Hmm... Have I made the wrong choice?

I love playing Defenders to bits as I love to think about what I need to do and last minute, saving people from tight situations.

My first couple of Defenders were Empaths, but as I hit the 25+ levels I soon got bored with her as a lot of my regular teammates were taking very good care of themselves. I was basically the Fortitude, Clear Mind and R/Auras bucket.

So now I though I'd try to go for one which I don't see very often, I've got a nice little "receptionist by day, master of winds by night!!" Storm/Elec Defender which I find quite nice to solo on.

But that's it, apart from my b/f teaming with me I'm mainly solo. I had one really good team but it was full of Controllers so it was hard to tell if I was actually contributing.

I'm only a low level right now and I know at the beginning of the game there is a huge craze for healers, I was just wondering if people would like to team with me more later on or if it's going to stay this way.

Oh and just FYI for those that are interested, I have:-

Storm Summoning
Gale
O2 Boost
Snow Storm
Steamy Mist

Electric Blast
Charged Bolts

I've used this build as I'm hoping that I won't have to be attacking aggressively for a huge portion of the time (considering getting Aim and Tesla Cage later) but if I keep soloing I'm worried that I'll have to focus less on Defending and more on my Electric Blast powerset (which I really hope not!!)

Anyways, that's just my rambling *points back to the thread title incase you forgot what it was*

I've got a level 27 Stormie and she's still as much in demand as she was in her teens. Although I do have a wide network of friends in my coalition.

Out of all the powersets I have tried (I have altitis) the Storm Summoning powers are my favourite (aswell as Kinetics).

You do really contribute to the team... laying down debuffs left, right and centre. Plus mob positioning.

I think the main thing with not many people creating Storm Defenders is it's steep learning curve. Thus those who create them either play very well or very badly.

From experience I recommend concentrating on your primary and taking a couple of powers your my secondary. Usually if you're doing your job well you'll have time to fire off a few blasts before returning to your debuffing and mob repositioning.

If you've got any more questions or would like to team up sometime (or join our Defender SG) send Afro Storm a tell.

u didnt read the sig did u afro

lol Defiant.

Ok... still feel free to send me a PM.

You havent gone wrong in picking. However...the empathy set has the unique ability to make bad teams bareable and good teams ultra killing machines. At hardcore situations post ED with invincible missions and 8 people teams the empath will be the one that will keep things going. The storm set is a very tricky set to play as a primary mainly because u need to understand your role really well. You are a debuffer with lots of slows in there. However you cannot cause the havoc in terms of debuffing that a Rad would create. The storm set is insanely awsome fun to play and you will really enjoy it however you need a good combo of team that comprehends how it works. Experienced players will truly appreciate it and new players will curse you for it. As you progress with it you will get better and better. Small advice dont use hurrican often on big groups cause you are aggro magnet with it. Also another small thingy...Storm is godlike in PVP

No such thing as a wrong choice is there?

I'll team with anyone who is even moderately helpful (read: doesn't just aggro everything on the mish and lie there demanding to be rezzed) so consider that another vote. There are so many great defender sets that it's a crime to see the 'defender must be a healer' mentality out there. I like to think of us as 'blasters who can take a punch AND help out friends in trouble'

Thanks very much for your advice there, I think I'll be keeping little Strike Thunder now. Nice to know that she's good in PVP also, it'd be nice to have a character who can contribute rather than my Corrupter who just loves faceplanting! Not that I don't expect to faceplant myself, it'd just be nice to be useful before I do

Very nice words, I was wondering whether or not I would be a Scrapper and a Tanker's nightmare because I find that Gale can get me out of a very sticky situation (when it hits!).

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However...the empathy set has the unique ability to make bad teams bareable and good teams ultra killing machines.

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I'd say empathy has the ability to make bad teams bearable and good teams better, but that kinetics turns already really good teams in to ultra killing machines.

But to be fair I agree with Dark Corridor, there's no such thing as a wrong choice when it comes to defender primaries (although I'm yet to be sold on TA). They may have varying degrees of usefulness in different situations, but a good defender is almost always a welcome addition to a team. I think one of the reasons storm gets bad press is that if you do team with a bad one, it's very noticable - sort of like the bad energy blaster everyone once met at some point in a hollows team which coloured their views of them for the next 10 levels, but from my point if view if I'm playing a blaster, a good storm defender is great fun to team with.

Trust me when I say that any team that isn't interested in you purely because you're not an empath almost certainly isn't a team that you really want to play with.

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Very nice words, I was wondering whether or not I would be a Scrapper and a Tanker's nightmare because I find that Gale can get me out of a very sticky situation (when it hits!).

