A couple questions re: FF

Hello all,

I've been toying with rolling up a FF defender and wanted to ask a few questions.

I'll preface that by saying I read PK's Bible...loved it. I couldn't ask for a more informative read. I look for the answer to the following question there, but I'm thinking I was too daft to gleam the answer:

If I put PFF up, does this mean that NO power that I have (that effects others) will work? In other words, will Maneuvers still give me defense? Or because it helps the team, it becomes useless for me?

Same question regarding the large AOE bubble (I forget the name)... if I use PFF, does that power (the AOE bubble) offer me no defense? I understand it offers the team no defense...but what about me?

I realize I could use Aid Self in a PFF or Rest, etc. Just wondering about some powers that help the team AND me?

Thanks for any clarification. I apologize if this is a dumb question.

i dont really know how that works, you could probably test it out, but i just have to make a little correction real quick: you cant use rest in pff

PFF has the 'only affects self' flag. That means that your powers can't affect other people, but it doesn't mean that, just because they can't affect anyone else, they won't still buff you. You won't be able to activate any powers that require you to target someone (friendly or enemy), but your big bubble and maneuvers will still affect *you*. In this particular case, though, it hardly matters, because even without the big bubble, manuevers, or any slotting in PFF, it'll still put you at *75%* defense to everything all by itself. Given that that's 30% *over* the softcap, I have a hard time thinking of a situation where you'd actually *need* the big bubble's or maneuvers' defense.

Oh, and yeah. For some reason PFF interrupts rest, although you can still use aid self during that time. I never bothered with the medicine pool, though, although I can see why it could be attractive. I never really found that I needed it.

What Muon said.

Muon, okay...thanks very much for the clarification.

I wonder why one can't use Rest during the power... seeing as one is only affecting oneself.

Ah well... can't have it all, eh?

It's intentional. Otherwise, PFF would be "too powerful".

The defence in Dispersion Bubble is redundant with PFF on, but the mez resistance isn't. Always keep Dispersion on as well if you're running through a high level zone, or one stray mez can ruin your day.

Another question related to FF:

If Energy Manipulation is chosen as the secondary, if/when I use "Boost Power" and cast the fields on my teammates, would those be boosted?

And if so, would the boost disappear once the power wanes? Or would it be there until the bubble disappears?

Also, is it even realistic? (ie. does Boost Power last long enough for me to bubble all my teammates?)

Thanks!

Energy Manipulation? Wha? Boost Power? Wha?

That's a Blaster set dude. Defenders get Energy Blast, which is WAY different.

I apologize. Yes, I meant Power Mastery. Thank you, Psylenz.

Sorry.

Power Boost does work on the bubbles, but you'll only get like 3 or 4 bubbles cast before it wears out on it. But the boost lasts for the entire duration of the bubble. So if you "stagger" your bubbles and keep them updated every time Power Boost comes up, you should be able to get the whole team boosted bubbles.

Also, if memory serves correct, as long as you don't let the bubbles expire, the Super FFs will remain on the team member. Meaning, Once you pop Power Build Up + FF your team member, every time you refresh the FF on that individual, they will be Super Bubbles.

I never wasted PBU on the bubbles.

... no, really. If they wanted capped Defense they could come stand near me. I don't move much. And I was using Power Build Up on Short Circuit, and my nukes, and seriously how much damage was the rest of the team taking ANYWAY? I only paid attention to the team situation when health bars dipped below 2/3, which was really not that often.

Force Fields. If my teammates wanted empathy, they should have hired an empath. To wail and cry and rez their dead bodies.

Thanks, Jade, for the thorough response and I see your point. The zoning would take up valuable time. Makes perfect sense.

I will also keep in mind your advice using PBU for offensive purposes as well as looking into Aim.

I'm grateful for all responses. Thank you all for taking time to help me out.

Bubbles do INDEED survive zoning.