Well, /dark from a min/max view, as the -acc debuffs will stack with your +def.
I have never tried a /dark. What is it like as a secondary and for soloing (if needed)?
Hmm, you can give enough defense for most PvE encounters if you grab maneuvers. I'd rather go /sonic, strong ST attack chain with -res and perma AoE sleep to solo, AoE -res for teams.
/dark isn't too bad, but its strength is AoEs and it lacks Aim. With a primary that has absolutely no way to buff damage or debuff res, it can be slow.
I'm loving my FF/Sonic.
I've only got the bubbles from the Primary so far, including the PFF ( so 4 powers ). I've slotted Deflection, Insulation and Dispersion with 3 slots each.
I'm fairly secondary light too, I've only picked Shriek, Scream and Shout ( the single target attacks ). With Hasten they chain pretty well. Because the primary is pretty cheap on slots I've 5 slotted them.
I've picked up the Medicine pool, which was well worthwhile. Aid Self is less useful than I thought it would, however Aid Other is so useful, it allows me to fill in some healing duties.
I've also picked up Maneuvers from the Leadership pool, this seems to have done my endurance some diservice, but it is still a pretty reasonable build from an endurance point of view.
Soloing is not fantastic, it is pretty boring but doable. Against evens and +1s it only takes a few shots to take them down. Sonic really comes into it's own when fighting enemies with lots of hitpoints, then the debuffs stack up pretty well. Against the AVs I fought today, their hitpoints started to drop rapidly after I had started my attack chain on them. So it does seem to make up for the lack of -res or +dam in the set, at least when fighting big enemies.
All in all, at level 26 I like this character, he seems a good team player, I never feel like a waste of space. For instance today I had a level 22 tanker tanking 26s for a 6 man team.
@Unthing ... Mostly on Union.
/dark will be the better one in the most direct sense stacking your def bubbles but energy looks aesthetically closer to the bubbler powers. I personally dont solo defenders cos its slow as hell.
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.
Soling depends on the Defender. My Kin/Rad solos pretty well (was slow at lower level, but manageable), my Rad/Sonic soloed fine from work go, my Sonic/Psi I don't have the patience to solo, I'm sure I wouldn't have the patience to solo a bubbler.
Soloing with a Bubbler is nearly impossible or as OVWyx said boring. If you want a good secondary, never look at the Psi. Sonic is good but don't forget about its inherent -acc (hero builder says that but i think Psi has far more -acc, even with two acc SO, Psionic Lance still misses). 
If you want to use bubbles try a troller, which is easy to solo btw. Actually IMO bubbles is best at the hands of a MM. :P
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Soloing with a Bubbler is nearly impossible or as OVWyx said boring. If you want a good secondary, never look at the Psi. Sonic is good but don't forget about its inherent -acc (hero builder says that but i think Psi has far more -acc, even with two acc SO, Psionic Lance still misses).
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Sonic only has an accuracy penalty on 2 powers. Shockwaves ( Cone Knockback ) and Siren's Song ( Cone Sleep ). Other than that it is normal accuracy.
You cannot stop a power from missing, all powers will miss 5% of the time. Psychic Lance has an accuracy of 1.2, the same as any other snipe ( except the archery one which is better ).
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If you want to use bubbles try a troller, which is easy to solo btw. Actually IMO bubbles is best at the hands of a MM. :P
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Controller and MM bubbles are 75% of the value of the defender powers, giving 29.25% defence total instead of 39%. That makes the difference between cutting damage to 40% of normal and cutting damage to 22% of normal.
@Unthing ... Mostly on Union.
You are right about Contorller and MM bubbles but if you wanna use bubbles and play solo, i think Contorller is a better option.
For Sonic, Hero Builder says it has -15% acc on all attacks. Which i doubted 'cause my hero rearly miss with one +acc on each attack (i have only 3 on my rad defender; shriek, scream and shout)
Also most of the psi set has long animations than other sets or did i know it wrong too? (I didn't include bow drawing animations of the Archery)
Psi has 2 attacks that are very fast and very damaging. Both are around 1 second. It's the early attack and the cone that are slow.
nofuture.org.uk is the most reliable source of power data, although it is I7 data.
I found playing a solo controller even worse than a defender, even with containment. Oh well each to his own. Mastermind solo is fine though.
@Unthing ... Mostly on Union.
Thanks Unthing, i will save it to my favorites asap.
