Does your secondary REALLY matter as an Empath?
By
Adeon Hawkwood,
Posted on: 2011-07-29 05:16 in Defenders
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Like some others said, you can do all that AND use attacks. Keyes may be one thing, but for most missions at the higher levels, there's not even that much buffing and healing needed on a good team. |
Originally Posted by Pinkpup
But 'yes', I am worthless to my team because I choice to get my Fortitude off every 15 seconds, Adrenalin Boost every 78 seconds and my auras every 133 seconds. Of course that is while flying, and casting Heal Other, Clean Mind, or using my Healing Aura when necessary. Not even counting Resurrect, cus most folks when straight too the hospital before I could even get in range.
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The biggest thing is though, that no one would probably complain about having you on their team if you were using all those buffs like that. However, for every person with a "healer" build for an emp that uses all of their buffs like that, I see 10 "healer" emps who never use Fort, AB or CM. If they do at all, it's when everyone is about to enter or just enters the mission and never again. They may fire off their RAs when everyone enters the mission and then you never see the RAs again. Instead, all they do is run around with HA on auto-fire and use HO. Those are the people who give emps a bad name.
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Yeah...and unfortunately those Empaths far outnumber the Empaths who play well. IME if I'm teamed with an Empath, they're more likely than not bad at playing the set.|
Originally Posted by PBAtty
[...]However, for every person with a "healer" build for an emp that uses all of their buffs like that, I see 10 "healer" emps who never use Fort, AB or CM. If they do at all, it's when everyone is about to enter or just enters the mission and never again. They may fire off their RAs when everyone enters the mission and then you never see the RAs again. Instead, all they do is run around with HA on auto-fire and use HO. Those are the people who give emps a bad name.
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And its not a hard set to play! Contrary to what some people on the other end of the spectrum would insist "oh golly I've got to maintain all the buffs and heal people in need and throw out CM and you just have no idea how difficult my job is not just anyone could do it". Playing Empathy well is not rocket surgery.
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All SEVEN people on my team. Yes, all seven. Fender damage is crap, however you cut it. Sure, some of the debuff effects can be nice (sonic, dark, ice blast) but really..if the team you are on is NEEDING those debuffs, there is something seriously wrong with the team make up. |
Originally Posted by StratoNexus
Playing a buffer to their fullest is pretty hectic. It requires a lot of switching targets, not just of enemies, but also targeting allies. Even between spawns, when many others get a second or 4 to rest their fingers, a buffer is likely thinking about and often even activating a buff.
Which people on your team do you place Fortitude on? |
I look at it like this..am I helping the team more by using my weak blasts (are fender blasts the weakest in game? besides maybe mm attacks) or...am I doing more for the team by keeping everyone fort'd and anti mezzed? Not to mention, watching constantly in case someone does start taking more damage than they can handle.
No matter how well you time your attacks, there will always be some point when your mid animation and a team mate gets slapped down to 5 hp by a boss. Is it your job as an emp fender to shrug and think, 'oh well, he should be awake too, I will just leave him,' or should you have been ready to heal him up as soon as he took damage.
If I invite an emp to a team (which I very rarely do, since 90% are just crap) I expect them to buff first, then heal. If an emp is buffing, they can remove many situations where people even TAKE damage in the first place, due to more def, faster killing, never getting mezzed.
That said..if you like playing an emp and mixing it up with blasts, that isnt 'wrong.' But if you like attacking SO much that you find yourself getting carried away and blasting more than buffing (which it doesnt sound like, from the OP) do everyone a favour and go roll a blaster, or a corr.
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I was a lot like that once, just focusing on Forts, Heals, AB, and CM's(if needed), rarely blasting in large teams.|
Originally Posted by MisterD
All SEVEN people on my team. Yes, all seven. Fender damage is crap, however you cut it. Sure, some of the debuff effects can be nice (sonic, dark, ice blast) but really..if the team you are on is NEEDING those debuffs, there is something seriously wrong with the team make up.
