Bubble Gunn was my ff/dp defender, started during the closed beta for Dual Pistols. Now that DP is available live, I thought I'd post my thoughts.
I made three DP characters on Test. The first was a dp/devices scrapper, then Bubble Gunn, and finally a dp/traps corrupter. Bubble Gunn was the most fun for me to play. The force field and dual pistol sets seemed to mesh very well. I can't show his full build, but he ended up at 50 with:
* all dp powers except Piercing Rounds
* the three main bubbles, plus Repulsion Bomb. PFF and Force Bubble picked up late in build
* Combat Jumping, Hurdle, Health, Stamina, Manuevers, Tactics, Aid Other, Aid Self
* Domination and Mind Over Body
Endurance was somewhat of a problem initially. To help, he picked up the Atlas Medallion and four sets of 4-slotted Gift of the Ancients (GotA). He even had a bit more endurance and recovery via other sets. With Ninja Run boosted by Hurdle, four 7.5% run speeds via GotA, and other IO set run speed boosts, travel was a breeze, even without Super Jump. During missions, he'd run Combat Jumping though for the extra defense, immob protection, and lower end draw.
His Dispersion Bubble (DB) provided stun and hold protection, as well as decent defense. This was boosted by Manuevers, Combat Junping, and the two procs from SteadFast Protection -- def/res and -knockback. Thus he had scrapper level defenses. That's not even counting his Mind Over Body resistances. His teammates were even better off; for the most part they were dp blasters of some sort, buttressed by their individual bubbles, Manuevers, and the benefits of the DB.
Suppressive Fire (SF) can either provide an individual stun or individual hold, strong enough for minions and lieutenants. Domination provided the same strength hold, plus some damage. With SF set to a holding ammo, he could stack the two holds on bosses. With this ability to mez two Lts. or one boss, he felt a lot like a controller.
The various damage types available with dp gave a lot of flexibility. Most of the time he'd be using cryo ammo for the -rech secondary, but he could change in a moments notice to DoT, -dmg, or knockback. However, taking a boss down solo was safe (the stacked holds), but time-consuming. As with most defenders, damage isn't his strong suit.
With the required Pistols power (fast, low damage), I did what my defenders normally do. I three-slotted it with an acc, a dmg, and a range. Since there is no snipe in dp, the range on Pistols gave him an extended-range pull capability. Actually, all my attacks only had one acc. With Tactics and 27% global accuracy via IO sets, he wasn't wanting in ability to hit. The remaining attacks had 3 damage enhancements, though. If necessary I added an end reduction, and a few ended up being six-slotted with an added recharge.
He ended up with two single-target attacks, two cones, and the tier-9 PBAoE. Hail of Bullets is a fun power, fairly quick recharge, and it doesn't drain all end like many other tier-9 attacks. With all his protection, it was generally safe to rush into a crowd of foes and let loose.
Bubble Gunn; he was fun. I think I'll make another one.
Bubble Gunn was my ff/dp defender, started during the closed beta for Dual Pistols. Now that DP is available live, I thought I'd post my thoughts.
I made three DP characters on Test. The first was a dp/devices scrapper, then Bubble Gunn, and finally a dp/traps corrupter. Bubble Gunn was the most fun for me to play. The force field and dual pistol sets seemed to mesh very well. I can't show his full build, but he ended up at 50 with:
* all dp powers except Piercing Rounds
* the three main bubbles, plus Repulsion Bomb. PFF and Force Bubble picked up late in build
* Combat Jumping, Hurdle, Health, Stamina, Manuevers, Tactics, Aid Other, Aid Self
* Domination and Mind Over Body
Endurance was somewhat of a problem initially. To help, he picked up the Atlas Medallion and four sets of 4-slotted Gift of the Ancients (GotA). He even had a bit more endurance and recovery via other sets. With Ninja Run boosted by Hurdle, four 7.5% run speeds via GotA, and other IO set run speed boosts, travel was a breeze, even without Super Jump. During missions, he'd run Combat Jumping though for the extra defense, immob protection, and lower end draw.
His Dispersion Bubble (DB) provided stun and hold protection, as well as decent defense. This was boosted by Manuevers, Combat Junping, and the two procs from SteadFast Protection -- def/res and -knockback. Thus he had scrapper level defenses. That's not even counting his Mind Over Body resistances. His teammates were even better off; for the most part they were dp blasters of some sort, buttressed by their individual bubbles, Manuevers, and the benefits of the DB.
Suppressive Fire (SF) can either provide an individual stun or individual hold, strong enough for minions and lieutenants. Domination provided the same strength hold, plus some damage. With SF set to a holding ammo, he could stack the two holds on bosses. With this ability to mez two Lts. or one boss, he felt a lot like a controller.
The various damage types available with dp gave a lot of flexibility. Most of the time he'd be using cryo ammo for the -rech secondary, but he could change in a moments notice to DoT, -dmg, or knockback. However, taking a boss down solo was safe (the stacked holds), but time-consuming. As with most defenders, damage isn't his strong suit.
With the required Pistols power (fast, low damage), I did what my defenders normally do. I three-slotted it with an acc, a dmg, and a range. Since there is no snipe in dp, the range on Pistols gave him an extended-range pull capability. Actually, all my attacks only had one acc. With Tactics and 27% global accuracy via IO sets, he wasn't wanting in ability to hit. The remaining attacks had 3 damage enhancements, though. If necessary I added an end reduction, and a few ended up being six-slotted with an added recharge.
He ended up with two single-target attacks, two cones, and the tier-9 PBAoE. Hail of Bullets is a fun power, fairly quick recharge, and it doesn't drain all end like many other tier-9 attacks. With all his protection, it was generally safe to rush into a crowd of foes and let loose.
Bubble Gunn; he was fun. I think I'll make another one.
-- Rich
* Thresholds CoH: What to do When
* My Comics Collection