Excellent guide! You've captured exactly what makes the set worthwhile. Everyone who might play or team with a TA defender should read this!
Good guide. However, as of currently, the Trick Arrow set (despite having to draw a weapon) does not benefit from an accuracy bonus.
Entangling Arrow has a 20% Accuracy Bonus, but the rest of the set has no bonus at all.
With Issue7, Entangling Arrow will gain a Power Recharge Slow, Glue Arrow and Ice Arrow already have these. Which just leaves the lack of -Regeneration. 
Which, I think as a pure debuff set it should gain -Regeneration on Acid Arrow, or something.
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Five simple words to live by, as a Trickster: You. Are. A. Debuff. Machine.
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QFT
Damage Proc Mini-FAQ
Just noticed Damage Proc Mini-FAQ wasn't working with new forums, it's been updated.
Natsuki, thank you very much for your corrections. I was indeed under a misapprehension that the defense set got the accuracy bonus as well as the archery set. I will update the guide with this information.
As for the recharge, I had wondered if glue and ice didn't have that effect, but I wasn't positive. I'll update the guide with this information. Thank you again for your corrections.
Added: in the next version, I mean 
. My time limit has expired for editing the original, so I'll release another version after this one matures a bit with additional information and/or errata.
You have clearly given this a LOT of thought and have provided a very useful guide, thank you.
I love my Defenders, I have 3 (Kin, Dark, Emp) and if I wasn't enjoying being a bad guy so much right now I might just be tempted to roll up an Archer!
Make a man a fire and keep him warm for the day, SET a man on fire and keep him warm for the rest of his life.
Incarnates: K'lir(Fire/Dark Corr):Hot-House Flower(Plant/Fire Dom):Kinrad X(Kin/Rad Def):Itsy-Bitsy Spider(Crab):Two Ton Tony(Mace/WP Broot):Teeny Weeny Widow(Fortunata/Widow) : Zeroth Law (Ice/Fire Tank)
I hate bursting bubbles, especialy with this fun set. However I'd like to point out that Flash Arrow's acc debuff is laughable at best. Smoke Grenade has the same debuff value, defenders are slightly more effective with flash arrow then blasters are with smoke grenade (6.5% for flash arrow and 5% for smoke grenade) only because of the AT modifyer. In I7 it will be autohit however.
"The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to govern. Every class is unfit to govern." Lord Acton
Madam Enigma's History
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I hate bursting bubbles, especialy with this fun set. However I'd like to point out that Flash Arrow's acc debuff is laughable at best. Smoke Grenade has the same debuff value, defenders are slightly more effective with flash arrow then blasters are with smoke grenade (6.5% for flash arrow and 5% for smoke grenade) only because of the AT modifyer. In I7 it will be autohit however.
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Autohit or not, I still love the Fash Arrow debuff. Even more in I7 due to critter accuracy scaling.
Fully slotted, it'll cut 10% tohit from all enemies. Even bosses. This results in taking 20% less hits. While some may argue this is low, but when you stack it up with the other debuffs of TA, and other players defenses it is actually rather mighty solely due to how many it can hit with ease.
EDIT: A great way to think of Flash Arrow, is that its the same as taking all three of the Defense passives of Super Reflex, and giving it to the entire group! SR Scrappers don't skip the passives, they use 'em to stack with the rest of the set. Flash Arrow is the exact same way, it may be a 'minor' debuff, but it amplifies with the rest of the set. 
Glue Arrow in I7 can be used every single spawn. (In pvp, I've been able to drop Glue Arrow on a target twice before the first let him run away). Stack Glue Arrow with Flash Arrow and it's really powerful.
Dark Miasma may have a higher ToHit debuff, but, it has no -Recharge, and it has no -Defense.
Radiation Emission may also have a higher ToHit debuff, but, its debuffs effect far fewer enemies than Trick Arrows "slightly weaker" debuffs. In addition, Rad doesn't have a single target Hold, nor can it keep enemies under Slow effects continously. The "Anchor" System is also a disadvantage in PvP. You will typically only hit a single enemy with it, and they'll most likely run away 'causing the anchor to detoggle.
Another huge advantage to Trick Arrow, is Entangling Arrow. -jump, and -fly is a HUGE benefit. Something that Rad totally lacks, and Dark Miasma only has a "ground" power. Which won't ground a flier whos 80 ft up in the air sniping you (Whereas, Entangling Arrow will drop them quickly).
