DrMike2000
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Two Empathy Defenders.
Empathy/Sonic is pretty much king.
Other cool duos I've run and enjoyed:
Fire/Energy Blaster with Dark/Rad Defender
Kin/Elec Defender with FF/Sonic Defender
PeaceBringer with Sonic/Energy Defender (Kheldians love sonic resonance)
Claws/Regen Scrapper with WP/SS Tanker
2 Fire/Rad Controllers -
Empathy is the powerset that specialises in giving very powerful buffs to a select few. Its the ideal accompaniment for a Blaster - giving them defence, mez protection and huge recharge and all the endurance they can eat! And heals when they do get hurt...
Kinetics is good for Scrapper support, giving less survivability but insane damage boosts.
The newer support sets (Cold, Thermal, Pain Dom) tend to scale better to big teams. Empathy is still unbeatable for small teams and duos.
If you want to experience real power though, roll up a pair of Empathy Defenders and buff each other. It ramps up to some ridiculous power levels by the early 30s. -
Melee characters don't really hit their stride till around level 22.
- you get single origin enhancements, which help your defences a lot
- you get Stamina at level 20 so you can keep on ticking.
- key powers start to get unlocked.
I struggled a bit with my first Scrapper, then when I hit 22 I was amazed at how powerful I suddenly became.
The best set out of the box for low levels was Fiery Armor. Resistance, self heal and a damage aura. It isn't the best at higher levels, but has had some of its powers buffed recently. It works pretty well on Brutes, since Fury amplifies your damage aura rather nicely. Fire/SuperStrength would work out rather nicely I imagine.
I've been soloing GR so far on an Illusion/Rad Controller. Its not quite "bad-***", more manipulative and sneaky/clever, but its definitley a powerful combo. -
Quote:Some Tankers already punch like a tank. KO Blow, Energy Transfer and Total Focus all hit really hard, but take a long time to reload, to complete the analogy.Originally Posted by Johnny_Butane
I'm all for that.
The devastating and irresistibly powerful punch of a tank is something I wish Tankers had.
.
I've always found my Tankers to have good burst damage but poor DPS, which seems like a pretty good compromise for a low damage AT. -
Quote:That makes a lot of sense. Healing works best in the early game, when incoming spike damage is low. Defence and resistance work better in the later game, when they can stack with other powers that get unlocked, and get slotted.Originally Posted by Biospark
One thing that surprised me after playing all three of those sets Dr.Mike (FF, Emp, Sonic) was that Empathy was actually a little more solo-able in the early game because of the heals, but Forcefield catches and passes Empathy very quickly after SOs.
So pre-SO would be (worst to best of the three) Sonic, FF, Empathy
After SOs : Sonic, Empathy, FF
I know its a very minor distinction, and of course, alot depends on blast choice and skill.
Maybe I just suck at Sonic
And Sonic Resonance just plain sucks as soloing set. You get:
Sonic Siphon - with the full end and animation cost of an attack, this only helps your DPE and DPS against bosses and higher.
Sonic Cage - useful for panic situations.
Sonic Dispersion - awesome 5 star power, but little to stack it with till later. Even with Tough, 50% S/L resistance is poor compared to the defence a solo FF-er can accumulate
Liquefy - very nice, but long recharge.
So on a typical solo radio mission, until you hit the boss at the end you have Sonic Dispersion. One power out of 9. -
FF is not hugely solo friendly because its very team friendly.
From level 22, you're pretty much guaranteed to transform all your teammates experience at an investment of about 1/8th of your playtime. Unless they're all Tankers.
Its not the worst solo set for Defenders. Empathy and Sonic have it harder, but any FF Defender on their own is a decent enough armoured light cannon, especially with a small IO investment that's cheap in terms of both slots and inf. -
Can Controllers get the Scorpion Shield in a Patron Power Pool?
That would stack Defence without looking like you're covered in rock or ice.
For emergencies before level 41, grab a Kinetic Dampener temp power.
I played this combo a while back, and it was really quite cool. A damage-heavy primary and a defensive secondary made for a good balance. I think I just picked the big 4 from Force Fields (PFF, ally shields x2 and Dispersion) and added Smoke for a bit of extra -To hit to stack with the defence.
