Philotic Knight's Guide to Force Field Defenders
By
Assault_Shaker,
Posted on: 2005-12-01 24:58 in Player Guides
Glad to be of service. 
Posting here a PM I got from a user. I'll keep the name anonymous unless he/she wants to claim credit, I just thought some people might be able to make use of my answers.
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Hi there. I just created a new FF/Elec defender that I've gotten to lvl 9 so far, and I had a couple of questions. I noticed on the boards that you are one of the authorities on FF so I thought I'd come to the source. My main question is about creating macros for my shileds. I read about them in your guide, but I'm not sure how to create a directory for my macros. Also, is it possible to create a bind or macro that will choose the next teammate in line to be bubbled and then automatically do it? Also, if you only had room for either Repulsion Bomb, or Repulsion Field, which would you choose? Thanks in advance.
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I noticed on the boards that you are one of the authorities on FF so I thought I'd come to the source.
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Flattery will get you everywhere 
But I'd hardly consider myself an authority, just very experienced.
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I read about them in your guide, but I'm not sure how to create a directory for my macros. Also, is it possible to create a bind or macro that will choose the next teammate in line to be bubbled and then automatically do it?
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Macros cannot be saved, macros are the buttons that will appear on your power tray. Binds however, are almost exactly the same as macros except instead of them creating a button on your power tray, binds bind the commands to a key on your keyboard. I'd reccommend strongly that you read this guide to binds so that you know the nature of the beast that you're dealing with. I could tell you exactly WHAT to do to make some specific binds, but if you know how binds work in general then you can do any binds you want to yourself. Like teaching a man how to fish instead of giving him a fish. For the quick answer on how to create the directory to put binds in, you can put them in ANY directory on your computer that you want to, I usually just create a CoHBinds directory on my main C Drive. What is important is that all the code inside your binds all point to the proper location of the other binds, so it's easier for them to all be together and in a simple location.
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Also, if you only had room for either Repulsion Bomb, or Repulsion Field, which would you choose? Thanks in advance.
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Repulsion Field definately, because the bomb can only be used once in a while due to the pretty long recharge time, but the repulsion field can be kept on, and only drains alot of endurance if you are actively bouncing into enemies. However repulsion field can get you alot of aggro, so I'd also reccommend three-slotting Personal Force Field with Recharge enhancements and using the PFF if you ever get into any trouble.
I hope I was some help, any other questions? I'd really prefer that you post your questions IN my FF Defender guide, because that way other people can also read the questions and the answers and get the most use out of them. Share the knowledge!
Alright-read through this forum thread with my daughter bugging me to watch 'Barbie: Fairytopia' for the 11 billionth time, so I hope I didn't miss this somewhere within-
I know I can bubble the core in the respec trial-can you put the detention field power around the core, effectively preventing it from being damaged at ALL?
Also, I've shied away from anything but the big 3 FF powers, and I'm at lvl34 now. Force bubble sounds intriguing to me, especially if you happened to find yourself without a tank in a melee heavy environment. With creative overall team positioning (i.e. use the corners against the blaster types), you could even conceivably use it well against long-rangers as well. Any thoughts? Is it REALLY such the end hog that it might make this tough to do in a sustained fashion?
Thank you for any advice...keep on a bubblin'!
Basically too many 50's to count, but I'm generally a brute/scrapper/tank kind of guy.
I believe the core is considered to be "on your team" and therefore detention field won't work on it. Honestly, with the big +little bubbles on it, I've never seen it get significantly damaged.
It's a great tank, actually, when bubbled.
Mini-guides: Force Field Defenders, Blasters, Market Self-Defense, Frankenslotting.
So you think you're a hero, huh.
@Boltcutter in game.
Force Bubble's endurance cost has been FAR reduced from what it was before. Now you can leave it on almost indefinately. One warning with it though is that it draws ALOT of aggro; enemies don't seem to like to be pushed around so remember to stay safe and have at least a couple Lucks or Respites available just in case.
As far as the other powers beyond the "Power 3", you might want to consider them, they are valuable for keeping your team alive. If you want to play a blaster that can provide defense to your team, which is what most FF Defenders choose to be, then just stick with the big 3. My guide was written for the FF Defender that wants to be primarily a DEFENDER, and so uses his defense buffs in combination with all of the crowd control tools to keep the enemies from attacking at all, or to keep them out of melee range.