In I7, Oil Slick is INCREDIBLY reliable. I haven't tested to see if Flaming Arrow lits on a reliable rate, but I do know that Firebreath, Electricty Attacks, Radiation, etc lit it at a 100% rate in I7. Combined with all the slows and -Jump/-Fly, Oil Slick can do incredible damage in PvE and PvP.
So, I'd definitely say on a good team, Trick Arrow is comparable to other Defender sets, it just requires different strategies. Combine a Trick Arrow defender with any other Defender Set, and the TA amplifies EVERYTHING that Defender set brings. More so than stacking that same Defender set. Trick Arrow, between their many -Def, -Res, and Slow powers brings an unrivaled killing rate especially when you bring in a reliable Oil Slick.
Damage Proc Mini-FAQ
Just noticed Damage Proc Mini-FAQ wasn't working with new forums, it's been updated.
I was following this Flash Arrow tohit debuff discussion in its thread, and hadn't realized it was so low. I put in my $0.02 and wondered into the ether if it wouldn't be a good candidate for scaling effectiveness with level increase. I've not seen the responses to that suggestion yet, as I wasn't around a computer this past weekend.
That said, I do actually notice a difference when using it, especially in conjunction with the other powers of the set, but even by itself. So you're hardly bursting a bubble at least as far as I'm concerned. Whether or not it could be made better without unbalancing gameplay is another story.
There is something of an argument, for example, to be made within the context of the power being competitive at higher levels, which is why I suggested the scaling.
Here's a link to some discussion on this power.
I play with a TA/Arch defender with my Ice/Energy Melee Tank, and let me tell you with Glue and Chilling Embrace, the mobs barely move from around me. I can keep them nice and clustered, they are REAL slow, and tend to drop pretty fast. The other nice thing is that with Energy Melee, I can hit the slick myself, and allow the TA to keep up with the debuffing.
Great guide.
I heart tanks!
Glad to hear that you've befriended a TA defender and have some good synergy going on. Mazel tov!
Great Guide! Humourous and informative!
For the interested, also have pics of all the TA/A powers here (although I need to redo entangling arrow as they have changed it).
Thank you! I loved your le Breton Bowman page. He iz, 'ow you say, magnifique !
The next version/update to the guide will have a section for additional links, including the previously referenced thread regarding Flash Arrow, and I will have to inlcude le Bowman as well.
(Does he know how to make a good krampouezh?)
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Thank you! I loved your le Breton Bowman page. He iz, 'ow you say, magnifique !
The next version/update to the guide will have a section for additional links, including the previously referenced thread regarding Flash Arrow, and I will have to inlcude le Bowman as well.
(Does he know how to make a good krampouezh?)
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Ah Merci mon ami! Of course le Bowman eez also ze mastair en ze kitchen! En fact zere eez nothing le Bowman does not do en a tres magnifique mannair!
Including le Bowman een ze updated guide eez a tres bien idea, although of course, no one can become as great an archair as Le Bowman, but zay can dream, non? 
Thank you Possibility for the great guide! I am really excited about the TA/A build and I am looking forward to getting 'oh so lost' in it! I have a TA/A Defender that is approaching Security level 10. I left out Flash and Poison Arrow from this build (not sure about doing that now). I think I will start another TA/A and include those powers. After all, one can not have to many Alts can they? Also I am not settled on the Stamina or Not Stamina route? I guess that is what respecs are for! But thanks for helping to open up possibilities for defending that I did not even know were there! I wonder how I8 will effect us?
Official Member of the CoH Alt-a-holics Club!
It can not be possible to have too many Alts! It just can't be!
Intro: Yes! Trick Arrow Defense Is For Me!
Hello, City of Heroes player, and thanks for reading. You're either morbidly curious as to why anyone would bother to write up a guide to one of the least-popular defender sets; or you're one of the few, the proud, the adventuresome, the slightly-masochistic-yet-clever individuals who've said, "Yes! Trick Arrow defense is for me!" -- probably followed by a "What the heck have I gotten myself into?"
Indeed, I'm here to tell the former-type readers that a Trick Arrow defender is the most varied enemy debuff set of all defender sets, its powers specializing in nothing but debuffs , and darned effective ones too, and it can rival Empathy and Kinetics in terms of cutting out downtime and increasing experience-gathering forays in to Paragon's criminal underbelly.
To the latter reader, I say, Welcome! Welcome to a life of even deeper underappreciation, scorn, puzzlement, and Explaining Things than a defender's lot already encompasses.
