Starfox_NA

About a SG bank - just as interesting as being able to put Inf in it would be to be able to dump enhancements in it. Instead of selling, we could put enhancements intoa SG cache where others could pick what they need.

Because it is so hard to give the option to kick former leaders when they grow inactive, why not simply kick anyone who hasn't logged in in 90 days? It is not like they have their toons deleted, they are merely being kicked from a supergroup. No big deal.

To the OP: I have a Perma-Elude scrapper, and I SO wish there was no end crash. The reason? I can't use Fly and Hover!

Fly is simply the best power for recon, and when you get to the more complex mision maps, like Oranbega. No other movement power compares to it.

And if you want other powers that are equal to Fly in speed, that's easy:

Siphon Speed
Inertial Reduction
Hurdle (yes, a pool power that you can take at level 6 matched Fly for speed)


Yet these powers are in no way as good as Fly - the first two especially so.

This guide is aimed at people who don’t really care about badges for whatever reason, but still want accolades. It lists the places in each zone you have to visit in order to get all the exploration and history badges needed for current accolades.

The data here is not my own – it comes from the City of Heroes Resource Center. I merely assembled it and took out the bits relevant for the accolade hunter.

You don’t have to do all the zones at once. The city zones are sufficient for the Atlas Medallion. In a later version of this guide, I may point out which zones you have to explore for which accolades.

I did not list which non-exploration and non-history badges you need – that information is easily available on the City of Heroes Resource Center. I could compile all of this into one guide if people ask me to