Final note, Fullmens is right, the Core is considered an 'object' not an enemy and thus cannot be detained. You can only detain enemies, not objects or allies.
Good luck!
Thanks, you both answered my questions perfectly...keep rebubbling out there!
Basically too many 50's to count, but I'm generally a brute/scrapper/tank kind of guy.
Just a note here that as far as I am concerned the "Big 3" should really be the "Big 4" - as I don't consider Force Bolt to really be an optional power for a Bubbler. Its the one utility power in the set that absolutely any build of FF'er with any focus at all - PvE, PvP, Offender, Defender, Deftroller, etc - can get a *lot* of good mileage out of.
Well the reborn Philotic Knight is now a level 21... it's been a while since I've been above the travel power level, and I just discovered yet another use for an old power. I was playing against some Devouring Earth and I made the lovely and suprising discovery that with Repulsion Field on, SWARMS can only hit you once before they get knocked off of you. I know swarms are a thorn in the side of many, so you might want to consider trying this.
Rather than being able to sit there and sting you over and over, slowing your recharge speed substantially, with repulsion field on they can't stay on you! And as long as you stay out of melee range, the endurance drain with the power on is almost negligible.
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Well the reborn Philotic Knight is now a level 21... it's been a while since I've been above the travel power level, and I just discovered yet another use for an old power. I was playing against some Devouring Earth and I made the lovely and suprising discovery that with Repulsion Field on, SWARMS can only hit you once before they get knocked off of you. I know swarms are a thorn in the side of many, so you might want to consider trying this.
Rather than being able to sit there and sting you over and over, slowing your recharge speed substantially, with repulsion field on they can't stay on you! And as long as you stay out of melee range, the endurance drain with the power on is almost negligible.
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Hm. I'm a bit surprised here. They must have changed the way swarms work with KB and Repel recently. It used to be that Star never used RF at all in DE missions primarily because pesky swarms would sit around in RF range without being blown away thus draining her dry in seconds.
I wonder if Force Bubble now works on them... That was one of my bigger disappointments upon first getting the power way back when. It can't even keep freakin *bees* away from me???
I know Hurricane can keep the Swarms off or mostly off of you, so I assume Force Bubble can.
Honestly was never a fan of the power, so I never tested it myself.
Hey, I was wonderign if anyone could tell me if the following set of bind files would work as I hope they would. Taking the initial binds from the OP...
File name: teammate1.txt
t "/team_select 2$$bind_load_file c:\coh\teammate2.txt"
b "/team_select 8$$bind_load_file c:\coh\teammate8.txt"
File name: teammate2.txt
t "/team_select 3$$bind_load_file c:\coh\teammate3.txt"
b "/team_select 1$$bind_load_file c:\coh\teammate1.txt"
File name: teammate3.txt
t "/team_select 4$$bind_load_file c:\coh\teammate4.txt"
b "/team_select 2$$bind_load_file c:\coh\teammate2.txt"
File name: teammate4.txt
t "/team_select 5$$bind_load_file c:\coh\teammate5.txt"
b "/team_select 3$$bind_load_file c:\coh\teammate3.txt"
File name: teammate5.txt
t "/team_select 6$$bind_load_file c:\coh\teammate6.txt"
b "/team_select 4$$bind_load_file c:\coh\teammate4.txt"
File name: teammate6.txt
t "/team_select 7$$bind_load_file c:\coh\teammate7.txt"
b "/team_select 5$$bind_load_file c:\coh\teammate5.txt"
File name: teammate7.txt
t "/team_select 8$$bind_load_file c:\coh\teammate8.txt"
b "/team_select 6$$bind_load_file c:\coh\teammate6.txt"
File name: teammate8.txt
t "/team_select 1$$bind_load_file c:\coh\teammate1.txt"
b "/team_select 7$$bind_load_file c:\coh\teammate7.txt"
File name: shield1.txt
g "powexec_name deflection shield$$bind_load_file c:\coh\shield2.txt"
File name: shield2.txt
g "powexec_name insulation shield$$bind_load_file c:\coh\shield1.txt"
Would this allow me to scroll through my team using T to go up and B to go down, with G to apply the two bubbles in progression? Thanks.