But don't despair, Trickster. I'm here to tell you: you're going to love it.
This guide won't focus too strongly on power mechanics and description rehashes (the other Trick Arrow guides do that admirably), but rather how they interact, how to strategize, a little commiseration, as well as some possible (obvious) attack chains. Some attention will be paid to secondary pools (medicine, concealment, super speed, etc), though less to secondary powers (the blaster goodness we get). Full disclosure: I have a level 36 (and rising) Trick Arrow defender that I started just to see if it could be done and done well and enjoyably. I have other defenders of various levels of every defense set available but one (Sonic, which is coming up next). I love the archetype as a whole, and I feel that each set brings something unique and valuable to a City of Heroes team. I play almost strictly support-oriented, rarely solo, never pvp, and always take every primary power. I never respec them out, because I have as yet failed to not find some use for all of them.
With that said, let's begin.
Part I: What The Heck Have I Gotten Myself Into?
It's a fair question. As a young Trickster, you're going to be, even more than most other sets, the odd one out. It's not surprising, if a little disappointing, that at the early levels, unless you're teaming with seasoned players, everyone loves an Empathy healer. Failing that, any set that can heal will do in a pinch, such as Radiation, Dark Miasma, and even Kinetics. You will be ceaselessly needled by others who see your little blue shield as a big Red Cross, and when you hopefully and patiently explain that, no, actually you don't heal but you can "do these other really cool things and . . . Hello?"
It's a tough world, kid. Force Fielders, Sonics, you know what I'm talking about, right? But rather than jealousy poison you towards your comrades-in-defense, the Empathy healers, you must learn something very important: you are two sides of the same coin. You are naturally "best friends forever."
Consider: Empathy healers have no power that affects enemies, only teammates
Consider: Trick Arrow defense has no power that affects teammates, only enemies
Consider that a team with both an Empathy and a Trick Arrow defender has everything a team needs, and then some, to become an effective, minimal-downtime leveling machine: powers that help the party and powers that hurt the enemy. As players experience the game and begin to see what else other defenders can bring to a party, you will be first regarded as a curiosity, then as an asset, and finally as that zesty jalapeño addition to a teams salsa-tastic skills. ¡Caliente y sabroso!
But . . . those early levels.
I wish I could say something that would make it all better, but I can't. It will be tough finding teams sometimes. The Hollows will be a nightmare. You may have to voluntarily leave a team that "needs a healer" if you're occupying the last slot. But don't let this deter you. Chances are, a smart group (and one you want to be a member of, naturally) will have a couple of defenders. Make friends with them. Make friends, even, with an Empathy defender, so that the two of you are landing on the same teams frequently, someone you can call up to watch your back, and you theirs. We all have to stick together, right? And that's the quintessential defender credo.
Part II: What Does A Trick Arrow Defender Do, Anyway?
In brief, a Trick Arrow defender has powers that will
* Reduce enemy accuracy
* Reduce enemy perception (to nearly stealth-level quality)
* Reduce enemy movement (including immobilizes, holds, knockdowns, slows, and disorients)
* Reduce enemy defense rating
* Reduce enemy damage resistance
* Reduce enemy damage output
* Reduce enemy endurance recovery
That's . . . pretty much everything bad you could possibly want to happen to an opponent. The only thing I can think of offhand that's missing is slowing their health and power recharges (like the Kinetics and Psi blast sets can do). This set, with its minor-but-still-useful built-in +ACC, stacks with itself better than any other set I can think of, and it's all designed to reduce the bad guys to clumsy, ineffective whiffers.
Consider, too, that a Trick Arrow defender has no fewer than three powers which are area-of-effect that automatically hit whoever falls into their effect: glue, gas, disruption. That's a slow, a damage reducer, and a resistance debuff that are all auto-hit.
Scrappers will appreciate you. You can even effectively duo with a scrapper owing to the very controller-y nature of the set. Entangling arrow is fast with fast recharge, and it will keep runners from getting very far, forcing them to stay in place while the scrapper deals with other mobs. Those baddies (especially Freak Juicers or Cabal) that fly will also be brought down to earth and within reach thanks to entanglement.