And i think soloing is more depends on personal preference. In teams everyone can do something and should be able to carry him/herself. But when you are all alone you must pick the one which suits your play style best. For me it is Mind controllers. Also there is some awesome defenders set like Dark/Dark or Rad/* - Kin/* but i like to slow down the game a little i guess. This is why i have a hard time to solo defenders, for mind when you hold enemy it is held nothing more you are no more threatened. You will take down mobs with defender faster but with controller safer. 
Yes, I'd agree that solo a Mind Controller is safer, especially if you also invested in the sleep.
@Unthing ... Mostly on Union.
I wish you'd used another controller primary so I could throw a dark defender in as being safer, but with Mind I cant top the control..... curse you MIND!!!!!
Actually on topic I'd probably pick Psi for a defender I was looking to solo. Subdue early on is nice, and two heavy hitters later as well. Also a bit of control in there and not commonly resisted
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They were appropriately appalled
at the discovery of the eight victims
They're now putting it all together.
Women wrapped in silk
with one leg missing
Eight legs, one body, silk,
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my bubbler hit 23 today. bubbles/psychic. it's a lot of fun. i got a bit frustrated trying to solo nocturne earlier though :P can't wait for the fairy wings (inventions, i9) so i actually make her look like a pixie 
Heh i think FF is a kind of curse, once it is in your blood you can't take it out.
I retired Knightly Defender (lvl 30 FF/Psi) because of non-soloing abilitiy on my side. But roll another FF defender yesterday but the secondary is kinda unknown to me. And can't find any guide about it. I make a FF/Electric defender. Is there anyone tried that kinda build or any electric secondary user. Which attacks will go well with my primary. I will get basic bubbles (PFF and 3 team friendly ones) + Force Bolt and Force Bubble, maybe Detention Shield too.
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Exported from Ver: 1.7.6.0 of the CoH_CoV Character Builder
---------------------------------------------
Name: Bubble Pop Electric
Level: 50
Archetype: Defender
Primary: Force Field
Secondary: Electrical Blast
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Personal Force Field==> DefBuf(1)DefBuf(5)DefBuf(33)
01) --> Charged Bolts==> Acc(1)Dmg(3)Dmg(17)Dmg(19)Acc(33)Rechg(34)
02) --> Lightning Bolt==> Acc(2)Rechg(3)Dmg(7)Dmg(17)Dmg(34)Acc(34)
04) --> Deflection Shield==> DefBuf(4)DefBuf(5)DefBuf(9)
06) --> Insulation Shield==> DefBuf(6)DefBuf(7)DefBuf(11)
08) --> Aid Other==> EndRdx(8)Heal(9)Heal(19)Heal(39)
10) --> Air Superiority==> Acc(10)Dmg(11)Dmg(50)
12) --> Dispersion Bubble==> DefBuf(12)DefBuf(13)DefBuf(13)
14) --> Fly==> Fly(14)Fly(15)Fly(15)
16) --> Swift==> Fly(16)
18) --> Health==> Heal(18)
20) --> Stamina==> EndMod(20)EndMod(21)EndMod(21)
22) --> Short Circuit==> Acc(22)EndMod(23)EndMod(23)Dmg(40)Dmg(40)Dmg(40)
24) --> Zapp==> Acc(24)Dmg(25)Dmg(25)Dmg(43)EndRdx(46)Rechg(46)
26) --> Aid Self==> EndRdx(26)Heal(27)Heal(27)Heal(46)
28) --> Tesla Cage==> Acc(28)Hold(29)Hold(29)EndMod(31)EndMod(31)Acc(37)
30) --> Force Bolt==> Acc(30)KB_Dist(31)Acc(43)
32) --> Force Bubble==> EndRdx(32)EndRdx(33)
35) --> Voltaic Sentinel==> Acc(35)Dmg(36)Dmg(36)Dmg(36)Acc(37)Rechg(37)
38) --> Detention Field==> Acc(38)Acc(39)Rechg(39)
41) --> Power Build Up==> TH_Buf(41)TH_Buf(42)TH_Buf(42)Rechg(42)Rechg(43)
44) --> Temp Invulnerability==> DmgRes(44)DmgRes(45)DmgRes(45)Rechg(45)
47) --> Total Focus==> Acc(47)Dmg(48)Dmg(48)Dmg(48)
49) --> Hasten==> Rechg(49)Rechg(50)Rechg(50)
---------------------------------------------
01) --> Sprint==> Empty(1)
01) --> Brawl==> Empty(1)
01) --> Vigilance==> Empty(1)
02) --> Rest==> Empty(2)
---------------------------------------------
For making things easier here is my possible build.
I prefer AS over Hover, because i don't think it looks good on my character. Also AS will be little show of her power-armor.
