Honestly from real life game play at this point. I wouldn't try making a support toon unless its for my support, the heck with everyone else. I could see the need 6 or 7 years ago. But today too many builds and archtypes cross over into other archtypes. The game itself has become too generic.
There are many players that can solo 4/8 setting, myself being one of them. I just don't really need your bubbles. If I can solo 4/8 and I can get together 3 other players that can do 4/8 for a total of 4 all I need is 4 fillers for just about any TF or SF. When I made my Robot FF Mastermind I didn't make it because the bubbles helped my team mates, I picked them because they helped my pets.
Make a toon that can survive and be self sufficient. This will benefit the team much more. Whats the sense of you being able to bubble if you can't take a punch. Dead players don't give bubbles.
I think you need to make a build and look at the numbers. See if it offers some good benefits.
1. Why Soft Cap is Important : http://dechskaison.blogspot.com/2011...important.html
2. Limits: http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Limits
3. Attack Mechanics: http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Attack_Mechanics
4. Rule of Five: http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Rule_o...e_Law_of_Fives
I have a mid-30s ff/beam char that is perfectly fine. I think they have good synergy because ff only requires you to cast defl/insul shield every few minutes or whatever and aside from that you can blast.
So choose (IMO) just PFF, DS, IS, DB, FB from the primary and all of the abilities from the secondary so that you don't encounter any redraw and just blast away.
Have fun. You can basically pretend to be a blaster while still providing great team buffs. You will be fine solo.
"Hi, my name is Ail. I make people sick."
A partial selection from my 50's on Freedom: Ail = Ice/Traps, Luck = Street Justice/Super Reflexes Stalker, Mist = Bane, Pixy = Trick Arrow/Archery, Pure = Gravity/Energy, Smoke = Fire/Fire Dominator
Quote:
You say look at the numbers like i know what i'm doing. This would essentially be my first character. Right now i'm in the phase of finding powersets i like. And i also want to be of use.
|
Originally Posted by plainguy
Honestly from real life game play at this point. I wouldn't try making a support toon unless its for my support, the heck with everyone else. I could see the need 6 or 7 years ago. But today too many builds and archtypes cross over into other archtypes. The game itself has become too generic.
There are many players that can solo 4/8 setting, myself being one of them. I just don't really need your bubbles. If I can solo 4/8 and I can get together 3 other players that can do 4/8 for a total of 4 all I need is 4 fillers for just about any TF or SF. When I made my Robot FF Mastermind I didn't make it because the bubbles helped my team mates, I picked them because they helped my pets. Make a toon that can survive and be self sufficient. This will benefit the team much more. Whats the sense of you being able to bubble if you can't take a punch. Dead players don't give bubbles. I think you need to make a build and look at the numbers. See if it offers some good benefits. |
Quote:
Okay.. |
Originally Posted by LiquorQ
You say look at the numbers like i know what i'm doing. This would essentially be my first character. Right now i'm in the phase of finding powersets i like. And i also want to be of use.
|
I would do a search for Force Field or FF on the Defender forum. See what you find.
Your not going to of course find that much on beam. But I would say look at the Arch Types that can use beam and see what players are saying.
Your new so no matter what anyone says, your just too excited with the character builder and all the new stuff. Your going to experiment to find what you like.
If your Free to Play your stuck using Single Origin enhancers which are commonly called SO. So inventions are a moot point. Good thing is slotting powers really isn't much of a thought. Damage attacks are commonly slotted 3 damage, 2 accuracy and maybe and endurance redux or recharge. Never go over 3 of the same with SO because they loose value over 3. But before slotting a power it will show you what you get from slotting it.
If your a pay account then you can use inventions and your either going to have read up on the game mechanics to understand the math behind the game or be at the mercy of another forum poster when posting a build. So you have to hope someone looks at the build and comments on whether its good or not or even knows. Otherwise you end up with a crappy build that you thought was good because some stranger said so.
There is no real easy or quick answer anyone can give you. I think like many your gonna make toons and wonder why you made them and see how much they stink. Then there are toons you think might stink but just where playing "wrong". Basically you didn't get the grasp of the game mechanics for that set, which happens. I have a 50 Regen Broadsword scrapper I just never got the hang of.
I would say stay away from beam rifle for now and go with a Traps Rad or Traps Sonic. Traps has some cool stuff and even with SO you will be at about 25% Defenses which is good ( if you read my links you will learn why ). Sonic and Radiation both have debuffs within their attacks, which will help you and your team mates out and works well with the debuffs that traps has to offer. Of course Traps will help you out and your team mates out as well.
End result its a solid build to work off of and do many great things with. Which will allow you to eventually explore new avenues with other builds.
