Buff the strongest or the weakest?

Given a large team(like the new trials) and a limited time window for buffing who do you buff first? buffing the weaker players keeps them safe but makes things go slow, buffing the stronger players makes things go faster but you may have people dieing.

whats your philosophy?

Given the fact that everything is capped in this game buffing the strongest will most likely do nothing for them. Always buff the weakest.

"Strongest" and "Weakest" doesn't mean a lot to me. This is the logic I use when playing my Empath, in order of importance:

1. Is the ally generating a lot of aggro and is having trouble keeping his HP bar up? If so, buff for survivability.

2. Does the ally have trouble keeping his endurance bar up? If so, buff for +recovery.

3. Does the ally have powerful burst damage? If so, buff for +recharge.

4. Does the ally have a lot of base damage? If so, buff for +damage.

Dead people = less of everything overall. Trials on timers really could do with people who aren't running back from hospital or waiting for a res.

Alot of people act like getting defeated is something that just happens or has to happen but it is bull.

Depends on the buffs and the situation, for me I will CM those with no mez protection inherent and skip tanks and scrappers, the Fort to Blasters if damage is needed or toons having trouble staying alive for the def or if I am on a team with lowbies i will fort them for +tohit, AB to those having end issues or to the dps toons, shields & sb i try to get on as many as possible, +hp on MM, fender, trollers and blasters (if i have time I check to see if they are HP cap'd. It's very situational for me.

In some cases doesn't mean everything. Just because so many people talk about being soft capped on the forum doesn't mean the player base as a whole is. None of my characters are soft capped although my Kat/sr will be once I get him IOed out. I would say a few of my characters will be soft capped and those are the ones it's easy to do.

I buff whoever needs it. A blaster with hover and mostly ST attacks isn't going to need much help. A Fire tank on the other hand very likely will need some help.

When playing my support characters (as in buffers, my debuffs pretty much solo entire groups on their own already) i usually buff the weakest link, be it a squishy blaster (who will always get my cold shields, or fort first) or the other controller (who may or may not be actively buffing me)

Basically whoever is playing yo yo with thier HP bar the most is my priority for buffs, as i feel healing is about the worst way to keep someone alive, unless your dealing with unresistable/autohit damage types (ITF nictus, i'm looking at you, as well as NOVA FIST!)

Depends on situation. Always buffing the "strongest" or "weakest" is silly.

On my Cold/Ice I usually just turn everyone into Popsicles. Starting with whatever tanker/brute/scrapper has aggro. Frostworks I usually don't bother with unless I see a tanker/brute/scrapper getting beat down by an AV and the HP can help.

The rule of thumb that should be used is, check your team (or league) mate's notes info, if the global is @hedgefund, then all buffs should be directed to that particular toon.

Generally, I'll aim for the strongest. Being weak in this game is more often than not an issue of playstyle rather than build, and improving someone's defense or damage isn't going to turn him into a better player.

To look at it another way, buffs are force multiplier. I'd rather multiply a ten than a two.

However, in situations in which the team is already steamrolling (which is, let's face it, often), I'll buff the weakest. Might as well improve their experience and let them have some fun.

Right now, there are only three defender buffs which you have to think about who to give them to. Forge and Painbringer will also be tricky, if and when we get those powersets.

Fortitude: The Swiss Army buff. Often there's "that one guy" on your team who's dealing a lot of AoE damage and/or debuffs, and taking more aggro than he can handle. Hopefully "that one guy" is not you. Fort him. Alternatively, if you can tell someone is holding back on AoE damage and/or debuffs for fear of taking more aggro than he can handle, again, Fort him. If you still have Forts left over, and hopefully you do, Fort other AoE damage dealers in general, to get the most leverage out of the +damage buff.

Adrenalin Boost: Look for awesome powers on long recharge timers. This will often be buffs and debuffs (chain Freezing Rain? yes please), but nukes and mininukes also qualify. AB whoever has such a power.

Frostworks: Preference goes to low HP teammates who aren't near their HP cap, to help protect against lucky shots. This means controllers & dominators, defenders & corrupters, masterminds and unlockable ATs. If you have Frostworks left over, brutes, tankers, and scrappers can also benefit. Don't bother with blasters or stalkers due to their useless HP cap (+33%, easily self-capped with accolades and set bonuses).

Interestingly, if you could self-buff with these powers, and you're playing both your powersets well, you'd almost always be the ideal candidate for your own buffs. Something to think about when teaming with fellow defenders. Wink wink. Nudge.

Forge you put on the damage dealers like Scrappers, Blasters, Doms, etc. People with high base damage. Painbringer you generally want to do the same, but with the consideration of squishiness since it gives a hefty regen buff too.

Fortitude is kinda one of those powers, except you can quite easily put it on several people. So you can put it on squishy people for the defense and put it on damage dealers for the +dam and +tohit.

Adrenaline Boost is more tricky. The recharge bonus is stupidly huge so as you say Rigel, putting it on people with long recharges is great. But it also confers huge +regen and +recovery, which might be better used elsewhere. Really, the only way you can go really wrong with AB is not using it as much as possible. I see a lot of Empaths only use it when people nuke and crash their endurance bars. Makes me sad.

Strongest - Clear Mind when you need it.
Weakest - Clean Mind when you don't.

The biggest buff for Heat Loss and Fulcrum Shift is always in the middle of the mob. If someone wants to get the buff, they should get used to moving in.

Staying in the backline with FS/HL means the caster and the people around them all get a mediocre buff, whereas they could move in and all get an awesome buff. Cold has ally shields and a +hp power to help people survive running into melee, Kin debuffs damage and has a huge AoE heal in melee range too.

If I'm on a toon with a fast recharging buff type power (shields, SB) I usually try to buff everyone on the league as we're waiting for the AV to be pulled (BAF) or Fighting the EB (Lambda). Then rebuff before the final big fight. Otherwise, it just depends on the team, builds, and the players themselves. Someone having trouble keeping their HP bar up, they get Fortitude (maybe even PBU + Fort if I'm feeling generous enough lol). CM will be cast on any squishy I see in my way. AB goes for the people with the most aggro normally. Stuff like that.

Some buffs are egalitarian. You can put shields on everyone on the team and I generally do so by running down the team list.

Other buffs with longer recharge can only cover one or a few so you have to prioritize. I want to get the most bang for the buck out of the buff so I'll try to do what others have said: fortitude on blasters, clear mind on squishies, etc. I also buff players I know will make good use of it over others I know won't or I'm unsure.

But sometimes you realize that your team's blaster can take care of himself but that defender over there is always missing half a health bar. Buffing "the strongest" might be a waste if they are already capped or can function at a high level without your buff.

Then there are those other players that just can't seem to stay alive even if you buff them to hell and back. It's a waste to buff someone who isn't going to survive as long as the buff. So you can't always just buff the weakest.