SyphonStrike

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Syphon (kin/psi/power) was the fastest boss killer. To test this, he and I found two death mages side by side and attacked them at the same time. His died a good 10-15 seconds before mine did.

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The first time we did this was hysterical. I beat my guy down and, in the end, he blew himself up trying to take me with him (but failed). Quason jokingly said "No fair, yours blew himself up."

Just as his did the exact same thing.



(We did this similar test a number of other times and the results were about the same every time though that was about the only time the mages blew up - it was just funny that it happened to both of us, in the same fight, AS quason was joking that my faster victory was unfair. )

Well, I got to play with Quason, JB and someone else who I forgot to ask what his board identity is - his kin def is Bombast...

Anyhow, Quason's build is pretty sweet. If you are looking for a safe and effecient kinetics build, pay attention to his guide. He is incredibly safe in almost every fight he gets into which makes him very effective. His foes rarely have any end so all they can do is slap him or explode upon death. Seriously, short of a few "where did they come from??" moments where we got jumped by mobs we didn't see, the only time I saw his health below 75% was when a mob exploded upon death. Damn effective build.

I've long said that /elec has a wonderful defensive synergy with kinetics and he showed it in all its glory.

JB was using two (I think it was just the two) builds, testing which one he wants for after I3 goes live, and one of them had a couple new powers (like hover) that he was trying to get used to so his testing was a little screwy from time to time but, after watching him in action, I will totally revise my opinion of Stamina for kinetics - it is not _needed._ I think it's very valuable but, with some practice, you can easily learn how to get by without it. He had end problems as often as I did, which is to say exceedingly rarely. Also, /dark may not have an innate synergy with kinetics but it's a damn fine secondary. Again, it's safe - it imposes a wonderful acc penalty on the targets and thus you get hit a lot less often. Now, his health did fluctuate more than Quason's but it was certainly within a realm that one could manage if careful. Very nice build.

Bombast was only on for a short time (he was playing his rad/rad defender with us for the first bit) but he did show that whirlwind can be a useful power, if used properly. His secondary is energy which meant he was FAR more mobile than the rest of us - he was regularly moving back and forth to ensure the foes were knocked in the direction he wanted them to bounce. It also meant his health bounced all over the place more than ours because of some missed transfusions but he's obviously learned to deal with the knockback (it comes with practice, after all) and he was more than capable with the build. If you enjoy or don't mind moving around a lot, /energy is pretty sweet. The rest of us played a far more stable style with minimal movement while he, by comparrison, looked like a ferret on speed.

Uh, with energy bolts coming out of his hands...

I think I impressed people in two instances. First, my build is about offense and overwhelming, fast offense at that. When we weren't tackling psi-resistant targets (there are a number of them in the high level game) I think I was taking out foes faster than the others. Certainly in single target fights I was the fastest. That comes from having found a nice sweet-spot balance of damage SOs and recharge SOs and having a secondary that hits HARD. Also, I think I demonstrated to Quason that knockback (via TKBlast) is really pretty sweet when used properly.

Second, and this was amusing (well, for me at least... , at one point we were talking about kinetics and radiation. Quason made the comment that "radiation were TANKmages and kinetics were tankMAGES." I asked "Really? Rad can't really tank." They were all stunned that I'd say such a thing but, honestly, compared to a kin, rads can't... In my opinion... Yeah, they were similarly blown away that I'd say such a thing. I made mention of tanking monsters so we all raced out to monster island. Quason went after a lattice and laughed at its pitiful attempts to hurt it. With Temporary Invulnerability on (which rocks). I suggested he turn it off. BOOM! ouch. BOOM! ouch. BOOM! OUCH! Dead...

Now, remember how Quason suggested not taking Siphon Power. I proceeded to turn off temp invuln and went up to a Quarry and started talking smack to it while spamming siphon power and fulcrum shift with the periodic use of transfusion. They then realized why I said I think kinetics are the TANKmages... There was no chance, even without temporary invulnerability, of the quarry hurting me (if I had turned temp invuln on, it would have been a total joke). On his way back from the hospital, he made a comment along the lines of "how's it going Syphon - oh, I see you're not tanking a monster" (probably because he saw my health barely moving. Then he got to the island...

I think he'll be adding Siphon Power back into his build.

Seriously though, it was very cool seeing the different play styles. I think the safest was easily Quason's build followed by JB's, primarily because they've taken good advantage of the secondary effects of their secondaries. I was blown away to watch Quason seriously lock foes at zero end. Foes with zero end can just slap you. And slaps don't hurt. Especially with temporary invulnerability running.

I think my build was the most "on the razor's edge" of the builds - fast and heavy hitting but one misstep can spell disaster. That said, I jumped into one fight and got mezzed off the start so I figured I was toast - it was just a matter of time. In the end, I won despite my alpha being thrown off and thus everything else in the fight being a scramble. Really, I'm quite happy with the build I have on test and suspect I know exactly what I'll be doing when I3 goes live... Though I was probably the most "on the edge" of the three builds there, I actually was able to handle a lot more than I expected... Took on two death mages at the same time so that's not too shabby...

The key thing I really saw was how a kinetics defender can be played in very different styles and be very effective. Thus, honestly, if you ever want to know how to play a kinetics defender, ask. We're a pretty damn good group of people and more than willing to offer advice. The other thing, listen to what the person has to say and see if it suits your style. If it does, great. If not, someone else probably has a suggestion that fits your style. Because, really, there are several different styles to playing a kin def and they are all effective. I think Quason and I had the two builds at the opposite ends of the spectrum but I feel we were both equally effective, just in different ways. Just find the way that fits your style of play.

It was a great night - glad I got to play with you guys.

Well, I'm on (as Syphon Strike3) but the server is TWITCHY! so I don't know if we'll be able to do any long running testing... I hope so because it'd be very cool. Already did some quick stuff with Captain Voltaic and Kinetic Barbie (Quason and JB) and seeing some interesting things between the builds already.

Anyhow, going to log back in now...

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I was surprised at how much getting The Atlas Medallion and Portal Jockey changes the equation though... I don't have any accolades on my kinetic (yet)... should have Freedom Phalanx and Atlas Medallion today... (finally getting around to finding the badges and plaques... all the arrest missions have been done for a while).

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GET! THE! ACCOLADES!!

