Teleport Foe, and why it rocks(PVE!)


abnormal_joe

 

Posted

INTRO
------
Hello, my name is Skippy, well no its not. Its actually BlackCarnage, and I'm here today, kids, to talk about Teleport Foe, a power that can be obtained through the Teleport Power Pool, but is often left collecting dust. Yet Teleport Foe(TPFoe) is quite the gem, and so few realize its power. And thats where i come in, Mr. BlackCarnage is going to tell you kids just what its good for, and why next time u ding, go get that TPFoe!

FOREWORD
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First, lets dive deep into the situations where TPFoe is king.
I find doing any mishes on Relentless, or Ruthless, or any high difficulty or high spawn rate mish, I faceplant, or have trouble when its just me(in one of my many altforms) against a huge group of oranges-purples. Eek. Now wouldn't it be just oh so much more fun, if i could take away only a few of that group? Just enough that i still have a challenge, but not faceplant before the mish is over? What about that EB i really cant face with Lt's and Minions spraying my back? Well don't worry my sinister/heroic friend, TPFoe is here to save us all.
Just take away one of those babies, and now that group is nice and soft for you to go in and do the dirty(or have your minions do it).

SYNERGY
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Synergy. TPFoe works with almost any AT. Some it works better than others. Heres a list for those with ADD of what AT should grab it, gradually decending until the final AT shouldnt take it(more about that AT later).
<ul type="square">
Brute
Master Mind
Scrapper
Tank
Kheldians/Blaster/Corruptor/Defender
Dominator/Controller
Stalker[/list]
BRUTE
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Heres why. As a Brute, your all for the fury, mainly because your all for the damage. Lots of it. Don't you just hate those times when you must go into a big group of mobs dry(without fury)? I know i did, until i discovered the magic of TPFoe.
Heres our scenario for this AT, we've got ruthless on, which mean big spawns, +2-+3 above us. We enter mish, and there is our first group. We've got lets say 2 Lts, and 3 Minions. Not bad, pretty easy huh? but lets say another group is close by, and if you attack the first, you'll aggro 3 Lts, 2 Minions. Well, now the heats turned up, but you could still handle it pretty well right? Heres where TPFoe makes your life cake. You decide to pull out TPFoe and target a Minion(+2). He's suddenly right beside you, and you pull out brawl + (fastest recharge small damage power) combo. Guess what? by the time your finished that single Mob, youve lost little health, you've gained about(if not more) half a bar of fury. If you did it with a Lt. you'd be at 3/4's a bar. And guess what, now your nice and furious for those mobs you've just been wanting to get your hands of death on. You can now easily do more damage, and thus take them down fast and easy enough to lose little health, and drive on to the next group. Hurray Brute Likes Mr. TPFoe. Overall, for a Brute, TPFoe can help alot with EB's too, you get a fury bar going, then hit the EB, with less support from the surrounding mobs, he's going down. So what have we learned? Brute + TPFoe = Happy Brute, Dead EB, + Survivabilty, + Solo-ability.

MASTERMIND
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The easiest way to think of a Mastermind's use of TPFoe is to imagine if you with all of your 6(or up to 8) pets summoned take on one single foe. Well he is obviously going down in about .1 seconds time. This is especially good for forcing pets to melee, or to range. If you tp right in front of your ninjas, they cant pull the bowtrick, and have to melee. If you tp in front of you a ways, while your robots are behind you, its unlikely they will run in, instead of ranging. So its obviously a good AI combatant, and an excellent way to decrease the strength of a group(as covered under BRUTE).