Tanks will love you, and you will love them. Both of you love grouped, herded bad guys. If you look at the powers available to the Trick Arrow defender, the most devastating ones are area of effect powers that are meant to impede dense groups. Does the tank have their attention? Good, now fire a glue arrow and make 'em sticky. Then a poison gas arrow to make a few mobs choke and all of them reduce the damage they try to do. Then, right beneath the feet of the tank, fire that disruption arrow and whittle away their damage resistance. Finally, pick out that boss surrounded by minions and hit him with an acid arrow, splashing he and his nearby lackeys with defense-eating doom. By doing all this to the enemy, even lower-damage archetypes will be dishing out buff-worthy damage.
Blasters will come to respect you. The tank missing some of the herd? A mob of bad guys running toward the squishy line? Say hello to my little friend, the Oil Slick. Lay it down in the middle of that suddenly-approaching group and see who can set it on fire first. Yes, you heard me: it catches fire . Energy, Electricity, Archery and Fire blaster sets have the capacity to set it on fire, as does the Fire controller set. Stack all of the aforementioned debuffs on the enemies and watch those little ticks of damage stream away. Before you know it, game over, move on.
Controllers will warm to you. That magnitude 2 boss shrugging off the first hold? Launch an ice arrow at him, no waiting. Put in enough recharges (and possibly a hasten) and chain hold him. Mobs shrugging off holds too quickly? EMP arrow and not only disorient, but also drain away a chunk of their endurance and halt its recharge for a short time.
And, of course, as has already been mentioned, other defenders will appreciate your own unique flavor and the fact that you can complement nearly every one. Flash & Darkest Night. Glue & Lingering Radiation. Oil Slick & Snow Storm. Poison Gas & Siphon Power. You are the monosodium glutamate of the defender world, the ultimate flavor-enhancer. The only set I can think of that you'd not be directly complementing is, as has been stated, Empathy, but the way you interact in terms of team dynamics is pure chocolate and peanut butter.
Part III: Tacti-licious
So, you've convinced that team that they need you. Or, your Empathy pal and you have landed on a team. You gracefully ignore the fact that some idjit says, "All right! A healer!" It's okay, bite back the bile. We'll show 'em.
You should absolutely explain what you do best with the set, first off, to the team, as really any good player does. Tell them that you specialize in area of effect debuffs. If you've a tank on the team doing herding, you're half way there in terms of adjusting the groups tactics.
If you have any Mind controllers in your group, or anyone who can use non-aggroing powers, you will be working with them at the outset prior to the party's alpha strike. You have one trick to play there, but play it: Flash arrow does not aggro, but it does reduce the enemy to-hit for 60 seconds as well as their perception. The former is easiest to see in action: you're not getting hit. The latter will take some experimentation on your part. Flashed mobs really won't be able to see you unless you are right in their face. Alas, the range isn't as good (or better) than Nemesis snipers, but you've a while before you encounter them, young Trickster. In the meantime, you can use it to open, before the actual attack. Always let people know what you're doing, however. Itchy trigger fingers may not realize that that loud flash-and-boom isn't going to start them incoming and decide to open the attack. When I use it, I always tell the team (and you may even want to create a bind): "Flashing, this doesn't aggro." Beep-beep-beep BOOM!
From the opening alpha, you want to be able to focus on where the bulk of the mobs are clumped. As has been mentioned, this is where you'll unleash your most effective debuffs. Nonetheless, you'll want to keep half an eye on anything that's breaking free from holds or doing a runner. You can hold them down with ice arrow, or immobilize them with entangling arrow. See that bad guy breaking off and heading towards a squishy? Stop him in his tracks and give everyone a breather. Got a Kinetics defender in the party? Let a mob get just close enough to the back line and freeze him, and voila! Instant Kinetics battery!
After the alpha has gone off, the next thing you'll probably want is the glue arrow. The tank (or controller, or circumstance) has happily clumped them all together, so the last thing you want is for them to scatter. Glue will slow them right down. Rain effects from blasters, defenders, or controllers should generally wait until this (or any immobilization, hold, or slow power) goes off, as it maximizes the time the mobs spend under rain effects.
For most of your early career, especially before Oil Slick, you'll be doing what my good friend calls "the ol' flash-n-glue" (thank you, a theory on Champion!). Even if you're without a tank, this can be an effective technique. Flash will reduce their ability to hit you, and glue will keep them out of the higher-damage-doing melee range. The melee fighters should be able to approach relatively unseen because of the flash you laid down (careful, though, because flash can miss a few individual mobs). If you're without a tank, it's best to let any scrappers begin their approach to engage the mobs, have blasters and ranged fighters do their thing when the scrapper makes contact, and fire off the glue at that point. The purpose of a tank is to take that aggro, but in the absence of such a person, mitigating and spreading aggro around will help. Theres a reasonable chance that blinded enemies wont even notice anything until the fight is on their own doorstep. I have seen half a spawn fail to react when a melee fighter entered the melee range of the other half; they just didnt see him.