Seriously, the accolades make such an enormous difference. Get the +HP ones because they increase your survivability in a huge way (+health AND +regen due to the higher base HP). Get the +end ones because they make a huge difference in your end usage - it's staggering the difference they make on your end regeneration... Also get the Archmage Accolade because it is, simply put, the best accolade available. Use it any time you're 1) in deep crap and about to die - it will save your life in those situations 90% of the time or 2) about to take on an AV because it gives you the safety in the early stages of the fight allowing you to set up your cycle of siphon power/fulcrum shift to debuff the av into the stone ages.

Obviously the accolades are insanely helpful for all characters - this isn't just a kinetics defender thing, but get them! Invest the time into hunting for the badges you need for these accolades. It's mind numblingly tedious and annoying (really, it is... The Master Illusionist badge especially...) but it is SO worth it. Cannot overstate that.

Get the accolades.

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Downside of Leadership stuff is it takes just so damn long to start back up once you get held or something.

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No argument at all about that - I drop psychic wail a LOT so I'm regularly refiring my toggles. I've found, however, that's a good "cool down" period for me to regen some end and allow other teammates to clean up the foes that managed to survive. When you get held and stunned, however, it's just annoing (one of the reasons I was so hopeful that Mind Over Body would be a self mez protection power...).

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A question Syphon - are your defenses such that you rarely get hit now, and thus don't have to heal yourself much?

Or do you still tend to get hit quite a bit, necessitating a lot of use of Transfusion?

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Two parts to that answer. Well, probably more than two because I like to ramble...

First, with my defenses, fighting even level stuff, I get hit rarely. Hover, hasten, and five-slotted maneuvers is about 25% +def. I'm cutting minions chances to hit me in half (down to about 25%) so minions pose exceedingly little threat. I remember, while testing Temporary Invulnerability on the test server (against even con Nemesis), I had to turn off hover and maneuvers so they could hit me... I wasn't able to see damage results because they missed so often... So, yes, my defenses are generally good enough that they make a very noticeable difference.

Second, I often team with a storm defender buddy who runs maneuvers and steamy mists (and I'm always near him, in the center of the fight) which kicks my def up to 65%-ish. Which is pretty damn good...

Now, the flip side to all this is my build is built to excel in groups and, ideally, large groups (more targets = better) and I often end up fighting up the colour curve. Thus, I end up getting hit more and more often. But, I'm still cutting things down by about 25% just on my own and further depending on the other characters/powers present. Since I still do get hit, however, I've slotted transfusion as I have - for recharge - I'd rather it be up and ready to fire than have one big green number. I've found more, regular healing is more effective than larger, sporadic healing.

After all, Quason might heal for a lot more than I do, but if he misses, it'll take longer for him to try again while I'll be refiring transfusion in about 5 seconds. I've found this really limits the number of crash deaths due to a miss, dead target, moved target, etc.

Thus, in conclusion, my defenses are enough that I'm pretty darn effective. Transfusion covers things for when I'm not.

Put it this way - if this makes any sense - I regularly use my sniper shot and haven't slotted it for interrupt reduction...

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I found that, especially pre-respec when I had NO DEFENSES, that Transfusion was my defense. Pretty much my only one. Other than the -acc from my dark attacks, which, of course, I didn't really have anything to compare to.

So I learned to manage my green bar like a hawk.

Once I had Transference, and particularly with permahasten, I simply did the exact same thing with my blue bar.

It took practice, that's for sure. And slotting end reducers in some of my attacks. But y'know... making an attack go from 19 to, what, 14 or so end? That's not a bad tradeoff.

...

All it takes is practice... and I wouldn't necessarily expect an hour or two on the test server would be enough practice.

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Given that you used transfusion as your defense method, I can see how you developed the same style of play that makes transference workable as your source of end. Since I went the route of "you can't hit me!" and paid less and less attention on my bar, it would be a drastic shift for me. I pay more attention to my teammates' bars than my own...

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Checked the min/max perspective on it, Quason...by sacrificing a slot in Stealth to end reduction, you lose 1.5% defense from the SO (assuming even level, slightly more if it's green). By adding maneuvers to the mix (which is doable given 2 slots in the power for end reduction), you gain a minimum of 6.25% (I'm still not sure if defenders get 7.8% or not so I'm being conservative) which is further enhanceable with more slots. Also, by taking tactics and six-slotting it (1 endredux, 5 tohit buffs), assuming you have both the Atlas Medallion and Portal Jockey accolades, you have a +33.25% to accuracy with even-level SOs, which would free up many slots throughout the build for recharge reduction or slot redirection. This has the potential to ramp your DPS up by a great deal.

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I must confess, I think Tactics is an absolute must have for kinetics since it has so many to-hit powers and thus allows you to not have to slot everythiing with an ACC enh (check Quason's build for how many he has... Tactics would allow him to pull one from every power...). I didn't bring it up because he made it pretty clear he hates the leadership powers, but I think Tactics is just that damn valuable. Sure, it takes five slots to make it equal to one SO. But I count six ACC SO's in his build (might have missed one) so you come out ahead with Tactics...

But, as with all things, it's a matter of personal choice.

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Incidentally, if I remember correctly, one of my now long-deleted posts actually came up with a build that managed to run a ridiculous amount of toggles without going into the red in terms of endurance regenerated per second by slotting about 4 end redux enhancements total in the right powers. Check out the Toggle Costs Calculator and see if you can come up with something at least end-neutral. You're relying on Transference very heavily for end regen then, but you could also drop fitness and save yourself 3 power choices and 5 slots. I don't think the epic powers are added to the listings yet, but odds are TI will be a reasonable placeholder. If you want to go pessimistic, use Integration or something.

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There's a problem with that. Once you develop a play style that relies on Stamina, it's REALLY hard to totally shift gears and switch to a play style that instead relies on transference (you can go the other way easily, but this direction is REALLY hard).

I tried making a build that relied on transference and Conserve Power and dumped Stamina entirely. I felt like a fish out of water. For those that are able to do it, kudos, but I just don't understand how you can... I invest very little thought into end management (I do, of course, since I still drain end...) but with that build, it was a constant thought. For my build, end concerns should be low down on your list of things you are thinking about. It would require a drastic shift in how I play and would probably require entirely different power selections, different slotting (adding an end reduc in numerous powers) and result in a character totally different from what I currently play.