I am glad to see someone writing somthing good about the force field powers. I have a level 50 bubble defender (The Greater Good, Victory server) and I have found that the force field powers are awesome
If I team with a group of blaster or controllers who cannot find a scrapper, they love the force bubble
I love being able to hold and AV especially in a situation of a team wipe and i am alive but no one can rez because to close to AV, or if we dont want to mess with them yet
the power Repulsion field is fun if you are good on endurance and you happen to find a big group of low level baddies, i love to watch them fly, or if i run out of end when i have Force bubble on and the baddies get to close and i have to run
In Short, I am happy to see a post about how good FF is. 
Would your strategies change much if using a [fire] controller instead of a defender?
Mother Imp Fire/FF controller Champion
As a Fire Controller / FF secondary, you would play a balancing role in any team that you are in. Your fire control gives you a good amount of damage to help your team's offense, and of course all of your secondary powers will help your team's defense. This is a good power combination if you don't want to be strictly a glass cannon blaster, or a goodie-two-shoes defender. You should also be able to solo pretty well, but as for strategy, my guide is meant to provide advice for those that want to solely defend the team. I suggest the Controller Boards for some advice on controlling.
Arcas, a vetran FFer posted a reply in this thread that I think everyone should read, this is for the most part how I play and is the end result of the tips provided in this guide for playing an FF Defender defensively rather than offensively. The entire passage is provided directly with no edits or modifications, so needless to say, I may not agree 100% with everything in the post, but I feel it is noteworthy enough to be posted here:
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I really want to believe that FF's capabilities are much greater than I believe them to be.
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I'll say this about force field: Does it need work. Sure it does. Repulsion bomb in particular could use a lot more buffage in the aura range and disorient areas (as many in the thread has said).
But there is a chasm difference between saying powers need work, but have use. And saying they are near useless.
The fact is, force field does work. The problem: The majority of the players do not work with force field.
I make force field work. Through brute force. And the way I do it is very unique to me, and honestly, it's not something I expect most other people to do.
My force fielder leads all of his pick-up teams. Every single one. A force fielder (to me) is a knockbacker with a few shields on the side (as opposed to the other way around). Anyone can roll out of bed and toss up a few shields every four minutes. I'm a lot more concerned with what else a force fielder does.
A force fielder that doesn't do a lot of knockback is on the same page as the attackless empath. They have tools to protect the team that they choose not to use. Most FFers that don't knockback and don't use detention field... usually do so because they are afraid of being booted. People don't like knockback after all. When you lead the team yourself, it's not something that you have to worry about.
My force fielder rarely recruits melee heroes. I know knockback would probably annoy them and I wouldn't want to put them in an uncomfortable situation. So they just aren't brought aboard. Mostly he teams with defenders, blasters, kheldians, and the occasional controller when the defenders are a bit low.
The missions for his teams are always invincible. And in them, he plays the role of the knockbacking artist.
Take a team of the force fielder and 5 blasters. Normal force fielders, probably throw up some shields, grab a book, and let the blasters get to work. Maybe safe, if the blasters combine fire and know what they are doing. But you might lose a couple teammates to too many hits leaking through the shields.
The knockbacking artist on the same team: shields up, opens the battle with a personal force field battle charge to soak up a few hits. Launches out of personal force field to unload force bolt on two bosses. Deftly turns to encase the third boss in d. field. Then returns to juggling the two bosses completely out of the fight until the team is ready for them. Everyone probably gets out of this battle with no less than 80% health.
Damage mitigation for force fielders: knockbacking artists >>> shield and stand around. Enemies on the ground aren't attacking your team.
As for power choices:
Force Bolt: The first 6-slotted power, and from 1-25, easily the most used power. Through enhancement, it becomes the chain-gun. Juggle bosses out of the fight, blast melee opponents off your friends, or just plain unload to cause some chaos and knockback damage mitigation. The use tappers off a bit after repulsion field comes into play, but it remains one of the core powers from 1-50.
The shields: Enough has been said.
D. Field: Nicely slotted. Used whenever I deem it necessary. Much like Tornado on my stormer. It isn't rocket science, when my teammates find they can't hit a certain opponent, they just switch to another for a few seconds. They don't like it? No one is twisting their arm to make them stay on my team.
Personal Force Field: The trickster. Decently slotted, especially with recharges. For opening battles, taking initial aggro, ducking inside for a few seconds as needed, and following Longbow forces around in Siren's Call with dispersion bubble, shields, and a on-off-on-off motion with PFF to annoy and confuse the villains of the world.
