Good basics.
I hate to be that guy who says "It should be more like *MY* guide" but I would suggest discussing the defense cap - because that's where FF really shines in my opinion, is in getting people to the defense cap no matter what- and Maneuvers, which I consider the tenth power in the set.
Also, I have to mention that while Repulsion Bomb is "nothing to write home about" it does roughly the damage of a typical AOE- Ball Lightning, Explosive Blast, or Energy Torrent. It's not going to look good in a set with no damage buffs or resist reduction, but it's perfectly acceptable (if slow) damage.
I have a defender-based view of the set, which will warp my opinions in a different direction than yours.
Mini-guides: Force Field Defenders, Blasters, Market Self-Defense, Frankenslotting.
So you think you're a hero, huh.
@Boltcutter in game.
Force Fields in the modern (I21) COH
One topic that comes up on occasion is one that asks just how useful Force Fields are in the current City of Heroes game. Quite often, you'll hear people say that, with sets like Cold Domination, Force Fields are old hat or even "useless."
When you read that, remember you're reading it from a forumite - and a lot of forumites are focused on the very last percent of performance, stacking their builds with Inventions, squeezing every ounce out in ways that may have nothing to do with the set itself. The biggest problem with this, to me - aside from judging the set on things other than the set - is that, with COH Freedom, we have free and premium players who can't use IOs.
So with that said - other than an occasional mention - this is going to ignore IOs.
Force Fields are available to three archetypes (ATs) - Defenders (primary,) Controllers (Secondary) and Masterminds (Secondary.) Some powers have been shuffled around for the mastermind, and of course come at different levels for the Defender and Controller. I'm going to go based on the Defender/Controller power order. For reference, here's the power list and when the various ATs get them:
You're going to see four listings with the powers - Defender, Teamed; Defender, Solo; Controller and Mastermind. Given the majority of controllers have pets (and all standard masterminds do,) they'll find more use for the team-based powers when solo. I'm listing Solo and Teamed for Defender because of dual builds - with some powers, you can skip them and fit something from your secondary (or a pool power) in.
Rating will be 1 (poor) to 5 (must take.) Alternately, you'll see "Depends," especially with masterminds, as it's strongly dependant on your other powerset. I'll explain why when we get there.
No builds included.
THE POWERS
PERSONAL FORCE FIELD
Defender (Solo) ***
Defender (Group) **
Controller ***
Mastermind *
This power encloses you in a bubble, giving you extremely high defense - at the cost of not being able to use any powers that affect friends or foes. Leadership? Affects only you. Forget bubbling the team. Dispersion Bubble? Everyone else loses the effect.
Plus, I've seen people get upset when they get killed through PFF. High enough Acc/Tohit *will* hit you - your level 1 defender is NOT safe running through the parking lot in Peregrine Island with this on. It's not Phase Shift. And no, Masterminds cannot control their pets.
In short, it's OK as an emergency button, in some situations. Personally, I don't find myself using it much. A Mastermind's minions can be thrown at whatever to help you get away, a Controller's controls are more useful to it. The solo Defender will probably get the most use out of it.
IO NOTE: This is, however, a great place to put a -kb IO. (And given they're purchaseable from the Paragon Market, thus usable to premium players, I have no problem mentioning it.)
DEFLECTION SHIELD:
Defender (Solo) *
Defender (Group) *****
Controller ****
Mastermind *****
Baby's first bubble. This ranged shield gives your allies defense to Smashing and Lethal attacks as well as those in Melee range, as well as resistance to Toxic damage (great for those sewer runs - every bit helps.) In addition, not long ago this was changed to a targeted AOE - pick an ally, everyone in range gets bubbled (except the caster.)
Solo defenders get one star (instead of none) as some *may* want to have it either for IOs (again, knockback, primarily) or want to shield temporary pets, helper allies and the like. Other than that, it's useless solo. For group builds and masterminds, of course, it's a must take. Controllers get four instead of five stars simply because while most builds get pets, not all do, so in rare builds this is slightly less useful. And the "mostly soloist" may have less use for it because of that. But most will want it for teams and their own pets.
Note that if you keep applying it, it only resets the duration. Bubbles won't stack from the same caster. They WILL stack from multiple FF users, though, for higher defense.
Overall, though, this is a must take power.
IO NOTE: Set bonuses, procs, etc. ONLY AFFECT YOU. A -kb IO in here will NOT grant KB protection to everyone shielded, for instance.
FORCE BOLT
Defender (Solo) ***
Defender (Group) ***
Controller ***
Mastermind Situational
Force bolt is a single target ranged attack. You launch a bubble at them. Damage is minor - really, it's almost unnoticeable, even when slotted for. It's reliable, single target knockback - but being knockback, you'll see some enemies barely touched by it, others get knocked farther than you think (such as the barely-resistant Clockwork.)
Useful for positioning and as a "keep away" if something gets too close. And being single target, most teams won't mind (or notice.)
Masterminds, depending on their primary, will see varying levels of usefulness from this. Highly ranged sets will get more out of it (as you smack someone away from your pets.) Melee sets (Ninja, for instance) may use this as a keep-away tool, but may find less use from it.