Like I said, going from a non-stamina build to a stamina build is probably dead easy. Going the other way is _REALLY_ hard and results in some pretty drastic shifts in playstyle.

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I would think you'd pull some damage SOs from your attacks (which will hit the cap via FS) and switching them to recharge reductions.

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That's an EXCELLENT point, I hadn't concidered that. I'd really like to get the numbers on exactly how much FS has been improved before I make any changes to my plans tho, and I don't want to start datamining this stuff till all the changes going into I3 are set in stone. Things still seem to be in a state of flux atm.

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I don't recall the new "per enemy" buff - I have +30% stuck in my head but I don't think that's right... The caster centered buff, however, has been increased to +50%. In the end, however, it's more than enough (even the live version is) to smash you into the cap with ease, assuming a moderately sized group (4+ should do it). Hell, with one target and a long fight, I'm able to hit the damage cap with all my attacks and spamming fulcrum shift and siphon power so I know FS with a large group (which your build seems designed to tackle) will get you there. Three or four damage SOs plus fulcrum shift will be plenty in virtually every instance and your increased attack rate will compensate for any hint of a reduction in damage/per attack you might suffer. Also, I know with my attacks, being able to attack more often allowed me to apply my secondary effect (knockback and sleep) more often which is a good thing. Given that end drain is 1) your sercondary effect and 2) a vital component of your build, that's a good thing - you can completely LOCK foes at zero end (one of the resons I've said I'd probably try /elec if I ever played a kinetics defender again...).

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Second, I honestly just don't have any room for another power in the build. Every single power I've taken is useful to me in some significant way. Even unslotted, I couldn't afford to take it.

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I know that feeling. You know I love Repel (it has been an incredibly useful power for me in a number of instances) but, once the epic powers come, I have to dump it. It kills me to do so because Repel is so incredibly helpful, but the new epic powers are _more_ helpful and thus...

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Ditto. I'll be hitting test later tonight, around 10PM eastern time if you care to hook up for a bit.

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I'll try to pop on then. I think the build I'm currently working with is Syphon Strike2, but I could be mistaken... Regardless, if I am able to get on, I'll certainly look you up.

Well, first, a suggestion - Tesla Cage may not be as useless as you think - when you target a boss, before you thump him with Total Focus (I LOVE that power!!), lock them down with Tesla Cage. Thus, no more following them around which allows you to remain stationary and keep mobs around you (which sounds to be an important part of your build). If fighting ranged foes and the boss wanders too far away, the mobs might stay put shooting you from range while you auto-follow the boss. Tesla Cage allows you to not worry about that. If you have the spare power slot, might be worth considering.

Also, I'm pretty sure you've read my guide for my build and know my fighting style. I would actually love to see you in action just to compare it to my own experiences. My build can solo (and can solo some pretty damn big things too...) but really excels in a team setting (and I honestly don't know if "excels" sufficiently states it, to be brutally honest...) while I can see how your build really excels in a solo environment. I would love to see how different the dynamics of our two builds are - yours appears to be defense through end drain (primarily) while mine is defense through offense. Not to imply you aren't applying a hefty dose of offense, but I suspect you know what I mean.

I do find it interesting that you state that speed is an important part of the build yet you have so few recharge reductions slotted. Given that fulcrum shift is such a key element of your attacks, I would think you'd pull some damage SOs from your attacks (which will hit the cap via FS) and switching them to recharge reductions. Especially with the new FS coming which allows you to hit the cap easier. Your bread and butter attacks especially could probably lose one or two damage and be replaced with recharge and you probably wouldn't see any change in damage/shot but would see a major increase in damage/second.

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Please put this in the Guides board (if you haven't already) so it doesn't get cleaned up later on. It's good reference material. I have a Kin/rad and a Rad/psych so I need the info on Kin *and* psych

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Done. Thanks for the reminder - I actually should have posted it there and posted a link to it in the defender forum, not the other way around like I did...

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After reading your build and how you play Kinetics I understand better why we bump heads so often, we play two entirely different styles. That is understandable, Psionics is better fit for range than Radiation (not that Rad is bad at it).
Since Beta (when I was Kin/Energy) I've played the up close and "In Your Face" style of kinetics. It suits me, I garner more debt than most Defenders but I enjoy the thrill. I've always played this way because it is how I can best take advantage of my own buffs/heals/ect from Kinetics. I've tried the "support from range" style of Kinetics but it just isn't for me. Sometimes I wish it was, I'd certainly lvl faster with less debt, but I'm all about the journy not the destination in MMOs.

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Uh, I play from the front line. The only time I play back is when I'm soloing because range is my best advantage in that case. When in a team, however, allies are my best advantage and I'm always deep in the thick of things. I'm almost always one of the first character to descend upon a mob, right beside the scrappers. It's how, imho, defenders are meant to be played in a team - from the front line. It's risky, to be sure, but that sort of balls to the walls style is how to best play a kin def, imho. Solo, however, is a different kettle of fish... Range is my best weapon there so I smoke 'em before they even get close to me.

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One side effect of adding end gain enhancements to transferrence is that you drain more too. With 3 end regen enhancements on transferrence I can drain a boss fully. When I remove them all, I only drain even minions down to 45% end.

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What? Your end _drain_ is going up when you slot for end _regen?_ IF so, I strongly suspect that's a bug... I can't imagine, for the life of me, that working as intended if that's the case...

Regardless, I'd certainly increase the number of recharge reduction slots you use for the trans powers. Big numbers are fun but regular use is more effective.

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Based on your heal numbers with 3 slots, I may consider adding more recharges. The other concern I had with recharges in transfusion is that I often come in the midst of enemies and drop immediately to red -- the way transfusion is slotted, I go straight up to near max. Plus when fighting bosses and stuff if I heal less but more frequently, that's less time actually doing damage and more time trying to stay alive, if that makes sense..

Plus, in my 20s-30s, I always felt really guilty for letting people die because my heal wasn't slotted for healing, I missed a lot, the enemies died a lot, etc... after slotting with five heals, I could tell my group that I healed a *massive* amount but that it wasn't that reliable. I felt great about my healing skill because I outdid any other healer type when it did work.