I look at it like this..am I helping the team more by using my weak blasts (are fender blasts the weakest in game? besides maybe mm attacks) or...am I doing more for the team by keeping everyone fort'd and anti mezzed? Not to mention, watching constantly in case someone does start taking more damage than they can handle. No matter how well you time your attacks, there will always be some point when your mid animation and a team mate gets slapped down to 5 hp by a boss. Is it your job as an emp fender to shrug and think, 'oh well, he should be awake too, I will just leave him,' or should you have been ready to heal him up as soon as he took damage. If I invite an emp to a team (which I very rarely do, since 90% are just crap) I expect them to buff first, then heal. If an emp is buffing, they can remove many situations where people even TAKE damage in the first place, due to more def, faster killing, never getting mezzed. That said..if you like playing an emp and mixing it up with blasts, that isnt 'wrong.' But if you like attacking SO much that you find yourself getting carried away and blasting more than buffing (which it doesnt sound like, from the OP) do everyone a favour and go roll a blaster, or a corr. |
The thing is that after a while, I found I had spare time. And in that spare time I started blasting, and defender blasts are not terrible by any means. I mean, if I can solo an AV with them, just how weak are they really?
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Of course it's not wrong. In fact, one might even say defenders (even empaths) were designed to do so, since they've got an entire powerset designed for damage.|
Originally Posted by MisterD
That said..if you like playing an emp and mixing it up with blasts, that isnt 'wrong.'
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| But if you like attacking SO much that you find yourself getting carried away and blasting more than buffing (which it doesnt sound like, from the OP) do everyone a favour and go roll a blaster, or a corr. |
It is quite possible to keep up with empathy powers and add to the team's damage*. Any assumption or implication that doing so is sub-optimal is simply incorrect.
* even if one thinks defender damage is "crap," it's worlds better than the zero damage applied by not blasting.
No, it doesn't matter what your secondary is as an Empathy Defender. Well done to the OP for starting this thread, it really is ground breaking stuff!
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Originally Posted by Happy_Thoughts
Of course it's not wrong. In fact, one might even say defenders (even empaths) were designed to do so, since they've got an entire powerset designed for damage.
Ignoring the obviously loaded first part of this sentence (and the fact that the empathy powerset is not available to blasters or corruptors), what if we turned this around to read something like "But if you have an aversion to blasting, do everyone a favor and go roll an /empathy controller." That's actually useful (not to mention possible to do) advice, yet there will be those who will be offended at the suggestion. It is quite possible to keep up with empathy powers and add to the team's damage*. Any assumption or implication that doing so is sub-optimal is simply incorrect. * even if one thinks defender damage is "crap," it's worlds better than the zero damage applied by not blasting. |
Yes..an entire SECONDARY powerset. Which, as I said..if an emp is doing more blasting than buffing, clearly the player is enjoying blasting..and should try something that can blast more often, and better.
How is saying that an emp who spends more time blasting, is a sub optimal emp, inncorrect? The defender primary is there to, you know, defend your team. Take two emp builds, one where the player is the reactive and constant healing and buffing emp, the other where the player is a 'blasting emp.' How can you claim that is NOT sub optimal? It is simply doing less healing and buffing..ie..less defending of the team.
Of course, you could make the statement that the pure healing emp is doing sub optimal damage, compared to the blasting emp, and this would be 100% true. But again, when viewed as the role of the defender, to DEFEND..which is more important? Giving those scrappers/corrs/blasters/brutes on the team a huge boost to their own survivability and damage, or using your own crappy blasts?
I'm not saying you can't be a blasting emp. If you want to, go right ahead. But dont try to argue that by blasting, you can somehow heal and buff as well as an emp geared to BE the buffer/healer, 100% of the time.
Naturally both sides of the argument are rendered invalid by the person behind the emp being an idiot (not saying you are). So how about this:
Your secondary on an Empath does NOT matter, provided you have some grasp of the game and supporting your team, as well as doing some damage.
Blasting and supporting the team are not mutually exclusive.
The only way you'd realistically be non-stop buffing is if you're trying to keep several CMs stacked on everyone on the team in addition to the usual buffing.
Playing my Empath I'm able to keep people healed, throw out the auras when they're up, maintain AB permanently on one person, maintain Fortitude on 6 people and keep all the squishies CMed when needed.
And I blast. It's busy, but more than doable. The less damage your team is taking, the less you have to heal, in which case you're just maintaining Fort/AB and throwing out CM proactively/reactively depending. So you've got more time to blast.
Being an Empath who blasts doesn't mean you're automatically neglecting to support your team.
If you find you're not able to blast as well as fully support your team, that's not a failure of the set.
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Inserting the word "more" here muddies things a bit because, quite frankly, it's very subjective. Using your attacks does not inherently mean that you're failing to keep up with your primary powers.|
Originally Posted by MisterD
Yes..an entire SECONDARY powerset. Which, as I said..if an emp is doing more blasting than buffing, clearly the player is enjoying blasting..and should try something that can blast more often, and better.