1. Why Soft Cap is Important : http://dechskaison.blogspot.com/2011...important.html
2. Limits: http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Limits
3. Attack Mechanics: http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Attack_Mechanics
4. Rule of Five: http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Rule_o...e_Law_of_Fives
You wont be the fastest solo-er with FF/Beam Rifle, but you'll be OK. You could do much worse with Empathy, Sonic resonance or Pain Dom. Traps/Sonic, for example, will solo better, but you won't feel that badly every moment with FF/Beam.
Beam Rifle specialises in single target damage, so that works well for taking small groups of enemies down one by one. Force Field will help you solo by deflecting some attacks and making you immune to holds and stuns via Dispersion Bubble.
Force Bolt provides plenty of mitigation too, you can keep juggling a boss with it as you take him down.
On a levelling team, they're not a bad combo. Plain Guy is right that you wouldn't help a team of IO'd out incarnates much, but thats 100 hours of gameplay away, so feel free to experiemnt with this combination for now. As you level, you'll hear "Yay! Force Fields" plenty of times as you join a team.
You make the rest of your team invincible, and you yourself are the weak link since you dont get your best buffs.
(Slotted Force Fields is roughly 1/2 of atacks bounce off you, 90% bounce off your team)
You're best off not drawing aggro under these circumstances, so stick to single target attacks. Which Beam Rifle excels at. Work on the principle "you tag it you bag it" and take out annoying leiutenants, leaving the rest of the team to handle the masses safe and sound in their bubbles.
Quote:
Thanks for the information! I recently found out you can't attack with PFF on. Which, in terms of physics, makes sense. Which is a downer BUT i like what you've told me.|
Originally Posted by Dr Harmony
You wont be the fastest solo-er with FF/Beam Rifle, but you'll be OK. You could do much worse with Empathy, Sonic resonance or Pain Dom. Traps/Sonic, for example, will solo better, but you won't feel that badly every moment with FF/Beam.
Beam Rifle specialises in single target damage, so that works well for taking small groups of enemies down one by one. Force Field will help you solo by deflecting some attacks and making you immune to holds and stuns via Dispersion Bubble. Force Bolt provides plenty of mitigation too, you can keep juggling a boss with it as you take him down. On a levelling team, they're not a bad combo. Plain Guy is right that you wouldn't help a team of IO'd out incarnates much, but thats 100 hours of gameplay away, so feel free to experiemnt with this combination for now. As you level, you'll hear "Yay! Force Fields" plenty of times as you join a team. You make the rest of your team invincible, and you yourself are the weak link since you dont get your best buffs. (Slotted Force Fields is roughly 1/2 of atacks bounce off you, 90% bounce off your team) You're best off not drawing aggro under these circumstances, so stick to single target attacks. Which Beam Rifle excels at. Work on the principle "you tag it you bag it" and take out annoying leiutenants, leaving the rest of the team to handle the masses safe and sound in their bubbles. |
At the end of the day the goal isn't to solo completely. The goal is to be effective in any situation thrown at me. Which might be a bit of a stretch, but i want to help out in a team, and i also want to go pew pew. And from what you've told me, this sounds like a perfect mix.
FF is somewhat under-appreciated on this forums, because too many forumgoers think in terms of IOed builds. It may be also sometimes under-appreciated in-game because of "Defender=healer" mentality of some novice players. It's in fact a very good set, if somewhat limited in what it does.
Good pool and epic powers you may want to pick are Maneuvers, - it provides even more defense from you and teammates and Power Build Up/Power Boost (although latter requires you to be a villain/rogue at level 35 or higher.) to make your small bubbles even more powerful. For prersonal survivability, you would get more mileage out of powers like [Combat Jumping] and so on than most other sets, see the link below as to reasons why.
You need to understand your main tool, that is, defense buff, very well. This guide: http://dechskaison.blogspot.com/2011...important.html explains wwhat those %s meen in gameplay terms and why 45% (and now 59%) are "magic numbers" everyone wants to have for their defense.
Repel/knockback powers: Force fields have plenty of those, but, please, think what you're doing with them on teams. Most melee armors have a power that works better when a character is surrounded. Shields gets [Against All Odds] (a damage boost), Willpower gets [Rise To The Challenge] *lots of HP regeneration( and so on. All Brutes get bonus to their powers damage when they're attacked. Melee archetypes, thus, understandably, are very annoyed when that nice pile of enemies they assembled around them is thrown away by a "helpful" repeller. Ranged ATs are usually counting on most enemies being around melee characters to use their area attacks most efficiently.
So, however awesome those powers are solo, use them VERY SPARINGLY on a team. Repulsion bomb, and anything that does less than 1.0 of knockback are the exceptions: This kind of knockback doesn't (usually) throw anyone away any significant distance, just on the floor (often referred to as "knockdown") This is in fact, a good thing, except, maybe, for Brutes.
"Cage" powers, like [Detention Field] are a big and unconditional no-no on team, though you may get some mileage out of them solo with a secondary like Beam Rifle, which is geared towards defeating enemies one-by-one.
