When I play a kin I consider 3 things for SB usage.
Team Size: If there is 5 or less people on the team there is no excuse for me to not be able to keep SB on 4 other people. That is 6 seconds of buffing, or 8 seconds elapsed time while throwing in blasts between SBs. It's not hard. On 8 man teams it comes down to Speed/Pace.
Speed/Pace: I'm looking at you 17 minute ITFs. On stuff like this there really isn't time to keep everyone buffed with SB. In all honesty at this speed I'd say its impossible (for me at least) to keep 7 people buffed with SB 100% of the time, while not slacking on your other duties[see below]. Should at least half the team have SB on them? Yeah, I would say that is completely reasonable to expect. If no one has SB then there is definately a problem. It is also here that you really need to figure out when the best time it is to SB. Hitting SB on people while running down halls/between mobs, hitting a couple people with SB upon mission exit/enterance. Hitting people with SB between your aoes. Hitting people with SB off the mob you're targetting. Will everyone get it? Maybe, maybe not. Will the majority(4-5+) of people get SB? Yes, and that is what is important, imo. On slower paced content people should be seeing more SB. On difficult fights(final LRSF mission for example) people should definately be seeing more SB.
Priority: Kinetics is probably the "busyest" set in the game, even moreso for corrupters who have more weight in their blasts. Silas posted a wonderful flowchart type thing that explains it better than I ever could, I beleive it is in his kinetics guide, don't quote me on that. But basically as a kin you have ton of stuff to do, and most of the time it comes down to prioritizing when you need to SB/Trans/Fulcrum/Blast/whatever else. There really shouldn't be any time that there isnt something that you can do. It's more of the thing that you learn just by playing the toon and getting a feel for what is necessary at what time.
tl;dr: kin isnt for lazy ppl.
If you keep it up 100% of the time on an 8 man team, Speed Boost takes 7 seconds to apply every 2 minutes. It is a greater contribution to your team's success than anything else you can do in those 7 seconds.
Build-wise, SB takes one power pick and no slots. It leaves you 94% of your time (113 seconds every 2 minutes) to do other stuff.
Yes, 'sb plz' tells suck. Yes, sb requires you to switch between targeting enemies and targeting friends. Yes, forethought and planning are necessary to keep the buff up.
I'd still say it's a lazy /kin that skips the power. Nothing infuriates me more than a Fire/Kin troller who skipped SB telling me 'sb plz'.
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In lower levels, sure. On paper, maybe. But in practice at higher levels, that hasn't been my experience. Much of the following observations will depend on the composition, skill, and experience of your team, but they're observations because, well, I've seen 'em often enough to observe the patterns...|
Originally Posted by Hart
If you keep it up 100% of the time on an 8 man team, Speed Boost takes 7 seconds to apply every 2 minutes. It is a greater contribution to your team's success than anything else you can do in those 7 seconds.
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- Fulcrum Shift will make both +endrec and +recharge less significant for DPS, as it'll take significantly fewer attacks to wipe a spawn.
- Decently slotted Transference will make +endrec virtually meaningless.
- ID will keep squishes from flopping around like fishes for KB spam; SB won't.
- Transfusion will keep them in the fight; SB won't.
- SB can disrupt the pacing and rhythm of a team - if people go off in their own directions, SB makes it more likely they won't realize their mistake before it's too late.
- SB can make it tougher to place cone and PBAoE attacks.
- SB is hell in caves. Especially the layer cake room.
Don't get me wrong, SB is definitely very useful, and I made it a point to keep people buffed with it in my day. But as a recovering Kinetics defender, I could tell you stories where teams mopped the floor with multiple AVs in record time without it, or where previously coherent teams scattered to the four winds and died lonely deaths after a round of SB. Where AV health bars actually went up when I used SB in lieu of my other powers, or when my team wiped for lack of heals after zipping off without me when I missed a Siphon Speed.
The best arguments I've heard for Speed Boost is that it really helps at lower levels, or with powers that have long cooldowns (like nukes and AoE holds), and I'll readily grant both. However, my personal best argument for holding on to it is just to prevent all the snipping and yipping you'll get for not having it...
After reading through all the reply I have to say what a crock of you know what! Anyone can take or not take a power in a set as its their toon.no one is a bad kin just because they don't want to sb all the time,There's plenty of other powers that still benefit a team.build how you like and play and have fun I say.too many elitist players on here sometimes.