Aid Self is very nice to have with PFF as a panic button, and you can draw quite a bit of aggro with this combo. I tried experimenting with building up passive +Regen, don't bother with that. Getting some Ranged defence via Thunderstrike and Red Fortune sets is a good start to any IO plans. -
I loosened up my Stalker builds in the early levels by putting off powers from my secondary.
You're not a Scrapper, you don't need mez protection or ranged defence (or whatever) that badly during your teens.
Solo, you can hit and run, taking out any mezzers before they see you. Enemies only enagage you once you're in their face, so Danger Sense/Focussed Senses are pretty much just burning endurance.
On teams, your threat level pretty much guarantees you're not the numero uno target. -
Energy Blast rocks my socks - I love the nebulous mitigation of knockback.
Four Defenders and two Corruptors so far, I should really try it on a Blaster one day soon. -
No kidding?! WooT!!! Its about time!
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Yeah, Inv/SS Tankers are terrible before the early 20s.
Tomorrow (with I18) you'll get Bruising, a -20% Res debuff on Jab. That will help out.
At 20 (or 22 after Stamina) you get KO Blow, and turn a huge corner in your damage dealing capabilities. And like people say, rage and Footstomp are around the corner.
The early levels are much smoother on a Brute, since you get KO Blow at level 8. -
Quote:Yeah.Originally Posted by Vanden
I really don't know. I have a 50 FF/Elec, and I genuinely don't enjoy playing him. Every four minutes I'd reapply shields, but between then and later I don't really get to contribute on account of Defender's craptastic damage. That's really the crux of it I guess; because your buffs are so reliable and stable, it makes assisting the team uneventful, and Defenders have the worst damage in the game so I can't really feel like I'm contributing with my secondary.
EDIT: Ooh! I just had an idea. They should make it so whenever a FF shield causes an attack to miss, the Defender gets a damage buff.
You've picked a very safe defensive combo there. Defender damage is about half Blaster damage (counting lack of Build Up), and Electrical Blast trades some of that for even more safety in the form of control and end drain. Even worse, it requires you to skimp on AoE damage slotting to do that properly by slotting Short Circuit up for End Mod and Recharge.
Even so, slot thoise attacks up and use them (including Voltaic Sentinel) and you will be contributing a steady flow of AoE damage.
I'd rather not see FF gain any damage boosts (except maybe a bit of damage on Force Bolt). I think its good that we have a set that's clearly intended as "ultimate team defence" along with all the other sets that spread their points between offensive boosts and defensive boosts. It's meant to be the uneventful set, at the other end of the spectrum from Kinetics. I like having the choice of extremes like that.
Well done on slugging through to 50, but I guess rather than changing Force Fields for everyone, you can have a go with some other sets.
You want eventful? Try Storm/Ice! (Ice Storm and Blizzard do Blaster level damage!) -
Quote:Because that's exactly what Repulsion Bomb does. AoE Knockdown on a long timer. (With scalar 1 damage to boot!)Originally Posted by Candlestick
Why not turn Forcebolt into a targeted AoE knockDOWN power? Increase the recharge of course, but would give a great active control power to the set. (Obviously, leave it unchanged for PvP)
[EDIT] Gah! Beaten to it! Read the entire thread before replying. -
Quote:Actually, most soft-capped defence-powerset-based build depend on Hover or Combat Jumping to get them to the soft-cap. At best (Tanker, Defender, VEAT) the power will give you 3% vs everything with a Def IO in the base slot.Originally Posted by je_saist
okay. Design 101.
First of all, bringing up secondary effects in any conversation over pool powers, such as the +defense on combat jumping or hover, is a mugs game. These secondary effects are mere decorations and can change between the different archtypes that leverage the effects.
If you are depending on the +def in Hover or Combat jumping to put you at the defense softcap, you are likely not playing a defense oriented avatar. I also have some bad news for you. The developers have stated that the number of defense buffs added into the IO pool sets was a mistake and that they had not intended for so many different archtypes to be able to reach a consistent defensive soft-cap under solo conditions. It also been intimated that avatars at defensive softcaps will likely not find themselves still soft-capped against Incarnate content under Solo conditions.
