MonkeySpirit

No wonder you don't use Flash Arrow if you didn't take it.

I find it helpful, it lets me position my cone just so to hit the whole group of baddies, and I can tell myself I'm helping the team by debuffing enemy tohit a bit. It's also very useful when you have multiple mobs close to each other.

Another thing to point out is that Plant is one of the few control sets to offer a team buff in Spirit Tree, which further helps round out TA's weak spots. I'm very happy I took Medicine to have something to draw on when an enemy insists on doing damage despite all the debuffs and controls.

Yes, but how to change CM to affect the caster without violating the cottage rule? As it is, it needs a target to cast and another poster has already stated that he likes being able to remove mezzes at range, probably through the targetting reticle. This is exactly the reason why the cottage rule exists. If it weren't for that fact, I would suggest to make it a PBAoE with the same range as Healing Aura, since the Defender is bound to try to keep as many allies within that range as possible. But that would require changing the recharge, which would in turn make it impossible for CM to free someone from Ghost Widow's clutches.

We could however, leave CM as it is and add mez protection to one of the other powers. Say, make each of the auras give the regular effects plus mez protection only to the caster when he uses them.

Although I agree with you that Recovery Aura needs to change somewhat. I remember the frustration of playing my Empath when RA wasn't up, as opposed to when it was. I'd make it something like the Pain Dom auto-heal but with endurance.

I think we have to start by defining what solo parity is supposed to be here.

Is "it is unfair that my powers don't work on me solo despite already doing fine" the main complaint? Or are we trying to find solutions to certain problems?

If we're talking about having powers that work on oneself: A lot of the powers in the heavy buffing powersets are too strong for the caster to be able to use them on himself (for example, Force Fields is balanced around the fact that the Force Fielder remains the weakest link in a team of invulnerable demigods). Altering those powers to affect the caster would require them to be weakened considerably.

That's why I suggest a compromise in Clear Mind by making it a click ally AoE (not a toggle), so it keeps the functionality that it has now (cottage rule) while reducing the effort needed to buff the team and allowing for a chance that the Empath gets buffed, too. It would essentially allow you to have mez protection when solo if you have a pet and in any mission with an ally critter, of which there are a whole lot in Praetoria. I'm aware that it's a small step, but it's better than taking away my ability to protect a blaster with Fortify.

To level the playing field even more, we could get a temp craftable power that allows you to summn a PPD/RIP just to leech buffs from.

Lower the recharge of Sonic Cage so I can keep two targets caged while dealing with the third. Given the low damage of AoEs, I build my defenders to have good single target damage first (also helpful while "channeling" trhough an ally). If my sonic could reduce his encounters to one-on-one battles, he'd rarely have any troubles.


My solution to Clear Mind would be to make it an ally-targetted AoE with a small radius and maybe a target limit of four to six targets and a recharge of 10 seconds so that you can apply it to a couple of people at the same time if they're standing close. Similar to way the Mastermind pet buffs where changed to AoEs but with a lower recharge. This keeps CM pretty close to what it is right now, retains stackability and range, eases up on the buffing (I find the buff cycle for Fortify to be ok, but the buff cycle for CM absolutely horrible) and the Empath can buff himself if he stands next to his target when he casts the buff. A considerable improvement, even if it does squat for soloing without a pet or ally.

This is WAI. Pets on defensive are made to ignore mezzed enemies and take out the ones that can still attack you instead. Make a bind to change them to aggro mode when this happens. When my bruiser got Handclap, he used to stun groups and then forget about them.

Where can I find your trio thread? I remember that I used to team with you quite often before my long hiatus a year ago.

I think different approaches to the game are at odds here. Turning off exp is a no-no for me. I find it really demoralizing to beat up enemy after enemy without the knowledge that my sweet sweet ping is waiting for me. I have several dozen characters in my barracks; when I choose to spend time with one of them, it's because I want to see them gaining new powers and becoming stronger. It's also the reason why I'm looking forward to the Incarnate levels, finally something to do with level 50s that can't ping any more.

Still, I'm perfectly aware that it's my choice to gain exp, but without exp my fun is ruined.

The game still has a rather big flaw in that respect, in my opinion, that being that only the team leader or the mission holder really get to read through all of the story. The other members of the team help mop up and end up only reading the mostly disconnected pop-ups at mission start and mission end. I've yet to see a team where we all took pauses in the middle of fighting so that everyone could read the mission description and every clue in order to unravel the story as a group.

I'm actually missing a couple of Frostfires in Praetoria, some moderate challenges that are meant to be taken on as a team. Are there any missions like that? Praetoria is a LOT about personal choice and personal responsibility. With all the big nuanced questions being thrown around, it doesn't make sense to give your voice to the team leader.

Exactly what I've done, too. Characters who can survive well on their own get sent to do story arcs and characters that are made for fun in a team (90% of the characters I've ever made) rarely have their own contacts and live by doing the missions others bring. I actually see it as high praise to the story writers that they've managed to keep me following their storylines, especially at the price of going solo.

Heartily agreed.