MonteCarla

I tend to lead the charge with my Dominators, leaning into the Tank-y style of play described above. At the recharge levels required for perma-Dom, you can open on every group with a Mag 4 mez, taking down all bosses. No other archetype gets to do that. If you're facing a big group of Carnies with two Master Illusionist, a Dominator is the only way to stop them popping pets. A big group of Devouring Earth - if you get in first you don't have to deal with any emanators or Swarm summons. Then I help clean up with beefy melee attacks and AoEs. When I form a task force, I count and examine all the support sets first. I count Dom primaries as a support set, since having most enemies stunned or held all the time is a pretty potent defensive debuff 🙂

Thanks for the feedback, Frozen Burn. You and Moonsheep have opened my eyes to a different regime of playing Empaths from what I do - where you're playing content hard enough to need to focus on an aggro-magnet and keep them upright, at which point Absorb Pain becomes much better. I tend to dabble around in levelling task forces at +2, where the tank (if there even is one) is pretty self-sufficient, and I see my job as keeping the squishier teammates alive and boosted. That and attacking. That last one is a big deal to me, as I definitely play the Offender school of Defenders. I will never not attack and draw some aggro. I'll go amend the original guide around Absorb Pain now.

I love this idea!

I'll second this. I've got mine to the 40s now and she rocks - and lives almost exclusively in melee range. Great AoE and single target power, tough enough to survive and I think the best Sapper I've played yet, especially with the group immobilise to stop the drained enemies running off.

I've got a Electric Blast/Energy Aura sentinel, and loving it so far! For Defence powers - note how your active shields (Power Shield and Kinetic Shield) have much bigger base values (14% and 11.9%) than the passives Repelling Force (3.75%) and Hover (only 2%). Don't spend slots on the smaller powers yet - you can fill them out in your 40's when you have plenty of slots. (Even then, don't slot Hover beyond 1 Recharge) Damage powers should have 1 acc and 3 damage for maximum efficiency, with an optional recharge or end redux as needed. Your Endurance woes - my general advice would be to slot your attack for 1 acc, 3 dam and 1 end redux for the most expensive ones. However - Energy Aura gives you two additional tools: - Energize gives you a 30 second End discount equivalent to 2 end redux in every power. - And Power Drain can refill your blue bar every time its used with just 4 enemies in range, or 3 if you slot it with 1 End Mod. I would try something like this: 1: Lightning Bolt 3 5 7 1: Kinetic Shield 15 17 - 3 Def 2: Ball Lightning 3 5 7 4: Power Shield 17 21 - 3 Def 6: Fly 8: Zapping Bolt 9 9 11 10: Energise 11 25 - 1 Heal, 2 Recharge 12: Tesla Cage 13 13 15 14: Hover 16: Entropy Shield 18: Voltaic Sentinel 19 19 21 20: Charge Up 22: Short Circuit 23 23 25 24: Repelling Force 26: Thunderous Blast 27 27 - 3 Dam 28: Power Drain 29 29 - 2 Rech, 1 End Mod 30: Power Armor I dropped Evasive Manouvers - it only gives you a Def bonus when you're not in combat. All my fliers do fine without it. I also dropped Charged Bolt - you have three big single target attacks already.

One of CoH's real strengths is that you're rewarded for teaming. You get more XP for being on teams, but teams also naturally reinforce each other and perform better than the sum of their parts. This is important because forming teams is a little bit hard and requires social energy. If the game doesn't reward it and everyone's solo-capable, no one bothers. If you ever played Champions Online - this wasn't the case. The support powersets are OK, but not team-changing in the way that CoH's are. And nobody teams up to run missions beyond the Alerts there. Ally-only buffs play a big part in keeping CoH team friendly. This totally exists still - I play it most days and I'm not the only one. If it's not your cup of tea, that's cool. You make a whole bunch of decisions when you make a character. One of them is the Team/Solo axis. Team (Defender, Controller etc) or Solo (Scrapper, Stalker, Sentinel etc) Say I choose Defender. Team (Empathy, Sonic, Thermal) or Solo (Dark, Rad, Time, Storm) Say I choose Empathy. Team (Leadership, Res and Clear Mind) or Solo (Fighting) and so on. What's wrong with having these options available?

