Great post as usual!
People need to reread this.
Agua Man lvl 48 Water/Electric Blaster
"To die hating NCSoft for shutting down City of Heroes, that was Freedom."
Wonderful Rant! And thank you. My first 50 was a Emp/Sonic Defender. She has presisely 3 secondary powers, one of which is an AoE Sleep. I am not proud of her. 50 Emps are a dime a dozen.
Now a good buddy of mine's 1st 50 was a Trick Arrow/Archery Defender. It was a hell of a haul what with all the RUHelar's out there, but he stuck with it, and damn, am I proud to know him. He still has to put up with it tho. Even in Hami Raids he is tossed in with Blasters and told he can only use 2 powers. They have no clue of his potential. Apparently a TA and a Dark Def wowed everyone the other night on test when the Dark Def used the TA's Oil slick to Howling Twilight. Duh! that's not a new trick! He could have done that months ago if anyone had let him!
And for the record, any AT is a defender to a point! Blasters can pull, and grab aggro off, Scrappers can single target taunt, I have recently discovered the Defender in my tank, and Trollers, not only get a defender-ish secondary, but their holds are priceless!
It took me until my Emp was about lvl 35 to finally realize that Emps really are like the maid. They are really good for cleaning up the mess afterward, but the maid will also be the first to tell you that it is best when the mess never occurs in the first place. Buffs, Debuffs, Holds, Taunts, and SOUND TACTICS prevent the mess, and most of the time, if you NEED a "healer", maybe you are doing something wrong in the first place.
Well, that's my two bits worth. Cheers! 
... and just for the record...
One of my SuperGroup's main objectives is to help guide newbies (not noobs) in sound game techniques. After all, we are a close-knit group that enjoys playing together, and so it is in our best interest to have people who know how to play well, and use all their powers to their full potential.
In fact oftentimes when I roll up a newbie (happens alot because I am a bit of an altoholic) I will find myself escorting a newbie through Outbreak, giving them pointers as I can.
If we build each other up, none of us will fall.
Mainstay on Champion *plug*
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the way i read it, the OP has pertinent and helpful info, yours: not so much.
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Please list five (5) pertinent and helpful things the OP said. 'Cause all I saw was a jaded rant, inflated with straw-man arguments and too many adverbs.
Yeah, I'm the Trick Arrower friend that TheWhiteLady here was talking about. Sit friends, and let me tell you a tale of sorrow and triumph...
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When I moved servers from Pinnacle to Champion, I knew I wanted my first character on there to be different, something you rarely see. Trick Arrow fit the bill. After stalling on a concept for a while and fumbling with the name, Ochosi was born.
After a couple levels I was invited to a sewer team and readily accepted. The first thing that popped up in the Team channel was good we got a healer. Keep in mind, at this point I had still not had any experience with the R U Helar mindset. I told him nope, sorry, no heals here. His response was why. So here I was brand new character, new to the set, having to explain why I have no heals. Now imagine that every other team I was in. Yeah.
Levels 8-15 were the worst. The Hollows levels. Most of the time I would be asked if I healed, and when I told them I couldnt they just didnt respond. I tried in vain to explain that debuffs can be a lot more helpful than heal-spams, but it usually fell on deaf ears. One time in particular I remember joining a Frostfire mission, then later when the team wiped, a couple guys flipped out at me because I wasnt doing my job and keeping people healed. I remember one of them said the only good def is healer. I was booted shortly after. Later I found out the Kin on the team was booted as well. Ridiculous.
Once I hit level 26, things started to change. Ignorance was replaced by curiosity. The quiet lil TA that flung arrows from the back line became a beast with a vicious power. Oil Slick. Occasionally I would be asked about healing, but I was usually invited anyway. These are the true players. These are the people that make up the core of this game. It was very nice to join a team to a flurry of Trick Arrow? Cool! or ooh, never played with a TA before! as opposed to where r ur heals and TA is teh gimp. People were genuinely curious to see the set for themselves instead of hearing through the grapevine that some powerset theyve never even seen before is crap and taking that as fact. I gained a lot of friends in this period, and Trick Arrow was finally getting the respect it very much deserves.
It wasnt until I hit 45 and strolled into Eden that the cold slap of ignorance greeted me once more, though in a different (and maybe a bit off-topic) way. The extremely few TA Defenders that actually stuck it out to that level got thrown in with Blasters to just be generic damage dealers. Single-target attacks only, I was told. Good thing I took some otherwise Id have had to sit it out completely. I felt so totally worthless. Only once did I run a Hami. After that I decided Id never run another, but this new one is sounding quite promising.
So I went back doing what I do best. Missions. I cruised to 50 with no problems and joined the elite few who had the patience and understanding to take a Trick Arrow Defender to 50.
Luckily I had a good set of friends for support, the kind to help you out in any rough patch. For that I am very, very grateful. Without them Ochosi would still be sitting somewhere around 15, of not deleted.
So yes, the road is rough, and yes, that delete button does look tempting at times, but it generally gets better.
At least in the eyes of a Trick Arrower.
