Offender instead of Defender?

Well, this was guaranteed to stir up a debate. There are obviously those who believe that a Defender's job is to support the team, and anything he does that distracts from that, like soloing, using his blasts, or picking any powers but those in his Primary, Leadership, and Recall Friend, is a waste of slots. There are also those who are insulted by such talk, and insist that a Defender as a whole should take advantage of all his capabilities, from buff and debuff powers to blasts and controls.

To me, an Offender is a Defender that takes and slots his blasts AND ALSO CHOOSES A PRIMARY AND POWERS TO SUPPORT THAT. The latter is important, because the Defender's Primary is just as important to his damage dealing capability as his Secondary. It's also an answer to those who say a Defender who specializes with damage dealing is weaker than one who doesn't. That's not true, particularly when you can demonstrate that the Resistance debuffing and Damage buffing powers in the Rad/Sonic combination can actually deal more damage than the Corruptor version under certain circumstances.

Now, I have heard the term Offender used in regards to a Force Field Defender, and I've even used it myself. Then again, my FF is heavily IOed out for damage. In general, though, I use the term in reference to a Primary like Rad, Kinetics, Trick Arrow, or Storm, which have a strong offensive balance in contrast to a defensive one. You might use an Offender strategy to build a Dark for soloing, but if you wanted to build an Offender, I'd recommend the above. That's just me, though, others may disagree, on the argument that if you survive to do more damage you can do more damage.

The basic concept is simple, you figure out what boosts your offense (Enervating Field, Fulcrum Shift, Acid/Disruption Arrow, Freezing Rain) and pick it up as soon as you can and slot it so it's up all the time. Your attacks then take second priority. Third priority are the powers to keep yourself and your teammates alive. You still make a huge contribution to the team, as they benefit from your offensive buffs just like you do. In fact, it can be argued that it's impossible to make a Kinetic that isn't an Offender, since Speed Boost/Siphon Speed and Transference let you and your allies attack longer and more often, and even Transfusion speeds your kill rate by putting a -regen on the target. (Only Repel and Increase Density are purely defensive in nature)

As I said, all of the above is my own take on the matter, and in general the term is used very flexibly, sometimes even with a negative connotation.

Either way offenders too lost in their attack chains to notice a worry are bad defenders.

True. An offender is still a defender, and one who gets too lost in blasting to use his primary isn't doing his job. That doesn't make offenders in general bad, though. It just means that, like all ATs, there exist bad offenders.

Defender neglecting their primary = bad Defender

Defender neglecting their secondary = bad Defender

I've always thought of Offender as more of a mindset thing, myself.

An offender is a defender that focuses on maximizing his and his teams' damage potential. He builds towards being able to kill the enemy as fast as possible. This doesn't mean he ignores his primary. In fact, he would want to absolutely maximize his primary's ability to debuff/buff as well as take pool powers to further this goal.

He's a defender who isn't afraid to jump into the middle of the pack and deal as much dirt as all of his non-defender teammates.

To me, an offender is a defender that actively contributes to damage.

For example, my Dark/Ice defender spends a lot of time blasting, but he doesn't neglect his Tar Patch, Fearsome stare, Darkest night and such.

There's very few sets that can't be played as an offender... Empath is one, mainly because they rely too much on active mitigation and don't have a way to boost their own damage. Force field has plenty of time to blast, but also doesn't have a way to boost their own damage.

FF is certainly not the best offender primary, but you can still try to build one to contribute damage. Mine's got something like +20% damage from set bonuses, and with i19 I'll have room to add in assault. It also has an extra AoE attack and, as you mentioned, you do get plenty of time to blast. Between aim, power build up, 3 AoEs, and my nuke, I can kick out a fair amount of damage - and I still have and use almost all of my primary (and have probably the best passive protection of any defender I've seen).

So... where does soloing squishies in RV on my Emp/Dark/Soul fit in this (without heavy)? And I've never gotten less than 2nd place in FFA's on her. Not to mention how many notorious Emp kills I get in 8v8s/team zone PvP.

I'd agree that it is a mindset, but my Emp /is/ actually a pure buffer/healer build-wise -- though I will throw the odd attack/mez in if I feel it necessary. If I'm on a team of 8 and I'm the only healer, and 5 or more people don't have mez protection, your damn right I'm going to be focusing on buffing and heals.

Generally speaking though, you do need right set for it. If you're rolling a Cold or a Rad or a Kin with intentions of being "just a buffer/healer" character, you'd better reconsider your options. Same holds true for the reverse: rolling an Emp or an FFer for offense. These sets are not optimized for offense. Actually, I've always been highly amused by how many people think Rad is a "healer" set because of the one PBAoE heal and the regeneration on AM, and seeing kids running around with level 50 Empaths with no Adrenaline Boost and/or Fortitude.

Offender: 1.A Defender who has proven that he not only does his job but can also bring a healthy supply of damage to a team.
2. A radical believer in defender rights.
3. A person who believes defenders are better than every other AT
4. A person who is better than you.

Offender: Someone with bad breath
Defender: A teenage girl that just clipped your fender while texting and driving.

Well, I guess that would be a defenderer....

Traps/sonic. One of the most important things I can do in a new pull is whack as many things as I can with my AoE res debuff, because that's a 20% damage buff to everything for everyone in the group. That's a pretty big buff, and if I do it early enough, the first couple of AoEs clear all the minions and some lieutenants.

What I call an "Offender" is a defender or corruptor that have the debuff/buff sets and some blast sets like sonic that buff themselves/or their ability to kill faster nearly as much or just as much as all their allies, and then they blast the snot outa stuff.

My first toon back in the old days (2004 ish) was not an offender though with bubbles and dark blast I thought he would be when I made him... Little did I realise just how team dependant a FF/Dark before epic pools even existed would be on teaming. It could not solo anything that could bust dispersion's sleep weakness. NOTHING.

As for offenders in general... back then a Fire/anything you want with an army of imps ( I mean an ARMY, they had no limit but their own recharge back then. Kinetics was insane. They probably made the very best of offenders. EVER. lol

Today... They still exist. I was working for Geas of the Kind ones on the DP/Dark I brought outa the Preatorian arc into Paragon. Jack had spawned and there were only two of use fighting him. Me and a Rad/sonic defender who didn't seem to think he'd even have much trouble solo but said "We'll be fine." when I asked "Waiting to invite more I assume?". He said with me along it'll shave a little time of the inevitable." He had leadership so Jack's fears did bugger all... We minus regen'd him to oblivion for health recovery and and simply whittled him to dead under 10 min and the only pet brought out was dark fluffy (probably unessisary)... No shivans or Backup radios... Nothin.

We also didn't die once. Not once. I do not know the specifics of his slotting but it was astounding to behold and be a part of. I have seen footage of a Rad/sonic with shivans defeating that DE GM that spawns in Creys folley. Probably not as much damage as say a blaster or a Sonic/Rad cor but the decent Safety plus pretty damn good damage over time of this build is likely vital to such feats.

My current toon is classified a "Corruptor" is an Offender.

His... SUPER Offender! And he was playing the "Defender".

Happy hunting all.