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The one power I did get rid of was clear mind.
In most teams my defender ran with beig caught in a hold/sleep was not much of a problem...And Frankly I found proton volly more useful 
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This is something I don't understand. Imo, clear mind is one of the MUST take empathy powers, and even if I was to drop the rest of the entire set, clear mind is the power I'd probably choose above all the others.
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agreed, in pve it is essential for all squishies imo and in pvp its essential for the whole team due to the +perception
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The one power I did get rid of was clear mind.
In most teams my defender ran with beig caught in a hold/sleep was not much of a problem...And Frankly I found proton volly more useful
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This is something I don't understand. Imo, clear mind is one of the MUST take empathy powers, and even if I was to drop the rest of the entire set, clear mind is the power I'd probably choose above all the others.
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agreed, in pve it is essential for all squishies imo and in pvp its essential for the whole team due to the +perception
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Yeah, but he did say that he runs as a medic and not a buffing machine. So you gota feel sorry for the teams he joins as they won't be getting any Fort, AB, RA or Regen, let alone CM....
Even in team missions there has never been a situation where any of the team has faced defeat due to my lacking clearmind,but perhaps that will change in higher levels ,and if it does I might re-select it.
But so far in Pve I have found little use for it, and even with my other chars never had to think "doh if only we had clear mind in the team!"
I do use Recovery aura and find that a much more useful and important power than CM ever was
I assume that you haven't, as yet, fought: High level Rikti, Malta, High level DE, COT earth Mages or carnies then?
You will definitely need CM when fighting these.
Defiant
Proud Member of the Liberty Legion
Venture - Emp/En Defender
Seph - Kat/SR Scrapper
Blizzard - Ice/Storm Controller
Legionelosis - Rad/Rad Defender
Aye, not to mention Lost at the lower lvls with AoE sleep holds. Madness Mages & Ruin Mages in the Hollows are evil and thats lvl 5 to 17(ish).
Only ATs with their own mez protection wouldn't need CM, which seems to indicate that DG has never teamed with other Defenders, Blasters or Controllers..
personally, before ED the only primary i didnt have was the heal RA. since ED i have changed slotting drastically and have picked up heal RA to give that little extra boost.
imo, CM and fortitude are not NEEDED as such, but they are very useful powers.
Absorb pain can be dangerous, but for me i try not to let two people redline at once. even one in red health is a bit unusual. absorb, for me is for tanks. and only tanks. i will not use it on another AT unless i have no other heals, which isnt often the case as my heals are all 3* heal 3* recharge SO'd. basically, theres too much hp heal for it to be used on other AT's unless as last resort and too much danger to myself (i.e. try fighting nemesis and not taking any flak).
At the lower levels i found i did die quite often,but stuck with AP and found it an absolute must for team play very quick and powerful heal and rarly die from using it now and yet use it in heavy combat quite a bit as a life saver.
only slot it with 1 recharge and two heals as i find this is plenty as a cover heal.
Mac
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imo, CM and fortitude are not NEEDED as such, but they are very useful powers.
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Fort gives 25-30% base buff on Acc, Def & Dam, and thats *not* needed?? I've been playing with my SR scrapper with a very good empath keeping me buffed with Fort. I'm telling you, its the difference between killing loads and face planting. I certainly wouldn't expect a tank to take the aggro from an AV without dropping some Fort on them first either....
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I assume that you haven't, as yet, fought: High level Rikti, Malta, High level DE, COT earth Mages or carnies then?
You will definitely need CM when fighting these.
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Do you? What for? I'm not being sarcastic but I've fought them all without recieving CM and came through without too many problems (apart from the DE swarms *shudder*) but my main is a regen scrapper and thanks to Integration I miss a lot of the mobs more subtle powers.
(\_/)
(O.O) Bunny: Our time is coming
(> <)
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I assume that you haven't, as yet, fought: High level Rikti, Malta, High level DE, COT earth Mages or carnies then?
You will definitely need CM when fighting these.
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Do you? What for? I'm not being sarcastic but I've fought them all without recieving CM and came through without too many problems (apart from the DE swarms *shudder*) but my main is a regen scrapper and thanks to Integration I miss a lot of the mobs more subtle powers.
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lol with a regen scrapper ur not gonna get held r u? i think he was talking about squishies who against mentalists pretty much need perma cm
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imo, CM and fortitude are not NEEDED as such, but they are very useful powers.