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Ah that Don't do it! If you have a handy scrapper or tanker about just go hide behind 'em. That's where Stormies get their bad rep in a nutshell - blowing everyone's targets all over the place just as they lined up their big hitter melee attack

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Trust me when I say that any team that isn't interested in you purely because you're not an empath almost certainly isn't a team that you really want to play with.

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Ooo ouch, I can understand that with my former Empaths I was very sought after up to a point. And my Corrupter is normally bombarded with /tells of whether I can heal or not, to which my replies are completely ignored "I do have a potent heal, but I focus a lot on debuffing/buffing the enemy and players" (Dark/Kinetics for those who wish to know)

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Ah that Don't do it! If you have a handy scrapper or tanker about just go hide behind 'em. That's where Stormies get their bad rep in a nutshell - blowing everyone's targets all over the place just as they lined up their big hitter melee attack

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Ah I was thinking of that, I normally team with my Blaster friend and they don't find it that bad, but I always get a bit more careful in a team of melee people. Running to the side of the enemy in a corridor and pushing them against a wall is something that I'd do more if I were with close-up-and-personal types.

Ta very much all, this little lady's going to be very happy when she gets her first level 50 with this character!

Nope. Storm is great with a little restraint...

Get Freezing Rain as soon as you can. It's a superb power. But its a Rain power so be aware as soon as you cast it the enemies are going to try scarpering out of it. Not au fait with Electrical Defender set but if you have an immobilise available a one-two with it is great.

Uncontrolled knockback will make you very unpopular. That said most people are aware of Storms powers so as long as you don't do it continually people are generally cool about it.

And if possible try out powers on the Test Server before buying them. Tornado is one I'd try before you buy. Personally I think it's rubbish but some people swear by it for AV fights.

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Get Freezing Rain as soon as you can. It's a superb power. But its a Rain power so be aware as soon as you cast it the enemies are going to try scarpering out of it. Not au fait with Electrical Defender set but if you have an immobilise available a one-two with it is great.

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I found casting Snow Storm (slotted with a few slows) kept the great majority of bad guys escaping the rain. Alternatively, pushing them into a corner with Hurricane works well (make sure to slot it with ToHit Debuffs). The only real problem I found with FR was with Inv Tanks/Scrappers who liked the bad guys grouped on them for the Def and ToHit bonuses they get.

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Get Freezing Rain as soon as you can. It's a superb power. But its a Rain power so be aware as soon as you cast it the enemies are going to try scarpering out of it. Not au fait with Electrical Defender set but if you have an immobilise available a one-two with it is great.

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I found casting Snow Storm (slotted with a few slows) kept the great majority of bad guys escaping the rain. Alternatively, pushing them into a corner with Hurricane works well (make sure to slot it with ToHit Debuffs). The only real problem I found with FR was with Inv Tanks/Scrappers who liked the bad guys grouped on them for the Def and ToHit bonuses they get.

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Yeah thats generally my problem with it too. It doesn't seem as extreme as Rain of Fire though, probably due to the knockdown and slow it also does.

Haven't really had the problem since I5 though. Tanks seem happy the buggers are running away

Empaths make a bad team bearable, but a skilled team will want other defenders more IMO.

Thing about Empaths is they get unwarrented "press coverage" - huge pretty green numbers suddenly appear in front of desperate characters lives.

But a bubbler - no effect. No one realises that the reason they are not getting hit is the shiny thing. Radiation is pretty, but not everyone realises the reason they are suddenly hitting with every attack for more damage is due to the radiation. Etc etc. Other defender sets are just less visible.

I find that as you get to higher levels, when teams are more experienced etc, Empath becomes far less attractive, because the wise are not hypnotised by life saving heals.

Prevention of getting the damage in the first place always better than healing it IMHO

Playing CoV has taught me that heals are over-rated

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Uncontrolled knockback will make you very unpopular. That said most people are aware of Storms powers so as long as you don't do it continually people are generally cool about it.

And if possible try out powers on the Test Server before buying them. Tornado is one I'd try before you buy. Personally I think it's rubbish but some people swear by it for AV fights.

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Definitely true, a well played Stormie can be a GREAT addition to a team, but needs careful play not to really annoy the rest of the team.
Storm does have a lot of knockback powers, these can be either of great help (knocking people off other squishies, hurricane being used to keep people pressed against a wall, Giving the tank a few seconds to heal and then get the aggro back etc) or a great hinderance.
Also if you are soloing a lot, the knockback powers do give you some breathing space (soloing hurricane is a must have power).
Also, on the ones you can, actually lining up which direction you want them to be knocked back (it is amazing the amount of people with any power pool that has knockback don't think of which way would be best to knock them back).

