Defence

Does anyone see more people on teams playing in a more solo type way just because they are soft capped? I've seen blasters run ahead trying to do big mobs alone while main team are still busy.And people saying they can tank yadda yadda even tho they can't actually control the aggro.

Yes, I've definitely noticed this. People that would normally HAVE to wait for a tank to take aggro are now simply jumping in themselves. Thankfully, the people that have softcapped squishies tend to be ones who actually know what they're doing, so it's not like it's some noob running around aggroing everything in sight. Usually these people can handle their own aggro.

Althought I admit it can get a bit annoying when one guy just refuses to fight with the team, and rather goes off on his own for the entire mission. The fact is, just because you can solo a mission, doesn't mean the rest of the team doesn't need you. Last night I was on such a team. The only "tank" (a brute in this case) was basically just soloing the whole time...while the rest of the team kept dying over and over in a different part of the map, because, well....we didn't have a tank/brute with us.

In summary, fighting as if you're solo is perfectly ok....if the rest of your team is capable of doing the same. But when your job is to tank for a bunch of SO'd squishies, you should probably stick to your job.

I aggro all the time, if the tank isn't moving fast enough for me.

With an AoE attack.

Even if I don't have any DEF.

With my Blasters.

Quote:

Originally Posted by PRAF68_EU Dispari has more than enough credability, and certainly doesn't need to borrow any from you.

Couple reasons why the team didn't follow the brute. First, he would run off before finishing fights, leaving the squishies to tank them. And second, it was a very unorganized team. One guy spent about 90% of the TF dead on the ground.

Either way, I stayed with the brute for the most part. I don't blame him at all.....I often do the same thing when I'm on my tank, because I can. But to make things run smoothly, when you're the team's only "tank", you really shouldn't be playing like a solo scrapper. In our case, a couple people ended up quitting, but we managed to finish the TF anyway. It just took almost 2 hours, instead of the usual 30 mins.

If anyone dies repeatedly, it's their own fault. Not the tank not "doing his job", not the defender not buffing/debuffing. This game is easy enough for anyone to pick a squishie on SOs and survive, with the occasional death here and there. People who can't survive without a babysitter at all times most likely won't contribute enough to be worth the amount of effort it takes to keep them alive.

There's lots of valid reasons for being a poor player - maybe that person cares about the roleplay or socializing aspect more than the gameplay, maybe he simply just want to chill and kill foes effortlessly ; but being bad at the game is still a choice, a choice people have to live with. I'll never kick or even berate people for underperforming, but I won't hold their hand either. They can stay and enjoy the rewards silently doing their own thing, or speak up and ask for different team dynamics, or skill up and follow, or just leave the team.

Well i have quit 2 Itfs because of this but now seem to have a reputation for quitting Itfs lol.And i am in no way a bad player but when you play a squishy and there is aggro beyond the cap and you end up on the floor a few times then thats just no fun.Teaming is just that...Teaming.If you wanna run off because you can then dont team tbh.

I have lost count of how many times I've pulled Romulus and his Nictus with Fire Ball on my Blaster or Scrapper while screaming 'TACTICS!' before the team knows what's going on.

Also can't remember the last time it didn't work in getting the team off their bums and steamrolling Rommy with ease.

P.S. I usually do it because if I don't, someone will beat me to it and it's fun.

The ITF is notoriously bad on squishies. Even on non-squishies for that matter.

My VG has a ITF strategy we call "stick and move" which basically means if your not kiting your gonna die. The -def can add up real quick and then a few crits come in to put you facedown.

I'm used to being incredibly durable because my defenses are all capped.

but I usually don't rush ahead unless the team is taking FOREVER and I know I can wipe out the entire mob ahead alone.

Once i20 hits and we have access to Judgement powers, I'm sure it'll be even more common for blasters and ranged dealers to do this, because of their ability to launch a crashless nuke/second nuke.

leapfrogging expends too much energy. I have to run...maybe hop a little if someone is in my way...blah blah blah.

WORMHOLE! I bring the fight to ME! It's even better if i can jam the suckers into a corner i'm standing in with Singy right next to me. Behold the bouncing baddies!

Aaand nope...nowhere near softcappage. Decent amount of +rech, though i'm still trying to work out how to get my grav/energy (and someday/primal forces) dommy perma-dommed and perma-hastened...i'm not very good with IO's

Quote:

Originally Posted by Smiling_Joe ::looks at RaikenX's signature:: Something funny.

If it went down like that, the Brute the Op is talking about was just a jackass then.

If you join a tf, realize you are the only tank/brute, and see no heavy support bubblers and Emps, then still act like a 'tard....well, it's just griefing, incompetence or stupidity tbfh.

I think there was a definite swing toward self-competence with three things: villain ATs, farming & IO sets for softcapped defenses. However, this self-competence has come at the cost of team-awareness in some cases. Players who get used to always having aggro and surviving it develop a different mindset from players who aren't used to having to deal with aggro.

I've learned that you can tell pretty quickly whether you have weak aggro management on a team. I look for three things: Taunt, Willpower, and farm builds. If I see a "tanking" AT character (Tanker or Brute) without Taunt, I see a player that probably isn't concerned with aggro outside of what they generate. Willpower's weak taunt aura means it's easy for other characters to strip off aggro. Farm builds aren't used to handling competition for aggro. If you're the only one on a map, 100% of the aggro comes to you on an angry silver platter.

You're not doomed if any of these three show up on your team. You're not even doomed if your team's only tanking AT is a Taunt-less WP/SS farmer. You just need to know that aggro management will likely be very loose and squishies will need to make the choice between running or dying from time to time. If you're looking to avoid making that choice, switch to something less squishy until the team gets better aggro management. Maybe grab your own tanking AT so the other squishies can breathe a sigh of relief.

CoH is a rarity in MMOs, because no role is absolutely necessary. The "trinity" is still very effective, but it's far from necessary. IOs have given traditionally aggro-averse ATs the ability to handle themselves, boosted by pool powers and the more independent villain ATs. That said, new endgame content appears to be reinforcing the traditional roles a bit more, so maybe we'll see a shift there.