I really enjoy force field! It works really well with teams, unfortunately it only has a few self buffs (one making you unable to fight). As a solo player, I wouldnt really recommend the powerset, because there are better sets you could choose from, such as rad.
" I don't let me kids play on the Freedom Server" -Oya
Quote:
Forcefields has negligible ability to boost the offensive power of the team. Unlike many other buff/debuff powersets, it does not debuff enemy resistance or massively buff player damage. This is not just a problem with heavily-geared builds, it is a problem whenever the team has enough survivability that offense becomes more valuable. The lack of offensive power also makes it very hard to solo at what most people would consider a reasonable pace. |
Originally Posted by LiquorQ
I thought of a good concept and i know force field is a good powerset. I plan to level normally, you know, solo missions through contacts and stuff. But i also want to be completely viable in a team. The idea is that i'd be able to support with force field, which is just a cool set in my mind. And i'd also be able to do damage with BR.
Now my actual questions are, will i be able to solo fairly alright? Will i be able to do alright damage, around corrupter level? Will i be able to do both in a team, or would i just be a support *****? |
Forcefields is heavily focused on increasing survivability, but the protection it gives is mostly through defense buffs, and there is now a fair amount of stuff in endgame content that is autohit and ignores all defense. It's worth keeping this in mind if you ever decide to play endgame content. A more versatile powerset, like Dark miasma, which protects the team through a combination of powerful accuracy debuffs, damage debuffs, heals and some exotic resistances, won't be disadvantaged as much.
Since the gear in this game mainly gives recharge and defense, forcefields will be less useful on heavily-geared teams where all the characters can already handle survivability on their own. Powersets that can provide both offense and defense don't suffer from this problem because there is rarely such a thing as too much offense.
Overall, forcefields is among the least versatile of buff/debuff primaries. The bright side, for a soloist, is that it gives you limited mez protection, which is rare for defenders to get outside the endgame, and heavily-geared forcefields builds can be made extremely tough. I still wouldn't recommend it for a newcomer and you won't be doing anything close to corrupter-level damage.
One more thing...
Quote:
It isn't that much on FF either... FF are somewhat different set since http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Patch_Notes/2011-06-28 patch... Re-bubbling is much less of a chore, although you still need to pay attention to who was and wasn't in AoE. Power Boosting your small bubbles is now much more cost-efficient too, of course, and a lot of small things like that should be kept in mind while reading old posts on FF.|
Originally Posted by plainguy
Okay..
I would do a search for Force Field or FF on the Defender forum. See what you find. Your not going to of course find that much on beam. |
Also, I just noticed, in that old guide to defence I linked, an old "Heroic->Tenacious->...->Invincible" difficulty system is used. New, more flexible, system has no "level 3." Conversion table for old and new difficulty settings is here: http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Difficul...toriety_System
Quote:
To add a little more detail to my previous post. I will give advice assuming you are building with SOs or cheap IOs.|
Originally Posted by LiquorQ
Thanks for the information! I recently found out you can't attack with PFF on. Which, in terms of physics, makes sense. Which is a downer BUT i like what you've told me.
At the end of the day the goal isn't to solo completely. The goal is to be effective in any situation thrown at me. Which might be a bit of a stretch, but i want to help out in a team, and i also want to go pew pew. And from what you've told me, this sounds like a perfect mix. |
From Force Fields:
Personal force field: Good power for soloing when things get out of control. You can get aid other and then aid self to heal yourself while inside it. Don't add any slots to it.
Deflection shield and Insulation shield: Get these. You can 2-slot them with lvl 50 defense IOs or 3 slot them with defense SOs. Every few minutes, just do them to someone in the middle of the pack when fighting is going on. If someone isn't in the middle of the pack to be buffed, just ignore them and it is not your problem.
Dispersion Bubble: Get this as soon as you can and slot it with maybe 2 endurance reduction and 3 defense. This provides defense and mez protection for you and is vital.
Force Bubble: A power which isn't always useful but is still very fun. It repels enemies away and has a very large radius. Slot it with 2-3 endrdx.
Force Bolt, Detention Field, Repulsion Field, Repusion Bomb: All marginal powers that have little point in your build I think. I would not get any of them on a ff/beam. You want passive force field powers that don't cause redraw for the beam gun, not active ones like force bolt. Detention field pisses people off more than you can imagine, and I think even experienced players who take it probably misuse it more than anything. The repulsion powers and force bolt are all superseded by force bubble in any case.
From the secondary: Slot attacks something like 1-2 acc, 3 damage, 1 endrdx, 0-1 recharge. Endurance reduction is at a premium for you because you are running all of those toggles, so you want it in attacks to! Aim is worthwhile IMO although some don't like it. Slot it with just 1 recharge at first and more later if you like it. Disintegrate is key to the set and could arguably use recharge more than endrdx just to make sure it is up often. Lancer shot it an awesome attack that also stuns. Penetrating ray is the only attack in the secondary I might skip, and yet it does have the advantage of a 100% disintegrate spread after it.
