A fun hypothetical: Choose your 8 Man Squad- but choose wisely!

Ok so Im bored tonight, cant access the game, and figured Id have some forum fun with some of the knowledgeable vets (and non vets as well) to see what kind of fun and intelligent team combos some folks would hand pick if given the choice.

For the sake of this argument Im putting several basic rules in place so everyone doesnt come in this thread and put Fire/rad controller for every team slot and lol. So here we go with the hypothetical:

A troubled, angry, and very disgruntled former-CoH Dev breaks into your home and puts a stolen rikti pulse rifle to your temple, and tells you that your well-being depends on you putting together a team to run the ITF successfully without short cuts (no map stealthing to objects, and natural progression through maps) in under 45 minutes on the hardest +4/8 settings.

The consequence if you dont? Hes going to force you to spend a week in the final room of the old, pre-patched respec trial waiting for enemies that never come, and staring at reactor room walls until you puke!

So, while you know you could probably do it easily with certain power and AT combinations, this psychopath isnt going to let you off easy- theres some rules in play bucko, or else you're tossed into the never-ending reactor room purgatory!

Your team must have:

-3 out of the 8 AT's must be Tanks, Brutes, or Scrappers (Any combination is allowed, and you can have more- but 3 is minimum)
-Your team must have at least 1 Defender
-You cannot have ANY duplicate AT-Power Combo's (That means no 4 Fire/Kins or Fire/Rads x4)



1. (You)
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.


So who do you pick to fill out your team, and which AT do you choose to play? Are there any players you know you would take along for the ride because they are plain sick with their main AT?

Remember- you have many, many +4 mobs running at you with bosses and elite bosses mixed in- so you have some very high hit point enemies you'll need to eliminate with speed, precision, and accuracy. Dying is not an option- it will slow you down too much!

You will need TONS of AOE, but also speedy single target damage to quickly fly through the bosses, dwarfs, EB's, and AV's you will see along the way, and MASSIVE debuffs and buffs to boot! So you basically need everything, and need it from skilled players to ensure you come in under (or well under!) the time limit! Remember- you cant mess around with silly combo's or else your doomed with a week in respec limbo hell!


After you show your squad Id love to know why you picked the combinations you picked! Lets have some fun, and I will post mine here in a bit!

1)Fire/SD scrapper (me)
2)elec/SD scrapper
3)SS/SD brute
4)rad/sonic defender
5)fire/rad corruptor
6)ice/cold corruptor
7)sonic/kin corruptor
8)fire/kin controller

We need 3 melees so I went with 3 SD's because SD adds great aoe with SC and offers the superior mitigation of defense and team stacking buffs. Fire scrappers have a great mix of single target and aoe damage, while elec offers massive aoe damage, both sets can dip into fire for fireball and even more aoe dmg. SS for the brute is one of the better aoe dmg dealers, and said brute can go into the mu or soul epic for added aoe carnage. All in all you have 3 wrecking balls buffed to the gills for both single target and aoe dmg, with stacking def buffs, even though it will be absurd overkill on this team.

We have to have a defender so I went rad/sonic which is an av/gm killer, with rads nasty debuffs and sonics stacking -res. One of the better defender combo's imo.

Then I went with the at with the nastiest combo of buff/debuff/offense, the corruptor. Fire offers nasty single target and aoe dmg and we'll double up on the rad buffs/debuffs just for the fun of it. Then I went with ice for some nice aoe/single target dmg, and cold which will add to team defense and mitigation while offering some nasty buffs and debuffs. And I went with another sonic for more -res and kin for its happy bag of tricks.

Finally I threw in a tried and true fire/kin for its massive aoe carnage.

