(Posting this here for CDN, until he gets around to reworking, editing, and reposting it himself.
)
CDN_Guardian's FF/NRG Offender Guide for I6
534 Hours to level 50.
Well, I finally got around to updating my FF/NRG Offender guide for I6 showing my latest build. There have been numerous changes to the game in the latest Issues, so I thought it was time to redo this guide. It is by no means meant as the definitive guide to Force Field Defenders. It is my experience and opinions of the Force Field and Energy Blast sets. Take it for what its worth.
CDN_Guardians Offender Guide to Force Field / Energy Blast
I wrote this guide to share with everyone my experience as a lvl 50 FF/NRG Offender. I use the term Offender because this build concentrates on our offensive Energy Blast secondary power set. I have played a FF Defender since almost the first day City of Heroes went live and I have a lot of experience with the set. I hope this guide can be of use to some of you. This guide is not meant as the defining build of a Force Field defender, but it is a very fun build for people that are interested in soloing some missions and mobs, but also enjoy contributing to a team now and then.
This build is also very fun in PvP. Force Bolt is the bane of anyone with toggles and is a lot of fun to use. Force Bubble is hated by melee types. Deflection/Insulation Shields help your teammates a lot and you always have the ability to turtle in your PFF if things get hairy.
All Defensive powers got nerfed in I5 and then further nerfed with ED. Dispersion was formerly a base 18.75% defensive power; Deflection/Insulation were 25%. They were changed to 10% and 15% respectively. That means with 3 SOs, Dispersion grants ~16% defence vs everything, and Deflection/Insulation grant ~24% to their respective damage types. However, FF is still a viable set, even though it does have its issues. But that is another topic.
Here is how I made Guardian, my FF/NRG Offender.
Energy Blast Powers:
Your main three attacks are Power Bolt, Blast, and Burst. These are your bread and butter. As an Offender, knockback is invaluable as a defensive tool. Enemies picking their butts up off the floor cannot attack you. When teaming, be conscientious of the fact that melee characters may hate knockback as it removes enemies from their range. I found an effective tactic is to attack from the opposite direction of the melee characters in my team. That way, if knockback hits, the enemy will be knocked towards the scrapper/tanker, maybe a little behind them, but will still be in melee range.
Since the implementation of ragdoll physics, knockback is even more valuable as they take more time to pick themselves up, and the bug where they can attack while being knocked backwards isnt as common.
Power Bolt and Blast:
Basic ranged attacks. Bolt does less damage but recharges more quickly. Both have equal range.
Power Burst:
A very short range attack, but with Dispersion Bubble, you will have the defense to get in close to make effective use of it. This is your strongest single target attack, other than Sniper Blast, so learn to use it. Power Burst also consistently does knockback.
Energy Torrent:
Energy torrent is not an essential attack, but it basically does Power Bolt damage in a cone area. Once you get used to quickly moving around the battlefield lining up your shots, Energy Torrent is a very effective power. Energy Torrent is also consistent with its knockback. This is a great power.
Explosive Blast:
An OK ranged AoE attack. Does slightly less damage than Energy Torrent but has much better range. Works well to knockdown large groups and soften them up for Nova. I originally had Explosive Blast but on respec I removed it; I found I hardly ever used it and the endurance cost to be too high for the damage it did. I prefer Energy Torrent for my AoE. Id recommend taking either Explosive Blast or Energy torrent just to have an AoE attack, as they work well setting up Nova. As stated, I much prefer Torrent.
Sniper Blast:
Useful for pulling and to weaken bosses and lieutenants. Once you get Dispersion slotted, you can frequently get Sniper Blast off in close range, as your defense will prevent you from being interrupted. Sniper works great as part of a combo with Force Bolt. Hit someone with Force Bolt, and queue up your Sniper Blast. By the time Force Bolt hits and send them flying, your Sniper will have started charging. You will always be able to get your Sniper off before they have finished standing back up. Since Sniper can also knockback, you may knock them back down and be able to continue your next attack in safety.
Nova:
Our alpha strike. The damage is great and its fun to use. As defenders, our Nova isnt as good as a blaster's, so if you plan on using Nova, make sure you slot it. Energy Torrent is a great opener for Nova. Aim + Power Build Up + Nova = one dead mob. PFF also works well in a combo with Nova; let Nova rip and queue PFF to come up. Chomp a Catch a Breath, and hide in your PFF if there are survivors. Nova will attract all agro to you so be careful.