That sounds small, but its equivalent to a Steadfast IO or three decent six-slotted sets in a positional build, both of whcih people will pay many millions for.
Soft-capping is all about grabbing lots of little bonuses to get there.
I think the OP is quite justified in pointing out that both powers have the same defence value. -
Quote:This already happens in any mission with NPC allies doesn't it? (eg Mayhem Missions when you bust the villain out of jail)Originally Posted by AkuTenshiiZero
First off, why healing only civillians? It would be nice for an XP boost, but I'd rather assist some PPD officers and get a little backup in return.
If you've got team buffs or heals that can support other players, you can support NPC allies.
And you can have a PPD ally in any mission now with the Backup Radio temp power. -
I'd describe Sonic Resonance as even more boring. You shield everyone, you sacrifice a big chunk of your endurance to apply Disruption Field and thats about it.
At least Force Fields allows you to Force Bolt juggle a dangerous boss every now and then.
I actually enjoy playing both sets though, as they give me plenty of time to use my blasts. They're much more fun in that way than Empathy, which requires constant monitoring of your own buffs icons to play well.
How would you suggest changing it, Vanden? -
Quote:I think Scrappers and Stalkers get their damage buff powers (Siphon Power and Build Up) instantly recharged if they crit with their Tier 9 attack. That may make the set stand out much more for them, as compared to Tanks and Brutes.Originally Posted by Wiccania
I don't see how it's bad for Tanker, yah lower numbers mean less direct buff, but Tanks deal with the lower numbers in every set. Saying a set is bad for a Tanker because a Scrapper gets more damage bonus out of it's ability is silly.
I'm planning to try a Tank anyway. There's always the new Bruising effect to try out (unstackable -20% Res debuff on the Tier 1 attack) -
Quote:I will never tire of pointing out that mechanically, the Empathy powerset has nothing to do with feeling the emotions of another, or sympathising with them, or any warm lovely stuff like that. I can empathise with the fact you've just been hurt all I like, it won't give you an accuracy and damage bonus or make you harder to hit, will it?Originally Posted by Nazarene
All Dark Miasma/Melee/Blast powers cannot have light shades/hues. I think they made PD and Empathy the way they are because of thematic reasons. A villain cannot feel empathy (the intellectual identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another) as they have usually become disconnected to society or other people in general. In the same respect, heroes cannot (or rather should not) use the Pain Domination set, as it is rather self-serving. However, I do agree that both sets should be able to change their color as they see fit. One could argue that a villain might use PD as a false empathy; to trick people into thinking they care.
If someone wants to roleplay their character as healing and buffing through an emotional link, that's cool. But there are many other ways to boost another character's superpowers or reverse damage done to them.
While we're at it, helping others overcome pain is a worthy and noble goal. Ask anyone who's been anaesthetised before having surgery!
(Mechanically, the only self-serving part of Pain Domination is the boost you get from rezzing an ally, since it encourages you to let them fall first. But anyone can do that with Vengeance.)
That's what really grinds my gears! -
I always found it handy when you know you're about to fight non-stop for the next couple of minutes or so. AV/GM battles, rooms with closely packed multiple spawns, that kind of situation.
Its not a great power for basing any full-time end management strategy off, as in I wouldn't stop seeking out end redux slotting or +Recovery bonuses once I got it. -
I'd go for making non-combat use of powers optional. Advantageous, but not necessary to complete the mission.
E.g. electrical powers can be used to restart a teleporter to skip a nasty room, or security systems that fight the bad guys when you reactivate them.
Healing injured civilians so they can run to safety gives you a XP bonus, but isn't required, after all Paragon's world class hospital system can sort them out iof you can't.
That way, if you don't have Power X, you can still slug through it with brute force.
I did something similar in my Freedom Force mods - some characters had a SCIENTIST attribute that let them tinker with objects to gain an advantage, and it worked very nicely. It gave the player something cool to do with those characters, but the missions could always be completed without a scientist. -
My Pain/Energy duo would love to have more brightly coloured "Pain" powers.
