Second hand, I'm told that it can be awkward speccing a cold for both solo and team and doing both well. Dual builds may be the way to go, leaving the ally buffs out of your solo build,taking more other stuff and bunging the decent IOs in whichever you use more.
Not sure I've ever seen a cold/arrow but should work, mine is cold/rad specced for support. I dislike psi as an assault set, but haven't totally figured out why, just feels slow I think.
It's true. This game is NOT rocket surgery. - BillZBubba
Dual pistols is out for a defender for me, as I'd prefer it as a Corruptor. Maybe Blaster, but me and Blasters are taking a long break.
No plans for a dual build. I've been around long enough to figure out builds to work, no matter what.
I've already forgotten about most of you
Just make sure you take both shields, slot them, and use them often. Nothing's worse than a buff-bot with unslotted shields! 
Agua Man lvl 48 Water/Electric Blaster
"To die hating NCSoft for shutting down City of Heroes, that was Freedom."
Quote:
Fixed. Now stop threadjacking. You're dead to me |
Originally Posted by Mental_Giant
Just make sure you take both shields, slot them, and use them often. Nothing's worse than a buff-bot with unslotted shields! .....
and who constantly stops to chat with others not even on the team, doesn't pay attention, puts teammates on follow, begs for TPs because they are just that lazy, uses vet powers more than primary/secondary powers because they can't bother slotting those up..... |
I've already forgotten about most of you
You might really dislike Ice.. but Cold/Ice is one of the best defender combos I have ever played.
The hard things I can do--- The impossible just take a little bit longer.
If numbers are so much more important than a teammate who is fun to play with, forget about the game altogether and go play with a calculator instead. -Claws and Effect-
I have a Kin/Psy Defender, that secondary is pretty decent for damage unless you fight robots, though the -recharge IMO is a moot point in PvE. Psy does more damage than Archery however I believe the damage/sec is higher on Archery than Psy.
I also factor in redraw when putting together toons. I would imagine that Cold/Archery has redraw where Cold/Psy wouldn't.
I'll assume you plan on playing the toon aggressively so how are you planning on surviving? Defense, resistance or a combo? I can't test this out now, but I think you might be able to bump your positional defense easier with Psy.
Whatever you decide to do, I just hope you aren't one of those non-buffing defenders...
Who do I have to *&^% around here to get more Targeted AoE recipes added?
Arc Name: Tsoo In Love
Arc ID: 413575
Quote:
Two of those things are absolutely false.
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Originally Posted by VoodooCompany
Fixed. Now stop threadjacking. You're dead to me
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Agua Man lvl 48 Water/Electric Blaster
"To die hating NCSoft for shutting down City of Heroes, that was Freedom."
Quote:
Would be my first "buff" defender, as my others were mob-debuff, including Kin (but would speed boost consistently).| Whatever you decide to do, I just hope you aren't one of those non-buffing defenders... |
I can't stand taking powers I'm not going to use. He'd do his buffing thing when available; gotta do something to break up the piddly damage.
Wouldn't think the redraw of arrow would be too bad, since the buff part would be broken up pretty consistently? Buff first, click debuffs, shoot a bunch of stuff. Next group, click debuffs, shoot....next group, start over? Haven't looked at either build yet, but that's the image I have.
I've already forgotten about most of you
Quote:
That's true the Ice Shields last a lot longer than Speed Boost does, which for the life of me I can't understand why they don't up the duration for SB. That would allow Kins to take a more active part in fighting rather than constantly buffing.|
Originally Posted by VoodooCompany
Would be my first "buff" defender, as my others were mob-debuff, including Kin (but would speed boost consistently).
I can't stand taking powers I'm not going to use. He'd do his buffing thing when available; gotta do something to break up the piddly damage. Wouldn't think the redraw of arrow would be too bad, since the buff part would be broken up pretty consistently? Buff first, click debuffs, shoot a bunch of stuff. Next group, click debuffs, shoot....next group, start over? Haven't looked at either build yet, but that's the image I have. |
I'd still pick Psy or Archery though as I think the Psy secondary effects would mesh better with Cold, plus Archery is mostly S/L damage.
Who do I have to *&^% around here to get more Targeted AoE recipes added?
Arc Name: Tsoo In Love
Arc ID: 413575
Quote:
Having played the ice/cold corr (my favorite corr by far) and now, as you know the cold/ice def route, I would most definitely vote cold/psy.|
Originally Posted by EnigmaBlack
I'd still pick Psy or Archery though as I think the Psy secondary effects would mesh better with Cold, plus Archery is mostly S/L damage.
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My reasons:
- From my reading and exp with /psy (emp/psy), it would fit neatly with the cold/ secondary effects.