INSULATION SHIELD
Defender (Solo) *
Defender (Group) *****
Controller ****
Mastermind *****
The other half of your ally shields. This one protects against Fire, Cold, Energy/Negative Energy damage, as well as Ranged and AOE attacks. The other plus is the resistance to Endurance drain (especially early on.)
For usefulness, see notes on Deflection Shield.
DETENTION SHIELD
Defender (Solo) ***
Defender (Group) *
Controller *
Mastermind **
Detention Shield is a single-target "capture." Hit an enemy with it and they're stuck in a bubble. They are NOT held - this gets no benefit from containment, and if the enemy can heal, they'll still be able to in here. However, they can't attack or aid their allies.
There's no in between with cages. Some people love them, some people hate them. I do, on occasion, find them useful. Their biggest problems tend to be people not noticing the bubble until they've wasted attacks, and the fact you can't turn the bubble OFF - you have to wait for it to end.
For the solo defender, it's more useful - you don't have teammates to complain, and you can pull something out of the fight for a while. And for masterminds, you have your pets full control (in theory) so it's slightly more useful. The Controller will probably get more use out of their controls - and the Defender has a team who can probably kill the threat in less time than the bubble takes to end, so it's a matter of taste.
IO NOTE: This doesn't even work for a set mule - there are no sets for it at all.
DISPERSION BUBBLE:
Defender (Solo) *****
Defender (Group) *****
Controller *****
Mastermind *****
Sets up a player-based AOE bubble that increases defense to everything, resistance to Holds, Immobs and Disorients. Affects the player and everyone in range.
This is a must-take power for everyone. Just do it. Note, however, that it's not 100% status protection - sleeps are the biggest culpret for knocking this down (see Knives of Artemis and those freaking darts.) However, the enemy version has the same flaw - so when you see a Fake Nemesis put this up, if you can hit them with a sleep, do it.
REPULSION FIELD
Defender (Solo) ***
Defender (Group) *
Controller SITUATIONAL
Mastermind SITUATIONAL
Toggled PBAOE that sends out pulses to knock nearby enemies back.
One, it's knockback. I don't normally have a problem with knockback, but this pulses so slowly it's not (to me) as useful as it could be because of that. It's fairly short range, too. As a FF defender, in a group you just shouldn't get that much attention to make this useful.
Note both Controllers and Masterminds have this set as Situational. If you're a Controller with melee-based powers (Hot Feet or Arctic Air, for instance,) this power will act against you. Same with masterminds - if you like to stay in melee with melee-based pets, this will work against you. Even if you're ranged/ranged, though, this pulses slowly enough that there can be better options.
REPULSION BOMB
Defender (Solo) ***
Defender (Group) ***
Controller **
Mastermind ***
Ranged AOE damage and knockdown, with a chance to stun.
It's knockdown, which teams won't complain about. The stun is purely a "chance to," though - I'd like to see this be more reliable. And while it does do damage, it's still nothing to write home about.
Controllers will find this slightly less useful as they have more control options than Defenders and Masterminds. Also, Controllers do not get containment damage when using this on held/immobilized targets.
FORCE BUBBLE
Defender (Solo) ****
Defender (Group) ***
Controller ****
Mastermind SITUATIONAL
Force bubble is a player-based AOE - a fairly good size one - that repels enemies. While this sounds like a duplicate of Repulsion Field, there's two vital differences. First, it's a much larger AOE. And second, it's a Repel effect versus Knockback. Not only is this resisted less, but it's much more useful to the Controller. (Your AOE Immobilize kept everything spread out? Use this the "long" way to scrunch the enemies together - most Immobs have Knockback resistance, but won't resist Repel.)
Masterminds, again, will depend on if you've got Ranged or Melee pets. Staying in the middle of Melee, this is less useful - though if you want to stay back and pin enemies in a corner, it's fairly good for that (as well as blocking doorways.) Ranged pets - it's almost custom-made for, say, a Bots/FF.
It loses a star for Group defenders because it's very easy for some people to misjudge the edge of the bubble - it is much farther out than the edge of Dispersion Bubble, which most people will also be running, so you can find yourself inadvertently shoving enemies away from melee, AOEs, etc. This is not something to leave running all the time.
So is it worth it?
That's 100% up to you. Some people like having a fairly hands off primary, and with the recent change to ally applied shields that has them apply to everyone in range, this can be very hands off. Others are going to find the play style boring, or are going to look for a set with more "tricks" to it.
I'm one of those that likes playing force field "sometimes," and with some sets. To me, it's best with a controller. I have plenty to do with my primary, and (I have to admit) enough skippable powers usually to get all the "toys" of the primary. I do agree it could use some tweaking for the modern game, but I don't agree with those who call it useless, especially as their yardstick seems to be IO'd out incarnates many times. The extra defenses and mez protection are nice early on. Plus, of course, Free (and many Premium) players won't be IO'd out incarnates simply because they can't be.
Wanted: Origin centric story arcs.
If you've only played an AT once (one set combo) and "hate" it - don't give up. Roll a different combo. It may just be those sets not clicking for you.