordinate them effectively. Either way the h43l0r thing is a good warning to stay well away.

Remember that you don't need to pair dark miasma with dark blast.

I'm finding my dark/archery (slotted early for more of a solo build with 1acc 3dam in each blast asap) really effective and I know that dark/sonic is a good combo.

I just find that tar patch slotted 3 recharge 3 slow, plus fearsome stare keeps the mobs where you want them and dark miasma is SOOOOOO easy to herd with. There is at least a 2-3 second delay on darkest night from the power activating and the effect taking place/mobs becoming aware. You can herd around corners onto a tar patch very easily and then slap them with a stare when they are bunched up.

[ QUOTE ]
From what I recall with my Kin / Elec you can only regain End from the Single Target attacks, not the AOEs I'm afraid.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thunderous Blast is an exception. You do get endurance back from it, although it's not much and doesn't last long.

[ QUOTE ]
Not necessarily, I find that at low levels, it's great to play witha fire/dev who uses the RoF+'trops combo, it's as close as you get to an AoE mez for a blaster.


[/ QUOTE ]

It's more than a mez, it's more like an aoe disorient/hold really.

My glue arrows, snow storms and tar patch all have 3 slow SO's and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Hardcore speed debuffage + rain = win. I'm a big fan of blasters with rains when I'm defending and my fire/ice blaster is going the same way with 3 slow SO shiver if I ever get him to 28.

Hey, how's the build going?

Storm/Archery will be my next project too. I agree that there are just too many good powers in both sets to have room for leadership. I respecced into maneuvers and tactics on my storm/elec by dropping voltaic sentinel and thunderous blast and boy did my endurance bar feel it!

I tried out storm/dark to 16 but deleted. I just can't do the dark blast set. The graphics are just so... meh. Big curly hair I think someone once called it and I agree. Absolutely loving archery though on a TA/A and Dark/A so definately going storm/archery next.

Because watching things judder in pain inside a tesla cage = fab?

[ QUOTE ]
TA isnt a good AoE -def power, although has a powerful -def debuffer in acid arrow.

[/ QUOTE ]

Is it just me or do other defenders feel that the team shouldn't be looking at them as a crutch to hit +3/+4s reliably?

You can already give them tactics and it's not like blasters/scrappers have to carefully deliberate about what to slot their powers with. Since ED it's not a big drama for them to slot 2acc 3dam in each damage power. If your -Def was liberating their slots for damage SO's then I can see a point but if they're not hitting things then that's their fault since ED.

Blaster the other day, "I'm barely hitting these things"
Me, "Hit the ones with -1s floating up, they are -Def debuffed"
Me, "How many accuracy SO's do you have in your blasts anyway? The mobs are only +2s"
Blaster, "What's a SO?"

[ QUOTE ]
Flash Arrow 5% to hit debuff, stealth.


[/ QUOTE ]

Having read a lot of flash threads on the US boards they are of the mind that flash/smoke is ~5% for controllers and flash is 6.5% for defenders.

Just wanted to revisit this whole TA thing because now I have a 31 TA/Sonic (Crystal Sting) and a 23 TA/A (Bumblebee Barry). I've also gotten my Dark/Archery (Slave Prince) up to 23 as well.

I have to say that the TA set needs something. I don't see how they can use controllers as an argument because there are situations where similar sets have different powers, or powers in a different order (Mastermind secondaries for example). TA needs something else because having to layer on poison gas, glue, disruption, oil slick and acid repeatedly (especially the acid) is a real pain in the [censored]. The durations are too short on some of these powers considering how long it takes to get them all out on the field.

I just feel that my Dark/Archer provides superior protection and a larger coverage of -Res, that lasts a longer time, with only 3 powers. I only have 4 dark powers and just don't feel the need for any others. DN, TP, FS sets up a huge area of control/debuffage for such a long time that I can tear up with archery and not worry about my primary until the next spawn. Rarely I might need twilight grasp for an overzealous blaster but if I solo then I hardly ever use it unless I want to stack more -Acc -Dmg on a boss but that is proactively rather than needing to spam it for t3h h34lz.

I just don't see why they can't replace Flash Arrow with Greater Flash Arrow for the defender primary set and stick the accuracy debuff up to 20%. They could even make it generate aggro and require an accuracy check but TA needs something else to help mitigate damage because it's just substandard as a whole.

I also temporarily shelved my TA's until oil slick is fixed because having it light once and then "bug" and refuse to light until I zone out of the mission can mean having to watch 10-15 dead slicks on long missions.

Anything but energy. I have a 31 TA/Sonic that's all about buffing team damage and a 23 TA/A that will probably not shine until 38 when I can add a rain of arrows to my oil slick in every fight.

Both good choices I think but TA/A blooms later than TA/Sonic.

I find that they grow on me and now I really like them. The meaty bang on "shout", the cyber-turkey warble of "scream" and the zany whiz on "screech" are really good sound effects.

In contrast the skoosh skoosh skoosh of the energy blasts made me delete a kin/nrg at lvl 6 because they were so earpiercingly loud and all very similar.

[ QUOTE ]
Shockwave is a useless power ( knockback )

[/ QUOTE ]

Wash your mouth out sir! It's a small cone based force bolt with ridiculously short recharge timer. It's wonderful for putting things back in debuff patches when they break free, or keeping cornered mobs on their backside.