Hi Cyb

Since I have nothing better to do I will take this one. I decided to throw something together that included all different AT combination

1 SS / Shield tanker
2 rad / rad deathfender defender (me)
3 Bots / FF MM
4 fire / Shield Scrapper
5 Kin / sonic Corruptor
6 fire / MM Blaster (or Me)
7 Elec Melee / Shield brute
8 fire / kin Controller

You will notice all of the melee are shield defense. This is because even post correction Shield Defense is the melee set for destroying everything in your bloody path. Fire / Shield for the scrapper makes it effective as both ST and AOE damage. Foot Stomp + Shield charge equals more dead mobs and respectable ST damage with AAO and Knockout Blow. I chose the Brute to have electric melee as a way too complement the AOE damage of the group as well as act as a way to separate the Nicti from Romulus should it become necessary.

for multi-purpose damage I have to choose the Fire / MM Blaster combo. All the AOE clears mobs fast with more than enough fire power for hard targets. The MM acts as a buffer and with the use of bots a second buffering wall for the hordes. The Controller and Corrupter help endurance and damage through Speed boost and fulcrum shift. I finally chose my Rad / Rad defender because in a team like this you will have combat deaths and my rad / rad defender with leadership, fallout, and mutate turns setbacks into advantages again someone can die momentarily and the group keeps right on going.

1. My Dark Armor Tank.
2 - 8. Rad/sonic defenders.

EDIT: CRAP! There's rules?

Ok, I'll edit a new list.

1. My Dark Armor Tank.
2. Some useless scrapper. Probably shield defense and fire.
3. Some other useless scrapper. Most likely another shield, this time elec.
4. Rad/sonic defender.
5. Dark/sonic defender.
6. Traps/sonic defender.
7. Cold/sonic defender.
8. Anything else that's still a /sonic defender.

Let the defenders run some tactics and some assault, we'll pretty much never miss, despite all their defense buffs, we'll be capping damage, and flooring resist. Nothing survives.

1: Me
2: Dechs Kaison on his tank
3: Elec/SD scrapper or brute
4:Kin/Rad defender
5:Rad/Rad defender
6:Earth/Cold troller
7:Fire/FF troller
8: Fire/elec blaster

Blaster may be used as vengeance bait... >.>

1) Brute - SS/Elec
2) Brute - SS/Dark
3) Brute - SS/Fire
4) Corruptor - Sonic/Kin
5) Corruptor - Fire/Thermal
6) Corruptor - Fire/Cold
7) Arachnos Soldier - Huntsman
8) Defender - Cold/Sonic

Two sets of Cold shields and double Manoeuvres for the Huntsman : 75.6% defence (50%+ for Colds themselves.)

Armour sets stacked with thermal shields provide ~75% resistance to S/L.

Two /Colds should be able to keep Frostwork on all three brutes.

Two sets of Heat Loss gives permanent +recovery to eliminate endurance problems, spot 'healing' of end bar from /Kin transference.

AoE resistance debuffs vary between -80% for normal spawns with two of Sleet/Heat Loss and Venom Grenade up to -162.5% for 2x Sleet, 2x Heat Loss, Venom Grenade, Melt Armour. For single target this goes up to ~252.5 from Surveillance and Sonic blast debuffs (Howl probably wouldn't hit the entire spawn so was left out of AoE numbers.)

I don't think the healing nictus AV has any resistance to -heal strength, so two lots of Benumb ought to do -110% strength and essentially turn it off. Cycle Increase Density and Thaw to overcome the nictus death stuns.

Since none of the Corruptors (or Defender) are dependant on multiple toggles and Heat Loss can overcome the -recov section of a nuke end crash there is little reason for Dreadful Wail and Inferno not to get used whenever up.

Honestly though I think the entire team would either mapserver or quit due to the server lag from using twin Sleet and Rain of Fire on herds of romans.

I'd probably grab my Elec/Shield Brute, then gather:

1) Me
2) Stone/Fire Tank
3) Fire/Shield Scrapper
4) Ice/Storm Troller
5) Fire/Dark Corruptor
6) Fire/Storm Corruptor
7) FF/Sonic Defender
8) Rad/Sonic Defender

I'd require that the Scrapper had Phalanx Fighting to stack with my own and with the bubbles. The troller is for the slows, Freezing Rain, and because Ice Patch is effective no matter what the level-difference. The corruptors because of the sick mix of AoE's and debuffs. The defenders because, well, I've always found them ridiculously effective in the hands of anyone semi-competent. The tank for Granite Armor, obviously.