However used too much or in the wrong situation, some storm powers can be a nightmare. If the tank has control of a mob, let them control it, that is not the time to unleash gale or tornado, similarly with a scrapper who has the attention of the boss who is 2 hits from death!
And less obvious (was to me anyway, normally play melee characters), if you have another defender or controller that are providing Targeted AoE debuffs (personal experience of this with Rad), then using a knockback that breaks up the mobs will not make you popular, either with the debuffer or the rest of the team who wonder why they are now getting hit so much more/for more damage.

As has been said in previous posts, once you get above about lvl 20/25 then people have had enough experience in the game to notice that the powers you have make much more subtle (not big green numbers and health bar going up, but not going down as much type of subtle) addition to the team and tend to want to team with you more often.

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Playing CoV has taught me that heals are over-rated

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An empath remember is not a healer. Is a dual faced set with a natural progression of healer with the necessity of a switch at level 25 to a buffer. The empathy set is the only set that is so dual faced with no clear focus across all levels. As the levels increase there is a natural need for shifting the focus of the Empathy set by changing slotting and powers focus. Thats what makes empathy set so much more diverse.

Wow, this is more then I'd hoped for in a response . Now I know how to effectively build my character and not annoy my team!

Thanks very much, was worried that excessive use of Gale would make me unpopular, but know I know how to use it effectively. I'll be the best darn Storm Defender out there, you'll see!

Heh... maybe not that good, but thanks very much. I feel a huge boost of self-esteem coming on.

[edit]

And great, my title just got changed to Recruit! Whoo, I owe this topic so much! Now I just need to try and earn me some of those shiny stars...

Dark Corrider wrote:
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Ah that Don't do it! If you have a handy scrapper or tanker about just go hide behind 'em. That's where Stormies get their bad rep in a nutshell - blowing everyone's targets all over the place just as they lined up their big hitter melee attack

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Although I used to team with an Inv Tank who loved my Gales sending Freak Tanks back into melee with him when they were chasing me.

Gale Tennis is fun, especially if you can find a nrg blaster to play against

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Playing CoV has taught me that heals are over-rated

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An empath remember is not a healer. Is a dual faced set with a natural progression of healer with the necessity of a switch at level 25 to a buffer. The empathy set is the only set that is so dual faced with no clear focus across all levels. As the levels increase there is a natural need for shifting the focus of the Empathy set by changing slotting and powers focus. Thats what makes empathy set so much more diverse.

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Jeez TG, someone bought you a Dictionary as an early Christmas present???

I recently made a storm/dark defender. Its a lot different from the kinetic/electric set i'm used to, still loads of fun to use and theres some great powers in there.

ps. i think defenders are prolly my favorite hero as well

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Playing CoV has taught me that heals are over-rated

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An empath remember is not a healer. Is a dual faced set with a natural progression of healer with the necessity of a switch at level 25 to a buffer. The empathy set is the only set that is so dual faced with no clear focus across all levels. As the levels increase there is a natural need for shifting the focus of the Empathy set by changing slotting and powers focus. Thats what makes empathy set so much more diverse.

[/ QUOTE ]Who are you and where's Greek?!

well i thought to dust my Uni English a bit and write in my formal style lmao....now here is your dose of some Greek.

Lmao t3h H3al0rz r0Xx0rz bu7 d0n7 forg37 th4t 0the3r def3nd3r$ ar3 nic3 t00!!!!!!

is it wrong i can read that at normal speed?

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Get Freezing Rain as soon as you can. It's a superb power. But its a Rain power so be aware as soon as you cast it the enemies are going to try scarpering out of it. Not au fait with Electrical Defender set but if you have an immobilise available a one-two with it is great.

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/Electrical is awesome on my defender. 2 applications of Short Circuit with 3 end mods will drain any reasonable level Minion, Lieuteneant to Boss to zero endurance and prevent them from recovering it. I use it on my Kin/Elec meleefender excessively, along with Ball Lightning and the kin end drain powers. If you have something that prevents aggro from being a problem it can do wonders in a team situation.

Also as far as defender primaries are concerned, I think all of them are capable of making teams far more effective if used correctly.

Much as I love Empaths around on a team (I do, although i prefer others in a GOOD team), I am not sure they are the most diverse set in the pack... they are all buffs and heals. Storm and Rad do Debuffs, Buffs, Heals AND odds (like knockback, attacks, and holds), and every other set does at least two functions (e.g. Sonic debuffs, protects, holds, buffs, Forcefield buffs, knockbacks, disorientates, holds)

Can you really say Empaths are most varied?