Repulsion Field: On as much as possible. Takes some of the effort off of Force Bolt which was used near constantly in earlier levels. And leaves Force Bolt for more critical targets. One of the key blaster/defender team tactics, is just keeping everyone close together, so all auras stack and the aura heals overlap and reach the maximum number of teammates. When everyone is close, everything coming the way of the team tends to run into repulsion field. Enemies on the ground, aren't attacking your team. No, it doesn't do this job as good as hurricane, but it does hold its own.
Repulsion Bomb: Main use is the battle opener. Repulsion Bomb, followed by PFF, and running in. In most cases, once those first few shots (from those who managed to stay on their feet) are bouncing off PFF, the rest of the team is charging in with a wave of offensive fury. Once the battle begins, 90% of the time it's already over.
Force Bubble: Aka the "I win" button. I get tons of use out of Force Bubble, completely because I never hang out with anyone that would complain about it. It tends to alternate with repulsion field, because there is a time for one and a time for the other. You never want force bubble on 100% of the time for a variety of reasons. Usually the battle begins, the aggro begins to be split between the team, then force bubble is activated. Giant four branch room lab room? Probably want to switch it off to not aggro everything and hop on repulsion field for a bit. Much like a storm defender in a combined space, force bubble is the warehouse/sewer map "I win" button. And a borderline unfair/overpowered "I win" button. I know this has a lot to do with how I use it, and the types of teams I run, but it works for me.
Getting aggro from force bubble? Switch it off. Can't do that? That's why we have PFF. That's why we have inspirations. And most importantly, that's why we have teammates.
There is a great fallacy in every defender whine thread that the defender in question is somehow the only person resposible for defending the team. You have help. Other defenders/controllers are usually there. And beyond that every teammate is resposible for the defense of the team, regardless of AT. Even if its something as simple as tossing you an inspiration when you need it. You're not in it alone.
There's this public perception that the force fielder is somehow charged with this impossible task of simultaneously shielding up, knockbacking away all enemies, tossing out inspirations, running leadership powers, using his medicine pool tricorder, and keeping himself alive... all in the defense of 7 thin-skinned fetuses who otherwise do nothing but stand around and need to be protected. Your teammates are tough. You protect them, but they also do the same for you, and more. Everytime I hear a defender say, "I can't protect my team," I immediately wonder what the team was doing to protect itself.
Moments before I started writing this post, I just left a group led by my force fielder. Half the team left after a successful invincible mission and I looked for a few more before the next. With all the defenders/controllers locked up in teams or not interested, the final team ended up being myself (force fielder), a peacebringer, 5 blasters, and the final addition a ill/emp controller. The blasters were emboldened by the presence of the shields and the empathic buffs/heals if needed. The controller contributed heavily with the illusion powers. And of course I was there with knockbacking fury, force bubble, and shields. But the fact is, the major defensive contribution for the team came not from my force fielder or the controller, it was from the blasters and the peacebringer. Sure, we support types did our part. But the sheer damage, rain aura chaos, extra knockbacks, sonic attack/ice attack/peacebringer attack debuffing. These played a huge role that, combined with the support, made the mission comically easy, even on invincible.
There is more to defending a team than heals, buffs, shields, and anchors. Things like slows, knockdowns, knockback, disorient, blast-based debuffs, chaos (from rains), immobilization, intangibility, holds... a continued underappreciation of these tools is rampant in the defender community. I wish I could just plug into everyone matrix-style and download instant experience of playing a storm summoner or trick arrow for 20-30 levels, sitting them in a room with 5 blasters and saying "Ok, figure out how to defend your team." The things they would come up with are the same things PhiloticKnight talks about all the time.
Other issues:
Archvillain fights - I'm not going to sit down and whine because my force fielder is "useless" in 1% of the fights he'll ever be involved in. So he can't knockback. He still has shields, he still has blasts and their related debuffs, he still has leaping in their face waving his arms madly then jumping in PFF. But most importantly, he still has teammates....
Anchors, Knockback, and XP/hour: I've had more than a few people, some of them from the SuperTeams, tell me that my thoughts on knockbacking and chaos are just wrong. That to get the best XP/hour, you have to keep mobs cluttered together, you have to have them in anchor range, etc.
My stormer would be the first to say that in an invincible mission with 7 teammates... there are armies of enemies. No matter how much knockback is present, you can still fire in a random direction and still hit 10 villains, especially in warehouse/sewer maps.