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Fort gives 25-30% base buff on Acc, Def & Dam, and thats *not* needed?? I've been playing with my SR scrapper with a very good empath keeping me buffed with Fort. I'm telling you, its the difference between killing loads and face planting. I certainly wouldn't expect a tank to take the aggro from an AV without dropping some Fort on them first either....
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I didnt say it was not needed. i said it was not NEEDED as such. i have, and always will have them on my def. however, personally i put it on blasters rather than tanks. they need the def, acc and dmg much more vs an av than a tank does imo. i can keep a tanker happily alive no problem - which is its primary role. tankers take the aggro from the AV. that means their primary role is taking damage - something I have 5 other powers to combat. Blasters attack the av. that means their primary role is damage dealing. i only have one buff for that, and it also gives the blaster extra protection vs stray AoE attacks, which means less heals for him, more heals for tanker....
oh and yes, sr scrappers do need all the love they can get... but scrappers are both damage dealers and takers in their general melee role(to a certain degree anyway) so fortitude is great for them.
i'm telling you that if a tank refused to tank an av without fortitude incase they'd die; i would laugh my [censored] off at them. any well slotted empath, after ED, can still nearly full heal most tanks with AB (which is what this thread is about after all). and thats not even counting hitting build up to give em that extra kick. the problem is with squishies getting one shotted. blasters have a higher death rate than any other AT ffs and they are the main offensive brunt in AV slaying imo.
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i'm telling you that if a tank refused to tank an av without fortitude incase they'd die; i would laugh my [censored] off at them. any well slotted empath, after ED, can still nearly full heal most tanks with AB (which is what this thread is about after all). and thats not even counting hitting build up to give em that extra kick. the problem is with squishies getting one shotted. blasters have a higher death rate than any other AT ffs and they are the main offensive brunt in AV slaying imo.
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I'm sorry when did u last play this game? was it pre i5? i don't mean to pick at things but with my tank i used to be able to stand toe to toe with an av and be fine, now i have to have a dedicated good empath or very good controller or the av will kill me in 2 attacks, this is without even mentioning babbage and clock work king..... 
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i'm telling you that if a tank refused to tank an av without fortitude incase they'd die; i would laugh my [censored] off at them. any well slotted empath, after ED, can still nearly full heal most tanks with AB (which is what this thread is about after all). and thats not even counting hitting build up to give em that extra kick. the problem is with squishies getting one shotted. blasters have a higher death rate than any other AT ffs and they are the main offensive brunt in AV slaying imo.
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I'm sorry when did u last play this game? was it pre i5? i don't mean to pick at things but with my tank i used to be able to stand toe to toe with an av and be fine, now i have to have a dedicated good empath or very good controller or the av will kill me in 2 attacks, this is without even mentioning babbage and clock work king.....
[/ QUOTE ]Those 2 hit will kill you just the same whether forted or not...
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however, personally i put it on blasters rather than tanks. they need the def, acc and dmg much more vs an av than a tank does imo
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Sorry, I should of clarified. I can Fort tank, blasters & scrappers, depending on team makeup, hence if I'm continually Forting 3 diff ATs or players, then it moves Fort from the 'unneeded' to the 'needed' category.
Empathy is a team defender build if there ever was one.
I have seen so many emps who doesnt give you CM unless you are held or begging for it. Empaths start using it before we are held. It makes killing easier since you can actually bring other insp. than BF's. Besides there is nothing worse than after you have used some AoE attack and you can see the mobs running to you, but you cant run cause you are mezzed.
CM is a must take power if you plan on teaming with squishies.
Fort is 30% defence, acc and damage unslotted. If its slotted then you will have more defence than a SR scrapper who isnt using elude, but otherwise fully slotted with SO's. Thats how good it is.
If its 3 slotted it has more defence than unslotted elude from SR.
If you put fort on a person, then you will barely have to heal him. If you put AB, Regen Aura and fort on a person, then hes an unstoppable killing machine (throw in a couple of CM's if hes a squishy).
Empaths, if you actually use your buffs, then you dont have to heal as much and the team will finish the mission much faster. I would take an empath who only buffs over an empath who only heals any day.
