OneWhoBinds

In point of fact, there seems to be regular requests for a new Tanker inherent, too...

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I have witnessed someone kicking a good Defender out of a team, to make room for a Controller.

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I've noticed that recent AE power levelings have caused a steep decline in the average team leader's ability to create strong teams.

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While I won't deny that... these incidents I speak of all happened before Issue 14 was even announced.

/Traps is a set, I am convinced, that was designed for MMs. Thanks to your pets, (and the defense bonuses you get) you should be easily capable of toe-bombing any and all of your Traps.

I generally don't bother with Teleport - I just run right into a group while in BG mode. As soon as the Bots open up, the aggro's off of me, anyway. In the later levels, when dealing with enemies that might have a tough alpha... well, that's a job for the Seeker Drones.

Seriously, you will want to take most of your Traps. Detonator is questionable, but everything else is very good.

Be sure to devote some slots to Web Grenade... particularly by the late 20s. It's a power you will be spamming as often as you can, and you really want to be able to immobiles Bosses and Elite Bosses - and still be able to drop your other Traps too.

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- I have never seen once a defender turned down for a team because of their inherent power.

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True.

But... I HAVE seen Defenders turned down, because they are Defenders.

I have witnessed someone kicking a good Defender out of a team, to make room for a Controller.

And I have experienced the boggling and dubts that accompany trying to find a team, and not just being ignored, but being rejected.

It has gotten better since then - it seemed when I started the game there was "lol defenders" phase going on... but it sticks with me.

I keep hearing how awsome Defenders are... but I have yet to SEE it. I have yet to EXPERIENCE it. All I've seen is that they start off as pathetic, and - with time, effort, and at least 22 levels of pain and masachism behind them - they can turn into something... mediocre.

So! I have no scary number to back myself up. Just a feeling in my gut that... something's broken, and it needs to be fixed.

No, actually, anything tied to HPs is a bad idea - it encourages Negligence.

And it still does not address the issue of 'no effect when the Defender is solo." Which is what most Defenders want.

And be honest, people. Even if you think Vig is 'Fine,' would you really be upset if they replaced it with something else? Anything that worked in and out of teams?

A +Recovery power... that would be available at level 2?

Um... yeah... I'm think that's not going to happen.

Now, I would like to see if they make Defender's Triage Beacon a regular minor heal, rather than just a regen buff. Like the difference between Soothing Aura and Suppress Pain.

Beyond that... well, number have to be brought up to Defender levels... otherwise there really would be no reason to play this.

They should also make the chance for a hold in the Poison Trap stronger... but that needs to be an across the board change.

Oh, and Time Bomb should not be brought over. It's useless as it is, and would be even more so on a Defender. I am really hoping to get some other kind of Buff or Debuff pet instead... but I'm afraid I will be dissapointed.

(Of course, I'm all for replacing Time Bomb on Corruptors with something else, too...)

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I've only recently run across this information and, while I haven't had ages of time to check into it myself, I still haven't seen my ProtBots go dry once. I'm not trying to take down AVs though. My latest bots/* toon is also only 30.

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You haven't got Upgrade yet. After that, the PortBots end use will hit points where they can rapidly run dry. Photon Grenades and Seeker Drones on top of their usual shields heals, and attacks, is all together just a bit much for their recovery rate. However, a single End reduction SO will suffice.

I stongly suggest Frankenslotting, to be honest. 2 Defense IOs, 2 Acc/Dam from Det sets, and 2 Acc/Dam/End looks to be the best all around for your ProtBots.

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Unique is good. Some of the unique suggestions for Vigilance I've seen have been smashing the cottage rule and making it inspiration related. My suggestion: defender insps are PBAoE buffs. Another suggestion I've seen: defenders get a copy of the buff whenever a nearby teammate pops an insp.

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Aren't defenders already awesome on teams? If any buff for a defender should be made, I would think solo performance is where you would want to look.

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This.

Solo friendly is one of the big draws of this game. It's a MMO that I don't NEED a team for the vast majority of the content... which is good, because I suck at building teams.