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In the early game, I slotted for healing as well (one accuracy and the rest was healing). Too often I found teammates getting mauled while I stood helpless waiting for transfusion to recharge. Thus, I switched the slotting. Now, you have to be drawing MAD aggro to get into trouble in the short time between heals and, if you are, being able to heal a lot in one shot won't save you - you'll be dead before I can heal you again... If you're drawing that much aggro, I'll just start spamming heal and keep you alive until we thin the herd enough that I can go back to normal operations. I can think of no situation where having massive healing sporadically is better than moderate healing regularly...

Also, if you're dropping to red that fast (not to sound snarky), you're doing something wrong. With the groups I play with, various things happen. First, my storm defender buddy might move into the group first - with superspeed and mist, he's invisible. Thus, when I move in, I have my def bonuses plus his and I'm now up around 70% defense. Damn near /SR scrapper numbers. Thus, when I start the fight, a lot of attacks will outright miss me. Or someone else (a blaster) slips into the group to nuke/nova/whatever. They activate when I FS them - the foes can't react because they're dead in an instant (or the rest of the team is pouncing on them....). Or I follow the tanker/scrapper into the fight. They lead the way and I'm literally on their heels. Since they are leading, they draw the enemy alpha strike so I can FS and Wail and then we all mop up whatever is left. Lastly, if I know I can take the hit (really, if the minions are orange or less, I'm rushing them), I'll go even if one of the above scenarios does not exist - I know I can FS and drop them before they have enough time to react.

So, honestly, when I say I think you're doing something wrong, I mean I think you're not doing one of the above. Something in your strategy is flawed. Unless I'm fighting _WAY_ up the colour curve, the enemies get a lucky shot in, or I'm stupid, I just do not have the same experience. It does happen sometimes because all three of those situations do occur, but most of the time, thinigs go like clockwork.

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Anyway, I take pride in the fact that all my powers zap everyone to full in blue bars and green bars. =P

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Assuming you're as high level as I think (in other words, buying new enhancements is nothing because you have the influence to spare), try changing your slotting for end drain on transference and rechage on both. Give it a try (using my suggested strategies) and see how it works for you - you might find things are a lot better and safer all around. Seriously, the recharge along in transfusion might make you love that power as it has for me. Also, the end drain for transference might allow you to shut down bosses in one click and reduce the number of times you get the problem of health bars suddenly spiking to red (like I said, a boss with no end is virtually no threat...).

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Most of that stuff is pretty much dead on, even though my playstyle and secondary are different. There's only one thing I really disagree with - a Kinetic defender doesn't need die a lot.

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Snipped the rest of your post for space.

It sounds like we have _almost_ similar play styles - using the anaology from my guide, you run at 10 or 10.5 while I push for 12. Really, in the end, who cares how you play so long as you're having fun. I love pushing it to 12 and if I slip up and die, meh! That debt will be gone in no time (seriously, I could burn off one death in 15 minutes sometimes...) so I didn't hold back. Others might not like that style. I find my build, however, really allowed and enabled to balls to the walls style of play. It is not about a cautious approach.

Oh, and to make it clear, the vast majority of my game play time was spent playing the game "for real" - doing missions and completing them, doing task forces and trials, and the like. Sure, I'd periodically go on a monster hunting foray or do some idle street sweeping, but the only time I ever farmed missions was when I joined a random pick up team and they were doing that, which was rare. This build levels fast and you don't need to do any of the "cheap" stuff - just get big teams together and go fast and furious.

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I have a question about transfusion-- you got 503 on test and 380 on live? That's very interesting... a 33% increase.

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I can't remember the exact numbers on live - I believe it was 380-ish. That might be wrong. Really, I don't pay attention to how much healing it provides because it's back up again so soon that if anyone needs more health, I just hit it again.

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The reason why I slotted heal so heavily is because I miss a lot, and a big heal will make up for the misses.

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Wrong. Seriously, reconsider. Big heals do not make up for misses - they result in deaths. Fast heals make up for misses. Seriously, try it. Three heals is all you need to be effective with it. Dump some and slot for recharge. That way, if you miss, you're able to try again sooner and that sooner is often the difference between dead and not... Seriously, bigger numbers are meaningless for transfusion - faster recharge is important. Once I made that shift, transfusion became _ENORMOUSLY_ more effective. Night and day difference. Your complaints about the power will vanish. Honest.

Recently, some people have asked me about the build I use for Syphon Strike, curious about slotting suggestions or the build in general. Well, rather than reply to those messages individually, I figured I'd post it for everyone to see, provide insight as to my choices, and suggested tactics of how to play this build.

Since this build was finessed with a respec, I won't present the order in which the powers were selected. Mostly because I feel that, in order to make this build, you must do at least one respec or the low levels will be insufferably impossible. I'll explain that later.

Oh, and a warning - I talk a lot. I get it from my mother. This will be long, but it will be thorough. If you don't want to read a lot, blame my mother.

Kinetics
Transference (1 acc, 2 recharge, 3 heal)
Repel (13 end reducs)
Speed Boost (4 end regens)
Transference (3 recharge, 3 end drain)
Siphon Power (2 recharge, 1 end reduc)
Fulcrum Shift (1 acc, 3 recharge)
Increase Density (1 end reduc)
Inertial Reduction (1 jump)

Psychic Blast
Mental Blast (1 damage)
Psionic Lance (6 damage)
Psychic Scream (1 damage)
TK Blast (3 damage, 1 recharge)
Will Domination (4 damage, 2 recharge)
Psychic Wail (1 damage, 5 recharge)

Leadership
Maneuvers (1 end reduc, 5 def)
Tactics (1 end reduc, 5 to-hit)
Vengeance (2 def)

Superspeed
Hasten (6 recharge)
Superspeed (1 end reduc)

Fitness
Swift (1 run)
Health (1 heal)
Stamina (6 end regen)

Flight
Hover (1 end reduc, 5 flight)
Flight (3 flight)

So, there's my kinetics/psychic offender at level 50. And it's a damn effective build. Now, some specific notes about the powers and why I made some choices.