A Paragon Defender
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i'm telling you that if a tank refused to tank an av without fortitude incase they'd die; i would laugh my [censored] off at them. any well slotted empath, after ED, can still nearly full heal most tanks with AB (which is what this thread is about after all). and thats not even counting hitting build up to give em that extra kick. the problem is with squishies getting one shotted. blasters have a higher death rate than any other AT ffs and they are the main offensive brunt in AV slaying imo.
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I'm sorry when did u last play this game? was it pre i5? i don't mean to pick at things but with my tank i used to be able to stand toe to toe with an av and be fine, now i have to have a dedicated good empath or very good controller or the av will kill me in 2 attacks, this is without even mentioning babbage and clock work king.....
[/ QUOTE ]Those 2 hit will kill you just the same whether forted or not...
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i no that just saying that since i5 without a very good team behind me i wouldn't tank an av anymore, an illusion controller can do a far superior job
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i'm telling you that if a tank refused to tank an av without fortitude incase they'd die; i would laugh my [censored] off at them. any well slotted empath, after ED, can still nearly full heal most tanks with AB (which is what this thread is about after all). and thats not even counting hitting build up to give em that extra kick. the problem is with squishies getting one shotted. blasters have a higher death rate than any other AT ffs and they are the main offensive brunt in AV slaying imo.
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I'm sorry when did u last play this game? was it pre i5? i don't mean to pick at things but with my tank i used to be able to stand toe to toe with an av and be fine, now i have to have a dedicated good empath or very good controller or the av will kill me in 2 attacks, this is without even mentioning babbage and clock work king.....
[/ QUOTE ]Those 2 hit will kill you just the same whether forted or not...
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i no that just saying that since i5 without a very good team behind me i wouldn't tank an av anymore, an illusion controller can do a far superior job
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I would take an empath who only buffs over an empath who only heals any day.
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In my opinion though, each of those - empaths that only buff and empaths that only heal - are almost as bad as each other.
Being an empath is about using all of your powers to best benefit your team (and this is why you can actually use your secondaries to defend as well - no really you CAN use your blasts...).
Sure, the buffs are very very important and you do have to use them all the time... but if I was on a team with an empath that was only buffing I wouldn't be surprised if people started dying. Even the best empath in the world cannot buff the entire team all the time (buffs just dont recharge fast enough).
It's a balanced combination of healing, buffing and blasting (as required) that works the best. I think a good empath knows all their powers and knows when to use them...
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Empathy is a team defender build if there ever was one.
I have seen so many emps who doesnt give you CM unless you are held or begging for it. Empaths start using it before we are held. It makes killing easier since you can actually bring other insp. than BF's. Besides there is nothing worse than after you have used some AoE attack and you can see the mobs running to you, but you cant run cause you are mezzed.
CM is a must take power if you plan on teaming with squishies.
Fort is 30% defence, acc and damage unslotted. If its slotted then you will have more defence than a SR scrapper who isnt using elude, but otherwise fully slotted with SO's. Thats how good it is.
If its 3 slotted it has more defence than unslotted elude from SR.
If you put fort on a person, then you will barely have to heal him. If you put AB, Regen Aura and fort on a person, then hes an unstoppable killing machine (throw in a couple of CM's if hes a squishy).
Empaths, if you actually use your buffs, then you dont have to heal as much and the team will finish the mission much faster. I would take an empath who only buffs over an empath who only heals any day.
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The slight problem with CM is it don't last too long and many scrappers and tanks etc aren't the most patient before a fight starts to wait till everyone is CM'd. Problem 2 , i find anyway is the animation time for CM is not to quick and in the middle of a big battle having to CM someone can lead to someone dying by not being able to AP or cast heal quick enough.
Also i find AP still to be a lifesaver as i found the other night with a large group taking on Carnies with just 1 healer. People still died but i KNOW that AP saved a few heros from debt in that mish.
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It's a balanced combination of healing, buffing and blasting (as required) that works the best. I think a good empath knows all their powers and knows when to use them...
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ditto
I only use AP on tanks or if my Heal other isn't ready and another toons health is screaming towards the red. This is a bit hit and miss as AP has such a long activation time.
Fortitude I use on the aggro magnets and sidekicks.
I use AB on the main damage dealer after reading a post in this forum about its benefits, can't say I have been dissapointed with the results. Before I always used it on the tank. Still do if they are taking on the AV.