SCRAPPER &amp; TANK
-----------------------
I grouped these to together, because they are close to the same for the use of TPFoe. However the Scrapper has less health, meaning it gets more +survivability and use out of TPFoe than a Tanker would. The idea for each of these two AT's to have TPFoe, is simple, you want to have enough of a dent in a group, to be able to breeze through it. For a tanker, TPFoe, and then attacking it, while your group is attacking the main, takes one more mob off the group, by the time its down(if TPFoe is slotted right) Tp is up again for you to grab another, usually it would be better to just go in there and get as much aggro as possible, but sometimes its not a good idea. You can also solo easier this way. Scrappers like to pick a target and kill it, whats a more effective way to claim something as yours to kill then teleporting it right beside you into a katana or claw? This also keeps Scraps alive longer, because they take damage from less mobs, so they only have to finish one(when soloing).

KHELDIANS/BLASTER/CORRUPTOR/DEFENDER
-------------------------------------------------------
These guys are all ranged, and so dragging mobs up infront of you isnt exactly great. The Blaster/Corruptor/Defender has a snipe/ranged attack to pull, so it doesnt really need this power either. It is still realistic, to tpfoe near you as a defender, into your group, so you can use your kinetics goodness easily on your group. Or to drag a running minion back into the fray as you lay on the debuffs of radiation.

DOMINATORS/CONTROLLERS
-----------------------------------
I put these guys as the least useful of the AT's who should still use TPFoe, simply because i think that they can mass hold, over using tpfoe, and tpfoe isnt as useful to them because of that. What would you rather, TPFoe and hold them, or hold a huge group before going in? HOWEVER, if your soloing, this isnt bad to pick up at-all, it actually makes both AT's extremely able to solo, if at the slow rate of TpFoe's Recharge. Just tpfoe to you, hold, deal the damage, down it goes, tp another, until you can go up and deal with the 3 or so thats left for you to mop-up. These AT's should still get TpFoe for solo, and everyone will solo at some point.

STALKERS (ATTENTION!!!)
--------------------------------
STALKERS SHOULD NEVER GET TPFOE!!!
Good, i got your attention! All you Stalkers out there, while your busy hiding in the bushes, do not use TPFoe! You will loose your hide/critability, which makes you as useless as a scrapper without a primary. Sure, if you really had to you could get this, and just placate foe, then crit. So yes, if you really really really wanted to you could, and it would still have SOME very limited functionality. OR if your one of those uber 'im looking for a challenge' stalkers who don't hide, you can use it all you want.

TEAMS
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TPFoe is situational at best for Teaming.
Its still excellent for MM's and even Brutes, but not so much for the others. There still has been quite a few times when people thank me for the Tping, when we're up against a EB or AV, and need to get some of those mobs outta the way so we don't faceplant.

SOLOING
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I recommend ALL AT's (except Stalkers) get TpFoe if they plan on doing a small to extreme ammount of soloing, it is priceless. You increase your survivability by an extreme ammount. As mentioned many times, if you can take away mobs, dealing with them 1 at a time, you can deal with a group easier. GET THIS. Its Great. But....

FLAWS
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TPFoe does have some unwanted's. First, it has to hit, so you'll want some ACC slotting. Secondly it can very easily be resisted. A Orange LT and up, you cant TP(IIRC). Which means if you decide to group with level 50s, and your 44, dont expect to be tping anyone. It also has slow recharge. Not super slow though, if you take Sherk Silvers Character Builders Numbers, it has a 20 Recharge, which basically means, if your not a full fury Brute, or your not a MM, by the time your done killin one, you can go TP another, even MM's and brutes dont have to wait long(though for Brutes, it still might be too much time!). Another problem with the power, is it has a Power 10 (10% chance i think) of taunting critters around the target, within 20ft. However, thats only if it hits, if it misses, no critters are the wiser. TPFoe also has a 2 second interrupt time, its not much, but wouldnt reccomend using it in the heat of battle. It costs 15 End per use, which could be a hit for Brutes, but with fury, those mobs will go down faster, meaning less attacks, and less endurance needed.

TRAVEL POWER
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Some people just wouldnt take this power, because it would mean they would need another to get their travel power, but don't overlook Teleport. Teleport is the fastest travel power, the most endurance intensive, the most dangerous, and the easiest and the hardest at the same time. If you look in the Guide To Guides post, you can find Teleport Guides, giving you handy binds to make telporting more user friendly, and with such speed, its not slow, i reccomend 2 endredux 3 range if you can.

