Frontliner:
The in-your-face damage dealer. The main source of damage, the ones that make the really big orange numbers appear. Doesn't necessarily have to be able to take the same punishment that it's so generously handing out, that's a different role. They just have to make people fall down quickly. Typical AT's: Brute, Blaster, Scrapper.
Sweeper:
A frontliner with taste. Picks and chooses their targets, often the already damaged, or those trying to escape. Keeps the fight nice and tidy by cleaning up the left-overs. Mobility or range are useful attributes, combined with the ability to stop mobs from doing whatever it was that was attracted the sweepers attention, be it moving, attacking or existing. Typical AT's: Scrapper, Corruptor, Dominator.
Reaper:
The lawn boy. Mows down the weeds and chaff. There can be a lot of minions around in some missions, with little health or resistances compared to the important enemies. The reaper is tasked with keeping such distractions from interfering for too long. Naturally Area of Effect abilities contribute a great deal to competence in this area, though a lot of quick but strong attacks (such as a Brute with full Fury) can suffice. Typical AT's: Blaster, Corruptor, Kheldian in Nova form.
Hitman:
Has a specific target, and takes them down. The bigger the better, usually. Handles bosses and AV's - or particularly annoying lieutentants (Tsoo sorcerers, I'm looking at you) on occasion - and has particular gifts to chew through the extended health of such foes while being able to ignore the attention lavished upon them in return. Typical AT's: Scrapper, Brute, Stalker.
Meatshield:
A damage sponge. Somewhere for all the enemy attacks to go so they don't get in the way of important funtions like breathing and punching the living daylights out of people. Either something big and tough, or weak but expendable. Typical AT's: Tanker, Mastermind, Kheldian in Tank form.
Bodyguard:
Allegedly the best form of defense is a good offense, and the Bodyguard believes that with all their heart. Beats up on anyone who is hitting something other than the Meatshield, and prevents any damage from being dealth through the simple expedient of removing conciousness from the aggressor. Similar to the sweeper, though target selection is based on different criteria. Typical AT's: Scrapper, Tanker, Dominator.
Protector:
Turns squishes into Meatshields, or least not-so-squishies. There are lots of ways of doing this, usually through buffing the squishy, though not exclusively. Anything that ensures you're comrades are being hit less counts. Typical AT's: Defender, Corruptor, Controller.
Manager:
Crowd management, to be exact. Stops enemies from doing something undesirable, like, for example, hitting back. Or at least hitting your team. Typical AT's: Controller, Dominator, Tanker.
Helper:
Primarily they help you - either through making you better, or making the enemies worse. But also anything that in combination with your abilities becomes greater than the sum of its parts, so can be filled by any AT that complements another. Typical AT's: Defender, Tanker/Blaster combo, Dominator/Stalker combo.
Scout:
A rather undervalued role in such a fast paced game, but an amazingly useful one when used correctly. Stealth and good perception can be used to forewarn your team of upcoming threats, and pre-select important targets for your team so they don't have to find the boss buried in the scrum of bodies once the fun begins. Hitmen and Managers particularly can use the assist through feature to great effect by using a scout as their eyes. Typical AT's: Stalker, Blaster, Kheldian.
Supplier:
Gives you what you need, primarily health and endurance, but can also be something as simple as inspirations - some AT's need inspirations a lot less than others, especially in a well functioning team, and will get better return by giving them to those who need them. All the buffs in the world (apart from maybe Fulcrum Shift) can't beat a brute swallowing the team's entire collection of Rages. Learn who needs what you don't, and remember to pass them on. Typical AT's: Defender, Corruptor, Masterminds.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Psychoti
"....so I headbutted the blind chick."
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[ cruise / casual-tempest.net / transference.org / xenogamous.com / wytedragon.net / quantam sufficit ]
So, I've given a few examples in each description, but those aren't the only Archetypes that can fill those roles. So now I'll list each Archetype with the main roles they can fill.
Blaster:
Reaper, frontliner, sweeper, bodyguard, manager, scout, hitman.
Brute:
Frontliner, reaper, meatshield, sweeper, bodyguard.
Controller:
Manager, helper, protector, bodyguard, sweeper, meatshield (with pets), supplier.
Corruptor:
Reaper, sweeper, frontliner, protector, helper, supplier, sweeper, scout, hitman, bodyguard.
Defender:
Helper, protector, supplier, manager, bodyguard, reaper, sweeper, hitman.
Dominator:
Manager, hitman, frontliner, sweeper, bodyguard, protector, supplier.
Kheldian:
Everything and anything.
Mastermind:
Meatshield, reaper, frontliner, protector, supplier.
Scrapper:
Hitman, sweeper, bodyguard, frontliner, meatshield, scout.
Stalker:
Scout, hitman, sweeper, bodyguard, frontliner.
Tanker:
Meatshield, bodyguard, frontliner, protector.