Pool powers: Medine/aid self goes well with PFF. Combat jumping is nice and has a little defense. Maneuvers is nice and adds defense. Boxing/Tough/Weave is nice because Weave has defense and tough is very good on a defender. For epic, power mastery gives power build up which is nice and temp invuln, which will mean you have really high resistance as well as defense and are very tank-like. You could also go mace mastery for scorpion shield if you honestly have no money for nice IOs and still want to soft cap defense.
Best of luck! I think the combo should work out fine for you. Just realize that you are playing a very defense, almost tank-ish build. The fact that force fields don't interfere with the redraw of the beam attacks at all is really nice.
"Hi, my name is Ail. I make people sick."
A partial selection from my 50's on Freedom: Ail = Ice/Traps, Luck = Street Justice/Super Reflexes Stalker, Mist = Bane, Pixy = Trick Arrow/Archery, Pure = Gravity/Energy, Smoke = Fire/Fire Dominator
I've been working on this and this is the best I could do:
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.952
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Level 50 Technology Defender
Primary Power Set: Force Field
Secondary Power Set: Beam Rifle
Power Pool: Medicine
Power Pool: Flight
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Psychic Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Personal Force Field -- Rchg+(A)
Level 1: Single Shot -- Acc/Dmg(A), Dmg/EndRdx(3), Dmg/Rchg(3), Acc/Dmg/Rchg(5), Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(5), Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(7)
Level 2: Force Bolt -- Rechg%(A)
Level 4: Cutting Beam -- Acc/Dmg(A), Dmg/EndRdx(13), Dmg/Rchg(15), Dmg/Rng(15), Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(17)
Level 6: Aid Other -- RechRdx-I(A)
Level 8: Deflection Shield -- Rchg+(A), Def(17)
Level 10: Disintegrate -- Acc/Dmg(A), Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(19), Dmg/Rchg(19), Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(50)
Level 12: Dispersion Bubble -- Def/EndRdx(A), Def/Rchg(21), EndRdx/Rchg(21), Def/EndRdx/Rchg(23), Def(23), EndRdx(25)
Level 14: Hover -- Rchg+(A), Def/EndRdx(25)
Level 16: Aim -- ToHit(A), ToHit/Rchg(27), ToHit/Rchg/EndRdx(27), ToHit/EndRdx(29), Build%(29), Rchg/EndRdx(31)
Level 18: Fly -- Stlth(A)
Level 20: Lancer Shot -- Acc/Dmg(A), Dmg/EndRdx(31), Dmg/Rchg(31), Acc/Dmg/Rchg(33), Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(33), Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(33)
Level 22: Insulation Shield -- Rchg+(A), Def(34)
Level 24: Maneuvers -- Def/EndRdx/Rchg(A), Def/EndRdx(34)
Level 26: Repulsion Bomb -- Acc/Rchg(A), EndRdx/Stun(34), Acc/EndRdx(36), Stun/Rng(36), Acc/Stun/Rchg(36), Immob%(37)
Level 28: Penetrating Ray -- Acc/Dmg(A), Dmg/EndRdx(37), Acc/ActRdx/Rng(37), Dmg/ActRdx/Rchg(39), Dmg/EndRdx/Rchg(39), Acc/Rng/Rchg(39)
Level 30: Aid Self -- Rcvry+(A)
Level 32: Force Bubble -- EndRdx-I(A), EndRdx-I(40)
Level 35: Piercing Beam -- Acc/Dmg(A), Dmg/EndRdx(40), Dmg/Rchg(40), Dmg/Rng(42), Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(42)
Level 38: Overcharge -- Acc/Dmg(A), Dmg/EndRdx(42), Dmg/Rchg(43), Dmg/Rng(43), Acc/Dmg/EndRdx(43)
Level 41: Dominate -- Acc/Hold(A), Acc/Rchg(45), Rchg/Hold(45), EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(45), Acc/EndRdx/Rchg/Hold(46), %Hold(46)
Level 44: Mind Over Body -- ResDam/EndRdx(A), ResDam/Def+(46), ResKB(48)
Level 47: Mass Hypnosis -- Acc-I(A)
Level 49: Afterburner -- Rchg+(A)
Level 50: Cardiac Boost
------------
Level 2: Swift -- HO:Micro(A)
Level 2: Health -- Heal/EndRdx(A), EndRdx/Rchg(7), Heal/Rchg(48), Heal/EndRdx/Rchg(48), Regen/Rcvry+(50), Heal(50)
Level 2: Hurdle -- HO:Micro(A)
Level 2: Stamina -- End%(A), EndMod(9), EndMod/Rchg(9), EndMod/Acc/Rchg(11), Acc/Rchg(11), EndMod/Acc(13)
Level 1: Brawl -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Sprint -- Empty(A)
Level 1: Vigilance
Level 2: Rest -- Empty(A)
Level 4: Ninja Run
It is not a cheap build by any stretch of the imagination, but isn't as expensive as some. Figuring out slots was difficult on this, and in the end there was some loss of AE DPS. However you are capped for Ranged and AoE, which should be enough.