Buffing people is fun. Your targets are unpredictable, and run everywhere and hide round corners. It's like PVP-lite chasing them down compared to just zapping enemies. I get off on turning up to a team and knowing I'll completely change the experience for everyone - making them all invulnerable, or superfast and powerful, or whatever. I love it when I get a support heavy team together and we make a "mutant circuit" and become way more powerful than the sum of our parts. "Ally only" is a viable limitation just as much as "melee range" is.

I activated the target distance last night, and love it! Thanks, Shenaningunner!

Thermal's one of the worse solo sets. Only three powers benefit you solo - the standard healing aura you can get with Pain, Empathy, Rad or other sets, and then the two quite frankly wonky debuffs at the end of the set. None of that is going to keep you upright against a tough Elite boss compared to say, self-capping your defence with Force Fields or Time. I've played it once (Thermal/Fire Blast Defender) and haven't rushed back. Pain's better. Soothing Aura is much better than it first sounds on paper when you think of it as an animation-free heal. For supporting a team - both add resistance, which I believe is favoured late game. While levelling, Defence-based support (eg Force Fields, Time, Empathy) are usually better because it's easier to get other players to the Defence cap, and that then deflects buffs and mezzes as well as damage. At a certain level of play though, many players are already soft-capped to Defence, so stacking extra Resistance brings layered protection and helps out more. So resistance/healing sets like these two become much more valuable. I think that's where their strengths lie - late game/hard mode teams? Thermal on a Corr/Def is just the usual toss-up between slightly better support or slightly better damage. A Defender will add more resistance to the shields, but these are best when you're layering with existing resistance, so a few points difference from your own contribution isn't super-critical.

@Doomguide2005 - funny how you cite Nature's strength of not having to target anything. I played a Nature Defender as my main for a long time (Jenny Foxgloves - Nature/Ice) and loved it. It's easily the best looking set in the game, but also mechanically powerful and versatile. Entangling Aura plus a single target hold to stack on bosses made me more Controller-y than some Controllers I've played. My one gripe was the untargeted cone heal. I didn't need it that often due to my other buffs and holds, but when I did, it was a case of select using Shift + N, follow (to orient me towards the target), fire off heal, which seemed much more fraught than Empathy's Shift+N, heal. Do you have any good tips for using it?

Each bonus can only be claimed five times. https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Enhancement_Set_Bonuses#The_Law_of_Fives

Great topic! A bad team can be fun. I play all-Corrupter and all-Defender task forces on a weekly basis, and we just waltz through, clicking buttons and chatting and maybe I get to fire off a heal on mission #3 or something. And I love that. But at the same time, a team of random's with sub-optimal powerset synergy can be really fun in a "OMG I can't believe we're managing this" kind of way. Especially when we get into the swing of things a few missions in. So I think my favourite is a bad team that's figured out how to be good? 🙂

Not everyone can do it because not everyone knows how to do it, Yomo. So yeah, its the privilege of experience and education. I'm not saying that a new player should be able to stuff all their slots with SO's straight away, Biostem. Just that they shouldn't work hard with their limited resources and knowledge to afford a few SO's, and then have them all suddenly become worthless when they level up (which is meant to be a mini-celebration). That is a really horrible experience, and may well drive people away. Imagine if TO/DO/SO's didn't go off with level. A new player can slot up on TO's, and then maybe afford a couple of DO's at some point with their meagre earnings from just fighting crime and being a superhero/villain. Maybe they have big end problems, and save up for a End Mod SO in Stamina. Ahh, relief! Maybe they save up for a couple of Damage SO's in their favourite attack and really feel the punch it gives. At some point they're flush enough to have everything slotted with SO's, maybe from a nice drop they get and sell. That sounds like a rewarding levelling curve to me. Zombra's initial post is that she doesn't enjoy being told to go play the market with a whole bunch of what to a new player are weird instructions. I can get that. I don't think the new player experience should be "stop playing, go read some guides on a forum, or we'll take your hard-earned toys away!" And it currently kind of is that when normal enhancements expire.