Transference
Why didn't I load this with more healing? Simple - I want healing on demand, not big green numbers. Sure, I can get bigger numbers than an empathy defender but I'd rather a couple hundred points of healing when I need it than a whole lot of healing (which is probably wasted when used since the target really just needed a couple hundred points to top them up...) but not have it when needed. With perma-hasten and 2 recharges, this power is available almost every time I need it. The 1 accuracy is to help minimize the "oh, crap! I missed!" It still happens, even with the accuracy SO and tactics running, but it's very rare. Currently, on live, I heal for about 380 points of damage - on test (with the new version coming) I heal for just over 500 (503, iirc). Plenty of healing regularly. I can spam this heal in large, chaotic fights (which I love) because I know it'll be back up soon enough.

Repel
I've posted about this power before. People say this power sucks. They are wrong. It _NEEDS_ end reductions or else it is useless, but it's a damn helpful power. I'll explain why in the tactics/strategy section below.

Speed Boost.
The only reason this isn't six slotted for end regen is because I'm in short supply of slots... This is a vital power to this character's ability to be an offender and thus deserves to be slotted for end regen early. How is this power, which is not usable on yourself, vital to this character's ability as an offender? See tactics/strategy.

Transference
Ok, the three recharges should be obvious - I want this power back up and ready to fire as soon as possible. Why no end regen though? Because, I'm not using this as a replacement for Stamina - I feel it provides enough of an end boost, unslotted, to be effective enough as it is. As an end drain, however, this power is incredible. I can drain all the end from bosses in one mouse click with the power as it is currently slotted. This power enables you to defend. How dangerous is a boss with no endurance? That's right - not dangerous at all. Use this power defensively and view the end regen aura as a nice secondary effect rather than the other way around and you will be much safer and much more effective.

Fulcrum Shift
I wish I had the slots to six this. Yes, I did have the slots - I just needed them elsewhere... But, as it is currently slotted, I have it up and ready for almost every fight and can easily double-stack it.

Increase Density
Yeah, I could have slotted for damage resistance but I needed slots elsewhere. I slotted for end reduction because this power is pretty pricey. Pure and simple.

Inertial Reduction.
Pretty obvious.

Mental Blast
Ok, here's the first tricky one. This power is why you will need to do at least one respec to make this build work. I only have it one slotted and, in fact, that's a dead slot. I don't use this power. Haven't used it since a long, long time ago. This power sucks. The animation time is horrendous... You'll target a villain, activate the power, watch a teammate get into health trouble but be unable to do anything because you're locked in an animation cycle and then someone else will swoop in with a faster attack and defeat your target before you fire your attack. This attack will drive you nuts. But it's all you have at the low levels. Thus, you'll want to slot it for damage in the early stages so you have some more offense to provide but, make no mistake, this power will drive you batty and you'll be looking forward to level 24 so you can finally respec its slots over to another power. Slot it early and respec out those slots as soon as you can and then remove the power from your power tray entirely. Crappy power.

Psionic Lance
This power is devastating. It does a ton of damage and it has an enormous range - I believe the longest range in the game, unless I'm mistaken (one of psi's benefits - see tactics/strategy). The animation time and interruptability of this power is annoying but this power is one of my staples. It hits _HARD_ and is fantastic.

Psychic Scream
This is a great cone attack - a huge cone that does some nice damage for a defender. Why then, don't I have it slotted? Two reasons. First, I have fulcrum shift - in a big fight (when you want to use aoe/cone attacks), I can boost my damage innately - and I needed the slots elsewhere. If I had slots to spare, I'd love to throw them in cone but the slots were a priority elsewhere first. This is another power, in the low level game, that you will want to slot heavily. Very heavily, in the low level game because it is so effective in fights. But, again, respec those slots elsewhere as soon as you can. Don't dump the power (you might want to respec it out and then add it back in later) but move its slots elsewhere.

TKBlast and Will Domination
These are your bread and butter attacks. They are slotted for fast cycling. I can generally boost my damage enough to compensate for the (relatively) low number of damage SOs - having them recharge faster is more important than having each individual attack do more damage.

Psychic Wail
I don't need this power to be slotted for damage - I have fulcrum shift and the only time I'm going to use this power is when I'm surrounded by lots of targets that are ripe for a fulcrum shift boost. Thus, I want this power back online as fast as possible. Currently, I can wail a lot. This is one of the reasons I have scrappers envious - I can rush a large group and drop 80% of it in an instant and then do the same thing one the next group (or the one after that if we dispatched the first really fast). Scrappers see targets just drop like flies around them and then suddenly clue in that it's the _DEFENDER_ that is dropping them. Regularly. If you're not a kinetics, you obviously need to slot this differently but we have that wonderful advantage of fulcrum shift.

Hover
You sixxed this power?? Are you crazy? Yup - like a fox! Really, hover with five flight speed SOs is pretty fast. It isn't fantastic, but it is more than fast enough for combat movement. Seriously, more than fast enough to maneuver on a combat field. Also, the def bonus it provides works with this build's defensive strategy which is "don't get hit." You want to team with other characters that have maneuvers and storm defenders with steamy mists and the like - this build is about maximizing your chances of not getting hit. Sure, I could have taken the fighting pool with tough and weave and been hard to hit _AND_ harder to hurt but neither of those abilities helps me get to the other side of the Shard during a Shard task force... Truly, in the high level game, you will love having flight... Also, it worked for my character concept and, while I want to build the best character possible, I would also like to do so within character concept whenever possible and the idea of almost never touching the ground was cool for this character.

Also, never, ever, ever underestimate the ability to get above melee damage. Never underestimate it. Melee is the deadliest area of combat and to be able to get in close with the scrappers while staying just above the fight is enormously helpful. On the Eden trial, I didn't need ambrosia - I just hovered up to the titan's chest and fought from there - his foot stomp doesn't reach up there so he couldn't damage me. I did the Eden trial four times (I love that trial - it's awesome - be sure to do it if you haven't) and died once in the final fight because I dropped down at one point to get in range of my transference (the problem with hovering up by his chest is I'm out of range of my trans powers) and, while I dropped down, he stomped... Other than that, I was safe every fight because I was able to hover outside the danger zone.

I think the rest of the powers are pretty obvious so I won't go over them one at a time.

Tactics and Strategy

There are two key modes for playing this character and they are both very different: solo and group.