CLOSING
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Hopefully now more people will see the light that is TPFoe, and why they should definatly invest in the power. I am BlackCarnage saying; Welcome to the World of TPFoe, may you be addicted forever, and have fun too.


-This post has been totally made by BlackCarnage, no animals were harmed in the process, and only one can of coke was finished. If you disagree with anything mentioned in the above guide, please post, along with any (and especially wanted) feedback.


 

Posted

Good guide, just wanted to add two (or three) rather specific combos that several ATs can pull off with TP Foe.

1) So let me see a man about a rez...

Howling Twilight, available from the dark/ defender primary, /dark corruptor secondary, and /dark MM secondary is a very useful power. It's an AOE disorient/slow, combined with a multiple-target rez power which some consider the best in the game just for that reason alone. So your team has almost wiped and someone has Recall Friend and someone has TP Foe? Golden opportunity for a save-the-day mass rez.

However.... it requires at least one mob nearby to work!

So, put your faceplanted comrades in a nice neat pile with Recall Friend (if you or someone else has it), TP Foe nearby and fire off Howling Twilight - mass rez and mass enemy stun in one shot!

Yes, Warshades inherent Recall Friend and pickable TP Foe power also will work for the purpose of ally placement and enemy pull.

2) Boy, that boss is annoying, I'd dearly love to blow him/her/it up!

Sadly... TP Foe doesn't actually work on bosses. So if you're a /dev blaster or /traps corruptor or /traps MM with Trip Mines... you can't pull the boss into your mines. Nor most lieuts. But you can thin out the herd of minions surrounding the boss without actually triggering the nice minefield you laid.

So, especially if you're soloing, take your time! Be patient! Lay that minefield.

Then, simply TP Foe the minions surrounding that annoying boss/EB/whatever to a point near, but before your minefield, and use a power that every dev/traps toon automatically possesses: Web Grenade. Then proceed to demolish the minion. Or, if you're particularly amused by the idea, TP Foe them on top of one mine for a nice boom.... leaving the rest of the minefield for the boss. Rinse and repeat as necessary.

Once the minions (who often tend to rush you, triggering the mines before the boss... which is the entire point of laying a minefield) are gone... do a regular pull of the boss... or, sometimes, you can try to TP Foe the boss, too. It will fail, but if you hit, you will most likely agro them if they aren't agro'd already.

This has the advantage of being triggerable out of line of sight, as I mention later.


3) Mmmm... PVP. Big bada boom!

Personally... I don't, much. But the TP Foe + minefield trick is a relatively sure-fire way to fight, especially as a squishy blaster or corruptor. (Now, with Bodyguard, MMs are not so squishy as they used to be. And MMs probably don't "need" the minefield tactics that /dev blasters and /traps corrs often do to beat bosses solo).

Note that several powers offer resistance to TP Foe, but players are as vulnerable to its goodness as minions. Plus, travel powers will typically take your target away from range quickly.

But... figured it should be mentioned for the sake of completeness.



Furthermore, a few things you (in the audience) may not have known about TP Foe. I've just tried TP Foe out on my thugs/dark MM, because I hadn't really used it before, and I really, really like it. Might be taking it on more toons from now on.

Several reasons other than what the guide discusses above:

It's targeted, and has a decent range (like 200' I believe... at least 150'.) That's longer than most snipes.

It works on runners.

It does NOT require line of sight to the target to work! This is huge.


For instance, if you can get line-of-sight to the target initially to, well, target it... but then you zoom out of line-of-sight (go around a corner, behind a box, whatever), you can still TP Foe it. Be warned... sometimes a group will agro once you TP Foe, so be prepared for them to rush you.