If you can stay out of melee, you're neigh unkillable and with the strong control elements that FF brings that shouldn't be hard. Even if mobs do somehow manage to close PFF should keep you safe long enough to regen some endurance or use Aid Self. I went with Psychic Mastery for the strong Psionic Defense elements for which FF is traditionally bad and occasionally bypass positional defenses.
There are some serious downsides here, the biggest one being endurance consumption, it's a hog and you're going to have to carry lots of blues to sustain yourself. Second big problem is that as a support character you're very strong, but solo you may have issues running at +2/x8 or higher due to just not having enough DPS to finish the fight. If you incarnate it gets better, but still has to deal with a lot of very expensive powers.
Haven't tried Beam Rifle, but I have a 50 T3 incarnate FF/Energy/Mu who is tough as nails and does pretty decent damage for a Defender, plus has some controls (immob, KB, hold) to add along the way. Pretty much I live where others die, and I can blast away happily on a team all day long without a lot of concern that other squishies have.
That said, if I was working off SO-only build, I would choose something other than FF for soloing, since you can't get DEF high enough for my liking without IOs. For teaming, that's another story, as someone said, teams love FF. Even incarnate teams I still get 'yay, a bubbler'.
53 Bots/FF/Mace Mastermind | 53 NRG/FF/Electricity Defender | 50 Time/Dual Pistols/Soul Defender | 50 Demons/FF/Mace Mastermind | 51 Necro/Dark/Soul Mastermind | 50 Thugs/Time/Mace Mastermind | 50 Ice/Ice/Arctic Tanker | 50 Plant/Rad/Earth Controller | 50 Illusion/Trick Arrow Controller | 50 Gravity/Force Field Controller
Yes, I like Force Fields.
Quote:
1) Will i be able to solo fairly alright?|
Originally Posted by LiquorQ
I thought of a good concept and i know force field is a good powerset. I plan to level normally, you know, solo missions through contacts and stuff. But i also want to be completely viable in a team. The idea is that i'd be able to support with force field, which is just a cool set in my mind. And i'd also be able to do damage with BR.
Now my actual questions are, will i be able to solo fairly alright? Will i be able to do alright damage, around corrupter level? Will i be able to do both in a team, or would i just be a support *****? |
Really depends on what your expectations are, and your definition of 'alright' is. I'd say yes, with a caveat. Just don't expect to be a farmer with this powerset combo. The caveat I mentioned, though, can be a deal breaker. Build for personal survivability, and for damage output. If you build to be the uber support, and neglect those factors, it's quite possible that you will have a horrible to solo alt on your hands. If you build for those to things, you'll solo fine.
2) Will i be able to do alright damage, around corrupter level?
Again, if you build for it, you will do alright damage, again, depending on your expectations. It won't get to corruptor levels, as they have several advantages built into the AT, but you'll do respectable damage solo, and while it'll drop off on teams, you will still be able to make a decent contribution on the DPS front, while making an even bigger contribution in other ways.
3) Will i be able to do both in a team, or would i just be a support *****?
Yes, you will be able to support and still go hog wild on offense, even on teams. Again, assuming you build with that in mind. But, if you build with some offense in mind, you won't be pure buff-bot unless you choose to be.
I've included another sample build for you to look at. It's not too expensive other than the obligatory LotGs. You can always swap those out to save inf, at the cost of lower recharge, but that isn't going to ruin the build, just slow it down. It's also got a fair degree of flexibility elsewhere, if you wanted to add hasten, it's easy enough to swap out assault, or vengeance. It's easy to find a way to swap in more KB resistance, if the 3 points isn't enough for you. Or lose tactics and go back to aim, whatever. As I said, it's a very flexible and personalize-able build. The important thing, to my mind, if that you get the essential support powers ASAP, and yet still develop a decent attack chain by level 10.
Hope it helps some.
Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.952
http://www.cohplanner.com/
Click this DataLink to open the build!