The next measure you can take is the poison gas arrow. Youve got them slowed and clumped and theyre focusing on your close-ranged fighters. Not only does the poison gas arrow have a small chance to hold a mob outright as they choke on the fumes, but see that lovely purple haze around them? Their damage output has been reduced. So at this point, not only are they blind and slowed, but now if they do manage to hit you, they're not doing as much damage as they otherwise would. Make sure others understand this concept: keep 'em in the gas. This will keep the tank holding the agro and may even let a scrapper stand up to the punishment longer than they normally would.
As you increase in levels and unlock the ice and acid arrow, you can continue your work by freezing mobs in place (i.e. stopping them from attacking), preventing them from running or leaving your AoEs, and then using the acid arrow to make them more susceptible not merely to damage, but to other effects as well. Keep them pinned and debuffed, freezing or entangling any that threaten to get too close to the squishy line.
The next good power you'll get is the disruption arrow. Use this when you need to clean up quickly. Freakshow tanks just love it when you use this on them. It has a good duration and a decent recharge, though I recommend improving the recharge to get it out more frequently. This plus the acid arrow will actually boost damage done to the enemies by around 40%. This was suggested to be the case in the other excellent Trick Arrow guides, and I was able to confirm it on a lucky day where my damage was at a base of 10 with snap shot. After these two tricks, it was at 14. Easy math, great effect!
Much like other powers at that level, when you hit oil slick, it's a whole new game and unquestionably a centerpiece to the set. Oil slick is much like the icy patch that Ice controllers can lay down, causing mobs to stumblebum around and slowing their progress. As has been gleefully mentioned, you can then light it on fire. It doesn't always hit, and it doesn't always happen -- I'm not certain, but it seems like if a preponderance of high-level mobs are in it, it doesn't catch fire as readily. In any case, when it does happen, break out the marshmallows, it's time for roasted bad guy! They're slipping, falling, crawling, and burning, softening them up while the damage-dealers cull the herd.
Tactically, you'll have to know when to use it and when not to. Large groups of clumped mobs, even-con or maybe a smidge higher? Instead of flash-n-glue, flash-n-slick! It's especially useful for occupying large groups of minions and a few lieutenants. Minions near to your level can have nearly half their life burned away. Enhance it for damage, pile on the debuffs, and you can do even more. That group of Rikti mentalist, soldier, and three dozen monkeys? Perfect for the slick. You'll probably kill all the monkeys right off, if you pair it with disruption/acid arrows. The bigger baddies will still be standing, but they will be well softened for cleanup jobs. In between the slick recharges, go back to the flash-n-glue. You'll never be without something to do.
Finally, the EMP arrow, and its even more situational. If you take an Aim power from your blaster set that offers it (and you should), you can actually use this power as an alpha strike. Since whoever it hits will be disoriented for a surprisingly good while, you won't get much in the way of aggro save from those mobs that you may have missed. Unlike some other alphas, it won't disperse the enemies. So you could, in theory, EMP the mob into disorientation and allow the blaster to be able to go in and Nova without drawing more aggro than they can handle. It's also a decent Panic Button, in case a tanker or key blaster/scrapper is about to fall and needs a heal from either a teammate or an inspiration.
A note about knockback : If anyone uses knockback (in particular: Energy blasting), make a little note to yourself. Things are going to be a bit more complicated there, because they may be knocking mobs out of your effects. Now, I love knockback; yes, it can mess things up, but it can also be used to strategically throw mobs back into your AoE or near to the tanks. A good player who can work with knockback will keep your naughty, evil shrimp on the oil-slick barbie.
When possible, try and position things so that there is some wall or retaining device against which mobs will be knocked back. In that area between the wall, the tank, and the rest of the group is your golden zone and where you will want to focus your AoE debuffs.
Sometimes, a player just won't get it, and you're using ice or entangle more than your awesome debuffs. There is nothing more disappointing than setting a slick on fire, toasting up a dozen mobs, and having an Energy blaster AoE them and scatter them far out of the flames. It happens. You'll have to time the AoE's better and pay particular attention to what that player is about to do. Worst-case scenario is that you've explained things but they just don't care, and so you save your AoE's for another time. Finish the mission and bow out gracefully. You're no good to them there.