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There's also the fact that if a person likes playing with the empathy set and also likes doing damage, suggesting they try a blaster is not only unusable advice, but also carries the false implication that one must choose between being an empath and doing damage.
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| How is saying that an emp who spends more time blasting, is a sub optimal emp, inncorrect? The defender primary is there to, you know, defend your team. Take two emp builds, one where the player is the reactive and constant healing and buffing emp, the other where the player is a 'blasting emp.' How can you claim that is NOT sub optimal? It is simply doing less healing and buffing..ie..less defending of the team. |
If by "blasting emp" you mean an empathy defender who uses both their primary and secondary powersets, I call that a defender. Being able to add damage while also keeping on top of buffs and healing doesn't sound very sub-optimal to me.
If you're actually talking about someone who blasts to the exclusion of their primary, that's another topic entirely and is more a playstyle choice than it is an indication of how using attacks is detrimental to playing an empathy defender well.
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| Of course, you could make the statement that the pure healing emp is doing sub optimal damage, compared to the blasting emp, and this would be 100% true. |
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| But again, when viewed as the role of the defender, to DEFEND..which is more important? Giving those scrappers/corrs/blasters/brutes on the team a huge boost to their own survivability and damage, or using your own crappy blasts? |
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| Your secondary on an Empath does NOT matter, provided you have some grasp of the game and supporting your team, as well as doing some damage. |
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Defender damage is not crap. Thanks to the awesome buffs and debuffs that defenders carry, defender damage is quite adequate. Now, Empathy defenders do take a hit in the sense that they cannot cast some of their powers on themselves. But, even in my experiences, an Empathy Defender can put out a fair amount of damage when you choose to.|
Originally Posted by MisterD
All SEVEN people on my team. Yes, all seven. Fender damage is crap, however you cut it. Sure, some of the debuff effects can be nice (sonic, dark, ice blast) but really..if the team you are on is NEEDING those debuffs, there is something seriously wrong with the team make up.
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But, I think that your opinion is based on an idea about Empathy defenders that is misinformed. And, I would probably be correct in concluding that many people are in your shoes.
Being an Empathy Defender is probably the hardest "job/role" in the game because of the fact that you are required to be extremely flexible and adapt to your team's needs. Yes, your primary role is to support the team through your heals and buffs. But, it is up to you to learn how/when to use them, where to be, who to focus on, etc.
You, also, should be equipped to use your secondary powers to some extent. You may not have a lot of opportunities to blast, but you will have them and you will actually find yourself getting a lot more out of blasting than you think. Why? Because it helps you to learn many aspects of the game that you will never learn if you are always being the team babysitter. It also teaches other people to learn the difference between the buffs they need and the buffs they think they need.
Let me give you a recent example. Last night, I decided to go help the SG run ticket farms in AE. The brute and I were the only 50s on the team hosting lowbies through a bunch of +4 Fire trolls. Essentially, it was my task to not only buff/heal the brute when needed, but I also did my best to keep the others on their feet so they could enjoy fighting as well. The runs went extremely well. Despite running PBU + Vengeance and a pair of T4 Rebirths, there was still plenty of healing/buffing needed, plenty of abuse of resurrect, lots of opportunities to fire off some judgements and whatever else... And, through it all, I never felt any "loss" for blasting because I had long ago learned how to balance it all.
My point is that playing an Empathy Defender is about more than just healing/buffing. It is more than blasting when you can. It is about using every tool efficiently and seeing the team thrive in the presence of an awesome teammate.
@ Dr Gemini
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| �If we would come together and be great role models, it would be amazing to see how the next generation turns out.� |
so much I wish to reply to, but I'll just summarize my thoughts instead...
- Empathy is only superior on teams of 4 or less, okay on teams of 5 thru 8, and a only useful for Recovery/regen/healing aura spamming on Leagues.
- No matter your support set on a defender you should always be blasting.
- Incarnate stuff only applies to lvl 50 content and trials, which as already stated empathy is mediocre at in the first place. It doesn't hurt empathy anymore than empathy does to itself.
- to OP: Ice blast is great, if you're having trouble healing AND blasting then just use Ice Storm and BIB on every cooldown instead of an entire blast chain of bolts. Of course if the team is dying constantly, there are 3 possible scenarios why this is happening: your team is idiotic (highly possible), you aren't buffing fortitude on every cooldown, or you only think they are dying because they are at 75% health and you're OCDing on the healing.