AB, fort, CM, RA, Heal RA - on a single blaster is something to behold. They don't need much healing and they never run out of endurance. (lit up like an xmas tree though) sort of a Regen/SR blaster
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The slight problem with CM is it don't last too long and many scrappers and tanks etc aren't the most patient before a fight starts to wait till everyone is CM'd.
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Dont clear mind scrappers and tanks (unless its PvP). They dont need it.
A Paragon Defender
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lol with a regen scrapper ur not gonna get held r u? i think he was talking about squishies who against mentalists pretty much need perma cm
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Ah, ok, I understand. I've taken CM before fortitude on my Empath. I haven't taken AB yet. The experience Ive had with it being 2nd hand and negative.
A few times I'd teamed with another empath who after using it would quickly run away and leave me healing the group by myself.
Bear in mind I was only around lvl 10 and found myself on teams with less than military precision so healing was almost a full time job.
(\_/)
(O.O) Bunny: Our time is coming
(> <)
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The slight problem with CM is it don't last too long and many scrappers and tanks etc aren't the most patient before a fight starts to wait till everyone is CM'd.
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Dont clear mind scrappers and tanks (unless its PvP). They dont need it.
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i think you may have misread what that sentence means, scrappers and tanks initiate a battle that other squishier types soon follow without recieving needed buffs prehand and then require clearmind midfight in which case heals have to be priority as clearmind action times can lead to a loss of life it also means that the tanker doesnt get my tanker of the year award or perhaps the scrappers never allowed the tank to herd.
if u r a defender that doesnt need to cm anyone then gratz u must almost always of have had a good tanker, been teamed with many scrappers or scrappers who know to attack mezzers or blasters that somehow dont or have had another defender/controller doing a great job.....take your pick.
On pick up teams it can be anything goes and aggro can be anyones (i have seen some poor excuses for tanks and blasters that think they must be tanks), cm allows a clever unmezzed protected AT to run if under too much fire and for you not to become a dedicated to one person healer or it allows a noob to think you are their dedicated healer by not escaping and carry on taking damage in which case i would have to let them die to save others.
in pve there are situations when a tanker can do with added perception: drop down points where you can only see whats nearest below you and not see anything around them for one, facing knives of artemis thats two, when facing enemies with great perception can be three.
He will honor his words; he will definitely carry out his actions. What he promises he will fulfill. He does not care about his bodily self, putting his life and death aside to come forward for another's troubled besiegement. He does not boast about his ability, or shamelessly extol his own virtues. - Sima Qian.
imo, i'd rather a squishy was held than running from the battle. a hold i can clear, standing behind a brick wall whilst being followed by minions i refuse to, cause it puts the rest of the team in a compromised position if the empath is chasing squishies all over the place. As far as i recall thats a trait people get out of after they leave the hollows.
No offence intended to whoever it was who said they get two shotted by an AV....but my fire brute doesnt get two shotted by AV's ffs. and they have a fair bit less dmg res than an invuln tank does. either you've got your diff set too high (i.e. dont fight an AV on hardest diff, it takes too long, and overall isnt worth it) or you need to respec, big style.
I dont use CM very much. against most enemy types it aint needed, and sj is a very popular travel power, so a lot of squishies at least have SOME protection (cj, acro). Yes I do team with a lot of good tanks. i've teamed with some bad tanks also, but never more than once.
I must admit, that in lvl 50 teams there isnt the urgency there is when debt matters. so i have probably got a bit sloppy. but...an empath can happily keep an 8 man team alive using only heal aura, absorb pain, and heal other. I have never known of anyone being able to keep an 8 man team alive using only cm, fortitude and AB. if anyone reckons they can, theyre chatting bubbles. so imo, YES the heals (oh no i called them heals, please dont flame me) are more important than the buffs.
having said that, i would not respect any empathy defender who didnt have ALL the primaries. you can make a decent empath with a selection of them, the only one a good empath doesnt need is rez. (for doesnt, read shouldn't )
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The one power I did get rid of was clear mind.
In most teams my defender ran with beig caught in a hold/sleep was not much of a problem...And Frankly I found proton volly more useful
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This is something I don't understand. Imo, clear mind is one of the MUST take empathy powers, and even if I was to drop the rest of the entire set, clear mind is the power I'd probably choose above all the others.