MCBiohazard

It's been a long time since I've last surfed the main forums. I was very tickled by the big debate at the beginning of this thread. All the important points have already been touched upon by Frosticus and Linea but I'mma chime in anyways since Traps is my current favorite set despite all the ups and downs it's had in terms of power rebalancing.

The key to enjoying Traps in a toebombing playstyle is good positional defense. Whether you focus on one vector or all three depends on your secondary. Ranged IO bonuses are easy to come by for a defender but melee and AoE will take some build planning. For me, I'm a crazy offender who enjoys being in melee and close midrange to soak up Fulcrum Shift and those Shield guys who actually remembered to take Grant Cover. I'll disagree with Frosticus and say that 52% is not entirely overkill as far as defense goes because you have no defense debuff resist. Fighting packs of romans or lots of gunners, especially at higher cons, can cascade you down to vulnerable levels or worse so having a 7.5% buffer from the soft cap either through straight defense or debuff from Seekers is a good idea, really.

Something else to consider in the build is stealth, full invis ideally. This allows you to toebomb very safely, even without the Seeker Drone alpha soak. These days, when I play my Traps/Arch defender (very fun, btw), I sometimes forget to use my seekers as I race ahead of the tank to drop my Poison Trap and Acid Mortar both slotted in the way Linea described point blank. The spawn typically shuts down just from that and any remaining aggro is getting soaked by the mortar. My defense is high enough that anything left that really wants to take a shot at me will wiff. That leaves me free to drop arrows from above or leisurely take my time to plant a mine at their feet. The latter is not entirely optimal but hilariously fun nonetheless.

IMO, you can play the methodical Devices plant and pull game if you like with Traps and that works quite fine solo, but I find toebombing to be much more compatible in aggressive teams as an unconventional spawn cracker. The build below is my eventual 50 build for aforementioned traps/arch defender (only reason it is not 50 yet is because I started a Traps/DP, which is proving to be just as fun). Medium budget build, switch out the Obliteration for Multi-strike and skip BotZ if that is still too ridiculously priced for its worth to save extra bux.

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.703
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Click this DataLink to open the build!

Level 50 Technology Defender
Primary Power Set: Traps
Secondary Power Set: Archery
Power Pool: Fitness
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Leaping
Ancillary Pool: Power Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Web Grenade -- Enf'dOp-Acc/Rchg(A), Enf'dOp-EndRdx/Immob(43), Enf'dOp-Acc/EndRdx(43), Enf'dOp-Immob/Rng(43), Enf'dOp-Acc/Immob/Rchg(45), Enf'dOp-Acc/Immob(45)
Level 1: Snap Shot -- Acc-I(A)
Level 2: Aimed Shot -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(3), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(3), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(19), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(19), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(37)
Level 4: Fistful of Arrows -- Det'tn-Acc/Dmg(A), Det'tn-Dmg/EndRdx(5), Det'tn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(5), Det'tn-Dmg/EndRdx/Rng(15), Det'tn-Dmg/Rng(15)
Level 6: Acid Mortar -- ShldBrk-Acc/Rchg(A), ShldBrk-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg(7), ShldBrk-DefDeb/EndRdx/Rchg(7), ShldBrk-Acc/DefDeb(34), Achilles-ResDeb%(34), Dev'n-Hold%(34)
Level 8: Force Field Generator -- DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(9), DefBuff-I(9)
Level 10: Blazing Arrow -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(11), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(11), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(23), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(23), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(40)
Level 12: Poison Trap -- Lock-Acc/Hold(A), Lock-Acc/Rchg(13), Lock-Rchg/Hold(13), Lock-EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(31), Lock-Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(31), Lock-%Hold(31)
Level 14: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 16: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(17), RechRdx-I(17)
Level 18: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 20: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(21), EndMod-I(21)
Level 22: Super Speed -- Clrty-Stlth(A)
Level 24: Maneuvers -- RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(A), RedFtn-Def(25), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(25)
Level 26: Trip Mine -- Oblit-Dmg(A), Oblit-Acc/Rchg(27), Oblit-Dmg/Rchg(27), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), Oblit-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(33), Oblit-%Dam(33)
Level 28: Tactics -- GSFC-ToHit(A), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg(29), GSFC-ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(29), GSFC-Rchg/EndRdx(42), GSFC-ToHit/EndRdx(42), GSFC-Build%(42)
Level 30: Vengeance -- DefBuff-I(A)
Level 32: Combat Jumping -- Zephyr-Travel(A), Zephyr-Travel/EndRdx(46), Zephyr-ResKB(46)
Level 35: Seeker Drones -- RzDz-Acc/Rchg(A), RzDz-EndRdx/Stun(36), RzDz-Acc/EndRdx(36), RzDz-Stun/Rng(36), RzDz-Acc/Stun/Rchg(37), RzDz-Immob%(37)
Level 38: Rain of Arrows -- Det'tn-Acc/Dmg(A), Det'tn-Dmg/EndRdx(39), Det'tn-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(39), Det'tn-Dmg/EndRdx/Rng(39), Det'tn-Dmg/Rchg(40), RechRdx-I(40)
Level 41: Power Build Up -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 44: Temp Invulnerability -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx(45), ImpArm-ResDam(46)
Level 47: Force of Nature -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(48), ResDam-I(48), ResDam-I(48)
Level 49: Triage Beacon -- Heal-I(A), Heal-I(50), RechRdx-I(50), RechRdx-I(50)
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Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Vigilance
Level 6: Ninja Run
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Set Bonus Totals:

• 8.5% DamageBuff(Smashing)
• 8.5% DamageBuff(Lethal)
• 8.5% DamageBuff(Fire)
• 8.5% DamageBuff(Cold)
• 8.5% DamageBuff(Energy)
• 8.5% DamageBuff(Negative)
• 8.5% DamageBuff(Toxic)
• 8.5% DamageBuff(Psionic)
• 11.4% Defense(Smashing)
• 11.4% Defense(Lethal)
• 10.8% Defense(Fire)
• 10.8% Defense(Cold)
• 14.3% Defense(Energy)
• 14.3% Defense(Negative)
• 3% Defense(Psionic)
• 16.1% Defense(Melee)
• 18% Defense(Ranged)
• 18.6% Defense(AoE)
• 2% Enhancement(Stun)
• 8.75% Enhancement(RechargeTime)
• 2.5% Enhancement(Held)
• 23% Enhancement(Accuracy)
• 3% Enhancement(Immobilize)
• 13% FlySpeed
• 34.3 HP (3.38%) HitPoints
• 13% JumpHeight
• 13% JumpSpeed
• Knockback (Mag -4)
• Knockup (Mag -4)
• MezResist(Confused) 2.5%
• MezResist(Held) 4.7%
• MezResist(Immobilize) 4.7%
• MezResist(Sleep) 5.8%
• MezResist(Stun) 4.7%
• MezResist(Terrorized) 2.5%
• 13.5% (0.23 End/sec) Recovery
• 1.26% Resistance(Fire)
• 1.26% Resistance(Cold)
• 3.75% Resistance(Energy)
• 1.88% Resistance(Negative)
• 13% RunSpeed
• 2% XPDebtProtection

For BABs, if he started fighting crime in the late 70s/early 80s, that means he spent his childhood growing up in the age of soul funk and motown. Which means he was definitely listening to some Temptations as he was cracking skulls. And I think Ball of Confusion was plenty relevant during his heyday.

[ QUOTE ]
IMO, Flight is the best defensive power for a stalker-hunter. Take their element of surprise and use it against them, and if they use inspirations, you can just fly out of range.

[/ QUOTE ]

A lot of people underestimate Flight as a PvP travel power but it can be very effective as a means of surveying the battlefield and getting the quick drop on people. I'd be a little wary of using it as your only means of travel, however, as -fly is so abundant in the powersets as of late. Combined with TP or SS though, it's a potent tool for both blasters and spines or claws stalkers, IMO.