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I'd say Empathy is near the bottom for solo play. Sonic, however, is nowhere near the bottom. Sonic rocks for solo play, depending on build, of course. But my sonic never felt she had to have a team while I was leveling her up at any point past Sonic Dispersion (which comes quite early). |
Originally Posted by Biospark
I agree with this, but have to add that Empathy is Useless... When you are trying to solo with it. Just about every other primary solo's better, with the possible exceptions of TA and Sonic.
You CAN solo with Empathy, but choose something else if you plan on doing it often. |
Trick Arrow, though, I'd have to say, does rank at the very bottom, in my experience. It might be partly my build, but even with a very different build I doubt I could make it a fun solo experience while leveling up. Now that my TA is mid-40s and fleshing out her IOs, though, I do anticipate that changing. I'll let ya know, if anyone cares...
I think the OP's question applies to pretty much ALL Defender primaries.
About the only defenders who could SOLO at all by merely using their Primary are likely Storm and Traps.
Most of the defender primaries have either ZERO ability to do damage or trivial amounts. A couple might actually do some additional damage with IO procs.
Cold has Sleet.
Dark has Howling Twilight.
Empathy has zip.
Force Field has Repulsion Bomb.
Kinetics has (like Empathy) zip.
Radiation Emission has zip.
Sonic Resonance has Liquefy.
Storm has Freezing Rain, Tornado and Lightning Storm.
Traps is another with a fair amount of damage in its primary ... Caltrops, Acid Mortar, Seekers, Trip Mine and Time Bomb (probably enough to actually solo with primary alone at something slightly faster than glacially)
Trick Arrow has Acid Arrow and Oil Slick Arrow.
Outside of Storm and Traps almost any defender either needs teammates and/or their secondaries/pools/etc. to have any chance to solo (Edit: or to complete missions) at any setting ... the difference between the solo speed of say Kin or RadEm and Empathy is non-existent until you add a secondary or teammates etc. And guess what they have the same choices of secondary.
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No. His original question goes after whether or not your SECONDARY (aka Blasts) really matter on an Empathy/* defender. In short, it does not entirely matter what you choose.|
Originally Posted by Doomguide
I think the OP's question applies to pretty much ALL Defender primaries.
About the only defenders who could SOLO at all by merely using their Primary are likely Storm and Traps. Most of the defender primaries have either ZERO ability to do damage or trivial amounts. A couple might actually do some additional damage with IO procs. Cold has Sleet. Dark has Howling Twilight. Empathy has zip. Force Field has Repulsion Bomb. Kinetics has (like Empathy) zip. Radiation Emission has zip. Sonic Resonance has Liquefy. Storm has Freezing Rain, Tornado and Lightning Storm. Traps is another with a fair amount of damage in its primary ... Caltrops, Acid Mortar, Seekers, Trip Mine and Time Bomb (probably enough to actually solo with primary alone at something slightly faster than glacially) Trick Arrow has Acid Arrow and Oil Slick Arrow. Outside of Storm and Traps almost any defender either needs teammates and/or their secondaries/pools/etc. to have any chance to solo at any setting ... the difference between the solo speed of say Kin or RadEm and Empathy is non-existent until you add a secondary or teammates etc. And guess what they have the same choices of secondary. |
Not really sure what relevance your post has to the original question...
@ Dr Gemini
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| �If we would come together and be great role models, it would be amazing to see how the next generation turns out.� |
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Maybe I am just OCD about this, but Empathy is not useless by any stretch of the imagination. If you want to say that the "healorz" are useless, then that I agree with. But, a well-built, well-played Empathy defender is easily worth as much as any other kind of defender.|
Originally Posted by Turbo_Ski
so much I wish to reply to, but I'll just summarize my thoughts instead...
- Empathy is only superior on teams of 4 or less, okay on teams of 5 thru 8, and a only useful for Recovery/regen/healing aura spamming on Leagues. - No matter your support set on a defender you should always be blasting. - Incarnate stuff only applies to lvl 50 content and trials, which as already stated empathy is mediocre at in the first place. It doesn't hurt empathy anymore than empathy does to itself. - to OP: Ice blast is great, if you're having trouble healing AND blasting then just use Ice Storm and BIB on every cooldown instead of an entire blast chain of bolts. Of course if the team is dying constantly, there are 3 possible scenarios why this is happening: your team is idiotic (highly possible), you aren't buffing fortitude on every cooldown, or you only think they are dying because they are at 75% health and you're OCDing on the healing. |
Now, that is not to say that Empathy is 100% useful in every situation. There are times when every power in the game finds its usefulness diminished. But, that is why any Empathy Defender worth their salt will be equipped to do some blasting.