- Redraw, redraw, redraw. Having leveled up a kin/arch def, it irritated me greatly to buff or use FS, heal, etc. and use attacks. If you are going a team route, you are probably going to take the buffs and debuffs, which would lead to redraw with the bow. And when you finally get the rain of arrows attack, the mobs will be dead by the time you debuff and such and go thru the long animation for the attack. With /psy, it was very seemless between my emp/ buffs and my attacks, and you don't need the nuke.
But the pretty bows I can pick..........
I do hate redraw. For some reason, I keep thinking it wouldn't be *that* bad. Which means I'm probably subconsciously ignorning facts and it will be awful.
Will have to take a look at psy then, and throw a build together to get an idea.
Thanks for the comments though NONE OF YOU are adhering to the topic of the thread
I've already forgotten about most of you
Quote:
Going off topic now, but Voo, really... You actually put a ' in '010 in your signature??? Like that is saving typing a 2 instead of a ' ????? Now that's a whole new game.| The power of '010 brings forth Voodoo 2.0. It's a whole new game now. |
On topic
, cold/arch would be playable, especially solo. I just couldn't stand the redraw when teamed, since my mind set has me using my buffs/debuffs, etc. for the team first rather than attack (like using FS with my kin/ first).
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I thought by treating you like a typical buff-bot it would convince you not to roll another Defender.
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Originally Posted by VoodooCompany
Thanks for the comments though NONE OF YOU are adhering to the topic of the thread
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Agua Man lvl 48 Water/Electric Blaster
"To die hating NCSoft for shutting down City of Heroes, that was Freedom."
I will continue to refer to this year as 0-10 as I'm just not ready to so easily give up the 0-number moniker of the early 2000's.
You bandwagon-hopping, pinko commie liberals and your static, boring, hackneyed Twenty Ten scheming makes my blood boil And the New Year's celebration people totally dropped the ball on the glasses as this was the last year they could get the double-0 eye holes in use. Idiots.
I've already forgotten about most of you
Quote:
Good point... Here's a reason you shouldn't make a defender... Vigilance! Recall the Defender LGTF we were on last Saturday, not once did my inherent kick in. Other reasons not to roll one include, low damage, low hit points and the overall sidekick feel.|
Originally Posted by VoodooCompany
But the pretty bows I can pick..........
I do hate redraw. For some reason, I keep thinking it wouldn't be *that* bad. Which means I'm probably subconsciously ignorning facts and it will be awful. Will have to take a look at psy then, and throw a build together to get an idea. Thanks for the comments though NONE OF YOU are adhering to the topic of the thread |
Castle did say that he was going to take a look at Defenders, but as far as I know he did not elaborate on that, so we are left to guess what changes he has planned. I'd wait until I here more from him. Well that's not really a reason NOT to roll a Defender as any changes will more than likely be improvements either to the AT or specific sets.
Who do I have to *&^% around here to get more Targeted AoE recipes added?
Arc Name: Tsoo In Love
Arc ID: 413575
Quote:
edit: had to go into edit mode to actually see what was written|
Originally Posted by Mental_Giant
You are ignorning this @#$#@ because he is dead to you
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Mental_Giant
I thought by treating you like a typical buff-bot it would convince you not to roll another Defender.
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I've already forgotten about most of you
I'm really enjoying my cold right now. She's still lowish level, but fun. That being said, I like controllers a heck of a lot more, blasters a heck of a lot more than that, and I think my current favorite is my brute.
I think you have a ton of controllers though, so maybe branching out to something else not buffing or controlling is in order?
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Ya know, other than using the Nuke, this current Defender is never low on endurance anyway, regardless of how the team is going. He runs something like 7 toggles, is constantly attacking, and otherwise debuffing and has almost nothing for IO set bonuses currently. Either the Devs tweaked Vigilance, don't know how it actually works, or this guy is just a god. *shrug* Hell, I was using Dark Consumption as an AoE attack just for the hell of it whenever it recharged.
| Good point... Here's a reason you shouldn't make a defender... Vigilance! Recall the Defender LGTF we were on last Saturday, not once did my inherent kick in. |
I've already forgotten about most of you
I don't mind throwing out the occasional heal on my Earth/Storm Controller, but it does tend to drive me nuts the more I play with other characters, though. If you don't enjoy having that be a consistent ability, you might want to dodge Defenders. This Sonic/Sonic of mine is going to be my only one... feels way to meh, to me. Controllers technically have low damage, too, but being able to control a mob so well makes up for it, and the epic powers help out in the damage department as well.
Whereas my Defender just feels weak. Probably a good reason not throw a Defender there.
But who knows, the "stronger" options out there for you sound done to death, so maybe you should give it a go. No matter what, going for something where you won't have to redraw too much is probably better. My Arch/Dev Blaster was okay because I didn't have to use the Devices powers too much in the middle of a fight.
Guide: Tanking, Wall of Fire Style (Updated for I19!), and the Four Rules of Tanking
Story Arc: Belated Justice, #88003
Synopsis: Explore the fine line between justice and vengeance as you help a hero of Talos Island bring his friend's murderer to justice.