With the rules, I'd probably go with something like this:

Fire/Shield Scrapper
DM/Shield Scrapper
SS/Fire Brute
Cold/Sonic Defender
Sonic/Cold Corruptor
Fire/Cold Corruptor
Fire/Therm Corruptor
Fire/Kin Corruptor

Minimum 3 melee suxxors...

1) Fire/SD Scrap
2) DM/SD Scrap
3) Elec/SD Scrap
4) Cold/Sonic Defender
5)Fire/Kin Corruptor
6)Fire/Cold Corruptor
7)Sonic/Cold Corruptor
8)Fire/Therm Corruptor

Okay, here's my team.

1. Elec/Shield scrapper (me)
2. Fire/shield brute
3. SS/shield brute
4. Fire/kin corruptor (my wife)
5. Fire/dark corruptor
6. Fire/rad controller
7. Cold/sonic defender
8. Traps/sonic defender

That group should be able to power through a +4/x8 ITF damn fast. The massive debuffs should mean surviving won't be an issue, and AoE damage should be rolling in fast and heavy.

1. Elec/Shield Scrapper
2. Fire/Shield Scrapper
3. SS/Fire Brute
4. Kin/Ice Defender
5. sonic/Kin Corruptor
6. Cold/Dark Defender
7. Fire/kin Controller (Fire is fire control here as opposed to fire blast)
8. Illusion/Rad controller

Break up into 3 or 4 teams for the first two missions.

Power through as a group for the third

Zerg rush rommie and the nicti for the final. Then split up and roman farm.

Forget the rules.
1. VEAT
2. VEAT
3. VEAT
4. VEAT
5. VEAT
6. VEAT
7. VEAT
8. VEAT

Capped damage, defense, everything.

Captain Compliment
The first 7 people who show up.
Probably turn on enemies buffed/players debuffed for kicks and giggles.
Players have done the +4/x8 buffed/debuffed no skipping in under 45 before with teams that probably met the requirements.

1. Ice/Ice Tanker. (Me)
2. Stone/Elec Tanker.
3. KM/NRG Brute.
4. Cold/Rad Defender.
5. Dark/Traps Corruptor.
6. Elec/Psi Dominator.
7. Bots/Poison Mastermind.
8. Ice/Kin Corruptor.

The reason? AoE shutdowns via End drain, slows and -rech.

Most of the Support classes are pretty offensive, although there's little in the place of team buffs, the Meele classes are tough ones so the whole team can focus on debuffing and sweeping fast through the mobs.

- DM/SD Scrap (me)
- Fire/SD Scrap
- Elec/SD Scrap
- WP/Fire Tanker
- Cold/Sonic Fender
- Sonic/Sonic Corr
- Fire/Rad Corr
- Earth/Kin Troller

Caped damage, caped def, nearly caped res, all status protected team. Huge AoE and single target damage. Huge debuffs.

1: Me
2,3,4,5,6,7,8: Army of Me

1) Me on my DB/Regen Scrapper
2) SS/WP Brute
3) SD/Fire Tanker
4) Elec/Elec Dominator
5) Elec/Earth Dominator
6) Elec/Kin Controller
7) Ill/Rad Controller
8) Emp/Sonic Defender

I had a similar team to that at one point... It was a breeze... but if there were no rules I'd take my favorite team composition again:

1) My Warshade
2-8) Blasters

That was hectic...

8 smart players.