@ Dr Gemini
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| �If we would come together and be great role models, it would be amazing to see how the next generation turns out.� |
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I agree with Adeon. I started out playing Empaths and always took my attack and slotted them...|
Originally Posted by Adeon Hawkwood
I disagree, the quote I like (from another similar thread on the topis) is:
"If you can't take out a couple of minions without help you aren't a support character, you're a character that needs support" At the end of the day what really matters is damage, everything else is just making that damage slightly better. Consider it this way, a Defender deals half the damage of a Blaster. A good Defender can use their support powers and attack. That means if you aren't attacking you should be increasing the team's damage output by half a Blaster's damage more than the attacking and buffing Defender. Pool powers just do not do that. The only pool power that provides a damage boost is Assault and most Defenders take that anyway. If you don't blast you are short-changing your team and making them work harder to compensate for you. That's my definition of a gimped character. I don't care which Blast set you choose (I am personally partial to Assault Rifle) but whichever you pick, please USE it. |
1. If you have minion or two in your face and no attacks to defend yourself you can't heal or buff anyone if you are dead
2. The argument that your damage sucks .. always compares it to what a Blaster get out of that same set. Sure they do more .. its what they are designed for but they also have the lowest defenses and hit points in game which is why they need support to begin with. Any damage beats NO damage at all and the way I always looked at it was if all the enemy mobs are dead... then no one needs a heal anymore. Preventative Medicine at its best!
3. When you get to higher levels heals are not as big a factor as buffs and you don't have nearly as many as some others.. Having that damage from your attacks still makes you an active team member.. not just someone along to hit players with fort and cm every so often. Now despite what some may say the need for healing never vanishes completely.. Ask a Tank or Scapper that has to stand in close to Recluse, Reichmann, or any of the other nasty AVs above level 40 or so. Ask anyone that has done the Keys island Incarnate trial. But having the ability to do damage in addition to that makes you that much better!
have fun, play the way you like, and enjoy the game
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wow, is this a 5 week old, long thread..still answering the OP?
He will honor his words; he will definitely carry out his actions. What he promises he will fulfill. He does not care about his bodily self, putting his life and death aside to come forward for another's troubled besiegement. He does not boast about his ability, or shamelessly extol his own virtues. - Sima Qian.
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Wasn't really attempting to answer the question the OP posted, more a comment about its (the question's) value for any defender. I basically agree it makes little difference though I think either sonic blast or ice blast are the best for solo work and are likewise the strongest of the secondary choices ... but the players usage of and skill are far more important than which secondary they happen to have.|
Originally Posted by DrGemini
No. His original question goes after whether or not your SECONDARY (aka Blasts) really matter on an Empathy/* defender. In short, it does not entirely matter what you choose.
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| Not really sure what relevance your post has to the original question... |
I have played Empaths to 50 several times now, useless solo or teamed is not remotely close to my opinion on their utility. I think Psychic Blast is the only one I have no experience paired with Empathy, but do have a level 50 Kin/Psy.
Rianna Sidhe, Reyna Morningdew, Tryth, Dark Lightning all level 50 Empathy defenders, plus several more in the post 38 range.
The funny thing for me is on my emp/arch defender I rarely have time to deal damage. I have her built in such a way that I have alot to do. Sure I have 3 st blasts and 2 aoes and I use them when I have time but when I am doing TFs/Trials I am more often than not making sure as many people as possible have fort and/or adrenalin boost, tossing out sleeps and holds (psi APP), looking for opportune times to use the auras, making sure i clear mind anyone who gets cc'd, and of course healing. I blast when I can don't get me wrong... but I have alot to keep me busy in between.
Jem - Ill/Rad Controller Lv 50+3 Nic - Mind/Psi Dominator Lv 50+3 Lady Liberation - Invuln/SS Tanker Lv 50+1 Invicitx - Demon/Pain Mastermind Lv 50+1 Celeste - Emp/Arch Defender Lv 50+1 Nightsilver - DB/WP Scrapper Lv 34 Dusk Howl - StJ/Regen Brute Lv 32 Kyriani - Time/Energy Defender Lv 41Psifire - FF/Psi Defender Lv 50
Star Lighter - LB/LA Peacebringer Lv 30
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Originally Posted by SerialBeggar
Instead I had taken Energy blasts back then and that was due to me only having an Energy blaster as my first played character so I was somewhat familiar with the set. It was fine when I was teaming, but not so good for soloing. The epiphany that Energy blast just wasn't good enough came to me one day as I was staring at a trio of Rikti, one of which was a Mentalist or Mezmerist boss. They were the first spawn group in the mission. I stared at them for several minutes and I could not come up with an attack plan that wouldn't require me to use a lot of my inspirations.
