Hover or not to hover

At the risk of invoking Arcanaville, I just want to point out that that "last 2%" of soft-capping Defense is not really 'all that' if the incoming damage is not one-shot worthy.

Sure, that "last 2%" can be evaluated with regard to the offender's offensive capability and that last 2% means their offensive capability has been reduced by a comparative 33%. But compared to the Defense you already have, that last 2% is only about 1.8% more Defense than what you've already got. And absolutely, it's still just 2%.

Out of 100 attempts to hit you, 2% more Defense simply means, on average, 2 less hits. If you can mitigate that in other ways (-ToHit, +Resist, hard and soft mezzes, heal, regen, -Dam, running away), then that "last 2%" is not as spectacular as it sounds simply by slicing the data to look only at the offender's relative offensive capability with and without that last 2%.

Beside, a purple inspiration or a teammate's Defense buff makes that "last 2%" moot (barring a foe's -ToHit debuff on you).

What the soft-cap should really mean is not that you *must* achieve it, but, going past it is usually not worthwhile (again, only going against a foe with -ToHit Debuffs or a higher base ToHit, such as Incarnate level Praetorians would warrant attempting to go past the first soft cap).

In my limited experience, Hover is a great power if you're a ranged AT, or at least rely on a lot of ranged powers (Doms, 'Trollers, Blasters, Corrs, etc). It's not a great power if you're melee, not only do a surprising number of melee powers actually require you to be on the ground, but that's where 99% of your targets are, and gravity actually helps you find them by taking care of the z axis for you. The defense bonus is poor, though it's a great place to hide a LotG and helps open access to Afterburner which can also hold a LotG. But for a /SS or SS/, it's going to hurt a lot more than it will help.

Hrm. I've been following this bemusedly for a while. I'd like to interject at this point. I think the advice to the OP is solid; Hover should be skipped because and only because it interferes with the functionality of Super Strength. And yet, there is still an evident disagreement about layered mitigation. So...

Zombie Man, you made three errors. First, you don't "risk" invoking Arcanaville when you actually use her name. Arcanaville is basically the devil. (Elsewhere I may have called her an engineer, a sapient dolphin, or the very best thing ever. I wholeheartedly believe each of these five things.)

Second, it's fewer. Hits is a particulate quantity, not a fluid. So it's fewer hits, not less.

Third, and this is where I am actually annoyed, you used two true but unrelated statements in a directly comparative fashion in such a way as to give yourself mathematical-seeming credibility despite an argument you subversively acknowledge even as you dismiss it. There's probably a real name for this fallacy, but I call it Beckonomics. As in, economics according to Glenn Beck. It's a horrid, horrid thing. It's even worse than how Hopeling calls -mahp equivalent to a res debuff, despite behaving only very slightly like how an actual res debuff behaves, and it drives me nuts whenever he does that to another new player or non-statistically-aware-individual.

Edit : N.S.A.I., for short, or phonetically, "En-sigh." It's not supposed to sound like anything.

Edit 2 : OP, if you're still reading, the correct answer is always cheating. There are a number of ways to get on-demand Defense; perhaps the easiest is the store items (team insps or Amplifiers). Of course, the temp powers are a bit cheaper. I haven't found a good way to shoehorn on DDR, but KD/sapping/-rech are passable "effective DDR" against a lot of things. That pesky 5% to-hit floor is always there, but it's all about the incoming-over-time. Be creative!

Willpower has a weak taunt aura, and needs folks tobe close to benefit from rise to the challenge. The only way I see making hover work for a Willpower Tank is to take taunt, slot for range/recharge. Softcap your ranged and aoE defense, and hover about 60 feet above the combat spamming taunt. Should confuse the crap outta everything, including your teammates.

On a less sarcastic note. NO do not do this. I ran a Willpower Tank for about 3 months straight in the original Incarnate Trials. DO softcap S/L defense, and get Energy Defense high or softcapped as well. Combat Jumping is the power you want, not Hover. I tend to run Willpower and use Tough, Weave, Leadership Manuevers, and Combat Jumping. My current SS/Will Brute is softcapped to S/L/En/Neg and does real well. Seriously, you need the baddies in tight for ss/will. Hover disables Footstomp. That alone should let you know how bad it is. You will need to spam taunt on a Willpower tank, and be aggravating everything as much as you can. Take an epic with non KB AoE, and slot those for taunt where you can. The more you control the baddies, the better you can do your job. Willpower is a good armor to build a strong house on, but it does not hold agro well by itself, and you need to be doing that, both for SS/Will tactics, and especially as a tank. GL, and PS DO NOT HOVER.

PS, why does arcanaville get her name in the left margin twice now. She pulling a Warhol on us?

Well, four times, but who's counting?

(And I think the answer should be obvious.)

I was wondering why it wasn't, to be honest.

And just imagine if you had a mini-me to handle all those little tasks!

Not a fan of Hover. I'd prefer Combat Jumping any day, but, if concept demands flight, then Hover is a worthwhile substitute...