MillionAlts

Hey chap. Don't abandon your toon or consign yourself a life of soloing just yet! Sure, a badly played stormie or ill can wreak havoc, but so can just about anything else.

You're probably used to being able to cope with just about everything by yourself, but in a team setting, you don't have to. You can't click all your powers at once, so instead of hammering your attacks as soon as they're up, wait for the right moment to fire a support power; O2 boost topping up your team-mates health will make you very popular. Saving phantom army or spectral terror for a fight gone bad or an unintentional "double pull" can prevent or reverse a team wipe, instead of spamming it every time it's up.

Gale can be used to shove enemies towards the tank or into corners for the blaster to AoE; freezing rain increasing everyone's damage and survivability; the list goes on. Use your powers creatively and selectively, and you will be a *huge* asset to your team, moreso than simple "make the mobs sit still" controllers...

I'm getting the blank screen thing too. Any news on a fix would be much appreciated.

Loving all your responses guys, and if I could, I'd quote every one of them for truth.

Here's how this all started; I've failed the first respec trial *several* times. I join a group, we breeze through it, and then we hit that door just inside the terra volta reactor. I've got this far without a single faceplant on a team more than once.

And then the +5's and 6's turn up.....

I can't help feeling that there has to be something out there... that can make this possible, and be around for teams when the next unusually tricky bit turns up.

I'm loving all the responses guys, keep 'em coming.

I'm not obsessed with fighting +5's; it just seems to happen now and then. In my experience, huge chunks of CoH are so easy you can pretty much get away with anything, but sooner or later, you come across a situation where most teams fall flat on thier face, or give up after 3 or 4 full rounds of XP debt. Players drift off, and the dream is over...

It's not about xp/min- it's about being able to finish those tasks forces, trials, and archvillains at all.

The two sets so far that don't seem to be in any doubt (for fighting uphill...) are Radiation, and Forcefields. I'm thinking forcefields will keep us all alive... but is that -regen off Rad indispensable for those AV's / really tough bosses?

Thank you all for excellent answers so far.

Well done to the one of you spotted the "+5's" part of this. I can't see empathy cutting it (it *isn't* going to stop my squishies getting one shotted, and even if I can rez endlessly, people are soon going to get fed up with the debt).

I can't see kinetics cutting it either- the last thing I need in a really chaotic +5 fight is a team of people running around like madmen on speed boost. I've played kin, and it worked great for helping a good team mow down hordes of minions to get that mission completion bonus quickly. I can't see it keeping my team alive though. I don't need to miss a shot with transference, either.

Rad, Forcefield, and Dark are looking favourite... more comments, please !

It's *probable* my team will be a typical, unbalanced, p.u.g. consisting almost entirely of badly slotted scrappers & blasters... hee hee hee.... :-D

I'm not a powerleveller, or lazy... but I need some advice....

I want to roll up a defender, and I want to roll up a GOOD one.

Assuming there would be *one* defender in a group, and my team is facing the toughest parts of the game (Trials, Task Forces, Archvillains, fighting against +5's), which AT is going to provide the best chance of survival and success for me and my team?