Have you tried fire/ice? You get the controllery protection in your secondary and still keep most of the AoE goodness from your primary.

The mini ice slick is worth its weight in gold. My 26 fire/ice has been soloing on invincible for a while and he tears through stuff just because you can herd around a corner onto your ice, giving you masses of protection and tightly packing the mobs for your aim+buildup barrage of death.

I don't find the redraw annoying. Mainly because I use my TA stuff first and then once that's fired off it's just sonic blasts until the mobs are dead, with the odd acid arrow.

I like it a lot because TA itself gives 40% aoe resist debuff and howl spam adds another 20% on top. I figured at the end of the day I'm there to boost team killing speed so I may as well go for sonics blast.

With 8 maneuvers, 8 tactics and 8 assault running do you really need any primaries with +Def or -Def? Surely the team is way over the defender cap for Def just from slotted maneuvers. ((4.66% base x 1.60ish)x8)

Are those two FF's doing anything beyond providing a little status protection from dispersion bubble (which is already covered by the sonic's clarity)?

I thought the recent changes meant that capped defence was capped defence, regardless of the level of the mobs you faced? Or did I misunderstand the patch notes? (highly likely )

The general consensus on the US boards about flash arrow is that it's 5% for controllers and 6.5% for defenders. I'm still umming and aahing about whether to slot 3 debuff SO's in it on my defender. That's 10%ish which isn't bad but is that worth the slots?

I just wanted to share two stories from yesterday because I found it extraordinary to find myself in an amazing team and an absolutely dire team in the space of a few hours.

First I was on my 30 TA/Sonic in a team consisting of a 32 ice/fire tanker, 30 fire/rad controller and 29 fire/fire tanker. It was an invincible mission of the 32 so the mobs were 34-35 and consisted of council vs nemesis with some crey ambushes that came from behind at a couple of points. The mission was set for 5 as there was an elec blaster afk forever outside that joined briefly towards the end. We absolutely tore the place up. Everything worked perfectly with the ice tanker diving in, adjacent spawns already flashed, the TA and rad debuffs going down on the tightly bunched spawn, followed by fire cages, oil slick and much burning ensued. It was just crazy that we were surviving and the 30s walked out with 2.5 bars XP from one mission. There were two deaths which were the 29 fire tanker pulling at one point and the fire controller randomly pulling with fire cages when he intended to smoke instead.

Then later in the day I was on my 12 Dark/Archery defender and got an invite to an Atta mission, which was already half completed (not a good sign). There was a whole group of people but the fighting was utterly chaotic. The ice tanker had chilling embrace but never switched it on. The invuln tanker was about as invuln as a piece of tissue paper. The mobs were +4s to me. We came across a particulary bad section of the map (I'm sure people know where I mean if I say the T-Junction of death) and I'm trying to politely make a suggestion because I know what's going to happen. I wanted to cluster the mobs on the corner after a ranged pull, with a tar patch and an ice tanker standing on it running chilling embrace, so that darkest night covered them all and they all got tar patched but the tanker just tells me, "me and *the other tanker* work as a team, you just heal." I also ask for an SK up to 14 but no luck there. Needless to say the team wipes spectacularly under a stampede of trolls and everyone suddenly has to help their SG and leave. Someone in the team sends me a private tell saying how bad the team was and I agreed, pointing out what we could have done to make life a breeze and gotten tons of XP. He just replies by saying, "naah, they just need healers."

Sorry for the long winded post but I felt like sharing some highs and lows of defenderdom. I have no idea what's in store for me tonight but then that's half the fun of the game isn't it.

For me the big two would be archery for the "light nuke" every 30 seconds that doesn't ruin your appetite and drop your toggles.... or sonics, which is slightly overpowered imo with the 20% resistance debuff per blast that makes for silly damage for you *and* your teammates. It also has some great utility powers that are particularly good for those solo moments.

If you go for energy then you will be hated. They may not say to your face but you will make people grit their teeth and want to smash your face against the wall every time you use energy torrent. I know this because I detest, with a passion, squids, energy blasters and.... worse than any of these, the empaths that only pick two blasts and yet still manage to have an unslotted energy torrent to annoy me with.

My 30 TA/Sonic is my biggest offender but my 36 FF/Sonic can still solo at a rapid pace because of the defender resist debuff bonus. I know both of these toons shove team damage up, especially against bosses where you are getting a long single target attack chain off and ending up with anything up to 80-100% resist debuffage just from your secondary. I also have a 23 TA/A and 13 Dark/A and have been enjoying archery so far (well, blazing arrow anyway), although I think the real kicker is going to be the rain of arrows being up so regularly and only costing about 25% power.

Tar patch at lvl 1, gloom at lvl 2, DN at lvl 4.

All the "r u he4lorz?" can go jump. That's all you really need to get by with for a long while. Just add the rest of your powers at your leisure. Dark is a ridiculously early blooming set as far as keeping people alive goes.

I weep when I see D3s that are 20+ who still don't have tar patch and DN. Just those two powers give you SO much control, damage boosting and damage mitigation it's silly and they are perma very quickly, as long as people understand anchors. I'd 6 slot tar patch asap with recharge TO's and switch to 3 recharge 3 slow when you get DO's and SO's and start doing missions that are +2/+3. Beautiful, beautiful power.