Dusting off my Emp/Arch...advice?

Hello all,

As the title says, I'm dusting off my Emp/Archery Defender after a long time messing with melee types. I haven't found much recent info about this combination, so I come asking advice:

What is the general build goal for Empathy? Recharge? Defense? Something else?

[Edited to add: Also, how does /Archery compare to other sets? It pretty much only offers damage. Can I safely assume its damage is better than most other sets?]

Also, what incarnate stuffs go well with Empathy? I'm thinking Spiritual Alpha for the recharge (for the buffs) and healing (for when the buffs fail), Barrier (to supplement my buffing goodness) or Clarion (for mezz protection) Destiny, and...umm...I don't know about the others. Prossibly Void judgment (for the debuffs). No clue about Lore.

He's sitting at 30 right now, but it won't take long to get him to 50 nowadays. Related question: Should I duo with my wife, what character most benefits from a pocket Emp? She prefers melee types.

Thanks in advance!

Recharge, imo.

If you want to take the effort, go over to red side and unlock Patrons. Grab yourself some tasty Power Boost from Soul Mastery. With a slotted Fortitude and Maneuvers, you can get your allies to 43% defense to everything. Power Build Up works for smaller teams or if you're lazy, but PB has half the recharge of PBU. It also has a pet you can buff with your empathy powers while solo or duoing.

Major build suggestion (especially if you already got the power), place Forced Feedback proc into Exploding Arrow. That'll give your Exploding arrow a chance to buff your recharge and get your empathy powers going even faster!

Lore pets -> go your choice on the damage side. As with the Patron pet, you can buff these and you can solo like there's no tomorrow.

Barrier's buff does the same as PB (though you could go crazy and do it double and have a ton of defense for one person), so I'm not sure if that would be a route to take if you already went that route with Patrons. Clarion works, since you can't mez protect yourself. I'd also suggest Ageless for even more recharge! I've done this argument for my Emp/Psi defender, and have yet to come to a conclusion on which one I want.

With the great amount of defense you can offer, I'd suggest either another support type, or a resistance armor melee. This is because likelihood of good defense is high, so you'll get more bang for your buck with a resistance set melee ally. AB on a Traps, Empathy, and many others are godly, though if she prefers melee characters it'll still be nice. Just not as nice for you since you can't get buffed or enjoy in her debuffage.

How's this for a first go at one of these builds? I'm kind of fuzzy on what pools are valuable to a Defender. I've been in melee range too long, I think.

Anyway, about 31% Ranged defense and almost 60% global recharge before Hasten. I could probably get a bit more recharge by sacrificing a bit of defense. Not that 31% is great, mind you. It's tolerable.

Didn't pick up Explosive Arrow. A bit short on slots and I don't like using knockback. So, no FF:+Rech Proc.

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.942

Level 50 Magic Defender
Primary Power Set: Empathy
Secondary Power Set: Archery
Power Pool: Speed
Power Pool: Leadership
Power Pool: Teleportation
Power Pool: Flight
Ancillary Pool: Soul Mastery