Solo

In solo play, you will generally encounter small groups (unless you're anchoring missions and, if you're doing that, trust me, play with the other team members - things will be faster and more efficient - see below). Thus, the way to use this build is to take advantage of range and your defensive abilities. Psi has some of the longest ranges in the game. I suspect (though am not certain) that psi has the largest damage output per foot away from the character of any other build - they are able to dish the most pain far way. When playing solo, use this to your advantage. Open fights by targeting a minion with your sniper shot and follow up with will domination. Arrested minion, immediately (and if not, it's now asleep so you can hammer it with TKBlast). If the other minion(s) activate, hit them with TKBlast to keep them back while you wait for will dom to come back online and then hit them with that. Puts them to sleep at range and you can then take them out either with lance (which is back up by now) or TKBlast (which will be back up very soon), whichever is enough to finish the minion off. For most groups, that's all you need to do. Use your range - it is you biggest asset.

When a boss shows up, you can't quickly dispatch them so you start using other tricks. Take out the minions in the same way as above but quickly switch to the boss and hit them with transference. There, you nerfed their ability to hit you with any heavy hitting attacks. Anything they have left now is probably pathetic and more than enough for you to handle. If they are particularly troublesome, hit them with repel. There are two tactics here. Snipe, TKBlast, Will Dom, boss rushes you to beat the snot out of you, Repel and Lance them again - they won't interrupt you since they are flying through the air and picking themselves off the ground and they are now far enough away that you can again cycle back to TKBlast and Will Domination. This is the perfect way to destroy melee bosses (Freakshow, Werewolves, and the like). They will get a periodic hit in as they perfectly time an attack, but it will be rare. The other strategy is for ranged or "annoying" bosses (bosses with mezzes like Rikti Mentalists and the like) and this is a tactic that requires practice. No, really, practice this - learn how to do it so you know how to make the most of your abilities. You either bounce the target all over the place, chasing them down and firing your fast animation attacks whenever you can and never let the target attack because they are bouncing all over the place or, better yet, bounce them up to a wall or, best yet, into a corner. A boss that is repelled into a corner is toast. They can't do anything as they bounce up and down constantly and you can use transference to ensure your end stays up enough to keep fighting as you casually dismantle them with your attacks. Practice this - practice bouncing a target around with Repel and see if you can keep them on their butt, never attacking. Learn how to do it. Practice bouncing them up against a wall and see if you can figure out how to keep them bouncing up. Practice "herding" a target into a corner. Become proficient at it and there will be very few bosses that will ever again give you troubles while soloing.

Groups

Ah, this is where we shine. Yes, this build can solo well but we are glorious in a team. Truly, kinetics has a synergy with other characters - sure, some more than others, but another body around means that the kinetic is now maximizing their potential. The key to group play is to dial things up to 12 and keep it there. The reason this build works so well is simple - it's able to crank things right to the limit and then push it even further, for itself and everyone around it. If earning debt annoys you then this is not the build for you and probably not the AT for you. Kinetics is about pushing characters beyond their limits which has its risks and debt is one of those risks. Thus, if you get annoyed by debt, don't make this character.

But, if you have debt, aren't you leveling slower? Well, yeah, but I guarantee I leveled faster by pushing myself to 12 and sometimes overstepping to 13 and earning some debt than had I played it safe at 9 (yeah, 9 is safe for a kinetics defender in a team...). I earned XP at an insane pace so those periodic (and sometimes regular) times I earned debt were easily overcome by the fast pace that XP was coming in. Seriously, this build is about speed. Look at the build again - I have a ton of recharge reductions.

Fast! Fast!. Go!

How do you play this build in a team? Simple - you rush in and you stay in the middle of combat as often as possible. And if your teammates have any intention of attacking, they should be rushing in as well with you. Your alpha strike is fulcrum shift. That's how you start every fight - buff everyone to the damage cap and debuff all the foes.

Make sure everyone is speed boosted. Always. I can't stress this enough. Even if you have to stop what you are doing in the middle of a fight to speed boost people, do it. That is one of the keys to this build's success - dialing everyone in a team up to 12 and speed boost is how you accomplish this. XP comes in faster if everyone is cranked up to maximum ability.

Target bosses. Use them as the focal point for transference and transfusion. They don't die easily - you can tell when one is close to death and thus know to not activate one of the trans. Also, with transference slotted the way it is, that's the target you want to be hitting anyways (this is a generalization - sometimes you want to drain the lieutenant that has mezz attacks or whatever - be smart enough to know when to adapt this outline to the given circumstances). After all, as I said, how threatening is a boss without endurance?...

Use psychic wail as often as is safe. If there are lots of minions, go nuts. Use it often and fights will go so much faster (after all, anything that survived is heavily damaged...). It recharges fast enough that, if not in the next fight, the one after that, you'll be doing it again.

Figure out how your fellow teammates play and be smart. If you have a blaster with you who drops his nuke every once in a while, try to set it up with him that he nukes every other fight (so you don't double nuke, unless it's a particular tough group in which case double nuking is a good plan) but also target one of the bosses in the group and tell the blaster to hang in there for an extra second or two after he nukes (most nuke and run) so you can boost their end back up and get them back into the fight immediately.

Communicate! Tell your teammates how you function - specifically, that they will do better if they get into the heart of the chaos and stay there. They will be more potent and thus safer in the heart of the fight. That said, there are lots of specific situations and combos where this power and that power interact in an interesting way. Communicate so you maximize the benefits of those unique situations.

In big fights, I generally cycle 5.5 powers regularly (two of them a situation dependent so I'm not counting them as full powers), Fulcrum Shift, every chance I can, TKBlast and Will Domination (seriously, these are your bread and butter attacks... There's a reason I slotted them for recharge...), Transference (on bosses or other key targets), Transfusion (because it recharges fast enough that I don't mind spamming it), and Psychic Scream and Psionic Lance when appropriate (lots of minions left, scream at them - big boss left and I don't have aggro (because a group of rabid ferrets are going speed boosted crazy on the foes), I snipe the boss).

