Try and get weave
I've noted that a lot of defenders do take weave. It will definately be in my set come i19.
I'd move Dispersion Bubble up in the build and get Maneuvers ASAP after that. At that point you will nearly softcap all defenses to anyone within 25' of you (with SO's, or four level 20 IO's if you're in a hurry to softcap the team.)
Force Fields is one of the few cases where Maneuvers makes a significant difference, e.g. "team takes half as much damage".
Mini-guides: Force Field Defenders, Blasters, Market Self-Defense, Frankenslotting.
So you think you're a hero, huh.
@Boltcutter in game.
I like Manuevers for a bubbler, just because it adds that extra layer of defense.
I also built my FF/DP around the AOEs. As long as I'm fighting something other than an AV or GM, the odds are good that I'll be facing a group of three or more. Having the AOEs around in those circumstances means more DPS overall.
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Originally Posted by Eternal_Vigil
Ignoring momentarily that the Fitness pool is inherent come i19, what should I slot in the remaining three slots? A few items I have questions concerning:
- Repulsion field is a power I plan to use situationally (i.e. no tank, push baddies into AoE). Does the endurance drain make it worth it? - I am generally trying to avoid AoE secondaries. Is that smart, or should I consider taking a few more? - As a bubbler, am I providing enough defense buffs? - Any IO sets that are a "must have," for the primaries? Any other criticisms of the build are welcome. Thanks for any help that I can get. |
One of the things you want in your remaining three slots is one of the ancillary armors that offer resistance.
Repulsion field is a pretty nice power. The end cost is nasty, but it has a pretty good sized area and can seriously screw up melee critters.
You do want to go for area attacks. Force field is a fire-and-forget primary that will give you a lot of time for blasting, and the most damage you can do will come from spamming area attacks all over the place with fire ammo.
You've taken all of the must-have defense buffing powers from force field, and you're a defender, so I'd say you definitely have "enough" defense buffs. If you want to really go the distance pick up maneuvers. It's more useful to you than perhaps to any other type of character in the game.
For IOs, one big thing you want to focus on is procs in your attacks. Dual pistols can take a lot of them. One you really want to go for is an achilles' heel proc in the basic pistols attack. The only reason you wouldn't want to do this is if you were using thunderstrike in it. The two types of set bonuses you want to be going for are defense and recharge, but how much of each you get depends on your preferences. You could soft cap your ranged defense without making too many sacrifices.
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Would Dark Consumption from the Dark Mastery APP be something to assist in negating the endurance cost of repulsion field? Or would smart slotting be more useful?
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Originally Posted by Garent
Repulsion field is a pretty nice power. The end cost is nasty, but it has a pretty good sized area and can seriously screw up melee critters.
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Smart slotting is your best bet rather than trying to play catch up with set bonuses to adjust your end usage. I'd go for the Power Mastery APP, it gives you a solid resistance shield and Power Build Up which when coupled with the small bubbles is some seriously over the top Defense Buffs.
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Originally Posted by Eternal_Vigil
Would Dark Consumption from the Dark Mastery APP be something to assist in negating the endurance cost of repulsion field? Or would smart slotting be more useful?
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Well, it sounds like Manuevers will be added to one of the empty slots (shifting some powers around respectively). And after glancing through the Ancillary Power Pools again, I do think the case made for Power Mastery is a good one.
Back on the AoE secondary, maybe it's the way my brain is wired, but I think, "Kill this one target and that equals less people attacking you and your team." I don't think it's good to be too one-dimensional, and I included Piercing Rounds (narrow AoE) and Hail of Bullets (wider AoE). Obviously, they are the stronger of the four AoE/Cone attacks. Is there any reason to consider the lower level AoE attacks?
I, too, offer the suggestion you get manuvers. When you are using defender AoE attacks, in addition to defender sized damage (which isn't overwhelming) you also get defender sized debuffs, which for an AoE may be worth more than the damage.
For defense sets, many defenders think only in terms of Luck of the Gambler. Check out Gift of the Ancients and Red Fortunes which have tasty set bonuses.
I like the psy mastery shield for my epic power since it covers a hole in the overall defense. I hate carnies and other mezzers.
Triumphant Defenders Forever
Psylenz FF/Psi, ArticQuark Storm/Rad, Symon BarSisyphus Bots/psn, Max VanSydow Thugs/Dk, Cyclone Symon Bots/stm, Blue Loki Ice/Cd, Widow 46526
HelinCarnate:OMG it is so terrible. I have the option to take 3 more powers but no additional slots. Boo F'ing hoo.
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This is completely true if you're a character with good single target burst damage, but on a FF/DP defender your best method of keeping your team safe will be through defense buffs. If you want to quickly remove a dangerous target, your best bet is to use suppressive fire to immediately remove it from the fight. Death is the ultimate debuff though, and if you want to utilize it your best bet is with area attacks. If there's another person on your team with decent area damage, the two of you can pretty quickly remove most of the minions from a fight and take a lot of pressure off of everyone else.|
Originally Posted by Eternal_Vigil
Back on the AoE secondary, maybe it's the way my brain is wired, but I think, "Kill this one target and that equals less people attacking you and your team."