Sometimes, though, you can actually peel all the minions by being careful about not letting the boss have line-of-sight to you, and even though you've agro'd the boss, you won't pull the boss until he/she/it sees you. (I suppose mobs are really all "it" but anyway).

This, at least, has the advantage of getting rid of the annoying minions first. Say, Sappers... Earth Thorn Casters... Sky Raider Engineers... etc etc.

Anyway, just wanted to add a few things to your guide since you were kind enough to put it up.


Currently: 50s (5), 40s (3), 30s (5)
Red and blue side, mostly Infinity, Virtue, and Freedom.

 

Posted

Heh, ty for the feedback and additions. Just for the record, 200 base range for TPFoe, with 3 SO Range's that improves to 315, thats an extra 115! Again, thanks for the feedback and the addons, and its good to know its not just me using this wonderful power &gt;


 

Posted

tpfoe is also really good for tp'n nme's off skyscrapers. ROFL


 

Posted

While i dont' pve with it, I just picked up TP foe on my Ice/Storm Troller and have to say, this is the funnest build of all time

Nothin like dropping all your damage and slow patches then tp'ing an RV badge hunter off his heavy (i'm such a noob i can rarely manage to get a kill on any toon that has to fight the heavy too )


 

Posted

Two things on the Kheldian side:
1. Peacebringers can't get it, period. Any Kheld is locked out of both the Flight and Teleport pool.

2. Warshades, however, get inherent Recall Friend (Shadow Recall) and an option for TP Foe (Starless Step.) Warshades should *absolutely* get it - saying they shouldn't bother is silly.

Why?

Gravity Well, and Voids/Quantums.

TP Foe them out, stick them in the Well, beat the snot out of 'em and they can't do a thing about it. Even better later when you have Inky Aspect to disorient them. Works with other mobs, too... so Warshades should be *much* higher on the list.


 

Posted

Don't THINK I saw this above, so if I repeat something, forgive me. One thing that I LOVE about TP foe is that you can port some targetable explosives. I know people skip the hallway in the Terra Volta trial, but try this next time. Target the bombs, and port them next to, or into, the mob groups. Now have a blaster snipe the bomb. Big laffs, and a few less enemies to fight.


 

Posted

I run a Grav/Storm Troller with both Wormhole and TP foe - and one of the neatest uses I've found for both of them is to drop the targets in the middle of my Singularity. The time gained from the repulsion knockback makes setting up a lock completely painless.


 

Posted

Thugs/Dark Villian:

Lay down a tar patch, TP the foe into the patch, laugh while watching your thugs riddle it with bullet holes for 2 seconds.


 

Posted

Ty guys, especially Memphis, I havent played any Khelds yet myself, so was unsure. Thanks for the addition Dreamkatcher, its true tping bombs into enemies is fun, but all too often there are not any bombs to be tping . Currently i just rolled a AR/Kin Corr, and its fun tping a enemy, siphon power, siphon speed, buckshot, and off i go using my superspeed to get around &gt;


 

Posted

Agreed. Ive been running a bunch of Sky Raider missions with my Dark Defender - I always identify the engineers and teleport them out first, quickly hit them with a DoT, and consequently havent spent any time whiffing against a Force Field generator.

It really is an awesome power for unravelling those "jigsaw puzzles" some enemy groups present.


 

Posted

hhmmm but why should one get tpfoe again?


 

Posted

Another use you don't mention for TP Foe is for Melee Blasters.

Aim --&gt; TP Foe --&gt; BuildUp + Power Boost --&gt; Bonesmasher --&gt; Total Focus.

If they're still standing, they're almost guarenteed to be walking funny.

In fact any AT with a single target mez can benefit from TP Foe in a similar fashion.


 

Posted

Just to play devils advocate I use it on my em/nin stalker. During the early levels before I had real defenses I could use it to whittle down the "extra" spawn in a room and thus avoid a face plant. tping into a placate is just unfair anway.

Oh btw nice guide.