The more I think about it, the more I'm in favor of this. I tend to use SO's up to the mid 20s and then start swapping them out with sets. My enhancements never go off because of that handy-dandy new Upgrade button - if I see them drop below my level I just press it, lose a million or so maybe (which is dream money to a new player) and sidestep the "everything you own is now worthless" moment. Why should that be the privilege of the rich? The market itself works wonderfully, by the way. Homecoming's converter-based economy is fantastic - anyone can get rich by doing content and a few light market tricks if they know how. Or get mega-rich by helping out their fellow supers and crafting enhancements and listing them. It's the low-end, new-player experience that's a problem.

I'd love an Enhanced Senses power pool. - Perception debuff resistance and +Perception - Accuracy bonus, or maybe a "Find Weakness" style res debuff? But mainly for... - Find enemies click power that adds all nearby enemies to the minimap as red arrows (Tier 2) - Find Glowies click power that adds all glowies to the minimap (Tier 3) Have some power customisations to make it look like Telepathy, X-Ray Vision etc.

It would be great if you could play CoH without using the market, and have a decent ride from 1 to 50 where your crimefighting proceeds kept you in normal enhancements bought from the vendors. The economy has always been broken. I remember getting to my first level 22 character and having no money to buy SO's (back when that was their minimum level). I remember out-levelling my SO's once by levelling up and not being able to afford more. And I remember getting my first level 50 and by then having 4 million and nothing to spend it on (back in issue 6 or whatever) So the base path through the game has always been one of absolute famine followed by feast, which isn't as satisfying as being able to fulfil your basic needs as you go. None of this matters to multi-billionaire me now. But it matters to new players. I've tutored a few new folk recently after task forces on how to use their merits to make easy money, and I do think its all a bit complicated, and can see how it would be off-putting if you came here just to play superheroes. So I hear you, @Zombra If it were up to me, I'd make base enhancements not go off as you level up in the same way common IO's don't. That way a new player could buy TO's, graduate to DO's and then SO's bit by bit and feel steady progression. That said, go buy those "splanges" (converters) with merits from doing some story arcs like the Hollows or Faultline, and get comfortably off. That's the best advice with the way the game is set up now.

In 2005 I discovered the perfect game for me. - I've always loved superheroes, but never imagined a game could cover the wide range of powers they have. - The costume creator is just amazing, even today. - The cooperative nature of gameplay, and best support sets in any game ever make me feel special on teams. - Teaming is naturally rewarded, and always worth doing, but I can also solo in the slower Australian evenings - The community is amazing, fun and non-toxic. I feel free to be me here. I'm so glad it's back. Champions Online was a good stand-in, but kind of messed with the support sets and teaming aspects of CoH

I applaud your genius, Dr.! May I humbly suggest tightening the coils on your power source to create a powerful back-EMF and thus increasing your output voltage? Put a Gaussian Synchronised Fire Control Chance to Build up in Charge Up and it will almost certainly provide a 5 second +80% damage increase at exactly the moment you're about to fire off your Thunderous Blast.

Defence vs Recharge... These are probably the two most common build goals. They kind of compete, and kind of don't. You could take Hasten and Fighting, Leadership and Flight as your pools. Every Defence power you pick is a socket for a Luck of the Gambler Def/+Recharge unique. About 6 million a pop, and you can stack 5 of them in say, Weave, Manouvers, Vengeance, Hover and Field Operative. Some sets benefit both goals: The Blaster Archetype sets give +Recharge and +Def bonuses. Sting of the Manticore (x5) in Sniper Rifle gives +2.5% Ranged Def and +7.5% Recharge. Expedient Reinforcement in Gun Drone gives +6.25% Recharge and +3.125% Ranged Def. Stupefy in Beanbag gives +6.25% Recharge and +3.125% Ranged Def (and makes you beanbag do knockback, which does look cool!) Basilisk's Gaze is +1.25% Ranged Def and +7.5% Recharge for just 4 slots!! (Good for an epic hold) The Blaster I mentioned earlier had 93% global recharge on top of all the big defence numbers, but no Hasten. My own AR/Dev Blaster had capped Ranged Def, 25%-ish Melee and AoE Def and 103% Global Recharge, so pretty much perma-Hasten. That's probably a good goal to aim for: perma-Hasten and capped Ranged Def, and skimp a bit on the other positions. Oh, and my mistake above, Taser takes ranged set enhancements, so Thunderstrike, not Mako's Bite.