Keep your toggles up! Your two leaderships are very potent abilities and add to the entire team - keep them up. Also, use vengeance whenever you can. Oh, make no mistake, teammates will die. Like I said, this build is about dialing things up to 12. Sometimes you get overconfident and push it to 13 and that's where trouble comes in. And overconfidence is so easy with this build because it's so easy to dial up to 12. 11 is easy and feels slow and 12 is perfect but 13 looks so appealing... If you play with people that complain and whine about debt, they are not the right teammates for you. You need to play with fearless people who know that death will happen from time to time but you will make up for it by keeping things dialed up to 12. You _WILL_ earn XP faster earning the periodic death than if you scale back and play it safe. Honestly. Every time I've played this character and been on a team that is slow and cautious, I feel like I'm leaving so much wasted potential on the table. Every time I play with a good, fearless team that knows how to work with other characters, things go at a wonderfully insane pace.

Big Bosses (Monsters and AVs)

Wether solo or teamed (yes, I said solo - soloing monsters with this build is (pre-update 3) very possible - I've done it), your strategy here becomes a bit different - you are still about keeping things dialed up (in other words, no matter how long the fight goes, keep speed boost up on people), your key job is to use fulcrum shift and siphon power _EVERY_ time they come back online. You can completely neuter a big boss's ability to damage. You are much more likely to survive the fight if you do this. In the big fights, the buffs you provide become the side benefit of your debuffs. Normally, you are primarily about your buffs. In the big fights, you are primarily about your debuffs. All the rest of the fight strategy should be obvious but these two powers are vital.

Conclusion

This is a wonderful offender build. I lucked into it. When I created Syphon (my second character I ever created), I took Kinetics because it sounded really neat - unique - and I took psi because I figured lots of foes would be vulnerable to it. And lots are but, make no mistake, there are also lots of foes that are resistant to it... But, in the end, I got a great build. Sure, /electricity and /radiation might have more innate synergy with kinetics but don't kid yourself - /psychic has some awesome punch. Like I've said, but I want to stress (so I'll say it again), this build is about dialing it up to 12. You want to play in groups and, preferably, large groups. You can solo and do so quite effectively but you are leaving so much potential on the table if you solo. If soloing is your thing, play a different AT. Seriously, you aren't getting the most out of a kinetics solo. You want allies around you running around like rabid ferrets and you want lots of targets to feed your powers. This build is at maximum effect with a full 8-person team doing missions and task forces and the like. Big missions with lots of foes or big foes (monsters and AVs). Women lie - size does matter - bigger is better.

And, as I said, if debt annoys you, play something else. This is not the build for you. You will die. The problem with dialing things up to 12 is when you slip to 13, the potential for catastrophic failure if one thing goes wrong goes up. But, you level faster accidently slipping to 13 but normally playing at 12 than you do if you play at a slow pace of 9 (like I said earlier, 9 is slow for a kinetics defender...).

Communicate and push things right to the limit and then push them some more. This is an incredibly effective and fun build to play.

Addendum

With update 3 coming, some things will change, all in a good way (imho). First, our trans effects are getting better. Second, FS and Siphon Power are getting more potent. Also, hit point values are going up (so our ability to buff damage becomes more valuable). It means being able to drop mobs of yellow minions with wail probably won't be possible any more but, given that I went after mobs of red and purple minions with big groups pretty regularly, I don't see that as a major problem...

They are also adding epic power pools which means my build will change. I have not finalized what my new build will be (still testing some things) but the following are the most likely changes I'll be making.

Dropping superspeed. With flight 3 slotted for movement, I don't need it... I'll miss the stealth aspect, but I need power slots. Also, flight is the better choice because being able to fly around the Shard is really valuable in the high level game. Dropping Inertial Reduction for the same reason - with flight, I don't need it and I need the power slot. It'll suck when I play with someone's pre-movement power alt because I can't give them superhumping, but... Dropping Repel. This one kills me. I love this power... It kills me to get rid of it but I know I'll be playing Syphon primarily in group settings from this point forward so I won't need it as much... It's an awesome power and I hate that I'm going to drop it, but I need to drop something... I might also be dropping Psychic Scream. Again, this kills me. I love this power but I might want a fourth power slot and this will be the next to go... Painful...

What am I adding? Power Mastery. Specifically, Power Build Up, Temporary Invulnerability, and Total Focus. I might also add Conserve Power but I'm not certain of that yet. Temp Invuln I'll be sixxing (five res and 1 end reduc) and Power Build Up will be getting 4 recharges - that allows me to use it before every big fight with Wail - it recharges at about the same time. And Total Focus will get 3 recharges. I could load it with damage but it already does some hefty damage to begin with - I want it recharging fast so I can chain stun bosses and the like. Also, Fulcrum Shift will make up for the missing damage enhancements. Because Total Focus is such a devastating attack, I might drop Scream from my attacks to add Conserve Power (Total Focus can replace Scream in my attack sequence - I would often use scream while other powers recharged because it has such a fast animation despite it's low damage - Total Focus has a longer animation but does devastating damage...). I doubt I will, however, since endurance is so rarely a concern.

Slots will be pulled from various spots to feed these powers - one less in Vengeance, dropping Siphon Power to 1 recharge (this one I'm not convinced is the right choice - I want to keep it recharging fast so I might poach that slot from another power and leave it with two recharges), dropping hover to 4 flight instead of 5, one from Speed Boost (my allies will still have massive end boosts with it but not quite as much as before), 1 damage from TKBlast and 2 from Will Dom (I still want them cycling fast but I can supplement those missing damage slots with fulcrum shift).

Again, this Update 3 respecced is not yet finalized but this is the most likely route I will go with it.

Final Thoughts

Yes, I'm almost done. Honest.

There it is - my level 50 kinetics/psychic defender/offender. If I missed any important points or thoughts, feel free to ask. I'm sure, after playing Syphon for 50 levels, there are some things that I just do intuitively now and may not have addressed (despite rambling on forever...). If you have questions, feel free to ask.

If you disagree with any of my points or suggestions, that's your right. You're wrong but it's your right to be wrong. I know how effective this build is - I know what it's capable of. I know that this build provides you with the ability to play balls to the walls and have a ton of fun. If chaotic, intense, large battles aren't your cup of tea or if you HATE earning debt, then play something else. This build, in a big team, results in sheer and utter controlled mayhem and it's glorious. You tear through opposition at an insane rate and it's just lovely.

All righty, done. Finally.

[ QUOTE ]
I don't remember a lawsuit... but IIRC TSR (the company which published AD&D) had "Nazi" as either a copyright or trademark (I don't remember if it was an (c) or (r) after the name) in their Indiana Jones RPG.