Taking It On the Chin I-16 Tanker Guide
Repeat Offenders

 

Posted

I take issue with your prioritization. I have found TPFoe most useful on my stalkers. TPFoe+Placate+AS is a very handy "stalker-pull" to get that larger spawn more manageable. And in 10 seconds, you're ready to go again. In fact, I usually get TPFoe on all my stalkers while considering it optional for everything else.


 

Posted

I guess it depends on what slotting you have for Placate and AS. I was assuming base values, and no slotting, which means that it would be a waste (IMHO) to use Placate on a Tp'd. For the general stealthy stalker, you dont want to use Tpfoe because your hidden status is now gone, and any patrols will spot you. Thats alot more aggro then most can handle(EM/* prolly the exception). I alslo think that groups of critters when soloing are so tightly packed, that it is extremely rare to be able to AS one, and not aggro the others. However i do agree, if you've 3 slotted both AS and Placate, it is extremely reasonable to assume you can Hide-&gt;AS-&gt;Placate-&gt;AS, and if the opportunity arrises, TPFoe-&gt;Placate-&gt;AS. Its just not generally good throughout the game, especially because alot of Stalkers team, and when you
do you become the boss killer, defeating one of the many purposes of TpFoe.


 

Posted

You forgot one VERY important use of TPFoe. Those enemies that get stuck in walls and ceilings and rocks you know the one that invariably has the key you need or the one that you can't kill ( " target blocked " ) in the defeat ALL mission you are on... well you can just TP him right out of that mess right in front of you and be done with him.

I love and and so faar it has worked every time.


I'm just a girl in the world.

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Posted

By any chance when you made this Guide on TP Foe about the stalkers not taking it because it wasnt any good for them, did you think about fear? Id like to know what your thought is on TP Foe + Fear.

I only ask because I have a Stalker who has TP Foe, and about half the times, I catch a PvPer without BFs and it holds like a charm. (not to mention if they pop a BF, I simply TP out of dodge before they have a chance to swat me like a fly)

What is your take on that? Would you concider it usefull in that particular situation?

Also, I find it usefull in PvE as well, TP Foe + Fear works alot better in PvE IMO.


 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
By any chance when you made this Guide on TP Foe about the stalkers not taking it because it wasnt any good for them, did you think about fear? Id like to know what your thought is on TP Foe + Fear.

I only ask because I have a Stalker who has TP Foe, and about half the times, I catch a PvPer without BFs and it holds like a charm. (not to mention if they pop a BF, I simply TP out of dodge before they have a chance to swat me like a fly)

What is your take on that? Would you concider it usefull in that particular situation?

Also, I find it usefull in PvE as well, TP Foe + Fear works alot better in PvE IMO.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, first off, its a PvE guide, not PvP(yes i know you added some pve bit at the end). What i cannot understand is, fear = runaway or a hold, ESPECIALLY for a stalker pve, any enemy you can TPFoe, you can also Placate&gt;AS, and kill them in a second, so why fear? By the time they appear, youve AS and Placated before it can attk you. To me, adding fear in there seems like a waste, if you have time to TP, you have time to re-hide.


 

Posted

Dominater (Mind/Psionics)
A fun trick in mayhem missions with TPFoe for people with low damage outputs and lots of holds:

* Use a stun on a mob. (Dominate for example)
* TPFoe the mob onto or near a car or truck.
* Destroy the car or truck and watch the mob fry/fly from the explosion.