ATLAS PARK<ul type="square">[*]Top Dog; Location: On top of Atlas' globe. Coordinates: 135, 315, -340. [*]History; Location: NW Corner of City Hall building in parking lot. Coordinates: 510, 0, -1150.
[/list]BLACK SHROUD PORTAL DIMENSION<ul type="square"> [*]Shrouded; Location: Complete mission.
[/list]BOOMTOWN<ul type="square">[*]Regal; Location: 680yds W from the Powder Keg marker, inside the tunnel, in the center divider. Coordinates: -450, 45, 2170.
[/list]BRICKSTOWN<ul type="square">[*]History; Location: Just a smidge N of the SE corner of The Zig's fence. Coordinates: -3460, 0, 2065. [*]History; Location: SE corner of a brick building that is 430 yds S of the tram. Coordinates: -230, 0, -370.
[/list]CREY'S FOLLY<ul type="square">[*]Crey Watcher; Location: 230yds W of Crey Factories dot then travel the S side of sewage ditch next to you. Coordinates: 1080, 0, 2320. [*]History; Location: 239 yds N and a bit E of The Blight dot. It's a freestanding pedestal on the corner of a turn in the road. Coordinates: 2570, 0, 2680. [*]History; Location: 160yds N of Carnival Town dot. Turn E and go over wall to the electric tower. Plague is on tower's base next to cardboard box. Coordinates: 7225, 32, -550.
[/list]DARK ASTORIA<ul type="square">[*]Dark Mystic; Location: 310yds north of the Didos View marker on top of the cinema. Coordinates: 1675, 5, 2835. [*]Seeker of the Unknown; Location: 175 yards W of Moth Cemetery marker, drop into the trench and go inside the middle of the crypt. Coordinates: 1870, -80, 1355. [*]History; Location: 180 yards SE of Toffet Terrace dot, to the left of the bottom of a short stairwell. Plague faces E. Coordinates: 3410, 42, 3035.
[/list]EDEN<ul type="square">[*]History; Location: Pretty high up on a wall 148 yds W of the Utopia Complex dot. Coordinates: -1320, 0, 4490. [*]Crey Fish; Location: Behind Crey sign 25ft E of Utopia Complex dot. Coordinates: -1795, 0, 4550. [*]History; Location: 107 yds NE of The Pit dot. The plaque faces SE on a sloped bit of concrete squares pavement. Coordinates: -2815, -25, 2970.
[/list]FAULTLINE<ul type="square">[*]Faultless Mystic; Location: Follow crevice N from Precipice dot and take first E. Coordinates: -845, -405, -715. [*]History; Location: 217 yds W of Gaspee dot, on the E facing wall of a riverbank (with a dock attached). Coordinates: 1720, -15, 2400. [*]History; Location: 211 yds N of the Hutchinson Park dot. Next to a bridge that is just W of Penny Preston (mutant store). Coordinates: 4245, 0, 3685.
[/list]GALAXY CITY<ul type="square">[*]Bird Watcher; Location: 87yds SE of Orion Beltway dot on 2nd story ledge. Coordinates: -1100, 50, -2260. [*]History; Location: Approximately 50 yards S of Equinox dot. Plaque is on a pedestal just east of kneeling statue in reflective pool. Coordinates: -730, 0, -1340. Temporary notice: This one has been moved to 40 ft S of Equinox dot, Coordinates -750 0 -1550, due to the construction of the nearby arena.[*]Brawler; Location: Top of Mighty Mart 475yds NW of Perez exit. Coordinates: -1180, 65, -935.
[/list]HYDRA PORTAL DIMENSION <ul type="square"> [*]Multidimensional; Complete mission.
[/list]INDEPENDENCE PORT<ul type="square">[*]History; Location: 430 yds W of the Kings Row exit, near the water on a raised overpass. Coordinates: -1035, 30, -2445. [*]Vigorous; Location: 665 yds S of Crey's Cove marker, near a green air-ventilation unit on top of a warehouse. Coordinates: -1615, 80, -1870. [*]Crey Havoc; Location: E of the Terra Volta exit in buildings ruins on outside edges. Coordinates: -440, 20, -270. [*]History; Location: 180 yds S of Valor Bridge dot. On the E side of bridge. Coordinates: 905, 100, -4180.
[/list]KINGS ROW<ul type="square">[*]History; Location: Follow road from GC exit 640 yds S, then on right side (W of Hide Park side) jump down to find it on the E-facing side of building. Coordinates: -175, -40, -1465. [*]Keen Sighted; Location: 300 yds N of the Sewer entrance, top of powerline tower next to monorail tracks. Coordinates: -2175, 95, 1140. [*]Mystic King; Location: On rooftop 250 yds SW from Gish dot. Coordinates: -375, 70, 245. [*]History; Location: Corner of building between Police HQ and Hospital. Go N from front of hospital, where road goes W, go E behind the building, pedestal with plaque is at the far corner. Coordinates: -400, 0, 1755. [*]Summoned; Location: Straight S &amp; slightly E from Blue Steel, against the inner side of the road at edge of map. Coordinates: -940, -40, 2975.
[/list]PEREGRINE ISLAND<ul type="square">[*]Portal Parter; Location: On island with a utility tower 835yds SW of ferry. Coordinates: 3045, 0, 1290.
[/list]PEREZ PARK<ul type="square">[*]History; Location: Just inside the park wall, N of Atlas exit. Coordinates: -2630, 0, 380. [*]History; Location: 320 yds SW of Perez Park dot, along the SW bank of the river, hidden from the river view under a tree. Coordinates: -1170, -30, 2250.
[/list]RIKTI CRASH SITE <ul type="square">[*]Ace; Location: 636 yds W of entrance, giant statue that's in sniper blast position, on extended hand. Coordinates: 1360, 295, -275.
[/list]SKYWAY CITY<ul type="square">[*]Purifier; Location: Basketball court in NE. Coordinates: -1085, -15, -7610.
[/list]STEEL CANYON<ul type="square">[*]Nimble Mynx; Location: On roof of first building about 150yds W of Boomtown exit. Coordinates: -2425, 50, -3405.
[/list]TALOS ISLAND<ul type="square">[*]History; Location: By the statue of Talos, behind his left foot. Coordinates: 1777, 20, 7845.
[/list]TERRA VOLTA<ul type="square">[*]History; Location: Go 300 yards E of Terra Volta Reactor, you'll be at a ledge, go to the NE corner and drop, it is at the base of the ledge facing E. Coordinates: 350, 190, -3600. [/list]

[ QUOTE ]
Thank you for bringing this comic book fan a great comic book experience.

[/ QUOTE ]

And thanks for bringing this guy back to superhero comics after a 20-year hiatus!