I've tried to list them in general order of effectiveness. Interestingly, while there are a couple of primary role duplications (Blasters and Corruptors as Reapers, Controllers and Dominators and Managers) generally no two archetypes fill the same roles in the same way, or to the same effectiveness. And of course, the roles can vary within Archetypes depending on the specific powersets chosen.
Each player should be filling several roles at any one time in most situations, though in extreme situations it may be necessary to focus on one important task. Given this, and the amount of overlap between archetypes, there should always be at least one person filling every role and preferably several, especially post-ED.
What roles you need to be filling will be very fluid, too, over surprisingly short time spans. Most people expect to adjust to the absence of a team member, or the presence of a new one. But it is also necessary to shift roles when a compatriot is killed, held, or even simply stunned, if only for the few seconds it takes for the status quo to be resumed. Keep on top of what each of your team members can do, and whether they are currently capable of doing it. To do so well requires good knowledge of every power available to all your team members, and an understanding of when and where to best apply your own specific abilities. This does not come easy, or quickly, but a full team that all know what they are doing, and what they can do should the need arise, will steamroll through missions so fast they barely have to let go of the run key.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Psychoti
"....so I headbutted the blind chick."
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[ cruise / casual-tempest.net / transference.org / xenogamous.com / wytedragon.net / quantam sufficit ]
That's a very useful way of structuring tactical thinking. I primarily play a MM but, and this can be true of any character, the build is atypical so it doesn't neatly fit assumptions. The role I generally fill is sweeper and sometimes frontliner. Since my guy is built for offense with few secondaries I find myself taking out very tough targets (pinning them down with Air Superiority, focusing fire from my lads, and alternating with primary attacks) as quickly as anyone but a juiced up Brute. Picked up "Tank Buster" tonight as a matter of fact. If I get hit I get hurt but with a good team it's usually not that often or that serious.
With Brutes around or very effective Corruptors, I'll take more of a supporting fire role. Picking off strays and bodyguarding my fellow squishies.
Interesting, I'll have to give some thought to this concept, thank you.
Problem with assigning an AT to a role is that some ATs have powersets which push the AT into a direction different from what the 'typical member of that AT' can do. For example, in CoH, the Dark/Dark defender can specialize in blasting, or defending, or controlling, or a little of each. Then, when you take the versatility of the Dark Miasma set and add that to a Necromancy Mastermind, then you have a Mastermind that can pitch hit for each of your roles:
Frontliner: The N/D MM can focus all the minions on one target. And when one target is getting hit by 6-8 pets... its health falls as fast as if it was being hit by a Brute, Blaster, or Scrapper.
Sweeper: The N/D MM can let the pets run free attacking and chasing after many wounded targets at once just like a Scrapper, Corruptor, or Dominator.
Reaper: Same as with the Sweeper. Don't forget that the Lich, Spirit, and Dark Servant all have control and debuff powers in addition to the MM him or herself and can do as good a job as the Blaster, Corruptor, or Kheldian in Nova form.
Hitman: My N/D MM, like the D/D Defender is the AV and Boss killer because of the debuffing (-DEF -ACC -REGEN -RESIST -SPEED). [Oh, the number of times I've heard "Wow, that AV went down fast."] The MM can even take on some AVs solo just like the Scrapper, Brute, or Stalker.
Meatshield: You already grant this to all MMs, the N/D is no exception.
Bodyguard: Since the N/D MM can Sweep, can also Bodyguard.
Protector: The N/D MM's debuffing powers allows squishies to not get hit or to get hit *gently*. As a squishie him or herself the N/D MM can wade into the middle of a mass melee and stand there directing minions.
Manager: See above for Protector.
Helper: Again, debuffs and group heals.
Scout: Dark Miasma's group stealth power (coupled with the stealth of Superspeed = invisibility). Also another good power pool for MMs is TP foe... once you've scouted a target, you run behind a corner or wall and teleport the foe into your group mugging.
Supplier: You grant this to all MMs.
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As someone mentioned, the role that you fit in will depend on the powersets you select and how that benefits your strengths. But, an extreme negative effect which is related are "cookie-cutters". They've already decided (or rather they just looked at someone elses successful build), how they're going to make their ub3rl33t character, and then expect it to work in a way that compliments their behavior. This is bad and they're easy to spot in a group.
As you grow in levels (not powerleveling) you will take the powers that compliment your playstyle and roles defined above in the OP. Then by natural progression you will be a rather formidable foe because you adjusted your play to match your character abilities and not the other way around.
Another point involving the various roles is the makeup of the rest of the group. Since I'm a scrapper my role in a mostly ranged team is conservative and I'm more bodyguard than meatshield. (futile to chase enemies while they get knocked around and nuked, yer wasting your time). If the team has a tank though, I'm riding piggyback and dealing the damage he wishes he could. But always, if a surgical strike needs to be done, its me. Sappers are my specialty and I take them down without anyone losing end.