And the Blaster Archetype sets give good Defence bonuses too, as well as some recharge, if you have money to spend. I've just checked out my toughest most expensive Blaster in game - she had 46% Ranged Defence, around 32% AoE Defence and 35% Melee Defence, and this is with the P2W buffs active! So I don't think you can softcap completely with a Blaster, but a little purple pill will put you there!

Hopefully I can help... Power pool picks are: Fighting, for: - Tough, which allows you to slot two unique +Def IO's, Steadfast Protection and Gladiator's Armor (+6% total) - Weave, 5.5% for Blasters slotted Leadership - Manouvers, 3.5% when slotted Hover or Combat Jumping - About 2% (or 4% if you take both!) That gets you a start of 17% Defence vs everything, or more like 19% with your Field Operative bonus from Devices The Steadfast IO is about 4 million, the Gladiators Armor one maybe 8 million. They'll be your main big budget items. (If that sounds like a lot, do some Task Forces, buy Enhancement Converters with the merits and list for 1 inf each. They'll sell for 60,000 or so, netting you around 0.9 million per 5 merits! So a Penny Yin and a Citadel will pay for these.) Thunderstrike in ranged attacks (6 slots) Gives you +3.75% Ranged Defence in two bonuses. Artillery (6 slots) in ranged AoE attacks gives you +4% Ranged Defence in two bonuses. Mako's Bite (6 slots) in Melee Attacks gives you +3.75% Defence. These are all pretty cheap, way less than 1 million per enhancement, and give great bonuses to the powers they're slotted in. So you could go: Thunderstrike in: Burst, Slug and Toxic Web Grenade +11.25% Artillery in: Buckshot, Grenade, Flamethower, Full Auto: +16% Mako's Bite: Taser +3.75% And you're over soft-capped for Ranged Defence! Ranged is much more important of the two, as Ranged attacks typically do bigger damage and more mez than AoE. If you're looking for set that give AoE Defence: Blessing of the Zephyr gives a small bonus to both ranged and AoE for 3 pieces - great in Hover or CJ Aegis gives +4.6% for 5 slots. So take Tough and a resistance epic armor, 5 slot each with Aegis and split the two +Defence IO's between them. Scirocco's Dervish (5 slots) in Trip Mine give +3.125%, or Eradication (6 slots) to give a bit of extra Ranged Def too. You can maybe work your way up to 45% Aoe Defence. Here's a useful link for sets that give AoE Defence bonuses: https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Category:Sets_that_improve_Area_Effect_Defense Edit: Gaussian's Synchornised Fore Control (6 slots) in Aim or Build Up gives you +2.5% Def to all positions!

The PUG teams I gather on Everlasting are almost always awesome at getting the job done. There's sometimes a bit of figuring things out in the first mission, but I'm constantly amazed by this hive-mind like ability players have to figure out what each other are doing and adjust accordingly. I do run at +2 as a default. That probably helps.

@Linea - Wow! That's amazing - congrats on being able to pull that off! I've always advocated for slotting for damage on every Defender ever ever. So much so that I've taken that for granted and forgot to mention it in this guide. 🙂 I've amended that now. @MoonSheep - fair enough. I have zero experience with Hard Mode content. The range I play in (PUG Task Forces with most teammates IO'd) means the tank is usually not in great danger and I'm supporting the squishies more. Classic SO gameplay and now Hard Mode mean the Tank does need more support, so I guess Absorb Pain makes much more sense then. (It's not so much that I've forgotten that playstyle, as never known...)

@Nemu and @Doomguide2005 - I've taken your comments on board and bumped Clear Mind up to a 5 as well. You're right, there's no way you can call yourself a Badass Empath if you leave your teammates frozen and mind-controlled! Thanks heaps for the feedback. 🙂

As a PUG Task Force and teams runner on Everlasting, I've really enjoyed it. It's great seeing the increased population in Atlas Park, particularly in the lull of Australian evenings when I often play. It's been easier to get teams together, and really nice introducing people to things like Hero Tips missions that they haven't seen before. I've given a few impromptu tutorials after task forces, like showing people how to make money from merits to keep themselves in SO's, or start dabbling in inventions. I'm loving it.