And thanks for listening so much - sometimes too much - to what is said on these boards.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Mission objectives make no sound--in old-style cave missions or in orenbega, that can cause hours of searching time to find the last glowie

Touch of Fear buffs instead of debuffs--disasterous to use in a tight fight


[/ QUOTE ]

That's two bugs (both of which were fixed and are in the pipeline). Neither are crash bugs. When you go live, there are inevitably some bugs - nothing is perfect. We need to make our judgment whether an issue holds up release or not.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think it is not abad thing tolet people see the changes for a week before giving out the respec. After all, we are going to get enough borked respecs as it is. Once the free respec goes live, I am afraid there will be a hail of sob-stories on people who completely destroyed their builds - I know I have done so in the past.

[ QUOTE ]
As for the Invulnerability, Kheldian, Burn, etc. feedback - all of it was read and considered. We were pleased with the data we received and thought that the changes met our goals. That isn't to say that we might not tweak these things further - but by and large, we are happy with the changes.

[/ QUOTE ]

The test server is problematic. The people who play tere are not really indicative of the players who play the live server. The test server crowd is a lot more savvy and know the engine better than the average live player. Thus, that something works and is balanced on test probably means it is a bit too hard on live.

I beleive you will find this to be the case with the boss hit Points/Damage. And BTW; if the boss takes 40% more damage to take down and does 40% more damage itself, that means it is now likely to do 96% more damage over its lifespan - and thus the xp increase ought to be 100%, not 40%.

Could we get this section cross-posted to the European CoH boards? There have been concearns that the European boards will be remote and far avay from the developers. If this section was held in common between the European and US boards, that divide could be lessened.

Tested Fly + Unyeilidng (new version) on the test server. Took me 134 seconds to run out of End, which translates to a cost of 0.40 end/sec.

About the same as Temporary Invulnerability. Not that bad.

Maybe you should make an exception for people from Quebec to test the French version?

I love this tread, but it is getting bloated. Maybe we should start a new one with a new table and all the data we have?

If you do, please post a link here!

[ QUOTE ]
Phase Shift might have a delay during activation during which it doesn't draw END, so that might be messing with my numbers.

[/ QUOTE ]

Phase Shift has a 3-second activation time.

[ QUOTE ]
As for the others, Adrenaline Boost and Recovery Aura recover end on such an unholy level that I think you'll need a non-stamina unslotted bubbler running DP, phase shift, fly, and whirlwind to have a shot at beating out thier timers (90 seconds, I belive?). And with that many powers and that short of a time the margin for error goes up quite a lot.

[/ QUOTE ]

Quite true. I did an estimate of Recovery Aura above, and the effect is huge and the margin of error likewise.

I actually (twice, shame on me) have called a GM only to be able to solve the problem myself or with the help of friends. Nice responses and some small talk have been the only repercussions.

Not that I want to encourage people to do this, but these GMs really are nice.

It seems the Halloween Special has been a huge succes, and I love it too. Unlike the Rularuu invasion, this event had a high enjoyment factor and a reasonable risk : reward ratio.

Call me a power gamer, but I think the last factor is very important. This event could be entirely ignored if you wanted to (just docn't knock on any doors and avoid the twelve-meter pumpkin men), but still you saw loads of people working at it. If the witches had perma-mezzed you, I don't think you'd have seen this at all!

Seems well over half the server populations were doing something related to the event - amazing!

Besides, the witches were the cutest ever!

This is the repeced build I did for the character on whose experiences the guide is used. It shows how my ideas can be implemented for one particular case – incorporating role-playing elements and other side effects that prevent a “perfect” build.

Archetype: Defender
Primary Powers - Buff/Debuff: Empathy
Secondary Powers - Ranged: Energy Blast

Level 1 (Starting Primary): Healing Aura
Level 1 (Starting Secondary): Power Bolt
Level 2: Power Blast
Level 4: Absorb Pain
Level 6: Maneuvers
Level 8: Recall Friend
Level 10: Hover
Level 12: Fortitude
Level 14: Teleport
Level 16: Tactics
Level 18: Recovery Aura
Level 20: Hasten
Level 22: Heal Other
Level 24: Resurrect
Level 26: Regeneration Aura
Level 28: Power Push
Level 30: Clear Mind
Level 32: Adrenalin Boost
Level 35: Aim
Level 38: Nova
Level 41: Vengeance

I have Hover for role-playing reasons; Paragon Angel is after all an Angel. I didn't want to let go of Recall Friend, so I embraced Teleport as my travel power. Teleport + Recovery Aura + Hover is very, very nice. I slotted both Hover (for speed) and Teleport (for range), so I have an indoors travel mode that is very fast and flexible combined with amazing outdoor speed. Now I am first at most doors instead of last. I am still not entirely happy with this part the build (I used to have Flight). Flight is so comfortable, and I miss the comfort. Flight is also great for recon – one problem with this build is that is rather slow at finding hunting targets. I also decided I wanted to keep Leadership, so I had a choice between Fitness and Speed for my fourth power group. In the end, Hasten won out – I tried three different builds on the test server before I settled on this one.