Grey Pilgrim: Fire/Fire Tanker (50), Victory
Quote:
Every since they nerfed Defenders and threw them into the "low" category, they always seemed more like "sidekicks" than "heroes" to me, Vigilance only helped to solidify that opinion. Controllers may also be in the low category, however they have an inherent that increases their damage, personal meat shields in the form of pets and buffs/debuffs that are on pretty much on par with Defenders.| Whereas my Defender just feels weak. Probably a good reason not throw a Defender there. |
So don't roll a Cold/Psy Voo. Roll a Mind/Cold instead
Who do I have to *&^% around here to get more Targeted AoE recipes added?
Arc Name: Tsoo In Love
Arc ID: 413575
Quote:
Not directed at you GP specifically, just commenting/rambling.|
Originally Posted by Grey Pilgrim
Whereas my Defender just feels weak. Probably a good reason not throw a Defender there.
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I could agree that solo, my emp def feels weak compared to my scrapper. But my emp def also feels very weak to my D3 def, who solos just fine. My grav/FF also feels weak to what I see Ill/rad or fire/kin controllers do. My thugs/PD MM feels weak to my bots/storm MM, but both can solo AV's.
But the thing for me is that when a teamed, my defenders all feel powerful. What good is my /ff contr to IO'd players at the def cap? My MM's can fight AV's with or without other players - I don't feel any more "god-like" with them. My scrapper is just another damage dealer and doesn't offer any more to teams.
And that's the key for defenders when teamed. Do teams actually say if we had one MORE scrapper or tanker or kheld, we could have finished that TF? If a team has 3 controllers, do a 4th add any more damage mitigation? I see defenders though always welcomed.
Bottomline, defenders, when teamed, are never feel weak to me.
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Now you're just lying | my D3 def, who solos just fine |
Who's killing stuff for you? Fluffy?!?! If I can't solo 3 or 4 man spawns at even level, at a decent rate of killocity, then that character fails at being a solo character....for me. This is the bare minimum I go by by the time the character is 30.
My Dark/Sonic Defender just barely hits that mark; he's perfectly safe and can stand there all day with groups that size or bigger, it's just the tedium of plinking enough damage. My Ice/Storm Corr was borderline; she had more survivability with *bigger* spawns, but Ice blast, IMO, is just missing some key pieces to really do good damage overall.
On the flip side, if a character can dish out the damage but can't sustain survivability, he also fails; several blasters have fallen to that ploy, before and after being IO'd out. I have only really kept one who can, finally, be on par with some diff settings I have set up for some key scrappers and controllers.
Regardless, I do not plan on using this criteria for this new Defender. He will actively look for teams. On which server remains to be seen though
I've already forgotten about most of you
Quote:
That's because they are sidekicks |
Bottomline, defenders, when teamed, are never feel weak to me. |
Who do I have to *&^% around here to get more Targeted AoE recipes added?
Arc Name: Tsoo In Love
Arc ID: 413575
Just to toss my 2 cents in. I have 2 cold defenders (cold/sonic and cold/ice) 2 cold corrs (rad/cold and ice/cold) and 1 cold 'troller (ill/cold). All of them play amazingly well solo or teamed.
Cold defenders are one of the 3 defender sets (the other two being FF and dark) that can be soft capped fairly easily with almost any secondary (I am talking about positional defense in this case, I have only struggled with getting melee to 45% but typically it is over 35% which is very noticeable, and if you really are worried you can pick up oppressive gloom from the dark epic pool and that helps to mitigate some melee attacks as well.
If you are only picking between the two psy vs archery I am going to buck the trend and say go archery. The reason I would say this is Rain of Arrows is a great power and it does not cause an end crash so you would be able to keep your toggles up (thereby staying softcapped).
I also kind of think sleet + rain of arrows sounds like it could be great. I think a great attack chain could be Sleet+Heat Loss+RoA+Fist full of arrows. Then blazing arrow anything still standing.
If you are willing to look at other secondaries /dark would be a good choice for the self heal.
I won't go into CoH lore and history regarding me and Defenders. BUT....Cold buffage is just too damn enticing. I don't need/want another Corruptor as I have plans for another villain or two coming up anyway.
So that leaves either a Defender or Controller. I have, or have played, every control type and about every other combination there is. I don't really want another Controller, though Ice would probably be at the top of the list if I am talked out of what I think I want for a Defender.
I've done most of the Defender attacks except Psy and Arrow to any significant level. I really dislike Ice; Dark really disappointed me; Rad has left a nasty taste in my mouth due to another Defender; Rifle maybe, but really didn't care for it as a Blaster. Sonic is fine, but already have that in a current playable character.
So Cold/Psy or Cold/Arrow. How awful would those combos be? Would primarily be a teamed character, but having some decent soloability would be nice.
Yes....I'm bored.
I've already forgotten about most of you