Level 50 Natural Defender
Primary Power Set: Force Field
Secondary Power Set: Beam Rifle
Power Pool: Leaping
Power Pool: Fighting
Power Pool: Leadership
Ancillary Pool: Mu Mastery
Hero Profile:
Level 1: Deflection Shield
- (A) Serendipity - Defense: Level 40
- (48) Serendipity - Defense/Endurance: Level 40
- (50) Serendipity - Defense/Recharge: Level 40
- (A) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage: Level 50
- (7) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance: Level 50
- (7) Thunderstrike - Damage/Recharge: Level 50
- (9) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 50
- (9) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 50
- (23) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50
- (A) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage: Level 50
- (25) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance: Level 50
- (25) Thunderstrike - Damage/Recharge: Level 50
- (31) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 50
- (31) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 50
- (31) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50
- (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed: Level 50
- (A) Serendipity - Defense: Level 40
- (50) Serendipity - Defense/Endurance: Level 40
- (50) Serendipity - Defense/Recharge: Level 40
- (A) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage: Level 50
- (42) Positron's Blast - Damage/Recharge: Level 50
- (42) Positron's Blast - Damage/Range: Level 50
- (42) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 50
- (43) Positron's Blast - Chance of Damage(Energy): Level 50
- (A) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage: Level 40
- (11) Decimation - Damage/Endurance: Level 40
- (11) Decimation - Damage/Recharge: Level 40
- (15) Decimation - Accuracy/Endurance/Recharge: Level 40
- (23) Decimation - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 40
- (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed: Level 50
- (13) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance: Level 50
- (13) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50
- (15) Gift of the Ancients - Run Speed +7.5%: Level 40
- (A) Winter's Gift - Slow Resistance (20%): Level 50
- (A) Kinetic Crash - Damage/Knockback: Level 50
- (17) Kinetic Crash - Accuracy/Knockback: Level 50
- (17) Kinetic Crash - Recharge/Knockback: Level 50
- (19) Kinetic Crash - Recharge/Endurance: Level 50
- (19) Kinetic Crash - Damage/Endurance/Knockback: Level 50
- (21) Kinetic Crash - Accuracy/Damage/Knockback: Level 50
- (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed: Level 50
- (21) Luck of the Gambler - Defense: Level 50
- (A) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage: Level 50
- (34) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance: Level 50
- (37) Thunderstrike - Damage/Recharge: Level 50
- (37) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Recharge: Level 50
- (40) Thunderstrike - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 50
- (40) Thunderstrike - Damage/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50
- (A) Damage Increase IO: Level 50
- (A) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/Endurance: Level 30
- (43) Steadfast Protection - Resistance/+Def 3%: Level 30
- (43) Aegis - Resistance/Endurance: Level 50
- (46) Aegis - Resistance/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50
- (A) Gift of the Ancients - Defense/Endurance: Level 40
- (27) Gift of the Ancients - Defense/Endurance/Recharge: Level 40
- (27) Defense Buff IO: Level 50
- (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed: Level 50
- (29) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance: Level 50
- (29) Luck of the Gambler - Defense/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50
- (A) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 50
- (A) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff: Level 50
- (33) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge: Level 50
- (33) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Recharge/Endurance: Level 50
- (33) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Recharge/Endurance: Level 50
- (34) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - To Hit Buff/Endurance: Level 50
- (34) Gaussian's Synchronized Fire-Control - Chance for Build Up: Level 50
- (A) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage: Level 50
- (36) Positron's Blast - Damage/Recharge: Level 50
- (36) Positron's Blast - Damage/Range: Level 50
- (36) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 50
- (37) Positron's Blast - Chance of Damage(Energy): Level 50
- (A) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage: Level 50
- (39) Positron's Blast - Damage/Endurance: Level 50
- (39) Positron's Blast - Damage/Recharge: Level 50
- (39) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 50
- (40) Positron's Blast - Chance of Damage(Energy): Level 50
- (A) HamiO:Ribosome Exposure
- (48) Aegis - Resistance/Endurance: Level 50
- (48) Aegis - Resistance/Endurance/Recharge: Level 50
- (A) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage: Level 50
- (45) Positron's Blast - Damage/Endurance: Level 50
- (45) Positron's Blast - Damage/Recharge: Level 50
- (45) Positron's Blast - Accuracy/Damage/Endurance: Level 50
- (46) Positron's Blast - Chance of Damage(Energy): Level 50
- (46) Force Feedback - Chance for +Recharge: Level 21
- (A) Endurance Reduction IO: Level 50
- (A) Luck of the Gambler - Recharge Speed: Level 50
Level 2: Swift
- (A) Empty
- (A) Miracle - +Recovery: Level 40
- (5) Numina's Convalescence - +Regeneration/+Recovery: Level 50
- (5) Numina's Convalescence - Heal: Level 50
- (A) Empty
- (A) Endurance Modification IO: Level 50
- (3) Endurance Modification IO: Level 50
- (3) Endurance Modification IO: Level 50
- (A) Empty
- (A) Empty
Level 2: Rest
- (A) Empty
Code:
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Quote:
On a defender you can get fantastic defenses with Force Field, even without sets (Scorpion Shield is from Mace Mastery):|
Originally Posted by Chill_Out
That said, if I was working off SO-only build, I would choose something other than FF for soloing, since you can't get DEF high enough for my liking without IOs. For teaming, that's another story, as someone said, teams love FF. Even incarnate teams I still get 'yay, a bubbler'.
|
Dispersion Bubble: 10% versus all, 15.6% with 3 defense SOs
Weave: 5% versus all, 7.8% with 3 defense SOs
Scorpion Shield: 15% versus S/L, 23.4% with 3 defense SOs, 10% versus En, 15.6% with 3 defense SOs
With just those 3 powers, that's 46.8% against Smashing and Lethal damage, above the softcap against the most common types of damage in the game. You also get 39% against Energy damage, the next most common type of damage in the game. Without using any invention sets. And you can take Scorpion Shield at level 35 now, though you have to be a villain for while to get it.