One reason I didn’t take Fitness was because I ran low on powers. Taking the whole Empathy set really gobbles up those power slots. Of course, had my endurance felt too weak, I would have taken Stamina anyway, but it seems to work like this.

I followed my own advice on having only two blasts all the way to level 28 - then I got a third blast with similar range characteristics. Power Push is no real blast, as it does almost no damage – but it suppresses the enemy for a bit, and it is real fun to use. After some trial-and-error, I found Aim works pretty well with the way I play; it doesn't take all that much attention. Since I blast so rarely, I almost always have Aim going when I do, so I seem much more impressive than I really am. Aim is also a great combo with Nova, my last blast and also rather much fire-and-forget.

Since I don’t have Stamina, Recovery Aura is a must-have. But I am also very happy with my 6-SO Regeneration Aura – when things get tough this really makes my job easier.

Adrenalin Boost is great on test – where it doesn’t disorient. It can be used Live with good effect if you have a defender pal who counter-mezzes you or if you pop a discipline inspiration – which is always a smart move before a major fight. The effect seems roughly equivalent to Recovery Aura + Regeneration Aura (perhaps a little weaker regeneration), but it stacks with these auras for a truly impressive regeneration. Great thing to toss at the tank when facing an arch villain! The description says it quickens recharge – I don’t know if it does so in a significant way. Still, every bonus counts.

I did a respec on test to check the efficiency of Recovery Aura (Empathy Defender).

I ran the following toggles (all unehanced): Sprint, Tactics, Assault, Maneuvers, Fly, Super Jump, Acrobatics, Super Speed, Whirlwind.

With Recovery Aura running, I ran out of endurance in 82 seconds, which indicates a recovery boost of 3.41 end/sec.

Because of the many factors involved and the short time, this is a rough estimate only. As I forgot to put recharge enhancements into RA, I only did it once. But an estimate is better than nothing.

It shows that Recovery Aura beats Stamina and Quick Recovery by a magnitude of 10 - no surprise there. With 6 SO recharge and Hasten, I get a downtime on RA of just under a minute.

PS: The Whirlwind animation looks crazy - never saw it before.

[ QUOTE ]
Does anyone have a number for recovery aura? If not, I can go try out

[/ QUOTE ]

I have tried getting this, but it is veryhard to get enough toggles to actually LOSE end using it. At this point in time, the end recovery of Recovery Aura is best described as "enough" - I can go crazy with my blasts and still recover.

[ QUOTE ]


4. Skills are NOT required. You don't need to play with them at all; but they do give rewards...

[/ QUOTE ]

This sounds very much like the badges - badges are not required, but 10% extra Hits and 5% extra Enduracne is nice. Not that I have bothered, to this point.

All in all, reasonable.

First, the End bar we see might not be an acurate estimation of the End the mob really has. This is unfair, I know, but there is such a thing as time delay. So the mob might have more endurace than we think. Actually, it might have BEEN out of endurance 5 seconds ago - and your monitor only tells you now, when it just got 5 seconds worth of End back.

Second, it doesn't seem to be fair that Electricity should be rotten in PvE because it rocks in PvP - both because it is unfair to PvE:ers and PvP:ers. I can accept distinctions such as "good vs crowds" or "good vs singles", but "good in PvP" should not be one of the factors we play with here. It forces the PvP and PvE communities appart.

Say Electricity really does rock in PvP. Say it is as overpowered as people say it is underpowered in PvE (I can't tell personally, as I never played it). Then dedicated PvP:ers will take it and use it to hose others - including the few PvE:ers who wish to look what's on the other side of the fence. Meaning they may think that PvP is unfair and never try it again. This sucks.