It doesn't cost a lot to be nice and reply to tells
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i've played a rad/kin corr (Cherry Nobyl) for a very long time as one of my mains. |
Originally Posted by Shred_Monkey
I'm looking at and liking a build I have for a kinetics/archery defender (or corruptor). I played the defender version up to level 12 and learned very quickly that I really do not enjoy maintaining speed boost on my teamates. Frankly, I mainly play scrappers and damage dealers, and the idea of rebuffing 7 players every 2 minutes all night long is not fun for me. I'm aware that this may just mean kinetics isn't the set for me, but I'm wondering if any of you expirienced kineticists find that not having speed boost, or not keeping it up 100% of the time is heavily frowned upon.
Also, as an alternative, if there's a bind/macro I can use to quickly cycle through my teamates by tapping a button 7 times in a row, that'd probably help me enjoy the toon a lot more. Any suggestion or advice? |
at first, it tended to bother me that people wanted sb all the time, except those that don't and tend to be very vocal about it, and add to this that i don't like being a buffbot.
my solution? ignore chat, focus on the goal (completion of mission with fewest deaths possible, w/o taking responsibility for their actions) and sb when it works for you. if endurance is really an issue along the way, then transference is a reasonable answer.
as mentioned above, fulcrum shift is an important (more important i'd suggest) boost than speed boost itself. if recharge is important to up the availability of high damaging powers (for the most part) then fulcrum is the antithesis of that path by leveraging the damage forward, obiviating the need for sb outside of travel/endurance considerations.
/ymmv
Kittens give Morbo gas.
Honestly, I dropped SB from several builds, simply because when I DID have it, I got tired of people whining for it. I'm keeping SB on 7 people, while being the main healer, and a significant source of debuffs and DPS (less than ideal team here, obviously). If you run off down another hall, die because you ran out of endurance, and then whine that you didn't have SB.... Bite me. I honestly enjoy playing Kinetics more than just about any other powerset (or AT for that matter) in the game. I am convinced it is the most powerful set in the game. But it annoys me to no end when your team spends more time whining that you're not buffing them well enough than they do doing THEIR job. I have had blasters run off to the other end of the map to solo the AV or somesuch and then whine that I wasn't keeping SB on them. I have had scrappers whine that I wasn't keeping SB on them when it was OBVIOUS by the fact that our team was in the process of taking down two AV's at once, and I was the only person with ANY sort of heal that I had other priorities at the time. On top of that, I usually end up spending more time running back and forth down halls trying to FIND my teammates to give them SB than anything else, which kills me, because then I can never find a target for Siphon Speed, and can't keep up with the tank.
All that (whiny rant and all) said... If I DON'T have one set-defining power or another (Like SB. Or, case in point, I have a FF/Energy Defender dedicated to solo'ing, which doesn't have either of the main bubbles on his main build), I make it clear that I don't have said power. On the above mentioned FF/Energy Defender, on top of my search comment being VERY clear to send a tell first, I always say AT LEAST ONCE (before accepting the invite) that I don't have the main bubbles. If you invite me after I make it clear that I don't have a particular power, and then whine that I don't have said power, that's your own problem. Kick me if you want, it's still your fault. I have been kicked from teams for not having a particular power after I told the leader THREE TIMES before I got invited that I didn't have said power. I'll get over it.
Honestly, I would be more annoyed if our Kin didn't take Transfusion or Siphon Power than I would if he didn't take SB. I should be able to live without SB. I might not be able to live without a heal (depending on the team and mission). I try to look at it from both ends. I've played many, MANY Kins. I understand what it's like trying to keep the team healed (I consider Transfusion to be one of the best heals in the game), Siphon Power, Siphon Speed (which you need, to be able to keep up with the rest of the team), and Fulcrum Shift up, keep the whole team SB'd (and ID, if applicable), and Transference when needed (which will likely only be you, if you're keeping up with the SB), plus trying to attack here and there for extra damage/debuffs. I've also played Tanks, Blasters, etc. SB is nice. It means Shield Charge/Rain of Fire/Drain Psyche/whatever is up that much more often. It means my Fire/Kin Corruptor can attack that much more (yes, I said it). If your build *needs* SB (which it seems 90% of all Scrappers, Blasters, and Controllers do), it's your own fault. I'll SB you when I can, stop whining.
Having tried to play one several times, I would call Stone tanks the exception here. I can't even tolerate Rooted. I never even make it to Granite. All of my Stone attempts have gotten deleted around 18 or so. If I'm playing a Kin on a team with a Stone tank, I make sure it ALWAYS has SB. I WILL go out of my way to SB Stone tanks. Even when they aren't on my team. I feel sorry for them.
Let the flaming of me begin. I'm used to it.