Ultimo_

Usually, I build any character I make with an eye toward survivability. To that end, both the Scrapper and Defender have the Fighting Pool and Manuevers, and the Scrapper has Combat Jumping to boot. Their problem is usually endurance, but each has proven to be remarkably survivable. I'll admit, the Defender accomplishes this by use of PFF, but the Scrapper doesn't need to.
The Scrapper I was teamed with didn't tell me his build orif he was IOed, so that could be part of it. Either way, it was just that that experience started me wondering.

The point I'm trying to get at is that Resistance builds seem to me to be somewhat disadvantaged in that they're getting HIT. As I say, a foe that can't hit you can't affect you with non-damage effects.

As another example, I made an AE mission in which the enemy was a custom villain with dark powers. Among them is a self-heal that has to hit its target (I don't recall the name). My Invulnerability tank was entirely unable to defeat this character as it would heal itself constantly. As soon as it couldn't hit me (I used purple insps), he was a pushover.

In this regard, Defense is VASTLY superior to Resistance. By the time you get to higher level and you're into the realm of the Defense Soft Cap, you're more invulnerable than an invulnerable character.

I mean, Lord Recluse does so much damage that he can defeat a Resistance tanker without breaking a sweat, whereas a Defense Tanker would last much longer because Recluse would be unable to hit him.


I don't know, maybe I'm seeing a problem that isn't there, but it sure seems there's something going on that should be looked at.

Scrappers and Tankers can usually handle the Rikti (not the Zombies, in my experince, they're just too resilient and do too much damage - and spawn too rapidly). Controllers and Defenders, however, just can't keep up. They get overwhelmed too fast.

As an example, I had my Grav/Rad Controller hovering out of vomit range (man, that looks wierd written down...). Zombies erupted out of midair around me and fell to earth were I would zap them. By the time the Zombie invasion was over, I had defeatd a few, and there 66 more standing around on the ground that spawned in that time. I was the only hero around, so that was a solo spawn. 66-1 is pretty long odds. If I hadn't been hovering, I would have been dead in seconds.

My Storm/Elec Defender encountered the same thing. The vomit attacks do so much damage that after a couple of seconds, you're dead. That was WITH Hurricane running (Steamy Mist was less than effective too...).


Part of the problem here is the disparity between the ATs, but that's a whole other thread.

Well, part of the issue is that many people can't afford IOs. Really, though, I'm just looking to start a little spitballing.

This. Yes, definitely signed. I hate having to call my pets back over and over (and often, even usually, having them ignore me) becuase they're running uselessly into melee. Protector Bots are the worst, I can understand the Arsonist doing it to get closer for his fire breath, but the bots have no real melee ability. My Medic does it too.

Well, All I can tell you is what happened. I didn't analyze it. I was airborne, but I imagined he had simply started the AS as I was taking off and it just landed once I was in the air. However, he was close enough to hit me with the hold thing as I landed, so I don't know. I also don't know how much damage I took from the fall, or if I was at full health after sparring with the Brute (I think I was, but I'm not sure).

You can't tell me it didn't happen, I was there.

Actually, I took my L43 Tank into Recluse's Victory (for the first time) and was invited to spar by a Brute. I treid bouncing around, but his ranged Dark epic power bypassed most of my defenses, and not having a ranged attack myself, I was at a serious disadvantage. Slugging in close with him was pointless, as his Willpower was sufficiently strong that I couldn't do any damage to him while his Super Strength had me using Unstoppable in a matter of three seconds or so. Even then, his damage output was sufficient to virtually ignore the Unstoppable boost.

Still, better than being killed with no ability to fight back, as is the case with most Stalkers. Notably, after fighting the Brute, I chatted for a moment and as I went to leave, I was Assassin Struck, held in a blob of some kind (Mako, I imagine), placated and struck again. Never had a chance to fight back, and was dead in 2 hits, even WITH all my armors running.

Nope, PvP in CoH doesn't impress me at all.

See, this is another example of why the rep system is worthless. Show you have a pair (sorry, ladies) and criticize me in a public place. You can still hide behind the anonymity of the forum, but everyone will see what a fool you're being. THAT is how REAL reputations are made.

I envision someone with Phase Shift being the sacrificial cow. He decloaks and draws attention, and suddenly there's a cascade of Assassin Strikes! It would be hilarious to see.

Heh, ya, that's what I was thinking. 25 hero stalkers vs 25 villain stalkers...

"Ok, I know they're out there somewhere..."

Ah, finally, the discussion moves to the actual thread. THIS is why I fight the rep system here, "derailing" the thread.

I've actually not used a debuffing set to any great extent, though I have a Rad/Rad that's around L20.

The thing I see with Defenders is that they have rather poor offensive ability which is exacerbated by the fact that they use the same amount of endurance for that lesser ability. This leads to poor offensive performance.

Defensively, there's a kind of mixed bag. Debuffers fare better comparitively as their debuffs are universally useful. That is, debuffing a foe is as helpful to the Defender as it is to his team. Buffing Defenders fare rather poorly, as they can't buff themselves. The result is poor offense AND poor defense. Add to this the lower health, and they are often hamstrung.

This is somewhat general, but you get the idea.

More or less. I don't think the AE is the source of any of the issues. Heck, even I don't play my AE arcs anymore.

(From the latest negative rep)

If you're going to try to infantilize me, at least learn to spell. The word you want is "whining" and I definitely was not whining about anything.

Nope, it absolutely doesn't (from the negative rep comment I recieved).

I loled!

And when they constantly step in front of you as you walk down the street?

The point is, I'm not here for your amusement. The point of these forums isn't this puerile game, and I should not be forced to deal with it in any way, however simple it may be to do so.

Besides, as has been noted several times, the comment list reappears often, and is disruptive to my enjoyment of the forums. That right there is enough reason to allow me to turn it off. It's like being able to put people on ingore in the actual game. If that spammer I've put on ignore could still send me spam (privately and anonymously), it would be considered a problem, just as I consider it to be here.