There is no way to make the rules so that every character or power set is equal in PvP, but to purposefully make a set strong in PvP and thus weak in PvP is simply bad.

I must admit I'm only 35, so my perception might be flawed here. But isn't Regen proportional to your hits? So if you take 20% of your hits at level 20, 30 or 40, it takes just as much time to regenerate? You mean damage is consistently worse (in %) at levels beyond 40? Not from my experience - as I outlined above, with a build like this I can usually play with characters in the low forties without sideckicking and still contribute a lot.

Anyway, I never saw guides as a bible, the ONLY AND ABSOLUTE TRUTH - it is my view and my ideas, nothing more. Since I don't agree with other guides, I thought I'd post my own.

This is a repost from the main board - per the tip in the Guide to Guides. It has been edited based on the initial comments.

This is based on my experience with Paragon Angel, am Empathy/Blast defender, along with plenty of experience from alts. Angel is very group-oriented and defensive, but so should you be if you play an Empath. I wrote it because I don't fully agree with the other Empathy guides out there.

Tactics

As an Empath, your focus is always more on your own team than on the enemy. Your target should stay on team members – either to buff or to heal. If one team member (often a blaster) consistently takes more damage, it can be worth it to keep him constantly targeted. The half-second or so you save by not having to pick them as targets them can save lives.

If you pick Leadership as I recommend, the entire team will suffer if you get mezzed. Ask anyone with status protects in the group to keep you covered. If you are a pure Empath, mezzes are no big deal – there is not a single toggle in the entire set. Still, Acrobatics, though not a good defense, can be worthwhile.

The safest place for you to be is generally next to the tanker. Actually, the safest place for everyone to be is generally next to the tanker- especially if you are standing there. (What, you have no tank? Just stay together and pray, then). Remind the group to stay together so you can cover them, and don’t be afraid to berate those who run off and get killed – preferably just after you raise them.

The hardest time to protect teammates is during travel. People spread out, and there is no way to protect everyone. If you see someone get hurt, don’t be afraid to teleport them to safety – if they mind, they can always say no.


Empathy Power Set


All the Empathy powers are good with the possible exception of the last one. Get them all as early as you can. Recovery Aura is probably the best, followed by Fortitude. But get them all.

Healing Aura is your signature power. Use it constantly as your team takes attrition. Teach everyone to be near enough to benefit. Early on, the Stamina cost is significant, so End reduction might be required – it is better to have sustained healing than shock healing at early levels.

Heal Other is adequate but expensive for the benefit. I’d save it for later and rely on Absorb Pain at low levels. If someone requires this on a steady basis, they are running on the edge – try to think up some new tactics.

Absorb Pain is VERY GOOD at lower levels, because it costs so little End to use. Just remember to quit attacking after you use it, and if you currently hold aggro, duck and cover. However, past level 25 or so, it becomes much less useful because of the high frequency of area attacks and smarter mobs that go after healers. By this time, you'll want both Heal Other and Absorb Pain anyway.

When you Resurrect (or Recall Friend), start with team members who have these powers themselves - they can aid you and get the whole team up and running faster. And combat resurrection is not just viable – it can often be required. People can say no now, and keeping party strength up is your main objective. Actually, from your point of view, Resurrection can be a good cure – targets are raised free of conditions and at full life. For real obnoxious people who won’t cooperate as you try to save them, using Recall Friend and Resurrection as the remedy can be a useful lesson.

Clear Mind is mainly a preventive. Using it as a dispel rarely works, as most mezzes wear off before you can catch the target - and sleep can be dispelled with healing. It has a very long and bothersome animation, so use it sparingly on people with useful toggles - like Leadership. Rad, Storm and Dark Defenders also have toggles highly useful to the team and lack status protection. Tankers love Clear Mind, especially fire tankers. Scrappers can usually do without it, but if one is getting into a position where they are chain-mezzed, Clear Mind will break that chain. Most blasters are better off with Fortitude – the exception is those with Targeting Drone. Now that Clear Mind is getting a better duration, one trick is to use Clear Mind right after Fortitude fires - that way, you'll cycle over your protégées at a reasonable rate and keep both buffs on most of the time.