Softcapped against S/L, 39% against Energy, 23.4% against everything else, plus mez protection! Without using IO sets at all and without adding any other powers that provide defense (such as Maneuvers, Hover, Combat Jumping, or Stealth).
I'll also add Beam Rifle pairs nicely with Force Fields because you're rarely using FF powers mid-combat, so you're not constantly having to re-draw. Most of your powers are either toggles, or they're shields you're buffing between conflicts, or it's PFF which you're flipping in emergencies and aren't going to be shooting anyway. The force attacks are the exceptions, but I don't prefer them anyway.
Don't let ppl scare you away talking about how you're going to feel like you're not going to be contributing to groups of 50's who solo +4/x8. If this is your first play-through, FF offers massive benefits throughout the 1-50 content and most players in the sub-50's will celebrate your presence.
In end-game content, FF will help your allies softcap non-standard values like energy, neg energy, etc... but you also offer solid mez protect. While, sure, alot of level shifted incarnates can solo +4/x8 content, it's usually against mobs that attack primarily with smashing/lethal attacks.
FF is also not very Power nor Slot intense, allowing you more build choices. You can focus more on your rifle or power pools while still offering solid buffs to your team. Last but not least, FF defenders are built like tanks - you'll enjoy higher survivability. My FF Incarnate can also solo +4/x8!
I'd say a solid combo - Have fun 
CoH
Cathodian (50 Rad/Rad)
Archanix (50 Ill/FF)
Dr. Deadface (Current: 40 Rad/MM)
50 FF/Rad here. I'll leave the actual build details to the experts, but one thing I haven't seen mentioned yet is using multiple builds. (Go to a trainer in-game for details on build-switching; it's in the "level up" section.) I maintain a soloing build with Detention Field, the Psychic Mastery APP (a hold, an AOE sleep, and an armor with psi resist) and heavily slotted attacks but minimal slotting on the individual bubbles. I also have a teaming build that focuses on "team" stuff (heavily slotted bubbles, Leadership power pool, slotted Aid Other, no Detention Field).
I'll also toss out one comment on Beam Rifle: take Lancer Shot, love Lancer Shot, use it often. It's a guaranteed mag 3 stun (perma out of the box, so slot for damage) plus some nice damage. The 40 ft range hurts a bit, but indoors it sees a *lot* of use. (Very similar to /Rad's Cosmic Burst, but you get it 8 levels earlier.)
Beam rifle fills a major weakness of FF in that it provides 2 crucial debuffs helpful in downing hard targets (-regen and -res). You can apply a 225% regen debuff with disintegrate and single shot, and a 20% resistance debuff with piercing beam. Force Fields is astoundingly good now that the small bubbles are AOE. Powerboosted bubbles can provide AN ENTIRE LEAGUE with 38% defense, toxic resistance, and protection from endurance drain in just 3 clicks lasting 4 minutes.
My now level 50 FF/Beamer also has massive personal defense (50%+ range and aoe, 38% melee) with Dispersion, Maneuvers, Weave, Hover, the 3% steadfast unique, and set bonuses to Range and AOE defense from Red Fortune, Serendipity, Blessing of the Zephyr, Gaussian's, Detonation, and Ruin.
A true tank mage without purple or pvp sets, and pre-incarnate. As someone with 7 level 50 force fielders of various sorts, FF/Beam is tops in terms of fun, power, and thematic synergy. If you are a shield connoisseur like me, it's a can't miss combo.
PRTECTR4EVR
Quote:
Good advice.|
Originally Posted by Knowmad
Beam rifle fills a major weakness of FF in that it provides 2 crucial debuffs helpful in downing hard targets (-regen and -res). You can apply a 225% regen debuff with disintegrate and single shot, and a 20% resistance debuff with piercing beam. Force Fields is astoundingly good now that the small bubbles are AOE. Powerboosted bubbles can provide AN ENTIRE LEAGUE with 38% defense, toxic resistance, and protection from endurance drain in just 3 clicks lasting 4 minutes.