Having one of the core ATs of the game be so inherently weak at solo play seems... wrong to me. I'm not suggesting they be buffed into solo gods - hell no. They are a support AT. But so are Corruptors, Controllers, and Tankers - and they all have an easier time soloing.

I really do like the scaling endurance reduction idea as a new inherent. But the real fix, I fear, is going to have to be an overhaul of the Defender sets in total... kinda like what recently happened to Dominators, only probably more involved.

Look, everyone. In the end, one of two things is going to happen, after GR hits the shelves.

1) Nothing happens. The Defender player base remains (realativly) stable, and the Devs move on to other issues.

or:

2) Defender numbers plummet. After a month or two of data-mining before ultimatly deciding that, Yes, there is a Problem, the Devs set to work to 'fix' the Defender AT. How long it takes them to make the Defender viable again, is a completely different issue.

Really, those are the only paths from here. And we won't know how things are going to fall until (at the earliest) months after GR is released.

Personally? I'm rather certain that Defenders will take a big hit after GR. Now, if it will be enough of one to cause the Devs to start knocking the rust off? That, I'm not so certain of.

Grounded gives 6 points of Immobilize protection. It gives 15 points of KB protecttion... when 'on the ground.'

That last bit can trip you up. Be aware that your KB protection will be hit-or-miss when on slopes or other uneaven ground.

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Pro Tip: Form your own teams.

I never have a problem "getting teams", no matter what I'm playing.

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Yeah... I'm still trying to figure that one out. Because frankly? Even with the PUG guid, I can't get teammates.

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Some interesting ideas there. One thing that's come to light in another thread I'm involved in is that Defender buffs are additive, and don't diminish with multiple applications (as happens with enhancements, for example).

Something I'd like to see considered is enabling buffing sets to buff themselves. I'm thinking this might require making a change so the buffs suffer diminishing returns...

Just thinking out loud, I've not thought it through much and it's late...

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Buffs that don't require a target already do effect the Defender. It's simply that you can not target yourself.

I honestly hope the replace Time Bomb with something else...

Of course, I'd like to see ALL versions of Time Bomb replaced with something that... I don't know... Works?

Um... no... they spawn based on Combat level. That's why it's a good idea to dismiss and resummon all your pets after you level - so they do to.

Besides, while you are describing the situation where I first noticed it, it dtill doesn't fit - I hit 35 tonight. But as I was moving to dismiss my pets, I noticed that they were all at levels 31/32/33... which mean that when I first summoned them at level 34, they were all one level below what they should have been.

Then I dismissed and resummoned them. Now they were 32/33/34 - still one level less.

Eh, I've never seen this kind of dialouge work any other way, myself.

The one that annoys me is when all the NPC dialouge triggers right as you enter the map. All of it. No matter how many NPCs are speaking, or how far away they are. That one annoys the heck out of me, but it's only happened twice...

Okay, this happened to me tonight.

I started the "Stop Wailers in spirit world" mission from Hardcase. Seeing as this is a clear-all on an outdoor map, you can understand how I ended up quickly filling up my enhancement inventory, and making a pretty big dent into my Recipe inventory, too. So I decided to leave, sell some things, and return.

Only I couldn't leave.

I got a "Can not enter" message at the exit. I was not allowed to leave the map. I can only assume that actually finishing the mission would work - I DCed before that happened.

Still, this was a nasty surprise, especially on such a large map with so many enemies on it.

Okay, check me if I'm wrong, but aren't the pets supposed to be: Tier 1 pets are 2 levels below your character, Tier 2 are one level below you, and tier 3 pets are equal level. Right?

But I noticed tonight that I was summoning them one level below that. My battle drones are all three levels below me, my Protector Bots are 2 levels below me, and my Assault bot is one level below me.

Is this an intentional change I missed? Or is something screwy going on?

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The DS effect looks the same as the Crushing Field/Gravity Distortion effects. The shifted foes are still targetable. The shifted foes are still launching attacks. How are you supposed to sort out who needs to be held/killed in the middle of all that?