Fortitude can be tricky to use. There are two ways to use it - to buff the damage dealers, and to protect those who can't take the aggro. This makes blasters and scrappers the obvious targets, but sometimes a Storm/Rad/Dark defender or non-illusion Controller makes sense. The damage bonus is always good, but even better on lethal attacks, so AR blasters and weapon scrappers are preferred targets. I put Fortitude on Auto, then set up a cycling schedule - first blaster A, then controller B, and so on. While Fortitude is cycling, I use my next Fortitude target as forward observer to direct my blasts. After Fortitude fires, I switch to the next target in the chain. When things get hectic and I have to use my targeted heals, this breaks down - but whoever needed targeted healing probably also needs Fortitude. You can cover two targets with fortitude with no recycle enhancements, each added enhancement adds about one more person. Fortitude also benefits greatly from Accuracy Buff enhancers. Fortitude is probably wasted on any tank of level 10 or more, except when fighting psionic opponents.

Recovery Aura is probably your best power when you get it. In the teens, almost every toon has Endurance problems. It will remain good, but not so overwhelming as it was back then – since people build their characters to survive without buffing, most go for some Endurance economy when they can. However, you can always rely on Endurance buffing, so your need for an endurance economy is much less than that of most other builds.

Regeneration Aura is great for those times when Healing Aura just won’t cut it. When your healing is getting overwhelmed, click this to get some relief. It is also a good preparation for a tough fight, freeing you up to blast more and freeing up people so that you can spread out to avoid area attacks. The duration isn’t bad, but it won’t last through a long fight. Since you are the one minding the teams life levels, you’ll probably be the first to notice when Regeneration Aura drops – send a warning to the team to reassemble around you.

Adrenaline Boost is the one power I have not taken. While it looks good, I am dubious of the real utility. If you do as I recommend and get Leadership, using this will actually reduce the team’s offense as your toggles drop. I think the best way to use it would be on a tank or scrapper when facing archvillains - few other occasions merit this level of healing.


Secondary - Blast

The goal here is to keep up a constant barrage of fire while distracting yourself as little as possible from your other duties. As explained in my Fortitude notes, I recommend that you use a forward observer at all times. Your blast powers should be set up to work well even when you are only absentmindedly clicking on them because there’s nothing better to do. You’ll always want a ready power, good damage, good range, short animation, and uniformity among your blasts – no powers with odd range or other characteristics that forces you to give them attention.

To this end, pick the first two attacks in the path – if you have Rad, you can actually survive on only one. Few attacks allow you to pick that much more Empathy powers. Early on, you'll be waiting for attacks to recharge - a good time to look over the situation and see if someone needs help. Later, with Hasten, attacks should recharge adequately. If you are in a tough mission, there will simply not be time and attention left for things like Snipe and Aim. And if the situation isn't tough, why bother?

Stick to the first two basic attacks. They have the same (long) range and reasonable damage and End cost. You will mostly be using others for targeting, and there's nothing more annoying than having an attack that is slow and interruptible like Sniper or short-ranged like Power Burst. Don’t pick any area attacks - you can't and shouldn’t take the aggro. The possible exception is damage mitigation binds/debuffs/knockback, but even these should be saved for the Dark and Rad defenders who'll be taking aggro anyway. Aggro is bad, aggro kills, and your duty is to stay alive to keep the team alive. No-one will resent you for avoiding aggro.

I have a slight preference for Energy and Rad blasts. Energy because knockdown is good damage mitigation - but melee characters hate it. Radiation Blast because of the speed of the first attack - it's crappy but fast, and allows you to keep up a constant barrage with only one power. Electricity holds the middle ground - damage is nice. Psi is nice because of the slow, while dark is defensive. Which one you pick is mostly a style thing.


I was under the impression that Psi had extra-long recharge times, but I find that documentation does not support this. If this is indeed so, avoid Psi blast .

If you like, get the nova for the groups that have one. There’s nothing wrong with an emergency break and fight finisher.


Group Powers

Besides Empathy, Leadership is the main reason Angel is popular in teams. Take Maneuvers and Tactics early, Assault never and Vengeance only if you feel like it.