-Ochosi
And don't listen to her about her emp/sonic. She's a darn good Empathy Defender and she knows it 
MAINSTAY - Champion Server
Shamelessly plugging the SG, one post at a time.
I'd like to make a statement.
As my main is an Empathy/Electricity (w00t! Level 50!), I did a lot of your "enabling"
I know, it does reinforce a stereotype. However, it does have serious benefits. I mean, taken seriously, defenders are not really meant for much damage dealing. You can build them that way, and really well, too.
However, I have noticed at the higher levels, many people seem to forget this "ruhelar" attitude. I am more often asked for a fortify, RA, or CM than I am a heal. It's nice knowing that you're not expected to do damage, and usually a team will compensate for that.
And if I get critisized for not healing when it's not my fault. I'll quit. I swear
Word...
Try this experiment:
make a trick arrow/archery defender, or a sonic/sonic, and give it a name like "yes I R healorz", and see how fast you get kicked from a team after getting invited and no green glowing goodness is seen from you.
My Guide to the Hero-side Venomous badge
(622 Badges on my badge-guy)
number of lvl 50's: 24
number in the 40's: 3
[u]Galleryview[u]
You silly people motivated me to make a Sonic/Rad
Nothing like "Yes I R healorz" though D:
Aww... Ocho... you so sweet! 
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The problem with healing is that a team can take on challenges with it that they never could without. So "healers" are specifically sought out, and Defenders/Corruptors etc. of all types are asked if they can heal (becuase of this expectation). It is not necessarily the result of having come from a different game.
Yes, non-heal buffs help, but healing trumps them because it's the only buff that prevents faceplants. Non-heal buffs delay faceplants, and make them less likely overall, but healing outright does away with them for the most part. This is at the heart of the reason why "healers" are specifically sought out.
So it is partially people making analogs between a game they'd played previously and this one, but it's mostly the fact that healing enables a team to take on much more difficult tasks. No matter how good the non-heal buffs, no matter how good the team's tactics, healing will do this.
I don't at all like the culture this fact of life in the game creates. I have seen Trick Arrow Defenders asking if it's OK that they don't have heals (they should never have to justify their powerset choice to anyone). I avoid playing Defenders myself because I wonder if teams would take me (I'd most likely take a non-heal powerset combo). It shouldn't be that way.
Great guide BTW.
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I severely disagree. Ever teamed with a good FF defender? my god do they have a lot of damage mitigation. And that's what healing is as well- another form of damage mitigation. F prevents it- healing reverses it. I'd rather the shield take it and I take nothing, though, than take it and get healed, when, say, i'm fighting a +5 Infernal who can, with a single swing of his axe, kill my 1200+ hp scrapper. Sure, a heal'd be nice after- but that's what Respites are for. Or a secondary defender witha healing power. or, my favorite, some self-sufficient healing powers like Aid Self (if the medicine pool is all you have access to) or Reconstruction.
And then there is healing versus debuffs. When that /rad corruptor drops their debuffs on an enemy and I go from doing 6 damage per shot to at least 10 a shot (the DoT laser pulse shot from teh drones, FYI) I'm a lot more happy since the enemy (which has about 300 HP) dies a LOT faster (40*3=120, 300/120=2.5 attacks per drone at 10 damage a shot, if they're all that's attacking, in comparison to (24*3=72, 300/72=4.7 attacks per drone at 6 damage a shot). And wouldn't you know it, less enemies = less damage coming in, so less healing needed, too.
My $.02.
Heals as a general rule affect only on team member at a time, and if the team has to move around to manage the spawn the AoE heals are next to useless.
Buffs/DeBuffs on the other hand can affect the ENTIRE team for the duration of the fight. As such, a good buffer/debuffer can do more for a team in a single, or series, of fights than the best healer. The team takes less damage and/or does more damage (leading to less damage taken) and therefore needs the heals less to not at all.
Does this mean there is no room for ruh3410rz?! Actually there is a place as mentioned above. In the case everything goes to H#!! and everyone fails in their appointed tasks the healer CAN come along and clean up the mess and make everyone THINK that they were the only reason that they were able to complete the mission.
I speak from the experience of a scrapper (as seen in my sig below), and that experience tells me that buffers/debuffers are far more usefull to me than a healer. Even on my other scrappers (DA/SS/INV) I notice how much of a difference a good buffer/debuffer can make in my life. When I play a blaster the difference is even more dramatic. And when you can run an Ice/FF troller solo (not recommended for those with short attention spans or a major desire for large orange numbers) you really notice what buffs can do.
I have a Rad/Rad Defender and he is one of my top 3 favorite characters. I haven't played him as much as I should have due to my love of scrappers and trollers, but when I do I am always impressed with how easily he cuts through his enemies. I actually think he does a better job than my scrappers and blasters and quickly taking down the enemy.
again...thats just my $.02.
P.S.: hope this made sense was writing this just before heading to bed.
Proud Member of
'Well, I found the "fight" button, so lets do that.' Bun Bun
My Characters
My one and only 50 is a claws/regen, built to be a survivalist. And I make damned sure that I stay alive as much as possible, when -i- want to stay alive. So that healor guy over there? useless to me. That buffer/debuffer over THERE, though, MUCH more useful. because he covers every aspect I don't- damage mitigation that does not involve regeneration (excluding MoG, which needs to be fixed anyways).