[/ QUOTE ]

First, (c) is copyright. You produce something, you automatically own the copyright. The Marvel lawsuit has nothing to do with copyright infringement (not saying you said it did but it is the common mistaken comment - it is not a copyright infringement lawsuit).

(r) and tm are both about trademarks (one is registered and the other isn't). The TSR "Nazi" tm was _THE IMAGE_ not the word. They attempted to trademark the specific depiction, not the word. Another misconception, but there's the facts.

[ QUOTE ]
Translation: "That rumor isn't even loosely based in fact, to the point where I can't reply with a straight face. Instead, I'll use humor to illustrate the absurdity of it all, even though a portion of my audience may not appreciate the subtle irony."

Or something like that

[/ QUOTE ]

For perfectly translating the post, have some stars.

[ QUOTE ]
Does it seem odd to anyone else that the trial necessary to fix a GIMPED character is the hardest [censored] mission in the game?

[/ QUOTE ]

Play more of the game. You could not be more wrong about that if you tried. Is the respec trial challenging? Yeah. A bit. Well, not really if you play with a team that knows what they're doing... But, is it the hardest trial in the game? Oh good god no. Not even close. There are story arc missions that are harder... Not to sound all elite and all, but this trial is tough, but it's FAR from the hardest trial you will encounter.

[ QUOTE ]
I just lost the trial for the FIFTH TIME IN A ROW! Every time we've had a very efficient team, and every time we got our [censored] handed to us by the last wave or two of enemies.

[/ QUOTE ]

Then I would argue you didn't have a very efficient team. What was the team make-up? What were their levels?

If you have a level range that's too large, you will likely fail. If you don't have a balanced team, you will likely fail. The key is to make sure everyone is in a tight level range near the highest level character and that the team has a little of everything. That maximises your chances of success.

Also, playing with good players that know how to work as a team helps. Even gimped characters can succeed when they know how to work together as a team.

[ QUOTE ]
It was fun the first time or two, but after breaking 50K in debt at level 25 from ONE MISSION it immediately ceases to entertain.

[/ QUOTE ]

If debt is going to bother you this much, at this point in the game, stop playing. I earned 450k of debt on Halloween night while participating in attacks against level 50 monsters (who hit very, very hard). 450k of debt. Even at that level (44, at the time), that's a HUGE amount of debt. It was gone the next night over the course of normal, non-power-levelling play, in about four hours. Debt goes away. Stop worrying about it. Just play the game and have fun.

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The problem with off-line characters being present in the base is what happens if the base is raided (by players or possibly PvE, who knows)? Do you really want to come back on and find out your hero was defeated while you were away?

Servants on the other hand is an interesting idea.

[/ QUOTE ]

Awww…. That’s easy to solve. These offline heroes are essentially NPC’s right? Well if the base is attacked simply have them do that run around like idiots with their hands in the air animation.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'd have to stage ambushes just to get the screenshots of teammates running around like cowards...

I do think, however, this is a good idea overall - the exact implementation would require refinement but I think it adds some wonderful ambience to the game setting.

X1 - Adapt. Figure out the strengths and style of your teammates and adapt your playstyle to fit there's. Some teams rush in for an alpha strike - others pull. Some lead with blaster AOEs - others lead with tanks and controllers. Some groups need to knock around foes to be most effective (energy torrent, repel, etc.) and others want mobs in tight groups for maximum effect (fire tankers, spines scrappers, AOE blasters). Figure it out fast and adapt your style to the style of the group at large. Working at odds to the team strategy is stupid.

X2 - Assign one field lead. Follow that lead. A team that is divided is a team that will suffer deaths. A team that is united behind one person will survive. You don't need the perfect plan - you just need a plan that everyone is implementing.

X3 - Let your buffbots buff you before starting a fight. It might take an extra 5 seconds as they cycle through the team hitting everyone with Increase Density and Speed Boost, but it makes fights that much easier.

X3.2 - If you are the buffbot, buff your teammates as soon as you start lining up for the next fight so everyone is at maximum efficiency when the fight begins.

X4 - Teamwork can overcome everything.

[ QUOTE ]
If you are running around a Hazard zone and you see 3 heroes running toward you and each of them has red health, begin the following process.

1. stop running.
2. flip on your travel power if it wasn't on
3. turn the hell around and go.

I've died 3 times in the Hollows while saying, "why are they run-- CRAP!"

[/ QUOTE ]

Bwahahahaha!

Honest, not laughing at you.

[ QUOTE ]
It may have been a mistake, and I don't want to hose the game for lower level characters, but I've been absolutely loving the +1 level missions.

[/ QUOTE ]

/agree 100%

[ QUOTE ]
Were you part of the team when Jurrasik was defeated? Did you recieve a reward when Jurrasik was defeated?

[/ QUOTE ]

I did Numina's TF mission about a week or so before Update 2 went live. I was part of the team when Jurrasik was defeated. As for the reward, it is possible all my enhancement slots were full and thus did not get the reward... Thinking about it, it's actually very probable that happened and thus I didn't get the reward despite being a part of the team and present from beginning to end.

Is there another way to track completion of a TF? It may be a non-issue in the end - I might just do the TF again and solve the problem that way... Unlike Bastion's TF, Numina's was quite enjoyable (even if there's a long stretch in the middle where I felt like a school-yard bully beating up on lowbies... so I don't mind doing it a second time.

[ QUOTE ]
No datamining was done on any of the DefeatX badges (which Babbage is one). Just because you completed Synapse's TF does not mean you defeated Babbage, many groups skip Babbage all together. If you thought datamining for Task Forces was slow, it would probably be a year or two to get every kill task badge retro'ed.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm not worried about the "defeat X" badges - I completely understand the headache datamining that would create and you guys have a lot more important stuff to do. I just figured that the Babbage portion would be a given though I can understand how that belief is also mistaken.... No worries - I'll find him and kick his butt again.

[ QUOTE ]
FYI: There are NO story arc badges. None. Never were. Never will be. You have Souvenirs for that.

[/ QUOTE ]

My misunderstanding. It has been pointed out to me, since making this post, that the above is the case. It is entirely possible, then, that I managed to miss the Badge-giving missions en route to level 36. I will have to go back and correct that problem.

Thanks for the reply.