Naturally the capabilities of an AT vary dramatically with their powersets - what I have presented here is a very general view of what each AT will usually bring to the table, to provide a base from which to add your own experience.
Naturally I cannot hope to cover all possibilities within explicitly, but what I can do is describe what to look for, how to recognise it, and therefore let people make their own discoveries. I didn't mention anything about the Power Pools, for example, which allow an AT to add in helper, scout or supplier to their roles, even if their AT would not normally provide those tools.
Hopefully I've made the various self-evident enough (ie. you know it when you see it) that having read the guide you can then see for yourself what each power set can do, and what roles need better coverage.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Psychoti
"....so I headbutted the blind chick."
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[ cruise / casual-tempest.net / transference.org / xenogamous.com / wytedragon.net / quantam sufficit ]
Maybe a short case study will help demonstrate the flexibility of thinking of combat in these terms.
In CoH, I and my two friends were all running regen scrappers - two dark (one mine), and the third spines. How do we cover all those varied roles with three almost identical AT's and powersets?
Offensively, the spines scrapper is the reaper, and frontliner and sweeper are split between the two DM's. Hitman is taken up when necessary by whoever is doing the least in their other respective role; a lack of minions and the spines takes on the boss, no big clustered groups, the frontliner can concentrate on the big nasty, and no scattered enemies let's the sweeper step up.
Defensively we're all meatshields, splitting the agro between us so that no one person takes more than the healing can cover. Related to that if anyone of us starts getting in over our head, the other two can bodyguard and take back some of the agro. The secondary effects on our attacks (-rec on spines, -acc on DM) allow us to all play minor protective roles. Spines has an immob and knockdown, DM has fear (and my DM also has the presence power pool, for even more Managerial ability) and an immob, used as and when necessary.
Helper is perhaps the one role that is lacking in this team - there's no great synergy or gestalt power combinations. Just very little in the way of weaknesses. Scout was filled by whoever had the stealth pool at the time (respecs meant this tended to shift about). And with the regen pool, we were all our own supplier.
Since our secondary (defensive) sets were all the same, it's not surprising that we could move amongst the needed defensive roles at will - whoever was best placed would pull agro off a teammate in trouble, or use a status effect to help manage a mob. This overlap ensured should a compatriate fall, the other two wouldn't be left lacking. Though my pool selection made me a better choice for manager, and the fighting pool made the others better meatshields.
Our primary pools differed a bit more, and so the selection of offense roles are less free-form; spine's AoE's make it the natural choice for reaper. But two sets of souldrain, dark consumption and shadow maul can make an acceptable substitue. Likewise, the ranged attacks in spines can be very useful for sweeping should the need arise.
Since we all teamed together on a regular basis, we each learnt these roles instinctively, and have been complemented on our speed of reaction and play by occasional pick-up additions. Most other good players I'm sure also understand these roles on some level - for those new to the game, or struggling on teams, hopefully this will give you a leg up to better team play.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Psychoti
"....so I headbutted the blind chick."
|
[ cruise / casual-tempest.net / transference.org / xenogamous.com / wytedragon.net / quantam sufficit ]
[ QUOTE ]
Controller:
Manager, helper, protector, bodyguard, sweeper, meatshield (with pets), supplier.
[/ QUOTE ]
You missed a key one. My Illusion/Kinetics Controller with Superior Invisibility and Super Speed is the ultimate Scout. Add in Deceive, and you have a great way to mark the target without drawing aggro!
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Yeah, it's understandable that there are exceptions. Bots/* masterminds make for some truly lethal 'reapers' once they get all bots fully upgraded.
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Thanks for the guide. I really like how you have defined the different "jobs" going on in a team. It's a good way to look and see where there are weak spots. Sure you can't cover what ever AT might be built like, but none the less, the "jobs" are always there.
I really like this way of looking at team roles. In CoH, roles are fairly obvious for your AT (although diversity can be achieved with different power sets and builds, of course), but in CoV I was having a lot more trouble working out how I fit into a team. This makes my life a lot easier. Ta! 
Or, what to do and when to do it.
Much has been said about the roles of the different Archetypes within teams. Any such advice can usually be put into one of two general theories: AT's are very specific and everyone has a defined role, or a decent player can play any role with decent use of their powers and good support.
As with any such dichotomy, the truth usually lies somewhere betwixt the two. I hope, with this guide, to describe that in-between place. This requires two broad stages: identifying the needed jobs within a team, then identifying which AT's can fill those.
So, what are the roles? These are not the same as the archetypes - an archetype is merely a collection of tools, it says nothing about the uses to which those tools are put. I've split the roles into three broad categories: offensive, defensive and support.
Offensive: Frontliner, sweeper, reaper, hitman.
Defensive: Meatshield, bodyguard, protector, manager.
Support: Helper, scout, supplier.
Yes, they're weird names, but this is my guide, so I can call them what I want :P
Next, what all those weird names mean...
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