Part IV: Secondary Power Pools
I do not, actually, have all that much experience with all pools. I've seen them all in action, but personal experience is somewhat lacking. However, I will name two pools that you will actually want and a third pool which would be nice to have for some, critical for others. Other pools you have a positive experience with, that you just can't live without, by all means take them.
Medicine . Let me be honest here: I caved. Utterly, completely. It got to be too much when people asked me if I could heal, and I constantly had to say no, so I took the pool. To my continued delight, I think the pool is an asset to non-healing defense sets. You will (and should) slot it with enhancements. I currently use three for the self heal and the heal other: two healing SOs and one interrupt reduction SO. The result is that I can often pop a heal on a teammate in melee. See again: flash arrow, where flashed enemies wont see you unless you attack them directly. The self heal is also, actually, a superior heal that grants a bit of mez/stun protection. It's not hugely effective in terms of prevention, but it's not bad either. Stimulant seems like it should do more, but generally, most things you can cure with stimulant you can cure with a heal, at least in early levels. And of course, you can resuscitate a fallen comrade! This is a big bonus if your party's main resurrector is down. Who will heal the healer? Why, you can! It's not ideal in combat, since the ally raised is without endurance. However, with a Kineticist on the team (or even a Kineticist that has the pool), this is less important, because speed boosts and transferences can replenish the supply very quickly (SB) or instantly (TFE). Otherwise, donate some blue Catch a Breaths for a good cause. Take the pool.
Super Speed . You don't have to take the whole pool. In fact, I only took hasten and super speed and won't take anything else. Both are well suited to a Trick Arrow defender. Hasten has its obvious and well-regarded effect of speeding up your recharge. A few of your powers have slow recharge times, and this will save you from having to put too many Recharge enhancements into it. Of course, itself it needs such enhancements, and you'll want three (or more, though with enhancement diversification, diminishing returns after that for expensive enhancements). Since I wanted a travel power anyway, and I'd already taken hasten, I went ahead and took super speed. I love it just fine. Since you will be a completely ranged player, it's deeply useful for getting in and out of range quickly. The combat heals I mentioned you popping on an ally? Use SS to get in and out quickly. It can be a bit tricky because of the Medicine pool interrupt times, but its by no means impossible.
The above two are my recommendations. If you plan to solo more with a Trick Arrow defender, or you simply balance more toward "offender" play style and like your attacks a lot, taking Fitness is for you. I don't think I have anything currently slotted with endurance reduction in my primary power set, and my secondary is stacked for pure damage (despite the +ACC they have, I still usually put in maybe one additional accuracy enhancement -- I like to hit), so when I'm not in a team and getting my endurance discount (inherent defender power that is, actually, quite noticeable), I eat through my endurance in no time flat. I do not, as I disclosed, have a solo build. I can't see a player wanting to solo as a Trick Arrow offender without taking Stamina. If you want to unleash the full barrage of debuffs available to you and still be able to attack, you're going to need it.
Of the remaining pools, use your discretion. Recall Friend might be useful, since you'll be zipping (or leaping, or porting, or whatever is your cup of tea) everywhere quickly; plus if you didn't fall in battle -- you shouldn't, either, because you are a ranged set and should avoid melee like the plague -- but other members of the team faceplanted, you can pull them out and resuscitate them (if you took Medicine) or let them awaken safely. Leadership also seems useful for it's bonuses. You'd be helping the back line more than the front, but I could see a case for it. If you prefer Leaping or like the combat jumping and acrobatics to improve your defense, by all means, take it.
Since I've not yet reached the Epic Power Pool levels yet, I will refrain from comment. At such time as I have experience with them, I'll update this guide.
Part V: Final Notes
Five simple words to live by, as a Trickster: You. Are. A. Debuff. Machine.
While the early years may be tough on you, stick with it. The byproduct of the set is that you will tend to be more appreciated by more experienced players, and aren't those the kind you'd rather defend for? Otherwise, my friend, you will be a missionary to the n00b masses who look at you and see a band-aid, opening their eyes to what it means to be a defender. Such work is not for everyone, it's true. It may even be an eye opening experience for you as well. It certainly was for me, but I've found it to be one of the most enjoyable sets in the game. It's a challenge with a learning curve and possibly not for the inexperienced or new player. In fact, much like those who will appreciate you, your own experience with the game and the mechanics of debuffs and buffs will be an asset in maximizing what this little baby can do.
Go out there and Trick 'em.