 

Posted

Wow, I actually prefer TPFoe on my em/nin stalker. I find that I can take on groups of minions fine, but minions around a boss can be tough for a stalker with not much defense or health to wave around. I use it for boss fights because there are alot of bosses that I cannot take out in one foul swoop, but they can take me out in 2 hits (Wolf Bosses, MA Council Bosses, Freak Slicer Tanks, Scout Operatives). There are also bosses that need my undivided attention (Both types of Carnie bosses) because they either have crazy debuffs or summon armies to help deal with me. TPFoe allows me to remove the crowd around them so that I can concentrate on the boss without someone interrupting my placate or autohide. I don't TPFoe/Placate/AS because EM/ is great with just TPFoe/AirSup/ET/EP, and by the time I TPFoe the next minion, everything is recharged (and I don't even have hasten). This allows me to also save all of my buffs/heals/tricks for the boss. I also don't worry about the unhide that TPFoe causes because you can pretty much position yourself in a safe enough place to take out any minion after TPFoe, as well as using the rehide time it heal up any missing HP/End from the minion before taking on the next minion/boss. I do understand your viewpoint on TPFoe and stalkers, but there can be more to a stalker then just Assassin Strikes.


 

Posted

[ QUOTE ]
STALKERS (ATTENTION!!!)
--------------------------------
STALKERS SHOULD NEVER GET TPFOE!!!
Good, i got your attention! All you Stalkers out there, while your busy hiding in the bushes, do not use TPFoe! You will loose your hide/critability, which makes you as useless as a scrapper without a primary. Sure, if you really had to you could get this, and just placate foe, then crit. So yes, if you really really really wanted to you could, and it would still have SOME very limited functionality. OR if your one of those uber 'im looking for a challenge' stalkers who don't hide, you can use it all you want.


[/ QUOTE ]

I must humbly say I disagree with you strongly here in that Stalkers have some of the -best- synergy with TP foe. Why? for some of the reasons you say they should not have it.

-Placate: While TP foe Breaks hide, Stalkers have a built in reset with Placate, allowing the Stalker to TP his target in, placate and kill and if he fears extra aggro because of the TP, he is far enough away from the main spawn to make a quick get away.

-Survivability: Stalkers have some low hit points and lets face it some foes will cut right through their defences. TP foe allows the Stalker to cull out problematic foes, reducing spawns to a more managable size.

-Team utility: This is a power where a Stalkers ability to scout can really benefit the team. The Stalker can go out and target in many situations that would leave a non hidden teammate open to reprisal. So the Stalker goes out, chooses a juicy foe and tps the foe in for the team to handle. Rinse and repeat.

So in closing I would recommend TP foe for Stalkers because of its ability to improve survivability, having a staple power that negates the disadvantage of breaking hide(placate) and for its ability to improve a Stalkers team usefulness.

TP foe improves your options and Stalkers like to have lots of options. If your Stalker is going with Teleport for a travel power this is a no brainer.

As soon as I saw what Stalkers were all about I knew TP foe was a dream come true.


 

Posted

TPFoe is also handy for getting mobs down from roof tops in the levels before you get a travel power.
Especially the clockwork in Steel Canyon.


Explorer 86.67%, Achiever 60.00%, Socializer 46.67%, Killer 6.67%

"When nature calls, I can go right in my suit."
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"I just found out why my socks feel squishy."

 

Posted

Another thing to mention is the fact that TP Foe works like other "attack" powers in that you can target through someone else. Specifically, if someone else on your team has invisibility of some kind, he or she can get places you can't...and you can target through that person to TP the foes to you.

Just make sure that your targeter has an idea of
A. How pulls work
B. What TP Foe can and cannot affect.


I'm not the droid I'm looking for.

MA Arc ID 8121: Rapp'Mas'Ta's War. The Rikti are trying to incorporate sonic effects into their weapons? THAT can't be good. Maybe we should ask them to stop.

 

Posted

I can see the use of TP Foe on a Stalker, though it is marginal at best when compared to the utility of Recall Ally.

"Man, I wish I could stealth the mission like you do."
*VA-WHOOP!* "You were saying?"

Or,

"I wish I didn't have to lug all this Granite into the mob."
*VA-WHOOP* "It's okay, I'll carry you."

EDIT: By the way, Recall Ally does not break Hide.


All that is planned fails. All that is born dies.
All that is built crumbles. This will always be true.

But memories remain, And that is beautiful.