Hmm, FF/Dark might be good, cos of the +def from your bubbles and the -acc from the dark.
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FF/Dark is excellent, especially when teamed with someone to control or manage the aggro generated by the cones and aoes.
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Union 50's: Chimera Obscura, Diet Anthracite, Grim Proctologist, Puny Little Minion, Raging Bitumen
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I like my FF/Psi, great defensive capabilities and spamming psionic tornado and psychic scream is very effective.
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I retired Knightly Defender (lvl 30 FF/Psi) because of non-soloing abilitiy on my side. But roll another FF defender yesterday but the secondary is kinda unknown to me. And can't find any guide about it. I make a FF/Electric defender. Is there anyone tried that kinda build or any electric secondary user. Which attacks will go well with my primary.
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There's nothing particularly great in Electrical for a bubbler. It has good AoEs for close up in Ball Lightning and Short Circuit. The single target attack chain is sorely lacking though, only 2 attacks. I've only done is with Kinetics but I found it poor damage wise. I found it wasn't any good for solo. Good for teams though, with the end drain of Short Circuit and tyhe hold of Tesla Cage.
I would have thought Psi was the most damaging secondary, although somewhat power heavy, but my FF/Sonic can solo fine on Heroic last time I tried it. Maybe Sonic is better for single target damage than Psi after all.
@Unthing ... Mostly on Union.
I think so, all three single target damage is good and two have fairly long range. Also there's -res function. But i am playing a Rad/Son which means my results are better than a FF defender with debuffs. No matter what the way i reach it i will use FF.
Other possible candidates were energy and radiation. Because of my character concept. My heroine, Bubble Pop Electric using powered gloves which she can create force fields and unleash electrical blasts. Also there is another factor that maybe with holds it help me to solo a bit (Tesla Cage and Detention Field). I think with a name like this i will stick with electric blast a while. If this build won't work as i supposed, i can make a fire/ff controller.
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maybe with holds it help me to solo a bit (Tesla Cage and Detention Field).
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Just remember that Detention Field is not a hold but a phase (intangibility) power, so you can't attack the foe while the power is active.
CoX 50s: <ill/rad> <ice/ice> <fire/kin> <grav/sonic> <ice/storm> <earth/kin> <kin/elec> <cold/psy> <thugs/dark> <fire/dark> <dark/elec> <night widow> <EM/ninj> <mind/icy>
Yeah i know Best part is he or she can't attack me as well. The main thing with defenders for me they have to handle more than they are capable when soloing unlike controllers. But in group of four you can eleminate two by these two attacks and deal with others. But one thing Unthing said make this plan crappy, low damage of the electric blast. The other two that work with concept (energy and radiation) don't have holds as far as i know. I think best is wait and see how far she can go.
None of the secondaries will have outstanding damage (especially at lower levels) because they are... well, secondaries! I found /elec to be not bad but my primary is kinetics, so Ball Lightning after Fulcrum does decent AoE damage (for a defender that is, and I don't have the nuke yet). I would consider 2 things (which are inter-related):
(1) think about what sort of secondary effects you are interested in: the -end of elec, the -acc of Dark, the -def of rad, the -res of sonic, etc. I'm not a great fan of energy blast, especially for a defender, but again, you might want to use knockback as a form of control. Also think in terms of synergy with your primary (as others have said, Dark might be nice because of the +def of FF).
(2) how much of an "offender" or "controllery" build do you want? So look at effects (like -res) or specific powers (holds, immobs, stuns) to choose the secondary that best suits you.
CoX 50s: <ill/rad> <ice/ice> <fire/kin> <grav/sonic> <ice/storm> <earth/kin> <kin/elec> <cold/psy> <thugs/dark> <fire/dark> <dark/elec> <night widow> <EM/ninj> <mind/icy>
Thanks for the tip Okton.
What i was thinking when choosing secondary. Well not the side effects, only concept. This lady has set of gloves and boots that give her power. So i directly leave Sonic and Psi. Archery and Dark doesn't fit with the concept. So this leaves Rad, energy and Electric for secondary. I think the best i have is electric, with little control and end drain (for concept reasons i will try to leave stamina out too). So probably my attacks will be slotted like 2 acc + 2 end mod + 1 dmg + 1 recharge.
Hi,
Has anyone got any opinions on which secondary I should use with a bubbler (forcefield). Currently I am trying out a ff/rad defender, but find that there are not really much hits I can do (which was to be expected).
Is there a better secondary I could use with forcefield/Bubbles?