For anchors, knockback is only a problem because most anchor defenders don't anchor the most critical target (read: boss). They try to get cute and outsmart their team by anchoring something that won't be defeated quickly (boss) or easily (minions), in order to keep the anchor going as long as possible. Why not just anchor the thing that needs to be debuffed the most, the most critical target to the team... the boss. Then if any knockback happens, the debuff is still exactly where it needs to be. Once the boss dies, rejoice that a critical target is gone, and in another 5-8 seconds, re-apply to the next critical target. Worried about the team during that time? They'll be fine. Bosses kill teams. Lieutenants hurt teams. Minions tickle teams.
As for XP/hour, a four defender, four blaster team with knockback steamrolling through an invincible mission, really doesn't look all that different from a all-rad SuperTeam steamrolling through an invincible mission. Sure the rads are probably a few steps faster. But they're both in that same category of "ridiculously fast". The slower knockbacking/chaos team is really only dealing with 1/3 of spawns at a time, because the other 2/3 are on the ground, running from rains, or involved with something other than the attacking your team. Thats serious damage mitigation. And any XP/hour arguments become moot the moment ANYONE on the team hits the ground and gets some debt.
Situational Powers: 'Situational' is what defending is. A true empath is thrilled to never EVER have to heal. My storm summoner (who also did invincible blaster/defender teams), would go 5-6 straight missions without using tornado a single time. But when it was needed, he was glad it was there. Likewise, my force fielder would have a blast if he could just shield and fire attacks. But sometimes force bolt has to be used. Repulsion field has to be used. D. field has to come out. Force bubble needs to be activated. I'd rather have the powers to deal with those situations when they arrive, as opposed to having the situations arrive and not having the powers to use. If you're power is situational and you never have to use it... guess what? That means you're doing great.
I'd be much more receptive to most of the "Force Field sucks" arguments if people actually used the powers then worked from that. Not just leveling to 40ish with three shields, PFF, blasts, and a bunch of pool powers, then saying "My force fielder kinda underperforms." Well, that isn't much of a force fielder at all. Not as useful as some defenders? Some powers in defender sets more useful than force field powers? Perhaps, and debatable. But the "overall useless" argument is just wrong. Let's paint this debate with the proper brush.
What this is really about is force field being the color green when everyone really actually wants it to be orange.
The major issue here is not if force field works. The issue, at its core, is that the culture of the CoX community and its prevailing team tactics doesn't work with force field, and a lot of people want force field changed because of that fact.
Or, to quote my friend peering over my shoulder while I'm typing. "Why write all that when you could have just said 'People don't like knockback' and be done with it." 
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Eventually I will be updating this guide, but until then, I'll just keep pasting interesting things that I either found in the forums or random posts that I made about the set in other threads. Here is one of those posts, with me responding to someone that was asking what they should take as their level 32 power:
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...I can safely say with my experience that you should take Repulsion Field next, for many reasons.
First of all, by skipping ALL of the knockback powers in the set, you are taking away the true lifeblood of the active Defender. If you look at the powers that FF has access to, knockback is just as important if not more important than the DEF bonus that the set's powers provide. An enemy stuck on his back permanently can't do anything, and that is 100% damage mitigation.
That being said, the reason you should take Repulsion Field before and over Force Bubble is because of the finesse it provides that Force Bubble doesn't. First of all, it recharges much faster, so you can turn it on and off almost at will as you need it, you can't do that with Force Bubble.
Second, Force Bubble is an instant aggro magnet, which you probably don't want as a team-oriented Defender, let the tank do that.
Third, you can use Repulsion Field either for your own defense (simply to keep melee enemies away from you) to keep the least defended person on the team alive longer, which will result in it using VERY little endurance if you keep out of the very middle of the fight. OR you can choose to be a more active Defender and run around like crazy with it on to keep all the enemies off their feet. Just make sure you're not pissing off any tankers or scrappers by leaving their mobs alone.
Finally, while some may argue that it is just a PBAOE knockback, I think that it is actually a Repel power (hence the name), so there are some mobs that are knockback resistent that are not repel resistent. If I AM wrong about that, I do still know for a FACT that sitting with it on next to all but the most powerful villains (some Bosses and all AVs) will stack the knockback effect and make 90% of mobs go flying where a regular knockback power might just make them grunt.
All in all, Repulsion Field is the best possible choice at this point, IMHO. It has infinite tactical uses, and can either save the day at a critical moment or can just keep your bubbler that much safer almost every moment of your career.