Aim:
Its like a mini Build Up. It works great with Nova and Sniper Blast.
Power Push:
Is identical to Force Bolt, except Push costs more endurance to use and takes longer to recharge. It looks pretty cool, but Force Bolt is better overall. I dont recommend this power.
Force Field Powers
Personal Force Field:
I strongly recommend this power. There is nothing better than knowing that if a fight starts to go bad, you can hide in your bubble, pop some inspirations, recover your endurance and get right back in there. Its great as a travel power through difficult areas. It prevents any buffs you have toggled from helping your teammates, but as an Offender you are more worried about soloing ability, and in the instances where you have to use PFF and are on a team, it is usually to save yourself some debt. Being a good teammate doesnt necessarily mean you have to die with your team if you can avoid it. PFF does not protect against status effects so be careful of sleep attacks. Its defence and resistance buffs are very powerful unslotted, so dont worry about slotting this power up.
Force Bolt:
I love this power. I used it consistently all the way to lvl50 and after. Its great for sending minions flying out of the fight to reduce their numbers or knocking down bosses and lieutenants. Force Bolt recharges quickly, costs little endurance and has an inherent accuracy bonus. It works great as part of a combo with sniper, as I stated above. It also has the potential to drop toggles in PvP, which is fantastic.
Detention Field:
I say take this power. Being able to remove an enemy, including AVs, from the fight is invaluable, especially if fights start to go sour. With three recharge SOs Detention is pretty much recharged by the time it wears off. This is a power that can annoy teams, especially ones that can kill groups quickly, so be considerate in its use.
Dispersion Bubble:
This is the most valuable power in the FF set for an Offender. Get it at lvl 12 when it becomes available and slot it as soon as possible. Put in 3 defence buff and 1-2 endurance reduction enhancements. I also put in a recharge enhancement, for the times it gets dropped, I want this power up as soon as possible. There is no discussion about whether you need this power or not. Dispersion also protects versus melee, ranged and AoE attacks. It can now stack with Maneuvers and other defensive sets and powers.
Deflection and Insulation Shields:
These are great team powers. I took them later on in my build, so that I could contribute something to my team beyond my Dispersion Bubble and blasts. I soloed a lot up until my early to middle twenties so I didnt really need them before that. If you plan on doing more teams earlier in your characters levels, Id recommend you pick these up sooner than later. In a more team oriented build, you could substitute out Detention Field, and either Energy Torrent or Force Bolt so that you could have these earlier. Either way, Id recommend them. Even with their single initial slot and a defense buff SO in them, they are extremely effective. They add so much to your utility that there is no reason not to take them. You will have slots to spare as a FFer, and with ED, three slotting both isnt a big deal
Deflection Shield gets melee defense while Insulation Shield gets range / AoE defense allowing them to stack with other defensive sets and powers.
Force Bubble:
A great situational power. It is great against big mobs to keep the bad guys away and when you dont have any melee characters on your team. Its useful versus powerful melee opponents like WarWolves and Freakshow Tanks. This power is not absolutely necessary. It has a large radius, so be careful of drawing unintentional agro to your group. As well, when its up, be prepared for every enemy with ranged attacks to focus on you. Force bubble works well with knockback and knockdown powers. If an enemy is knocked down they are pushed out to the limit of the field while they lay on the ground. This is great for when you use Force Bolt on a tough enemy and they get knocked down. Some enemies, if they are significantly more powerful than you (+6 or more levels) can sometimes slowly force themselves through your bubble and get in one shot before they are pushed back out. Be careful of this as an enemy strong enough to get in is probably strong enough to one-hit kill you. With its reduced endurance cost, Force Bubble is a lot more useful now.
Repulsion Field and Bomb:
Never tried Repulsion Field. Some people swear by repulsion field, so that it is an option instead of Force Bubble. They both have the effect of removing enemies from melee range.
Repulsion Bomb is fun but I found better powers to take. I found it too situational.