Its an interesting alternative to Empathy in terms of the different game mechanics, and I'm glad it exists. But really, the whole "Empathy is too nice to proliferate" decision was completely clueless in my opinion. The forced dark colour scheme seems to be a hangover from that, and I'd love to see it gone. -
I went with Dark Mastery originally on my FF/Sonic and it was TOO good. Oppressive Gloom and Screech enabled me to keep bosses stunned as soon as I got into melee range with them, to the point where all my carefully assembled defence was meaningless
I respeced into a mez-free build with Electrical Mastery, basically for the Energy Resistance.
Dark Mastery also opens up Soul Drain later on, to beef up your -Res with a bit of +Damage. The two are always good together since they multiply.
I'd say Dark Mastery for sure.
As for defence slotting:
Slotted Dispersion and Manouvers is 21.3%, A Steadfast IO in Dark Embrace (or whatever) is 3%, Hover or CJ is 2.5% unslotted for base defence of 27%. You're 18% short of the cap.
Ranged first: Red Fortune in Manouvers and Dispersion, plus three Thunderstrikes in your ST blasts gives you 16.25%, close enough. All sets need 6 pieces.
Screech takes Razzle Dazzle for AoE and Melee +2.5%
Oppressive Gloom can do this too. The chance to immobilise is nice, but this power really doesn't need slots, so you're using slots just for the set bonuses here.
Gaussian's Synchronised Fire Control in Tactics adds 2.5% Melee and AoE too (Thunderstrikes and Red Fortune will saturate your +2.5% Ranged def bonuses though)
Aegis (5 pieces) in Dark Embrace is +4.6% AoE
So, two razzle Dazzles, Gaussians and Aegis puts you at
34.5% vs Melee, 39% AoE.
I 6-slotted Stamina with Performance Shifter to get the endurance proc and set bonuses, another 3.13% AoE there. Thats 42% vs AoE.
You can always take Combat Jumping and Hover (both 2.5% vs all, and 4% when slotted for Defence.) This would cap you to Ranged and AoE, and leave melee less than a small luck pill away from capping. Melee mitigation is also dealt with via your stun aura and Hover if you take it. -
My top three in order ...
1) I'd like alternate animation for the elemental sword powers. Alternate animations that don't use swords. eg Fire Sword and Fire Sword Circle on Fire Melee.
2) I'd also like alternate animations for Force Field/Repulsion Bomb and Radiation Blast/Neutron Bomb - the beachball throw doesn't work very well with some characters.
3) The chest-beating animation for Tough (and Integration) could do with an alternative.
Some other nice ones...
Alternate animations for Sonic Siphon, Sonic Barrier and Sonic Haven that come from the hands.
A Kick for Arachnos Soldier/Pummel.
Alternate kick for Fighting/Kick, closer to Martial Arts/Thunder Kick -
I've always thought that having to choose between good set bonuses and good actual enhancement values made building a character MORE interesting.
A case in point where this doesn't happen is Thunderstrike - great bonuses, great values and its cheap. Consequently, every ranged character I've ever made almost has 6-slotted Thunderstrikes by default. Occasionally I'll go Decimation instead for +recharge, but thats about it.
I'd rather have a number of viable choices that I have to balance rather than one plain obvious choice.
Kinetic Combat's good enough as it is, and part of that goodness is that the set bonuses peak at 4, allowing you to mix some other stuff in as you wish.
Melee attacks are some of the most fun to slot because of the range of good options, including 3 useful procs:
Crushing Impact for cheapness, +Acc and +Rech and good bonuses.
Kinetic Combat for S/L Defence and a useful Knockdown proc.
Mako's for Ranged Defence and a damage proc.
Touch of Death for Melee Defence and a damage proc. -
I'd agree that Empathy's pretty tricky to play well on a team above 3 people. It requires fairly constant monitoring of your own power bar (for powers recharging) as well as the team HUD (for heals and mezzes as required), the team chat channel (if you're using the 'zzz' method to apply Clear Mind) and the main battelfield for using your secondary.
Almost all other buff sets require you to drop into 'buff mode' every 2 to 4 minutes and apply buffs in a way that can almost be done blindfold with the right binds.