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For soloing in PvE, I'm having mixed feelings about the post-32 world, after multiple respecs. I love the kd of Force Bubble, but its radius is just far too large. It just draws SO much aggro to me in solo PvE! But Repulsion Field's pulses are just spaced a bit too far apart to make it as useful as I'd like in PvE solo stuff...so I'm kinda torn. But I like them both, you just have to be CAREFUL in how you use them.
Carry on, my wayward sons!
Basically too many 50's to count, but I'm generally a brute/scrapper/tank kind of guy.
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There is a great fallacy in every defender whine thread that the defender in question is somehow the only person resposible for defending the team. You have help. Other defenders/controllers are usually there. And beyond that every teammate is resposible for the defense of the team, regardless of AT. Even if its something as simple as tossing you an inspiration when you need it. You're not in it alone.
There's this public perception that the force fielder is somehow charged with this impossible task of simultaneously shielding up, knockbacking away all enemies, tossing out inspirations, running leadership powers, using his medicine pool tricorder, and keeping himself alive... all in the defense of 7 thin-skinned fetuses who otherwise do nothing but stand around and need to be protected. Your teammates are tough. You protect them, but they also do the same for you, and more. Everytime I hear a defender say, "I can't protect my team," I immediately wonder what the team was doing to protect itself.
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/signed
That's lesson #1 for every team and defender, and question #1 when someone asks me for help with a build. (Just subsitute the Defender/Controller/Other of your choice in place of "Force Feilder" ) It constantly amazes and annoys me how few people get it, even after trying to explain it to them.
A lot of the tricks can be easily used in small teams. In small teams, it's good to be a swiss knife performing multiple roles. For FF defenders, we can provide defense and controls.
For big teams, the team members can be more specialized. My rule is that If there are already somebody who can take care of controls, I'll leave the job to that person, rather than asking the rest of the team to work with my controls. In this case, I'll just bubble and blast, and some occasional kb when appropriate. The bubbles are only a small part of FF, but if this is the appropriate amount of contribution that I should give to a team, I won't say I'm not making good use of my FF powers.
I agree wholly to that, and it will be the focal point of my new version of the guide, which will be coming along after I've had some time to mull it over. The key point of the guide will be that almost all defense in all its forms, be it Defense buffs, soft control, or other tactical elements, ALL of these are 'situational'. If you don't know when the proper time to use your powers is, you will tick off alot of people. More to come.
All FF Defenders should also read this guide to knockback. Especially considering that we are really meant to be knockaround artists just as much if not more than we are meant to be buffbots.
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Actually I want to clarify that, it does NOT use both bubbles with 'one click'. Macros and binds are designed so that you CANNOT use the same thing at the same time with one click, like you can't send two messages to the Broadcast channel or use two powers at the same time with one click of a bind or macro. What this bind DOES do however, is to make the G key 'toggle' between the two bubbles, so that you can click your target, press G, then press it a SECOND time and both shields will be applied. Since powers 'queue' up, you can also press G twice really fast, then WAIT for both the shield animations to complete to get the quickest shielding possible. This little trick earned my supergroup nickname of 'The Fastest Bubbler in the West'.
I was also not denying in my guide that Offenders can be effective, or that they are not a viable way to play, I was merely pointing out that they are by definition not DEFENDERS. I like to play defenders because I enjoy being the 'good guy' that helps other players. I'd much rather save a teammates life with an aggro-attracting attack that I'd been waiting to use, than to use that attack to kill another mob. I just feel 'better' defending than I do taking down enemies. It's a personal thing, which is why my guide is set up to look at a solely DEFENDER FF build, which uses even it's offensive powers to defend.
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I am inclined to agree to this a bit, though I do have a small problem with how archtypes, like the Defender were set up to begin with.
First off, I have played a FF/EB Defender since Beta, and I had little problem soloing until I got about 22. Since, then I seem to have nothing but trouble soloing. I can do it, but I have as much downtime waiting for rest to come up between fights as I did when I soloed with a Fighter in EQ. Both the Fighter in EQ, and the Defender both seem to require a team. I know some people say they can still solo, and I am sure that might have to do with getting all SOs and IOs for their powers, which I can't afford, but I know are essential for that. I eventually gave up on my FF/EB Defender for other character types.
The problem I see with Defenders and the building of archtypes in general, is that they seem to have been modelled after the way other FANTASY MMOs set up their classes, instead of modelling them after like characters in comic books. Based on powers, someone like Green Lantern would be a FF/EB Defender, but it is impossible to play a Green Lantern type Defender, as a Defender, and still play him like he would be played in a comic, which is what SHOULD have inspired COH, not Fantasy MMOs.