For movement I recommend Teleport or Speed, but all the travel powers are nice. You'll want both Recall Friend and Hasten anyway, so the two groups are a given. Leaping is nice because of the defense and status protection. Flight is nice because slotted hover is actually the best form of tactical movement. For indoor movement, you'll want one of (sorted by my grading of usefulness, from worst to best) Super Jump, Hurdle, Super Speed, Swift or a slotted Hover. So, these are your best options (in no particular order):

Hasten + Recall Friend + Swift/Hurdle + Teleport

Hasten + Recall Friend + Super Speed + Teleport

Hasten + Recall Friend + Super Speed

Hasten + Recall Friend + Hover (slotted) + Teleport (or Flight or Super Speed if you really like those)

Hasten + Recall Friend + Combat Jump + Super Jump + Acrobatics

A tip is not to pick Hasten before you can afford to 6-slot it with SOs - you don't NEED Hasten, it is just icing on the cake. You can avoid the speed group altogether at no particular penalty to your empathy powers. However, without Hasten, you’ll need more attacks in order to keep up any semblance of an offense. And since we all like to six-slot our attacks, Hasten still pays for itself very quickly. Take it unless you absolutely have to have some other group power due to your concept.

If you take Swift or Hurdle, you'll probably end up with both, as you don't want Health and you do want Stamina if you take Fitness at all. However, with Recovery Aura, you don't really need Stamina - just don't blast so much when Recovery Aura is down. You'll be safer that way too.

Depending on what travel combo you picked, you have one or two group powers left. Some swear by Concealment (though you should get very little aggro anyway, it will help avoid the smart mobs at higher levels and adds some defense), and Fitness is never a drawback (just stay away from Health as it is redundant). The rest seem fairly pointless. One guide I read swore by Medicine, but that is too over-specialized in my book. And if you need Fighting, you are taking way too much aggro.


Slotting

Slotting is pretty obvious. Healing Aura should be the first to six-slot - and put in some End reducers early on – these can be replaced later. Hasten, Radiant Aura, and Regeneration Aura should be 6-slotted with recharge as soon as possible. With few attacks, you can probably max these out too and actually do some damage - though adequate accuracy (generally 1 SO) is always more important than damage (this goes for every toon). Do not rely on your Tactics alone. Do not slot the secondary effects of your attacks - they are nice, but there are other that are better at this. If you want to be a debuffer, pick some other type of defender. Flight and Hover needs slotting to be useful - with Recovery Aura, no other travel power needs slotting, not even Teleport.


End notes

Playing Empathy is not for soloers, and you'll need a team all the way through. With a build like this, you'll be an asset to a team, even if you are five levels below the rest of the group - which can give you great xp.

Lastly, because you draw so little aggro you will often be the last man standing when the [censored] hits the proverbial Fan. Do not be afraid to run. Your team will appreciate being recalled and raised instead of having to go to the hospital. This is one of the main reasons to get Recall Friend - the other is that part of your job as a healer is to rescue those who foolishly got themselves into trouble. People expect healers to have Recall Friend - do not disappoint.

Nice thread; some additions.

A power on Auto will only fire if you have a target selected. For example, if you want to stand around somewhere and auto-fire your healing, you must have a target selected. Neutrals do fine - do not select opponents or allies, because they tend to disappear.

In Kings Row, there are almost always Thorns to be found on a courtyard in the far NW corner of the map - especially at night. These are much higher level than the others and far from everywhere, but at ground level and quick-respawning. This is a nice tip for Super-Speeders.


Last but not lest, rebind your "R" key. It currently does autorun - which can be incredibly dangerous. Here is something you can use:

/bind R "local $battlecry"

Now you will shout your battlecry when you mistakenly hit R - instead of doing the death charge.

As an Empath,I'm happy Clear Mind got a boost - and see why O2 and Density should get it too.

I would love if Fortitude and Clear Mind had the same duration. They I could apply both at once and move over to the next team member. This would make my life SO much easier - it is more a convenience/fun effect than a balance effect. I guess the same applies to my brthers/sisters with Kinetics.

We got capes, and skirts may be coming - but what about animated hair? Must every superhero use tons of grease to keep their hair in shape?

And there was a thread requesting "girly" things - less butch clothes, more feminime attacks (Venus Love Chain, anyone), accessories, bows, ribbons, blouses. I second this.

Face it, thisgame is at least 50% style - upgrades should keep this trend. The last one certainly did!