what are Nukes for?

does anyone really need the nuke we get ?

i mean it's at best an emergency power when they get a strong side effect (like waill stun for exemple) but as a defender we are supposed to get such power in our primary, no?
i don't see how we could see them as a boost to our damage. i mean , crash plus the long recharge means that they are horrible dps wise and anyway even with fulcrum the damage is not "that nuking" on those powers

the only exeption i see are full auto and RoA, they still get the problem of having a too long casting time but they are crash less and get a nice damage/rech ratio

what if all the defender level 38 power where builded on the same design?


NB: how comes that dark servant and human form warshade are so alike?! ^^

Atomic Blast has Mag 3 hold and some gigantic amount of -Def.

Dreadful Wail has mag 3 stun and -Res (notable since Sonic Blast is somewhat light on AoE).

Psychic Wail has Mag 3 stun and some gigantic amount of slow.

Blizzard does the same damage as the Blaster version, has KD, slow, -ToHit (no kidding - look it up yourself), can be used without line of sight and potentially ends up killing more than 16 targets due to it being a rain.

Full Auto and Rain of Arrows do nothing special, but are usable as normal AoE attacks.

Darkstar has -60% ToHit or something ridiculous like that. It would completely floor (and then some) the hit chance of anything not an AV/GM class. It's debatable if it would be worth dropping the Dark toggles for that in a tight spot, but still worth mentioning as a last-ditch panic button if you're about to die.

They're not needed, but most of them are situationally useful if you are not heavily dependant on toggles (e.g. Rad) and worth considering if you have some means of restoring endurance (Heat Loss, Transference, Powersink). And nothing says fun like going up in a big boom.

You forgot the electric one that completely drains mobs of endurance and keeps them drained.

Aren't all nukes ranged?

My philosophy when it comes to defender nukes is 'if it ends the fight, the crash is meaningless'. Many of the objections commonly leveled against defender nukes do have merit - the damage is much less than blaster nukes, the toggle-dropping can be bad, the overall damage over time is low, etc, etc.

What I think a lot of people miss about them is the tactical possibilities they bring. Blaster nukes can often do enough damage to both start and end the fight in a single kaboom. Defender nukes don't, but that doesn't make them useless. Blaster nukes are often alpha strikes, but defender nukes are *omega* strikes. They should not be used to start the fight, but to end it. If a fight is going south, a defender nuke can often be enough to turn the tide by defeating many of the minions and lieutenants and inflicting strong negative effects on the survivors. The crash doesn't mean anything if it's mostly spent walking to the next spawn after the rest of the team mops up.

Plus, as several have said, it's just *fun* to nuke stuff! I still laugh my head off everytime I jump into the middle of a spawn with PFF on, hit aim and PBU as they waste their alpha strike, and then blow them to the four corners of the earth with nova. Sure, it's not always the most effective option, but it's fun as hell. As long as you don't do stupid things that get your team killed (which is why I do that solo or when duoing with my brother), there's nothing wrong in goofing off with a nuke.

That's what I get for only playing the small selection of powersets that actually appeal to me.

My only real issue with defender nukes is only Kins really get much use out of them, and that's questionable. Some times I fell like I use a nuke and go, "Wait, that's it?" A Kin/sonic that uses FS, Howl, and then Wail is rather fun though because whatever is left has stacked -res and is facing highly buffed +dmg teammates.

I personally cant wait for my Traps/Rad's NUKE!

Its just SEXY!

The debuffs and forcefield generator make the traps defender a potent nuker!! Nukes away!!

Well for AR and Archery...I think the nukes are a must. No reason not to get them, and every reason to get them.

The other nukes, for me, when deciding to get them or not, is dependent on the Primary.

Force Fields for instance, I'd get the nuke. No toggle other than Dispersion Bubble to worry about. And you can have that back up pretty quickly.

Rad for isntance, I wouldn't. Just because I find the toggles might be needed at all times.

One could save the nuke use for when you dont need the toggles, but I 'd rather grab a power Id use more often.

Nukes are for teaming with other Emps, kins, and rads and just having a rolling nuke party with no (or minimal) end crash. In other words: an RO team. If you miss the buffs, pop a blue and hit power sink and you're back in the fight.

For a Cold/Ice Defender when circumstances are right, this is a blast:

Heat Loss/Sleet/Ice Storm/Blizzard ...

There's not much that can get up and walk away from that.

If you have enough targets, Heat Loss will even overcome the Nuke Drain ...

I nuke just about every time it's up on my Rad/Sonic. Debuff toggles on, hit Amplify, Soul Drain, Howl, Nuke, /e victory. And then the next spawn gets a face full of EM Pulse. The only main two times I don't nuke is if Soul Drain is down or I have some Fallout bait, since Fallout is even stronger than Dreadful. I'll even nuke an AV or a GM, albeit usually when their HP is really low so I can try to knock off that last chunk myself.

My other Defenders? They need more levels so I can nuke with them too!

Like a certain arachnoid superhero, I have "Blastersense"- I can usually tell if things are going to go horribly wrong in the next 5 seconds. On a Blaster you run when that happens. Far and fast.

On a Defender, you can usually fix the problem with your nuke.

I can vouch for Blizzard being absolutely disgustingly great on a teamed Defender. My Force Field/Ice uses it every time it's up. It's basically a way to say "yeah I didn't really feel like we needed to spend time on that group" every four or five mobs. And that's with a toggle-heavy power set with no real ways to boost damage. I can imagine how awesome it is on an Ice/Cold.

I don't think I'd take the nuke on a Defender unless it were /Ice or Kin/. Draining endurance just to tickle the mobs around me? No thanks.