What I am trying to say is in the comics when you see Green Lantern, he sure does do his fair share of Defending, by throwing up shields to save people at times, but that is the lesser amount of what he does. He doesn't seem to need a whole team all the time like most Defenders seem to need. And he certainly doesn't hang back just throwing bubbles around people, or knocking targets down for someone else to take out. He is Powerful with a capital "P".
For this reason, I would say there is definitely a place for people to play the Offender-type Defender. Maybe they aren't optimal, but EB/EA Aura, isn't like a Green Lantern type at all, except they both shoot energy. For that matter, as I said the FF/EB Defender isn't too much like him or characters like him either, but it is the closest we got, until they make an FF powerset for Corrupters. So since COH won't give us Green Lantern types an archtype to work with we will have to pervert their current archtypes to make what we want to play. I personally like the idea of the offender, and have respeced to try it out. (First time on my Defender in a couple years, so wish me luck) If it doesn't work though, I have a few respecs left and will go back to a more Defensive FF/EB Defender type like you and Star suggests. Her build looked nice, though I don't see how she could have soloed very well since she didn't even have a second attack power for a few levels and didn't have a third until well after it was available.
Man, this guide is over 3 years old. Read the new one in my sig.
It may be 3 years old, but I still have it in my favs.
Some truthiness just never cacks. 
Basically too many 50's to count, but I'm generally a brute/scrapper/tank kind of guy.
I can see your point, Moving up TT to 16 is a very good Idea!
Thanks!
edit:
Here is a redo for my powers slots.
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Exported from Ver: 1.6.8.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder
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Name: Platinum Beret
Level: 50
Archetype: Defender
Primary: Force Field
Secondary: Dark Blast
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01) --> Deflection Shield==> DefBuf(1)DefBuf(5)EndRdx(11)DefBuf(31)
01) --> Dark Blast==> Acc(1)Dmg(3)EndRdx(9)Dmg(29)Dmg(33)Rechg(36)
02) --> Gloom==> Acc(2)Dmg(3)EndRdx(7)Dmg(25)Dmg(31)Rechg(34)
04) --> Moonbeam==> Acc(4)Dmg(5)Dmg(7)Dmg(21)IntRdx(50)
06) --> Hover==> Fly(6)Fly(45)Fly(50)
08) --> Insulation Shield==> DefBuf(8)DefBuf(9)EndRdx(11)DefBuf(31)
10) --> Force Bolt==> Acc(10)KB_Dist(15)KB_Dist(50)
12) --> Dispersion Bubble==> EndRdx(12)DefBuf(13)DefBuf(13)DefBuf(15)
14) --> Fly==> Fly(14)Fly(43)EndRdx(43)
16) --> Tenebrous Tentacles==> Acc(16)TH_DeBuf(17)TH_DeBuf(17)TH_DeBuf(19)Immob(19)Rechg(21)
18) --> Hurdle==> Jump(18)
20) --> Health==> Heal(20)Heal(43)Heal(46)
22) --> Stamina==> EndRec(22)EndRec(23)EndRec(23)
24) --> Night Fall==> Acc(24)Dmg(25)Dmg(29)Dmg(33)Rechg(34)EndRdx(37)
26) --> Detention Field==> Acc(26)Acc(27)Rechg(27)EndRdx(46)
28) --> Torrent==> Acc(28)KB_Dist(46)
30) --> Stealth==> EndRdx(30)DefBuf(37)
32) --> Force Bubble==> EndRdx(32)EndRdx(33)EndRdx(34)
35) --> Life Drain==> Acc(35)Heal(36)Heal(36)Heal(37)Rechg(40)
38) --> Blackstar==> Acc(38)Dmg(39)Dmg(39)Dmg(39)TH_DeBuf(40)Rechg(40)
41) --> Dark Consumption==> Acc(41)EndRec(42)EndRec(42)EndRec(42)
44) --> Dark Embrace==> DmgRes(44)DmgRes(45)DmgRes(45)
47) --> Soul Drain==> Acc(47)TH_Buf(48)TH_Buf(48)TH_Buf(48)
49) --> Personal Force Field==> DefBuf(49)
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01) --> Sprint==> Run(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Acc(1)
01) --> Vigilance==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Rechg(2)
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I made him just a bit more offensive...... Sort of like myself....