Pool Powers :
I went with flight for my travel power as it fit my character concept and I think its cool. Its not the fastest travel power, but at lvl 50 with 3 SO flight speed enhancements, Im pretty much as fast as a super jumper. Its prerequisite, hover is useful too. If you hover above a fight and shoot directly down, knockback basically functions as knockup; the enemies bounce up towards you before they land and pick themselves up. Hover costs hardly any endurance to use and with 3 SO flight speed enhancements, lets you maneuver in battles easily. I use hover as my knockback protection. Knockback, when you are hovering, makes you do a flip in midair, which you recover from a lot more quickly than if you were sent flying back.
Really, any travel power is acceptable. Pick one you like. Super speed has the advantage of having hasten as a prerequisite, which is a great power. Combat jumping offers a good defense bonus too, and Super Jump is cool. Super Jump also gives you access to Acrobatics, if you are bothered by knockback.
I strongly recommend getting Stamina. Our attacks are more endurance costly that blaster attacks so being able to recharge our endurance more quickly is invaluable. Running Dispersion bubble and blasting a lot can run you out of endurance quickly. Id recommend getting this power and slotting it ASAP. Staminas prerequisites swift, health and hurdle are all useful. I went with swift and health because hurdle is useless with my travel power. Pick what works best for you. Health recently got a boost in its regen buff and offers some mild protection to sleep, the only status not protected against in Dispersion Bubble.
Maneuvers got gutted with the other Defensive powers, but it still has some use to a FF Defender, as it can stack with Dispersion Bubble now. Assault got a boost and is a great way to add more damage to our attacks. Tactics, while not good enough anymore to justify not slotting for accuracy, is still a good power. Ive read anywhere from 3-5% defence buff from Maneuvers and ~15% damage buff from Assault.
Stealth from the Concealment pool is a great way to increase your own defense. You will find that later in the game, as the one casting the bubbles, you are the least defended person on your team. I found the partial invisibility to be very effective, and prevented me from drawing unwanted agro. I used stealth up until my EPP armor became available, at which time I respeced it out.
Epic Power Pool:
I chose to go with Power Mastery. Power Build Up, Conserve Power and Total Focus are great powers and fit very well with my role as an Offender. Power Build Up adds great damage and knockback to our attacks. Conserve Power allows me to regenerate endurance even with all my toggles up and attacking. Total Focus is a great attack with a disorient secondary effect. Temp. Invulnerability adds some much needed resists and is a great complement to Dispersion Bubble.
Dark Mastery is also an option. Soul Drain and Dark Consumption are great powers and could easily replace Power Build Up and Conserve Power. The dark effects just didnt fit with my character though. A SG mate of mine, a lvl 50 Rad/Rad defenders uses these powers to great effect.
Electricity and Psychic dont offer a means of buffing our damage which limits their uses in my build as an Offender.
Conclusion:
This is a very fun build. Some people complain of being bubble-bots with their Force Field defenders. With this build you wont ever be stuck in such a boring role. You will always be able to contribute damage to the team, and defense through your bubbles. You will probably find the slowest part of the game will be your late teens, early twenties until single origin enhancements become available. Once you put SO damage enhancements into your attacks, your soloing speed will pick up again. There hasnt been a mission I couldnt solo in a long, long time.
Hunting isnt a problem either. Pick your groups wisely and you should be able to handle them. Your Dispersion Bubble, Stealth and/or Temp. Invulnerability will protect you so handling mobs of even con enemies is easy, even with a lieutenant thrown in. Handling groups of +1 and +2s is not hard, with some planning and inspirations. Detention Field will be of great use to you against higher con bosses. Hold them, finish off the minions and then pick apart the boss.
This is a great build for people that like to play with higher level friends. Having Deflection and Insulation shields will probably be necessary so you can contribute something to the team. The experience will be great unsidekicked, but being a bubble-bot can get boring. Once you are sidekicked you can contribute some damage to the team. With this build you will have the choice of your role.
I am going to include a brief explanation of what an Offender is, since it pisses me off when I see crappy players misuse the term. An Offender is a Defender that is offensively capable, but also uses his primary powers to his and the teams benefit. You have Deflection/Insulation so use them. They are there to help your team. An Offender is not someone who just focuses on their blasts. That is called a crappy Defender, not an Offender.
I have included my latest build of Guardian, exported from CoH Planner.
Hope this is a useful guide to any potential Force Field / Energy Blast Offenders out there. Please post any replies and comments. Thanks.