Hero Profile:
Level 1: Healing Aura -- Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx(A), Dct'dW-EndRdx/Rchg(3), Dct'dW-Heal(3), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(5), Dct'dW-Rchg(5)
Level 1: Snap Shot -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(13), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(13), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(15), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(15), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(17)
Level 2: Heal Other -- Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx(A), Dct'dW-EndRdx/Rchg(7), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(7), Dct'dW-Heal(9), Dct'dW-Rchg(9)
Level 4: Absorb Pain -- Heal-I(A), Heal-I(11)
Level 6: Resurrect -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 8: Clear Mind -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 10: Hasten -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(11)
Level 12: Fortitude -- RedFtn-Def/Rchg(A), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx(17), RedFtn-EndRdx/Rchg(31), RedFtn-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(31), RedFtn-Def(33), RedFtn-EndRdx(33)
Level 14: Super Speed -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 16: Aimed Shot -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(21), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(21), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(23), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(23), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(31)
Level 18: Recovery Aura -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(19), RechRdx-I(19)
Level 20: Fistful of Arrows -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(33), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(40), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(40), Posi-Dam%(43)
Level 22: Blazing Arrow -- Thundr-Acc/Dmg(A), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx(43), Thundr-Dmg/Rchg(43), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(45), Thundr-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(45), Thundr-Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(46)
Level 24: Maneuvers -- LkGmblr-Rchg+(A), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx(25), LkGmblr-Def(25), LkGmblr-Def/EndRdx/Rchg(46)
Level 26: Regeneration Aura -- Dct'dW-Heal(A), Dct'dW-Rchg(27), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(27), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(29), Dct'dW-EndRdx/Rchg(29)
Level 28: Recall Friend -- Range-I(A)
Level 30: Assault -- EndRdx-I(A)
Level 32: Adrenalin Boost -- Dct'dW-Rchg(A), Dct'dW-EndRdx/Rchg(34), Dct'dW-Heal/Rchg(34), Dct'dW-Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(34), Dct'dW-Heal(36)
Level 35: Stunning Shot -- Stpfy-Acc/Rchg(A), Stpfy-EndRdx/Stun(36), Stpfy-Acc/EndRdx(36), Stpfy-Stun/Rng(37), Stpfy-Acc/Stun/Rchg(37), Stpfy-KB%(37)
Level 38: Rain of Arrows -- Posi-Acc/Dmg(A), Posi-Dmg/EndRdx(39), Posi-Dmg/Rchg(39), Posi-Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(39), Posi-Dam%(40)
Level 41: Dark Embrace -- S'fstPrt-ResDam/Def+(A), S'fstPrt-ResKB(42), ImpArm-ResDam/EndRdx(42), ImpArm-ResDam(42)
Level 44: Power Boost -- RechRdx-I(A), RechRdx-I(45)
Level 47: Summon Mistress -- ExRmnt-Acc/Rchg(A), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg(48), ExRmnt-Dmg/EndRdx(48), ExRmnt-Acc/Dmg/Rchg(48), ExRmnt-EndRdx/Dmg/Rchg(50), ExRmnt-+Res(Pets)(50)
Level 49: Hover -- Flight-I(A), Flight-I(50)
Level 50: Spiritual Core Paragon
Level 50: Void Radial Final Judgement
Level 50: Paralytic Total Radial Conversion
------------
Level 1: Brawl -- Acc-I(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Clrty-Stlth(A)
Level 1: Vigilance
Level 2: Rest -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run
Level 2: Swift -- Run-I(A)
Level 2: Health -- Heal-I(A)
Level 2: Hurdle -- Jump-I(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(46)

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Heh. If it were me, I'd switch Stunning Shots for Exploding. It's only a 50/50 shot on the knockback. Then it'll keep your slots in tact from your other powers, keep your recharge bonus, and only lose your 3% defense to range. You could give Hover BotZ to help compensate some. Also, give yourself a little endurance redux for Hover, assuming you don't want to give it a LotG 7.5

Hmmm... I've got the FF:+Rech proc on another character, in Footstomp. I Haven't found it very reliable. Maybe a net gain of ~15% recharge over time. Is it really that good?

Well, the max number of targets is 6 higher, so there's 6 more possibilities of getting your proc to fire off.

Not bad when it's a 10% chance. That means statistically, you're only having 1 of those minions hit. However, if luck is just a little bit against you, you don't have it fire off. With Explosive, you're getting 16, which should give you the boost each time, assuming it's not in its downtime for the proc.

Just remember, it's +100% for 5 seconds, then down for 10 (if memory serves) so you only need to explodsive every 15 or so. On my Emp/Psi, I use Psionic Tornado typically as much as I can, maybe not getting as much out of the proc as I can, but it also has the knock down, damage (like Explosive) but also -recharge (and a large chunk too). You can also use it as a mitigation tool for more than one enemy.

They removed the ten seconds where it won't proc some time ago, I don't know when exactly. I know with Footstomp I can keep it up almost constantly (about every 6 seconds) so long as it will proc each time.

It doesn't stack with itself, so either it procs or it doesn't. It also doesn't appear to refresh, so if you fire it off too early nothing will happen. I find it is up maybe half to a third of the time, though. Sometimes for nearly 20 seconds at a stretch, with a second or two downtime sprinkled in there, sometimes I will go almost a full minute without it proccing.

I will consider Explosive Blast some more. Another AoE would be nice, and I could just hover blast to neutralize the knockback. Assuming it isn't radial. Is it?

Like *most* knockback powers, it is from where the caster is in regards to the enemy. Targeting in the middle of a mob will not send some flying towards you.