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This.

I don't care if it breaks the 'Theme' of Gravity... give those affected by this power an OBVIOUS visual effect. Render them Greyscale, paint them a uniform color, or just make them invisible!

I personally think about 75% of the complaints about this power would vanish if it was easy to tell who was under its effect. If that were true, DS would become a very viable panic button type of power.

In Mids, go to Options->Advanced->Database Editor.

In the new window, click on the Main Database Editor.

In the new window, in the left-most column, choose "Tanker_Defense."

In the middle column, now choose Shield_Defense.

In the rightmost column, choose Phalanx_Fighting

Below the rightmost column, hit the Edit button.

Yet another new window! Here you can change a lot of things - but what you want is the Power Scaling component (It stands out with orange boxes on mine.) You are going to want to tell it that the slider should go from 0 to 3 instead of from 1 to 3. Then save you changes, and leave (saving at every window, of course.)

Now Phalanx for a Tanker will scale from 0 allies in range, letting you see the effects the power has when solo.

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Ok trust me, I was the first person to cry FOUL on the PSW changes. I saw what was coming by simply connecting the dots before any actual numbers were posted.

I've backed off on that a bit. I always used Psyscream as part of my attack chain..so I'm not seeing much a diff on Fire/Psi. My fire/psi can still do his job. And I have to agree over all../psi has become a balanced set. I do think Castle and team did a good job evening out doms. But would he try the same thing with defenders or controllers..probably not. There are far too many players who like them the way they are..and poor defenders have been crying for a damage buff for ages now. Again I don't think Castle would dare touch defenders, that's just asking for trouble in a colossal way.

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Actually, I think most defenders are more asking for SOMETHING to change. Defenders - as the overall AT, not just certain power sets - have not been touched or altered in how long now? Yes, they still work well - but Controllers have been out-shining them as the Team Support AT since Containment was introduced. And with GR around the corner - and the possibility that it will allow for the Corruptor AT to be introduced to Blue Side play - the Defender's niche will take another big hit.

If nothing changes, I can honestly see Defenders being an AT only played for those rare people who want to use one of the Support sets Corruptors don't get, AND blast at the same time. And if we get another round of proliferation? That may not even stay true.

It's time and past time that Defenders got an overhaul. I can sympathize with the problems related to changing a Force Multiplier like the Defender - they could easily become overpowered - but Defenders are underperforming now. And it's only going to get worse the longer they are left.

I don't think there is one... you can't tell them to Go To someplace without defining the place. You can bind Go To a key, but it will always bring up a Targeting mark that you need to click. Sorry.

At least now they seem to be following normal melee-preferred NPC AI - Which still dictates that only 2-3 enemies should be in melee, and the rest will hold back and use ranged attacks until one of the melee pets die.

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Bots: Mostly AoE

Thugs: A mix with slightly less AoE and more Single Target

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Now, now. Don't go spreading misinformation.

Before the level 32 & Upgrade, Bots are almost exclusivly single-target - the Assualt Bot has Flamethrower... and that's the extent of your Bot's AoE before Upgrade.

Thugs, on the other hand, start getting significant AoE with the Enforcer+Equip... right at level 12. Then the Arsonist shows up at 18, and he's EXCLUSIVLY AoE (Well, excepting his basic brawl)! And people wonder why that little psycho dies so much...

Overall, I think they end up with the same kind of AoE - but Thugs collect them as you level, while Bots get them all at one time.

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I can't pop an inspiration to make my powers come back faster.

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I've always thought that should be an Inspiration

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I'd trade Oranges for this.

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I wouldn't.

But I would still love a +Recharge Inpiration.

Hmm...

As a suggestion? Instead of a damage debuff, make it a small to hit debuff effect.

Okay, having slept on the issue, I am no longer sure what to take.

I want a /Electrical Assault Dominator, but I'm not sure what Primary meshes well with Elec. I was originally thinking Earth, but I'm not sure the heavy AoE Earth is a good match for the single-target based assualt of Electric.

Anyone have advice of what meshes well with /Elec?