My now level 50 FF/Beamer also has massive personal defense (50%+ range and aoe, 38% melee) with Dispersion, Maneuvers, Weave, Hover, the 3% steadfast unique, and set bonuses to Range and AOE defense from Red Fortune, Serendipity, Blessing of the Zephyr, Gaussian's, Detonation, and Ruin. A true tank mage without purple or pvp sets, and pre-incarnate. As someone with 7 level 50 force fielders of various sorts, FF/Beam is tops in terms of fun, power, and thematic synergy. If you are a shield connoisseur like me, it's a can't miss combo. |
To the new player welcome, and FF/BR is an excellent choice for a someone new.
Quote:
I absolutely disagree with this advice. I think it is bad advice to give to a beginner. Support types are great. There are many, way many players out there that don't play decked out builds or toons. There are even many players that are not as good tactically as others. There are so many variables that are possible at any given time to make a statement like that. |
Originally Posted by plainguy
Honestly from real life game play at this point. I wouldn't try making a support toon unless its for my support, the heck with everyone else. I could see the need 6 or 7 years ago. But today too many builds and archtypes cross over into other archtypes. The game itself has become too generic.
There are many players that can solo 4/8 setting, myself being one of them. I just don't really need your bubbles. If I can solo 4/8 and I can get together 3 other players that can do 4/8 for a total of 4 all I need is 4 fillers for just about any TF or SF. When I made my Robot FF Mastermind I didn't make it because the bubbles helped my team mates, I picked them because they helped my pets. Make a toon that can survive and be self sufficient. This will benefit the team much more. Whats the sense of you being able to bubble if you can't take a punch. Dead players don't give bubbles. I think you need to make a build and look at the numbers. See if it offers some good benefits. |
As a long time veteran of the game, and as one having both, a repertoire of decked out builds and having builds with just non invention enhancements, I will say there are many times that support toons are just very very useful and play a very important variety of roles.
Force field is set it and forget type of play and is a very good buff set.
Repeat Offenders forever !
Make all IO's available in Paragon Market! NCSoft, the chinese are making BIG money selling influence and other stuff in the game. Best way to stop them = make the paragon market a place to buy all IO's and perhaps other things as well.
I agree commando.
For a new player buffing, debuffing, and attacking can be a bit overwhelming. This is why I wouldn't recommend Kinetics to a new players unless it fits their concept.
FF is a good choice as it has been pointed out because with SO slotting it simply works smoothly which allows you to focus on attacking with your secondary. And BR has some debuffs built into the attacks that makes up that shortcoming from FF.
FF/BR very good choice.
IMO Force Field is a set that is in serious need of some changes to make it better, but it isn't completely awful either. If you like it conceptually, keep with it. I have a level 50 Force Fielder that I play occasionally out of stubborness. That said:
I hate to say it but I've gradually been won over by the argument that Cold Domination simply puts FF to shame in most respects. It offers similar shields but with very good debuff and buff powers to back it up and MUCH better solo capability. FF actually has more enemy affecting powers than Cold, but they are mostly toys. Other than the shields and the big bubble power, most others are of questionable value against everyday enemies and fail completely against more powerful ones. In incarnate content, where every battle is a fight against an AV on a timer with players scattered all over the map, unable to hide inside your big bubble most of the time, Cold simply blows Force Field away. It's too bad because I really like FF conceptually. I'm not telling you not to play the set, but in the current state of the game I think most other options are better. The two things FF does have going for it as the ability to Power Boost its shields and endurance drain protection for the league.
I agree that FF/BR is one of the better combos for these two powersets. BR also has a crashless nuke that lets you keep your big bubble up when cast. But again I also think Cold/BR would have an easier time overall.
Quote:
I disagree with this wholeheartedly.|
Originally Posted by Laevateinn
Forcefields has negligible ability to boost the offensive power of the team.
|
While additional defense isn't always required for an IO'ed to the gills Incarnate crew, just about anywhere else the toggle combat controls, the active combat control of Repulsion Bomb and the ability to focus on the secondary attacks rather than spamming a heal aura would DEFINITELY be considered an significant offensive boost.
About the only place a FF 'fender isn't going to be useful is in a group of "raid your brains out" iTrialers who do nothing BUT raid. In the other 99.999% of the game, a FF 'fender of just about any stripe is still perfectly useful.
Clicking on the linked image above will take you off the City of Heroes site. However, the guides will be linked back here.
The problem with Cold, is even on Defenders, all its key powers come late, while FF is good right of the box. And if the late key powers are so important, than Thermal I would say edges out Cold.
But it entirely depends on personal preferences honestly.
I thought of a good concept and i know force field is a good powerset. I plan to level normally, you know, solo missions through contacts and stuff. But i also want to be completely viable in a team. The idea is that i'd be able to support with force field, which is just a cool set in my mind. And i'd also be able to do damage with BR.
Now my actual questions are, will i be able to solo fairly alright? Will i be able to do alright damage, around corrupter level? Will i be able to do both in a team, or would i just be a support *****?