Well lets have a go:

1) Stone/Electric/Soul Tank (my one is only lvl 5 but lets pretend!)
Stone for Granite Armour, Electric for AoEs, Soul for Darkest Night/Dark Obliteration

2) Electric/Shield/Soul Brute
Electric for AoE, Shield for Shield Charge and Grant Cover, Soul for Darkest Night/Dark Obliteration

3) Fire/Shield/Soul Brute
Fire for AoE, Shield for Shiled Charge and Grant Cover, Soul for Darkest Night/Dark Obliteration

4) Radiation/Sonic/Soul Defender
Radiation for AM, Choking Cloud and Debuffs, Sonic for -res, Soul for Power Boost

5) Illusion/Radiation/Stone Controller
Illusion for PA, Radiation for AM, Choking Cloud and Debuffs, Stone for Fissure and Rock Armour

6) Fire/Kinetic/Stone Controller
Fire for damage/control, Kinetic for SB and damage boosts, Stone for Fissure and Rock Armour

7) Bots/Traps/Mace Mastermind
Bots for damage, Traps for defence and debuffs, Mace for AoE immob and Scorpion Shield

8) Fire/Kinetic/Electric Corruptor
Fire for AoE, Kinetic for SB and damage boost, Electric for Thunder Strike AoE

The second brute I would rather drop for a dominator but I can't because of the rules.

Basicly with these combos there should be plenty of stacking buffs (loads of recharge, +damage, +endurance), loads of debuffs (-regen, -to-hit, -damage, -defence, -resistance), defence, control and loads of AoE damage.

Because there is plenty of endurance boosting powers (2xAMs, 2xSB) people can drop Stamina and take the leadership pool instead for additional defence, to-hit and damage buffs.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zwillinger Quote: 16. Has Paragon Studios redefined "player" to require your mouse to subscribe separately from your keyboard? If your mouse has greater processing power than your gfx card, the answer is yes.

1. Me
2. Capable Tank
3. Capable Brute/Scrapper
4. Capable Brute/Scrapper
5. Shielder who uses their shields
6. Capable support
7. Any capable player
8. Any capable player

Capable = "someone who can play their character and work in a team"

Wonderful responses so far! This thread is really becoming juicy in many ways, because you are seeing what people like to play along with, and what they know is the most effective team members theyve grouped with on the ITF and other Task Forces. I think most of you are playing along great and coming up with some awesome teams. Before I post mine, I just want to post some feedback on the (very helpful) Dech's comments:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dechs Kaison Most people are, but it's not impossible to handle. The real crux of this hypothetical situation is the 45 minute timer. I tell you truly, nothing in this game compares to all defender/corruptor teams. If you're going to handicap me with melee, then fine, I'll bring a pair of scrappers or brutes with my tank. They can watch as the defenders and corruptors do most of the work.

I knew that people would not choose melee if it was a totally optimized team- that's why I included the ruleset. However, regardless of players wanting to stick 8 Defenders/Corruptors on a team, on the ITF when you have +4 bosses, EB's and AV's, I seriously am doubting it can be done - not only in that timeframe, but also feasibly. With constant ambushes of multiple mob groups plus bosses and EB's mixed in, someone either needs to be capable of taking the alpha, or taking the aggro. When you have 1 AV that defenders can all throw debuffs on right from the get go you may be able to exist without a tank/brute (and even then, a +4 Romulus would still likely hurt a bit too much with all the other things considered).

But when you have incoming ambushes of groups with +4 EBs and bosses flying at you, unless you have 2-3 doms or controllers on your team with hard control to keep the incoming waves manageable, youre going to have deaths- and the point is to not have any deaths to do it optimally and meet the time deadline! Even debuffs like /Rad have a lag time before they are anchored in and effecting the incoming groups. Could your defenders rotate their high teir holds? Yes, I suppose, but I still think you have several deaths- even with good, competent players.

Its my opinion that if you want an optimal team on ANY TF, you at least need 1 really good Brute/Tank/Scrapper that knows what theyre doing and has a great build to mix in good AOE and single target damage! If not for anything else but to take the alpha from incoming bosses and EBs or at least draw their initial attention untilt he massive dose of debuffs rain down upon them! Thats just my opinion though! Please continue though, Im licking my chops putting my squad together!