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I have to leave a quick comment here. My main is an emp/energy. I solo her way more than I team, and I find energy to be a great solo secondary. That mentalist? Can't mez you if he's flying through the air. Knockback is an awesome defensive tool if you take the time to learn how to use it to your advantage.
"Home is where, when you have to go there, they have to let you in."
I can't imagine a situation where an empath needs to be spamming empathy skills and not using the secondary...unless you're teaming with people who are really bad at the game you shouldn't be having to heal/buff/res constantly. What do you do during your downtime?
(note that I only read the first page of the thread, so if you respecced and got more ice, ignore this 
)
It is as if many, many people in this thread have large, gaping mouths, insatiable appetites, and no corresponding orifice for waste to exit.
Making blanket statements about the "uselessness" of particular powersets and ATs is, frankly, stupid. Not every player, playstyle, or team is the same. Not everyone is fully purpled out with a full complement of Rare Incarnate powers, believe it or not. People do die on teams, and while complete team wipes don't necessarily equal catastrophe, repeated faceplants eventually become tedious (my main's a blaster, so I know a little bit about defeat).
That said...
Several months ago, when my emp/dark was in his 20s, I teamed with a couple 50s (one of whom was a tanker) doing some shard farming. I hadn't had Fortitude for long, and I had been taking secondary powers along with my primary.
You know what else I took? Medicine.
I've since respec'd out of it, but at the time? It actually came in handy. At the end of the mission I got thanked not for great heals, but fantastic heals. Mind you, this wasn't a 1x1 we were on. It was at least 2x8, with them not yet being +1. All I could do was heal. There wasn't any *time* for blasting and I would've been an idiot to try. The experience was great fun and productive.
Bottom line: if you never need any healing done, you're probably playing it way too safe.
Having said that, let me tell you what happened last night. But first, a little background info:
I've found it difficult to get teams as a defender on Pinnacle from my 30s on, so I made a second build for soloing. This build has HA, HO (why? Just in case, basically), the 2 auras, and that's all from Empathy. The rest is Dark Blast (all but Blackstar), Leadership (all but Vengeance), Dark Mastery (all), Hasten, Super Speed, Stealth, and Hover. Not the best build in the world, granted, but it does what I need it to.
The difficulty of finding teams on Pinnacle made it necessary for me to prioritize slotting it over my teaming build once it got to 47. My teaming build actually had mostly level 45 (and a few level 40) regular IOs slotted when I hit 50. When I did my respec of that build, I opted to sell those because I was going to just slot them too. Except... I ran out of cash on that character. (Yes, I could e-mail myself more from my main, but I like to see what I can get an individual character to do to take care of himself/herself). So the build just kinda sits there.
However, last night, I got the opportunity to join an ITF. "What the heck," I said to myself. "By now everyone's figured out how to cap their resists and has nifty Incarnate powers, and I've been on more than a few teams that didn't really need much on the way of heals, so I'll just bring my soloing build and blast/immobilize/stun/-to hit my way to glory."
...It didn't quite work out that way. People did die-- only once from running off, but the other deaths were because my heals a) didn't recharge fast enough and b) didn't heal as much damage as on my teaming build. My auras worked well when people were grouped tightly enough for me to fire them off, but they didn't recharge as quickly and didn't provide as big a boost as they could. Most embarrassingly, my stuns didn't stun, even stacked, and with one of them doing lots of damage to me (Oppressive Gloom works great in theory).
Also? When people died, I had no Vengeance, and no rez. I didn't even have Clear Mind for when they popped an Awaken. Sure, I was doing loads more damage than I would have done on my teaming build. But a defender's teamed damage < a defender's solo damage.
tl;dr: I brought the wrong tools to the job, but that's what happens when an empathy defender buys into the argument that empathy isn't very useful-- it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Just a small town girl, living in a lonely world. She took the midnight train going anywhere.
Roxanne, you don't have to put on the red light. Those days are over, you don't have to sell your body to the night.
It's the end of the world as we know it...and I feel fine!
To the OP...sorry for partially hijacking your post to reminisce! Ah, those were some fun days!
7+ year vet with too many alts to list...