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If you're worried about slotting, I can throw a build together for you. I just need a general idea of what power pools you're using and what kind of price range you're looking for (SO, cheap IO, expensive IO, purples, etc)
Like others have said, you want Manuevers, more or less as early as possible. It might seem like it adds a small amount of Defense, but in reality it's huge when stacked with the rest of your powers.
For your APP powers, I'm a big fan of the Defender Mind APP, but you can also look into the villainous Mace Mastery, which has a defense based shield. Between that, your big bubble, Manuevers, and Combat Jumping soft capping Slash Lethal is almost too easy. Sample build below, that is actually over the soft cap to Slash/Lethal and can very easily and cheaply be built for capping to Ranged and AoE, and possibly even Psi oif you want to spend money on that.
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.803
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Level 48 Magic Defender
Primary Power Set: Force Field
Secondary Power Set: Dual Pistols
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Speed
Ancillary Pool: Mace Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Deflection Shield -- DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(3), DefBuff-I(3)
Level 1: Pistols -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Dual Wield -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Empty Clips -- Empty(A)
Level 6: Insulation Shield -- Empty(A)
Level 8: Personal Force Field -- Empty(A)
Level 10: Swap Ammo
Level 12: Dispersion Bubble -- DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(13), DefBuff-I(13), EndRdx-I(15), EndRdx-I(15)
Level 14: Maneuvers -- DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(17), EndRdx-I(17), EndRdx-I(19)
Level 16: Bullet Rain -- Empty(A)
Level 18: Repulsion Field -- Empty(A)
Level 20: Suppressive Fire -- Empty(A)
Level 22: Boxing -- Empty(A)
Level 24: Tough -- Empty(A)
Level 26: Weave -- DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(27), EndRdx-I(27), EndRdx-I(29)
Level 28: Executioner's Shot -- Empty(A)
Level 30: Hasten -- Empty(A)
Level 32: Super Speed -- Empty(A)
Level 35: Piercing Rounds -- Empty(A)
Level 38: Hail of Bullets -- Empty(A)
Level 41: Web Envelope -- Empty(A)
Level 44: Scorpion Shield -- DefBuff-I(A), DefBuff-I(45), EndRdx-I(45), EndRdx-I(45)
Level 47: Summon Disruptor -- Empty(A)
Level 49: Web Cocoon -- Empty(A)
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Vigilance
Level 4: Ninja Run
------------
Set Bonus Totals:
Code:
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You don't look like you are building for soloing, more for a team, so I'll skip my usual advice there. I'll echo others, though, in saying to pick up Dispersion Bubble the instant it opens up, and five slot it as soon as you can. Repulsion Bomb is also an extremely useful power; despite its long animation time, it does impressive damage, and is guaranteed to send the foes clustered around a tank bouncing to the floor.
BTW to answer your question about Repulsion Field: IMO it's highly underrated. The trick to using it is to only turn it on when you need it. It's auto-hit, and it does not cause run speed suppression, so it is a really great power for jousting an enemy around. The trick is to not wait for them to come to you--if you need to knock something off it's feet, toggle up and run at them instead. Enemies that run up to you will probably be able to attack before being kb'ed, but if you run at them this isn't the case and they will be sent flying without a chance to hit you.
I have dabbled with defenders before, but I have never been inclined to level a defender to 50 until this build. I am really enjoying the FF/DP set, and I am looking for a little criticism concerning the build I am constructing. I am at level 14 right now, and the power set I am building is as follows:
LVL 1 - Personal Force Field
LVL 1 - Pistols
LVL 2 - Deflection Shield
LVL 4 - Dual Wield
LVL 6 - Insulation Shield
LVL 8 - Force Bolt
LVL 10 - Assault
LVL 12 - Swap Ammo
LVL 14 - Hasten
LVL 16 - Super Speed
LVL 18 - Dispersion Bubble
LVL 20 - Repulsion Field
LVL 22 - Hurdle
LVL 24 - Health
LVL 26 - Repulsion Bomb
LVL 28 - Executioner's Shot
LVL 30 - Stamina
LVL 32 - Tactics
LVL 35 - Piercing Rounds
LVL 38 - Hail of Bullets
LVL 41 - Vengeance
LVL 44 -
LVL 47 -
LVL 49 -
Ignoring momentarily that the Fitness pool is inherent come i19, what should I slot in the remaining three slots? A few items I have questions concerning:
- Repulsion field is a power I plan to use situationally (i.e. no tank, push baddies into AoE). Does the endurance drain make it worth it?
- I am generally trying to avoid AoE secondaries. Is that smart, or should I consider taking a few more?
- As a bubbler, am I providing enough defense buffs?
- Any IO sets that are a "must have," for the primaries?
Any other criticisms of the build are welcome. Thanks for any help that I can get.