May I state that defenders are meant to DEFEND against you taking damage Empathy defenders may heal, but in my opinion, Fortitude and the 2 RA's with AB is what makes an Empathy Defender, I mean seriously, ever heard of a lvl 40 defender without both RA's?
I would also state that since controllers Secondarys are those of the Defender, Isn't it Helpful to have a Troller that can Keep the Enemy from even Hitting you? If they fail they can use there secondary set to either defend (bubbles) or Heal or whatever they do to keep the Team alive
Moral of the Strory...
Defenders =Defense+dmg
Controllers =crowd control+fixing mistakes
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the way i read it, the OP has pertinent and helpful info, yours: not so much.
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Please list five (5) pertinent and helpful things the OP said. 'Cause all I saw was a jaded rant, inflated with straw-man arguments and too many adverbs.
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Agreed. The OP is a self important [censored] with nothing better to do than [censored] all over anything that smacks of goodness, out of sheer self-possession.
Good grief. It's bad enough trying to find any information or discussion on the defender's forum, was it really necessary to spill this over to another forum?
Kudos Scourge, for provoking a mostly interesting and valid string of posts. I came originally from EQ. First MMO I ever tried, and I can attest to the "desired class" clique. If you played a ranger, as I did, you stood a slightly better chance of getting a group than Satan does of getting a white xmas. EQ quickly became a formula. X+Y=Z. Add up all the essential ingredients, and, assuming the players knew what they were doing after 50 levels of practise, the raid was pretty much a done deal.
I have 3 friends who I constantly team with. Between us all we have played every powerset in CoX at least once each. Some of us have favored classes, but no matter who we choose to play, we absolutely rule as a team. The message here? Try different things. Get different perspectives. See how the tank does his job, how the defender keeps your team unharmed, how a blaster can nuke and immediately get back in the fight with the right preparation. Learn how to combine AT's for effect. Let the TA def fire oil slick and the fire blaster follow up with fireball. It's a beautiful thing. Most of all, learn that a team is the sum of it's parts. You no more NEED a healer than you NEED a tank. A good team, whether they know each other beforehand or not, can overcome the lack of any one class. Sure, a healer may speed things up. So can a kinetic. Speaking as someone who recently discovered the joys of broadsword scrapping (the carnage! the mayhem!), a little common sense goes a long way to keeping you in the green. Unless you have a misplaced sense of chivalry. That female psi? She's a guy. He doesn't expect you to die for him. He'll tell you so after you're already faceplanted and he's made his way out the mission door.
In short, please, please think before you go screaming for a h34l0r. A moment's pause will keep you from insulting a competent player, and demonstrating your leadership skills in keeping your team alive without a walking band-aid will raise thier opinion of you highly.
And above all....no blind invites. please. I like to have an idea who I'm gonna be dying with beforehand.
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Good grief. It's bad enough trying to find any information or discussion on the defender's forum, was it really necessary to spill this over to another forum?
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When I wrote this, the *point* was to have all those threads finally die out, because there would be a place you could point, whenever the argument started, that said all the obvious redundant endless stuff that was said every time the debate started.
The fact that, despite so much positive reaction, this hasn't made a difference in how much complaining goes on in the defender forum, just says to me that the 'debate' is that important. It should go wherever people want it to go. There should be an ruhelar thread in every forum. General discussion should be *nothing* But this argument.
When that happens, I hope you'll be there, with your emoticon.
So when people spam the /broadcast with
lvl 11 healer lft
It's so hard to hold my tongue.................
Might I state though that if a lvl 30 emp/rad defender
broadcast's
lvl30 def Healer LFT
maybe they actually mean that there sole goal of there defender is to heal and don't give a damn about anything else. such as there secondary when not helpful. Also they pick up hasten, SS and recall friend early on with rez and slotted heal other so that this defender is a healing machine and nothing else. It is great when your defender is good enought to go through a couple of AV's without a single death and no tank without restocking inspirations.
Though one thing I hate is someone broadcasting lvl whatever healer when they only have the medic power pool and they are a blaster or something. I think people like that deserve a "/roundhousekick" to the face.
I love this post and agree whole-heartedly that there are too many people mired in the traditional MMO mindset playing this game. Please don't discourage them from spamming "ruhelar" though. I like to know who to avoid.
From the OP:
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Furthermore, you are pretty, and I would like to brush your hair.
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That is probably the funniest thing I have read in a loooong time.
I have 2 ways of not enabling ruhealer.
1) I take my Kinetics defender to the hollows and follow lowbies around, buffing them until they have to return to atlas to level.
2) When I am bored, I roll up a lowbie and start sending tells to random defenders advertising as "healorz." I ask them, "Do you want a team?" When they say yes, I ask them, "Are you a Kinetics/Dark/Rad/Storm/FF?" When they say, "No I r healorz." I say, "Oh sorry, not what I am looking for. I was looking for a defender." (A little exagerated I know).
I love all the defender sets equally. (Shhhhh don't tell Kinetics I said that).